GAZA: UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher urged Israel on Wednesday to immediately open all crossings into Gaza for humanitarian aid, as called for in a US-backed ceasefire plan. &quot;It should happen now. We want it to happen immediately as part of this agreement,&quot; Fletcher told AFP in an interview in Cairo, ahead of a planned trip to the Gaza border. Earlier in the day, Israeli public broadcaster KAN had reported that the Rafah crossing point to Egypt would reopen, but this did not happen and an Israeli spokesperson did not respond to an AFP request for comment. Fletcher, the UN under secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief is expected to head to the Rafah crossing on Thursday. It is the only border point that connects Gaza to the world without passing through Israel. US President Donald Trump and regional leaders on Monday signed a declaration in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to cement the deal. &quot;But the test of this agreement is not the photos and the press conferences and the interviews,&quot; Fletcher said. &quot;The test is that we have children fed, that we have anaesthetics in the hospitals for people getting treatment, that we have tents over people&#39;s heads.&quot; Israel currently allows humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory through other checkpoints under its control, but aid agencies complain that bureaucracy and security controls slow the flow of life-saving supplies. &quot;We want all of those crossings open and we want completely unimpeded access,&quot; Fletcher said, adding that Trump and other world leaders at the summit &quot;were unequivocal that we must be allowed to deliver aid at massive scale&quot;. Humanitarian riskMeanwhile, under the Trump plan endorsed by international mediators, Israel and Hamas are expected to continue their exchange of human remains. The swap has seen the last 20 surviving hostages return home in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails. So far, Hamas has handed back the remains of seven of 28 known deceased hostages -- along with an eighth corpse which Israel says is not of a former hostage. There is now domestic pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to tie aid to the fate of the bodies. Israel&#39;s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has threatened to cut off aid supplies to Gaza if Hamas fails to return the remains of soldiers still held in the territory. Israel, meanwhile, transferred another 45 Palestinian bodies that had been in its custody to Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, bringing the number returned to 90, the territory&#39;s Hamas-run health ministry said. Under the Trump plan Israel is to return 15 Palestinian dead for every deceased Israeli hostage. Gaza&#39;s civil defence agency, which operates as a rescue force under Hamas, said Israeli fire killed three Palestinians on Wednesday, including two while trying to reach their homes in the Shujaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City. The Israeli military said that &quot;several suspects were identified crossing the yellow line and approaching&quot; troops in the northern Gaza Strip, referencing the line to which Israeli forces have pulled back to under the ceasefire deal. The military said this &quot;violates the agreement&quot; and &quot;troops removed the threat by striking the suspects.&quot; Aid trucksThe war sparked by Hamas&#39;s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel led to a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, with the densely-populated territory reliant on aid that was heavily restricted, when not cut off outright. At the end of August, the United Nations declared a famine in Gaza, though Israel rejected the claim. The return of aid is listed in Trump&#39;s 20-point plan for Gaza. Another political challenge is Hamas&#39;s disarmament, a demand the militant group has refused to countenance. The group is tightening its grip on Gaza&#39;s ruined cities. Hamas has published a video on its official channel showing the summary executions of eight blindfolded and kneeling people, branding them &quot;collaborators and outlaws&quot;. The footage, apparently from Monday evening, emerged as armed clashes were underway between Hamas&#39;s various security units and armed Palestinian clans, some alleged to have Israeli backing. In the north, as Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza City, the Hamas government&#39;s black-masked armed police resumed their patrols. &quot;Our message is clear: There will be no place for outlaws or those who threaten the security of citizens,&quot; a Palestinian security source in Gaza told AFP. Israel and the United States insist Hamas can have no role in a future Gaza government. Trump&#39;s plan says that Hamas members who agree to &quot;decommission their weapons&quot; will be given amnesty. &quot;If they don&#39;t disarm, we will disarm them,&quot; Trump told reporters at the White House a day after visiting the Middle East to celebrate the Gaza ceasefire. &quot;And it will happen quickly and perhaps violently.&quot;

Middle East

UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher urged Israel to immediately open all Gaza crossings under a US-backed ceasefire. Rafah remained closed despite reports; aid deliveries stalled as hostage exchanges proceed amid political pressure and continued violence

UN relief chief urges Israel to open Gaza border crossings

WASHINGTON DC/JERUSALEM: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that Hamas must lay down its arms and turn in its weapons.&nbsp; &quot;If they don&#39;t disarm, we will disarm them,&quot; Trump told reporters at the White House a day after visiting the Middle East to celebrate the Gaza ceasefire. &quot;And it will happen quickly and perhaps violently.&quot; He said those who agree to &quot;decommission their weapons&quot; will be given amnesty. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maintained the war cannot end until Hamas surrenders its weapons and cedes control of Gaza, a demand the fighters have rejected.&nbsp; &quot;First, Hamas has to give up its arms, and second, you want to make sure that there are no weapons factories inside Gaza. There&#39;s no smuggling of weapons into Gaza. That&#39;s demilitarization,&quot; he said in an interview with CBS News.&nbsp;Meanwhile,&nbsp;Hamas is reported to be fighting what it calls Israel-supported &quot;outlaws.&quot;&nbsp;In the north of the territory, as Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza City, black-masked armed men have resumed street patrols.&nbsp; A Hamas security unit has been conducting operations against armed clans and gangs.&nbsp;&quot;Intense clashes broke out -- and are still ongoing at the moment -- as part of efforts to eliminate collaborators,&quot; said witness Yahya, who asked not to be named in full for fear of retribution. Reassuring presenceHamas has, since it crushed rival Fatah in armed clashes in 2007, been the dominant Palestinian faction in Gaza. For many Palestinians rebuilding their homes and lives amid Gaza&#39;s rubble, the sight of the militants was reassuring.&nbsp;&quot;After the war ended and the police spread out in the streets, we started to feel safe,&quot; said 34-year-old Abu Fadi Al-Banna in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.&nbsp;Hamdiya Shammiya, 40, who was driven from her home in northern Gaza by the fighting to seek shelter in the southern city of Khan Yunis, agreed.&nbsp;&quot;Thank God the war is finally over. We&#39;ve started to breathe a little,&quot; she said.&nbsp;While Palestinians sought stability, Israeli families stepped up pressure for the return of the remains of deceased hostages still held in Gaza. Israel to reopen Gaza&#39;s Rafah crossingMeanwhile, Israel said it will allow Gaza&#39;s key Rafah crossing to reopen on Wednesday for humanitarian aid to reach the Palestinian territory, AFP reported.&nbsp;&quot;Six hundred trucks of humanitarian aid will be dispatched (Wednesday) to the Gaza Strip by the UN, approved international organizations, the private sector and donor countries,&quot; Israeli public broadcaster KAN said on its website without citing sources.&nbsp;The Israeli public broadcaster said the reopening of the southern Rafah crossing, decided by the &quot;political echelon&quot;, follows Hamas handing over the remains of four more hostages late Tuesday, under the ceasefire deal for the Palestinian territory. Prominent Gaza hospital chief remains in Israeli prisonIn another development, more than 100 medical personnel seized during raids on hospitals remain in Israeli prisons, including Dr Hossam Abu Safiya, a hospital director who became the face of the struggle to keep treating patients under Israeli siege and bombardment, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.&nbsp; Despite widespread calls for his release, Abu Safiya was not among the Palestinian detainees and prisoners freed Monday in exchange for 20 hostages held by Hamas.&nbsp; Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, has been imprisoned without charge by Israel for nearly 10 months.&nbsp; It was not known if Abu Safiya, 52, might still be released. Israeli officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. His family said on social media there were &ldquo;no confirmed details about the date of his release,&rdquo; adding that freed detainees described him as &ldquo;in good health and strong spirits.&rdquo; The Israeli military said Abu Safiya was being investigated on suspicion of cooperating with or working for Hamas.&nbsp; Health Workers Watch, which documents detentions from Gaza, said at least 115 medical workers remain in custody, as well as the remains of four who died while in Israeli prisons, where rights groups and witnesses have reported frequent abuse.

Says those Hamas members who agree to 'decommission their weapons' will be given amnesty. World powers endorse peace agreement, saying Gaza will be demilitarized, Hamas will have no leadership role.

Trump on Hamas: 'If they don't disarm, we will disarm them'

JERUSALEM: Israel said on Saturday that it had deported 137 more activists who were detained while taking part in an aid flotilla bound for Gaza. The Israeli foreign ministry said those deported were citizens of the United States, Italy, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Jordan and several other countries. The ministry said in a post on X that &quot;137 more provocateurs of the Hamas&ndash;Sumud flotilla were deported today to Turkey&quot;. &quot;Israel seeks to expedite the deportation of all provocateurs,&quot; it added. On Friday, Israel deported four Italian activists, the first of hundreds detained from the flotilla. The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail last month, ferrying politicians and activists including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg towards Gaza, where the United Nations says famine is taking hold. The Israeli navy began intercepting the boats on Wednesday, and an Israeli official said the following day that boats with more than 400 people on board had been prevented from reaching the Palestinian territory.

Europe

Israel deported 137 more activists from the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla, including citizens from the US, UK, Italy, and others, after detaining them earlier this week. The flotilla aimed to deliver aid amid Gaza’s worsening crisis.

Israel confirms 137 more activists from Gaza-bound flotilla deported to Turkey

Web Desk/AFP

JERUSALEM: Hamas said on Saturday that it was ready to start talks to resolve all outstanding issues under US President Donald Trump&#39;s Gaza ceasefire deal.&nbsp;&quot;We are ready to begin negotiations immediately to finalize all issues,&quot; a senior Hamas official told AFP on condition of anonymity.&nbsp;The group said on Friday that it was ready to release all hostages held in the Gaza Strip but did not address calls for its disarmament and exile from the Palestinian territory after the war&#39;s end.&nbsp;Trump welcomes the moveUS President Donald Trump said on Friday he believed Hamas was ready for peace and told Israel to stop bombing Gaza, after the Palestinian group declared it was ready to free hostages under his ceasefire plan.&nbsp; <div class="fr-embed responsive-video"><div class="video-wrapper aspect-video"><iframe src="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115312298602997974/embed" class="truthsocial-embed" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" style="width: 100%; height: 100%; min-height: 0px;"></iframe> &quot;Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE. Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!&quot; Trump posted on Truth Social.</div></div>&nbsp;EU chief welcomes Hamas response to peace planEU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday welcomed Hamas&#39;s positive reaction to a peace deal proposed by US President Donald Trump and said halting the war in Gaza was &quot;within reach.&quot; <div class="fr-embed responsive-video"><div class="video-wrapper aspect-video"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1974364526427476015&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=6dba3c39db499a4bca4738b69d41b8d8253dc320&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 465px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;"></iframe></div> &quot;Hamas&#39; stated readiness to release hostages and engage on the basis of the recent proposal is encouraging,&quot; von der Leyen wrote on X. &quot;This moment must be seized. An immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages are within reach.&quot;</div></div>&nbsp;Heavy bombardmentBut despite Trump&#39;s appeal, Gaza&#39;s civil defense agency reported that Israel carried out dozens of attacks on Gaza City overnight, with a number of nearby hospitals saying they received casualties from strikes.&nbsp;&quot;It was a very violent night, during which the (Israeli army) carried out dozens of air strikes and artillery shelling on Gaza City and other areas in the Strip, despite President Trump&#39;s call to halt the bombing,&quot; civil defense spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP.&nbsp;Bassal, whose agency is a rescue force which operates under Hamas authority, added that 20 homes were destroyed in the overnight bombardments.&nbsp;Gaza City&#39;s Baptist Hospital said it received casualties from a strike on a home in the city&#39;s Tuffah neighborhood, including four dead and several wounded.&nbsp;Further south, Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis said two children were killed and eight people wounded in a drone strike on a tent in a camp for displaced Gazans.&nbsp;The US leader had given the Palestinian group until 2200 GMT on Sunday to accept his 20-point plan or else face &quot;all hell.&quot;&nbsp;Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu&#39;s office had said in response to Trump&#39;s call that Israel was &quot;preparing for the immediate implementation of the first stage of the Trump plan for the release of all the hostages.&quot;&nbsp;In its statement, Hamas also agreed to hand over power in Gaza to technocrats but said it would &quot;participate and contribute responsibly&quot; in Palestinian discussions regarding the territory&#39;s future. &lsquo;Egypt to host Palestinian conference on Gaza&rsquo;A senior Hamas official said on Saturday that Egypt would organize a conference for Palestinian factions to decide on the post-war future of the Gaza Strip, after the group agreed to release hostages under a US ceasefire plan.&nbsp;Egypt will host an &quot;intra-Palestinian dialogue on Palestinian unity and the future of Gaza, including the administration of the Gaza Strip,&quot; the official told AFP.

Group has not addressed calls for disarmament, exile from Palestinian territory; Egypt to host Palestinian conference on Gaza; EU chief welcomes Hamas response to peace plan.






Hamas says ready to begin talks to finalize Gaza ceasefire deal

Reuters

On September 16, 2025, the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry (COI) on the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, issued its third report on the situation in Gaza since October 7, 2023.&nbsp;For the first time, the COI has recognized that genocide has been committed, and continues to be committed, against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. It demands that Israel immediately implement a &ldquo;complete and permanent&rdquo; ceasefire in Gaza, and that it ensures unhindered access to humanitarian aid, including food, clean water, medical equipment and medicine in all of Gaza.&nbsp;What&rsquo;s in the report?The report is a legal analysis of Israel&rsquo;s conduct in Gaza. It thoroughly examines all the elements of the definition of the crime of genocide established by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide of 1948.&nbsp;The COI based its conclusions on its own investigations and relied on the jurisprudence of international criminal tribunals to examine the evidence gathered. The facts included in the report &ndash; a non-exhaustive list &ndash; are those that experts have considered relevant to the analysis of genocide.&nbsp;The report analyses events in the Gaza Strip between October 2023 and July 2025. This means it does not account for events that occurred before the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7, or human rights violations in the West Bank during this period.&nbsp;The COI drew its finding of genocide by applying the criteria of &ldquo;reasonable grounds to conclude&rdquo;. This is the standard of proof used by most international commissions of inquiry on human rights. It differs from the criteria of &ldquo;beyond a reasonable doubt&rdquo; used in criminal tribunals &ndash; this is consistent with the complementary role played by international human rights commissions in judicial investigation processes.&nbsp;All this is to say that, according to international standards of proof, the report provides enough verified evidence to determine that Israel&rsquo;s conduct constitutes a crime of genocide.&nbsp;What is the evidence?By analyzing the elements of the definition of genocide, the COI concludes that Israeli forces have committed 4 of the 5 acts that constitute genocide committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as per the 1948 UN Convention. Namely, these are: &nbsp;- Killing members of the group &nbsp;- Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group - Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part&nbsp;- Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.&nbsp;According to the UN report, all these acts are being done with the intention to destroy, in whole or in part, the group of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.&nbsp;The report details specific, recorded acts that fit these definitions. These include attacks on civilians on evacuation routes, around 500 attacks on healthcare facilities, failure to use precision-guided &ldquo;smart&rdquo; weapons in densely populated residential areas, and deliberate attacks targeting medical personnel and aid workers.&nbsp;It describes the mistreatment and torture of more than 4,500 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody, as well as rape and other sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinian detainees. The report also highlights the systematic and intentional destruction of maternity facilities, an increase of 300% in miscarriages since October 7, 2023, as well as attacks on Gaza&rsquo;s largest fertility clinic, which destroyed around 4,000 embryos.&nbsp;The report also finds evidence of Israel intentionally destroying areas of agricultural land, destroying 110 cultural and religious sites, and damaging 70&nbsp;% of schools.&nbsp;More than 90% of Gaza&rsquo;s residents (about 1.9 million people) have been displaced, while Israel&rsquo;s &ldquo;total siege&rdquo; of Gaza has cut off supplies of water, food, electricity, fuel and other essential supplies, including humanitarian assistance. The report finds that Israel is using starvation as a method of warfare, and that it has weaponized access to basic supplies.&nbsp;Genocidal intentTo be considered genocide, all of these acts need to be committed with the special intention to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Based on the direct and circumstantial evidence available, the COI has drawn the following conclusion:&nbsp;&ldquo;The Israeli authorities intended to kill as many Palestinians as possible through its military operations in Gaza since 7 October 2023 and knew that the means and methods of warfare employed would cause mass deaths of Palestinians, including children.&rdquo;&nbsp;The direct evidence draws from statements made by Israeli authorities, which have repeatedly dehumanized Palestinians and &ldquo;explicitly called for vengeance, destruction and annihilation&rdquo;.Additionally, the report concludes that &ldquo;the only reasonable inference that can be drawn from the pattern of conduct of Israeli security forces in Gaza is evidence of genocidal intent.&rdquo;&nbsp;Will it make a difference?The report concludes that Israel has failed to prevent genocide, is still committing genocide, and has failed to punish genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. It calls on all States to prevent genocide by ceasing the transfer of weapons to Israel, and to ensure that individuals and corporations do not contribute to it.&nbsp;It also compels States to promote domestic investigations and to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in gathering evidence of the crime and incitement of genocide.&nbsp;Lastly, the COI recommends that the Prosecutor of the ICC expand its investigations of the situation in Palestine, and that it include genocide in addition to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Before the COI report, other UN mechanisms had already determined that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Nevertheless, this report is groundbreaking in its level of detail. The evidence it offers is so overwhelming that it leaves little room for doubt, or for the argument that Israel is acting in self-defense.&nbsp;The report&rsquo;s long-term impact remains to be seen, though its findings may have spurred the recent push to recognize a Palestinian State in various European countries.

For the first time, the COI recognizes that genocide has been committed, and continues to be committed, against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Overwhelming evidence of genocide against Palestinians: Legal expert

GAZA:&nbsp;Noor Abu Hassira and her three daughters are sheltering in a dark basement in Gaza City, where explosions shake the surrounding walls. Although they can barely see through a small, elevated window, the noise of buzzing drones and loud airstrikes indicates that Israeli forces are approaching. Despite Israeli warnings to evacuate, Abu Hassira remains because she suffers from severe leg injuries caused by an airstrike that destroyed her home at the beginning of the war. Like many others in the war-torn area, she cannot afford the $2,000 she says is needed to relocate to southern Gaza and set up a tent in a displacement camp. While most Palestinians in Gaza City have fled south at some point in the 23-month long war, Abu Hassira has been largely bedridden &mdash; except for the 11 times she&#39;s had to relocate within her city to keep safe from Israeli assaults. Her husband is in an Israeli prison, and she and her young girls &mdash; Jouri, Maria and Maha &mdash; are among the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians still in Gaza City, which before the war had a million residents.&nbsp;&ldquo;It feels like we&rsquo;re just waiting to die, I don&rsquo;t really care that much anymore,&rdquo; Abu Hassira wrote over text. Israel says its offensive is aimed at destroying Hamas and freeing hostages taken during the attack that started the war. It says it is taking steps to mitigate harm to civilians. If the Abu Hassira family could somehow make it to the south, their troubles would not be over.&nbsp;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m afraid to live in a tent with my daughters. I&rsquo;m afraid we will drown in the winter. I&rsquo;m afraid of insects. How will we get water?&rdquo; she said. An airstrike destroyed their home Eight months before the war, Abu Hassira and her family moved into an apartment in Gaza City. She worked as a medical lab technician. Her husband, Raed, was a journalist for a media outlet suspected of links to Hamas. Abu Hassira said her husband was not a member of the group. <figure class="fr-media"><img src="https://paktv-assets-7d41fab8.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/1f9e25ad-fe48-4609-adc9-17871d4f01e7-An injured mother stranded in Gaza City as Israeli troops approach, show the destruction outside her parent's home, where she is sheltering with her three daughters in the Gaza Strip. (AP) (2).jpg" alt="An injured mother stranded in Gaza City as Israeli troops approach, show the destruction outside her parent's home, where she is sheltering with her three daughters in the Gaza Strip. (AP) " style="max-width: 100%;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><figcaption class="caption-cover-image text-sm text-gray-600 italic">Noor Abu Hassira&#39;s husband, Raed, smiles as he holds his three daughters, Jouri, Maria and Maha, before the Israel-Hamas war began and he was arrested by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip, Jan. 2023. (Noor Abu Hassira via (AP))</figcaption></figure> Jouri, their oldest, was in elementary school. Maria was about to start kindergarten. Maha was just a baby. &ldquo;We worked and saved for 10 years to have a comfortable, nice home &mdash; our dream house. Now it&rsquo;s gone,&rdquo; she said. Israel laid siege on Gaza in October 2023 with heavy airstrikes across the enclave&nbsp;and a ground invasion. That December, the Abu Hassiras&#39; apartment building was struck. The blast collapsed a concrete pillar that pinned Abu Hassira under the rubble, shattering her shoulders, back and legs and knocking her into a coma. Her daughters were also buried in the rubble, though all survived. Israeli troops raided the hospital Abu Hassira awoke at Shifa Hospital. Her daughter, Maria, lay beside her with a fractured skull.&nbsp;Israeli forces had raided the hospital weeks earlier, accusing Hamas of sheltering there. Supplies were running low. It was packed with displaced families and doctors were preoccupied with a steady flow of casualties coming through the gates. Her husband sent the other two girls to stay with an uncle so he could care for the mother and daughter at the hospital.&nbsp;&ldquo;He would change my diapers, my clothes,&rdquo; Abu Hassira said. &ldquo;I lay on my back for three months, and he took care of me, combed my hair, and bathed me.&rdquo; In March 2024, Israeli troops raided the hospital again, arresting scores of men, including Abu Hassira&#39;s husband. He is now one of hundreds of Palestinian men Israel has rounded up during the war whose whereabouts and legal status remain unknown. She hasn&rsquo;t heard from him, but Addameer, a Palestinian legal aid group, said an attorney visited him in an Israeli prison last November. Israel&rsquo;s prison service, Shin Bet intelligence agency and military declined to say why he was arrested or where he was being held.&nbsp;&ldquo;Maha was just over a year old when they took her father away,&rdquo; Abu Hassira said. &ldquo;She&rsquo;s never once said the word &lsquo;daddy.&rsquo;&rdquo; She feared her daughters would die Israel&#39;s military said it killed some 200 militants over two weeks of fighting inside the sprawling Shifa hospital. The World Health Organization said 21 patients died during the siege. Israel denied harming civilians. Abu Hassira, who said soldiers told her to leave, fled the incursion with a single bag, leaving her wheelchair and most of her clothes and food behind. The family spent the rest of the year moving from one place to another as Israel carried out raids in and around Gaza City.&nbsp;&ldquo;The hardest part is living at other people&rsquo;s homes ... especially with small children, and everything is expensive. I had no clothes or belongings, so I had to use theirs,&rdquo; she said. In the fall of 2024, Israel largely sealed off northern Gaza, including Gaza City, launching major ground operations and heavily restricting humanitarian aid. Clean water was hard to find. They ate little more than bread. Jouri, her oldest, grew malnourished and sick.&nbsp;&ldquo;I felt weak, lonely, helpless,&rdquo; Abu Hassira said. &ldquo;I was terrified my daughters would die and I couldn&rsquo;t do anything for them.&rdquo; A neighbor volunteered to take Jouri to a malnutrition program where the girl began to recover. In January, a long-awaited ceasefire took hold, raising hopes that the war would wind down. Hundreds of thousands of people returned to Gaza City, Abu Hassira&#39;s extended family was reunited, and Israel allowed humanitarian aid to flow in. <figure class="fr-media"><img src="https://paktv-assets-7d41fab8.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/0e30311b-7e4a-4e0d-9bfe-a2986fdf6c0b-An injured mother stranded in Gaza City as Israeli troops approach, show the destruction outside her parent's home, where she is sheltering with her three daughters in the Gaza Strip. (AP).jpg" alt="An injured mother stranded in Gaza City as Israeli troops approach, show the destruction outside her parent's home, where she is sheltering with her three daughters in the Gaza Strip. (AP) " style="max-width: 100%;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><figcaption class="caption-cover-image text-sm text-gray-600 italic">In this undated photo taken during the Israel-Hamas war, Noor Abu Hassira&#39;s three daughters, Jouri, Maria and Maha, smile and pose in Gaza City, Gaza Strip. (Noor Abu Hassira via AP)</figcaption></figure> The war resumes But Israel shattered the ceasefire in March, launching more airstrikes after halting imports of food, medicine and other goods &mdash; a complete blockade that would only be eased two-and-a-half months later. In Gaza City, families like the Abu Hassiras are often without food, which costs 10 times what it did before the war: a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of sugar around $180, a kilogram of flour around $60. Over 65,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to Gaza&rsquo;s Health Ministry, which doesn&#39;t distinguish between civilians and combatants. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, but U.N. agencies and many independent experts view its figures as the most reliable estimate of casualties. In August, international experts determined Gaza City was experiencing famine. Weeks later, Israel launched an offensive to occupy the city, saying it was needed to pressure Hamas into releasing 48 remaining hostages, around 20 of them believed by Israel to be alive. Abu Hassira has seen the evacuation leaflets dropped by Israeli aircraft. Many of her neighbors have packed up and left. But she can barely walk, and a truck ride south would cost around $900. A tent would cost around $1,100, she says, and who knows where they would put it. The Israeli-designated humanitarian zone largely consists of crowded camps and demolished buildings. Families who have moved to new grounds for the displaced have found them sparse and lawless, with armed gangs patrolling the area to demand rent. For now, Abu Hassira says she and her daughters will remain in her parents&rsquo; basement in the once-upscale Rimal neighborhood, near the Mediterranean Sea. She says she can&#39;t cook or wash, and spends her days sitting in a chair or lying down. She needs help to use the bathroom. &ldquo;I wish my daughters and I would die together before we are forced to leave,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;We are exhausted.&rdquo;

An injured mother stranded in Gaza City as Israeli troops approach, show the destruction outside her parent's home, where she is sheltering with her three daughters in the Gaza Strip. (AP) 

Asia

Noor Abu Hassira and her daughters, injured and trapped in a Gaza City basement after their home was destroyed and her husband imprisoned, face severe hardship and fear, unable to afford evacuation amid relentless airstrikes and blockade.

Mother and daughters sheltering in Gaza basement await death as airstrikes rage

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: The Israeli military warned on Friday it would operate with &quot;unprecedented force&quot; in Gaza City, telling residents to flee as it presses its ground offensive on the territory&#39;s largest urban centre. Israel has pummelled Gaza City with air strikes and tank fire in its bid to seize it, nearly two years into the war that has devastated the Palestinian territory and left Gaza City gripped by a UN-declared famine. The assault comes ahead of a planned move by several Western governments, including Britain and France, to recognise a Palestinian state at a UN summit next week. The military launched its ground assault on Tuesday and has for days been telling residents to head south, but many Palestinians say the journey is prohibitively expensive and they do not know where to go. &quot;For several days, we&#39;ve been trying to evacuate to the south, but we haven&#39;t been able to find any means of transport,&quot; Khaled al-Majdalawi, a displaced Palestinian in western Gaza City told AFP, describing &quot;intense and continuous&quot; shelling. &quot;We finally found a way to leave early this morning. We packed our belongings and waited for hours, but until now, no one has come, and the driver isn&#39;t answering us,&quot; the 32-year-old said. The United Nations estimated at the end of August that about one million people were living in Gaza City and its surroundings.&nbsp;The military said on Friday it estimated 480,000 had fled since late August. Gaza&#39;s civil defence agency -- a rescue force operating under Hamas authority -- said 450,000 people had fled. On Friday, the military&#39;s Arabic-language spokesman announced the closure of a temporary evacuation route opened 48 hours earlier, saying the only way south was via the Al-Rashid road along the Mediterranean coast. &quot; The (military) will continue to operate with unprecedented force against Hamas and other terrorist organisations,&quot; Avichay Adraee said in a post on X addressing residents of the city. &quot;Take this opportunity and join the hundreds of thousands of city residents who have moved south to the humanitarian area.&quot; &#39;Too weak to walk&#39; The Israeli military has urged Palestinians to head to a &quot;humanitarian area&quot; in Al-Mawasi on the coast, where it says aid, medical care and humanitarian infrastructure will be provided. Israel&nbsp;first declared the area a safe zone early in the war, but has carried out repeated strikes on it since then, saying it is targeting Hamas.Nivin Ahmed, 50, fled south from Gaza City to the central city of Deir el-Balah on Thursday, walking with seven family members.&nbsp;&quot;We walked more than 15 kilometres (nine miles), we were crawling from exhaustion,&quot; she told AFP.&nbsp;&quot;My youngest son cried from fatigue. We took turns dragging a small cart with some of our belongings.&quot; Mona Abdel Karim, 36, said she had been unable to secure transport south and had been sleeping on Al-Rashid road for two nights with her family waiting for a driver.&nbsp;&quot;I feel like I&#39;m about to explode. We can&#39;t walk on foot -- my husband&#39;s parents are elderly and sick, and the children are too weak to walk,&quot; she said. AFP photographs from the coast road on Friday showed long lines of Palestinians heading south on foot or in vehicles piled high with meagre belongings, leaving behind them a scene of rubble and smoke. Shelling, gunfire Civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal reported &quot;artillery shelling and intermittent gunfire&quot; in the southwestern Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood of Gaza City. He also reported shelling and drone fire in northwestern areas of the city, and strikes in several neighbourhoods.Israeli fire killed at least 33 people across the territory on Friday, 18 of them in Gaza City, according to a tally of figures given by Gaza hospitals contacted by AFP. In a statement, the Israeli military said its troops in Gaza City were targeting militants &quot;using tank fire, armed UAVs (drones) and air strikes, dismantling terrorist infrastructure and locating weapons in the area&quot;.Media restrictions in the territory and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the details provided by the civil defence or the Israeli military. The US-backed offensive on Gaza City came as a United Nations probe accused Israel of committing &quot;genocide&quot; in the Gaza Strip, saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials had incited the crime. Israel rejected the findings and slammed the probe as &quot;distorted and false&quot;. Israel&#39;s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 65,174 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the territory&#39;s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.

Palestinians run as the 15-storey Mushtaha Tower collapses after being hit by an Israeli air strike, in Gaza City. (REUTERS)

Israeli fire killed at least 33 people; Gaza's civil defence agency reports that about 450,000 people have fled.

Israel army says will use 'unprecedented force' in Gaza City

GENEVA: Pakistan warned on Tuesday that the &quot;unjustifiable and unprovoked attack&quot; on Qatar constituted a &quot;dangerous escalation,&rdquo; as the United Nations and several other countries denounced Israel&rsquo;s attack on Qatar last week, demanding &ldquo;accountability.&rdquo;&nbsp;The development follows Israel&rsquo;s strikes on Doha on September 9, targeting Hamas leaders gathered to discuss a new US ceasefire proposal for Gaza.&nbsp; Five Hamas members and a Qatari security officer were killed.&nbsp;That strike &ldquo;was a shocking breach of international law,&rdquo; UN rights chief Volker Turk said during an urgent debate at the UN Human Rights Council about the strike. <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; line-height: 2;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1967874238821367915&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fdashboard%2F&sessionId=cacfbe05ee2d29362880f422d5a13660866c32d3&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 787px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>&nbsp;Denouncing the attack as &ldquo;an assault on regional peace and stability,&rdquo; he urged &ldquo;accountability for unlawful killings.&rdquo;&nbsp;His words were echoed by Qatar and dozens of country representatives who took the floor during the three-hour debate. Qatari International Cooperation Minister Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al-Misnad slammed Israel&rsquo;s &ldquo;treacherous attack&rdquo; and demanded that the international community &ldquo;take practical steps to hold the aggressors accountable and prevent their impunity.&rdquo; &ldquo;This attack was not an isolated incident, but rather was part of a broader campaign aimed at distorting Qatar&rsquo;s role and obstructing its diplomatic efforts,&rdquo; she said. Pakistan&rsquo;s ambassador Bilal Ahmad warned that &ldquo;this unjustifiable and unprovoked attack constitutes a dangerous escalation&rdquo;. <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; line-height: 2;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1967950751960822070&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fdashboard%2F&sessionId=cacfbe05ee2d29362880f422d5a13660866c32d3&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 674px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div> The council announced on Monday that it would convene the 10th urgent debate since its creation in 2006, following two official requests from members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and of the Gulf Cooperation Council.&nbsp;&lsquo;Shameful&rsquo;Neither Israel nor its main ally, the United States, which both disengaged from the council earlier this year, was present for the urgent debate.&nbsp;But Israel&rsquo;s ambassador in Geneva Daniel Meron, lambasted the meeting from the sidelines.&nbsp;&ldquo;This marks yet another shameful chapter in the Human Rights Council&rsquo;s ongoing abuse,&rdquo; he told journalists.&nbsp;He accused the council of &ldquo;serving as a platform for anti-Israel propaganda, while ignoring the brutal realities on the ground and the atrocities committed by Hamas.&rdquo;&nbsp;There was little support for Israel&rsquo;s position during the debate.&nbsp;European Union ambassador Deike Potzel stressed the bloc&rsquo;s &ldquo;principled stance against terrorism in all its forms,&rdquo; while underlining its &ldquo;support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar&rdquo; and calling &ldquo;on Israel to respect international law.&rdquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;We urge all parties to refrain from any actions that jeopardize mediation channels and regional stability,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp;China&rsquo;s ambassador Chen Xu said his country &ldquo;firmly rejects and categorically condemns&rdquo; the September 9 attack, which he charged was &ldquo;a deliberate attempt to derail the negotiation process.&rdquo;&nbsp;Some of the harshest criticism came from South Africa, which has brought a case against Israel before the International Court of Justice, accusing it of committing genocide in Gaza.&nbsp;The attack &ldquo;strikes against the very heart of mediation processes,&rdquo; ambassador Mxolisi Nkosi told the council, adding that it &ldquo;demonstrates that Israel does not want to end its genocidal war against the Palestinian people.&rdquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;It is time for the international community to demonstrate through practical countermeasures that Israel does not enjoy some form of special immunity from accountability.&rdquo; UNSC condemnation not a shift in policy, but a significant stepWhile commenting on the UNSC condemnation of the Israeli attack on the Qatari capital Doha, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said, &ldquo;I don&#39;t know if there is a shift in policy, but this is significant because for many months now, you know, the Security Council has not been able to utter a word in terms of a statement (against Israel).&rdquo; &ldquo;So I believe it was a significant development in the sense that after many months, there is a statement that has come out of the SC, and it means it was a unanimously approved consensus-based statement, which has been accepted by the U.S.,&rdquo; he said while speaking to Asia One. He said that according to the general U.N. membership, it is Israel which is not genuinely committed to peace and to these negotiations. &ldquo;It is they who have gone back on many of the commitments,&rdquo; he said. Iftikhar added, &ldquo;There is not enough pressure on them, then there is not enough cost to refrain them from taking such actions which defy international law and go against the will and the expectation of the international community.&rdquo;

UN debate over Israel’s strike on Qatar sees global outrage; Pakistan, China, and others condemn the attack as a threat to regional peace and diplomacy.

Pakistan sees escalation in Middle-East as UN debates Israel accountability

ISLAMABAD: Britain&rsquo;s Prime Minister Keir Starmer has sharply criticized Israel&rsquo;s blockade of Gaza, calling out the occupying power of creating a &ldquo;man-made famine&rdquo; on Wednesday, during a tense meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in London.&nbsp;The rare public rebuke by a Western leader towards Israel is part of rising concerns over the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where more than 500 people have died due to starvation alone. Israel siege of the enclave has killed more than 64,000 people, including 18,000 children, since October 2023, as per Gaza&rsquo;s health ministry.&nbsp;A Downing Street spokesperson said that Starmer urged Israel to stop its offensive in the occupied territory and allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza to prevent the situation from worsening.&nbsp;Protests in the UK during Israel President&rsquo;s visitHerzog&rsquo;s visit to the U.K. led to widespread protests across the country. Thousands protested outside the Downing Street for two consecutive days. Demonstrations also took place at Chatham House, where the Israeli President spoke. People banged pots and pans, accusing Israel of genocide.&nbsp;The Israeli president&rsquo;s visit to the U.K. comes on the heels of Israeli airstrikes on Doha, Qatar, a British ally. Israel claimed it was targeting Hamas leadership attending ceasefire talks in the Gulf country.&nbsp; Several countries condemned the attack, with the Qatari Prime Minister calling Israel move an act of &ldquo;state terrorism.&rdquo; Israel also targeted the Houthis in Yemen on Wednesday. The British PM condemned the strike as &ldquo;unacceptable&rdquo; and a &ldquo;flagrant violation&rdquo; of Qatar&rsquo;s sovereignty. Despite this, the British premier did not shy away from endorsing the U.K.&rsquo;s longstanding relationship with Israel.&nbsp;&nbsp;Cracks forming&nbsp;Starmer&rsquo;s meeting with Herzog did reveal deep disagreements on key issues, including the U.K.&rsquo;s intention to recognize a Palestinian state unless Israel meets certain conditions&mdash;agreeing to a ceasefire and allowing aid access.&nbsp;The Israeli President described the talks as &ldquo;tough&rdquo; but respectful, saying he welcomed the opportunity for open debate between two democratic allies.&nbsp;Starmer meets Palestinian Authority president &nbsp;Earlier in the week, Starmer also met Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, agreeing there must be &ldquo;absolutely no role&rdquo; for Hamas in any future Palestinian government.&nbsp;The U.K. has been under pressure domestically to adopt a tougher stance on Israel&rsquo;s war crimes in Gaza, while Starmer has insisted that diplomacy remains essential to securing a ceasefire and securing the release of hostages held by Hamas.&nbsp;&nbsp;Starmer&rsquo;s decision to meet Israeli President amid worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza was sharply criticized within the U.K. Scottish National Party leader Stephen Flynn blasted the British PM for hosting Herzog while children starved in Gaza.&nbsp;Herzog: A controversial figureWhile the role of a president is mostly ceremonial in Israel, Isaac Herzog is a controversial leader in his own right. He blamed Gaza&rsquo;s entire population for the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. He also personally signed artillery shells fired at Gaza.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer sits with Israel's President Isaac Herzog as he visits 10 Downing Street in London, Sept. 10, 2025. Alberto PezzaliPool via REUTERS.avif

The rare public rebuke by a Western leader toward Israel is part of rising concerns over the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, 

UK PM condemns Gaza blockade in tense meeting with Israeli President

DOHA: Qatar&rsquo;s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Majed Al Ansari on Tuesday said the U.S. warning of Israeli bombardment in Doha came &ldquo;during the sound of explosions.&rdquo; &ldquo;The statements being circulated about Qatar being informed of the attack in advance are baseless,&rdquo; Ansari said in a <a href="https://x.com/majedalansari/status/1965484361727574198" style="font-size: 14px;">post on X</a>. The statement comes a day after Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an airstrike on Qatar, escalating its military action in the Middle East with what the United States described as a unilateral attack that does not advance American and Israeli interests. Qatar &lsquo;reserves the right to retaliate&rsquo;Meanwhile, Qatar&#39;s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told has warned that his country reserves the right to retaliate to Israel&#39;s &ldquo;blatant attack&rdquo; in Doha, calling it a &quot;pivotal moment&quot; for Middle East and seeking &quot;response from the entire region.&quot;&nbsp;&ldquo;Qatar... reserves the right to respond to this blatant attack,&rdquo; Al-Thani told a press conference late on Tuesday. He said Israel used weapons that were not detected by Qatar&#39;s air defense radar.&nbsp;&ldquo;We have reached a decisive moment. There should be retaliation from the whole region to such barbaric actions,&rdquo; he added.&nbsp;Al Thani condemned Israeli aggression, calling it an act of &quot;state terrorism.&quot;&nbsp;Referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu&#39;s earlier claims that he would reshape the region, the Qatari prime minister asked pointedly, &ldquo;Does he mean Gulf region also?&rdquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;Israel is working to sabotage every chance for peace,&rdquo; he said. Trump &#39;very unhappy&#39; about Israeli strikes on DohaReacting to the development, U.S. President Donald Trump said in a post on <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115176193823019593" style="font-size: 14px;">Truth Social</a>, he was &quot;very unhappy about every aspect&quot; of the Israeli strike and would be giving a full statement on the issue on Wednesday. &quot;I&#39;m not thrilled about it,&quot; Trump said as he arrived at a Washington restaurant. &quot;It&#39;s not a good situation but I will say this: We want the hostages back, but we&#39;re not thrilled about the way it went down today.&quot; While Israel defended the attacks as being justified, Qatar said Israel was treacherous and engaged in &quot;state terrorism.&quot; Threat to peace talksQatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said the airstrikes threatened to derail the peace talks Qatar has been mediating between Hamas and Israel. US President Donald Trump said he considered hitting Hamas a worthy goal, but he felt badly that the attack took place in the Gulf Arab state, which is a major non-NATO ally of Washington and where the Palestinian Islamist group has long had its political base. The attack drew condemnation from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and the European Union, and risks derailing Gaza ceasefire talks and Trump&#39;s push to achieve a negotiated end to the nearly two-year-old conflict. Qatar is a security partner of the U.S. and host to al-Udeid Air Base, the largest U.S. military facility in the Middle East. It has acted as a mediator alongside Egypt in talks between Israel and Hamas for a ceasefire in Gaza, which appears to be increasingly elusive. Hamas said five of its members had been killed in the attack, including the son of Hamas&#39;s exiled Gaza chief and top negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya. It said Israel had failed in what Hamas called an attempt to assassinate the group&#39;s ceasefire negotiation team. Qatar &#39;bravely taking risks&#39;The Trump administration received warning of the attack from the U.S. military just before it took place, Trump said in a statement on social media. He did not say if it was Israel that notified the US military. &quot;Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a Sovereign Nation and close Ally of the United States, that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker Peace, does not advance Israel or America&#39;s goals,&quot; Trump wrote.&quot;However, eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal.&quot; Hamas political bureau member Suhail al-Hindi told Al Jazeera TV the group&#39;s top leadership had survived the Israeli attack. The airstrike followed Israel warning Palestinians to leave Gaza City, an area once home to about a million people, as it tries to destroy what is left of Hamas, which has been decimated by Israel&#39;s military since October 2023. Trump said he directed his envoy Steve Witkoff to warn Qatar the attack was coming but Qatar contradicted those comments, saying that reports that it got a heads-up before the attack were false and the phone call from a U.S. official came when blasts were already being heard in the Qatari capital, Doha. &quot;Qatar reserves the right to respond to this blatant attack and will take all necessary measures to respond,&quot; al-Thani told reporters. Israel killed one member of Qatar&#39;s internal security forces in its attack and injured others, Qatar said. Trump calls Emir of QatarTrump assured the emir of Qatar in a phone call after the attack that &quot;such a thing will not happen again on their soil.&quot; The U.S. president also spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israeli officials told Reuters the strike was aimed at top Hamas leaders, including Hayya. Israel is still gathering information on the strike and has yet to determine whether any Hamas officials or leaders were killed, a person briefed on the matter told Reuters. Two U.S. officials, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. military had been notified by Israel shortly before the strike but there was no coordination with or approval from Washington. Trump made a high-profile visit to Qatar in May and stayed at a hotel about 2 km from Tuesday&#39;s attack site. Attack followed Jerusalem killingsThe airstrike took place shortly after Hamas&#39; armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility for a shooting on Monday that killed six people at a bus stop on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Netanyahu said the attack was &quot;entirely justified&quot; and was ordered after the Jerusalem attack and the deaths of four Israeli soldiers in Gaza. &quot;The days are over when terror leaders can enjoy immunity of any kind,&quot; Netanyahu said in a televised address. &quot;I won&#39;t allow that kind of immunity to exist.&quot; Doha attack draws global condemnationThe Israeli operation drew strong negative reactions around the world. The European Union called it a breach of international law and the United Arab Emirates, which normalized relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords in 2020, called it &quot;blatant and cowardly&quot;. Pope Leo expressed unusually forceful concern about the consequences of Israel&#39;s strike in Qatar. &quot;The entire situation is very serious,&quot; he said. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack and said Qatar had been playing a very positive role in seeking a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages held by Hamas. Israel has killed several top Hamas leaders since the Palestinian militant group attacked Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 soldiers and civilians and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel has also bombed Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Yemen in the course of the Gaza conflict. Gaza City braces for new onslaughtOn Tuesday, Palestinians living in the ruins of Gaza City were showered with Israeli leaflets telling them to flee ahead of Israel&#39;s effort to obliterate the area and wipe out Hamas, causing panic and confusion. Israel wants to demilitarize the entire Gaza Strip, home to 2.2 million Palestinians before the war. Many countries around the world have warned Israel&#39;s plan would spell catastrophe for Palestinians. Israel military warns Netanyahu of expanding warThe plan has also provoked concern inside Israel, where public support for the war has wavered. Israel&#39;s military leadership has warned Netanyahu against expanding the war, according to Israeli officials. Families of Israeli hostages fear the attack could endanger the captives. Netanyahu says he is acting out of Israel&#39;s interest by moving to finish off Hamas in order to safeguard his country against any more attacks. Israel has been accused of genocide, including this month by the world&#39;s biggest group of genocide scholars, over its nearly two-year campaign in the Palestinian enclave that has killed more than 64,000 people, according to local authorities. With input from Reuters.

Qatari prime minister says his country reserves the right to retaliate to Israel's “blatant attack” in Doha.

Articles tagged with "Gaza seige"