Video | Obama on Failed Cease-Fire in Gaza The president called for the release of an Israeli solider captured just moments after a cease-fire was reached in the Gaza conflict. By PETER BAKER August 1, 2014 WASHINGTON — President Obama on Friday demanded that Hamas release a captured Israeli soldier unconditionally and expressed pessimism that another cease-fire could be reached because of the deep reserves of mistrust between the […]
By ISABEL KERSHNER and FARES AKRAM August 1, 2014 JERUSALEM — Heavy exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday morning threatened to shatter a newly agreed 72-hour cease-fire. Gaza health officials said that 27 Palestinians were killed and more than 100 injured. Palestinian witnesses said by telephone that Israeli tank shells hit as residents returned to inspect homes that they had evacuated […]
Family members mourned on Thursday in Tel Aviv at the grave of Staff Sgt. Guy Algranati, 20, who was killed on Wednesday. By MICHAEL R. GORDON and MARK LANDLER July 31, 2014 NEW DELHI — A 72-hour humanitarian cease-fire in the Gaza conflict negotiated by the United States and the United Nations took effect Friday morning, a diplomatic bolt-from-the-blue that will suspend the bloody 24-day military campaign and set the stage for […]
By SOMINI SENGUPTA July 31, 2014 UNITED NATIONS — In the midst of Israel’s battle with militants in Gaza over the past three weeks, skirmishes opened on a second front in recent days: Its strikes on United Nations facilities and the steep civilian casualties brought a barrage of rebukes and warnings from senior United Nations officials around the world, reaching a fever pitch just before the announcement of a […]
By ISABEL KERSHNER and FARES AKRAM July 31, 2014 JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said on Thursday that he would not agree to any cease-fire proposal that does not allow the Israeli military to complete its mission of destroying Hamas’s tunnel network in Gaza. “So far we have neutralized tens of terror tunnels,” Mr. Netanyahu said in televised remarks at the start of a government meeting at military […]
Video | Behind the Escalations in Gaza A look at why Israel and Hamas have repeatedly chosen to intensify the violence at every stage of the continuing conflict. By JODI RUDOREN July 30, 2014 JERUSALEM — After years in which Israel’s prevailing approach to the Gaza Strip was a simple “quiet for quiet” demand, there is growing momentum around a new formula, “reconstruction for demilitarization.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu […]
A cease-fire proposal by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt met most of Israel’s demands; Hamas immediately rejected it. By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK July 30, 2014 CAIRO — Battling Palestinian militants in Gaza two years ago, Israel found itself pressed from all sides by unfriendly Arab neighbors to end the fighting. Not this time. After the military ouster of the Islamist government in Cairo last year, Egypt has led a […]
Gold hit its highest in nearly a week on Tuesday as violence flared in the Middle East and Ukraine, but gains were capped by uncertainty ahead of a Federal Reserve policy meeting and important U.S. data later this week. Israel’s military pounded targets in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country should prepare for a long conflict in the Palestinian enclave, […]
A Palestinian displays a portrait of the deputy chief of the Hamas movement, Ismail Haniya, in the rubble of his home in Gaza. By BEN HUBBARD and JODI RUDOREN July 29, 2014 GAZA CITY — Israeli airstrikes flattened the four-story home of Hamas’s top political leader in the Gaza Strip and destroyed offices of the movement’s radio and television station early Tuesday, suggesting a slight operational shift as the battle entered its 22nd […]
A man wrote the names of the dead during funerals at a cemetery in Gaza. By ISABEL KERSHNER and FARES AKRAM July 28, 2014 JERUSALEM — Hostilities in Gaza declined sharply on Monday as both Israel and Hamas entered into an informal hiatus for Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that ends the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. But several rockets and mortars were fired into Israel on Monday. A Palestinian man and […]
Large sections of Gaza, including Gaza City’s Shijaiyah neighborhood, have been destroyed in the current 20-day battle with Israel. By JODI RUDOREN and BEN HUBBARD July 27, 2014 JERUSALEM — Hamas, the militant Palestinian faction that dominates the Gaza Strip, has more to boast about in its current 20-day battle against Israel than ever before. Forty-three Israeli soldiers have been killed in fierce fighting. Gunmen infiltrated Israel through tunnels five times. Rockets […]
Israel says it has resumed its raids in Gaza because Palestinians have ignored the 24-hour extension of a humanitarian cease-fire that was requested by the United Nations. The military said Sunday “following Hamas’ incessant rocket fire throughout the humanitarian window, which was agreed upon for the welfare of the civilian population in Gaza, the IDF will now resume its aerial, naval and ground activity in the Gaza […]
Slide Show | Surveying the Damage in Gaza Families returned to their homes during a 12-hour cease-fire on Saturday. By BEN HUBBARD July 26, 2014 BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip — Families across the Gaza Strip emerged from shelters and returned to their homes during a 12-hour cease-fire on Saturday to survey the damage to their neighborhoods, collect belongings and help dig bodies from the rubble. As the cease-fire expired […]
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has so far not agreed to a broader cease-fire plan. By JODI RUDOREN July 26, 2014 JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is stuck between mounting international outcry over civilian casualties from his assault on the Gaza Strip and intensifying calls at home to finish the job he started. Several of his top ministers are pushing for a full takeover of […]
The Emirates Red Crescent has signed an agreement with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East to provide Dh150 million for future reconstruction projects in Gaza. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, the Ruler’s Representative in the Western Region and president of ERC, reiterated the UAE’s commitment to standing up for the Palestinian people, and to supporting humanitarian causes. He explained that […]
Thousands of Israeli troops backed by tanks, aircraft and navy ships continued what appears to be a limited advance into the Gaza Strip on Friday, the second day of a ground invasion into the Palestinian territory. Palestinian medics say at least 21 Gaza residents have been killed since the start of the ground offensive, which has the stated aim of destroying tunnels militants have used to attempt […]
Thousands of Israeli soldiers began a ground invasion into the Gaza Strip late Thursday, escalating a 10-day military operation that aims to destroy Hamas’ offensive capabilities, including the group’s weapons arsenal and tunnels that infiltrate Israel’s territory. The Israeli military said the operation was open-ended but limited in its scope, and would be carried out in several areas of the coastal strip. The office of Israeli Prime […]
GAZA — Israel and Hamas militants have agreed to a United Nations request for a temporary cease-fire in Gaza on Thursday. The truce will last five hours to give Palestinian civilians a chance to restock supplies, repair damaged buildings, and get medical care. But Israel warns it will react if militants fire rockets during the truce. Palestinian officials say the death toll since Israel began its offensive […]
FILE – Israeli Minister of Housing and Construction Uri Ariel, center, speaks to journalists during ceremony marking resumption of construction in east Jerusalem. TEXT SIZE – + VOA News June 05, 2014 2:24 AM Israel has announced plans to build about 1,500 more settlement homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in response to the Palestinians’ formation of a unity government. Israel’s housing ministry announced the new […]
WASHINGTON — For allies who speak often of their unbreakable bonds and constant communication, this has been a season of static between Jerusalem and Washington. The latest eruption was over the announcement this week that the United States would work with a new Palestinian government that emerged from reconciliation talks with Hamas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials have condemned the Obama administration in […]
Ramallah, occupied West Bank – Fatah and Hamas have unveiled a government of national consensus that will pave the way for elections for a new Palestinian president and parliament. The government of 17 politically-independent members, agreed on Monday, is already being put to the test, as Israel announced it would not negotiate any peace deal with it. The announcement came after the passing of a five-week deadline that […]
JERUSALEM — President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority swore in a transitional government on Monday intended to unify the West Bank and Gaza after seven years of division, though the run-up was marred by last-minute disputes over its composition. The move is likely to complicate further the Palestinians’ already fraught relations with Israel and put them under international scrutiny because the new government is supported by […]
A new Palestinian government is scheduled to be sworn in on Monday in an effort to unite warring Palestinian factions for the first time in seven years. The move would bring together the Palestine Liberation Organization, which is dominated by the mainstream Fatah faction, and its rival Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, under the terms of a unity pact reached last month. The development […]
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has sworn in a new unity government between Fatah and Hamas, the two groups that have separately governed the West Bank and Gaza Strip for the past seven years. The ceremony in Ramallah went ahead Monday after the two sides overcame a last minute dispute over a decision by Abbas to not include a ministry of prison affairs The United States considers Hamas […]
