Tag: Palestinians

Israel-Hamas war enters 100th day as Netanyahu vows ‘no one will stop us’

By Adel Zaanoun with Joseph Boyle in Jerusalem GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Jan 14, 2024 (AFP) – The war between Israel and Hamas entered its 100th day on Sunday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed “no one will stop us” from destroying the militant group. The conflict has triggered a humanitarian crisis, with more than 23,000 people reported killed in Gaza and much of the besieged Palestinian territory reduced to rubble, as fears grow […]

Hezbollah targets Israel base to avenge killings in Lebanon

BEIRUT, Jan 9, 2024 (AFP) – Lebanon’s Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah said it targeted an Israeli command base Tuesday in retaliation for the killings of one of its commanders and the Hamas deputy leader. Hezbollah and its arch-foe Israel have been exchanging near-daily fire across the border since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7. The Shiite Muslim movement, a Hamas ally, said it had targeted the “enemy’s northern command centre” in the city […]

Blinken back in Israel as deadliest Gaza war grinds on

By Leon Bruneau with Mai Yaghi in the Gaza Strip TEL AVIV, Jan 9, 2024 (AFP) – The Israeli army bombed Gaza and battled Hamas fighters on Tuesday as US top diplomat Antony Blinken was back in Israel on a regional tour aimed at stopping the war from escalating across the Middle East. An AFP correspondent reported intense strikes overnight in Khan Yunis and Rafah, the biggest cities in the south of the besieged Palestinian […]

Toronto deli targeted in suspected anti-Semitic arson attack

MONTREAL, Jan 4, 2024 (AFP) – A Jewish-owned delicatessen in Toronto was set alight Wednesday in what police are investigating as a hate crime. Early on Wednesday, firefighters were alerted to a blaze inside International Delicatessen Foods, located in the north of Canada’s largest city. No one was injured, according to Toronto media reports. Graffiti reading “Free Palestine” had been painted on the doors of the establishment. Toronto Police Staff Superintendent Pauline Gray said the […]

Germany urges citizens to leave Lebanon swiftly

BERLIN, Jan 3, 2024 (AFP) – Germany on Wednesday urged its citizens to leave Lebanon quickly, warning that an expansion of the Israel-Hamas war could not be ruled out after a drone strike in Beirut killed a senior Hamas leader. “All German citizens, who are still in Lebanon, are asked to register on the ELEFAND crisis preparedness list and to leave the country as quickly as possible,” wrote the German foreign ministry on X, formerly […]

Maersk extends suspension of Red Sea passage

COPENHAGEN, Jan 2, 2024 (AFP) – Shipping giant Maersk said on Tuesday it would not resume passage through a key Red Sea strait “until further notice,” after Yemeni rebels attacked one of its merchant ships. “We have decided to pause all transits through the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden until further notice,” Maersk said in a statement. “In cases where it makes most sense for our customers, vessels will be rerouted and continue their journey around […]

Huthi rebels fire on commercial ships in Red Sea: US military

DUBAI, Jan 3, 2024 (AFP) – Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels fired two missiles late Tuesday toward merchant ships travelling in the Red Sea near the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the US military said following a report by the British maritime security agency UKMTO. United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations had initially reported explosions near a cargo ship sailing between the coasts of Eritrea and Yemen. “Master reports no damage to the vessel and crew are reported […]

Hamas says Israel strike in Lebanon kills its deputy chief

By Aya Iskandarani with Adel Zaanoun in Gaza Strip BEIRUT, Jan 3, 2024 (AFP) – Israel’s war against Palestinian militants reached Lebanon on Tuesday, where an Israeli strike killed Hamas’s deputy leader, the group and security officials in Lebanon said. A high-level security official told AFP that Saleh al-Aruri was killed along with his bodyguards in the strike by Israel, which vowed to destroy Hamas after the movement’s unprecedented October 7 attacks on Israel. Israel […]

US strikes kill 10 Huthi rebels attacking ship in Red Sea

HODEIDA, Yemen, Dec 31, 2023 (AFP) – The US military said Sunday its Navy helicopters fired at Iran-backed Huthi rebel boats off Yemen that were attacking a cargo ship, with Yemeni sources reporting 10 rebels killed. The clash in the Red Sea marked a deadly escalation since the United States set up a multinational naval task force in early December to protect the vital shipping lane against Huthi attacks. The rebels — who say they […]

US approves ’emergency’ sale of munitions to Israel

WASHINGTON, Dec 29, 2023 (AFP) – The United States on Friday announced the approval of a $147.5 million sale of 155mm high-explosive artillery munitions and related equipment to Israel under an emergency provision that waives the usual congressional review. The same provision was used earlier this month to approve the sale of nearly 14,000 rounds of 120mm tank ammunition to Israel, which is battling Hamas in Gaza in a highly destructive conflict that began with […]

US warship shoots down drone, missile fired by Yemen’s Huthis

WASHINGTON, Dec 29, 2023 (AFP) – An American warship shot down a drone and an anti-ship ballistic missile fired Thursday by Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels, the US military said. The Huthis have repeatedly targeted vessels in the vital Red Sea shipping lane with strikes they say are in support of Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel is battling militant group Hamas. “The USS Mason (DDG 87) shot down one drone and one anti-ship ballistic missile in […]

Israel bombs Gaza as oldest woman held hostage confirmed dead

By Adel Zaanoun with Anuj Chopra in Jerusalem GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Dec 28, 2023 (AFP) – Israeli forces on Thursday battled Hamas in Gaza where air strikes and urban combat rocked the southern city of Khan Yunis, near where many hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought refuge. UN World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for “urgent steps to alleviate the grave peril” facing besieged Gaza’s people, including “terrible injuries, acute […]