A high-level security official told AFP that Saleh al-Aruri was killed along with his bodyguards in the strike by Israel. A second security official confirmed the information, adding two floors of the targeted building and one car were damaged. Lebanese media said a total of six people were killed in...

Nearly three months of conflict have claimed almost 22,000 lives in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and devastated much of the besieged territory. Despite relentless global demands for a ceasefire, military spokesman Daniel Hagari said Monday the army was preparing for "prolonged fighting" expected to last "throughout this...

The Palestinian Football Association had celebrated in June last year when the national team won -- for the third time -- a spot in the Asian cup. But with no end in sight to the Gaza war, the team now feels crushed as they try to prepare for the upcoming...

The Israeli military spokesman said the army was currently "planning the management of the forces operating in the field" in the months ahead. He added some of the 300,000 army reservists would get a break from the conflict, with Israel seeking to boost its war-hit economy.

The rally, called by a foundation which counts Bilal Erdogan, the son of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, among its members started after crowds performed morning prayers at Istanbul's iconic mosques, including Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.

Dubai, UAE--Several rockets fired from the Gaza Strip targeted Tel Aviv and southern Israel as the country rang in the New Year on Monday, according to AFP journalists on the ground. Air-raid sirens sounded as journalists in Tel Aviv saw Israeli missile defence systems intercept the rockets. People who had...

Israel unilaterally withdrew the last of its troops and settlers in 2005, ending a presence inside Gaza that began in 1967 but maintaining near complete control over the territory's borders. All settlements on occupied Palestinian land are regarded as illegal under international law, regardless of whether they were approved by...

Youssef Salama, the 68-year-old former minister of religious affairs in the Palestinian Authority, was killed in a strike on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, Wafa news agency and the ministry reported. Considered close to Fatah, the party of Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas, Salama served as...

The US Central Command said the missiles were fired from the area controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, describing it as the "23rd illegal attack by the Houthis on international shipping" since November 19. The Houthis have repeatedly targeted vessels in the Red Sea with strikes they say are in...

Gaza City, Palestinian Territories - The Strip's Hamas rulers on Saturday condemned the US approval of a $147.5 million sale of high-explosive artillery munitions and related equipment to Israel. The United States announced the sale of the 155mm artillery munitions on Friday under an emergency provision that waives the normal requirement...

The Hamas-run health ministry here said that at least 21,672 people have been killed in the territory since the war with Israel erupted on October 7. A ministry statement said 165 Gazans were killed over the past 24 hours, while 56,165 others have been wounded in the fighting.

Air strikes in eastern Syria "likely" launched by Israel killed at least 19 pro-Iran fighters, a war monitor said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said "19 pro-Iranian fighters, including four Syrians, and six Iraqis, were killed and more than 18 were wounded" in at least nine air strikes overnight...

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Friday reiterated his call for "an immediate humanitarian ceasefire", while the World Health Organization (WHO) warned of the growing threat of the spread of infectious diseases among Gazans. Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry says the Israeli military campaign since then has killed at least 21,507 people,...

Washington, United States - 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...

South Africa launched a case at the International Court of Justice against Israel for what it said were "genocidal" acts in Gaza. According to a statement, the ICJ application related to alleged violations by Israel under the Genocide Convention, and said that Israel risks "further engaging in genocidal acts” in...

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said at least 21,507 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since war with Israel broke out nearly 12 weeks ago. The figure includes 187 fatalities over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said. It added that 55,915 people have been wounded...

Gaza City, Palestinian Territories - The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees said on Friday an aid convoy came under fire by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip, without causing any casualties. "Israeli soldiers fired at an aid convoy as it returned from northern Gaza along a route designated by...

New Year's Eve is usually marked in boisterous fashion in Pakistan, with fireworks and aerial gunfire -- as well as a bank holiday on January 1. Sharjah, an emirate of the United Arab Emirates, on Thursday banned New Year's Eve fireworks over the war in Gaza.

Tel Aviv, Israel - Israel is negotiating the release of hostages held by the radical Palestinian movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the relatives of the hostages, The Jerusalem Post reported. According to the publication, Netanyahu confirmed that Israel is working to get all the hostages...

Sources close to Hamas say Cairo's three-stage plan provides for renewable ceasefires, a staggered release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel, and ultimately a ceasefire to end the war sparked by the deadly October 7 attack on Israel. It also provides for a Palestinian...

Holding banners demanding an immediate ceasefire, the activists gathered in Manhattan's Bryant Park while some briefly stood in the middle of the busy Sixth Avenue in the heart of New York's Midtown district. Several women shrouded in black held baby dolls swaddled in white cloths to represent the toll the...

Houthis 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 Hamas. The attacks are endangering a transit route that carries up to 12 percent of global trade, prompting the United States to set...

A report released Thursday demanded an immediate end to the use of military weapons and means during law enforcement operations, an end to arbitrary detention and ill-treatment of Palestinians, and the lifting of discriminatory movement restrictions. "The use of military tactics and weapons in law enforcement contexts, the use of...

Indian media have reported that the eight Indian nationals -- among them former high-ranking and decorated officers, including captains who once commanded warships -- were arrested in Doha in August 2022.

Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesman for the health ministry in Gaza, reported more than 200 deaths "including entire families" over the past 24 hours in strikes across the territory. An AFP correspondent reported heavy artillery strikes overnight particularly on Khan Yunis. The Israeli army has deployed an additional brigade to Khan Yunis,...

Macron told the Israeli premier of his "deepest concern" about civilian deaths and the humanitarian emergency in Gaza. He also insisted on the importance of measures to end violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank and prevent new planned settlements.

Israel again pounded Gaza with air strikes and shelling after its military chief warned the war raging with Hamas since the Palestinian group's October 7 attacks will last "many more months". A strike hit a house near Al-Amal hospital in Khan Yunis, killing 22 people and wounding 34, the Gaza...

"He (Netanyahu) is richer than Hitler. All kind of support comes from the West and the United States," Erdogan added. The Turkish leader has lashed out repeatedly at Israel for the scale of death and destruction caused in Gaza.

Lebanon-Israel border has witnessed increasing hostilities amid the Israel-Hamas conflict since October 7, escalating exchanges involve the Israeli army and Hamas ally Hezbollah. Since hostilities began, more than 150 people have been killed on the Lebanese side, most of them Hezbollah combatants but also more than a dozen civilians, three...

Rafah, Palestinian Territories--Power cuts have become a fact of life in war-torn Gaza. But thanks to embedded SIM cards, Palestinians can still access the internet and maintain a channel of communication with loved ones abroad. "Without them, we'd be cut off from the world," said Hani al-Shaer, a local journalist who...

A resident from the camp told AFP that troops stormed the camp from its southern and northern entrances. "The two men were killed just outside their homes," he said, asking to remain anonymous over security concerns.

Geneva, Switzerland - The head of the WHO said on Tuesday the world needs to properly prepare for future pandemics after finally ending three years of Covid "crisis, pain and loss." In his end-of-year message, World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said 2023 had marked a turning point in fighting...

Officers cordoned off the embassy as they combed through the surrounding areas following the report of the late afternoon blast. Israel's foreign ministry in a statement reported "an explosion" near the embassy.

"It runs counter to the pursuit of enduring mutual interests in establishing security and stability, and it opposes the declared intention of the American side to enhance relations with Iraq," Baghdad said.

In an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal on Monday night, Netanyahu vowed to stay the course. "Hamas must be destroyed, Gaza must be demilitarized, and Palestinian society must be deradicalized. These are the three prerequisites for peace between Israel and its Palestinian neighbors in Gaza," Netanyahu said.

Rows of victims' bodies, shrouded in white bags, lined the ground at Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, ahead of a mass funeral. WHO has warned that only nine of Gaza's original 36 hospitals remain even partially functional. It has termed the situation as unacceptable, demanding a ceasefire.

The situation in Gaza is a humanitarian catastrophe, with hospitals like Al-Shifa and Al-Sahaba facing dire shortages of medical supplies and staff, and the population grappling with acute hunger and the threat of famine, adds the World Health Organization Director-General.

GAZA, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES-  A relentless Israeli military campaign, in response to deadly Hamas attacks on October 7, has upset the lives of most, if not all, residents of the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces have launched a bombardment campaign and ground invasion of Gaza ever since Hamas launched its attack --...

The Gaza health ministry said an Israeli strike late Sunday killed at least 70 people in Al-Maghazi refugee camp, in the territory's center. Camp resident Zeyad Awad said Israel's army had sown "panic in the hearts of my children" and accused it of targeting civilians "indiscriminately, without mercy".

In recent weeks, the army has faced international criticism after viral footage of detainees stripped down to their underwear and blindfolded with their hands tied behind the backs.

The protesters were called to the streets by a disparate group of organizations backing the Palestinian cause, including left-wingers and members of the Islamist Justice and Charity movement. They marched along Mohammed V Avenue in the heart of the city, beneath banners declaring "stop the war of extermination in Gaza,...

There was no revelry on Sunday, with few worshippers on the streets of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, as Israel's war on Gaza continues.

Israeli prime minister said that in spite of the high toll in Gaza, the country had no choice but to keep fighting. He said the military campaign will continue with full force "until the end, until victory." Israel says it has lost some 154 troops in Gaza since it began...

NEW YORK, US - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday that 136 United Nations employees in Gaza Strip had died in 75 days, something the global organization had "never seen" in its history. "Most of our staff have been forced from their homes," the UN chief added in a...

Dubai, UAE-- At least 100 journalists have been killed since Israel’s war on Gaza began on October 7, according to new figures released by the government media office in Gaza. Palestinian journalist Muhammed Abu Hweidy was the latest to be killed in an Israeli air raid on his home in...

The high civilian toll in the latest Israeli strikes on the besieged territory comes in spite of growing calls for restraint and for more aid to reach war-stricken Palestinians. But Israel showed little sign of modulating its "Operation Swords of Iron", which aims to rout Hamas as the US urged...

The Syriac Catholic Church was not alone, with the leaders of three of Syria's major churches -- the Greek Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox and Melkite Greek Catholic patriarchs -- announcing they were cancelling Christmas festivities and limiting celebrations to religious ceremonies. More than 20,000 people have been killed in Gaza since...

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi slammed the "inefficacy" of international bodies to halt fighting between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas which has ravaged the Gaza Strip. Raisi's remarks came a day after the United Nations Security Council approved a much-delayed resolution demanding aid be allowed into the besieged Hamas-run territory "at...

Jerusalem - Khalil Sayegh lives in the United States and for days he anxiously awaited news of his family who had taken refuge in Gaza churches to escape the Israel-Hamas war. A few days before Christmas, he learned his father had died due to a lack of medical care, Sayegh...

Israel's latest evacuation order for civilians in the central Gaza Strip would force them to relocate to areas "where there are ongoing air strikes", the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said. In the evacuation order, the Israeli army instructed residents in the Bureij refugee camp and surrounding areas to head...