Israeli strikes on Gaza intensify as Western allies pile pressure on Tel Aviv to limit civilian casualties
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to meet Turkey’s foreign minister in Ankara, hours after hundreds of people at a pro-Palestinian protest tried to storm an air base that houses US troops in southern Turkey.
Israel rejects US push to pause fighting, scales up airstrikes on Gaza as death toll nears 10,000
Airstrikes hit the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza overnight, killing at least 40 people and wounding 34 others, the Health Ministry said. It said first responders and residents were still digging through the rubble, hoping to find survivors.
UN drugs office says Afghanistan opium crop dropped by 95 per cent after Taliban ban
The sharp decline could have major consequences for the economy in a country where around two-thirds of the population are already in need of humanitarian aid, the report said.
Middle East experts pinpoint how Hamas lured Israel into war that will suck in wider Muslim world
Hamas, which rules Gaza, has stockpiled weapons, missiles, food and medical supplies, according to the people, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the situation. The group is confident its thousands of fighters can survive for months in a city of tunnels carved deep beneath the Palestinian enclave and frustrate Israeli forces with urban guerrilla tactics, the people told Reuters.
Trapped in hell: Why Gaza City residents can’t evacuate south, won’t find safety in the north
Weeks after ordering northern Gaza’s 1.1 million inhabitants to evacuate south, the Israeli army is intensifying its bombardment of the area that stretches down toward the wetlands of Wadi Gaza, in the central strip. Israeli soldiers are also battling Hamas militants in close quarters just north of Gaza City – the start of what is expected to be a long and bloody ground invasion.
Healthcare workers in hospitals suffer trauma, burnout and loss as Israel bombards Gaza
Hospitals that remain functional are only operating at one third of their normal staffing levels due to the high number of medical workers who have been displaced and killed, according to a situation report from the UN’s emergency aid coordination body, OCHA.
Israeli ground troops advance into Gaza City, create corridor for foreign nationals and injured Palestinians to escape
Several hundred thousand Palestinians remain in northern Gaza in the path of the fighting. Casualties on both sides are expected to rise as Israeli troops advance toward the dense residential neighbourhoods of Gaza City. Israeli officials say Hamas’ military infrastructure, including tunnels, is concentrated in the city.
US’ strong backing of Israel’s war against Hamas baffles allies who can’t predict Washington’s next move
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has governed semi-autonomous areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank since Hamas expelled his forces from Gaza, is already deeply unpopular with the Palestinian public.
Netanyahu: Usually cool and assured, the Israel PM has become erratic and abuses ministers in public
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu built his reputation as a security hawk on the back of his service in an elite special forces unit that carried out some of Israel’s most daring hostage rescues. His legacy as his country’s longest serving leader will now be shaped by one of the worst...
Israel says it killed Hamas commander during strikes on crowded Gaza refugee camp
Israel sent its forces into Gaza following weeks of air bombardments in retaliation for the attack by Iran-backed Hamas, and an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) statement said the airstrikes on Jabalia, Gaza’s largest refugee camp, had killed Ibrahim Biari, a Hamas commander it said was “pivotal” in the planning and execution of the assault.
