Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories, said this week there were reasonable grounds to believe Israel was "committing the crime of genocide against the Palestinians as a group in Gaza". She said she had received "nothing that so far I have considered...

Palestinian Territories - The children of Gaza have little to eat, have had to flee their homes and have survived nearly six months of terrifying Israeli bombardment. But for a few precious minutes children in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the center of the Gaza Strip laughed and yelped with...

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...

Doha, Qatar - Mediator Qatar said on Tuesday that talks between Hamas and Israel on a Gaza truce and hostage release are continuing, despite the warring parties trading blame over the lack of headway. Foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said the talks were "ongoing", adding there had not been "any development...

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant that civilian casualties in Gaza are "too high". A separate Israeli delegation was supposed to visit Washington to discuss US concerns over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to launch an assault Rafah, where much of Gaza's population has sought...

Gaza's health ministry said Israeli troops were shooting and firing "shells and (conducting) violent raids in its surroundings in preparation for its storming".

Former US president Donald Trump warned Israel in an interview that it was losing support over the war in Gaza. The comments from Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee to take on President Joe Biden in November's US election, came as Washington abstained at a UNSC vote calling for an immediate...

"The overwhelming nature and scale of Israel's assault on Gaza and the destructive conditions of life it has inflicted reveal an intent to physically destroy Palestinians as a group," Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories, concluded in a report.

All 14 other members voted in favor of the resolution which "demands an immediate ceasefire" for Ramadan. The resolution calls for the truce to lead to a "lasting, sustainable ceasefire" and demands that Hamas and other groups free hostages.

Singapore, Singapore--Singapore made the Israeli embassy in the city-state take down an "insensitive" social media post about the Palestinians over the weekend after warning it could inflame tensions, the interior minister said Monday. Israel's war on Gaza and deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza since the fighters of Hamas launched unprecedented attacks...

Last Friday, the Security Council voted on a draft submitted by the United States that called for an "immediate" ceasefire linked to the release of hostages. China and Russia vetoed the resolution, criticizing it for stopping short of explicitly demanding Israel halt its campaign.

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...

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...

Rafah, Egypt - UN chief Antonio Guterres, on a visit to the doorstep of Gaza, on Saturday said the world has seen enough of the war's horrors and appealed for a ceasefire to allow in more aid. "Palestinians in Gaza -- children, women, men -- remain stuck in a non-stop nightmare,"...

Palestinian Territories - The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Israeli fire on Saturday killed nine people and wounded dozens more as they were waiting at an aid distribution point in the territory's north. "At least nine martyrs and dozens injured by Israeli occupation army tank fire and shells. They...

On Saturday, UN chief Guterres plans to meet with aid workers on the Egyptian side of Rafah, just across the border from the Gazan city where 1.5 million Palestinians have taken refuge. International efforts to pause the almost six months of fighting have grown increasingly desperate, with the Hamas-run health...

Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared as "state lands" the area in the northern Jordan Valley. Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now said the size of the seized area is the largest since 1993's Oslo Accords, and that "2024 marks a peak in the extent of declarations of state land".

Australia, Canada and Sweden, which were among those states, announced earlier this month they were resuming aid. Ten percent of the Finnish funding will be allocated to risk management, the minister said.

After talks in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Blinken flies to Israel on Friday, his sixth trip to the region since the war began with Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7. Israel said its spy chief would also head back to Qatar on Friday for more truce talks with US,...

"Palestine Red Crescent ambulance teams have just transported an 18-year-old young man who was killed by the Israeli occupation forces in Nur Shams camp," the group said on X, formerly Twitter, adding his death brought the toll to four.

Doha, Qatar - Qatar and Turkey announced partnership in reuniting wounded Palestinians from the Gaza Strip with their relatives in Doha. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that a number of the wounded are receiving treatment in Turkey, while their relatives undergoing treatment in Qatar. The reunification will enable the...

Blinken is due to travel on to Egypt, which neighbors Gaza and whose envoys have been involved in previous mediation efforts. In Jeddah and Cairo, Blinken will discuss efforts to reach an "immediate ceasefire agreement that secures the release of all remaining hostages", State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

"The situation of hunger, starvation and famine is a result of Israel’s extensive restrictions on the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid and commercial goods, displacement of most of the population, as well as the destruction of crucial civilian infrastructure," UN human rights chief Volker Turk said.

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...

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.

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.

JERUSALEM – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday called for a deal to free hostages held in war-ravaged Gaza accompanied by a "longer-lasting ceasefire", as warring parties geared up for more talks. "We need a hostage deal with a longer-lasting ceasefire," Scholz said during a joint press appearance in Jerusalem...

Palestinian Territories - Displaced by Israeli bombardment, the Tabatibi family gathered in central Gaza to eat together during the first Friday night of Ramadan, a scene that soon turned into a bloodbath. An air strike hit the building where they were staying as women prepared the pre-fasting meal, killing 36...

Ramallah, Palestinian Territories - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party hit back at criticism by Hamas and other factions over his appointment of a new prime minister they said could deepen divisions as the war with Israel in Gaza rages. Abbas appointed Mohammed Mustafa, a long-trusted adviser on economic affairs, as...

A US charity said its team in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip had finished unloading the first maritime aid shipment to reach the besieged territory. "All cargo was offloaded and is being readied for distribution in Gaza," World Central Kitchen said in a statement, noting that the aid was "almost 200...

According to sources from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, leaders from the two Palestinian groups, as well as the Marxist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, held an "important meeting" with Houthi representatives last week.

Washington, US - The United States sanctioned three Israeli settlers and two farming outposts on Thursday, accusing them of being involved in "undermining stability in the West Bank." The move marks the second time this year that Washington has sanctioned Israeli settlers, as it looks to respond to the rise in...

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...

Beirut, Lebanon--Palestinian resistance group Hamas said one of its members was killed in an Israeli strike in south Lebanon on Wednesday that state media said killed three people. Hamas said the man killed in the strike was Hadi Mustafa, a member of its armed wing in Lebanon from the Palestinian refugee...

Asked about the reported deaths, the Israeli military said soldiers "fired toward armed suspects identified in the area" and that "hits were identified", but did not confirm fatalities. It described the operation as "counterterrorism activity".

The incident comes amid mounting concern about worsening humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where Israel has carried out relentless military operations since October. Gaza's dire food shortages after more than five months of war have resulted in 27 deaths from malnutrition and dehydration, most of them children.

Aid groups have been warning of the risk of famine in besieged Gaza for weeks, and the UN has reported particular difficulty in accessing the territory's north for deliveries of food and other humanitarian supplies. Israel has maintained strict control over aid entering the Gaza Strip since the outbreak of...

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".

"We are not near a deal, meaning that we are not seeing both sides converging on language that can resolve the current disagreement over the implementation of a deal," said foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari. He added that he could not "offer any timeline" on an agreement.

The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack on the Pinocchio in a statement early Tuesday, maintaining the missile strike "was accurate". The British maritime security agency UKMTO had previously said a ship in the area "reported a sound of an explosion" in its vicinity southwest of the Yemeni port of...

As the Muslim world welcomed Ramadan with the customary daytime fast, many Gazans awoke to bombardment that saw residents once more search through the rubble of destroyed homes for survivors and bodies.

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...

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...

London, UK - Thousands of protesters marched in central London on Saturday to call for a ceasefire in Gaza amid ongoing bombardments by Israel after the Hamas attack on its territory on October 7. Regular marches protesting Israel's military response to the attacks have seen dozens arrested for anti-Semitic chanting and...

Ankara, Turkey - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday Ankara "firmly backs" Palestinian group Hamas. "No-one can make us qualify Hamas as a terrorist organization," he said in a speech in Istanbul. "Turkey is a country that speaks openly with Hamas leaders and firmly backs them." Erdogan has been...

Geneva, Switzerland - The war in Gaza has "ruptured any sense of a shared humanity," the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Saturday. ICRC head Mirjana Spoljaric called for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza, saying Israel and Hamas must respect international law and protect civilians caught...

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,...

In his annual State of the Union address to Congress, President Joe Biden said the US military would "lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the coast of Gaza that can receive large shipments carrying food, water medicine and temporary shelters."

Other parts of the Islamic world may be grappling with their own challenges, from conflicts to high inflation. But many Muslims say their thoughts are with Palestinians this year.

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...