Tag: conflict

Ground battles rage in Gaza as communications cut off

By Adel Zaanoun GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Oct 28, 2023 (AFP) – Battles were raging in Gaza early on Saturday, as Israel expanded its ground operations and cut communications to the Palestinian territory, three weeks after the deadliest attack in the country’s history. The United Nations warned of a looming “unprecedented avalanche of human suffering” inside the Gaza Strip, following weeks of relentless bombing by Israel, while the General Assembly pushed for an “immediate humanitarian […]

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Foreign victims of deadly Hamas attack

PARIS, France, Oct 27, 2023 (AFP) – Numerous foreigners were killed, taken hostage or listed as missing after the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas launched a major attack on Israel on October 7. More than 1,400 people, mainly civilians, were killed by Hamas militants during the attack launched from Gaza, many of them shot dead, burned alive or mutilated, Israeli authorities say. The militants have also taken nearly 230 people hostage, including Israelis, foreigners and dual […]

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EU urges ‘corridors and pauses’ as UN warns ‘nowhere’ safe in Gaza

By Adel ZAANOUN KHAN YUNIS, Palestinian Territories, Oct 27, 2023 (AFP) – EU leaders have demanded “humanitarian corridors and pauses” in Israel’s war against Hamas, urging aid access for civilians trapped in besieged Gaza, where the United Nations says “nowhere is safe.” Concern is growing about the regional fallout from the conflict, with Washington warning Iran against escalation while striking facilities in Syria it says were used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and others. […]

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel ‘preparing’ Gaza ground war

By Rosie Scammell in Jerusalem with Adel Zaanoun in Gaza JERUSALEM, Oct 26, 2023 (AFP) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel is readying a ground war in Gaza, pressing ahead with plans that have troubled allies and threaten to worsen an already cascading humanitarian crisis. Facing ever-louder international calls to temper Israel’s ferocious 19-day bombing campaign in the Hamas-controlled territory, Netanyahu delivered a nationally televised address. He told fellow Israelis still grieving […]

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EU leaders eye call for ‘humanitarian pause’ in Gaza

By Max DELANY BRUSSELS, Oct 26, 2023 (AFP) – EU leaders will on Thursday debate calling for a “humanitarian pause” in Israel’s war with Hamas, as the bloc grapples with another conflict on its fringes alongside Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The European Union has struggled for both unity and influence in the face of the crisis that has engulfed the Middle East since Hamas launched its surprise attack on Israel on October 7. The surge […]

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UN Security Council votes down both US and Russia’s resolutions on Gaza war

UNITED NATIONS, United States, Oct 25, 2023 (AFP) – The UN Security Council on Wednesday failed again to take action on the Israel-Hamas war, with Russia and China vetoing a US-led draft resolution and a text led by Moscow drawing insufficient support. The rival powers went ahead and put forward texts doomed to defeat despite what diplomats said was a last-ditch effort led by France to delay a vote and work toward consensus. The United […]

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Moscow test fires missiles, practicing retaliatory nuclear strike as it moves closer to scrapping nuclear test ban treaty

MOSCOW, Oct 25, 2023 (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw ballistic missile drills Wednesday, the Kremlin said, with Moscow’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu announcing forces will practise a “massive” retaliatory nuclear strike. The exercises came after Moscow moved to revoke a key nuclear test ban treaty, 20 months into Russia’s Ukraine offensive. During the dragging conflict, Putin and Russian officials have given mixed signals about the possible use of nuclear weapons, prompting alarm in […]

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Israel-Hamas war already hitting regional economies: IMF chief

By Robbie COREY-BOULET RIYADH, Oct 25, 2023 (AFP) – The raging war between Israel and Hamas is already battering the economies of nearby countries, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund told a Saudi investor forum on Wednesday. Israel’s neighbours are feeling the effects, especially those that rely on tourism, Kristalina Georgieva said at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) in the Saudi capital Riyadh. “You look at the neighbouring countries — Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan […]

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UN warns Gaza fuel shortage will stop aid work by end of day

By Adel ZAANOUN with Rosie SCAMMELL in Jerusalem GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Oct 25, 2023 (AFP) – The main UN aid agency in besieged Gaza warned it will have to stop operations by the end of Wednesday because it is running out of fuel as Hamas said the death toll from Israeli strikes had surged by more than 700 in a single day. Alarm has grown about the spiralling humanitarian crisis in the heavily bombarded […]

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Russia’s Shoigu says Moscow exhausting Ukrainian army

MOSCOW, Oct 25, 2023 (AFP) – Russia claimed Wednesday it was exhausting Ukraine’s army, 20 months into a conflict in which neither side has made recent significant gains. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu made the comments during a visit to east Ukraine, the defence ministry said Wednesday. “The situation today suggests the enemy has fewer and fewer opportunities. And they will continue to be reduced, thanks exclusively to your combat work,” Shoigu told Russian soldiers. […]

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Israel-Hamas war threatens world economy, bankers tell Saudi forum

By Robbie COREY-BOULET and Haitham EL-TABEI RIYADH, Oct 24, 2023 (AFP) – The Gaza war raging between Israel and Hamas could deal a heavy blow to the global economy, banking titans told a glitzy investment forum in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. The dour mood from some of the gathering’s most high-profile speakers underscored how the conflict threatens attempts by the world’s biggest oil exporter to diversify its economy away from fossil fuels. Hamas militants who […]

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Freed Israeli ‘went through hell’ in attack, treated well in Gaza

By Valerie Leroux and Claire Gounon JERUSALEM, Oct 24, 2023 (AFP) – An 85-year-old Israeli freed after more than two weeks of captivity by Hamas militants in war-torn Gaza said on Tuesday “I went through hell” during her abduction. International pressure has built for the release of the more than 200 other Israeli and foreign nationals still trapped inside Gaza amid withering Israeli bombardment sparked by the deadly Hamas attacks of October 7. Israel was […]

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