Latest news with #Israeli-Gaza
Newsweek
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
Israel Suffers Heavy Blow as Netanyahu Meets Trump
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. At least five Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza in one of the deadliest recent attacks on Israeli forces as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding talks with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House this week Gaza authorities said at least 24 Palestinians were killed on Tuesday in Israeli strikes and gunfire. Newsweek has reached out to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) for comment and the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza for comment. Why It Matters The deadly attack could increase Israeli pressure on Netanyahu to ensure that a ceasefire is reached at a time that the United States is pushing forward efforts for Israel and Hamas to agree. The attack also shows that despite over 21 months of war in which Hamas forces have been heavily depleted and the territory has been devastated, Israel has still been unable to fully wrest control of the territory from the Islamist group. An israeli army vehicle drives near the Israeli-Gaza border with a banner reading " Bring them home now" call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, Sunday,... An israeli army vehicle drives near the Israeli-Gaza border with a banner reading " Bring them home now" call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, Sunday, July 6, 2025. More Ohad Zwigenberg/AP Photo What To Know The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said five soldiers were killed in battle on Tuesday and two others were severely wounded. A roadside bomb in Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza, killed the five Israeli soldiers and reportedly wounded 14 others, according to the Times of Israel citing the Israeli military. An initial IDF probe found that infantry soldiers on foot were hit by a roadside bomb in Beit Hanoun and came under fire while evacuating the wounded, the report added. The Qassam brigades, the military wing of Hamas, claimed the attack, describing it as a "well-planned ambush," in an Arabic statement. Nearly 24 people were killed in Israeli strikes and gunfire in Rafah and Khan Younis, Palestinian WAFA News Agency reported. Local authorities do not say how many of the dead are fighters. Uncertainty still looms over a Gaza ceasefire, a key topic in talks between Trump and Netanyahu during his ongoing visit and meetings with senior U.S. officials. Hamas said this week that it delivered to mediators a "positive" response to the latest U.S. proposal, to which Israel had previously agreed. "Hamas is fully prepared and serious about immediately entering a round of negotiations on the mechanism for implementing this framework," the group said in a Friday statement. But disagreements have remained over terms for the ceasefire, with Hamas seeking a path to the complete end of the conflict that could allow it to keep some hold in the territory and also wanting Israel to relinquish its control over aid distribution. The war in Gaza started on October 7, 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel and killed around 1,200 people and took some 250 hostages. Since then, Palestinian officials say the Israeli operations have killed more than 57,000 people in the Gaza Strip, according the Associated Press. What People Are Saying Israel Defense Forces (IDF) statement: "During the incident in which Staff Sergeant Meir Shimon Amar and Sergeant Moshe Nissim Frech fell, three additional soldiers fell. Their families have been notified and their names have not yet been cleared for publication and will be published later." Abu Obeida, spokesperson for Hamas' military wing, said in Telegram message broadcast in Arabic: "Our fighters are wearing down the enemy from the north to the south of Gaza, causing them more losses every day. They may have recently managed to rescue their soldiers from disaster, but next time they might fail—and we could capture more of them. The most foolish decision Netanyahu could make is to keep his forces inside Gaza." U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday: "I think we're close to a deal on Gaza—we could have it this week." What Happens Next There is no breakthrough yet in the ceasefire that Trump is pushing for with talks set to continue this week in Qatar.
Straits Times
09-06-2025
- General
- Straits Times
UN says most flour delivered in Gaza looted or taken by starving people
FILE PHOTO: A view of an aid truck entering from Israel into Gaza, near the Kerem Shalom crossing near the Israeli-Gaza border, May 21, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo UN says most flour delivered in Gaza looted or taken by starving people UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations said on Monday that it has only been able to bring minimal flour into Gaza since Israel lifted an aid blockade three weeks ago and that has mostly been looted by armed gangs or taken by starving Palestinians. The organization has transported 4,600 metric tonnes of wheat flour into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing, the only entry point Israel allows it to use, Deputy U.N. spokesperson Fahan Haq told reporters. Haq said aid groups in Gaza estimate that between 8,000 and 10,000 metric tonnes of wheat flour were needed to give each family in Gaza a bag of flour and "ease the pressure on markets and reduce desperation." "Most of it was taken by desperate, starving people before the supplies reached their destinations. In some cases, the supplies were looted by armed gangs," Haq said. According to World Food Programme guidelines, 4,600 metric tonnes of flour would provide roughly eight days' worth of bread for Gaza's 2 million residents, based on a standard daily ration of 300 grams per person. Haq called for Israel to let in far more aid via multiple crossings and routes. The U.N. has mostly delivered flour along with limited medical and nutrition items since Israel lifted the 11-week blockade in mid-May. Experts warn Gaza is at risk of famine, with the rate of young children suffering acute malnutrition nearly tripling. Israel and the United States want the U.N. to work through the controversial new Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, but the U.N. has refused, questioning its neutrality and accusing the distribution model of militarizing aid and forcing displacement. Israel and the United States have accused Hamas of stealing aid from the U.N.-led operations, which the militants deny. The GHF uses private U.S. security and logistics firms to operate. It began operations in Gaza on May 26 and said on Monday so far it has given out 11.4 million meals. Israel makes the U.N. offload aid on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing, where it then has to be picked by the U.N. and aid groups already in Gaza. The U.N. has accused Israel of regularly denying access requests. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Saba Yemen
30-05-2025
- Politics
- Saba Yemen
UN: Israel's blocking of aid makes Gaza hungriest place on earth
Berlin - Saba: The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Thursday that Israel is preventing all but a small amount of humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, with virtually no ready-to-eat food entering what the OCHA spokesman described as "the hungriest place on earth." Office spokesman Jens Laerke added that only 600 of the 900 aid trucks authorized to reach the Israeli-Gaza border have reached the Gaza Strip. From there, a combination of bureaucratic and security obstacles has made it nearly impossible to safely bring aid into the Strip, according to Reuters. With American and European support, the Israeli enemy army has been committing genocidal crimes in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, resulting in the martyrdom of 54,249 citizens, the majority of whom were children and women, and the injury of 123,492 others, as of yesterday, Thursday, in a preliminary toll, with thousands of victims still under the rubble and on the streets, unable to be reached by ambulance and rescue crews. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print
Straits Times
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Gaza ambulance fleet down to a third, Palestinian Red Crescent says
A view of an aid truck entering from Israel into Gaza, near the Kerem Shalom crossing near the Israeli-Gaza border, May 21, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen GENEVA - The head of the Palestinian Red Crescent said on Thursday its operations in Gaza may stop within days in the absence of fresh supplies and its ambulance fleet was running at only a third of capacity due to fuel shortages. Flour and other aid began reaching some of Gaza's most vulnerable areas on Thursday after Israel let some trucks through, but nowhere near enough to make up for shortages caused by an 11-week Israeli blockade, Palestinian officials said. Israel said it let in 100 trucks carrying baby food and medical equipment on Wednesday, two days after announcing its first relaxation of the blockade under mounting international pressure amid warnings of starvation in Gaza. Asked how long his organisation could continue operating in Gaza, Palestine Red Crescent Society President Younis Al-Khatib told reporters in Geneva: "It's a matter of time. It could be days. "We are running out of fuel. The capacity of ambulances we work with now is one third," he added, saying its gasoline-powered ambulances had already halted but it had some that were running on solar power provided by the United Nations. The PRCS is part of the world's largest humanitarian network, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and provides medical care in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Al-Khatib criticised the small amount of aid Israel has allowed into Gaza so far, warning of the risk of mob attacks. "I think that is an invitation for killing. These people are starving," he said. Israel, at war with Gaza's dominant militant group Hamas since October 2023, has repeatedly defended its controls on aid in the enclave, saying there is enough food there and denying accusations of causing starvation. He added his voice to criticism of a U.S.-backed organisation that aims to start work in Gaza by the end of May overseeing a new model of aid distribution. "It's not up for discussion. No, no, no," he said. "The world should not give up on the system as we know it." The U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation intends to work with private U.S. security and logistics firms to provide aid to 300,000 people from distribution hubs in Gaza's south. Gaza's total population is 2.3 million, most of it displaced. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Business Mayor
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Mayor
Counterterrorism police probe fire at Starmer's London house
Unlock the Editor's Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Counterterrorism police are investigating a fire at Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's north London home in the early hours of Monday morning. The fire at the four-bedroom property, which Starmer has rented out to tenants since moving to 10 Downing Street last July, caused damage to the property's entrance, the Metropolitan Police said. 'On Monday, 12 May at 01:35hrs, police were alerted by the London Fire Brigade to reports of a fire at a residential address in [Kentish Town],' the police said in a statement. 'Officers attended the scene. Damage was caused to the property's entrance, nobody was hurt. The fire is being investigated and cordons remain in place while enquiries continue.' Starmer's home has been targeted by protesters in the past, including in relation to the Israeli-Gaza conflict. On Monday, the prime minister announced a migration crackdown warning that Britain risked becoming 'an island of strangers' without further action. A spokesman for the prime minister on Monday said he 'thanks the emergency services for their work', but declined to comment further because of the live investigation. This is a developing story
