Back
PremiumIsrael-Hamas War: On the 34rd day of the conflict, Israeli air strikes pounded Gaza City to annihilate Hamas in the region while tens of thousands of Palestinians desperate for safety fled their homes southwards in the besieged territory.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected the prospect of a ceasefire in Gaza.
The United States has backed Israel's rejection of a ceasefire, and G7 foreign ministers on Wednesday in Japan said they supported "humanitarian pauses and corridors" in the war.
Israel has set an aim of destroying Hamas, with its soldiers targeting their deep network of tunnels and underground bases.
UN rights chief Volker Turk condemned Israel over its bombardment and its orders to Gazans to flee southwards.
This blog has been closed now. Read all the latest updates on Israel-Hamas war here
Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip have fired more than 9,500 rockets at Israeli territory since Hamas launched its multi-pronged attack on the Jewish state one month ago, according to data published by the Israeli Foreign Ministry on Tuesday.
Jerusalem said the numbers are not final and are constantly being updated. Throughout Tuesday, multiple air-raid sirens were activated in central Israel and localities near the border with Gaza.
Some 1,400 people have been murdered in Israel since October 7, while 7,198 more have been wounded. As of Tuesday evening, 342 people remain hospitalized, of whom 51 are in serious condition, according to Israeli Health Ministry data. (ANI)
From Western capitals to Muslim states, protest rallies over the Israel-Hamas war have made headlines. But one place known for its vocal pro-Palestinian stance has been conspicuously quiet: Indian-controlled Kashmir.
Indian authorities have barred any solidarity protest in Muslim-majority Kashmir and asked Muslim preachers not to mention the conflict in their sermons, residents and religious leaders told The Associated Press.
The restrictions are part of India's efforts to curb any form of protest that could turn into demands for ending New Delhi's rule in the disputed region. They also reflect a shift in India's foreign policy under populist Prime Minister Narendra Modi away from its long-held support for the Palestinians, analysts say. (AP)
Israel's Ambassador to India, Naor Gilon said, “I think that if we are able to, to eliminate Hamas as we hope to do. If we get the time to do it as we hope to do it, it will decrease the chance, significantly that there will be a ripple effect...They went on October 7th, penetrated 30 Israeli communities, killed 1400 people abducted 240 people, injured many and we didn't speak about the rockets. They are firing close to 10000 rockets by the way by the way. The hospital short firing of the rocket was not the only one. Their average is 20 per cent. So the it's we can assume that there are about 2000 rockets so far close to that that fell short inside Gaza."
“We waited almost 3 weeks until we went to the ground for the ground operation. And all that time, we said we were going into North Gaza first, evacuated to the south, and they were putting pressure even threatening and even shooting people in order to prevent them because they needed them as human shields." (ANI)
When the Lebanese militia Hezbollah announced last week that its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, would deliver his first public speech since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, much of the region held its breath.
Would Iranian-backed Hezbollah, the Arab world's most powerful paramilitary force, continue its limited exchanges of fire with Israel or throw itself wholeheartedly into the war? In Lebanon, streets emptied as people sat glued to their screens to watch, ready to parse his words along with decision-makers in Israel and across the Mideast.
Hezbollah has traded fire with Israeli troops along the border since the day after Hamas' October 7 surprise attack in southern Israel sparked war in the Gaza Strip. Both sides have suffered casualties, but the fear is that the conflict will escalate and spiral into a regional fight. (PTI)
On the 33rd day of the Israel-Hamas conflict, Israeli ground forces in the Gaza Strip launched an operation on Wednesday with the objective of locating and deactivating the extensive tunnel network used by Hamas militants beneath the enclave. Here are the top ten developments. Read the stories here.
Israel-Hamas war: With more than a month of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, Palestinian children in Gaza have now released a heartfelt video calling for peace and their wants for basic necessities like food, medicine, education.
The video shared by Egyptian-American journalist Mona Eltahawy, showed Palestinian children in Gaza holding a news conference outside Al Shifa hospital, where they had sought refuge.
The main hospital in Gaza City has turned into a giant refuge for people whose homes have been bombarded, or who fear that they will be, in Israel's military assault on the Gaza Strip, which is entering its second month. Read the complete story here.
As the festival of lights -- Diwali approaches in India, Israel's Ambassador Naor Gilon has urged to light a 'Diya of Hope' for the hostages held by Hamas since the October 7 assault on the country.
Drawing a comparison, Gilon, in a video posted on X (formerly Twitter) said that as Lord Ram's return is celebrated on Diwali by lighting Diyas, a Diya (lamp) must be lit in the hope of having our loved ones return. (ANI)
Khalid Al-Falih, Saudi Arabia’s investment minister, said talks aimed at a normalization of diplomatic ties with Israel will continue — despite the kingdom’s vociferous criticism of Israeli military actions in Gaza — but will be “contingent on a pathway to a peaceful resolution of the Palestinian question."
Israeli troops are advancing toward the middle of Gaza City, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated there would be no ceasefire until the roughly 240 hostages taken from Israel during Hamas’s attack on Oct. 7 are freed. (Bloomberg)
Israeli actress Gal Gadot is organising a screening of a 47-minute video provided by the IDF spokesperson, recording the events on October 7 when Hamas targeted Israeli communities along the Gaza border, i24 News reported.
The screening is scheduled to take place in front of a curated audience, which includes Hollywood celebrities and prominent figures. The date of screening and final guest list is not yet available. Read the complete story here.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby has reiterated America’s stand that it will not try to dictate the “red lines" for Israel. John Kirby’s remarks have come as the death toll in Gaza continues to climb as Israel expands its military operation in the neighbouring state against the Hamas militants who stormed into the Israeli territory on October 7, killed hundreds and kidnapped nearly 250 civilians, including foreigners. Read the complete story here.
Foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war are expected to be prominent in Wednesday's third Republican primary debate, as a narrowing field of candidates seeks to cut into Donald Trump's lead without being able to challenge the former president in person.
Trump will again skip the debate in Miami, instead holding a rally in a nearby suburb. He says he won't participate due to his large lead in national and early state polls. (AP)
Emily Callahan, a nurse from the United States, who recently came back to the US after her assignment in Gaza, revealed to CNN on Monday that certain Palestinian coworkers made the decision to remain in the area, fully aware of the potential risk to their lives. Read here.
In the wake of the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas, a notable development has emerged that holds economic implications for India. Israel has initiated a programme to hire up to one lakh Indian workers into its workforce, VOA reported.
This initiative arises as a countermeasure to the displacement of 90,000 Palestinian workers due to the revocation of their work permits subsequent to the hostilities. Read the complete story here.
Layan al-Baz cries in agony when the effect fades of the painkillers she receives after her legs were amputated -- the result of a strike on Gaza as Israel fights Hamas.
"I don't want a false leg," the 13-year-old Palestinian tells AFP in Khan Yunis's Nasser hospital, in the southern Gaza Strip, where getting artificial limbs was nearly impossible anyway.
The impoverished Palestinian territory, under a crippling Israeli-led blockade for years and besieged since war erupted on October 7, suffers severe shortages of food, water and fuel, and medical supplies are scarce. (AFP)
Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war that has now been completed a month, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Jonathan Conricus has stated that Hamas militants are actively preventing Palestinians from moving south.
IDF wrote on X, “It's been a month since the October 7 Massacre. While the world might have moved on, we don't have that privilege. Hamas started this war—yet it's a war we must fight. A war we must win." Read the complete story here.
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said Gaza is "becoming a graveyard for children", CNN reported.
Guterres told reporters in New York: "The nightmare in Gaza is more than a humanitarian crisis. It is a crisis of humanity." He added that the need for a ceasefire is becoming "more urgent with every passing hour."
"The parties to the conflict--and, indeed, the international community--face an immediate and fundamental responsibility: to stop this inhuman collective suffering and dramatically expand humanitarian aid to Gaza," he said. (ANI)
Israel said Tuesday that its ground forces were battling Hamas fighters deep inside Gaza’s largest city, signaling a major new stage in the month-old conflict, and its leaders foresee controlling the enclave's security after the war.
The push into Gaza City guarantees that the already staggering death toll will rise further, while comments from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about controlling Gaza’s security for “an indefinite period" pointed to the uncertain endgame of a war that Israel says will be long and difficult. (AP)
Fighters from the IDF's Nahal infantry brigade identified a terrorist squad hiding in a mosque in Gaza and, with the help of air support, eliminated the squad as they left the mosque and tried to escape through a tunnel.
Hamas terrorists fired anti-tank missiles at the Nahal fighters from several different points, including a hospital. A combat helicopter escorted the fighters to safety and destroyed the sources of the fire. (ANI)
A drone attack on Tuesday targeted a military base at Arbil airport in Iraqi Kurdistan that hosts troops from the US-led anti-jihadist coalition, officials said.
"At two different points, three drones attacked the international coalition" on Tuesday morning, the autonomous Kurdish region's anti-terrorism service said in a statement.
In the first attack "on the military base at Arbil airport, two drones were shot down", while a third subsequently crashed without exploding, the service said. (AFP)
Japan and the US said they would work for “humanitarian pauses" in Israel’s war with Hamas ahead of a gathering of Group of Seven foreign ministers in Tokyo that is expected to deliver a similar message.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa agreed on the issue at a bilateral meeting in Tokyo late on Tuesday, according to the Foreign Ministry.
The conflict in Gaza is expected to top the agenda at the G-7 meeting Wednesday, which comes after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s whirlwind tour of the Middle East. His calls for halts in the fighting to allow delivery of basic necessities were met with more air and ground attacks from Israel and frustration from Jordan, which called for a full cease-fire. (Bloomberg)
Saudi Arabia will host summits of Arab, Islamic and African nations in coming days to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Saudi Arabia's investment minister said on Tuesday.
"We will see, this week, in the next few days Saudi Arabia convening an emergency Arab summit in Riyadh," said Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih, at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore.
"You will see Saudi Arabia convening an Africa-Saudi summit in Riyadh, and in a few days you will see Saudi Arabia convening an Islamic summit," he said. (Reuters)
G7 foreign ministers discussed how to revitalise peace efforts in the Middle East and the "day after" in the Gaza Strip once the conflict there recedes as they met for a two-day summit in Tokyo.
The subject was brought up during a working dinner late on Tuesday, host Japan said in a statement, with the Group of Seven (G7) due to continue talks on Wednesday on the Israel-Gaza crisis, Ukraine's war in Russia and issues related to China.
The statement gave no details of options being discussed if the Hamas militant group is ousted from Gaza as the result of an ongoing Israeli bombardment of the Palestinian enclave. (Reuters)
Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen met Tuesday morning at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem with the new American Ambassador to Israel Jacob "Jack" Lew.
The two discussed the war against the terrorist organisation Hamas and the American support for Israel since the beginning of the war. (ANI)
Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday dismissed Angelina Jolie's allegations that Israel has committed war crimes against Palestine.
As reported by Sky News, Isaac Herzog said, “I totally reject her claims. I think she’s never been in Gaza…. to visit and see the facts on the ground."
Herzog added, “In Gaza now there is war, but there is no humanitarian crisis that does not enable them to survive."
Angelina Jolie also serves as a special envoy to the UN High Commission for Refugees accused Israel of committing war crimes. The actress expressed her condemnation of Israeli air strikes in Gaza on her Instagram account, characterizing it as a deliberate attack on a confined population through bombings. Read here.
On the 33rd day of the Israel-Hamas conflict, Israeli ground forces in the Gaza Strip launched an operation on Wednesday with the objective of locating and deactivating the extensive tunnel network used by Hamas militants beneath the enclave. Read the top ten developments here.
Israel's military is starting the next phase of its war against Hamas, targeting the Islamist group's labyrinth of tunnels and command structures in northern Gaza in an operation that may take months to complete, security sources said.
Israeli forces have pounded Gaza from the air and used ground troops to divide the coastal enclave into two, in an offensive launched after Hamas gunmen killed 1,400 people and took some 240 hostages in a cross-border attack on Oct. 7. In recent days, Israeli troops have surrounded Gaza City and battled Hamas as they pushed deeper into its streets.
With casualties in Gaza topping 10,000, according to Palestinian health officials, Israel has come under mounting diplomatic pressure for a humanitarian ceasefire. (Reuters)
