Israel deports Greta Thunberg after intercepting Gaza-bound aid boat
Tel Aviv, Israel - Campaigner Greta Thunberg arrived home in Sweden late Tuesday, after Israel detained her and other activists aboard...Geostrategy
NATO learns as Ukraine’s Operation Spider’s web changes battlefield: NATO Commander
Brussels, Belgium - Ukraine's "creativity", including its massive "Spider's web" drone attack deep inside Russia, holds profound lessons for Western...Geostrategy
Empty streets and ‘fear’ in Gaza’s Rafah since Israeli incursion
Rafah, Palestinian Territories - Displaced Gazan Marwan al-Masri, sheltering in Rafah, said on Wednesday "life has completely ceased" since Israeli tanks...More than 1.4 million people had crammed into Rafah, a city on the Gaza Strip's southern border with Egypt, as Israeli forces pushed their way southward
Caught between Israeli shelling from the east, an Egyptian border to the south and the Mediterranean to the west, many fleeing Rafah went north
Israel seizes Rafah crossing as Gaza truce talks resume
Egypt's state-linked Al-Qahera News reported that mediators from Qatar, the United States and Egypt were meeting with a Hamas delegation.A senior Hamas official warned this would be Israel's "last chance" to free the estimated 128 captives still held in Gaza, including 36 officials who are dead
Israel's offensive has killed at least 34,789 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry
Hamas accepts Gaza truce proposal, Israel urges Rafah evacuation
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the proposal "is far from Israel's essential demands", but the government will send...The Hamas announcement brought cheering crowds onto the street amid tears of happiness, chants of "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest") and celebratory shooting in the air
Israel's military meanwhile reiterated an earlier call for residents of east Rafah to evacuate as it prepares for a "ground operation" in the southern Gaza city
Hamas says delegation heading to Cairo for truce talks
The hawkish prime minister has insisted he will send ground troops into Rafah, despite strong concerns voiced by UN agencies...Foreign mediators have been waiting for a Hamas response to a proposal to halt the fighting for 40 days and exchange hostages for Palestinian captives
A major stumbling block has been that, while Hamas has demanded a lasting ceasefire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue to fight
EU pledges $1 bn for Lebanon, urges curbs against illegal migration
The EU Commission's spokesman said in Brussels the aid will be disbursed "in grants", with 736 million euros earmarked to..."I can announce a financial package of $1 billion for Lebanon that would be available from this year until 2027," the European Commission chief said
She said the aid was designed to strengthen basic services such as education and health amid a severe economic crisis
Blinken urges Hamas to agree truce to help Gazans
A Hamas official said the group would respond "within a very short period" to a plan proposed by mediators to..."Hamas needs to say yes and needs to get this done," said Blinken, who was in Israel on his seventh Middle East crisis tour since the war broke out in October
He later added: "If Hamas actually purports to care about the Palestinian people and wants to see an immediate alleviation of their suffering, it should take this deal."
Blinken says US ‘determined’ to get Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal ‘now’
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken renewed calls for Hamas to accept a ceasefire deal Wednesday as he started talks...Netanyahu: Israel will launch an invasion of Rafah "with or without" a ceasefire deal.
Aid is coming to Gaza but more is needed
Blinken presses for Gaza aid on Jordan visit
Blinken, on his latest tour of the region since the Gaza war erupted in October, observed Jordan's efforts to bring...Blinken observed Jordan's efforts to bring in food and supplies and praised the "extraordinary work" led by the United Nations
Blinken met separately with King Abdullah II and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi both on aid and on diplomacy for a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas
Blinken demands ‘no more delays’ by Hamas on truce deal
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken demanded Tuesday that Hamas accept a proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and release of..."Now it's on Hamas. No more delays, no more excuses. The time to act is now," Blinken said
"We want to see in the coming days this agreement coming together," he said
Hopes rise for possible truce deal between Israel and Hamas
Jerusalem, Undefined - Hopes rose on Monday for a long-sought-after truce and hostage release deal after almost seven months of war...Washington's top diplomat said he was "hopeful" Hamas would accept the offer, which his British counterpart said could see the release of thousands of Palestinian captives
For months, meditators Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to broker a new agreement between the combatants
