59 m. ago Palestinians ‘desperate for food but getting bombs’, says UN as it criticises Israel’s Gaza aid plan – Middle East crisis live

Reports say that Israel is planning to use private American security contractors in move that OCHA says falls short of ‘humanitarian principles’China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian, said Beijing is “highly concerned about the current Palestine-Israel situation”.“We oppose Israel’s ongoing military actions in Gaza, and hopes all parties continuously and effectively implement the ceasefire agreement,” Jian said.The government of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, hopes that the Israel Defense Forces’ call-up of tens of thousands of reservists, the threat of the new offensive and the prospect of Israel seizing swaths of territory will force Hamas’s leaders to make concessions.If it fails to do so, then physical possession of terrain will offer useful leverage in future negotiations and allow Hamas to be squeezed further in the meantime Continue reading...

Events

4 h. ago Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood cancels UK show with Israeli musician due to 'credible threats'

Pro-Palestinian groups campaigned for venues to cancel the dates, claiming the performances ‘would have whitewashed’ the war in the Gaza Strip

Politics

4 h. ago Hamas says it will not engage with Israel again until ‘hunger war’ in Gaza ends

‘No sense’ in considering new truce proposals, says group, hours after Israel agrees plan for ‘conquest’ of territoryMiddle East crisis – live updatesHamas has said it is no longer interested in truce talks with Israel and urged the international community to halt Israel’s “hunger war” against Gaza, hours after Israeli officials agreed an intensified offensive in the devastated territory that would involve displacing “most” of its residents and a sustained Israeli military presence in the devastated territory.“There is no sense in engaging in talks or considering new ceasefire proposals as long as the hunger war and extermination war continue in the Gaza Strip,” Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official, told AFP. Continue reading...

Politics

4 h. ago Trump’s disturbing vision for Gaza has inspired Netanyahu’s plan to seize the Strip

Israel’s plans echo Donald Trump’s own wild plans in the past that the Palestinians be forced out of Gaza to allow the US to turn the enclave into a “Riviera of the Middle East”, writes chief international correspondent Bel Trew

Politics

26 h. ago Israel's cabinet ‘approves plan to capture and occupy all of Gaza’ as military offensive expanded

The move, if implemented, would vastly expand Israel's operations in the Palestinian territory

Events

27 h. ago Israel's cabinet ‘approves plan to capture all of Gaza’ as military offensive expanded

The move, if implemented, would vastly expand Israel's operations in the Palestinian territory

Events

27 h. ago One of Pope Francis’s final wishes was for his popemobile to be sent to Gaza

Francis used to call the Holy Family Church in Gaza on an almost daily basis for much of the war

Politics

28 h. ago Israeli cabinet approves plan to capture all of Gaza and keep its soldiers there indefinitely

Netanyahu has called up tens of thousands of reservists to free up soldiers for ‘the next stage’ of war in Gaza

Politics

28 h. ago Israel could seize the entire Gaza strip in new offensive, official warns

An Israeli official said that plans discussed by the war cabinet involved the 'conquering of Gaza and holding territories' - a break from raiding and leaving areas.

Events

29 h. ago Middle East crisis live: Israel approves plans to intensify Gaza operations

Plan could mark a significant escalation in fighting in the beleaguered territoryIsraeli ministers on Monday agreed to ramp up the war against Hamas in Gaza, an official said.Associated Press reported Israel has plans to capture more territory in the beleaguered Palestinian enclave and call up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers. The plan, which the official said would be gradual, could mark a significant escalation in the fighting in Gaza, which resumed in mid-March after Israel and Hamas failed to agree on an extension to an eight-week truce. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. On Sunday, Israel’s military chief of staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, said the army was calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers and said Israel would “operate in additional areas” in Gaza and continue to strike militant infrastructure. Israel already controls roughly half of Gaza’s territory, including a buffer zone along the border with Israel as well as three corrid...

Politics

31 h. ago Israeli cabinet approves expansion of Gaza offensive as Netanyahu calls upon reservists to join war

Israeli army chief says his forces will ‘operate in additional areas and destroy all of [Hamas’s] infrastructure above and below ground’

Politics

66 h. ago AP PHOTOS: Many in Gaza face malnutrition and hunger as blockade enters its third month

Malnutrition and hunger are becoming increasingly prevalent in the Gaza Strip as Israel’s total blockade enters its third month. A shortage of food and supplies has driven the territory toward starvation, according to aid agencies. Supplies to treat and prevent malnutrition are depleted and quickly running out as documented cases of malnutrition rise.

Culture

68 h. ago Hunger and malnutrition are rising across Gaza as Israel's blockade leaves mothers with few options

Malnutrition and hunger are prevelant in the Gaza strip as Israel’s blockade enters its third month

Politics

3 d. ago Fetterman clashed with his wife over Israel support and aides questioned his mental health, bombshell report says

‘They are bombing refugee camps. How can you support this?’ Gisele Barreto Fetterman reportedly told her husband in the early weeks of the Gaza war

Politics

5 d. ago Vermont judge orders release of a Palestinian man arrested at his US citizenship interview

A judge has ordered the release of a Palestinian man who led protests against the war in Gaza as a student at Columbia University and was arrested by immigration officials during an interview about finalizing his U.S. citizenship

Events

6 d. ago Unrwa says Israel has abused detained staff and used some as human shields

Accusation from UN agency comes as Red Crescent medic held since deadly Israeli attack on ambulances is freed The embattled UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, has accused Israel of abusing dozens of its staff in military detention and using some as human shields.The head of the agency, Philippe Lazzarini, said that more than 50 staff members, including teachers, doctors and social workers, had been detained and abused since the start of the 18 month-long war in Gaza. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Trump promised peace but brings rapid increase in civilian casualties to Yemen | Dan Sabbagh

Escalation from US military suggests previous restraints on causing civilian casualties have been relaxed“I am the candidate of peace,” Donald Trump declared on the campaign trail last November. Three months into his presidency, not only is the war in Ukraine continuing and the war in Gaza restarted, but in Yemen, the number of civilian casualties caused by US bombing is rapidly and deliberately escalating.Sixty-eight were killed overnight, the Houthis said, when the US military bombed a detention centre holding African migrants in Saada, north-west Yemen, as part of a campaign against the rebel group. In the words of the US Central Command (Centcom), its purpose is to “restore freedom of navigation” in the Red Sea and, most significantly, “American deterrence”. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago They staged protests for Palestine. The consequences have been life

Legal aid group says most students contacting them are Palestinian, Arab Muslim and other students of colorEK was completing a take-home exam on 6 March when the dean of student conduct at Swarthmore College emailed her about an urgent Zoom meeting. On the video call, she said, the dean told her that she would be suspended for one semester for staging a protest at the college’s trustees’ dinner in December 2023. Using a bullhorn, EK had interrupted the event to demand that the school divest from products that fuel Israel’s war on Gaza.A panel of students and school employees had found her responsible for assault, among other code of conduct violations for the incident. EK, a final-semester senior who is using a pseudonym out of fear of retaliation, recalled being in shock: “I’ve been really distraught by all of this,” EK said. “I used to be unhoused before I came to Swarthmore, so to be put into this situation again is very disturbing.” Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago ‘We have lost our humanity’: Holocaust survivors call for end to war in Gaza

Israelis are gathering on Holocaust Memorial Day to speak out against Palestinian starvation and sufferingFew days speak so profoundly to the soul of Israel than Holocaust Memorial Day. As the country sat in silence on Thursday to remember six million Jews exterminated by the Nazis, the same refrain was, as always, repeated by many: never again.But for some across Israel, as the war in Gaza continues to ravage the Palestinian people and wipe out entire families, never again had come to hold another meaning. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Israelis protest against Gaza war with rare decry over Palestinian casualties

Holocaust survivors gathering on Holocaust Memorial Day speak out against Palestinian starvation and sufferingFew days speak so profoundly to the soul of Israel than Holocaust Memorial Day. As the country sat in silence on Thursday to remember 6 million Jews exterminated by the Nazis, the same refrain was, as always, repeated by many: never again.But for some across Israel, as the war in Gaza continues to ravage the Palestinian people and wipe out entire families, never again had come to hold another meaning. Continue reading...

Events