• US shoots down four Houthi drones in Red Sea

    In November, the Houthis launched a campaign of drone and missile strikes against vessels in the Red Sea, an area vital for world trade, in professed solidarity with Palestinians during Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. US and British forces have responded with strikes against the Houthis, who...
  • Cross-border fire between Hizbollah and Israel leaves 16 dead

    Israeli rescue teams searching a damaged building in the border town of Kiryat Shmona "found a 25-year-old who was unconscious, with no pulse and not breathing", and pronounced him dead at the scene, the Magen David Adom emergency service said.
  • Israel backtracks on canceled Rafah talks: US official

    Israel's prime minister cancelled the visit after the US abstained on the UNSC vote, allowing it to pass. But Israel backtracked, after the White House said it was "perplexed" by the move. The U-turn came after Israeli defense minister had "constructive discussions" with senior US officials in Washington.
  • UN Palestinian agency chief says funding secured until end of May

    Gaza has endured almost six months of war and a siege that has cut off most food, water, fuel and other supplies, and the UN has warned that its 2.4 million people are on the brink of a "man-made famine". The flow of aid trucks from Egypt has slowed amid...
  • Israeli hostage held by Hamas in Gaza dead, say families

    Jerusalem--One of the Israeli hostages kidnapped during the October 7 Hamas attack has been killed and his body is being held in Gaza, two groups representing hostage families said Tuesday. Uriel Baruch, 35, a father of two, was taken from the Supernova music festival, where 364 people were killed during...
  • Syria strikes kill 17 including Iran Guard, WHO worker

    According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor, an Iranian Revolutionary Guards adviser, his two Iranian security escorts, and four Syrian and nine Iraqi fighters with pro-Iran groups were killed in strikes on a villa in Deir Ezzor city and on the town of Albu Kamal on the Iraqi...
  • Hamas leader Haniyeh visits Iran: state media

    Haniyeh's visit comes after a resolution adopted by the UN Security Council on Monday called for an "immediate ceasefire" for the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan, leading to a "lasting" truce. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani described Monday's resolution as a "positive but insufficient step".
  • No let-up in Gaza war despite UN ceasefire resolution

    The resolution demanding an "immediate ceasefire" was adopted Monday after Israel's closest ally the United States abstained. Washington insisted that its abstention, which followed numerous vetoes, did not mark a shift in policy, although it has taken an increasingly tougher line with Israel in recent weeks.
  • Christians of Gaza pray for peace in times of war and destruction

    Christian families from Gaza have found refuge inside the church with the memory of two women killed in December by Israeli fire there still fresh in their minds.
  • Chinese-owned tanker hit by Houthi missile in Red Sea

    The Panamanian-flagged, Chinese-owned and operated Huang Pu issued a distress call but did not request assistance, US Central Command said. The rebels, who control much of Yemen's Red Sea coast, have launched dozens of missile and drone strikes on shipping over the past four months, actions they say are in...
  • Three wounded in Israeli strikes in east Lebanon

    Israel has been launching air strikes deeper into Lebanese territory for several weeks against Hizbollah positions, heightening the threat of open warfare and an expansion of the conflict in Gaza. However, the strike at al-Osseira, some 100 kms from the Israeli-Lebanese border, ended a period of relative calm that had...
  • US military says struck 3 Houthi underground storage sites in Yemen

    The Houthis began attacking ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea in November, a campaign they say is intended to signal solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. They have vowed to target Israeli, British and American ships, as well as vessels heading to Israeli ports, disrupting traffic through...
  • Israel spy chief to return to Qatar for Gaza truce talks

    The Israeli prime minister's office said that Benjamin Netanyahu approved an Israeli delegation led by Mossad head David Barnea to go to Qatar" on Friday. Barnea was in Doha Monday but flew back home after talks were restarted following failed efforts to secure a truce before the holy month of...
  • Saudi Arabia to donate US$40m for UN agency in Gaza

    The funds, according to the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief), would support UNRWA's "humanitarian relief efforts in the Gaza Strip", where the Israel's war has raged for more than five months. The funding will provide food for more than 250,000 people and tents for 20,000 families.
  • Biden summons Israeli team in bid to avoid Rafah assault

    The move is one of the clearest attempts yet by Biden to rein in the key US ally, amid fears that the already huge death toll and humanitarian crisis in Gaza could be drastically worsened by a full attack on Rafah. Roughly 1.5 million people are sheltering in Rafah, most...
  • Palestinians ‘need the bombs to stop,’ Irish PM says at White House

    Varadkar has been one of Europe's most critical leaders over Israel's campaign in Gaza, which began when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on the southern part of the country.
  • Israel spy chief to discuss Gaza truce with Qatar PM: source

    The talks in the Qatari capital are the first after weeks of intense negotiations involving Qatari, US and Egyptian mediators failed to secure a truce between Israel and Hamas for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began last week. Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel has carried out a relentless...
  • Israeli army says operation under way in Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital

    Al-Shifa is the Gaza Strip's largest hospital. The Israeli army had in November last year carried out an operation in the complex, sparking an international outcry. Witnesses in Gaza City told AFP the Al-Rimal neighborhood, where Al-Shifa is located, had been hit by air strikes.
  • WHO calls on Israel to halt planned assault on Rafah

    Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the military's "plans for action in Rafah", according to a statement Friday, which gave no details or a timeline. The United Nations and the United States have also repeatedly warned against such a military operation in the Gaza Strip.
  • Ground operations in Ukraine possible at some point, says Macron

    Last month French president refused to rule out putting troops on the ground in Ukraine, which prompted a stern response from Berlin and other European partners. But the French president has not recanted from his position, but stressed that Western allies would not take the initiative.
  • Israeli attack on Ramadan Friday kills 36 relatives in Gaza

    Israel's military campaign against Gaza has killed at least 31,553 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. In Rafah, where the majority of Gaza's 2.4 million people have sought refuge, more bloodshed is feared after Israeli prime minister's office said he had approved plans for...
  • Syria landmine blast kills 19 truffle hunters, says war monitor

    BEIRUT, LEBANON – At least 19 people searching for truffles in the north Syria desert were killed on Saturday after their vehicle hit a landmine, a war monitor said, raising an earlier toll of 16. Between February and April each year, hundreds of impoverished Syrians risk their lives searching for truffles...
  • Netanyahu okays plan for operation in Gaza’s packed Rafah

    Netanyahu "approved the plans for action in Rafah," his office said in a statement, without giving details or a timeline. Rafah is the last major population center yet to be subjected to a ground assault during Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, which was triggered by the fighters' unprecedented attack...
  • In Gaza, there are no more ‘normal-sized babies’: UN official

    The war began October 7 when a surprise attack by Hamas resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 31,490 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry.
  • Leader of US Senate calls for election in Israel

    The leader of the US Senate called for Israel to hold new elections in the most strident criticism yet by a senior American official of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's handling of the war in Gaza. The remarks from Chuck Schumer came amid increased pressure from President Joe Biden over the...
  • Israeli lawmakers approve revised wartime budget

    The new budget passed by a vote of 62 lawmakers to 55. It modifies the budget passed in May 2023, increasing the spending limit by 70.4 billion shekels ($19.4 billion), or more than 14 percent, according to a statement from Israel's legislature, the Knesset.
  • Gaza aid port plans ‘sign of international weakness’: Amnesty

    Agnes Callamard, secretary general of Amnesty, said nobody was holding Israel to account over the delays to deliveries by land to the Gaza Strip. She said the international community must be prepared to hold Israel to account. "We're not holding the stick that will allow for those violations to stop,"...
  • 230,000 children, new mothers risk dying of hunger in Sudan: NGO

    The bombing and destruction of fields and factories have plunged Sudan into "one of the worst" nutrition situations in the world, said Arif Noor, Save the Children's country director in Sudan. The charity warned "about 222,000 severely malnourished children and more than 7,000 new mothers are likely to die" under...
  • Israel claims to have hit 4,500 Hizbollah targets in five months

    Jerusalem--The Israeli army said Tuesday it hit about 4,500 Hizbollah targets in Lebanon and Syria over the past five months, killing 300 of the group's fighters and wounding more than 750. The targets were hit from the air and from the ground, the army said in a statement, and included...
  • Morocco dispatches aid to Gaza through Israeli airport

    A diplomatic source said the food aid has arrived at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv before being transferred to the Palestinian Red Crescent at the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza. Morocco is the first country to transport its humanitarian aid via "this unprecedented land route".
  • US troops depart for mission to build temporary Gaza aid port

    The first -- a hulking gray-painted watercraft known as a Logistics Support Vessel -- slowly churned away from the pier at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. It was followed by three smaller vessels that will also make the roughly 30-day trip to the eastern Mediterranean for the port mission.
  • Hizbollah says launched over 100 rockets at Israeli positions

    Hamas ally Hizbollah and Israel have exchanged near-daily cross-border fire since the Gaza war erupted in October, but several Israeli strikes have recently hit Hizbollah positions further north, raising fears of a full-blown conflict. Hizbollah has repeatedly said it will only stop its attacks on Israel with a ceasefire in...
  • Israeli air strikes in Lebanon’s city of Baalbek kill one

    A security source said Israeli aircraft targeted a former Hizbollah building near Dar Al Amal Hospital, adding that Israel "conducted another raid on a warehouse west of Baalbek". Strikes have largely remained confined to border regions, but several have hit Hizbollah positions further north in recent weeks
  • Military planes from 5 countries drop aid over Gaza

    The UN says that the vast majority of Gaza's 2.4 million people are on the brink of famine, particularly in the north where Israeli restrictions have hampered overland aid access. The health ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory said at least 23 people, almost all of them children, have recently died...
  • Hamas still open to Gaza truce talks, says Ismail Haniyeh

    Hamas chief said in a televised speech that Israel was unwilling to meet Hamas's conditions for a deal that would have seen hostages held by fighters exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israel. Mediators had been pushing for a new truce in the war, now in its sixth month.
  • Israel’s PM rejects Biden critique of war policy in Gaza

    His comments came one day after Biden said Netanyahu "must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken" in Gaza. His failure to bring home hostages has led to regular protests in Israel and calls for early elections, including in Tel Aviv...
  • Saudi king calls for end to ‘heinous crimes’ in Gaza

    In his Ramadan message, King Salman while giving thanks for the blessings bestowed upon the kingdom said the war in Gaza would cast a shadow during the holy month. He said "our hearts are heavy with sorrow for the ongoing suffering of our Palestinian brothers facing relentless aggression."
  • Muslim nations announce start of Ramadan in shadow of Gaza war

    In Saudi Arabia, the start of the holy month had been cast into doubt after some of the kingdom's observatories reported that the moon was obscured by "cloudy weather and dust particles". But final confirmation of the sighting came through the Al Majmaah University Astronomical Observatory in Riyadh.
  • Israel slams Canada, Sweden for resumption of UNRWA funding

    Canada and Sweden announced over the weekend they were resuming funding for the cash-strapped UN agency, weeks after having suspended it over Israeli accusations that several UNRWA employees were involved in the Hamas attack that triggered the ongoing war. Israel's foreign ministry called on both governments to cut funding and...
  • CIA, Mossad chiefs meet to ‘advance’ hostage release deal

    Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said Israel was preparing for "all possible operational scenarios" during Ramadan, and that it plans to allow "freedom of worship under security and safety restrictions". Hagari said it was because of Hamas that a new truce deal had yet to be reached in the Gaza...
  • Israelis demand Netanyahu ouster and hostage release

    With t-shirts and banners featuring the names and pictures of hostages seized during Hamas's October 7 attack, the crowd demanded swift action to rescue the remaining captives. Around 100 hostages remain in Gaza alive and 31 are presumed dead, Israel has said, a key source of demonstrators' despair.
  • Israeli strike on a Lebanon house kills five, wounds nine

    Lebanon's official National News Agency said the Israeli strike on a house in the Khirbet Selm area killed a family of four," a couple and their two children, and one other person. Hizbollah and Israel have traded deadly cross-border fire on a near-daily basis since war broke out in October...
  • US-led coalition shoots down 15 Yemen rebel drones: CENTCOM

    CENTCOM and coalition forces determined that the drones "presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels, US Navy and coalition ships in the region". It was one of the Houthis' largest attacks since they began in November a campaign of drone and missile strikes against ships in the Red Sea area,...
  • Spain announces US$21.87m in funding to UN Palestinian refugee agency

    Madrid, Spain--Spain said Thursday it would give an additional $21.87 million to the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, which is facing a cash crunch after several nations suspended their funding. The agency has been at the centre of controversy since Israel accused about a dozen of its employees of involvement in...
  • US vows to hold Houthis ‘accountable’ for deadly strike

    The Houthi rebels have been defiantly hitting ships in vital commercial waters in professed solidarity with the Palestinians as Israel pounds Hamas-ruled Gaza in response to the October 7 attack. Asked if the latest attack showed a failure of the US and UK strikes on the Houthis, Miller said, "We...
  • ASEAN, Australia call for ‘immediate and durable’ ceasefire in Gaza

    Southeast Asia is home to about 40 percent of the world's Muslim population, and ASEAN heavyweights Indonesia and Malaysia are staunch supporters of the Palestinian cause. But other influential ASEAN nations such as Singapore have closer ties with Israel -- and are less eager to stoke controversy.
  • Houthis attack ship listed as ‘Israeli-affiliated’ off Yemen

    Yemen's Houthi rebels, who since November have fired drones and missiles at numerous ships in the Red Sea area vital for world trade, claimed responsibility for the latest incident. They say their campaign is in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip where Israel is battling Hamas fighters.
  • Israel strike kills 3 Hizbollah-affiliated paramedics in Lebanon

    According to the Hizbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee, three volunteer paramedics died "due to a direct Zionist attack on an emergency centre" in south Lebanon's Adaysseh. The armed group later said its fighters targeted Gesher Haziv "with batches of Katyusha rockets" in retaliation.
  • US Vice President calls for ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Gaza

    Taking an unusually sharp tone, Harris demanded Israel "do more to significantly increase the flow of aid" into Gaza, where she said people are starving and the conditions "inhumane". Pressure for a truce has mounted after attempted aid deliveries have descended into scenes of tragedy, and convoys have failed to...
  • Cargo ship sunk by Houthis poses environmental risk, says US military

    Yemen's government also said earlier Saturday that the ship which was departed UAE and was bound for the Bulgarian port of Varna, had sunk. Since November, the Houthis have been carrying out attacks on ships linked to Israel in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, saying they are...
  • Israeli strike near Gaza’s Rafah hospital kills 11

    A paramedic was among those killed and children were wounded in the blast close to the Emirati Maternity Hospital, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said in a statement. Israeli troops have carried out multiple operations in and around hospitals in the Gaza Strip since they launched their offensive in the Palestinian...