Palestinian medics report Israeli tanks pushing deeper into Rafah, where they killed eight people
Israeli forces have laid waste to much of Gaza and seized most of the Palestinian territory but have yet to achieve Israel’s stated goal of wiping out Hamas and freeing Israeli hostages. Medics and Hamas media said eight Palestinians were killed in Al-Mawasi and many families fled north in panic. They did not identify the fatalities, and the Israeli military said it was looking into the report.
Bloody Feast of Sacrifice: How Gaza war turned usually joyous Eid al-Adha Muslim holiday into misery
Muslims around the world will celebrate the four-day Eid al-Adha, the Feast of the Sacrifice, early in the week. It commemorates the Prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son, Ismail, as recounted in the Quran. In the Jewish and Christian traditions, Abraham is called to sacrifice his other son, Isaac.
Hajj pilgrimage opens in Mecca against backdrop of carnage in Gaza as Israel shows no signs of let up
It is a moving spiritual experience for pilgrims who believe it absolves sins and brings them closer to God, while uniting the world’s more than two billion Muslims. It’s also a chance to pray for peace in many conflict-stricken Arab and Muslim countries, including Yemen and Sudan, where more than a year of war between rival generals created the world’s largest displacement crisis.
Hezbollah vows to escalate strikes on Israel in retaliation for killing of its senior commander
The Israeli strike in the south Lebanon village of Jouaiyya late on Tuesday killed three Hezbollah fighters alongside the senior field commander Taleb Abdallah, also known as Abu Taleb, Israel and three security sources in Lebanon said. He was the most senior Hezbollah commander killed during eight months of hostilities, one of the sources said.
Pressure builds as UN warns Gaza civilian deaths in Israel’s hostage raid may constitute war crimes
In response to the statement, Israel’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva accused of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights of “slandering Israel”.
Israel military kills 274 Palestinian civilians in central Gaza in hostage rescue raid
Israel’s military said a special forces officer was killed in exchanges of fire with militants emerging from cover in residential blocks, and that it knew of “under 100” Palestinians killed, although did not how many of them were fighters or civilians.
Spain applies to be enjoined in South Africa’s case at World Court that accuses Israel of genocide
Mexico, Colombia, Nicaragua, Libya and the Palestinians have already requested to join the case currently being heard at the court in The Hague, Netherlands. The court has ordered Israel to immediately halt its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah but stopped short of ordering a ceasefire for the enclave. Israel has not complied.
US, Israeli intelligence agencies claim diminished Hamas has switched to full insurgency in Gaza
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government are under pressure from Washington to agree to a ceasefire plan to end the war, which began on October 7 when Hamas fighters stormed into southern Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and seizing over 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Experts: Hamas’ post-Gaza war plan includes reconciliation with ruling Fatah party in Palestine to buy time to rearm
Western states support the idea of post-war Gaza being run by a revamped Palestinian Authority (PA); the administration led by Abbas that has limited self-rule over patches of the West Bank. Based in Ramallah, the PA is broadly acknowledged globally as representing the Palestinians and receives security assistance from the United States and the EU.
Netanyahu rubbishes calls for permanent peace as mediators urge Israel and Hamas to finalise Biden’s Gaza peace plan
The US, Egypt and Qatar have been seeking for months to mediate an end to the war, but a deal has proven elusive. The proposal, Biden said, also “creates a better ‘day after’ in Gaza without Hamas in power”. He did not elaborate on how that might be achieved. The Iranian-backed Islamist group has given no indication it might step aside or disarm voluntarily.
