Hamas’ top political leaderwas killed Wednesday by a predawn airstrike in the Iranian capital, Iran and the militant group said, blaming Israel for a shock assassination that risked escalating into an all-out regional war.
Iran’s supreme leader vowed revenge against Israel.
Israel, which kept silent about the strike, had pledged to kill Ismail Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders over the group’s Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.
The strike came just after Haniyeh had attended the inauguration of Iran’s new president in Tehran — and hours after Israel targeted a top commander in Iran’s ally Hezbollah in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
The assassination was potentially explosive amid the region’s volatile, intertwined conflicts because of its target, its timing and the decision to carry it out in Tehran. Most dangerous was the potential to push Iran and Israel into direct confrontation if Iran retaliates. The U.S. and other nations scrambled to prevent a wider, deadlier conflict.
In a statement on his official website, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said revenge was “our duty” and that Israel had “prepared a harsh punishment for itself” by killing “a dear guest in our home.”
Bitter regional rivals, Israel and Iran risked plunging into war earlier this year when Israel hit Iran’s embassy in Damascus in April.
Iran retaliated, and Israel countered in an unprecedented exchange of strikes on each other’s soil, but international efforts succeeded in containing that cycle before it spun out of control.
Haniyeh’s killing also could prompt Hamas to pull out of negotiations for a cease-fire and hostage release deal in the 10-month-old war in Gaza, which U.S. mediators had said were making progress.
And it could inflame already rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, which international diplomats were trying to contain after a weekend rocket attack that killed 12 young people in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
Israel carried out a rare strike Tuesday evening in the Lebanese capital that it said killed a top Hezbollah commander allegedly behind the rocket strike.
Hezbollah, which denied any role in the Golan strike, said Wednesday it was searching for the body of Fouad Shukur in the rubble of the building that was hit in a Beirut suburb. The strike killed three women and two children, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
There was no immediate reaction from the White House to Haniyeh’s death. A key question was whether Israel told the U.S., its top ally, ahead of time.
Asked about Haniyeh’s killing, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “This is something we were not aware of or involved in.” Speaking to Channel News Asia, Blinken said he would not speculate about the impact on cease-fire efforts. “But I can tell you that the imperative of getting a cease-fire, the importance that that has for everyone, remains.”
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is pursuing arrest warrants for Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the October 7 attacks on Israel and the ensuing conflict in Gaza.
This announcement was made by the ICC’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, during an exclusive interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Monday.
Khan revealed that the ICC is also seeking warrants for Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and two other senior Hamas leaders — Mohammed Deif, head of the Al Qassem Brigades, and Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ political chief.
The warrants for the Israeli officials mark a historic move as it is the first instance of the ICC targeting the top leader of a U.S. ally. This decision places Netanyahu alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has an ICC warrant over the war in Ukraine, and the late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who faced ICC charges for crimes against humanity before his death in October 2011.
By requesting warrants for both Israeli and Hamas leaders simultaneously, the ICC risks criticism for equating a recognized terror organization with a democratically elected government.
A panel of ICC judges will now review Khan’s application for the arrest warrants.
Khan said the charges against Sinwar, Haniyeh and al-Masri include “extermination, murder, taking of hostages, rape and sexual assault in detention.”
“The world was shocked on the 7th of October when people were ripped from their bedrooms, from their homes, from the different kibbutzim in Israel,” Khan told Amanpour, adding that “people have suffered enormously.”
On October 7, Hamas-led militants killed approximately 1,200 people across multiple locations in southern Israel and took around 250 hostages into Gaza. Many of these hostages are still being held, which, according to ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, means that crimes are continuing against numerous innocent Israelis. Khan highlighted that families are anxiously waiting for the return of their loved ones.
In his interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Khan revealed that his team possesses a “variety of evidence” to support the application for arrest warrants against Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh, and Mohammed Deif. This evidence includes authenticated video footage, photographs from the attacks, and testimonies from eyewitnesses and survivors.
Responding to the announcement by Khan, Hamas said in a statement that it “strongly condemns the attempts of the ICC Prosecutor to equate victims with aggressors by issuing arrest warrants against a number of Palestinian resistance leaders without legal basis.”
‘Nobody is above the law’
The charges against Netanyahu and Gallant include “causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies, deliberately targeting civilians in conflict,” Khan told Amanpour.
“The fact that Hamas fighters need water doesn’t justify denying water from all the civilian population of Gaza,” he added.
More than 35,500 Palestinians have been killed and more than 79,000 wounded in Gaza since October 7, the Ministry of Health in Gaza said on Monday. CNN cannot independently verify the figures.
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, at left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at right, are pictured. Getty Images/Shutterstock
Benny Gantz, a member Israel’s war cabinet, criticized Khan’s decision immediately after it was announced, saying that Israel was fighting “with one of the strictest moral codes in history, while complying with international law and boasting a robust independent judiciary.”
“Drawing parallels between the leaders of a democratic country determined to defend itself from despicable terror to leaders of a blood-thirsty terror organisation is a deep distortion of justice and blatant moral bankruptcy,” he said, adding that the decision by the prosecutors “is in itself a crime of historic proportion to be remembered for generation.”
When reports surfaced last month that the ICC chief prosecutor was considering this course of action, Netanyahu said that any ICC arrest warrants against senior Israeli government and military officials “would be an outrage of historic proportions,” and that Israel “has an independent legal system that rigorously investigates all violations of the law.”
Asked by Amanpour about the comments made by Netanyahu, Khan said: “Nobody is above the law.”
He said that if Israel disagrees with the ICC, “they are free, notwithstanding their objections to jurisdiction, to raise a challenge before the judges of the court and that’s what I advise them to do.”
Israel and the United States are not members of the ICC. However, the ICC claims jurisdiction over Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank after Palestinian leaders formally agreed to be bound by the court’s founding principles in 2015.
The ICC announcement on Monday is separate from the case currently being heard by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which involves an accusation from South Africa that Israel is committing genocide in its war against Hamas following the October 7 attacks.
While the ICJ considers cases involving countries and nations, the ICC is a criminal court that brings cases against individuals for war crimes or crimes against humanity.
Monday’s announcement is not the first time the ICC has acted in relation to Israel. In March 2021, Khan’s office launched an investigation into possible crimes committed in the Palestinian territories since June 2014 in Gaza and the West Bank.
Located in The Hague, Netherlands, and created by a treaty called the Rome Statute first brought before the United Nations, the ICC operates independently. Most countries—124 of them—are parties to the treaty, but there are notable exceptions, including Israel, the US, and Russia.
If the court grants Khan’s application and issues arrest warrants for the five men, any country that is a member would have to arrest them and extradite them to The Hague.
Under the rules of the court, all signatories of the Rome Statute are obligated to cooperate fully with its decisions. This would make it extremely difficult for Netanyahu and Gallant to travel internationally, including to many countries that are among Israel’s closest allies, such as Germany and the United Kingdom.
When asked if the United Kingdom The UK said they would also stop giving weapons to Israel if they attacked Rafah. But the UK doesn’t give as many weapons to Israel as the US does.
“The UK only gives a small amount of Israel’s weapons and it’s not the main supplier,” Cameron said on the BBC. “We have a system for giving out permits, and we can take them away if it’s believed that there’s a high chance of a major human rights violation happening in other countries. ”
US President Joe Biden said that if Israel attacks Rafah, a major Hamas area in Gaza, then the US won’t give them weapons and military equipment anymore.
The Labour Party and human rights groups in Britain are saying that the UK should also stop selling weapons or parts for weapons used in an attack in Rafah.
On Friday, the US government said that Israel probably broke the rules of war by using weapons from the US in Gaza. However, they said that because of the war, US officials couldn’t be completely sure about the specific airstrikes.
He said this after hearing that the UK might send soldiers to help bring supplies from a pier the US is building.
Cameron said that his government thinks it’s not a good idea to have British soldiers on the beach. Instead, they will probably have someone else deliver the aid.
Lord Cameron, speaking to the BBC, stated that while he opposes a major ground offensive in Rafah, the UK won’t follow the US in halting some arms sales to Israel.
Despite only providing 1% of Israel’s weapons, he cautioned that Israel must prioritize civilian protection and allow humanitarian aid.
Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth expressed opposition to British-made arms being used in Rafah, as US President Joe Biden signaled a significant shift in policy by conditioning arms supply on Israel’s actions in the southern Gazan city.
Amid reports of mass displacement and Israeli military buildup in Rafah, concerns persist over potential civilian casualties and a worsening humanitarian situation. Despite warnings from allies, Israel remains determined to pursue operations against Hamas in the area.
Lord Cameron emphasized the need for Israel to demonstrate its plan to safeguard civilians before endorsing a full-scale offensive. However, he noted the disparity between the US and UK positions, highlighting America’s significant role as a major arms supplier to Israel.
“Just to simply announce today that we will change our approach on arms exports, it would make Hamas stronger and it would make a hostage deal less likely,” he adds.
He expressed his preference for prioritizing the consistent effort to facilitate humanitarian aid delivery to Gaza.
The US State Department published a report on Friday, suggesting that Israel may have violated international humanitarian law by using American-provided weapons during the Gaza conflict.
When asked about his stance on the report’s findings, Lord Cameron criticized Israel’s handling of the situation, asserting that its performance regarding humanitarian aid access has been inadequate.
However, he highlighted the UK’s distinct approach, stating his lack of interest in symbolic gestures such as halting weapons sales as a means of sending messages.
Lord Cameron said: “I’m interested in what can we do to maximise the British pressure and the outcome that will help people in their lives – including getting the hostages, including British nationals, released.”
He dismissed the idea of British boots on the ground in Gaza, saying it was “a risk that we should not take”.
It comes after the BBC last month reported the government was considering sending British troops into Gaza to help deliver aid via a new sea route.
Labour MP Zarah Sultana accused the government of not following its own rules by supplying weapons to Israel.
The government’s Strategic Export Licensing Criteria prevents weapons sales “if there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law”.
Ms Sultana said the scale of arms sales to Israel “does not matter”.
“We are aiding and abetting what are war crimes happening on a daily basis” she told the BBC.
Labour’s position on Gaza has shifted since the 7 October Hamas attacks, in which 252 people were kidnapped and about 1,200 killed, sparked a full-blown Israeli military operation in the area.
Since then more than 35,000 people have been killed and 78,000 others wounded in Gaza, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Last year, 10 Labour frontbenchers quit over the party’s failure to call for a ceasefire in Gaza as it instead backed a “humanitarian pause” to allow aid to flood into the country.
But in February, Labour began calling for an “immediate ceasefire” after the situation in Gaza “evolved”.
Mr Ashworth, a senior member of the shadow cabinet, said he did not “want to see British-made weapons used” in an invasion in Rafah.
“A full-scale offensive into Rafah will be a catastrophe beyond description,” he said.
He called on the government to publish the legal advice it has been given on arms sales to Israel.
After many months of starting and stopping talks, it seems like the ceasefire efforts are at a very important point. Egyptian and American mediators say there are signs that both sides are starting to agree in the last few days. But it is not yet clear if Israel will agree to end the fighting without achieving its goal of destroying Hamas.
The new UN report shows that if the Israel-Hamas war ends now, it will take until 2040 to rebuild all the homes destroyed in Gaza by Israeli attacks. It said that the damage to the economy will make it hard for the country to grow for a long time, and it will get even worse if the fighting keeps going on.
The US and Egyptian mediators have suggested a plan to Hamas, which Israel seems to agree with. The plan has three steps: first, a six-week ceasefire and the release of some Israeli hostages. Then, negotiations for a long-term peace agreement, which might involve Israel pulling out of Gaza. An Egyptian official shared this information. Hamas wants to make sure that Israel will completely pull out of their territory and that the war will stop completely.
Hamas leaders have been giving different messages about the plan in the last few days. However, on Thursday, the top leader of the group, Ismail Haniyeh, said in a statement that he talked to Egypt’s intelligence chief and emphasized that they are looking at the ceasefire proposal in a positive way.
Hamas is going to Cairo to finish talking about making a deal. Haniyeh also spoke to the prime minister of Qatar.
The brokers are optimistic that the agreement will stop a conflict that has hurt many Palestinians, destroyed a lot, and caused big problems for people in the area. They also hope that an agreement will stop Israel from attacking Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have taken refuge after leaving other areas where there is fighting.
If Israel decides to stop fighting in exchange for all the hostages being released, it would be a big change. After Hamas attacked Israel on Oct 7, Israel’s leaders said they will keep attacking and sending troops until they get rid of the militant group. They also say that Israel needs to have soldiers in Gaza and control security after the war to make sure that Hamas doesn’t build again.
He promised that even if there is a pause in fighting, Israel will still attack Rafah, which he believes is the last place where Hamas is strong in Gaza. He said again that he is determined to do it during his talks on Wednesday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Blinken was in Israel to try to make the deal happen.
The fate of the agreement depends on whether Hamas will agree to wait and see what happens after the initial six-week break in fighting. This would at least delay a feared attack on Rafah.
Egypt has been telling Hamas privately that the agreement will bring a complete end to the war. The Egyptian official said that Hamas thinks the text is not clear enough and wants it to say that Israel must completely leave all of Gaza. The official talked about the discussions happening inside, but didn’t want to give their name.
Wednesday evening, the news didn’t seem as good. A leader of Hamas, Osama Hamdan, said he wasn’t sure. He told Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV that they are still talking, but will stop if Israel invades Rafah.
Blinken pushed Hamas to agree and said Israel had made big concessions.
“We can’t argue or negotiate any more. Time is running out. ” “The agreement is in place,” Blinken said on Wednesday before he left for the US.
An Israeli attack from the air killed at least five people, including a child, in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. The Associated Press journalists saw and counted the bodies at a hospital.
The war started on October 7th. Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel, killing more than 1,200 people, mostly Israelis, and took about 250 others as hostages. Some were released during a ceasefire in November.
The Israel-Hamas war started when militants attacked southern Israel on Oct 7, killing about 1,200 civilians and taking about 250 people hostage. Hamas still has about 100 people as hostages and the bodies of more than 30 others.
Israel’s attack in Gaza caused a lot of damage and a humanitarian crisis. Thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza are at risk of not having enough food to eat, as reported by the UN. Over 80% of people have been forced to leave their houses.
The report says that the economy is in bad shape and many Palestinians are becoming poor.
It was reported that by 2024, the economy of Palestine, which includes Gaza and the West Bank, has decreased by 25. 8% If the war keeps going, the loss will be a very high 29 percent by July, it said. Israel’s decision to revoke work permits for the West Bank has negatively affected the economy there.
He said Hamas will be responsible if we can’t make a deal work.
Blinken is visiting the region for the seventh time since the war started in October. He is trying to make a deal between Israel and Hamas to avoid Israel invading the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where many Palestinians are staying.
The current discussions seem important, but the two parties still disagree on a key issue – whether the war should stop as part of a possible agreement.
We really want a ceasefire to bring the hostages back home. We want it now. The only reason it might not happen is because of Hamas, said Blinken to Israel’s President Herzog at a meeting in Tel Aviv.
“There is a suggestion that we need to discuss, and as we’ve already mentioned, we don’t want any delays or excuses. ” He said, “It is now the time. ”
Blinken also talked to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but we don’t know what they talked about yet.
Before, Blinken briefly said hello to a group of people outside his hotel who were asking for the release of American hostages held by Hamas, after meeting with Herzog and the hostages’ families.
The protesters were saying “SOS, USA, only you can save the day” and “In Blinken we trust, bring them home to us,” as they asked him to help their situation with Netanyahu.
Blinken told the families that there was a good plan on the table and that Hamas needs to agree to it. “We are determined and won’t stop until we reunite you with your loved ones,” he said.
He made these comments at the end of his trip to the region. Before that, he had visited Saudi Arabia and Jordan. He told Hamas to accept the new proposal from Israel, which he thought was very fair.
The State Department said he will go to an Israeli port where help for Gaza is coming in.
The United States has strongly supported Israel’s war since Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct 7. However, it is very upset about the large number of Palestinian civilians who have been hurt in Gaza. It is also very against Israel’s idea to attack Rafah, which is the southernmost city in Gaza. Around 15 million Palestinians have gone to Rafah to escape the fighting in other parts of the territory.
Washington told Israel not to attack in a way that would endanger innocent people.
Netanyahu says he will attack Rafah, which he thinks is the last place where Hamas has control in the coastal area. He said he will do this even if there is no ceasefire agreement.
The deal being talked about will release many hostages in exchange for a six-week break in fighting.
They killed about 1400 innocent people who were just living their lives near Gaza. The terrorists killed those people in a really cruel and not humane way.
“They brought 240 people as hostages to Gaza. Our aim is to destroy the Harams in this war and free our hostages,” she said on the Hot Issue with Kemmini Amanor on TV3 on Sunday, November 12th. Hamas attacked Israel on Saturday with lots of fighters entering communities near the Gaza Strip.
At least 1,300 Israelis have died, and many soldiers and civilians, including women and children, are being kept as hostages in Gaza. Over 1,300 Palestinians have been killed in many air attacks on Gaza by Israel’s military. Israel has also stopped all essential supplies from entering Gaza.
The area had mostly Arab people, but also some Jewish and other smaller groups. Conflict between two groups increased when the UK was asked to create a “homeland” for Jewish people in Palestine by the international community.
This started from a promise made by Arthur Balfour in 1917 to the Jewish people in Britain. The statement was written into the British rule over Palestine and approved by the new League of Nations in 1922.
Jews thought Palestine was their old home, but Palestinian Arabs also said it was theirs and didn’t like the idea. From the 1920s to the 1940s, a lot of Jews went there, running away from being hurt in Europe, especially from the Nazi Holocaust in World War Two. Fighting between Jews and Arabs and against the British government also got worse.
In 1947, the United Nations decided to divide Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, and make Jerusalem an international city. The Jewish leaders agreed to the plan, but the Arab side did not and it was never put into action. In 1948, Britain left and Jewish leaders made Israel a country because they couldn’t fix the issue. It was supposed to be a safe place for Jews running away from being hurt, and also a homeland for Jews. Fighting between Jewish and Arab groups had been getting worse for months. The day after Israel became a country, five Arab countries attacked.
Khalil al-Hayya made comments during an interview on Wednesday. This happened while there was no progress in negotiations for a cease-fire in Gaza after many months. Hamas seemed to agree to a big change by saying they would give up their weapons, even though they have always been against Israel.
But it’s doubtful that Israel would think about that happening. It promised to defeat Hamas after the October attack that killed people. The war started because of 7 attacks. The current leaders of Israel are strongly against making a Palestinian state on the land Israel took after the 1967 war.
Al-Hayya, a top member of Hamas, has been talking to try to make peace and trade hostages. He sounded strong sometimes and friendly other times.
Talking to the AP in Istanbul, Al-Hayya said Hamas wants to be part of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which is led by their rival Fatah faction. They want to work together to have one government for both Gaza and the West Bank. He said Hamas would agree to a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with Palestinian refugees able to return as per international resolutions, within Israel’s borders before 1967.
He said if that happens, the army part of the group would disappear.
“He said that the people who fought against the people who took over their land became independent and got their own rights and country. What did these groups do after that. They became political parties and their fighting forces became the national army,” he said.
Over time, Hamas has sometimes softened its public stance on the idea of a Palestinian state next to Israel. However, its political plan still officially refuses to consider any other option than complete freedom for Palestine, from the river to the sea. This means they want all the land from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, which includes the land that is now part of Israel.
Al-Hayya did not say if he supports a two-state solution to end the conflict between Palestine and Israel or if it’s just a temporary step towards their goal of destroying Israel.
Israel and the Palestinian Authority did not respond right away. The Palestinian Authority is the official government, but Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007. This happened a year after winning the Palestinian parliamentary elections. After Hamas took control of Gaza, the Palestinian Authority was left in charge of running some areas in the West Bank that were partly controlled by Israel.
The Palestinian Authority wants to create its own country in the West Bank, east Jerusalem, and Gaza, which were taken over by Israel in the 1967 war. Most of the world wants two separate states for Israel and Palestine, but Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, doesn’t agree with that.
The fighting in Gaza has lasted for almost seven months and talks to stop it have stopped. The war started on October with deadly battles. 7 attacks happened in the south of Israel. The people who did it were led by Hamas, and they killed about 1,200 people. Most of the people who died were not soldiers, they were regular people. Some fighters took about 250 people as hostages into a small area. The recent attacks by Israel in Gaza have resulted in the death of over 34,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children. It has also forced 80% of Gaza’s 2. 3 million people to leave their homes.
Israel is getting ready to attack the southern city of Rafah, where over 1 million Palestinians have run away to.
Al-Hayya said that this attack will not destroy Hamas. He said the leaders outside of Gaza keep talking to the military leaders inside Gaza, and they make decisions together.
The Israeli forces have not destroyed most of Hamas’s abilities, both in people and in their weapons. “If they can’t defeat Hamas, what is the answer. The answer is to come to an agreement. ”
In November, there was a truce for a whole week. It led to the freeing of over 100 captives in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners that were being held in Israel. However, discussions for a long-term peace agreement and freeing the rest of the hostages are currently on hold. Both sides are blaming each other for being unwilling to cooperate. The main person talking to both sides in the conflict in Qatar said that they are thinking about changing their role as a mediator.
Many Hamas leaders who used to be in Qatar have recently left and gone to Turkey. There, the leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, met with the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Al-Hayya said that the group’s main political office is not going to move, and Hamas wants Qatar to keep helping with the talks.
Israeli and US officials say that they don’t think Hamas is really trying to make a deal.
Al-Hayya said no, and explained that Hamas has agreed to release fewer Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the remaining Israeli hostages. He said the group doesn’t know how many hostages are still in Gaza and alive.
But he said Hamas will not give up on what they want, which is for the fighting to stop forever and for all Israeli soldiers to leave, but Israel doesn’t want to agree to that. Israel says it will keep fighting until Hamas is completely beaten and will keep its army in Gaza for safety.
“Why should I release the prisoners if the war is not going to stop. ” the Hamas leader asked about the hostages still held.
Al-Hayya warned that Hamas might attack Israeli or other forces near a floating pier being built by the US to deliver aid to Gaza by sea.
“We strongly disagree with anyone who is not from Palestine being in Gaza, whether on the water or on the ground. We will confront any military presence in these areas, whether it’s from Israel or any other country, as they are acting like they own the place,” he said.
Al-Hayya said that Hamas does not feel sorry for the attacks on Oct 7, even though it caused a lot of damage to Gaza and its people. He said that Hamas fighters didn’t attack civilians, even though there is proof they did. He also said the attacks brought attention to the Palestinian issue.
He said that trying to get rid of Hamas would not stop Palestinians from fighting back in the future.
“Let’s say they have gotten rid of Hamas. ” “Are the Palestinian people still here. ” he wondered
Jake Sullivan, who works for the government, said that meeting with Abigail and her family at the White House made him remember that there is still a lot of work to be done to bring back the people who were taken by Hamas in an attack on Israel. These people are still being held captive in Gaza.
Abigail, who is a citizen of both Israel and the US, was kidnapped after her parents were killed in the attack. She was freed almost seven weeks later. She was the first American captive released by Hamas in a deal with Israel to trade hostages for Palestinian prisoners at the beginning of the conflict. Abigail had her fourth birthday while she was kept as a captive.
“Sullivan, who was at Biden’s meeting with the girl and her family, also mentioned that seeing her was a reminder that there are still Americans and others being held hostage by Hamas. ” “We are working every day to make sure everyone can safely go home to their families. ”
Israel says the fighters are still keeping about 100 people captive and the bodies of more than 30 others.
Sullivan said that Abigail and her two brothers are still dealing with the sadness and pain of their parents being killed on Oct 7th.
“Abigail is still dealing with the pain of being kept prisoner for a long time,” he added. “But it was also a happy moment because she was able to go back to her family safely. ” Please write this in simpler language.
Biden met with Abigail while Hamas released a video of an Israeli American still in their custody.
The video was the first time people saw Hersh Goldberg-Polin after the attack on southern Israel by Hamas on October 7th. It was unclear when the video was made.
Goldberg-Polin, who is 23 years old, was at the Tribe of Nova music festival when Hamas attacked from the nearby Gaza. In the video, Goldberg-Polin doesn’t have part of his left arm.
Witnesses said he got very upset when attackers threw grenades into a place where people were hiding. He wrapped a tight bandage around it before being put into the truck.
Sullivan mentioned that American police are looking at the video, but they didn’t say anything else.
Three sons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh have been killed in an Israeli attack in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday according to their father. Haniyeh blamed Israel for acting out of revenge and killing.
Haniyeh said his sons died in an interview on Al Jazeera. He said they died trying to free Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Israeli army did not respond right away.
Biden has strongly supported Israel in its fight against Hamas. But recently, he has been less patient with Netanyahu and his government has been tougher on Israel. This has caused tension between the two countries and has made Israel more isolated on the world stage.
The biggest argument is about Israel’s plan to attack the southern Gaza city of Rafah. An Israeli attack last week made the separation even worse. The attack killed seven workers with the World Central Kitchen charity, most of them were from other countries. Israel said they did not mean to cause the deaths, but Biden was very angry about it.
In a recent interview, Biden talked about the differences between the US and Israel when it comes to giving help to people in Gaza. Gaza is facing a shortage of food because of the war, and more than a million people are in danger of going hungry.
“He is making a mistake. ” Biden said that he doesn’t like how Netanyahu is doing things. He thinks Netanyahu is more focused on staying in power than what’s best for Israel.
“He said in the phone interview that the criminal is driven by a desire for revenge and murder and doesn’t care about following rules or laws. ”
Ismail Haniyeh lives in Qatar, where Al Jazeera is located.
He said that the killings would not make Hamas change their mind. The two groups have been working on stopping fighting for several months.
“The enemy thinks that if they attack the families of our leaders, they will give in to what they want,” he said. “Anyone who thinks that attacking my sons will make Hamas change its mind is crazy. ”
Hamas’ TV station, Al-Aqsa, reported that Hazem, Ameer, and Mohammed Haniyeh, along with other family members, were killed in a strike close to the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. Ismail Haniyeh comes from Shati.
The brothers and their family were in one car when an Israeli drone attacked them, according to Al-Aqsa TV. Six people died, including Hazem Haniyeh’s daughter, and Ameer’s son and daughter.
The strike happens while people from other countries are trying to help make a new agreement to stop the fighting. We didn’t know right away how the strike would affect the negotiations.
Before, Benny Gantz, an Israeli war minister, said that Hamas has lost in a fight, but he also said that Israel will keep fighting against them for many years.
“From a military standpoint, Hamas has lost. ” “Israel’s fighters have been killed or are in hiding, and their abilities are weakened,” Gantz said in a statement to the media in Sderot.
However, he said that it will take a while to fight against Hamas. Middle school boys will continue to have fights in Gaza Strip.
Gantz said that the Israeli government is committed to entering Rafah, a city in the southern part of the Gaza Strip where many people are seeking shelter. “Wherever terrorists are, the IDF will go there,” he said.
The attack happened while people in Gaza were celebrating the end of Ramadan and visiting the graves of family members who had died in the war. In the Jabaliya refugee camp near Gaza City, people were sitting quietly next to graves that were surrounded by buildings that were destroyed by Israel’s attack after Hamas’s deadly attack in October. Rewrite this text in an easy way:
“The United States is doing its own thing. ” President Joe Biden said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a mistake in handling the war in Gaza. He wants the government to give a lot of aid to the troubled area. This is putting more pressure on Israel to stop fighting and causing a bigger disagreement between the two countries.
Biden strongly supports Israel’s battle against Hamas. In the past few weeks, the president has become less patient with Netanyahu. His administration is being stricter with Israel, causing tension in their long-standing alliance and making Israel more isolated internationally because of the war.
The biggest argument is about Israel’s plan to attack the city of Rafah in Gaza. The disagreement got even worse when Israel bombed a group giving aid, killing seven workers from a charity called World Central Kitchen. Most of them were from other countries. Israel said they did not mean to cause the deaths, but Biden was very angry about it.
Biden recently said in an interview that Israel and the US disagree on giving aid to people in Gaza. The war there has led to a risk of famine for over a million people.
“He is making a mistake. ” “I don’t like the way he’s doing things,” Biden told the Spanish TV station Univision. He was asked if Netanyahu was more focused on keeping his job than on what’s best for Israel.
Israel stopped giving aid to Gaza when the war started, but because the US asked them to, they have slowly started to allow more trucks to bring aid into the area. However, aid organizations say that necessary supplies are not getting to people in need fast enough. They are pointing the finger at Israeli restrictions and pointing out that many trucks are stuck waiting to enter Gaza. Countries have tried other ways to give aid that are not as good, like dropping supplies from airplanes or delivering them by boat.
Israel has opened more ways for trucks to go into northern Gaza, which was hit hard in the war. Israel thinks that aid groups take too long to give help to people in Gaza after they bring it there.
The delivery of aid is made difficult by problems with organization and safety, especially because of the recent WCK strike.
Israel and Hamas are talking to try to make a deal to stop fighting. Hamas wants Israel to release some people they took captive on Oct 7. However, the two sides still disagree on important issues, such as whether Palestinians should be allowed to return to northern Gaza. Netanyahu’s group of top officials met on Tuesday night to talk about the hostage negotiations, but it seems like they didn’t decide anything.
Netanyahu promised to win completely by destroying Hamas’ military and government so that the Oct 7 attacks don’t happen again and the hostages can come back. He says that to win, they need to attack Rafah, which Israel says is the last big place controlled by Hamas. But more than half of the 2. 3 million people in Gaza are hiding there.
Six months after the war started, Israel is becoming more and more alone. Even its closest friends are speaking out about being unhappy with how the war is going. Turkey, a country Israel has traded with for a long time, is also taking actions that could hurt Israel’s economy to show how upset they are.
Netanyahu is being accused of doing bad things and now people want him to say what he thinks about Gaza after the war. Critics say that he is taking a long time to make a decision because he doesn’t want to upset his very patriotic partners in the government who want to move people back to the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Netanyahu has already said he is against this idea.
Netanyahu’s partners in government also don’t want to give in to Hamas and have said they might leave the government. If they do, the ruling group would fall apart and new elections would need to happen.
Israel started the war because Hamas attacked them from another country. The militants killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 people as hostages, according to Israel.
Over 33,400 Palestinians have been killed in the on-going fighting. Gaza’s Health Ministry doesn’t separate civilians and soldiers in their count, but they claim that most of the people who died were women and children. Israel claims to have killed about 12,000 fighters, but has not shown any proof.
The war has caused a big disaster for people who need help. Most of the people in the area had to leave their homes because of the fighting, and many parts of Gaza are now too damaged to live in.
The military announced on Friday that it is probable that an Israeli helicopter gunship killed 7 people as a reaction to the attack. A person was taken captive by Hamas fighters when they attacked Israeli towns near Gaza in October.
For a few weeks, the military has been looking into reports that some of the 1,200 Israelis and foreign victims of the attack were accidentally killed by their own side during the confusion. More than 250 people were also taken as hostages during the chaos.
As the fighting continues in Gaza for six months, each side says they can win and doesn’t want outside help to stop the fighting.
Netanyahu thinks that Israel can reach its goals of breaking up Hamas and bringing back many hostages if they send more troops to the city of Rafah in the south. Rafah is where more than half of Gaza’s people are staying, and many are living in crowded tent camps.
Hamas said it will keep the hostages until Israel agrees to a long-term peace deal, removes its soldiers from Gaza, and sets free many Palestinian prisoners, including important fighters. It was announced on Monday that they turned down a recent offer because it didn’t meet their demands. If their demands were met, it would be very expensive for the other party.
“Israel will not give in to Hamas’ unrealistic demands. They will keep fighting to achieve all their goals in the war: freeing all the hostages, destroying Hamas’ military and governing abilities, and making sure Gaza can never harm Israel again. ”
The war has caused the death of more than 32,000 people in Gaza. Most of those who died were women and children. The war has destroyed a lot of Gaza Strip, forcing many people to leave and causing a lot of people to not have enough food.
A building in Rafah was hit by Israel Monday night. At least 16 people were killed, including nine children and four women. They were staying in the building because they had been forced from their homes. This information comes from hospital records and family members of the people who died. A reporter from the Associated Press saw the dead bodies being brought to a hospital.
On Monday, the Security Council made a decision to stop fighting, but the United States didn’t vote yes or no, which made Israel very upset. This caused even more tension between the two countries. The resolution says that hostages in Gaza should be set free, but it doesn’t say that the ceasefire depends on it.
“The message sent to Hamas yesterday is that they don’t need to rush,” Katz said.
The war started on October. In 2007, a group of militants led by Hamas invaded Israel and attacked towns in the south. They killed about 1,200 people, mostly regular people, and kidnapped about 250 others. It is thought that there are still around 100 people being kept against their will, and the bodies of 30 others, after most of the other hostages were let go in November in return for setting free some Palestinian prisoners.
The United States, Qatar, and Egypt have been trying for a few weeks to make a deal to stop fighting and to free hostages, but it seems like they are not making progress. Hamas told the mediators that it will continue to support its previous position, according to a statement it issued on Monday night.
Hamas said that Israel has not agreed to stop fighting, leave the area, let people go back home, and exchange prisoners.
Hamas has suggested a step-by-step plan. They would let all the hostages go in exchange for Israel leaving Gaza, aid and rebuilding help, and letting many Palestinian prisoners go, especially those who are leaders of violent groups.
Netanyahu promised to continue attacking Israel’s enemies after any hostages are freed. He will keep fighting until Hamas is defeated, because he believes this is the only way to stop another attack like the one in October.
Mediators were hoping to reach an agreement before Ramadan because violence between Israelis and Palestinians often increases during this month due to a conflict over a holy site in Jerusalem. The war has made the whole area worried, with groups supported by Iran fighting with Israel and the United States.
Egyptian leaders said earlier that the talks were stuck because Hamas wants the war to end in stages. However, they haven’t completely dismissed the possibility of making a deal before Ramadan starts on Sunday.
Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha said Israel won’t promise to stop fighting, let displaced people go home, and leave the areas it invaded. But he said the talks are still happening and will start again next week. Israel did not comment right away.
The US, Egypt, and Qatar have been working for weeks to make a deal for a six-week break from fighting and to free 40 people who are being held in Gaza. In return, they want Palestinians who are in jail in Israel to be released.
The officials talked without saying their names because they were not allowed to talk about the negotiations with the media. Both officials said that people are still trying to help the two parties to be more flexible in their positions.
Hamas has said they won’t let go of all the hostages until Israel leaves the territory completely. It is thought that Palestinian fighters are holding about 100 people captive and the bodies of 30 others that they took during a conflict involving Hamas in October. 7 times people attacked Israel, this started the war.
Hamas wants to free many prisoners, including important fighters in jail for life, in return for the remaining hostages.
It is thought that Hamas has the hostages in their tunnels and is using them to protect their leaders. It would be very hard to rescue them from there. It wants to use them as a way to stop the war the way they want.
This is a big problem for Israel because they might have to decide between saving the hostages or getting rid of Hamas.
The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, said no to what Hamas wants and said that Israel will continue fighting even after a ceasefire. He wants to attack the city of Rafah and keep fighting until they win. He also said that using military force will help get the hostages released.
During Ramadan, Muslims pray more, think deeply, and give to those in need. They also have nightly parties with loved ones after fasting all day. The new month will start on Sunday or Monday, depending on when the moon is seen.
For many years, Israeli forces and Palestinians have fought in Jerusalem over being able to go to the Al-Aqsa mosque, which is a very important place for Muslims. The hill where it stands is very important to Jewish people. They call it the Temple Mount because it was where the Jewish temples were a long time ago.
Hamas says it started the attack in October. The group attacked because they felt Israel was getting too close to their holy site and want more fights with Israel during the holy month. Israeli officials say people can still go to the site like they did before.
Hamas fighters attacked and killed about 1,200 people, most of them were not in the military, and took another 250 people captive when they crossed the border in October. The existing text doesn’t seem to be provided. Can you please provide the text you would like me to simplify. Thank you More than 100 people who were held captive were set free in an agreement to stop fighting last year.
Israel attacked Gaza with a big military effort from the air, land, and sea. This caused about 80% of people to leave their homes and many are now struggling to find enough food to eat.
The Health Ministry in Gaza says that at least 30,717 Palestinians have died. It doesn’t separate civilians and soldiers when counting the number of people killed, but it says that about two-thirds of those killed are women and children. The ministry, which is part of the government led by Hamas, keeps careful records and its numbers for people killed or injured in past wars are similar to those reported by the UN and independent experts.
Israel claims to have killed more than 13,000 Hamas fighters, but has not shown any proof. It says that many civilians are being killed because fighters from Hamas are working in crowded areas where people live.
Gaza is facing a very serious problem, especially in the north where there is a lot of damage caused by the offensive. Around 300,000 people still live there. They have to eat animal food to survive. The UN says that one in six children under 2 in the north is very malnourished.
Israeli officials announced on Wednesday that they will start letting aid go straight from Israel to northern Gaza. They also said they will help set up a sea route from Cyprus to send aid. This is in response to international requests to help with the crisis.
Charities say it’s really hard to give things to people in most of Gaza because it’s so difficult to work with the Israeli military, the fighting that is still happening, and the collapse of public order. It is even harder to get help to the northern areas.
Starbucks in the Middle East is letting go of its employees because people protested against the brand during the Israel-Hamas war.
The Alshaya Group, a company in Kuwait, owns the rights to open stores for companies like The Cheesecake Factory, H&M, and Shake Shack. They released a statement admitting that they fired people at their stores in the Middle East and North Africa.
“Because it has been hard to make money lately, we have to let some of our Starbucks workers go. It’s a tough decision and we feel sad about it,” the statement said.
Alshaya refused to say how many workers it was letting go. Reuters was the first to report that more than 2,000 employees will be laid off. A lot of the workers in the Gulf Arab states come from countries in Asia.
Alshaya has around 1,900 Starbucks stores in 11 countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The Seattle company had hired more than 19,000 workers.
”Our troops have made significant progress in pushing back enemy forces. They have successfully gained control of several strategic locations and have greatly weakened the enemy’s stronghold.”
Starbucks is one of the Western brands that pro-Palestinian activists are protesting against because of the war. The company is working hard to stop false and misleading information about Starbucks from spreading on the internet.
Starbucks said they are not trying to influence politics. We do not give our money to governments or military operations anywhere, and we never have.
In October, Starbucks took legal action against Workers United for organizing workers in 370 U.S locations, a message supporting Palestine was posted on a union’s social media account.
Starbucks wants the union to stop using its name and image because it sparked protests from supporters of Israel. Those who boycotted also thought the company wasn’t giving enough help to Palestinians in Gaza.
Starbucks made a lot of money in the last three months, reaching a record of $9. 43 billion, which is 8% more than before. However, the amount was less than the $9. 6 billion that analysts had predicted, possibly because of activist boycotts.
Activists are also targeting other brands, not just Starbucks, in the war. Some people want to stop going to McDonald’s because a local store in Israel is giving free food to Israeli soldiers.
Egyptian officials said that after talking with Hamas for three days about stopping the fighting in Gaza and freeing Israeli hostages, they did not make any progress. This happened just a few days before the start of Ramadan, which was the deadline for reaching an agreement.
The US, Qatar, and Egypt have been working hard for weeks to make a deal with Hamas. The deal would have Hamas release up to 40 hostages. In exchange, there would be a monthlong break from fighting, some Palestinian prisoners would be released, and humanitarian aid would be given to help the people in the area.
Two government workers from Egypt said that the most recent talks have finished. They said Hamas gave a plan for mediators to talk about with Israel soon.
Hamas spokesperson Jihad Taha said talks were still happening, but it’s up to Israel to make a decision. Israel has not agreed to Hamas’ requests for allowing people to return to northern Gaza, and for a promise of stopping the fighting and leaving completely.
“Hamas is willing to consider ideas and plans that align with their stance for stopping the fighting, pulling out troops, bringing back people who had to leave their homes, allowing aid trucks to get in, and rebuilding. ” Taha explained
The leader of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, said no to what Hamas wanted and promised to keep fighting until Hamas is gone and all the hostages are safe. Israel did not send a group of people to the most recent meeting.
An Israeli leader said that Israel is still waiting for Hamas to give a list of hostages who are still alive and the number of prisoners they want in exchange. It was not known if the latest proposal included that information.
Benny Gantz, who is a member of Netanyahu’s War Cabinet and his main political opponent, had a meeting with senior U. SGovernment officials from Washington visited Israel and received criticism from the prime minister, showing that there is a growing disagreement within Israel’s leadership.
Mediators wanted to make a deal before Ramadan, a month when people fast from dawn to dusk. This time often leads to more tension between Israelis and Palestinians over access to a holy site in Jerusalem. The month is likely to start on March 10, but it depends on when the moon is seen.
The talks are delicate. I can’t say if people are feeling hopeful or worried, but we still haven’t been able to make a peace agreement, said Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Monday.
The war started when Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. In 7 days, Palestinian fighters killed about 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages. Over 100 of them were set free in a week-long break from fighting in November.
The attack led to Israel invading the area where 2. 3 million people live. The Gaza Health Ministry says more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed. Help organizations are saying that the fighting has forced many people to leave their homes and has left a quarter of the population very close to starving.
The UN says that at least 10 children in northern Gaza have died because they didn’t have enough to eat and drink.
“Many children in Gaza’s hospitals are very sick and need help. In the north, some children can’t get any medical care at all,” said Adele Khodr, who works for UNICEF in the Middle East and North Africa.
She said these deaths were caused by people, could have been foreseen, and could have been stopped.
The Gaza Health Ministry reported that 15 kids have died from hunger at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza. Six more kids are also in danger of dying from not having enough food and water. It wasn’t clear if the kids had any existing health problems that made them more likely to get sick.
Israel attacked Northern Gaza first and caused a lot of destruction. The World Food Program stopped sending food to the north because the area is not safe. Last week, the Israeli military tried to bring in aid but it ended in a tragedy when more than 100 Palestinians were shot and killed by Israeli forces or trampled to death in a chaotic situation.
Approximately 300,000 Palestinians are thought to still be living in northern Gaza after Israel told everyone to leave the area, including Gaza City, in October. Many people have to eat animal food to stay alive. The UN says that one out of every six young children in the north are very hungry and not getting enough food.
The US and other countries have dropped supplies from airplanes recently, but aid groups say it’s not enough to help all the people who need it.
Israel is still attacking Gaza and has said it might also attack the city of Rafah. Many people from Gaza have gone to Rafah for safety. Gantz said the Rafah operation might start during Ramadan if there is no deal on the hostages.
Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that 97 people died in the past day. The total number of Palestinians who have died is now 30,631. The ministry counts everyone who has been hurt or killed, without separating civilians from people who are fighting. They say that about two-thirds of the total casualties are women and children.
Israel says it tries not to hurt innocent people and says that the high number of casualties is because Hamas fighters are in crowded neighborhoods. However, the military hardly keeps track of each time they attack, and this often results in the deaths of innocent women and children.
The police arrested the suspects at the same time in Istanbul. The Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced this on the social media site X, which used to be called Twitter. The raids were a team effort with Turkey’s spy agency.
Yerlikaya said that the people who were arrested are believed to have been gathering information about people and businesses in Turkey and then selling it to a spy agency in Israel. “We won’t let anyone spy in our country. ”
It is not known yet if there are any charges, and the authorities did not give any more information.
Last month, seven more people, including private detectives, were arrested for the same suspicions. In the beginning of January, Turkish police arrested 34 people for possibly spying for Israel.
The people who were arrested in January are being accused of planning to do things like watching and attacking foreign people who live in Turkey.
The government’s Anadolu Agency reported that on Tuesday, some people were arrested, including a former civil servant who now works as a private detective. It is said that he was trained by Mossad in Belgrade, Serbia. He gathered information about companies and people in the Middle East, and also put tracking devices in the vehicles of people that Israeli intelligence was keeping an eye on, according to Anadolu.
In 2022, Turkey and Israel became friends again after many years of arguments. They did this by sending ambassadors to each other’s countries. However, the relationship quickly got worse after the war between Israel and Hamas. Ankara became one of the most vocal critics of Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
In December, the leader of Israel’s security agency said they were ready to attack the militant Hamas group in Lebanon, Turkey, and Qatar.
The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told Israel that there will be bad results if they go through with their plan to attack Hamas members in Turkey.
Ashraf al-Qudra, who speaks for the health ministry in Gaza, said that over 100 people were killed while waiting for help to arrive in northern Gaza, and more than 700 others were injured. He said the event happened at the Nabulsi roundabout, on Rashid Street, on Thursday and he said Israeli forces were responsible for what he called a “massacre”.
Mr Ashraf al-Qudra said many seriously injured people were brought to the nearby al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. The doctors couldn’t handle so many severe cases.
At the same time, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israeli soldiers shot at many people in Gaza City and other northern areas while they were waiting for trucks with aid to arrive.
As we mentioned before, we are still getting more information and we will keep you updated with the latest news.
This news story is still being updated. Come back later for more information.
The number is about 1. 3% of the 2. 3 million people who live there. It shows how many people have been hurt by the war.
The government says most of the people who died were women and children. It doesn’t separate between civilians and fighters when counting the people who were killed.
The ministry said that 81 people died in the past day, and the total number of deaths is now 30,035.
The number of people who have died is probably much higher because the count doesn’t include those who haven’t gone to the hospital. This includes thousands of people who are still trapped under collapsed buildings from Israeli air strikes.
Over 70,000 people have been injured in Gaza, according to the health ministry. The United Nations and other global groups use its information.
The World Health Organization works closely with the health organization in Gaza and it is good at collecting and analyzing data. The UN agency thinks the previous reports are believable and well written.
The WHO says that more civilians, including children and women, are being killed in Gaza now compared to past conflicts.
Israel’s military told the BBC that about 10,000 terrorists have been killed, but did not give specific numbers for civilian and fighter casualties.
For a Palestinian death to be recorded in Gaza, the hospital staff or medical workers must see the body or remains. Every day, hospitals send a list of all the people who got hurt or died to the Ministry of Health. The list has their names, ID numbers, when they got hurt or died, and what injuries they have. Its workers are now located in Rafah.
The Palestinian Red Crescent also gives information.
During the war, it has been very hard to report the numbers because there are too many dead bodies in the morgues, fighting near hospitals and clinics, and not good internet and phone service.
But, if a longer ceasefire is agreed or the war ends, finding and identifying the bodies of the missing people will help us know how many people were killed, including how many soldiers were killed. The UN, rights groups, and Israeli military will likely each do their own investigations.
People are saying that the current numbers don’t show how Palestinians were killed. They want to know if it was from Israeli air strikes, artillery shelling, or other ways like Palestinians’ rockets not working correctly. All the people who got hurt are being called victims of “Israeli aggression” right now.
Lately, the Gaza Ministry of Health has reported more cases of what the World Health Organization (WHO) calls “indirect mortality” – which means people dying because of the war but not directly from the fighting.
On Wednesday, it was reported that six children had died from not having enough water and food at hospitals in northern Gaza. Two people were at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and four people were at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the town of Beit Lahia.
The fighting started when many Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel on October 7th. They killed around 1,200 people and took 253 hostages. This is according to the counts by Israel.
103 of his family members died in an attack on their home in Gaza City. He was 50 miles (80km) away in the town of Jericho in the West Bank.
Ahmad was working on a construction site in Tel Aviv when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th. Because of the war and Israel’s military blockade, he couldn’t go back home to his wife and three young daughters.
Every day, he talked to them at the same time when the phones worked. On the evening of December 8th, he was on the phone with his wife, Shireen, when the attack happened.
“She knew she was going to die,” he said. “She asked me to forgive her for anything wrong she may have done to me in the past. ” I told her she didn’t have to say that. “And that was the final time we spoke to each other. ”
That night, a big bomb exploded at his uncle’s house and it killed his wife and three young daughters – Tala, Lana, and Najla.
He celebrated his youngest daughter’s birthday last week. Najla would have been two years old. Ahmad is still having a hard time dealing with the loss.
He can’t hold his kids or be at their quick funerals. But he still talks about them like they are here, and he doesn’t show any emotion on his face even though he’s crying.
“He said his daughters are like little birds to him. ” I feel like I’m in a dream. I feel like I’m dreaming. I can’t believe what has happened to us.
He deleted the girls’ photos from his phone and computer screens, so he doesn’t see them unexpectedly.
He has to figure out what happened by asking some family and neighbors who are still alive.
They said a missile hit the front of his family’s house first.
“He said they quickly left and went to my uncle’s house close by. ” “Fifteen minutes later, a military airplane crashed into that house. ”
It’s a pile of broken concrete with bits of colorful things in it, like a green cup and torn clothes.
The smashed up silver car with a twisted windshield is sitting under some concrete rocks.
Ahmad’s family member, Hamid al-Ghuferi, said to the BBC that people who ran up the hill when the strikes started lived, but those who stayed in the house died.
“It was a belt of fire,” he said. “There were bombs hitting the four houses beside ours. ” They were attacking a house every 10 minutes.
“He said 110 people from our family were there – including our kids and other relatives. ” “Almost all of them were killed, only a few survived. ”
Survivors said the oldest person who died was a 98-year-old grandma, and the youngest was a baby boy who was only nine days old.
Another family member, a cousin named Ahmad, talked about two large explosions from a bombing.
He said they didn’t tell us ahead of time. “If some people hadn’t left this area, I think hundreds would have died. ” The place looks very different now. There was a place to park cars, a place to store water, and four houses; three small houses and one big house. The explosion destroyed an entire neighborhood full of homes.
Hamid told that the people who lived through the accident had worked late into the night to get the bodies out from the fallen buildings.
Airplanes were flying in the sky, and small helicopters were shooting at us while we tried to get them down, said Ahmad.
“We were sitting in the house and then we were trapped under the debris,” Umm Ahmad al-Ghuferi said to the BBC. I was tossed back and forth. I don’t understand how they managed to rescue me. We saw someone die right in front of us.
It has been two and a half months, and they are still trying to reach some of the bodies that are buried under the collapsed buildings. The family saved money to rent a small machine to remove the rubble.
“We found four bodies today,” Ahmad said to the BBC. “This includes my brother’s wife and my nephew Mohammed, who was found in pieces. ” They were trapped under the fallen building for 75 days.
Their temporary graves are on a piece of empty land close by, and they are marked with sticks and plastic sheets.
Ahmad hasn’t been able to visit them in Jericho.
“Why can’t I be with my mom, wife, kids, and brothers. ” he wondered “They were all regular people. ”
We talked to the Israeli army about the family’s claim that they were attacked with air strikes. The army said it didn’t know about the attack and that they did their best to avoid hurting civilians in their fight against Hamas.
Israeli soldiers and Hamas gunmen fought very hard in the area of Shejaiyya, not far from the al-Ghuferi house, around the time when Ahmad’s family was killed.
On December 9th, the army said that they found some terrorists with missiles getting close to the soldiers in Shejaiyya. They called in a helicopter to attack them.
It also said that military planes had been attacking places where terrorists are.
Eden Golan’s October Rain lyrics were shared with the media this week.
According to the Israel Hayom newspaper, the song is about the people who were hurt in the Hamas attacks on October 7th. The lyrics say, “They were all good children, each one of them. ”
The group that puts on Eurovision, the EBU, is currently looking at the song.
The competition’s rules say no political messages are allowed to be fair.
In the past, the EBU made national representatives change their song lyrics. In 2009, Georgia left the contest because their song, “We Don’t Wanna Put In,” was not allowed because it mentioned the Russian president.
In a statement about Israel joining a competition in 2024, the organisers said they are currently looking carefully at the song’s words. This is a secret process between the organisers and the broadcaster until they make a final decision.
“If a song is not allowed for some reason, broadcasters can send a different song or new words to use instead. ”
KAN, Israel’s public broadcaster, stated that it would not change the lyrics even if asked to.
“This means that if Israel’s entry is not accepted by the European Broadcasting Union, they cannot compete in the contest happening in Sweden next May. ”
Controversial choice
KAN also said that the leaked words for October Rain were right, and showed them all on its website on Wednesday.
The song is called a “touching and strong slow song” and it repeats the line “I’m still soaking from this October rain. ”
Golan sings in the song: “Don’t believe people who say boys don’t cry/ Life is tough and not a game for the scared ones. ”
Israel Hayom says that the mention of flowers is important because it is a military term for soldiers who have died in war.
The song finishes with these words in Hebrew: “I can’t breathe, there’s no place, and I feel lost every day. ”
KAN said that Israel’s culture minister Miki Zohar asked the President of the EBU to approve the song.
Mr Zohar thinks it would be very wrong to disqualify the song. He called it “scandalous. ”
“Eden Golan will sing a song about Israel that expresses the feelings of the people and the country. It’s not a political song. ”
We want Eurovision to be about music and culture, not politics. Each country should show their own style and pride through their songs.
“I ask the European Broadcasting Union to keep doing their job well and not let politics interfere with art. ”
Asking to be disqualified.
Musicians from other countries in Eurovision want Israel to be stopped from participating because of the war in Gaza.
In December, the music group in Iceland said Israel’s military action made it impossible for them to take part in an event that is supposed to be happy and hopeful.
Protests have happened in Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden too. People are saying Russia should not be allowed because they invaded Ukraine two years ago.
Up until now, Eurovision organisers have not agreed to exclude Israel from the competition. They say the situations in Ukraine and Gaza are not the same.
Noel Curran, the boss of the European Broadcasting Union, said that it’s not our job to compare wars and conflicts because it’s complicated and hard to do.
“We know that people are worried and have strong opinions about the fighting in the Middle East,” he said. He said that Eurovision is not a competition between countries.
The EBU agrees with other international groups, like sports unions and federations, that are also letting Israeli participants join big competitions.
The minister wrote in a letter that Israel is going through a very complicated time. He said this should be considered when choosing a song to represent the country.
The Rape Crisis Centers in Israel have proof that Hamas fighters purposely and repeatedly committed sexual crimes during the attacks on October 7th.
A report from a group that oversees many organizations says that the same kind of sexual violence is happening at different places.
These supposedly involved groups of people watching or participating in violent rapes of women.
Hamas says that its fighters did not sexually attack women during the attacks.
On 7 October, many people from the Palestinian armed group crossed into southern Israel, where they killed around 1,200 people and captured 253 others.
Caution: This story includes detailed descriptions of rape and sexual violence.
Hamas, a group seen as a terrorist organization by Israel and the UK, has been reported for committing sexual violence starting from October 7th and the reports have been increasing.
Last month, a high-ranking Israeli police officer told British lawmakers that there was strong evidence, gathered from forensic investigations and many witness statements, showing that a large number of sexual crimes had been committed. The scale of these crimes was significant enough to be considered a crime against humanity.
The media has witnessed and heard about cases of rape, sexual violence, and harm to women.
The report from the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel(ACCRI) puts together a lot of information that has been reported, as well as other information it says it got directly from professionals and private calls.
The attacks on 7 October included very violent rapes, where women were threatened with weapons.
The report says that there were many rapes, done by a group of terrorists working together. “In some situations, rape was done in front of other people like partners, family, or friends to make everyone feel more pain and shame. ”
“Hamas members chased after people who escaped the massacre, pulling them by their hair and screaming. ” Most of the victims were then killed during or after being sexually assaulted.
It also says that many victims were found with their bodies hurt and tied up. Sometimes their private parts were hurt, and in some cases, weapons were put inside them.
The report says that the same things happened in all the places where attacks took place – at the Nova festival, in homes in kibbutzim and villages near the Gaza border, and at Israeli military bases.
Many people who survived the Nova festival said that women were hurt, beaten, and killed by a group of terrorists.
People who were the first to help and volunteers who picked up dead bodies in border areas saw evidence that women and girls had been sexually attacked. The same signs were seen by those who found the bodies of female soldiers who had been killed at military bases.
The report says that people who were freed after being held captive have said they were mistreated, which Hamas denies.
The BBC’s Paul Adams in Jerusalem says that Israeli officials don’t want to openly discuss this, because they want to be respectful to the worried family members. But some people say that Hamas is still keeping female hostages because they don’t want their stories to be shared.
At a recent meeting, a senior official from Israel didn’t want to give details about the reports when asked. He just said, “Trust me. ” We understand
The ACCRI sent its report to the UN person in charge of investigating sexual violence in war. This person, Pramila Patten, also came to Israel to do research recently.
Israel said that the UN and other international groups have been taking too long to respond to the accusations. The ACCRI’s executive director said their report now gives them no way to deny or ignore the allegations.
On Monday, a group of UN experts said they are worried about reports of Israeli forces hurting Palestinian women and girls in Gaza and the West Bank.
They said that there are strong claims that women and girls were killed unfairly in Gaza, and that others who were held in Gaza and the West Bank were also sexually assaulted in many ways.
Israel said the accusations were very bad and not true.
Oil prices rose on Thursday following Israel’s rejection of a ceasefire offer from Hamas and a weaker dollar. Brent crude futures increased by 0.4% to $79.56 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed 0.4% to $74.17 a barrel.
Tensions in the wider Middle East have kept the market unsettled since October, with little progress in resolving the Gaza conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu turned down Hamas’ latest ceasefire proposal, but U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken indicated room for negotiation.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian Hamas delegation, led by senior official Khalil Al-Hayya, was set to hold ceasefire talks with Egypt and Qatar in Cairo.
A weaker dollar also supported oil prices, making crude more affordable for traders holding other currencies. The dollar index fell to 104.00 at 0730 GMT.
Israel’s leader Benjamin Netanyahu said no to Hamas’s offer to stop fighting, and he believes Israel can win the war in Gaza in a few months.
He was talking after Hamas made a list of things they want in response to a ceasefire plan supported by Israel.
Mr Netanyahu said that talks with the group were not making any progress and he thought their terms were strange.
Negotiations are still happening to try to come to an agreement.
Mr Netanyahu said at a news conference on Wednesday that the only solution is to win completely and finally.
“If Hamas stays in Gaza, it’s just a matter of time before another attack happens. ”
Israel was supposed to disagree with Hamas’s counter-offer, but this response is a strong rejection, and Israeli officials clearly see Hamas’s attempt to end the war on its own terms as completely unacceptable.
Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters that Mr. Netanyahu’s comments are just showing off and means he wants to keep fighting in the area.
An Egyptian official told the media that there will be a new meeting on Thursday in Cairo, with Egypt and Qatar helping to make the agreement.
Egypt asked everyone to be flexible and reach a peaceful agreement, the source explained.
Mr Netanyahu said no to a plan that he called “delusional,” but Qatar said that Hamas’s response was good. There are very different opinions on the matter.
First step: For 45 days, there would be a stop in fighting. During this time, Israeli women hostages, boys under 19, old and sick people would be traded for Palestinian women and children in Israeli jails. Israeli soldiers will leave the busy parts of Gaza, and they will start fixing hospitals and places for people who had to leave their homes.
Step two: the rest of the male Israeli hostages will be traded for Palestinian prisoners and Israeli troops will leave Gaza entirely.
Step three: Both groups will give back the dead bodies and remains to each other.
The new agreement would also mean more food and other supplies being sent to Gaza. Hamas said that they would finish negotiating to end the war after 135 days of no fighting.
Last year on 7 October, around 1,300 people died in the attacks by Hamas in southern Israel.
Israel started a war and as a result, over 27,700 Palestinians were killed and at least 65,000 were injured, according to the health ministry run by Hamas.
Israeli soldiers are going into Rafah.
Mr Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israeli soldiers have been told to get ready to go into the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Many Palestinians have left Rafah to get away from the fighting.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that if the conflict spreads to Rafah, it will make the terrible humanitarian situation in the city much worse.
“We are scared of the attack on Rafah,” said a person who had to leave their home at the Rafah Crossing, close to the border with Egypt, when speaking to the media.
We are scared when we sleep and when we sit down. There is no food and the weather is cold.
The Israeli leader’s words are a setback for the US’s efforts to make a deal. Even though the top US diplomat thinks it’s the best way to go, there is still a lot of work to do.
At a news conference on Wednesday, Mr Blinken said that Hamas had some unacceptable ideas in their counter-proposal. However, he also said: “We believe it gives room for a deal to be made, and we will keep working hard until we reach it. ”
Sharone Lifshitz’s parents were taken to Gaza after being kidnapped in southern Israel on October 7th. She told the BBC that rejecting Hamas’ ceasefire terms could mean more hostages might be killed.
Ms Lifshitz’s 85-year-old mother, Yocheved, was let go, but her father, Oded, is still being held captive.
“My father is 83 years old, he’s weak, and he won’t live much longer,” she said.
“I don’t know if the prime minister is considering him, or if he expects him to come back in a coffin. ”
Mr Netanyahu’s position also shows that the US and Israel have very different ideas about what should happen in Gaza in the future.
He wants Israel to be in charge of security, while local groups in Gaza run things without being connected to Hamas or any other group.
Washington wants to see a Palestinian state in the future.
The important question now is if we can save the talks to get more prisoners released and help the people in Gaza by bringing in more aid.
The deal will also bring more food and other help to Gaza. Hamas says talks to end the war will be finished after 135 days without fighting.
The proposal didn’t get much of a reaction from US President Joe Biden. He said it was “a little too much”. The Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said there’s still “a lot of work to be done” to reach a lasting ceasefire, but he emphasized how important it is to achieve a lasting peace.
In November, there was a one-week break in fighting. During this time, about 100 people who were held captive were released in exchange for 240 prisoners from Palestine.
Approximately 1,300 people died in the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on October 7th of last year.
Israel started a war and many Palestinians have been hurt or killed. The health ministry run by Hamas says at least 27,700 people have died and 65,000 have been injured.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to win completely, but Israeli officials say it will be hard and maybe impossible to do with military force.
Before, a leader of Hamas told the BBC that the group had given a good idea to the proposal backed by Israel, but they wanted to make some changes about rebuilding Gaza and people going back to their homes.
The US is helping to talk with Israel and Hamas, and they believe that talking is the best way to move forward. They are working with Arab partners to make progress.
They want to have a break from fighting to focus on making a long-term plan for after the war ends.
Mr Blinken said it was a very strong plan that would help Gaza get built again, improve the Palestinian government, and eventually create a Palestinian country. It would also make Saudi Arabia and Israel have better relations.
However, the Israeli army is still trying to ruin the Hamas groups and capture Hamas leaders. Netanyahu is feeling the pressure from his right-wing allies who are threatening to bring down his government if he gives in to any demands. He wants to stay in power, so he needs to be careful.
Israeli families who have loved ones being held hostage are becoming more and more worried about what will happen to them. This is especially true after finding out that five out of every 130 hostages still in Gaza have died.
The US and its Arab friends are concerned about the increasing chances of a big fight in the region. Many worldwide organizations are loudly saying that a really bad situation is happening in the Strip and it’s getting worse for people who live there. A lot of clocks are making loud ticking sounds.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is in the Middle East, said he will talk about what Hamas said with officials in Israel on Wednesday.
Mr Blinken hasn’t said how the US feels about the response, but President Joe Biden thinks it’s too much, which means the Israeli leaders might not agree to what the group wants easily.
A top member of Hamas told the media that the group gave a good idea in response to the plan but wanted some changes about rebuilding Gaza, bringing people back to their homes, and helping those who had to leave.
The official said that Hamas wanted to change how injured people are treated, including sending them back home and moving them to hospitals in other countries.
The plan was sent to Hamas about a week ago. A person from Hamas told the Reuters news agency that they didn’t respond until Tuesday because they found some parts of the plan confusing.
The Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al Thani, thinks that Hamas has responded in a good way.
The fighting in Gaza started when Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel on October 7th. About 1,300 people were killed and 250 were taken hostage.
More than 27,500 people have died in Gaza. Gaza has been controlled by Hamas and blocked by Israel and Egypt since 2007.
Hamas is banned as a terrorist group in many countries.
For a week in late November, a break in fighting allowed 105 Israeli and foreign people who were being held captive to be released. In return, 240 Palestinians who were in Israeli jails were also set free.
The Israeli military is working on finding Hamas’s leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar. This might make it difficult to make a new deal at this time.
Nevertheless, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing a lot of pressure from people in his own country to make sure the rest of the hostages are released.
The situation in the region is getting worse, which makes Mr. Blinken feel like he needs to move quickly to make progress on the deal when he goes to Tel Aviv.
The US is trying hard to stop a situation from getting worse after a drone strike killed three American soldiers in Jordan last week.
Washington launched air attacks against militia groups in Syria and Iraq that are supported by Iran. They are also saying that there may be more attacks in the future.
The US thinks that a ceasefire agreement in Gaza is the best way to reduce tensions in surrounding areas.
On Tuesday, Israel said that 31 out of the 136 hostages in Gaza were found dead.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, who speaks for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), said that the families of the captives had been told and that the authorities will keep working to bring back the rest of the captives.
Mr Hagari said that we have a duty to do what is right, not just in our country but also around the world. This is the direction we will keep following.
Israelis who handled the bodies of the victims of the 7 October attacks by Hamas in Israel, have told British lawmakers that the female victims were deliberately and systematically harmed, and that some were sexually assaulted.
Kemi Badenoch, who is in charge of business and women’s issues, said that all the reports of sexual violence must be looked into and we must speak out against it. “Rape is not fighting back,” she said.
Hamas says its fighters did not sexually attack women during the attacks.
But a high-ranking police officer in Israel said they have strong proof that rape and other sexual violence were committed on a large scale, which is a serious crime.
On 7 October, many armed Palestinians from Gaza entered southern Israel. They killed about 1,300 people, mostly civilians, and took 250 others as hostages.
Israel fought in Gaza and many people, mostly women and children, were killed.
Many of the lawmakers in Parliament were crying when they heard the stories of the Israelis at the meeting on Wednesday.
“She said that a lot of women came with torn and bloody underwear, and many of them had no clothes at all. ”
Our leader saw a lot of female soldiers who were shot in their private parts or breasts. This was unnecessary. This was an intentional, planned, cut to the genitals.
Ms Mendes said her team has seen bodies with their heads or limbs cut off. “I’m here to speak for them,” she said.
Simcha Greiniman was a volunteer for Zaka, an Israeli group that gathers bodies to bury them.
He told the BBC that he found many dead bodies after the Hamas attack.
“In a house, there was a woman who was not with her family. ” She was in her bedroom, resting on her bed, he remembered.
“She was only wearing clothes on the top half of her body. ” She was hit in the back of her head by a bullet. She was holding a dangerous bomb in her hand.
He talked about finding a woman with nails and other objects in her private parts. He said it was something very difficult to imagine.
Mr Greiniman said that he saw some people who had been sexually assaulted.
“He said definitely,definitely,without a doubt. ” “I’m the one who handled it. “”I am the eyes. “
“I want to tell you that this is how things happened, and I want the world to see it. ” We are speaking honestly, and the world needs to listen and take action.
He asked the world to acknowledge what happened and not ignore it. He also wanted the people responsible to be sent to jail. “He said they need to be punished for their actions. “
Ms Mendes and Mr Greiniman are not experts on sexual violence. But, their testimony matches the evidence that the Israeli government has collected from forensic investigations and statements from witnesses and first responders.
She said that there is proof that the victims were raped and sexually assaulted. We are looking in to very bad crimes against people.
The BBC has found proof that women were raped and hurt. The video shows a person who saw what happened at the Nova music festival. There are also videos of women who are naked and bleeding, filmed by Hamas gunmen, and pictures of bodies from different attacks.
Agam Berger’s cousin said at the meeting that we need to bring back over 100 Israelis and other people who are still being kept as captives in Gaza.
Ashley Waxman Bakshi said she didn’t even know if her cousin wanted to stay alive after being held for a longtime.
“We are really worried while our women and girls are with these bad people. If they did something in 8 or 12 hours on October7,it’s very concerning. “”They stayed there for 117 days. ” What if they are having a baby.
Kemi Badenoch said the UK supports and stands together with all the victims. She also asked international groups to speak out clearly against sexual violence towards Israelis and to not have different rules for different people.
Israeli officials and activists are saying that the leaders of the UN and other international organizations are taking too long to respond to the allegations.
On Monday, Pramila Patten, who is a UN Special Representative,came to Israel to talk to people who have been through sexual violence in conflict. She wants to find ways to help them,like getting justice and holding people accountable. She also wants to gather and check information about what has happened to them.
The Israeli president’s office is asking victims, their families, and witnesses to speak up and not stay silent, so that those who hurt them can be punished.
“We want to make sure that the [victims] get justice so we can stop this terrible act,” she said.
Two United Nations human rights experts said earlier this month that the reported acts of sexual violence are very serious and against the law. They may be considered war crimes or crimes against humanity because of the large number of victims and the planned nature of the attacks.
So far, Qatar and Egypt have been trying to help with negotiations, but with no success so far, even with US help.
Recently, there have been more reports indicating that important progress is being made in talks between representatives from Israel and Hamas.
On Wednesday, some Israeli officials said there is a big difference on important matters.
Based on what the media found out, the biggest problem seems to be the major disagreements on how to stop the war completely.
A high-ranking Palestinian official who knows about current discussions told us that Cairo has given Hamas officials a plan with five steps.
It is said that a ceasefire will begin, and during this time, Hamas will let go of the rest of the people it is keeping captive, like women, kids, and old people.
In return, some Palestinians would be released from Israeli prisons and more much-needed help would go to Gaza.
At last, there would be a long-lasting agreement to stop fighting completely.
Our source said that if the rest of the Israeli hostages are released, more Palestinian prisoners will also be let out of prison.
The Palestinian leader said that Israel wanted to keep its soldiers in place until the very end of the process.
Hamas wants Israeli troops to leave and for people to go back to their homes soon.
Other news from around the world says that Hamas wants the fighting to stop completely, but Israel is only willing to agree to a temporary break that could last for a few weeks and might be extended depending on how things change.
At a meeting on Tuesday, Majed al-Ansari, who speaks for Qatar’s foreign ministry, said that they have given some ideas to both sides and are getting responses. This makes them feel hopeful.
Later, a person from the White House named John Kirby said that the US envoy to the Middle East, Brett McGurk, was in Cairo and would keep having important talks in the area about a new agreement to bring back hostages and make sure there is a break for humanitarian help.
“Mr Kirby told reporters that the conversations are very solemn and serious. ”
In late November, there was a ceasefire for a week. During this time, 105 Israeli and foreign hostages were set free. They had been kidnapped in the Hamas attacks on 7 October, which caused the war in Gaza. More than 250 people had been kidnapped in these attacks.
Israel and Hamas are upset with each other for not agreeing to continue releasing hostages every day in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. They are blaming each other for breaking the truce.
Now, there are big differences between what is said publicly and what can be talked about in negotiations.
Many people think it’s not realistic to completely destroy Hamas, the group that has been in charge of the area for 15 years.
Israel and its Western allies don’t want to give in on the idea that Hamas leaders need to be taken out of power in Gaza. They want to make sure there are no more attacks like the one three months ago that killed over 1,300 people.
This week, there were reports in the news that Israel might be willing to let important Hamas leaders in Gaza move to other countries as part of a deal to stop fighting and free hostages. However, these reports have not been confirmed. Hamas said it didn’t agree to that idea.
Over 25,000 people have been killed in Gaza, and there’s a big problem with people’s health. Many countries are asking Israel to stop fighting, and it’s getting harder for them to ignore.
At the same time, loud protests and gatherings by the families of Israeli hostages are making sure that their request to bring their loved ones back home is a top priority in the country’s politics. They have a lot of people feeling sorry for them.
The recent news from Israel saying that talks with Hamas about exchanging hostages are not making progress will make a lot of people worried.
Unidentified diplomats spoke to Israeli media and said that reports of good news are not true. They say Hamas didn’t agree to make a compromise.
With people trying to help, the best thing is that Israel and Hamas have not said they will stop talking yet.
After the company said some of its workers were fired because they were linked to the Hamas attacks on 7 October.
The UK government expressed shock and disapproval of Israel’s claims.
The US, Australia, Italy, Canada, Finland, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany have stopped giving extra money to the UN agency.
In 1949, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, was created. It is the largest UN agency working in Gaza.
It helps Palestinians by giving them health care, education, and other help in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. It hires about 13,000 people in Gaza.
Ever since Israel started fighting back after the attacks on 7 October, UNRWA has been providing shelter for many people who had to leave their homes in Gaza.
It says it is looking into the information from Israel.
Israel has said that the United Nations, including UNRWA, is unfair and has shown hatred towards Jewish people.
In an interview with the media, UNRWA’s former main spokesperson, Christopher Gunness, said that stopping aid to UNRWA was not fair and will only make things worse for people in Gaza.
Mr Gunness thinks UNRWA showed it has a strict policy by firing the workers before finishing their own investigation.
One million people who were forced to leave their homes are now staying near UNRWA buildings for safety. Mr Gunness said that the people will suffer because of this decision. The cutting of UNRWA services will also make the region less stable when Western governments are trying to prevent a big conflict in the area.
On Friday, a person who helps the leader of Israel said on the BBC that the Hamas attacks on 7 October involved “people who are getting paid by [UNRWA]”.
Mark Regev claimed that there was evidence indicating that teachers at UNRWA schools had openly celebrated the attacks on October 7th.
He also talked about an Israeli captive who, after being freed, said she had been “kept in the home of a person who worked for UNRWA”.
“They have a group that Hamas controls, and I think it’s about time for the UN to look into the connection between UNRWA and Hamas,” he said.
“The UK has stopped giving money to UNWRA for now while we look into some worrying claims,” it said.
Earlier, the US government said it will stop giving more money to the UN agency because they are worried about UN workers being involved in the attacks.
The EU said it will consider what to do next after a thorough investigation.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “shocked by this news”.
Philippe Lazzarini, who is in charge of UNRWA, said that they are doing a complete investigation to find out the truth as soon as possible.
“To make sure the agency can keep helping people in need, I have decided to fire these staff members right away,” Mr Lazzarini said.
He said that any employee involved in “acts of terror” will be held responsible.
Israel’s Foreign Minister, Israel Katz,wants to shutdown UNRWA in Gaza after the war.
However, Hussein Al-Sheikh, the Palestinian Authority’s minister for civilian affairs, said that when some countries stop supporting the important UN agency, it can cause big political and humanitarian problems.
Mr al-Sheikh asked Western donors to change their decision right away. He also said that we need the most help for this international organization.
The Deputy Prime Minister of Ireland, Micheál Martin, said that Ireland will not stop giving money to the agency. He said the agency helps2. 3 million people and many staff members have been killed while doing their work.
Hamas asked the UN and other organizations not to give in to Israel’s threats and blackmail. They said this in a message on Telegram.
Last year, Hamas attacked southern Israeli communities and killed about 1,300 people, mostly innocent civilians.
Another 250 people were captured and held against their will. Israel attacked Hamas in Gaza after certain events. This has led to the death of over 26,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry run by Hamas.
The US, Germany and the EU give a lot of money to UNRWA.
The agency is having a hard time delivering help to many of the 1. 7 million people who have been forced to leave their homes because of 12 weeks of fighting.
Several places in Gaza where people were seeking protection were bombed by Israel’s air force.
On Wednesday, a UN shelter in Khan Younis was hit, and 12 people died.
As the fighting kept happening, Israel’s leader Benjamin Netanyahu said no to making a country for the Palestinians.
The White House said that the US and Israel have different views on a two-state solution.
Israel started attacking after an incident on October 7th, when Hamas fighters killed 1,300 people in southern Israel and took over 240 people as hostages.
Hamas said the attack in October was necessary to fight against Israel and to free Palestinian prisoners.
Israel is concentrating its air and ground operation in southern Gaza, where they believe top leaders of Hamas are hiding in or under the city of Khan Younis.
The Israel Defense Forces found a long tunnel with traps and doors in it. It was about 830m (2,700ft) long.
The IDF video showed a tunnel with beds and rooms inside. Israel thinks about 20 people, including kids, were kept there at different times. No one was found when the tunnel was discovered.
Israeli soldiers are being attacked again in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Hamas has taken control of an area near the town of Jabalia while Israel has sent troops and tanks south.
For over three months, Israel has been facing strong opposition from Gaza, even though their army is much stronger than Hamas’s.
According to US intelligence agencies, the Israeli military has killed about one-fifth to one-third of Hamas fighters. However, this is much less than what Mr. Netanyahu wanted, which was to completely destroy the armed group.
The secret report also says that Hamas still has enough weapons to keep attacking Israel and Israeli forces for several months. This could lead to a long war where Israel could get stuck.
The slow progress in capturing or killing top Hamas leaders, and the 130 Israeli hostages still missing, is making people in Israel more and more angry at the government.
Families of people held by Hamas are protesting and asking Mr Netanyahu to focus on getting their loved ones released instead of trying to destroy Hamas, which may be very difficult. A small group of people who are against war are showing how upset they are about the large amount of destruction caused in Gaza by a very intense and damaging military attack.
Many Israelis support their flag, but most don’t support their prime minister. A recent poll shows that only 15% of the public think the prime minister should remain in office after the war.
Mr Netanyahu and Israel’s allies disagree on how it will end. The Israeli leader said no to a future country for the Palestinians again after talking to the US president for the first time in almost a month.
In a message on X (formerly Twitter), he said that Israel should keep “security control over the whole area to the west of the Jordan River”, including the occupied West Bank territory.
Mr Netanyahu has always strongly disagreed with the idea of a Palestinian state during his time in politics. The prime minister keeps saying the same thing over and over again, even though most people don’t agree with him. He thinks most people in the country don’t want a separate country for Palestinians because they are too upset about the attacks.
He seems to be trying to stay in power, but his efforts are making Israel’s friends very frustrated. They want the violence to make both sides talk and find a way to have two separate countries that can survive.
UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said on the BBC that he was not happy with Mr. Netanyahu’s position The White House and Israel have different views.
Antonio Guterres, the leader of the United Nations, said it is not okay to reject a Palestinian state. He said it would make the fight last longer and be a big problem for the world’s peace and safety.
This week, the Al Israa University in Gaza was destroyed by Israeli forces. They used it as a military base for a few weeks before blowing it up.
The fighting in Gaza has caused a lot of people to die, and there is worry about the damage to buildings.
A top person at the UN told media that they are worried that the widespread damage will cause a generation of young people to miss out on opportunities.
Israel started a fight with Hamas because Hamas attacked Israel and killed about 1,200 people, mostly innocent civilians. They also took 240 people as hostages and brought them back to Gaza.
About 130 people are still being held against their will. Nearly 25,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza, according to the health ministry run by Hamas.
The United Nations’ office for helping people in need publishes reports about the bad effects of the war, and they are very sad to read.
New information shows that more than half of the homes in Gaza have been destroyed or harmed. Nine out of every 10 schools have been badly damaged. Hospitals, government buildings, and electricity networks have also been damaged.
Amir Mohammed Al-Najjari is twenty-two years old. He’s from Jabalia in northern Gaza but had to move with his family to a temporary camp near Khan Younis in the south.
He and his brothers and sisters have watched their dreams go up in smoke.
“My sister was in her third year at Al-Quds University, but it got bombed. ” My brother was almost done with school, but the school got bombed. Says Amir, sitting outside the tent we live in now.
He is in the same situation as his brother and sister.
“I completed my engineering degree. ” If there wasn’t any fighting, I could have gone for a job interview and maybe I would have gotten the job. Lastly, there’s my little brother, who is in seventh grade. He went to school at the UN. There is nothing remaining.
Just like any community, the children are the future of Gaza. But here, they are suffering more in war and, the UN says, they may not get what they deserve.
Phillippe Lazzarini is the top leader for UNRWA, the UN group that helps Palestinian refugees. He just came back from visiting Gaza for the fourth time since the war began.
“Today, there are over 500,000 kids in primary and secondary schools. ” Lazzarini tells me that it’s difficult to bring people back to their homes if they’ve been completely destroyed, so how will they go back.
“I’m worried that we might be at risk of losing a whole generation of kids. ”
Pictures of Israeli soldiers celebrating while schools were destroyed became very popular on social media. One image in particular showed a blue UN school in northern Gaza being completely demolished.
These events have caused people to accuse Israel of punishing everyone for the actions of a few. They believe Israel is deliberately destroying things like schools as revenge for an incident with Hamas gunmen.
Cogat is the part of the military that helps the Israeli government with activities in the Palestinian territories. They also watch over aid deliveries going into Gaza.
I asked a top Cogat official why they had to destroy a whole school after Israeli forces had taken it over. He said that Hamas sneaky uses civilian buildings, like schools, to attack Israeli soldiers.
The person in charge said it was true that Hamas and other Palestinian groups were using medical buildings as bases. They found evidence of terrorist activities in almost every hospital.
The accusations have been questioned by health officials and aid agencies, but Gaza’s health system is not working well.
Only 13 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza are working, and many have been damaged by airstrikes, according to the World Health Organization. Many people can’t get the medical help they need because there isn’t enough equipment.
People with cancer, kidney disease, or newborn babies who need special care are at high risk, according to the Ocha bulletin.
Nisreen Abu Nimr comes from the north of Gaza too. She is married and has two children. One of her children was killed in a bombing earlier in the war. Nisreen has had cancer since 2016.
“I was getting treatment for my cancer at a hospital in Gaza. ” Nisreen says that medical treatments have not been given for four months during the Israeli attack.
Some important Israeli politicians on the conservative side, including those in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s government, have said the best way to keep Israel safe is to urge people to leave Gaza for Egypt or other Arab countries, and to re-build Jewish towns there.
Israel says they didn’t try to destroy Gaza on purpose, but Mr. Lazzarini is worried that people may be forced to leave because of the damage.
“He tells me that the situation on the ground is showing that things are going in this direction,” he is clearly worried that if the fighting continues, more than a million displaced people in Gaza will be in a worse situation.
Mr Lazzarini says that we have seen a breakdown in the way people behave in society. Almost all buildings and systems like water and electricity are broken, so people in Gaza can’t get basic services anymore.
Cogat officials disagree with how serious the situation is in Gaza. They say that Israel only attacks civilians and public buildings if they believe they are being used by armed Palestinian groups.
They also say they are working every day with the UN to bring more help to Gaza.
Gaza’s parliament and new courthouse, which was paid for by Qatar, were destroyed by Israeli forces. This has left very little of Gazan society remaining.
The leader of Israel says the fighting in Gaza will keep going until Israel wins and is safe from Hamas.
The Israeli government wants all Israelis to leave Gaza eventually. What will Gaza look like after the war is over.
One hundred days ago, something very surprising happened in Israel. A state that was created 75 years ago from hard times and war recently faced a threat to its survival.
Many people in Tel Aviv remembered the events of 7 October on Saturday night. Everyone was really worried about the 130 hostages taken by Hamas in Gaza. Some of them might not be alive anymore.
A hundred days ago, early in the morning, many Hamas fighters with guns broke through the Gaza border fence in different places.
They attacked the kibbutzim, military bases, and border towns. These places are used to getting rocket attacks from Gaza, but this time they were surprised by the large number of attacks from Hamas.
At least 1,200 people were killed on the border because Israeli defenses were taken by surprise.
Hundreds of young music fans running away to save themselves at the Nova festival really scared Israel. Over 360 people died at the festival and many others were taken to Gaza.
Many people were killed in the Israeli bombing after Hamas attacked. Over 23,000 people have been killed, with many of them being women and children, according to the health ministry run by Hamas. It is thought that thousands more people are dead under collapsed buildings.
In Israel on Saturday, families of the missing people went to a big event in Tel Aviv. They carried posters and wore T-shirts with the faces of their loved ones on them.
I talked to Yossi Schneider, who is Shiri Bibas’ cousin. She and her family were taken by force.
Yossi is upset because 130 people, mostly not soldiers, are being kept without medicine. The Red Cross isn’t allowed to see them and Yossi’s family doesn’t know how they are doing.
My family has three generations that are missing. My family has three generations, and everyone is telling us to stay calm and be quiet. “I am tired and frustrated, I can’t handle this anymore,” he says.
Many people here believe that on 7 October, Israel faced its biggest threat ever and Israelis have never felt so unprotected. The government’s main focus is to bring the hostages back safely, and most people support their goals in the war in Gaza. There are only a few people asking for tolerance and living together peacefully.
As Israel’s defense forces reacted to the events in the south on Saturday, October 7, they began a big bombing campaign in Gaza. They want to completely destroy Hamas and its supporters.
A lot of the land from Gaza city to Khan Younis has been completely ruined.
Israel is saying that Hamas in northern Gaza has become very weak and almost unable to operate as a group.
However, a lot of innocent people have been killed in the Israeli bombing.
Officials from Palestine say that 85% of the people in Gaza have been forced to leave their homes. More help is going to Gaza, but the head of the UN’s aid efforts says the situation there is really bad.
Faten Abu Shahada has to get kidney treatment often, so she and her family had to move to the south. Faten and the children now live in a plastic tent in Khan Younis. They can always hear an Israeli drone flying above them.
“Gaza is in ruins. ” Faten says there is nothing left in Gaza – no hospitals, no schools. “Our kids missed school, Gaza is not thriving anymore. ”
Many countries want Israel to stop fighting in Gaza because many civilians are suffering a lot.
Even the US, which is a close friend of Israel and supports its right to defend itself, has told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that too many innocent civilians are being killed.
President Biden said that Israel’s widespread bombing is causing the country to lose support from other countries.
Gideon Levy writes for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz and often disagrees with Mr. I asked him if this war, which is Israel’s longest since 1948, will end soon.
Levy said the war will continue as long as Americans let Israel keep fighting.
He said, “I don’t think it will be much longer, maybe just a few more weeks. ” However, this doesn’t mean that the war has ended because nobody has considered what will happen next.
“If Israel doesn’t leave Gaza, there will be a fight. ” If someone fights back, they will be fought against.
The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is still going on, and it doesn’t seem like Mr Netanyahu wants to end it anytime soon.
Israel says the fighting will continue until Hamas is completely beaten. The near future for the region, and especially for many people living in bad conditions in Gaza, looks really bad.
Israeli police are managing a rocket that landed in the city of Kiryat Shmona, close to the border with Lebanon.
No one got hurt or had their things broken, but the attack happened after Israel and a strong group in Lebanon called Hezbollah had been fighting for a while. Hezbollah is friends with Hamas.
Attacks have been happening between borders for a while. The situation got worse after a Hamas leader was killed in Beirut last week.
IDF says it attacked many Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including places where rockets are launched and a Hezbollah military base.
Hezbollah said they have attacked Israeli military places and have had success, like barracks and a radar site in northern Israel.
Despite the ongoing war in Gaza and the large number of people dying, a new survey shows that many Palestinians support the deadly attacks by Hamas on Israel, which started the conflict. At the same time, most Israelis support their country’s military and are not thinking much about the deaths of Palestinian civilians. They want to defeat Hamas and bring back their hostages. This is what the polls show.
For three months, I have been talking to Israelis and Palestinians in Jerusalem to hear what they think about the ongoing conflict.
The cafes in the western part of the city are very busy, serving foamy coffees in the winter sun. However, Israelis are constantly worried about the ongoing war in Gaza.
“Always thinking about it, we have lots of friends with kids and family who are in Gaza, and we pray for them a lot,” says Edna, a Jewish woman from Bnei Brak.
“Yesterday we went to see our friend’s son who was really hurt. ” They are not sure if he will lose both of his legs. She says he won’t do it because God wants it that way.
“We are still thinking about the people who have been taken hostage. ” “It feels like a part of ourselves is inside it. ”
On October 7th, about 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel in attacks. Over 100 out of 240 hostages who were taken to Gaza are still being held captive.
Meanwhile, Israel has attacked Gaza by air and ground, and it has caused the death of about 23,000 people, according to the health ministry in Gaza. Most of the 2. 3 million people who live in Gaza had to leave their homes because there was a lot of damage.
However, a survey by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) recently discovered that most Israelis do not believe that Israel should comply with the US’s request to decrease the amount of bombing in crowded areas during the war.
“Professor Tamar Hermann, who is a top pollster at IDI, says that anyone who wants to know about the situation in Gaza can look it up online. She is talking about the pain and struggles of the people there. ” “But the news on TV is not showing us the same things that people see in Europe or other countries. ”
She also says that when people in Gaza were seen cheering and celebrating the attack on October 7th, it made people in Israel less sympathetic towards them.
In this military operation, civilians are not seen as innocent bystanders like they were in the past. “Prof Hermann says that people are not showing much sympathy. ”
I met Tzafir Bracha when I was on my way to the Old City. He came for a visit. He is staying with family and is one of many Israelis from southern Israel who hasn’t been able to go back home for three months. He is still feeling very shocked about what happened.
“I believe it will take a while for everyone to realize how significant and disastrous the event on October 7th was. ” “I think most of us are still feeling hurt,” he tells me. “I don’t think anyone can understand unless it happened to them. ”
Tzafir thinks that the world needs to see that Hamas must be stopped so it can’t hurt anyone anymore.
“We need to win. ” You need to find the people responsible for this and remove them from society. Only then can we truly have peace.
In the small streets of the Old City, a lot of Palestinians from the part of Jerusalem that is controlled by another group tell me they feel limited in what they can say in public. Many people say that Israel often watches social media posts.
But everyone I meet is keeping up with the war all the time.
I have an account on Instagram, it’s called X. “I keep up with people from Gaza,” Haneen, a student nurse, explains. “We are all very unhappy. ”
But she says she doesn’t believe what Israel said happened on October 7th.
Palestinians don’t believe what Israel says because they use propaganda. We know that some things are correct, but other things are not.
Most Palestinians feel the same way as her, according to a recent survey in the West Bank and Gaza conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.
“Most Palestinians don’t think Hamas has done anything wrong, and most haven’t seen any videos of bad things happening. ” “Professor Shikaki says that these videos are available for everyone to see. ”
His study showed that more people in the West Bank are starting to support Hamas, even though most Palestinians still don’t support the group. Israel, the UK, and many Western countries see Hamas as a terrorist organization.
In the survey, 72% of Palestinians thought it was right for Hamas to start their attack on October 7th.
A store owner from Palestine, who doesn’t want to say his name, is trying to explain why. He says foreign media doesn’t understand the hard life in Gaza because of the blockade by Israel and Egypt since Hamas took over.
“The people in Gaza feel like they are stuck in a very small place and can’t leave, like being in a prison,” he says.
He feels hopeless about the world’s countries because they are not doing enough to stop the fighting.
“We watch hard things on the TV. ” Very hard Children die Women are being murdered. Elderly people are being killed for no reason. They didn’t do nothing. The shopkeeper says, “I can’t believe it. ”
“To be honest, I can’t understand why people would watch these kinds of things and not do anything to stop it. It’s as if they’re just watching a movie and it doesn’t mean anything to them. ”
In Jerusalem, there are many things that separate the Israelis and Palestinians I have talked to.
But, most people now don’t trust each other and are afraid of what will happen in the coming months. Both sides feel that people from different countries don’t understand their hardships.
Today marks the three month anniversary of Hamas’s attack on Israel, and the escalation of the conflict has had a terrible impact on those in the area and beyond.
Tensions have ramped up all over the world, harming both Jewish and Muslim communities.
The UK is no exception to this and while most people are able to express their views peacefully and respectfully, we have sadly seen too many instances of antisemitism and Islamophobia.
In the month immediately following Hamas’s attack on Israel, the Community Security Trust noted a 514% increase in acts of antisemitic incidents this year compared to the same period last year, which is also reflected in data from police forces across the UK released last week.
Meanwhile, Muslim Council of Britain has also noted a troubling surge in Islamophobic attacks, stating: ‘Over the course of this devastating conflict, we have seen a surge of hate crime, with a 140% increase in Islamophobic offences in London alone’.
Mia Schem, 21, reunites with her family following her release after being held hostage by Hamas (Picture: via REUTERS)
Organisations may collate their data differently, but the important thing for all of us to note is that these worrying incidents are on the rise.
Yet, amazingly, according to Hansard records, Rishi Sunak has never once uttered the word ‘Islamophobia’ in the House of Commons – he has only referred to it as ‘anti-Muslim hate’.
This doesn’t cut it. It is not good enough to redefine something – if we do not name the problem, we can’t possibly tackle it.
Sunak shouldn’t shy away from using the word, in the same way he doesn’t with antisemitism, which he has mentioned in Parliament 16 times since the war started.
It is imperative that from the Prime Minister down, the Tories need to start calling this hatred what it is – and invest time and more money in stamping out Islamophobia.
Drone footage shows wide scale destruction of Gaza after seven weeks of war
A mother hears her baby crying for food, so she grabs an empty pot nearby.
“Everything is going to be okay,” she said softly, pretending to mix a meal to help her child feel better. The food will be ready in a little while.
Living in the war-torn Gaza, the woman knows that there is no food for her hungry baby, and she doesn’t know when there will be any.
Many Palestinians are scared they will starve because they are constantly being attacked. The World Health Organization (WHO) says 93% of people are dealing with serious hunger and not enough food, leading to high levels of malnutrition.
There isn’t enough food and water, and shelters are almost full. Without fuel, there is no electricity.
“There’s a big fight happening, everyone knows that. ” “But there is a big problem with hunger that the world hasn’t noticed,” said charity worker Yusuf Kalam in an interview with Metro. couk
Yusuf, who works as a manager at Muslim Aid, says: “People in Gaza are unsure if they should wait for help or leave and risk their safety. ”
“Many people are gathering on the roads, in churches, and in schools because there is not enough shelter available. ”
“Many people in Gaza feel like they are not getting enough help and that the world has left them behind. ” But actually, help is available, it’s just not reaching the people who need it.
The Rafah border is not a big business area, it’s a place for people to walk across. The roads and buildings there are not ready for the many trucks and help for people in Gaza that are trying to arrive.
Since fighters from Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, Gaza has been completely surrounded, and there is not enough water and electricity.
In other places, there were videos of food being set on fire, said to be done by Israeli soldiers.
Human Rights Watch found out that people in Gaza are being starved on purpose as a way of fighting.
Yusuf said that kids are going to bed without enough food to eat. Someone told me about a mother who had an empty pot. She kept stirring it until her hungry baby fell asleep.
There are other stories I’ve heard that are too scary to tell. Some individuals felt really upset after seeing something at the Rafah crossing. They are not sure if they should wait for help or take a dangerous journey to a border with their families.
I met a woman whose daughter is still in Gaza. The mother had to leave because she had a different passport, but her daughter did not have to leave. She can’t reach her because there are problems with the connection, and it’s making everyone unsure of what to do.
500 people are staying in a school that was only built for 100. Illnesses are spreading. When people don’t have enough food, their bodies become less able to fight off sickness.
MP said that the family stuck in a church in Gaza only have one can of corn left.
I heard that some people are pooping in the street because they have nowhere else to go. People are gathering on the streets.
Yusuf, who is 33 years old, had trouble sleeping when he came back to London after working for a few days at the border. His little girl woke up at night and he hugged her tightly in the dark.
“I suddenly remembered detailed pictures of the events in Gaza,” he remembers. I was trying to calm my crying daughter and put her to sleep in a quiet room, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the loud noises and scary things that parents in Gaza have to deal with every day. I feel really messed up and scared.
“I have never seen anything like the situation in Gaza in the ten years I have been working in the humanitarian sector. ” Please simplify the following text. “Rewrite this text in simple words:’”
Yusuf has to stop thinking about his feelings and respond to disasters at work.
This year, he went to Gaziantep after big earthquakes happened in southern Turkey and northern Syria. There, he said the scene looked like the end of the world. However, he said that in Gaza, things felt different. The disaster happened because of people, not nature.
“In Turkey, people didn’t feel as hopeless or abandoned,” he says. “What I’m seeing now is the very worst of people. ” I have never seen something so sad and hopeless. The fighting is getting worse and there are still so many people dying, it’s really shocking.
These are actual people who are in danger. They breathe the same air as us and their bodies are made of the same things.
Yusuf and his coworkers at Muslim Aid got help from people who gave donations. They used the donations to get food, water, and ambulances and bring them to Gaza.
British aid workers put life-saving medicine and equipment and room for a stretcher in vans. Each one had a clear sign that said ‘ambulance’ so they wouldn’t get involved in any fighting.
During his time in Egypt, Yusuf heard about people suffering, but he also heard about people being kind to each other. He heard about doctors using phone flashlights for surgeries, aid workers working non-stop, and donors giving all they could to help end suffering.
Muslim Aid got £20,000 from a man in the UK who donated all his money to help them.
“In the dark, when it feels like there’s no hope, Yusuf says you can see a ray of light. ”
‘That light is us – as people – helping each other. It’s easy to feel discouraged by what’s happening or the politics, but if you pay attention to the good news, you can feel hopeful.
NGO people meet in Westminster to ask for a ceasefire right away.
Humanitarian breaks have helped aid to reach Gaza, but there is still fighting since a weeklong stop in fighting ended on December 1, 2023.
Muslim Aid, Oxfam, and Amnesty International are asking for fighting to stop so that people can stop suffering. Aid workers want to find new ways to quickly feed the hungry people in Gaza.
The entire city has been ruined. Soon, people will ask what will happen next in Gaza. Yusuf is asking how we can help these people find new homes and rebuild their lives. He wants to know what that process will be like and when it will happen.
Right now, the most important thing is to make sure that people stay alive until we figure out the answers to those questions. We’ve seen 20,000 people die.
Since Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October, the UK’s Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit has seen a 12-times increase in hateful social media content being reported to police officers who specialize in dealing with this type of content.
The unit now spends more time checking if extreme and hateful social media posts break the law against terrorism, rather than just focusing on IS propaganda and online reactions to attacks in the UK.
The team got over 2,700 tips from people using an online form after Hamas attacked Israel and Israel responded with air strikes on the Gaza Strip.
There is a lot of hate that is increasing and it is making young Britons more vulnerable to being radicalized by computer programs.
The BBC was the only ones allowed to see the team’s work. The police officers told me that they are seeing a lot of antisemitic content being shared by young people in Britain who they have not noticed before.
They said that there is a lot of hate coming from young people acting recklessly online.
One person said the time from October 7th is noticeable because there was a lot of content being shared. The BBC isn’t saying the officers’ names because of their job.
Their boss, Matt Jukes, who is in charge of Counter Terror Policing, is worried because his team has to deal with the worst online content, but social media companies are not doing enough to stop the spread of hateful content.
Algorithms are systems that suggest new stuff to you based on what you like and interact with. This means that some people may be influenced by the posts they see on social media and start believing in more extreme ideas, even if they didn’t think that way before. It’s not just about showing what they already believe.
Jukes says that people who used to have to look for this material in the past are now receiving it without having to search for it. “Before, people had to go to specific places or websites to find hateful and extreme material. But now, this kind of material is being sent to them, even when they’re not looking for it. ”
‘Posts that are thoughtless and driven by strong feelings’
People who send in posts to the team don’t know much about what happens after that.
I am told that the team checks posts and online content to see if they might break UK terrorism or other terror laws.
They are searching for posts that are very intense and shared a lot, rather than posted alone. The concern is about posts on social media that promote terrorism and could encourage people to commit violent acts or adopt extremist beliefs.
Currently, this includes posts that show support for Hamas and glorify or show support for acts of terror, one of the officers explains.
They showed me a few different pictures from X, TikTok, and a messaging app, with the usernames blurred out. The messages ask for help to join Hamas and give them money to travel. Hamas is seen as a terrorist organization by the UK and other governments. Some people write mean things about Jewish people online.
“People are using X, Instagram, and TikTok platforms. ” An officer says that many of the posts are just written words. “Young people often make impulsive, emotional posts on social media because they feel at ease using these sites. ”
They say that many of the profiles have never shared this kind of content before. They think that people who are not aware are starting to share very mean anti-Jewish ideas.
People who post like this come from different places and backgrounds, and are generally younger.
“We have seen a lot more material that is against Jewish people than material that is against Islam. ” “It’s very noticeable,” another officer says. “We received material from far-right groups that strongly support Israel. ”
Since October 7th, I’ve found and looked into posts on social media that are against Islam and are racist. Some of these posts were made by accounts that don’t support the pro-Palestinian movement, and there were also hurtful comments about Jewish people from accounts that don’t support Israel. I have seen the same thing online as several human rights groups and campaigners have said about an increase in hate against Muslims and Jewish people on social media.
In 2017, a lot of online posts were praising and celebrating terrorist attacks that happened in the UK, like the ones at London Bridge, Manchester Arena, in Westminster, and at a mosque in London’s Finsbury Park. However, police officers say that there have been a lot more ongoing reports since the latest Israel-Gaza War started, and the discussions have been much more intense than before.
They have found 630 possible cases that may have broken laws about terrorism or hate crimes.
I’ve been told that 150 of those cases have been sent to the police for more investigation or action. Around 10 cases have been given to the counter terrorism teams in the Met, and others have been given to local police or regional counter terrorism units for investigation.
The police say that TikTok, X, and Meta, the company that owns Instagram and Facebook, have been helpful and fast in deleting very bad content when they are told about it. However, they say it’s been harder to deal with posts that are not clearly breaking the rules of the social media sites.
People are saying mean and awful things. “But many of the things we’re dealing with are right on the edge,” a police officer says.
“You have an area where there could be content, opinions, and material that is not very pleasant. ” When does it become a crime. The team has to decide.
As of October 7th, TikTok has put a lot of effort into keeping its users safe. TikTok has made it clear that it is against hate and hatespeech. They are working on new ideas to show different videos and stop the same ones from being shown all the time.
Meta, the company that has Instagram, explains in its “community standards” how it uses both technology and people to find and delete content that goes against its rules. This includes content that attacks people because of their religion, ethnicity, or where they come from. The social media company will delete any pictures made by a dangerous group or person, unless the user is sharing it to report news or condemn it.
“Algorithms – a way to make people extreme in their beliefs. ”
What about all the hate that is in the middle. It’s not extreme enough to be against the law, but it still makes people talk badly with each other and might make some people become more extreme in their beliefs.
Matt Jukes says that he noticed a big divide online recently.
“People feel good when they see positive things on the internet. ” Many other people in their own little world feel the same way.
Younger people who use social media a lot may be at a higher risk. There are advantages to that; it could be said that they are more connected than ever before, they are seeing different perspectives and content, and many of them are more involved and excited. For some people, it could be dangerous to see extremist things on it.
Right now, social media companies are responsible for handling mean posts. This also depends on the people who make the rules for the sites and the people who use them.
The new Online Safety Act makes social media companies responsible for illegal content.
The biggest question is about what to do with algorithms that are accused of encouraging hate and making harmful language seem normal.
Jukes says it’s amazing that there’s a mix of terrorism threats, hate crimes online and offline, and interest from state actors in the upcoming year.
These intense and harmful talks that aren’t breaking any laws could have a big effect on how people talk to each other in public. Not only in this war, but also in the elections happening around the world this year.
The leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon said that Israel’s killing of Hamas’s deputy leader in Beirut was a very serious and dangerous crime, and they cannot stay quiet about it.
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah expressed his sympathy on TV to his friends for what he called a ‘serious attack by Israel’ on Tuesday night that killed Saleh al-Arouri.
He promised that his group would fight without any limits or rules if Israel attacked Lebanon. He also said that anyone who starts a war with them will regret it.
Tuesday’s attack hit the southern part of Dahiyeh. Analysts think it could be a message to the militants that their main area can also be reached.
It was the first attack in Beirut after almost three months of almost daily fighting between Israel and Hezbollah near the border.
The team shot rockets into the border on October 8 to help Hamas, after attacks on southern Israel the day before caused fighting.
Hezbollah was started by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982. It is a part of a group that doesn’t like Israel and the United States, and is supported by Tehran.
It battled with Israel for a whole month in 2006.
Nasrallah said that Hezbollah acted fast on October 8 and the shelling across the border stopped Israel from bombing Lebanon. He also said that Israel’s ability to prevent these attacks had failed.
He talked on Wednesday to remember four years since the US drone killed Quds Force leader Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.
He said many people were killed in two explosions at a ceremony in Iran to remember Soleimani on purpose.
President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran spoke out against the terrible and cruel attack, and Iran’s top leader Ayatollah Khamenei promised to retaliate for the violent bombings.
Harsh criminals will be punished severely, and there will be a tough response.
Nasrallah gave his third speech since October 7.
In his first speech in early November, he said that stopping the Israeli attacks on Gaza was important to prevent a regional conflict in the United States.
In another speech about a week later, he said that the fight against Israel would continue.
On Wednesday, he said he will talk more about what Hezbollah is doing in the south on Friday.
The situation in the Middle East has gotten worse since the Israel-Gaza war started. This got even worse when Saleh al-Arouri, a leader of Hamas, was killed in Lebanon.
Arouri, a top leader of Hamas, was killed by a drone in southern Beirut. He was an important person in the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, which is the armed part of Hamas. He was also a good friend of Ismail Haniyeh, who is the leader of Hamas. He was in Lebanon to help his group communicate with Hezbollah.
Even before the war started, the leader of Lebanese Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, said that if there was an attack on Lebanon, they would fight back strongly.
However, Hezbollah and its Iranian friends know that how they respond to the current conflict could greatly impact the outcome of the war and the success of Hezbollah.
It was not a surprise that Hamas leaders outside Gaza were going to be targeted.
Israel will hunt down and attack Hamas leaders no matter where they are. In November, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a warning.
A few months ago, he clearly talked about Arouri. The second leader of Hamas was also on the US list of terrorists and there was a reward of $5 million on his head since 2018.
Israel usually does not say if they killed someone on purpose, but in this ongoing conflict, there have been many planned killings. It’s also a story of payback and getting back at someone.
Israel will now be prepared for counterattacks. Hamas leaders and their friends are asking for support from the West Bank and other places.
Hezbollah and Hamas need to take action and show it to others.
Hezbollah’s first message asked people to be patient.
Up until now, this strong military and political group has been using words and small attacks at the border to avoid getting Lebanon involved in a big fight.
The Hamas official who had ties to Hezbollah and Iran was killed in a neighbourhood in Beirut. This has affected their plans. However, it needs to consider quick, impressive actions now, compared to its overall strategy for the future.
It has a lot of support along the dangerous southern border of Lebanon. However, in Beirut and other places, people still have strong memories of the destructive 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon. This country is currently facing many of its own problems.
Many Israeli leaders have wanted to use this chance to get rid of Hezbollah and its threats to the northern towns for a long time.
There has been fighting on this front, but it has been limited. Israeli forces are spread thin in Gaza and the West Bank.
The US, Israel’s biggest supporter, has also warned many times against starting a war with Hezbollah, because it could have serious consequences.
The recent crisis started with the killing of Arouri and six others, including two Hamas military leaders. This happened during a time of growing tension in other areas, such as the Red Sea shipping lanes. The Iran-backed Houthis have been attacking ships they believe are connected to Israel.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israel is under attack from seven different areas, such as Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq.
Many people are asking for everyone to calm down and not make the situation worse, including leaders from the West, politicians in Lebanon, and UN peacekeepers. They are all very worried that the fighting could spread and become a bigger war. But Israel has been very clear from the beginning.
Its goal is to “eliminate Hamas”. This means attacking its buildings, military and government leaders, and money.
After almost three months, it says there is still a lot more to do.
Many people in Israel and around the world are wondering if Hamas can be defeated by using military force and causing a lot of civilian deaths. This has led to a humanitarian crisis and a lot of suffering and anger.
The people who planned the attacks in southern Israel in October are thought to be hiding in Gaza, even though Israel is searching very hard for them.
Arouri’s death in Lebanon will make Turkey and Qatar, where Hamas leaders are also located, think hard about their safety.
This is also making Israeli families very worried about their loved ones who are still being held captive in Gaza.
The assassination has stopped the talks in Cairo about swapping hostages for Palestinians in Israeli jails.
Prime Minister Netanyahu keeps saying that only pressure will be effective.
Israel said that the killing of a Hamas leader in Beirut was not meant to harm Lebanon, despite warnings from its enemies that there would be consequences for his death.
Israel has not said if they killed Saleh al-Arouri or not, but a spokesperson said it was a precise attack on the leaders of the Hamas group.
Hamas called it a “terrorist act” and Hezbollah said it was an attack on Lebanon’s independence.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister said Israel is trying to make them join a big fight with other countries in the area.
Lebanese news says that Arouri, a top leader of Hamas, was killed by a drone in southern Beirut on Tuesday along with six other people – two military leaders and four other members of Hamas.
He played a big role in the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the group that fights for Hamas, and was a good friend of Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas. He was in Lebanon to help his group communicate with Hezbollah.
Hezbollah and Israeli forces have been shooting at each other almost every day since the war started between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. But, the fighting has mostly stayed around the border of Israel and Lebanon.
Hezbollah is a big and strong group in Lebanon, and also has some people in the government. Some countries, like Israel and the UK, think Hezbollah is a terrorist group.
The Israel Army didn’t say anything about killing Saleh al-Arouri, but they said they are ready for anything.
“The IDF is fully prepared to defend and attack in all areas,” said spokesperson Rear Adm Daniel Hagari at a meeting.
“The main thing to say tonight is that we are focused on fighting Hamas, and we will continue to do so,” he said.
Israeli government adviser Mark Regev didn’t confirm that Israel did the attack, but he said on MSNBC that whoever did it, it wasn’t an attack on Lebanon.
“It wasn’t an attack on Hezbollah, the terrorist group. ”
“Someone made a precise and targeted attack on the leaders of Hamas. ” The person who did this is angry with Hamas. “That is very easy to understand. ”
Arouri, who is 57 years old, is the highest-ranking member of Hamas to be killed since Israel started fighting with the group following its attack on 7 October.
That day, a lot of Hamas fighters went into Israel and attacked towns near the border. They killed about 1,200 people, most of them were regular people, and they took about 240 as hostages to Gaza.
Israel started a military attack to destroy Hamas.
Since then, over 22,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed by Israel in attacks on Gaza, according to Gaza’s health ministry run by Hamas.
Lebanon’s official news agency said that Arouri was killed by an Israeli drone at a Hamas office in a southern suburb of Beirut called Dahiyeh.
A person from Reuters news agency saw firefighters and paramedics at a tall building with a big hole on the third floor.
Videos on social media showed a car on fire and a lot of damage to buildings in a crowded neighborhood.
Dahiyeh is a place where Hezbollah is very strong.
Mr Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’s political section, said the attack was cowardly. Violent attack, breaking Lebanon’s rules, and making the problem worse.
Hezbollah said that they see Arouri’s death as a big attack on Lebanon, its people, its safety, freedom, and strength, and it sends important messages about politics and safety.
The attack was a very bad thing in the war. “We, in Hezbollah, promise that we will not let this crime go without a punishment.
“Its hand is on the trigger, and its resistors are ready and prepared at the highest levels,” it said.
Iran, which strongly supports both groups, said that Arouri’s killing would definitely make the resistance stronger.
The meeting to talk about what to do after the war in Gaza was cancelled.
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, said on BBC Radio 4 that his government is talking to Hezbollah to tell them not to take action. He also said that they are having a conversation with them about this.
In the next day, we will find out if they will answer or not. We are worried that the people of Lebanon, including Hezbollah, do not want to get involved in a war with other countries.
He asked the West to push Israel to stop all its violent actions in Lebanon, Beirut, and Gaza.
The leader of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, promised to get rid of the leaders of Hamas no matter where they are.
Israeli media reports said that Arouri was seen as the unofficial leader of Hamas’s military group in the West Bank and was responsible for supervising attacks in that area.
People think he helped take and kill three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank in 2014. They also say he was in prison in Israel for other violent acts.
The Times of Israel reported that he was one of the top Hamas officials with strong ties to Iran and Hezbollah.
Hamas, the governing group in the Gaza Strip, has declared a halt to any further hostage releases, stipulating that Israel must agree to a “full cessation of aggression” before any such actions will be considered.
Israel asserts it has eliminated over 2,000 Hamas fighters in Gaza since a truce earlier this month, coinciding with the release of more than 100 hostages.
Around 120 people abducted from Israel on 7 October are believed to be still in captivity in Gaza.
Efforts continue at the United Nations to pass a resolution on the war.
The US has said it still has serious concerns over the draft UN Security Council resolution, with voting now postponed to Friday.
Fighting continues in Gaza, with Israel bombarding the north and south of the territory and Hamas firing rockets at Tel Aviv.
Among the Palestinians reported killed were the director of the police station in the southern city of Khan Younis and a daughter of the head of the Gaza health ministry.
The week-long truce this month brought an increased flow of aid into Gaza, where the UN has warned that the population is at risk of famine if the war between Israel and Hamas continues.
Negotiations on a new truce have been taking place in Cairo, Egypt, though initial talks on Wednesday bore no agreement.
In a statement, Hamas said: “There is a Palestinian national decision that there should be no talk about prisoners or exchange deals except after a full cessation of aggression.”
It is unclear to which other Palestinian factions the statement was referring. Islamic Jihad, a smaller group in the Gaza Strip, is among those known to also be holding Israeli hostages.
The Hamas statement puts the Israeli government in a very difficult position.
It has said it thinks the best way to get the release of hostages is military pressure on Hamas and by staging rescue operations.
But so far that approach has not really worked. Only one hostage – Ori Megidish – has actually been rescued.
The government is also under huge pressure from the relatives of the hostages still being held, with some telling it the strategy of force is not working.
Hamas is putting pressure on Israel to stop the war altogether but without any guarantee that the group is going to stop its armed actions.
So the Israeli government is extremely reluctant to stop fighting until it feels it has completely degraded Hamas capability and it has not done that yet.
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Watch: Hostage says she was ”shown off like a trophy” by Hamas
This will be a huge disappointment for the people of Gaza, who are desperate for this war to stop.
Early on Friday, the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry put the overall death toll there since 7 October at 20,057, including at least 8,000 children and 6,200 women.
When Hamas and their allies broke through the heavily guarded perimeter with Israel on 7 October they killed 1,200 people.
A significant development has emerged from yesterday’s events, as highlighted in our previous update.
Hamas has declared that it will not consider any further hostage releases unless Israel commits to a complete halt in hostilities.
Following a truce agreement last month, Hamas released over 100 hostages. However, approximately 120 Israelis, abducted on October 7, are reportedly still held captive in Gaza.
Hamas issued a firm statement, asserting, “There is a Palestinian national decision that there will be no discussions regarding prisoners or exchange deals until there is a full cessation of aggression.”
The exact Palestinian factions to which this statement applies remain unclear, although Islamic Jihad, another active group in Gaza, is known to hold some Israeli hostages as well.
This development presents a challenging scenario for the Israeli government. While Israel’s strategy has been to exert military pressure on Hamas and conduct rescue operations, these efforts have only successfully liberated one hostage, Ori Megidish, to date.
The Gaza Strip’s health ministry, under the control of Hamas, reports that almost 400 people have lost their lives in the past two days.
According to their statement, the total death toll is 390, with an additional 734 individuals injured.
Since the conflict erupted on October 7, the health ministry asserts that over 20,000 people have been killed. It’s important to note that the BBC has not independently verified this death toll.
Since the fighting started in Gaza, Israel has been doing more and stronger military actions in the West Bank.
The city of Jenin in the north is now a place where fighting happens every week, after being a main target for raids before the attacks by Hamas.
I met some Palestinian teenagers who were running from the army on Tuesday. They had the same doubtful and disrespectful attitudes as older men. They made fun of the Palestinian president and his requests for help from the world to protect them from Israel’s occupation.
Israel’s heavy-duty bulldozers and military vehicles were moving near the entrance of Jenin refugee camp. Explosions and gunshots could be heard from other parts of the city as well. The streets were empty and all the stores were closed.
The walls of this city have pictures of young men who were killed by Israeli forces. Some of them were part of groups like Hamas, which the UK and other countries consider to be terrorists. The posters and the faces are changed every year.
Six men died in a military operation on Tuesday. Witnesses said four of them were killed by a drone.
Israel is saying that they are going after people in the West Bank who are part of armed groups, especially those who have hurt Israelis.
The head of Jenin’s hospital, Wissam Bakr, said a very sick 13-year-old child died because they couldn’t get to the hospital for treatment.
“He said that the attacks in Jenin and the killing of young people will make the people very angry because we lose a friend every day. ”
“This won’t make Israel peaceful – it will make more and more people fight back. ”
On October 7th, some people from the group Hamas in Gaza attacked the southern part of Israel. They killed 1,200 people and took 240 other people as hostages. Over 18,400 people died in Gaza during the war.
In the West Bank, 271 Palestinians, including 69 children, have been killed since the attacks – which is more than half of the total number for the year. The United Nations says the Israeli forces have killed almost all of them.
After the Hamas attacks, more people in the West Bank support using weapons to fight back. This is especially true in Nablus and Jenin.
“I can tell by the way people talk, the music they listen to in their cars, and what they say on Facebook and other social media. I also learn from my discussions with my students,” explained Raed Debiy, a political scientist and leader of the Fatah party, which is in charge of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
He said that the attacks were a big moment for Palestinians, just like they were a shocking moment for Israelis.
“He said that a lot of people, especially young people, are supporting Hamas more than ever before. ” “In the last 30 years, there weren’t any role models for the new generation. But now, they see something different and a new story is being made. ”
He said even his 11-year-old nephew doesn’t respect Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, but looks up to Hamas military spokesman Abu Obeida because he keeps them safe.
“Palestinian young people have specific things they really want, like owning a house or getting a degree,” said Amjad Bushkar, a political expert from the West Bank.
“But now I think these priorities have completely changed after 7 October. ” More and more people want the homeland to be completely free. They believe this can be achieved through peaceful or armed resistance.
Dr Bushkar said he was in Israeli jails for nine years and used to be part of Hamas’s student group. He said that seven of his family members had been arrested after the attacks on 7 October.
Hamas members in the West Bank have been attacked by Palestinian security forces, not just Israeli ones, because Hamas took control of Gaza by force in 2007. This happened a year after they won parliamentary elections.
However, Bushkar said that something was different now.
“Fatah and Hamas know they need each other, and I believe they will work together more closely in the future. ”
“The Palestinian Authority understood that trying to get rid of Hamas would not work because it is a deeply held belief among the Palestinian people. Hamas also knows it can’t create a Palestinian state without the support of Fatah. ”
Some important people in the Palestinian government are now talking about the good things that could happen if everyone works together, even though the President is not saying the same thing.
Earlier this month, the leader of Palestine, Mohammad Shtayyeh, said in an interview with Bloomberg that they want Hamas to join their government in Gaza.
Qossay Hamed, who knows a lot about Hamas, says that the problems in Gaza might make the political part of the group stronger, but not the military part.
He said that revolutionary movements should have a political outcome from their military actions.
“Hamas has many different trends. ” And there are fights happening inside. I believe the political influence of Hamas will increase after this war because the whole world will be less accepting of them.
Israel wants to get rid of Hamas in Gaza and does not want Hamas or Fatah to be part of the government there in the future.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that he will not let people who teach, support, or fund terrorism go to Gaza.
“Gaza will not be controlled by Hamas or Fatah. ”
Some Palestinians think that Gaza suffered too much because of the attacks by Hamas.
However, some people believe that the group’s violent methods were effective in pressuring Israel to release Palestinian prisoners. They compare this impact to that of the Palestinian Authority, which was established 30 years ago after the Oslo Accords to cooperate with Israel in creating a future Palestinian State.
Amjad Bushkar said that after the attacks, the world and international community are now giving more importance to the Palestinian cause.
Many people think the PA is not honest and doesn’t work well. They also can’t pay their workers or police because of a disagreement with Hamas. This happened because of the war in Gaza and arguments over money from Israel.
More Hamas flags and slogans appeared when Palestinian prisoners were released by Israel in exchange for Israeli hostages in Gaza. But the president and security forces of the Palestinian Authority were not seen.
Israel wants to stop Hamas from being in charge in Gaza, but their power is growing here in the West Bank.
Now we will give you some new information about Israel’s military mission in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
On X, IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said that soldiers destroyed buildings and infrastructure at Al-Azhar University because they believe Hamas was using it for military purposes.
Hagari found a secret way under the ground that goes from the university to a school about a kilometer away during the raid.
He also said they found things that make things explode, parts for rockets, and machines that send rockets into the sky.
Hagari reported that IDF troops found about 200 radios and lots of cameras at an observation post near the Shatti Hospital during a raid.
“We also found a combat weapon, bullets, bombs, a place for snipers, military gear, and places to shoot from,” he says.
Israeli soldiers are getting ready to fill the tunnels under Gaza with water from the sea. These tunnels are used by the Hamas group.
New photos show IDF soldiers putting in five pumps near Al-Shati refugee camp. The pumps can move a lot of water into the tunnels every hour.
Israel wants to fill the tunnels with water to force Hamas to leave them and stop them from doing bad things.
The IDF released pictures that seem to show many soldiers putting black pipes on Gaza’s beaches that go into the Mediterranean Sea.
American officials said on Monday that Israel has set up big pumps that could flood Hamas’s many tunnels under the Gaza Strip with sea water.
The plan would help Israel to find and destroy tunnels, and to catch and stop any Hamas fighters inside. Officials said this to the Wall Street Journal.
It was not sure if Israel would use the pumps before freeing their hostages from Hamas. Flooding the tunnels could harm people inside and damage underground buildings.
Hamas said they have hidden the hostages in safe places and tunnels.
Israeli media show video of Israeli soldiers filling up pipes and working on pumps underground.
The head of the IDF, Lt. General Aviv Kochavi Rewrite this text in simple words:Gen. Army leader Herzi Halevi seemed to agree that Israel wants to flood Hamas’s tunnels and thinks it’s a good plan.
He said: ‘We are finding many tunnels and other structures beneath the surface in Gaza, which is what we expected. ‘ We want to wreck this infrastructure.
We have different ways to deal with the tunnels. I can’t talk about all the details, but we use explosives to destroy them and other methods to stop Hamas from using the tunnels to hurt our soldiers.
So, we are considering using any method that helps us beat the enemy who uses tunnels. This will take away their advantage of using the tunnels. This is a good idea, but I won’t talk about the details.
France has declared that, as part of fresh penalties, it will be freezing Yahya Sinwar‘s assets.
A directive that was published in the Official Journal states that starting on December 5th, Sinwar’s finances and financial resources will be blocked for six months.
The exact quantity of Sinwar’s French holdings is unknown.
Following a slew of similar actions by the US, UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron sanctioned senior leaders of the Palestinian militant group and Hamas’s financiers last month.
One thing Israelis are still dealing with from the 7 October attacks is accusations of Palestinian fighters committing sexual violence against women.
Collecting evidence is really hard, and it’s upsetting that UN Women waited so long to say something about the terrible things Hamas did to Israelis.
Ruth Halperin Kaddari is a lawyer from Israel who fights for women’s rights. She was part of a UN group for 12 years that focused on stopping discrimination against women.
She said on BBC Radio 4 that she saw many people who were victims of sexual violence, including a paramedic who treated a woman who said she had been raped by four men.
Kaddari saw videos and photos of bodies in many places and is sure that rape happened.
She said that there must have been a plan to use sexual violence as a weapon of war because there are a lot of cases in a short time and in many places.
