The main grouping of the world’s Muslim nations on Tuesday accused Israel of staging provocative actions and inflaming tensions with the Palestinians in a crisis over security measures at a key holy site in Jerusalem. Turkey hosted an extraordinary meeting in Istanbul of foreign ministers from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that Ankara called … Read more
A fallout between Turkey and Israel deepened on Wednesday as the Jewish state hit back at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s criticism of its constraints on Muslims visiting a sensitive holy site in annexed east Jerusalem. Erdogan welcomed Israel’s removal of metal detectors from the site but said it was “not enough”. Israel installed metal … Read more
Israel struck a position of Islamist group Hamas in Gaza on Monday, the army said, hours after a missile was fired across the border from the Palestinian enclave. “An (Israeli) tank targeted a post belonging to the Hamas terror organisation in the southern Gaza Strip” in the early hours of the morning, the army said … Read more
Palestinian lawyers and civil society groups Wednesday urged the International Criminal Court to speed up inquiries and open a full investigation into alleged war crimes in Gaza, east Jerusalem and the West Bank. “Since two years Palestine is under preliminary examination,” said lawyer Gilles Devers, adding “in Gaza, we think two years is too long.” … Read more
Israeli airstrikes hit a series of targets in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip overnight, officials said, hours after a rocket from the Palestinian enclave landed in the Jewish state. Strikes were recorded in at least three locations in Gaza, Palestinian security sources and eyewitnesses said, with Hamas bases struck near the southern city of Rafah and … Read more
Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas has denied that it or any other militant group built a tunnel under two UN schools in Gaza after its discovery drew a strong UN protest. Over the years, Gaza’s Hamas rulers have built a labyrinth of tunnels, some passing under the border into Israel which they used to launch attacks … Read more
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees on Friday said it has protested to the Islamist movement Hamas after finding a tunnel under two of its schools in the Gaza Strip. Over the years, Gaza’s Hamas rulers have built a labyrinth of tunnels, including ones that cross under the border with Israel, and have used them … Read more
Some use photographs, others seek global solidarity or throw themselves into campaigning for peace. Fifty years after the 1967 Six-Day War, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has left scores of families bereaved and searching for ways to keep loved ones’ memories alive. Israeli Tamar Paikes, 49, feels she lost her father twice. In 1967, a few months … Read more
An Israeli patrol boat fired at Palestinian fishermen accused of breaching the blockade off the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, leaving one of them dead, officials said. Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza have fought three wars since 2008 and the strip has been under an Israeli blockade for 10 years. Fishing off the northern … Read more
A Palestinian youth was shot dead during clashes with Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank on Friday, the Palestinian health ministry said. The man was shot during the protests which are held weekly near the village of Nabi Saleh, north of Ramallah, and later died in a nearby hospital, the ministry said in a … Read more
Israel said Wednesday it had eased restrictions on Gaza fishermen, allowing them to travel up to nine nautical miles off the coast of the blockaded territory instead of the previous six. COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry agency responsible for civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories, said in a statement the measure would last until the … Read more
Human Rights Watch on Wednesday condemned the “illegal” detention of two Israeli citizens by Hamas, releasing new details about the men who are believed to be mentally ill. The Islamist movement which runs Gaza is believed to have held Hisham al-Sayed and Avraham Mengistu since April 2015 and September 2014 respectively, after they sneaked into … Read more
Israelis stood silent for two minutes while sirens wailed across the country on Monday marking an annual day of remembrance for fallen troops and slain civilians. Speaking at a ceremony at Mount Herzl national cemetery in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to return the remains of two soldiers believed to have been killed in … Read more
Israeli authorities said on Wednesday that they had detected planned cyber attacks against 120 public and private targets in the Jewish state but did not specify the intended victims. A statement from Israel’s National Authority for Cyber Defence said that “in recent days” it had uncovered plans for a mass e-mail attack by what it … Read more
A report severely criticising Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership in the 2014 Gaza war may weaken the self-styled “Mr Security”, analysts say. The state inquiry published Tuesday attacked Netanyahu’s governing style throughout the war in which 68 Israeli soldiers died, prompting opposition figures to demand his resignation. Netanyahu lashed out at the report, accusing … Read more
An Israeli state inquiry accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top army brass Tuesday of being unprepared for the strategic threat of tunnels used by Hamas militants during the 2014 Gaza war. The findings of the two-year inquiry sparked a frenzy among Israel’s political establishment prior to their official release Tuesday, with critics of Netanyahu … Read more
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared on the defensive ahead of a report Tuesday expected to criticise him and military leaders for insufficiently preparing for attack tunnels in the 2014 Gaza war. The findings of a two-year inquiry by state comptroller Yosef Shapira are widely expected to fault Netanyahu, then-defence minister Moshe Yaalon and former … Read more
Israeli politicians and ex-generals are scrambling for cover ahead of the publication on Tuesday of a report expected to slam their conduct of the costly 2014 Gaza war. The findings of a two-year inquiry, due to be released at 1400 GMT, are widely expected to inflict collateral damage on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then-defence minister … Read more
A report expected to criticise Israel’s prime minister and the armed forces command over their conduct in the runup to the 2014 Gaza war is to be released next week, officials said Friday. State comptroller Yossef Shapira’s report, the result of a two-year inquiry, will be published on Tuesday, a spokesman for his office told … Read more
Israeli police said on Thursday they had closed a private Palestinian school in annexed east Jerusalem, accusing its officials of belonging to the Islamist movement Hamas. The Al Nkhba School in the Sur Baher district had already been ordered to close by the Israeli education ministry, a decision ratified by a court. But its director … Read more