Hope amid ruins: Gaza sleeps without fear
12 hours ago
JERUSALEM (AA) – The Israeli army has announced that a paratrooper commander was killed in clashes with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, bringing their total death toll since October 7 to 466. The army said in a statement that Major Reserve Orel Cohen, 33, of the Givati Brigade, was killed in a battle in southern […]
WASHINGTON (AA) – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said Israel’s war on Gaza “needs to move“ and “will move to a lower intensity phase.” “We expect to see, and want to see, a shift to more targeted operations, with a smaller number of forces that are really focused on dealing with the […]
WASHINGTON (AA) – The vote on a UN Security Council resolution calling for a suspension of hostilities in Gaza to deliver aid was postponed on Wednesday for the third day in a row. On Thursday, 15 members of the Council are expected to vote on the resolution, which was first postponed on Monday. The text, […]
WASHINGTON (AA) – US President Joe Biden threw cold water Wednesday on prospects for a new deal to secure the release of Israelis held by Hamas, but maintained his senior officials are continuing to pursue a breakthrough. Asked about the prospects for a deal materializing anytime soon, Biden told reporters, “there’s no expectation ...
JERUSALEM (AA) – Communications and internet services were completely cut off Wednesday in wide areas of the Gaza Strip amid Israeli airstrikes in various parts of the enclave. This marks the seventh outage in the Palestinian territory since Oct. 7, Jawwal and Paltel telecom providers said in a statement. In the six previous outages, fix...
Palestinian Territories – AFP The leader of Hamas travelled to Egypt on Wednesday as hopes grew that Israel and the Palestinian group may be inching toward another truce and prisoner swap deal. The Qatar-based Hamas chief, Ismail Haniyeh, arrived in Cairo for discussions on the “aggression in the Gaza Strip and other matters”...
ANKARA (AA) – The Israeli army has turned the Al-Awda Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip into a “military barracks,” says the Health Ministry in the besieged Palestinian enclave. In a statement, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said the Israeli army is holding 240 Palestinians, including 80 medical staff, 40 patients and 120 displaced...
ISTANBUL (AA) – An Israeli woman who was freed in a recent prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas says her mother was killed and she was wounded when Israeli forces opened fire on the vehicle in which they were abducted. In an interview that aired on Israel’s Channel 12, the woman recounted being taken by […]
United Nations, United States – AFP Israel’s steps to allow aid into Gaza are “far short of what is needed,” senior United Nations official Tor Wennesland said on Tuesday. “The delivery of humanitarian aid in the (Gaza) Strip continues to face nearly insurmountable challenges,” said Wennesland, the organizat...
GENEVA – AFP UNICEF spokesperson James Elder, who spent nearly two weeks in Gaza, said at a press briefing in Geneva that he was “furious that those with power shrug at the humanitarian nightmares unleashed on a million children” in Gaza. He spoke of the fate of children hospitalised after having undergone amputations and who...
