3 d. ago Israel parliament defies protests to pass law tightening grip over judges

Opposition parties say political control of appointments will make judges subject to politicians and undermine democracyIsrael’s parliament has passed a law expanding elected officials’ power to appoint judges, in defiance of a years-long protest against Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempts to drive through judicial changes.The approval of the bill, which opposition parties say will make judges subject to the will of politicians, comes as Netanyahu’s government is locked in a standoff with the supreme court over its attempts to dismiss the attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara and Ronen Bar, the head of the internal security agency. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Palestinian death toll rises as Benjamin Netanyahu under fire from Israelis

More than two dozen Gazans were killed in just 24 hours as Israel shows no let-up in attacks, also opening fire on Hezbollah in Lebnaon and targets in Syria as the Middle East conflict continues

Events

4 d. ago Israeli politicians sign letter urging Australian MPs to dump two

Letter from Knesset members addressed to Queensland LNP backbencher Andrew Wallace was distributed at event he hosted, attended by several Coalition MPs and senatorsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA handful of Israeli politicians, including one within Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party, have urged Coalition MPs to dump Australia’s longstanding two-state policy on Israel and Palestine ahead of the upcoming federal election.They claim that maintaining the policy would reward Hamas and destroy Israel.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Trump wants a Nobel peace prize. Here’s how he can earn one | Ken Roth

We must persuade Trump to do the right thing – securing peace in the Middle East – for the wrong reasonDonald Trump’s instinctive deference to the Israeli government is at odds with his self-image as an expert dealmaker. Much as it may seem laughable that the president wants the Nobel peace prize, his quest may be the best chance we have for securing any US government regard for the rights and lives of Palestinians in Gaza.Trump currently seems to endorse the strategy of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, of trying to pummel Hamas into accepting defeat. To force Hamas to release its remaining hostages and to disband its diminished military force, Netanyahu has resumed Israel’s strategy of starving and bombing Palestinian civilians. In less than a week, about 600 Palestinians have already been killed. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Trump wants a Nobel peace prize. Here’s how he can earn one | Kenneth Roth

We must persuade Trump to do the right thing – securing peace in the Middle East – for the wrong reasonDonald Trump’s instinctive deference to the Israeli government is at odds with his self-image as an expert dealmaker. Much as it may seem laughable that the president wants the Nobel peace prize, his quest may be the best chance we have for securing any US government regard for the rights and lives of Palestinians in Gaza.Trump currently seems to endorse the strategy of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, of trying to pummel Hamas into accepting defeat. To force Hamas to release its remaining hostages and to disband its diminished military force, Netanyahu has resumed Israel’s strategy of starving and bombing Palestinian civilians. In less than a week, about 600 Palestinians have already been killed. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Israeli legislators pass state budget in a move that shores up Netanyahu's government

Israel’s parliament has passed a state budget in a move that shores up Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition

Politics

7 d. ago Israel’s political crisis deepens after vote against attorney

Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet withdraws confidence in Gali Baharav-Miara

Politics

8 d. ago As Israeli bombs fell, wounded children overwhelmed this Gaza hospital. Dozens died

When Israel unleashed a wave of bombardment this week, shattering Gaza's ceasefire, a hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis was overwhelmed with wounded children

Events

9 d. ago Israel orders army to ‘seize more ground’ in Gaza if Hamas does not release hostages

Call from defence minister comes as Supreme Court freezes Benjamin Netanyahu’s sacking of the domestic intelligence chief

Politics

9 d. ago Benjamin Netanyahu fires Israel's security chief Ronen Bar over 'distrust'

Ronen Bar, who has led Shin Bet since 2021, was dismissed by Netanyahu’s Government

Events

9 d. ago Israeli government approves firing of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar despite huge protests

Bar had strained relations with PM Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption and whose close aides are being investigated by the intelligence agencyThe head of Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, has been dismissed, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office, a week after Benjamin Netanyahu said he had lost confidence in him, and despite three days of protests against the move.“The government unanimously approved prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal to end ISA [Israeli Security Agency] director Ronen Bar’s term of office,” a statement said. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Netanyahu is waging war on Gaza and on us – his ‘enemies within’. It’s the path to autocracy | Aluf Benn

Israel’s PM wants to ‘transfer’ Palestinians from Gaza, purge his traditional domestic rivals – and keep the right wing in power for everAluf Benn is the editor-in-chief of HaaretzTurmoil has hit the streets of Israel once again, as thousands of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to oppose Benjamin Netanyahu’s dual effort to rekindle the war in Gaza, risking the lives of Israeli hostages there, and to dismiss senior civil servants who are struggling to halt Israel’s slide to autocracy.Early on Tuesday, the Israeli prime minister ordered the bombing of Gaza, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas and killing hundreds of Palestinians in the midst of Ramadan.Aluf Benn is the editor-in-chief of HaaretzDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Civilian death toll mounts in Gaza as Israel warns air strikes are 'just the beginning'

Benjamin Netanyahu warns ‘this is only the beginning’ after Israel-Hamas ceasefire collapses

Events

1 week ago Netanyahu says fighting has resumed in Gaza with 'full force' after Israel launches airstrikes

Israeli PM says strikes that killed more than 400 are ‘only the beginning’

Politics

1 week ago Israel strikes that shattered ceasefire ‘just the beginning’, Netanyahu says, after deadliest 24 hours in Gaza since 2023 – as it happened

Benjamin Netanyahu says Israeli military will continue to fight until Hamas ‘no longer posed a threat’Commenting on the fresh strikes in Gaza, Sally Thomas, humanitarian manager at Caritas Australia, warned the strikes would impact distribution“In the first month of the ceasefire around 56 ,000 metric tons of food entered Gaza, more than double the amount in the month prior. Alongside this, humanitarians have been working to take care of an estimated 350,000 chronically ill people in Gaza, where there are just 108 ICY beds remaining, and a lack of necessities such as oxygen and vital medical equipment,” she said in a statement. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Netanyahu warns Israel’s renewed Gaza offensive ‘is only the beginning’

Israeli PM says attacks will continue until Hamas is destroyed and hostages freed, as airstrikes kill hundredsMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe wave of deadly airstrikes that shattered the pause in hostilities in Gaza is “only the beginning”, Benjamin Netanyahu has warned, also promising that the new offensive would continue until Israel achieved all of its war aims – destroying Hamas and freeing all hostages held by the militant group.Any further ceasefire negotiations would take place “under fire”, the Israeli prime minister said in a televised address on Tuesday night, his first after Israel launched attacks that killed more than 400 people in the devastated Palestinian territory, in the bloodiest single day of violence since the first months of the war in 2023. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Israel strikes that shattered ceasefire ‘just the beginning’, Netanyahu says, after deadliest 24 hours in Gaza since 2023 – live

Benjamin Netanyahu says Israeli military will continue to fight until Hamas ‘no longer posed a threat’Commenting on the fresh strikes in Gaza, Sally Thomas, humanitarian manager at Caritas Australia, warned the strikes would impact distribution“In the first month of the ceasefire around 56 ,000 metric tons of food entered Gaza, more than double the amount in the month prior. Alongside this, humanitarians have been working to take care of an estimated 350,000 chronically ill people in Gaza, where there are just 108 ICY beds remaining, and a lack of necessities such as oxygen and vital medical equipment,” she said in a statement. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago The Guardian view on Israel breaking the ceasefire: destroying hope along with lives | Editorial

Benjamin Netanyahu is kept in place by an endless war, at a terrible cost to Palestinians and hostagesIn shattering the two-month ceasefire that had brought a fragile peace and relief to Gaza, Israel has also smashed the faint hopes that a resolution might just remain within reach. This was one of the deadliest days since the early months of the conflict, sparked by the lethal Hamas raid of 7 October 2023. Israel says it was attacking “terror targets”, but health authorities in Gaza say that 174 children and 89 women were among the more than 400 dead. Evacuation orders issued by the military suggest that a renewed ground offensive may be on its way for traumatised and repeatedly displaced Palestinians. Families of the remaining Israeli hostages are terrified and angry too, attacking the government for choosing to give up on them.Horror is piling upon horror. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed since the war began, and the numbers grew even during the ceasefire, many d...

Politics

1 week ago Netanyahu will never accept peace. Where will his perpetual war lead next? | Simon Tisdall

Israel, backed by a capricious Donald Trump, never intended to honour the ceasefire. These airstrikes mark a dire new phase in the conflictThe first and last rule of Benjamin Netanyahu’s doctrine of perpetual warfare is brutally to the point: peace cannot and must not be allowed to last. As indiscriminate, deadly fire once again descends upon the defenceless people of Gaza, unleashed on the orders of Israel’s bellicose prime minister, an anguished cry is heard. Is the precious two-month-long ceasefire with Hamas definitively over? To which comes the dismaying answer: it barely matters. This truce, now shattering into a million pieces, was but a brief, deceptive pause in a war that never stops.It doesn’t stop because Netanyahu is sustained in office by the unceasing state of national emergency that he and his supporters have nurtured and prolonged since the 7 October 2023 terrorist attacks. The war doesn’t stop because Netanyahu’s overarching aim – the destruction of Palestinian hope...

Events

1 week ago Families of Israeli hostages accuse Netanyahu of 'complete deception' as Gaza ceasefire collapses

Hostage families call for return to ceasefire as Hamas claims Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 400 people in Gaza

Events