12 h. ago Israel extends Gaza offensive to areas not yet reached by ground forces

Military evacuation order for Deir al-Balah, where some Israeli hostages are believed to have been held, draws criticism

Politics

15 h. ago Israel orders evacuations in central Gaza as ceasefire talks stall and military offensive widens

The Israeli military has issued new evacuation warnings for central Gaza, an area where ground operations have been rare

Events

1 week ago Netanyahu nominates Trump for Nobel peace prize at White House meeting expected to focus on Gaza

The prime minister made the announcement at a dinner with the president, with the US expected to push Israel to agree a Gaza ceasefireBenjamin Netanyahu told Donald Trump that he would nominate him for the Nobel peace prize on Monday, as the two leaders met for the first time since the US launched strikes on Iran’s nuclear program as part of a short-lived war between Israel and Iran.Trump was expected to press Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire in Israel’s 21-month-old war against Hamas in Gaza amid an outcry over the humanitarian cost of an offensive that has led to nearly 60,000 deaths, most of them Palestinian. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘Our days are full of hardship’: people in Gaza barely dare to hope for success in ceasefire talks

Mood is tense and subdued after nearly 21 months of Israeli offensives that have displaced almost the entire populationIn Gaza City on Sunday morning, there was only one topic of conversation: the possibility of peace. In the half-ruined town, as across the entire territory, few took their eyes off their phones, a television or better-informed relatives or friends for more than a few minutes.Um Fadi Ma’rouf, from the now destroyed town of Beit Lahia in the far north of Gaza, said she was encouraged by the positive response from Hamas to the most recent US-sponsored proposal of terms for a deal. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Israel steps up deadly bombardment of Gaza before ceasefire talks

Officials say about 90 people killed since Wednesday night as Israeli security cabinet prepares for meetingIsrael has escalated its offensive in Gaza before imminent talks about a ceasefire, with warships and artillery launching one of the deadliest and most intense bombardments in the devastated Palestinian territory for many months.Medics and officials in Gaza reported that about 90 people were killed overnight and on Thursday, including many women and children. On Tuesday night and Wednesday the toll was higher, they said. Casualties included Marwan al-Sultan, a cardiologist and director of the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza, who died in an airstrike that also killed his wife and five children. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Twelve days in Gaza: what happened while the world looked away?

One of the consequences of Israel’s 12-day conflict with Iran was a drop-off in attention paid to the war in Gaza, where a terrible humanitarian situation deteriorated even further. This is a timeline of what happenedIn the weeks leading up to Israel’s war with Iran, which it launched on 13 June, there had been little let up in its offensive in Gaza. A tenuous ceasefire had broken down in March, followed by a wave of airstrikes, as well as an 11-week blockade on all aid. Though some humanitarian assistance was allowed in from late-May, military action intensified at the same time.Growing numbers of desperate Palestinians were being killed as they sought scarce food either from looted aid convoys or from distribution hubs set up by the new, secretive Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a group backed by Israel and the US as an alternative to the existing, much more comprehensive UN-led system. Rolling IDF “evacuation orders” covered much of the territory. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Israel launches waves of Gaza airstrikes after new displacement orders

Scores of Palestinians reported killed as senior Netanyahu adviser due to arrive in Washington for ceasefire talks Middle East crisis – live updatesIsrael ramped up its offensive in Gaza on Monday, with new displacement orders sending tens of thousands of people fleeing the north of the devastated territory and waves of airstrikes killing about 60 Palestinians, according to local officials and medical staff.The violence in Gaza came as a senior adviser to Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, was due to arrive in Washington for talks on a new ceasefire, a day after Donald Trump called in a social media post for a deal to end the 20-month war and free 50 hostages held by Hamas. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Tens of thousands flee Gaza City after Israel warns of major offensive

Israeli forces urge people to evacuate eastern areas before ‘military operations that will escalate and intensify’Tens of thousands of Palestinians were fleeing eastern parts of Gaza City, the major city in the north of the territory, on Sunday after Israel warned of a major offensive.The messages on social media from the Israel Defense Forces warned of “military operations [that] will escalate, intensify, and extend westward to the city centre to destroy the capabilities of terrorist organisations” and directed those living in several crowded neighbourhoods to al-Mawasi, a coastal area much further south that is already overcrowded and has very limited facilities. Continue reading...

Events