By Gregory WALTON, Amelie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS UNITED NATIONS, United States, Dec 20, 2023 (AFP) – The United Nations Security Council was due to vote Wednesday on a much-delayed resolution calling for a pause to the Israel-Hamas war after members wrangled over wording while aid efforts in the Gaza Strip neared collapse. The humanitarian situation in Gaza was rapidly deteriorating, with a senior UN official saying Israel’s steps to allow in aid were “far short” of mounting […]
Tag: Hamas
Israel army says biggest Hamas tunnel found
By Adel Zaanoun with Laurie Churchman in Jerusalem GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Dec 17, 2023 (AFP) – Israel’s army said Sunday it had found a vast Hamas tunnel as it pressed its offensive in Gaza despite growing international calls for a ceasefire and pleas from relatives to bring home the remaining hostages. The bloodiest ever Gaza war began with unprecedented Hamas attacks on southern Israel on October 7 and has devastated much of the Palestinian […]
Netanyahu vows to keep up military pressure on Hamas despite hostage deaths
By Stuart White with Adel Zaanoun in Gaza Strip JERUSALEM, Dec 16, 2023 (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Saturday to keep up the military pressure on Hamas, despite anguished appeals from relatives of hostages held in Gaza for a return to negotiations after friendly fire killed three captives. The Israeli army revealed earlier that the three hostages were carrying a white flag and cried for help in Hebrew, when they were mistakenly […]
Israel bombs Gaza as rift with US grows
By Mai Yaghi with Rosie Scammell in Jerusalem GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Dec 14, 2023 (AFP) – Israel bombed Gaza on Thursday as a top White House advisor was due to arrive in Jerusalem with a rift growing over US calls for its ally to exercise restraint. The war, now in its third month, began after the October 7 attacks on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas that Israeli officials say killed 1,200 people, mostly […]
Israel bombs south Gaza after Hamas hostage threat
By Mai Yaghi with Chloe Rouveyrolles-Bazire in Jerusalem GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Dec 11, 2023 (AFP) – Israel bombed southern Gaza’s main city on Monday after Hamas warned no Israeli hostages would leave the territory alive unless its demands for prisoner releases were met. Hamas triggered the conflict when the group carried out the deadliest-ever attack on Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures, and taking about 240 hostages back to […]
Hamas warns hostages doomed unless demands met
By Mai Yaghi with Chloe Rouveyrolles-Bazire in Jerusalem GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Dec 10, 2023 (AFP) – Hamas warned Sunday that no hostages would leave Gaza alive unless its demands for prisoner releases are met, while the World Health Organization said the territory’s health system was collapsing after more than two months of war. Hamas triggered the conflict with the deadliest-ever attack on Israel on October 7 in which it killed some 1,200 people, according […]
Qatar says efforts to renew Israel-Hamas truce ‘continuing’
DOHA, Dec 10, 2023 (AFP) – Mediation efforts are continuing to secure a new Gaza ceasefire despite ongoing Israeli bombardment that is “narrowing the window” for a successful outcome, Qatar’s prime minister said Sunday. “Our efforts as the state of Qatar along with our partners are continuing. We are not going to give up,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told the Doha Forum more than two months into the Israel-Hamas war. Qatar was a […]
Israeli forces push into southern Gaza
By Adel Zaanoun with Jonah Mandel in Jerusalem GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories, Dec 10, 2023 (AFP) – Israeli forces pushed Sunday into southern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled in search of shelter from bombardments and intense fighting with Hamas militants. Aid groups have sounded the alarm on the “apocalyptic” humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, warning it is on the brink of being overwhelmed by disease and starvation. Hamas, which runs […]
Israel battles Hamas in south Gaza city
By Adel Zaanoun with Stuart White in Jerusalem GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Dec 7, 2023 (AFP) – Israeli troops battled Hamas militants Thursday in the heart of southern Gaza’s main city where a suspected mastermind of the October 7 attacks is believed to be hiding, while pressing their offensive across the besieged territory. Breaking through Hamas’s defences of Gaza’s second largest city, Israeli troops, tanks, armoured personnel carriers and bulldozers rolled into Khan Yunis, forcing […]
Freed Israeli hostage says dog was ‘moral support’ in Hamas captivity
Freed Israeli hostage Mia Leimberg credited her pet dog Bella with providing “moral support” during the weeks she spent in captivity in the hands of Gaza militants. Leimberg, her mother Gabriela and her aunt Clara Marman were among the Israeli hostages released by Hamas and its allies under a temporary truce deal before it fell apart on Friday. Images of the 17-year-old’s release — flanked by fighters from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, with Bella in […]
Israeli forces encircle main southern Gaza city
By Adel Zaanoun GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Dec 6, 2023 (AFP) – Israeli forces were encircling southern Gaza’s main city on Wednesday, battling Hamas militants through streets and buildings in some of the most intense combat of the two-month war. The focus of the conflict has shifted into the besieged territory’s south following fierce fighting and bombardment that reduced much of the north to rubble and forced nearly two million people to flee their homes. […]
US facing growing Middle East crisis tied to Israel-Hamas war
By W.G. DUNLOP WASHINGTON, Dec 6, 2023 (AFP) – Washington is facing an increasingly complex and dangerous crisis resulting from the Israel-Hamas war, which has sparked repeated militant attacks and drawn US military attention and assets back to the Middle East. The United States has deployed two aircraft carriers and other forces in a bid to deter a devastating region-wide conflict. But the current violence in the Middle East — while not rising to that […]





