"Fuad Shukr was the commander responsible for the Majdal Shams massacre, in which 12 children were murdered after Hizbollah fired an Iranian Falaq-1 rocket directly at a soccer field in northern Israel on Saturday evening," military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a separate video statement.

"Since the beginning of the Israeli ground invasion of the eastern part of Khan Yunis province, the civil defence and medical teams have recovered approximately 300 bodies of martyrs, many of them decomposed," Gaza's civil defense agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

The Israeli military said Monday nine soldiers were being held in a case of suspected abuse of a Palestinian detainee at a facility holding Palestinians arrested from Gaza during the war.Israeli civilians protested outside a military base where the nine soldiers were being held, while several others -- also in...

Beirut, Lebanon -- Air France and the German airline group Lufthansa said Monday they were suspending flights to Beirut after Israel threatened reprisals for a deadly rocket strike launched from Lebanon.Lufthansa services would be halted up to and including August 5 due to "current developments in the Middle East", a group...

Israel's security cabinet on Sunday authorized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to decide on the "manner and timing" of a response to a rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 teenagers and children, and which Israel and the United States blamed on Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. Hezbollah...

"A four-way meeting between Egyptian officials and their American and Qatari counterparts, in the presence of Israel's intelligence chief, will be held in Rome on Sunday to reach an agreement on a truce in Gaza," Al-Qahera news, which has links to Egyptian intelligence, reported on Friday, citing a "senior official"...

Washington has said repeatedly that it opposes post-war government of Gaza by either Israel or Hamas and has called for a reformed Palestinian Authority to take charge instead. The Palestinian Authority has had no presence in Gaza since Hamas seized sole control of the territory in 2007.

Chanting "yes, to peace, yes, to a deal", hundreds of Palestinian and Jewish Israelis marched noisily through Tel Aviv on Thursday night, demanding an end to the war in Gaza and the cycle of violence. While Tel Aviv's various protest groups may diverge on politics, they overlap in the call...

Joe Biden will press Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday to seal a Gaza ceasefire deal, despite the US president's shock election exit threatening to limit his leverage over the Israeli premier.Netanyahu will also meet Vice President Kamala Harris -- the likely new Democratic presidential nominee -- at the White House on...

For fans and players, Tuesday's match in the Jabalia refugee camp was a welcome distraction from the pangs of hunger and exhaustion endured.

Nablus, Palestinian Territories -- Israeli settlers on Sunday attacked a group of foreign volunteers helping Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank, injuring some who needed hospital treatment, the activists and Israeli army said.Eight mainly American volunteers were working with the farmers in an olive grove near the Palestinian village of...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned "anyone who harms us will pay a very heavy price", after Friday's drone attack in Tel Aviv killed an Israeli civilian. But Houthi politburo member Mohammed al-Bukhaiti swiftly threatened to "meet escalation with escalation", in a social media post.

Jerusalem: The Palestinian leadership hailed as "historic" Friday a ruling by the top UN court that Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories is illegal, but the opinion drew condemnation from Israel.The office of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said it welcomed the "historic decision and demands that Israel be compelled to...

A statement from the rebels, who have carried out dozens of attacks against Red Sea shipping in what they say is an act of solidarity with Palestinians during the Gaza war, said their "UAV force" attacked "one of the important targets in the occupied Jaffa region, what is now called...

The vote, which drew swift criticism from the Palestinian leadership and the international community, is largely symbolic but laid down a marker ahead of a planned address by Netanyahu to the US Congress next Wednesday. The veteran hawk has shown little interest in efforts by the US administration to broker...

Since October, the cross-border violence has killed 511 people in Lebanon.

The health ministry said a strike on a fuel station in Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza killed 17 people, and the Palestinian Red Crescent said a separate strike at almost simultaneously hit the UN-run Al-Razi School in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing five people.

Brussels, Belgium -- The European Union on Monday announced sanctions on five Israelis -- including those termed "extremist settlers" -- and three organizations for abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank and blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza.The asset freezes and visa bans are the second round of sanctions from the 27-nation...

A Hamas official said Sunday that the Palestinian group was withdrawing from Gaza truce talks, as Israeli bombardments hit a school a day after a deadly strike targeting the militant commander Mohammed Deif.Speaking after the strike on southern Gaza's Al-Mawasi, which the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said killed...

US President Joe Biden said that US diplomats were making "progress" with international mediators towards a ceasefire and stressed that "it's time to end this war"

Israel has launched major new offensives in Gaza City, even as it also embarks on contacts with international mediators on conditions for negotiating a truce with Hamas

Jerusalem, Undefined - Qatari and Egyptian mediators are cajoling Israel and Hamas towards negotiations on a plan to end their war, which has left tens of thousands dead.US President Joe Biden first outlined in late May what he called an Israeli initiative for a truce and hostage release deal. Mediators are now...

Hamas has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of deliberately stepping up battles in Gaza City and far-southern Rafah to thwart a ceasefire agreement.

Mediators Egypt and Qatar were due to host new talks this week, according to officials, as the bloodiest-ever Gaza war raged on into its 10th month.

Large protests, also demanding elections, have taken place across Israel's commercial hub every Saturday night, with smaller ones throughout the country. On Saturday night, anti-government demonstrators blocked a highway in Tel Aviv. Some clashed with police on horseback before officers deployed water canon to force people from the road.

Jerusalem, Undefined - Israel said Friday that "gaps" remained with Hamas on how to secure a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release but that it will send a delegation for fresh talks with Qatari mediators next week.The statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman came after a delegation led by the head...

Fire and smoke billows after rockets fired from southern Lebanon hit areas in northern Israel on July 4, 2024. (AFP).

Baghdad, Iraq - As war rages in Gaza and threatens to spread to Lebanon, Iraqi militant groups warn they are ready to enter the fray against Israel and the United States.A field commander of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq said there would be "escalation for escalation" in the event of a...

As war rages in Gaza and threatens to spread to Lebanon, Iraqi militant groups warn they are ready to enter the fray against Israel and the United States.A field commander of the so-called Islamic Resistance in Iraq said there would be "escalation for escalation" in the event of a full-scale...

Sydney, Australia - Protesters scaled Australia's national parliament on Thursday, unfurling banners reading "Palestine will be free", and accusing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of complicity in the Gaza war.The small protest follows recent divisions within the Labor government, which suspended a Muslim senator who crossed the floor to vote in favour...

The United Nations warned that the almost nine-month-old war had "unleashed a maelstrom of human misery."

After a visit to troops on Monday, he said: "I saw very considerable achievements in the fighting being carried in Rafah. We are advancing to the end of the stage of eliminating the Hamas terrorist army." The Israeli army has resumed some operations in northern Gaza and other zones where...

United Nations, United States --The UN humanitarian coordinator for Gaza said Tuesday that 1.9 million people -- 80 percent of the territory's population -- were now displaced, adding she was "deeply concerned" by reports of new evacuation orders for Khan Yunis.The United Nations has estimated that up to 250,000 people are...

Other parts of the Gaza Strip were reeling from continued fighting nearly nine months into the devastating conflict. Witnesses and the civil defence agency reported Israeli air strikes in the southern Rafah area and in the central Nuseirat refugee camp.

Hundreds of thousands had already left Rafah ahead of and during a ground offensive launched by Israeli troops on the southernmost city since early May. The warning for Al-Qarara, Bani Suhaila and other towns in the two governorates, made on social media and in an official statement, came hours after...

Israel's military has accused Hamas of using hospitals in the Gaza Strip as a cover for military operations. It has raided Al-Shifa and other hospitals.

Jerusalem, Undefined -- Israel's national carrier El Al said Sunday its Warsaw to Tel Aviv flight was not allowed to refuel at Antalya airport after making an emergency landing to evacuate a passenger for medical reasons.Turkish workers at Antalya airport refused to refuel flight LY5102 before it could take off for...

Palestinian Territories -- Explosions, air strikes and gunfire rattled northern Gaza on Saturday, the third day of an Israeli military operation that has uprooted tens of thousands of Palestinians and compounded what the UN called "unbearable" living conditions in the territory.An AFP correspondent reported ongoing explosions from the Shujaiya area...

Top Israeli officials have suggested they are open to a diplomatic resolution of the border tensions, though Gallant said Israel should be ready for "every possible scenario".

Iranians vote on Friday to elect a new president from six candidates, including a lone reformist who hopes he can challenge the dominance of conservatives in the Islamic republic.A presidential election had not been due until 2025 but was brought forward after ultraconservative Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash...

Jerusalem, Undefined - Israel's top court ruled unanimously on Tuesday that the state must draft ultra-Orthodox Jewish men into military service, potentially destabilizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition.The High Court of Justice's decision on the politically charged issue comes as calls grow for ultra-Orthodox men, historically exempt from mandatory service,...

Netanyahu said Israel would be able to "redeploy some forces to the north" on the border with Lebanon, where exchanges of fire with the Hezbollah movement have escalated, but said this would be "primarily for defensive purposes".

Lebanon's transport minister denied on Sunday that Hezbollah was storing weapons at Beirut airport, as fears grow of all-out war between the militant group and Israel.Ali Hamieh called a press conference to deny the allegations of "absurd articles" in the media, and attacked the British daily The Telegraph.The newspaper said...

Jenin, Palestinian Territories -- Israeli troops tied a wounded Palestinian to a military vehicle during a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, the army said Sunday, admitting that soldiers had violated operational procedures.Footage of the incident, which occurred on Saturday, has gone viral and shows a man strapped...

Gaza civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Basal told AFP that at least 20 were killed in a strike on a house in Al-Tuffah neighborhood, while a strike in Al-Shati refugee camp claimed the lives of four others. Against a grey backdrop of destruction, men used a donkey cart to remove...

Palestinian Territories -- Israel bombed Gaza on Friday as exchanges of fire and threats over the Lebanon border raised fears of a wider war.Five municipal workers died "during an Israeli bombing" of a garage in Gaza City, said Mahmud Basal, spokesman for the civil defense agency in the territory.In southern Gaza,...

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah's group and Israeli forces have exchanged near-daily fire since Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel triggered the Gaza war

Hassan Nasrallah - whose powerful Iran-backed group has exchanged near-daily fire with Israel since its ally Hamas's October 7 attack - also threatened the nearby island nation of Cyprus if it opened its airports or bases to Israel "to target Lebanon".

Palestinian Territories - The Israeli army on Tuesday said plans for an offensive in Lebanon were "approved and validated" amid escalating cross-border clashes with Hizbollah and a relative lull in Gaza fighting.The war in Gaza has heightened tensions across the region, with Israeli forces and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hizbollah, a Hamas...

Witnesses reported gunfire and artillery shelling near Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, where the civil defence agency said at least 13 people died in two separate strikes on a family home and on a commercial building. Al-Awda hospital in central Gaza said it received the bodies of "six martyrs...