CEASEFIRE “MUST HOLD” Max Rodenbeck, of the International Crisis Group think tank, said the second phase cannot be expected to start immediately. “But I think the ceasefire probably won’t collapse also,” he said. The preferred Israeli scenario is to free more hostages under an extension of the first phase, ratherContinue Reading
“PARADING OF BODIES” The six Israelis released on Saturday were the last group of living hostages set to be freed under the truce’s first phase. At a ceremony in Nuseirat, central Gaza, hostages Eliya Cohen, 27, Omer Shem Tov, 22, and Israeli-Argentine Omer Wenkert, 23, waved from a stage, flankedContinue Reading
JERUSALEM: Israel said on Sunday (Feb 23) it was delaying the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners it had planned to free the day before until militant group Hamas met its conditions, underscoring the fragility of the Gaza ceasefire accord. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office released a statement in theContinue Reading
JERUSALEM: Hamas was set to release six more hostages from Gaza on Saturday (Feb 22) in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, after Israel confirmed that a body handed over hours earlier was that of hostage Shiri Bibas. The fragile truce in the war between Israel and HamasContinue Reading
Israelis lined the road in the rain near the Gaza border to pay their respects as the convoy carrying the coffins drove by. “We stand here together, with a broken heart. The sky is also crying with us and we pray to see better days,” said one woman, who gaveContinue Reading
He said that the war between Israel and Hamas has left much of Gaza destroyed and littered with unexploded ordnance, and it was impossible to see how people could return. “It’s going to take a lot of clean-up and imagination, and a great master plan, and that doesn’t mean we’reContinue Reading
GENEVA: The World Health Organization said Wednesday (Feb 19) that mass polio vaccination would resume in Gaza on Saturday, targeting nearly 600,000 children, after the virus was again detected in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory. The United Nations health agency said no more polio cases had been reported since a 10-month-oldContinue Reading
According to Israeli media, the security cabinet convened on Monday evening to discuss phase two of the fragile ceasefire which began on Jan 19. More than 15 months of war destroyed or damaged more than 69 per cent of Gaza’s buildings, displaced almost the entire population, and triggered widespread hunger,Continue Reading
GAZA: For 500 days since an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel triggered the Gaza Strip’s deadliest war, Mohammed Abu Mursa has grappled with “humiliation, suffering and bloodshed” in his fight for survival. Abu Mursa and his family have been displaced more than a dozen times since the war began, movingContinue Reading
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday (Feb 17) he was “committed” to a US proposal to take over Gaza and displace its Palestinian residents, as Washington’s top diplomat was in Saudi Arabia to push the plan opposed by Arab states. As US Secretary of State Marco RubioContinue Reading
