BET SHEMESH, Israel, Nov 14, 2023 (AFP) – Israeli police said Tuesday they were investigating “several cases” of alleged sexual violence against women by Hamas militants during the October 7 attacks, citing “multiple witnesses” to incidents of rape. Since the Hamas attack, police have been gathering evidence about allegations of sexual violence from witnesses, surveillance footage and the interrogations of Palestinian militants arrested in the aftermath. “We have no living victims who said ‘we have […]
Tag: Hamas
Israeli tanks at gates of Gaza hospital, Biden urges care
By Adel Zaanoun with Sarah Benhaida in Jerusalem GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Nov 14, 2023 (AFP) – With tanks massed at the gates of Gaza’s largest hospital, US President Joe Biden pressed Israeli allies to protect civilians, who on Tuesday were trapped inside with dwindling supplies of fuel and water. After days of heavy air strikes around Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital, witnesses said tanks and armoured vehicles were metres from the gate of the besieged […]
North Gaza hospitals ‘out of service’ as fighting rages
By Adel Zaanoun with Sarah Benhaida in Jerusalem GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Nov 13, 2023 (AFP) – The hospitals in northern Gaza have been forced out of service amid fuel shortages and intense combat, with the death toll inside the territory’s largest facility rising, the Hamas-run health ministry said Monday. Israel argues its Hamas enemies built their military headquarters under the Al-Shifa hospital complex, while UN agencies and doctors in the facility warned a lack […]
Russia says sent 25 tonnes of aid for Gaza
MOSCOW, Nov 10, 2023 (AFP) – Russia said on Friday it had sent 25 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Egypt to be delivered to the Gaza Strip, which has been under near-total siege and relentless bombardment. Since October 9, when Israel placed the Palestinian territory under a “total siege”, only very limited quantities of basic human necessities like water, food and medicine have been allowed into Gaza. About 500 aid trucks have been allowed into […]
Netanyahu rules out ceasefire, says no plans to occupy Gaza
WASHINGTON, Nov 10, 2023 (AFP) – Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled out a ceasefire in Gaza on Thursday, saying the military was performing “exceptionally well,” but insisted Israel does not plan to reoccupy the Palestinian territory. “A ceasefire with Hamas means surrender,” he told Fox News, adding there was no “timetable” for the military offensive. “I think the Israeli army is performing exceptionally well,” he added. “However long it takes, we’ll do it.” Israel […]
Drone hits Israel school, army says, as Yemen’s Huthis claim missile
EILAT, Israel, Nov 9, 2023 (AFP) – A drone on Thursday hit a school in the southern Israeli resort of Eilat and Israeli air defences later intercepted a missile over the Red Sea, the military said. Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels said they had launched “a barrage of ballistic missiles” at southern Israel, but did not mention drones in their statement. No one was physically hurt in the explosion at the Eilat elementary school caused by […]
G7 backs ‘humanitarian pauses’ in Gaza, reaffirms Ukraine support
By Bernd FISCHALECK, Leon BRUNEAU TOKYO, Nov 8, 2023 (AFP) – G7 foreign ministers said Wednesday that they supported “humanitarian pauses and corridors” in the Hamas-Israel war but refrained from calling for a ceasefire. The group also said after talks in Japan that their support for Ukraine in its war with Russia “will never waver” while calling on China not to support Moscow in the conflict. “We stress the need for urgent action to address […]
Thousands flee as Israel tightens ‘stranglehold’ around Gaza City
By Adel Zaanoun with Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Nov 8, 2023 (AFP) – Thousands of Palestinians were fleeing on foot Wednesday in a surge away from the fighting and intense bombardment in Gaza as Israel said it was tightening the “stranglehold” around Hamas. People walked south from Gaza City, many with nothing but the clothes they wore, while combat raged over a month after the Hamas attacks that killed 1,400 […]
Gaza-Egypt border reopens for evacuations: officials
ISMAILIA, Egypt, Nov 6, 2023 (AFP) – The Rafah crossing between the bombarded Gaza Strip and Egypt reopened Monday to allow the evacuation of foreigners, dual nationals and wounded Palestinians, the Hamas government and an Egyptian official said. The terminal was opened for three days on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday last week to allow dozens of wounded Palestinians and hundreds of foreign passport holders to cross before closing Saturday and Sunday amid a dispute over […]
Israel minister reprimanded over Gaza nuclear ‘option’ comment
JERUSALEM, Nov 5, 2023 (AFP) – An Israeli minister was suspended from government meetings “until further notice” Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said, after suggesting in an interview dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza. The comments by Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu advocating a fierce military response to Hamas’s October 7 attacks even at the cost of the lives of hostages believed to be held in Gaza also drew rebuke from families of the captives. […]
Israel, Lebanon’s Hezbollah in cross-border clashes
JERUSALEM, Nov 4, 2023 (AFP) – The Israeli military and powerful Lebanese movement Hezbollah engaged in cross-border clashes on Saturday, with each claiming to have hit the other’s positions along the frontier. The latest skirmishes came a day after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned that the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip could turn into a regional conflict if Israel pushed on with its offensive in the Palestinian territory. On Saturday, the […]
‘Significant’ pause needed in Mideast conflict to win hostages’ release: US
WASHINGTON, Nov 3, 2023 (AFP) – Talks are being held on a “very significant” pause in the Middle East conflict to win the release of dozens of hostages taken by Palestinian militant group Hamas, a senior US official said Friday. “It is something that is under a very serious and active discussion. But there is no agreement as of yet to actually get this done,” the official said, as fighting between US ally Israel and […]





