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Latest on Israel-Hamas conflict: Israel, Palestinians agree on long-term Gaza ceasefire
Updated : Aug 26, 2014, 09:26 PM IST
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Following the worst outbreak of violence along the Gaza frontier since an eight-day war in 2012, the Israeli military has stepped up its offensive against Hamas after a surge in Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli towns. The ever present Israel-Gaza conflict escalated last month after Israel's arrest of hundreds of Hamas activists in the occupied West Bank, where three Israeli youths went missing on June 12.
Since then, Israel says it has struck more than 1,000 targets in Gaza from the air and the sea, including militant commanders' homes, which it describes as command and control centres. Hamas says at least 200 houses have been bombed by Israel since July 8 and that most of the fatalities have come as a result of the house bombings. Owners of some of the targeted homes have received telephoned warnings from Israel to get out. In other cases, so-called "knock-on-the-door" missiles, which do not carry explosive warheads, were first fired as a signal to evacuate. Scenes of families fleeing their homes have played out daily.
LATEST UPDATES:
Israel, Palestinians agree on long-term Gaza ceasefire
Israel and the Palestinians on Tuesday agreed on a long-term Egyptian-brokered ceasefire to end the devastating 50-day war in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip that has killed over 2,200 people.
"An agreement has been reached between the two sides and we are awaiting the announcement from Cairo to determine the zero hour for implementation," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.
Zuhri said Egypt was expected to make an official announcement on the deal. Read more
Israel attacks Gaza targets after rockets fired, recalls Cairo negotiators
Israel launched attacks in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday and recalled its negotiators from truce talks in Cairo after saying three Palestinian rockets had hit southern Israel, hours before a ceasefire was due to expire.
A Reuters correspondent saw an Israeli plane fire a missile east of Gaza City. The Israeli military said it was attacking "terror targets" across the territory. Read more
Will agree to reach understandings only if it meets Israel's security needs: Benjamin Netanyahu
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday any deal on Gaza's future had to meet Israel's security needs, warning Hamas it faced "harsh strikes" if it resumed firing into the Jewish state. With a five-day ceasefire due to expire late on Monday, negotiators returned after consultations to Cairo to seek an end to five weeks of hostilities that have killed more than 2,000 people. Both sides say gaps remain in reaching a long-term deal that would keep the peace between Israel and militant groups in the Hamas Islamist-dominated Gaza Strip, and open the way for reconstruction aid to reach the battered enclave. Hamas wants Israeli and Egyptian blockades of Gaza lifted, as well as the establishment of a seaport and airport, as part of any enduring halt to violence. Read more
Italian journalist, three bomb disposal experts, two others killed in Gaza
An Italian journalist, three Palestinian bomb disposal experts and two other people were killed in Gaza on Wednesday when unexploded munitions blew up, medical officials and police said. The explosion was in Beit Lahiya, a town in the northern Gaza Strip that had been the scene of fierce fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants during a month-long war. Read more
Israel launches air strikes after rocket fire from Gaza; Hamas denies charges
Israel and the Palestinians renewed a truce that had largely tempered a five-week-old war, but the deal got off to a shaky start on Thursday with rockets from Gaza slamming into Israel and Israel retaliating with air strikes. Hamas, which denied involvement in firing some of what Israel counted as eight rockets shot just as an earlier truce expired on Wednesday, and accused the Jewish state of violating the new truce by launching air strikes. Read more
Israel, Palestine agree to extend Gaza truce by five days
Israel and the Palestinians agreed on Wednesday to extend a Gaza truce by five days minutes before an earlier ceasefire was set to expire, a Palestinian official said in Cairo. But the deal got off to a shaky start. Israel, which had no comment, bombed several Gaza sites early on Thursday, minutes after the truce extension was to have taken hold, in response to Palestinian rocket fire that violated the earlier truce. Read more
Five, including foreign journalist, killed in Gaza ordnance blast as truce nears end
Israeli ordnance exploded in Gaza Wednesday, killing five people including a foreign journalist, as bomb experts tried to disable a missile on the last day of a 72-hour truce. Read more
Gaza conflict: Israeli, Palestine negotiators to resume talks in Cairo as 72-hour truce nears end
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Cairo will readdress the thorny issue of a ceasefire and Israel's Gaza blockade Wednesday, as the clock ticks down to a 2100 GMT deadline ending a 72-hour truce. Read more
Saudi Arabia tells Israel only peace can ensure its survival
Saudi Arabia told Israel on Tuesday that it must reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians if it is to survive as a nation, and criticised Muslims for being divided and failing to stop the Jewish state attacking its Arab neighbours. "Israel has to realise that peace is the only solution for its survival," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the world's largest Muslim body, on the situation in the Gaza Strip. "As we see, Israel does not shy away from taking its terror to any level, with total disregard to any laws, rules, religious edicts or humanitarian considerations to achieve its goals. Read more
Little progress in talks on ending Gaza war, Israel says
Talks to end a month-long war between Israel and Islamist militants in Gaza have made no progress so far, an Israeli official said on Tuesday, as a 72-hour ceasefire in the shattered Palestinian enclave held for a second day. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were expected to reconvene later in the day in Cairo where Hamas and its allies are seeking an end to an Israeli and Egyptian blockade of the Gaza Strip. "The gaps between the sides are big and there is no progress in the negotiations," said an Israeli official who declined to be named. There was no immediate comment from Hamas, the Islamist group that dominates Gaza. A Palestinian official with knowledge of the Cairo talks told Reuters, on condition of anonymity: "So far we can't say a breakthrough has been achieved ... Twenty-four hours and we shall see whether we have an agreement." Read more
ALSO READ: Images from the war-zone: 16-year-old girl live tweets Israel-Palestine conflict
Israel, Palestinians begin talks to try to end Gaza war
Israel and the Palestinians began talks in Cairo on Monday to try and end the conflict in Gaza and lift the blockade on the coastal enclave, Egypt's state news agency MENA said. The indirect talks are being mediated by Egypt and began a day after the two sides agreed to begin a new 72-hour truce.
Israel, Palestinians launch new three-day truce
Israel and the Palestinians held their fire early on Monday at the start of a new 72-hour ceasefire proposed by Egypt that took effect at 2100 GMT. There were no immediate reports of breaches of the ceasefire although Hamas claimed it fired rockets as far as the Tel Aviv area for the first time since a previous truce expired on Friday, just minutes before the new truce took hold. The Israeli military had no comment but Israeli media said a rocket exploded in an open area in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area and at least two other rockets were intercepted in a town just south of that region. A senior Israeli government official said on Sunday Israeli negotiators would return to Cairo to resume indirect talks with the Palestinians, if the truce held, also confirming the Jewish state had accepted Egypt's proposal for the new truce. Read more
Palestinian Authority seeks war crimes case against Israel in International Criminal Court
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said there was "clear evidence" of war crimes by Israel during its offensive in Gaza as he met International Criminal Court prosecutors on Tuesday to push for an investigation. Maliki visited The Hague shortly after Israel and the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement that dominates Gaza entered a 72-hour truce mediated by Egypt in an effort to secure an extended ceasefire. Read more
Israel withdraws troops, 72-hour Gaza truce begins
Israel pulled its ground forces out of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday and started a 72-hour ceasefire with Hamas mediated by Egypt as a first step towards negotiations on a more enduring end to the month-old war. Minutes before the truce began at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT), Hamas launched a salvo of rockets, calling them revenge for Israel's "massacres". Israel's anti-missile system shot down one rocket over Jerusalem, police said. Another hit a house in a town near Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank. There were no casualties. Israeli armour and infantry withdrew from the Gaza Strip ahead of the truce, with a military spokesman saying their main goal of destroying cross-border infiltration tunnels had been completed. "Mission accomplished," the military tweeted. Read more
From 8:00 AM today we will implement a 72-hour cease-fire. During this time, we will maintain defensive positions near the Gaza border.
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) August 5, 2014
Two consecutive attacks in Jerusalem: Gunman on motorcycle opens fire at bus stop by Jerusalem's Hebrew University in Mt. Scopus, Haaretz reported. One man seriously wounded, they stated.
We come in sadness, we go in sadness: Gaza family briefly returns home
Glass and debris littered the road to Ahed Marouf's house in a northern Gaza town on Monday as he rode on a donkey cart with his wife and three children to check on their home during a seven-hour truce declared by Israel. What they saw when they reached Beit Lahiya, near the Israeli border, persuaded them to return to their temporary shelter in a UN-run school in nearby Jabalya refugee camp. "It did not feel safe," said Marouf, a 30-year-old farmer. "At our house, windows were shattered. There is no electricity and no water." Read more
Another UN school in Gaza hit, witnesses say atleast 7 killed
An Israeli air strike killed at least seven people and wounded about 30 others on Sunday in a UN-run school in the southern Gaza Strip, witnesses and medics said. The Israeli military declined immediate comment. A missile launched by an aircraft struck the entrance to the school in the town of Rafah, the witnesses and medics said. Read more
Benjamin Netanyahu vows to keep pressure on Hamas; Renewed shelling in Gaza, 30 dead
Renewed Israeli shelling killed at least 30 people in Gaza on Sunday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to keep up pressure on Hamas even after the army completes its core mission of destroying a tunnel network that extends into Israel.Israel declared dead a soldier feared abducted by Hamas militants and repositioned its troops in the Gaza Strip, telling many residents they could return home after entire neighbourhoods were devastated in nearly a month of fighting. Read more
Hamas delegation in Cairo for indirect ceasefire talks with Israel
A delegation of members from Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad arrived in Cairo on Sunday for indirect ceasefire talks with Israel, to be conducted through Egyptian and US officials, Egyptian sources said. Truce talks would include Hamas' demand that Egypt ease movement across its border with blockaded Gaza. Israel said on Saturday it would not send envoys as scheduled, accusing enemy Palestinian Islamists of misleading international mediators. Read more
Soldier allegedly abducted by Hamas, declared dead by Israel; Gaza death toll reaches 1670
Israel on Sunday declared dead a soldier feared abducted by Hamas Islamist militants in the Gaza Strip and said it would continue to fight even after the army completes destroying cross-border tunnels used by Palestinian fighters to attack its territory. Shelling exchanges continued between Israel and Gaza on Sunday, pushing the Gaza death toll given by Palestinian officials to 1,675, most of them civilians. Israel has confirmed that 64 soldiers have died in combat, while Palestinian shelling has also killed three civilians in Israel. Read more
Israel looks for missing soldier; Hamas says he may have been killed
The armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas said on Saturday it had no clear indication on the whereabouts of an Israeli soldier that Israel has accused it of abducting in the Gaza Strip, adding he may have been killed during an ambush. Israel said Second Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, 23, who went missing on Friday, had been abducted by Hamas gunmen. It declared a planned 72-hour Gaza ceasefire over, saying Hamas militants breached the truce soon after it took effect. Read more
At least 107 Palestinians were killed and an Israeli soldier was missing presumed captured as a fresh wave of violence swept through the Gaza Strip on Saturday following the failure of an agreed ceasefire. The attacks continued throughout the night, leaving at least 35 Palestinians dead in the Gaza town of Rafah alone in a series of Israeli air raids in the hours since midnight (2100 GMT) Friday. Read more
US Senate approves $225 million for Israeli 'Iron Dome' missile defense system
The US Senate unanimously passed legislation on Friday to provide $225 million in emergency funding for Israel's "Iron Dome" missile defense system. An earlier version of the funding plan had failed on Thursday when Senate Republicans blocked a broader spending bill that was largely intended to provide money to handle the current immigration crisis at the US-Mexico border. Read more
Israeli shelling kills about 70 Palestinians; truce collapses
Massive shelling by Israel killed about 70 people in the Hamas-ruled Gaza following the collapse of a 72-hour truce shortly after it began on Friday, while two of its soldiers died and another was believed to have been abducted by the Palestinian militant group. The humanitarian ceasefire - brokered by the US and the UN to end more than three weeks of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip - collapsed just two hours after it began this morning. Read more
United States blames Hamas for collapse of Gaza ceasefire
The US on Friday blamed Hamas for the breakdown of a 72-hour humanitarian truce, saying the "barbaric" attack by the Palestinian militant group that left two Israeli soldiers dead in the Gaza Strip was an "outrageous violation" of the ceasefire. "The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms on Friday's attack, which led to the killing of two Israeli soldiers and the apparent abduction of another. It was an outrageous violation of the ceasefire negotiated over the past several days, and of the assurances given to the United States and the United Nations," US Secretary of State John Kerry said. Read more
40 people killed in Gaza as ceasefire crumbles, Israel declares truce is over
The Israeli military said on Friday that a Gaza ceasefire that went into effect earlier on Friday is now over and military operations were in progress on the ground. Asked during a media conference call if the ceasefire was over, Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner, a military spokesman, said: "Yes. We are continuing our activities on the ground." His comments followed reports that 40 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli shelling and Israel had accused Gaza militants of violating the US- and UN-brokered truce by firing rockets and mortars. Israeli shelling near the southern Gaza town of Rafah killed at least 40 people on Friday, the local hospital said, as a ceasefire that went into effect only hours earlier crumbled. Israel accused Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups of violating the US- and UN-mediated truce, but did not elaborate, amid Israeli media reports that gunmen had fired at Israeli soldiers in the Rafah area.
Israel may be required to help displaced Gaza Palestinians, says UN envoy
Israel will be required under international law to take responsibility for helping Palestinian civilians if there are any further large-scale displacements from the fighting in Gaza, a top United Nations envoy told the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Thursday. Pierre Krähenbühl, the Swiss-born chief of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said the impoverished enclave of 1.8 million Palestinians was facing a precipice, and added that he was alarmed to hear that Israel had warned more neighborhoods in Gaza to evacuate ahead of military action. Read more
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu vows to complete destruction of Gaza tunnels
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facing international alarm over a rising civilian death toll in Gaza, said on Thursday he would not accept any ceasefire that stopped Israel completing the destruction of militants' infiltration tunnels. "We are determined to complete this mission, with or without a ceasefire," Netanyahu said. Read more
Israel, Hamas agree to 72-hour ceasefire from Friday
Israel and Hamas have agreed to begin a 72-hour ceasefire from 0500 GMT Friday, alongside a diplomatic push for a more durable end to the bloodshed after almost four weeks of fighting. Hopes of an end to the bloodshed rose early Friday after United States Secretary of State John Kerry announced that Israel and Hamas had agreed a three-day ceasefire. Read more
Israel mobilises 16,000 extra troops to bolster forces fighting in Gaza
Israel mobilised 16,000 additional reservists on Thursday to bolster forces fighting in Gaza as Washington gave its ally the go-ahead to raid stocks of emergency US weapons stored on Israeli soil. The call-up, which raised the total number of Israeli reservists to 86,000, came shortly after Washington said it had agreed to restock Israel's dwindling supplies of ammunition, despite rising concern over the death toll in Gaza, where more than 1,360 people have been killed. Read more
Also Watch: [Video] UN spokesperson breaks down in tears on camera after Gaza school bombing
US condemns shelling of UN school in Gaza, but restocks Israel with ammunition
The United States confirmed on Wednesday it had restocked Israel's supplies of ammunition, hours after finally sharpening its tone to condemn an attack on a United Nations school in Gaza. But while both the White House and the State Department condemned the shelling of the UN-run school in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza in which at least 16 Palestinians were killed, neither would assign blame to staunch US ally Israel. Read more
UN says 'enough is enough' after another Gaza school attack; death toll reaches 1300
After another deadly attack on a UN school in Gaza sheltering Palestinians from fighting between Israel and Hamas militants, the United Nations declared "enough is enough" on Wednesday and asked - when civilians are warned to leave, where do they go? With 1.8 million people living in a Mediterranean enclave he described as the size of Detroit and Philadelphia, a disheartened UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said there was nowhere for people to flee the conflict that has killed some 1,300 Palestinians. Read more
Attack on Gaza school unjustifiable, shameful: UN Chief Ban Ki-moon
Condemning as "unjustifiable and shameful" the shelling of a UN-run school in Gaza sheltering thousands of displaced Palestinians, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today said those responsible for the attack should be held accountable. The UN Chief, speaking to reporters on his arrival in Costa Rica, reiterated his call to Israel to ensure safety of United Nations sites and security of women, children and families seeking protection there. "Nothing is more shameful than attacking sleeping children. I condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms. It is outrageous. It is unjustifiable. And it demands accountability and justice...I call on the parties to stop the fighting and agree on an immediate, unconditional ceasefire," Ban said. Read more
Death toll in Gaza crosses 1,300
At least 90 Palestinians were injured and 20 killed on Wednesday at a UN-run school, in fierce fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and the death toll sharply rose to 1,321 despite the Jewish nation agreeing to observe a four-hour humanitarian pause. Read more
20 killed as deadly Israeli shelling hits UN school in Gaza; Hamas mulls truce
An Israeli shelling on a UN school in Gaza killed 20 people early on Wednesday, medics said, as Palestinian factions were to head to Cairo to discuss a temporary humanitarian ceasefire. The shell slammed into the school in northern Gaza as the conflict between Israel and Hamas entered its 23rd day, with international efforts to bring an end to the bloodshed continuing apace. Read more
Bloodiest Eid in Gaza as Israel intensifies attacks; 100 killed
Over 100 Palestinians were killed on Tuesday as fighting between Israel and Hamas intensified in Gaza after a brief lull as both sides ignored international appeal for restraint and the Jewish state warned of a "prolonged" war that has already claimed over 1,100 lives. Israel stepped up its bombardment of the Gaza Strip warning people in three densely populated areas to vacate their homes in response to rocket attacks from the Palestinian side. Read more
Gaza's sole power plant knocked out by Israeli strike
Israeli tank fire hit the fuel depot of the Gaza Strip's only power plant on Tuesday, witnesses said, cutting electricity to Gaza City and many other parts of the Palestinian enclave of 1.8 million people. Israeli tank fire hit the fuel depot of the Gaza Strip's only power plant on Tuesday, witnesses said, cutting electricity to Gaza City and many other parts of the Palestinian enclave of 1.8 million people. Read more
Israel strikes house of Hamas Gaza leader; digs in for long fight
Israeli aircraft fired a missile at the house of Hamas Gaza leader Ismail Haniyeh before dawn on Tuesday causing damage but no casualties, Gaza's interior ministry said. Read more
Despite calls for ceasefire, fighting resumes in Gaza, death toll rises to 1,046
Intense shelling resumed in Gaza tonight after a lull with Israel warning of a protracted military campaign against Hamas despite mounting international calls for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire to end the 21-day conflict. Israeli tank fire killed a four-year-old boy in the northern Gaza Strip today, the first death since the two sides began observing an unofficial lull in fighting. The latest death raised the Palestinian death toll to 1,046. Read more
Also watch: [Video] Miracle baby delivered in Gaza after mother was killed in Israeli airstrike
Israel warns of long Gaza war as Palestinian fighters cross border
A grim-faced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Monday of a protracted war in Gaza, dashing any hopes of a swift end to the three-week conflict as Palestinian fighters launched an audacious cross-border raid. The Israeli army said five of its soldiers died in two separate incidents, including four in a mortar strike. Local media also reported casualties in the infiltration, but there was no immediate confirmation of this. Inside Gaza itself, eight children and two adults were killed by a blast in a park as an unofficial truce sought by the United Nations for the Muslim Eid al-Fitr festival collapsed. Read more
Gaza fighting abates as diplomatic tension flares
Israel eased its assaults in the Gaza Strip and Palestinian rocket fire from the enclave declined sharply on Monday, the military said, with both the United States and United Nations calling for a durable ceasefire. Read more
Israel acknowledges mortar shell hit UN school in Gaza
Israel has acknowledged that troops fired a mortar shell that hit the courtyard of a UN school in Gaza last week, but said aerial footage shows the yard was empty at the time and that the shell could not have killed anyone. The shell was not fired at the school intentionally, an army spokesman said on Sunday. Read more
United Nations Security Council calls for humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza
The United Nations Security Council agreed on a statement on Sunday urging Israel, Palestinians and Islamist Hamas militants to implement a humanitarian truce beyond the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr and engage in efforts to achieve a durable ceasefire. The statement expresses strong support for "an immediate and unconditional humanitarian ceasefire, allowing for the delivery of urgently needed assistance" in Gaza, where Israeli troops and Hamas have been fighting for nearly three weeks. Read more
Anger, clashes in West Bank over Gaza destruction
While the Gaza Strip burns, the occupied West Bank is smoldering, with violent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces raising the spectre of a new popular uprising after years of relative calm. In just a three-day period late last week, 10 Palestinians died and some 600 wounded during a spate of angry protests against the prolonged military offensive in nearby Gaza. On Sunday, Israeli police said they foiled a potentially deadly attack when they stopped a car laden with explosives as its driver tried to reach Israel via a West Bank checkpoint, while riots broke out once more overnight in East Jerusalem. Read more
Tensions flare between US and Israel over mediation to end hostilities in Gaza
Israel sees no need for another Gaza ceasefire, an Israeli official was quoted as saying on Monday, as tensions between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and Washington flared over US mediation to end the almost three-week-old war. Fighting had subsided over the weekend, with the battered Palestinian enclave's dominant Hamas Islamists endorsing a UN call for a 24-hour halt ahead of Monday's Eid al-Fitr festival.
Yet Israel balked, having abandoned its own offer to extend a 12-hour truce from Saturday as Palestinian rocket launches persisted. Netanyahu's security cabinet met into the early hours of Monday to debate proposals including for an escalation of the Gaza offensive in which almost 1,100 people have died. Read more
Hamas agrees to new 24-hour truce in Gaza: Spokesman
Hamas Islamist militants on Sunday belatedly agreed to a 24-hour humanitarian truce in its conflict with Israel in the Gaza Strip that should start within the hour, the group's spokesman said on Sunday. "In response to United Nations (UN) intervention and considering the situation of our people and the occasion of Eid, it has been agreed among resistance factions to endorse a 24-hour humanitarian calm, starting from 2 p.m. on Sunday," Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters. Read more
After extending ceasefire, Israeli military resumes Gaza fighting; says Hamas ignored truce
The Israeli military started fighting again in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, saying Hamas militants had ignored a 24-hour, humanitarian ceasefire requested by the United Nations. "Following Hamas' incessant rocket fire throughout the humanitarian window, which was agreed upon for the welfare of the civilian population in Gaza, the (army) will now resume its aerial, naval and ground activity in the Gaza Strip," a military statement said. Read more
Destroy Hamas? Something worse would follow, warns Pentagon intelligence official
A top Pentagon intelligence official warned on Saturday that the destruction of Hamas would only lead to something more dangerous taking its place, as he offered a grim portrait of a period of enduring regional conflict. The remarks by Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, the outgoing head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, came as Israeli ministers signaled that a comprehensive deal to end the 20-day-old conflict in the Gaza Strip appeared remote. Read more
Israel extends Gaza humanitarian ceasefire for another 24 hours says government official
Israel's security cabinet approved extending the humanitarian ceasefire begun early on Saturday until midnight local time (2100 GMT) on Sunday, an Israeli government official said. "At the request of the United Nations, the cabinet has approved a humanitarian hiatus until tomorrow (Sunday) at 24:00. The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) will act against any breach of the ceasefire," the official, who was not named, said in a statement. Read more
Thousands ignore ban in Paris to protest Israeli offensive in Gaza
Pro-Palestinian protesters clashed with police in central Paris on Saturday when thousands of marchers defied a ban by French authorities to rally against Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip. French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve warned organisers in a television address that they would be held responsible for any clashes and could be prosecuted for ignoring a ban that was confirmed by the country's top administrative court. TV footage showed a minority of demonstrators wearing balaclavas and traditional Arab keffiyeh headdresses throwing projectiles at riot officers after two hours of peaceful protest. Read more
Israel-Gaza conflict: Gaza death toll tops 1,000 amidst 12 hour truce
Gaza residents on Saturday used a 12-hour humanitarian truce agreed to by Israel and Hamas on a UN request to pull out bodies from mounds of rubble and metal of bombed homes, as the Palestinian death toll in the conflict rose to over 1,000 with mostly civilian casualties.The discovery of the bodies under mounds of rubble had pushed the death toll to over 1,000 Palestinians killed in the coastal enclave since the conflict began on July 8. Three Israeli soldiers were killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip in the early hours of today before the humanitarian truce started, the army said. Read more
Twelve-hour 'humanitarian window' takes effect between Israel, Gaza militants; death toll reaches to 884
A 12-hour "humanitarian window" began on Saturday after Israel and militants in Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip agreed to a UN request for a pause in fighting, but a ceasefire deal still looked elusive even as the 19-day conflict has killed 884 Palestinian and 38 Israelis. Read more
Israel, Gaza militants agree to a 12-hour truce; death toll rises to 865
Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip have agreed to a UN requested 12-hour humanitarian truce to begin on Saturday morning, and efforts to secure a long-term cease-fire moved ahead. Gaza officials said five people were killed in Israeli air strikes, bringing the Palestinian death toll to 865, most of them civilians. Read more
Israel rejects ceasefire plan, death toll nears 850
Israel rejected on Friday international proposals for a ceasefire in its fight against Islamist militants in Gaza, but is discussing changes to the truce plan with US Secretary of State John Kerry, a government source said.Mediators hope that a truce could come into force ahead of a Muslim festival that starts early next week, but they have struggled to resolve seemingly irreconcilable demands from Israel and Hamas-led fighters, locked in conflict since July 8. Read more
Crunch time for Gaza truce talks as death toll passes 800, Hamas wants Gaza blockade lifted
US Secretary of State John Kerry pressed regional proxies to nail down a Gaza ceasefire on Friday as the civilian death toll soared, threatening to spread Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed to the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem. With Israel and Islamist Hamas setting seemingly irreconcilable terms for a truce that mediators hope will begin by a major Muslim festival next week, Kerry worked the phones from Egypt while aides made clear his patience was limited. Read more
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon 'shocked and appalled' by shelling of Gaza school
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon made an impassioned plea for Israel and Hamas to end their conflict and vehemently condemned the shelling of a UN-run school in the Gaza Strip on Thursday. "I was shocked and appalled by what has happened in Beit Hanoun," Ban told reporters, referring to the northern Gaza town where the attack, in which at least 15 people died according to Gaza authorities, took place. "It is totally unacceptable," he said in Cairo, before sitting down for talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry. Read More
15 killed as Israeli tanks shell United Nations run school; death toll rises to 760
Gazan authorities said Israeli forces shelled a shelter at a UN run school on Thursday, killing at least 15 people as the Palestinian death toll in the conflict climbed over 800 and attempts at a truce remained elusive. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his horror at the attack on the school at Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza strip. "Many have been killed – including women and children, as well as UN staff," he said in a statement. Read More
US lifts ban on flights to Israel as Gaza toll tops
Israel won a partial reprieve from the economic pain of its Gaza war on Thursday with the lifting of a U.S. ban on commercial flights to Tel Aviv, as fighting pushed the Palestinian death toll over 700. A truce remained elusive despite intensive mediation bids. Palestinians said residents of two southern villages were trapped by tank shelling, preventing evacuation of casualties. Read More
Also Read: German astronaut tweets rapid fire photos of Gaza & Israel from International Space Station
Gaza bloodshed deepens as airlines shun Israel
Gaza fighting raged on Wednesday, displacing thousands more Palestinians in the battered territory as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said efforts to secure a truce between Israel and Hamas had made some progress. In a blow to Israel's economy and image, American aviation authorities extended a ban on U.S. flights to Tel Aviv for a second day, spooked by rocket salvoes out of the Gaza Strip, with many other global airlines also avoiding the Jewish state. Adding to the pressure on Israel, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said there was "a strong possibility" that it was committing war crimes in Gaza, where 687 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have died in the fighting. Read more
United Nations launches probe into alleged Israeli crimes in Gaza
The United Nations on Wednesday launched an international inquiry into human rights violations and crimes that may have been committed by Israel during its military offensive in the Gaza Strip. The UN Human Rights Council condemned the Israeli assault which it said had involved "disproportionate and indiscriminate attacks", including aerial bombing of civilian areas, collective punishment, and the killing of more than 650 Palestinians.At the end of an emergency session, the 47-member forum adopted a resolution presented by Palestinians by a vote of 29 states in favour, 1 against (the United States) with 17 abstentions (including all nine European Union members). "We came here to try to achieve together with you at least minimum justice for children who are being dismembered, for women whose bodies are lying in the streets, to find some justice for those who are being exterminated," said Ibrahim Khraishi, ambassador of the Palestinian observer mission to the UN in Geneva. Read more
India's indifference hurts Palestinian businessman living in the country
For Delhi-based Palestinian businessman Abu Mazen and his family, Israeli strikes in Gaza have belied Newston's third law of motion, which speaks that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The revenge attacks that have so far killed 620 Palestinians in the bombardment is a disproportionate reaction. Hailing from Ramallah, the capital of West Bank, Mazen's phone is continuously ringing. He speaks in Arabic, yells to his wife, there is a big cry and they wipe tears. "The call was from a cousin in Gaza. My uncle had left to a local mosque for prayers. He is dead," says Mazen in a choked voice. Israel on Tuesday bombed several mosques, a hospital and a stadium in the Hamas-ruled Gaza. The conflict has claimed 29 Israelis as well. Read more
India votes in support of UNHRC resolution to launch a probe into Israel's offensive on Gaza
India along with BRICS countries on Wednesday voted in support of a UN Human Rights Council resolution to launch a probe into Israel's offensive on Gaza. India joined Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa to vote for a Palestinian-drafted resolution on "Ensuring Respect for international law in The Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jersusalem". In the 47-member council, 29 countries voted in support of the resolution while 17 nations abstained. The US was the only nation to vote against the resolution. European countries abstained. The voting came as bloodbath in the Gaza Strip continued unabated on Wednesday with Israel and Hamas refusing to back down in the 16-day conflict that has killed over 680 Palestinians and 31 Israelis.
Gaza bloodbath continues as both Israel and Hamas refuse to back down; ceasefire efforts on
Bloodbath in Gaza continued unabated on Wednesday with Israel and Hamas refusing to back down in the conflict that has killed over 660 Palestinians and 31 Israelis, even as US Secretary of State John Kerry said his ceasefire negotiations in Jerusalem were making progress.
US Secretary of State John Kerry lands in Israel to pursue Gaza ceasefire
US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Tel Aviv on Wednesday to seek ways of ending the deadliest violence in years between Israel and Gaza's Islamist Hamas. "Secretary Kerry arrived in Tel Aviv, Israel, this morning to meet with officials to discuss the ongoing ceasefire efforts," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. Read more
Paris braces for fresh pro-Gaza rally after violence, looting in anti-Israel protests
The French capital braced Wednesday for a fresh protest against the Israeli offensive in Gaza after similar rallies ended in violence and looting, raising concerns in the Jewish community about anti-Semitism. The government, whose ban on several weekend rallies failed spectacularly after they went ahead anyway and descended into chaos, decided to authorise Wednesday's protest in Paris after discussions with organisers who gave "security guarantees", Prime Minister Manuel Valls said. Read more
Germany, France, Italy condemn anti-Semitism in anti-Israel protests
The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Italy on Tuesday condemned the anti-Semitism that has marred protests against Israel's conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. On Sunday, French media showed the burnt-out front of a kosher grocery shop in the Parisian suburb of Sarcelles, which is home to a large Jewish community, and clashes between pro-Palestinian marchers and riot police outside two synagogues. Read more
Palestinians seek UN inquiry into Israel assault on Gaza
Palestinians asked the United Nations on Tuesday to investigate into "all violations" of human rights and humanitarian law that they say have been committed by Israel during its military offensive in Gaza. The draft resolution is to be debated by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday at an emergency session also requested by Egypt and Pakistan. The Palestinian observer mission to the United Nations seeks to have the 47-member forum "urgently dispatch an independent, international commission of inquiry ... to investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip, in the context of the military operations conducted since 13 June 2014 ..." Read more
604 Palestinians, 29 Israelis killed; no sign of ceasefire
Israel today stepped up its assault on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, raising the Palestinian death toll to 604 in the 15-day conflict that has also left 29 Israelis dead, even as international efforts intensified to broker a ceasefire. Israeli air strikes today destroyed several mosques and targeted a stadium and the home of a late leader of Hamas's military wing. At least five persons were killed and 70 others injured in the latest Israeli strike on a hospital in Gaza, Palestinian health ministry sources said, adding that several doctors were also wounded in the attack. Read More
583 Palestinians, 27 IDF soldiers killed; no sign of ceasefire
Israeli air strikes today killed seven people in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, raising the Palestinian toll to 583 in the 15-day conflict that has also left 27 Israeli soldiers dead, even as international efforts to forge a ceasefire continues in Qatar and Egypt. The IDF today announced that nine soldiers were killed yesterday, raising the number of Israeli military fatalities since the operation commenced to 27. One of the IDF soldiers has been classified as "missing" in Gaza, the army confirmed today. Read more
Read Also: Israel army confirms soldier 'kidnapped' by Hamas is dead
Israel presses blistering attack on Gaza, toll rises to 572
A day after Israel's deadliest attack on Gaza in recent years killed about 150 people, more than 10 Hamas militants were shot dead today after infiltrating southern Israel. Two Hamas cells tried to infiltrate Israel to carry out an attack through tunnels from northern Gaza but they were identified by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and an aircraft was dispatched to intercept them, the army said. "The first cell was struck from the air, and ten of its members were killed," it said. The second squad tried to approach Niram kibbutz close to Gaza's northeastern tip, where they were engaged in a fierce gun battle in which they also fired anti-tank weapons. Several soldiers were wounded, the army said, without giving further details. Read more
No condemning Israel, says Sushma Swaraj in Rajya Sabha
Minister for external affairs Sushma Swaraj displayed a cool attitude as the discussion on the Israeli attacks on civilians in the Gaza Strip, scheduled to be of half-an-hour stretched to over two-and-half-hours, from noon till a little over three in the Rajya Sabha on Monday. Then she replied to the discussion saying that it would have been better if the opposition had demanded a ceasefire and an end to the killings instead of demanding a resolution condemning Israel. She said that she would go with the Leftist poet Sahir Ludhianvi's poem against war, quoted by Nationalist Congress Party's Majid Memon, and she quoted another quatrain from the poet, condemning war and violence. Read more
Israel presses blistering attack on Gaza, toll rises to 524
A day after Israel's deadliest attack on Gaza in recent years killed about 150 people, more than 10 Hamas militants were shot dead today after infiltrating southern Israel. Two Hamas cells tried to infiltrate Israel to carry out an attack through tunnels from northern Gaza but they were identified by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and an aircraft was dispatched to intercept them, the army said.
UN Security Council calls for immediate ceasefire as Gaza toll rises to 501
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Monday called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, even as UN chief Ban Ki-moon met Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Qatar in the first leg of his Middle East tour which aims to end the escalating conflict that has killed 501 Palestinians and 20 Israelis. The powerful 15-nation Council held a late-night emergency meeting here yesterday and expressed serious concern about the escalation of violence in and around Gaza. The Palestinian death toll today rose to 501 after bodies of 16 people who were killed in an Israeli air strike on a house in the south of the Gaza Strip were found this morning. Israel has said its 18 soldiers have been killed since the ground operation began last week, the largest number of Israeli soldiers killed in combat since the 2006 Lebanon war. Read more
Turkish PM's anti-Israel rhetoric "anti-Semitic" - Benjamin Netanyahu
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's comparison of Israel's offensive in Hamas-controlled Gaza to the Nazis was "anti-Semitic in tone," the Israeli leader said on Sunday. "I heard the things the prime minister of Turkey said, words of the utmost gravity," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters. "I told (US Secretary of State) John Kerry, (these are) anti-Semitic statements, they have an anti-Semitic tone." Read more
French youth, police clash at anti-Israeli protest
Pro-Palestinian French youth defying a ban on a protest against Israel's Gaza offensive clashed with police, setting fire to cars, pillaging stores and attacking two synagogues in Paris suburbs. Police, backed by a helicopter overhead, responded with tear gas and shots from non-lethal guns during hours of unrest in the northern suburb of Sarcelles, home to a large Jewish community. The unrest was the second time in two days that pro-Palestinian demonstrations in France turned violent. The demonstration, like the one in Paris on Saturday, had been banned to ensure peace. France has Western Europe's largest Muslim and Jewish populations, and crises in the Middle East, like the one triggered by the Gaza offensive, often spill into France. Read more
Israel expands Gaza offensive, death toll spirals to 435
Israel's fiercest attack on Gaza in recent years killed 97 people today as the Palestinian death toll in the conflict rose to 435, and also left 13 Israeli soldiers dead in the air and ground assault. The bloodiest day in 13 days of fighting prompted urgent efforts by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to broker a temporary ceasefire to allow evacuation of the dead and wounded in a deal accepted by both Israel and Hamas. However, the humanitarian ceasefire was short-lived as the Israeli army accused Hamas militants of violating it and said it had "responded accordingly". "Once more, Hamas breaches ceasefire, this time brokered by the ICRC for a humanitarian hiatus. IDF responding accordingly," army spokesman Peter Lerner said on his official Twitter account, 40 minutes into the truce. Read more
Four Indian tailors evacuated from Gaza
Four Indian tailors working in Gaza for the last two years have been evacuated unharmed with the help of the Representative Office of India (ROI) in Ramallah, a top UN official said. The four, Abdur Rehman from Lucknow, Anwar Hussein belonging to Mumbai, Kamil hailing from Badam Ganj and Rashid Ahmed of Bareilly were working for a Palestinian businessman. They left the strip yesterday, one of the bloodiest day in the 13 days of conflict that saw 97 Palestinians and 13 Israeli soldiers dead in one of the fiercest attack launched by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in recent years. They had moved to Gaza two years ago from Qatar. Read more
Benjamin Netanyahu: Israel will do whatever it takes to restore calm in Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel will take "whatever action is necessary" to halt Hamas cross-border rocket attacks from Gaza and restore calm but insisted his forces were doing their utmost to avoid civilian casualties there. "We try to target military targets and unfortunately there are civilian casualties which we regret and we don't seek," Netanyahu told CNN shortly after an Israeli attack on a Gaza neighborhood killed at least 62 Palestinians. Read More
Israel expands Gaza offensive, death toll spirals past 410
Over 60 Palestinians were killed today in Israel's fiercest attack on Gaza in recent years, as the death toll in the conflict spiralled past 410 after the Israeli air and ground assault was expanded to pound Hamas targets. The bloodiest day in the 13 days of conflict prompted urgent efforts by the International Committee of the Red Cross to broker a temporary ceasefire to allow evacuation of the dead and wounded in a deal accepted by both Israel and Hamas. However, the humanitarian ceasefire was short-lived as the Israeli army accused Hamas militants of violating it and said it had "responded accordingly". Read More
United States Secretary of State John Kerry defends Israeli effort to stem rocket, tunnel attacks
Two hour 'humanitarian truce' in Gaza collapses
Fighting resumed in the Gaza neighborhood of Shejaia on Sunday less than an hour after a "humanitarian truce" was agreed to allow the evacuation of wounded from the area. Read More
12:40 pm IST Sunday, 20 July 2014:
Palestinian children tortured, used as shields by Israel says UN report
A United Nations human rights body accused Israeli forces on Thursday of mistreating Palestinian children, including by torturing those in custody and using others as human shields. Read more
Gaza toll hits 355 on day 12, United Nation chief heads to region
Fresh Israeli bombardments on Sunday killed at least 12 people in Gaza, medics said, as the army intensified a 13-day campaign against the besieged Palestinian territory. Today's deaths brought the toll to 355 Palestinians and five Israelis who have died since the operation began on July 8. Heavy artillery shelling east of Gaza City early in the morning killed at least five people, emergency spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said. Read more
5 bodies pulled from Gaza home hit in Israeli air strike as toll mounts to 312: Ban Ki-Moon heads to bolster truce efforts
The bodies of five Palestinians were pulled from the rubble of a home destroyed in an overnight Israeli air strike on southern Gaza, medics said on Saturday. The bodies were recovered from an area east of Khan Yunis, raising the death toll in Gaza from 12 days of violence between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to 312, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said. UN chief Ban Ki-moon headed to the region to bolster truce efforts. Read more
Israel-Palestine conflict: Palestinian civilian toll mounts to 291; Hamas continues battle
Israel warned on Friday it could "significantly widen" a Gaza land offensive but was cautioned by its main ally, the United States, about the risks of further escalation as Palestinian civilian deaths mounted. Palestinian officials said 58 Palestinians, at least 15 of them under the age of 18, have been killed since Israel sent ground forces on Thursday into the densely-populated enclave of 1.8 million Palestinians. Read more
Israel resumes airstrikes as five-hour temporary truce ends
A five-hour ceasefire was observed on the request of the United Nations for humanitarian reasons, but hostilities quickly resumed after it ended. Four children were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the heart of Gaza city. Two Palestinians were injured in another airstrike. At least three mortar shells were fired from Gaza during the ceasefire, and the Israeli military said a soldier was injured by an explosion during an "operational activity" near southern Gaza. Troops responded with mortar fire, the Israel Defense Forces said. Read more
Five-hour humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza goes into force
A five-hour humanitarian truce agreed by Israel and Hamas came into force on Thursday, hours after the Israeli military said it fought Palestinian gunmen who infiltrated from Gaza. About a dozen Palestinian fighters tunnelled under the border, emerging near an Israeli community, and at least one was killed after Israeli aircraft bombed the group, the military said. Read more
As ceasefire collapses, Israel targets top Hamas leader; death toll reached 200
Israel resumed its air strikes in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday a day after holding its fire in deference to an Egyptian-proposed cease-fire deal that failed to get Hamas militants to halt rocket attacks. New Israeli air strikes in Gaza in the early hours of Wednesday killed several people, and destroyed the house of Mahmoud Zahar - who is believed to be in hiding elsewhere - in the first apparent targeting of a top Hamas political leader. Read more
Hamas rejects Egyptian proposed ceasefire; Death toll reaches 192
Israel on Tuesday accepted an Egyptian-proposed ceasefire plan to halt its deadly offensive on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip but the Palestinian militant groups rejected it calling it a "surrender", even as the death toll in the nine-day long conflict rose to 192. Despite Hamas' rejection of the ceasefire proposal, which got into effect at 9 AM local time, the truce has largely held itself with several hours of lull in violence since morning. Read more
Protest outside Israel Embassy; several detained
According to police, 54 protesters, including students of Jawaharlal Nehru University and several social activists, were detained for staging the protest outside Israel Embassy demanding an end to Israel's air strikes in Gaza which have resulted in high civilian casualties. The call for the protest was given by JNU Students' Union. As the protesters marched towards the embassy on Aurangzeb Road, they were stopped by police, who put up barricades. That led to a scuffle following which 54 of the protesters were taken to Tughlaq Road police station. Read more
Israel's Gaza bombing forces friend India to tread balanced path
Even though Israel had found brighter horizon with the assumption of office in New Delhi by its old friend Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expecting political content of the relations to grow, its bombardment in Gaza has forced India to tread a cautious path. Modi’s key aides say, they need to tread a fine balance between the relations with Israel, which is the only democratic country in the region and supplier of military hardware and technology to India and its Arab neighbours, who are source of India’s energy requirements. Read more
Israel's Gaza offensive may not be legal, says UN human rights chief
The United Nations (UN) human rights chief on Friday voiced serious doubts that Israeli's military operation against Gaza complied with international law banning the targeting of civilians, and called on both sides to step back from the brink. International law requires Israel to take all measures to ensure that its attacks are proportional, distinguish between military and civilian objects, and avoid civilian casualties, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said. Read more
Israel bombards Gaza as militants' rocket fire reaches Tel Aviv
At least 16 people were killed in strikes across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Palestinian officials said, as Israel threatened a lengthy offensive against Islamist militants whose rocket fire reached as far as Tel Aviv. Israelis ran for cover as sirens sounded in the business capital, in the deepest attack from Gaza since hostilities flared three weeks ago after the abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers. Air raid sirens later sounded in Jerusalem. Read more
Israel launches military offensive against Gaza militants
Israel launched an aerial offensive in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, bombing more than 30 targets including homes and calling it part of a campaign named "Operation Protective Edge" targeting Hamas Islamist militants firing rockets at the Jewish state. The military urged Israelis within a 40-km (24-mile) radius of the southern coastal territory to stay within reach of protected areas and ordered summer camps shut as a precaution against rocket fire. Read more
BACKSTORY
The discovery of the boys' bodies, one 19-year-old and the other two aged 16 years, came 17 days after they disappeared, triggering a huge manhunt during which five Palestinians were killed and more than 400 arrested. Israeli public radio said the youths were apparently shot dead shortly after they were snatched.
Israel has vowed to make Hamas pay for the murder of three kidnapped Israeli teenagers, but the Islamist movement warned any reprisal attacks would open "the gates of hell". Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday evening the discovery of the three bodies in a field in the southern West Bank. Hamas, which had denied any involvement in the abduction of the teenage boys, issued a warning in return to the Israelis. "If the occupiers carry out an escalation or a war, they will open the gates of hell on themselves," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.
The Israeli roundup, mainly of people linked to Hamas brought a wave of rocket attacks against southern Israel by militants in the Gaza Strip, answered in turn by Israeli air strikes. Shortly afterwards the Palestinian interior ministry reported around 30 Israeli air strikes on deserted militant training sites across Gaza but there were no immediate reports of casualties. The Israeli military said in a statement that aircraft hit 34 targets.
Revenge killing - Palestinian teen shot dead
In the northern West Bank, Israeli troops shot dead a young Palestinian during a raid into the Jenin refugee camp, Palestinian security and medical officials said. They named the dead youth Yusuf Abu Zagher, 18. An Israeli military spokeswoman said he was a Hamas operative about to hurl an explosive device at troops sent to arrest him. "They opened fire and confirmed a hit," she said. Initial autopsy findings from the body of an East Jerusalem youth who Palestinians believe was kidnapped and killed by far-right Jews showed that he was burned alive, the Palestinian attorney-general is reported as saying.
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Why India will maintain ambiguity over Israel-Gaza situation
The Indian parliament witnessed a day of ruckus after the government “blocked” a debate in the Rajya Sabha on the Israel-Gaza situation. The reason given to block such a debate during the house’s question and answer hour was that the government did not want “discourteous” reference to any friendly countries. “We have diplomatic ties with both (Israel and Palestine) nations. Any discourteous reference to any friendly country can impact our relations with them,” said an unamused external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj. Read more
Why Israel's #SderotCinema – people gathering to watch live bombing of Gaza – should make us all uncomfortable
An image surfaced on the internet a few days ago. It showed a group of people, across different age groups, on a hill top, in what seemed to be an innocent gathering of friends and family, a barbecue perhaps. However, a closer inspection of the image reveals that the group is witnessing what could possibly be explosions and gunfire in the distance. This, allegedly, is the Sderot cinema: a gathering of Israeli locals in Sderot city to watch the ongoing live bombing of Gaza.
Hacker Group Anonymous launches #OpSaveGaza, an intensive online offensive against Israel
Even as Israel has intensified its ground offensives against Hamas in Gaza, killing over 312 Palestinians, Gaza finds an unlikely ally in the international hacker's group Anonymous. In an online offensive against Israel, the global hacker group took down hundreds of Israeli websites including that of Tel Aviv Police Department, which is still not available, at the time of writing this report. Read more
