6 h. ago A biblical hatred is engulfing both sides in the Gaza conflict – and blinding them to reason | Jonathan Freedland

Israel starving Palestinians, two killings at a Jewish museum: both are atrocities. But vanishingly few can see itI sat this week with Hussein Agha, a man who has given his working life to seeking peace between Israelis and Palestinians, negotiating from the Palestinian side of the table. He was gloomier than I have ever seen him, adamant that peace between the two sides can never, ever come. Because, Agha explained, this conflict was not about mere lines on a map or forms of words, the goods in which diplomats trade. This was about emotions, and specifically hatreds. Hatreds that, he feared, are becoming too murderous to contain. “It’s biblical,” he said.What he had in mind was the fury that drove Hamas to slaughter around 1,200 Israelis on a sleepy Saturday morning nearly 20 months ago and the fury that has driven the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to bombard Gaza ever since, killing more than 50,000, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry, and, over the last 80 days,...

Events

13 h. ago At least 23 people killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza as Israel lets minimal aid in

At least 23 people were killed by Israeli strikes across Gaza overnight as Israel pressed ahead with its military offensive and let in minimal aid to the strip

Events

33 h. ago Starmer accused by Israel of 'emboldening the forces of terror' after embassy workers killed in Washington DC

Israeli ministers hit out at prime minister in wake of ‘anti-semitic’ shootings in US capital amid tensions over UK Government position on Gaza

Events

56 h. ago Mapped: Where and how Israel has ramped up its latest attack on the Gaza Strip

Thousands of Palestinians have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on Gaza in March, bringing an end to a fragile two-month ceasefire

Politics

66 h. ago Israel latest: UN says Gaza aid blocked after Netanyahu accused of ‘killing babies as a hobby’

Israeli opposition leader's comments represent some of the strongest criticism from within the country since start of Gaza offensive

Events

3 d. ago Israel still blocking aid for Gaza despite promise to lift siege, says UN

Continued restrictions come as opposition leader says Israel is becoming pariah nation that ‘kills babies as a hobby’Middle East crisis – live updatesTwo days after Benjamin Netanyahu announced he was lifting the siege of Gaza, Israel is still blocking food from reaching starving Palestinians, the UN has said, as the leader of the country’s centre-left Democrats party said his country was becoming a pariah nation that “kills babies as a hobby”.Only five trucks of aid had reached Gaza by Tuesday afternoon and aid workers had not been given permission to distribute even that token shipment, Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office (OCHA) told a Geneva press briefing. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Israel begins major ground operation in Gaza after killing ‘more than 130 people’ in latest airstrikes

Israel announced a renewed assault on the enclave after the latest ceasefire talks failed

Events

5 d. ago Israel begins ground operation in Gaza after latest airstrikes kill more than 135

Israel is preparing for a new ground offensive to achieve ‘operational control’

Events

5 d. ago Israel begins ground operation in Gaza after latest airstrikes kill more than 100

Israel is preparing for a new ground offensive to achieve ‘operational control’

Events

5 d. ago Israel launches ground operation in Gaza after strikes kill nearly 100

Netanyahu casts military offensive as ‘negotiations under fire’ tactic to pressure Hamas over hostages

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5 d. ago Israeli air strikes overnight kill 100 Palestinians across the Gaza strip as ceasefire talks appear to stall

Israel has expanded its strikes on the enclave, killing hundreds of people since Thursday, in preparation for a new ground offensive to achieve 'operational control' in parts of Gaza.

Events

5 d. ago Israel airstrikes kill at least 75 in Gaza in night of terror with kids among heartbreaking victims

Israel's latest barrage of airstrikes in Gaza has claimed at least 75 lives overnight, with women and children among the victims, after Benjamin Netanyahu broke a ceasefire deal earlier this year

Events

6 d. ago Israel launches major new offensive in Gaza after airstrikes kill more than 100

Hundreds killed in initial stages of Israel’s new operation in Gaza hours after Trump leaves Middle East with no talks of ceasefire

Events

8 d. ago We are human rights lawyers. Our new report is clear: Israel perpetrates apartheid | Sandra L Babock, Susan M Akram, Thomas Becker and James Cavallaro

We conclude that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, including mass killing, arbitrary detention and torture, meets the legal threshold for the termWe are university professors and human rights advocates who teach and write about Palestine and Israel. We have collectively taught thousands of classes on human rights law, international law and government repression. We have defended death row prisoners in Malawi, documented forced labor in Brazil, helped women seeking gender equality in Burma, chronicled the struggle of the Sahrawi people for self-determination in Western Sahara, and advocated on behalf of families of disappeared immigrants in the United States. As human rights defenders, our job is to expose government abuses of power where we find them. And that includes Israel.It has never been easy for scholars in the United States to publicly criticize Israel. Now, anyone who does so risks professional suicide. The Trump administration deliberately conflates criticism of the gove...

Politics

9 d. ago Dozens of Mexican cartel family members enter the US in ‘Trump administration deal’

Mexico’s security chief confirmed an independent report

Politics

9 d. ago Strike on Gaza hospital kills 28 as Israel claims it hit 'Hamas command centre'

Gaza's Civil Defence teams scrambled through the rubble at the European Hospital in Khan Younis, pulling casualties, including children, from the wreckage - in a blast that killed at least 28

Events

9 d. ago Israeli strike on hospital kills 28 in Gaza, civil defence says

Israel kills prominent Palestinian journalist Hassan Aslih in separate airstrike on Nasser hospital

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9 d. ago Western countries gave Mossad information used to track and killi Palestinian terrorists in 1970s

Declassified documents reveal secret support by intelligence agencies without oversight by elected politiciansA secret coalition of western intelligence agencies supplied Israel with crucial information that allowed the Mossad to track and kill Palestinians suspected of involvement in terrorist attacks in western Europe in the early 1970s, newly declassified documents have revealed.The support was offered without any oversight by parliaments or elected politicians, and, if not actually illegal, would have caused a public scandal. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago The Guardian view on Israel and Gaza: Trump can stop this horror. The alternative is unthinkable | Editorial

The US president has the leverage to force through a ceasefire. If he does not, he will implicitly signal approval of what looks like a plan of total destructionDonald Trump would like a big foreign policy win as he embarks on his tour of the Middle East this week. He could secure one – and save lives – by demanding that Israel agree to a lasting ceasefire in exchange for the release of all hostages held in Gaza. He might prefer to avoid the issue, but no other leader has the leverage to force its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to end this war. If Mr Trump instead backs Israel’s current proposals, he will put the US imprimatur on what looks like a plan of total destruction.Israel’s attacks have already killed more than 52,000 people in Gaza, according to local health authorities – the vast majority of them civilians, many of them children. Bakeries, hospitals and schools have been obliterated. Aid has been blocked for two months. Gaza faces famine. Last week, Isr...

Politics

2 w. ago Israeli strikes across Gaza kill more than 40 people as Israel prepares to ramp up its offensive

Hospital officials say Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 48 people, including women and children

Events