Middle East

Jerusalem, Oct 10: Israel increased airstrikes on the Gaza Strip and sealed it off from food, fuel and other supplies Monday in retaliation for a bloody incursion by Hamas fighters, as the war’s death toll rose to nearly 1,600 on both sides. Hamas also escalated the conflict, pledging to kill captured Israelis if attacks targeted civilians without warnings. In the war’s third day, Israel was still

Israel's war minister Yoav Gallant on Monday ordered a 'complete siege' of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, two days after shock attacks by the militant group killed more than 700 Israeli civilians. Gallant is currently conducting an operational assessment at IDF (Israel Defence Forces) Southern Command, together with the Head of Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Yaron Finkelman. "I have given an order: Gaza

The Pentagon is dispatching an aircraft carrier strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean as a sign of support for Israel amid its ongoing battle with Palestinian freedom fighters. The armada is led by the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, and includes five guided missile destroyers. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Sunday that Washington would also deliver ammunition and other

Jerusalem: The capture of dozens of Israeli soldiers and settlers by Hamas militants has stirred Israeli emotions more viscerally than any crisis in the country’s recent memory and presented an impossible dilemma for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government. The Palestinian freedom fighters’ 2006 seizure of a sole young conscript, Gilad Shalit, consumed Israeli society for

Israel has pounded the besieged Gaza Strip for a second night in a row after formally declaring war against the Palestinian Hamas group. Its military says some 100,000 reserve troops have amassed near Gaza. Fierce fighting is continuing between Hamas fighters and Israeli troops in at least three areas in southern Israel, including a kibbutz in Karmia and in the cities of Ashkelon and Sderot. Hamas

Jerusalem, Oct 8: Israel's army said Sunday it aims to evacuate all Israelis living close to the Gaza Strip within 24 hours as it deployed tens of thousands of soldiers to fight Palestinian militants who had infiltrated into Israel. "Our mission for the upcoming 24 hours is to evacuate all residents living around Gaza," military spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters, adding that fighting was

The death toll from powerful earthquakes in western Afghanistan is estimated to be over 2,050, a senior Taliban leader said, adding that the number might rise further in one of the deadliest quakes to hit the country in two decades. Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban spokesperson based in Qatar, said that many people were missing and rescue operations were under way to save people trapped in debris in

Israel fired barrages of artillery into southern Lebanon on Sunday after Hezbollah targeted three Israeli military positions in the disputed Shebaa Farms. There were no immediate reports of casualties. On Saturday, the most serious attack in years by Palestinian gunmen on Israeli towns left at least 250 Israelis dead, with another 230 Gazans killed in Israel’s retaliatory bombardment. Hezbollah, a

Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement says it has fired shells and guided missiles toward Israeli-occupied territories, in the aftermath of a surprise operation by Gaza-based Palestinian fighters against the regime. In a statement released on Sunday, Hezbollah said it had targeted the Radar, Zabdin, and Ruwaysat Al-Alam sites in the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms. “The martyr commander Hajj Imad

Israeli forces have killed six Palestinian youths, including a 13-year-old child, during attacks across the occupied West Bank as Gaza-based resistance groups launched a major operation against the regime. According to a report by Palestinian Wafa news agency quoting the Health Ministry, 18-year-old Mahmoud Bassem Akhmis succumbed to his wounds after he was shot by Israeli forces in the town of