As Israel-Hamas conflict gets deadlier, what happens to the India-Europe economic corridor?
The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), positioned as a modern-day Spice Route and as a weighty ideological alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, was a challenging project to start off with, given the inherent logistical complexities of the multi-modal project and the prospect of navigating through the complex geopolitics of the West Asian region – a vital middle link. But the eruption of fighting in Israel and the renewed tensions it has stoked in the region makes any progress on the project, which to leverage cross-country railway lines and shipping corridors to physically link up a vast stretch of the Eurasian subcontinent, an even more uphill task than when the initial announcement was made just over a month ago, officials in multiple government ministries indicated. When PM Modi had made the announcement flanked by US President Joe Biden and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman during the annual Group of 20 leaders summit in New Delhi last month, there was a tacit acknowledgement of the logistical complexities, including the prospect of multi-modal shipment transfers and the possibility of consignments being subjected to multiple national customs checks and clearance. But the geopolitical challenge of wading through the complex geopolitics of the West Asia region was always the bigger, unsaid concern.
The dire situation in Gaza's neonatal wards due to fuel shortages caused by the Israeli blockade.
At least 130 premature babies in six neonatal units are at 'grave risk' as hospitals struggle to maintain power for vital equipment like incubators and ventilators.
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This crisis has also affected the ability of hospitals to care for pregnant women, with 50,000 unable to access essential health services, and some 5,500 expected to give birth in the coming month. Several hospitals have been forced to shut down due to Israeli strikes and a lack of essential supplies.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has limited fuel supplies, and without additional fuel, the situation for these vulnerable patients is critical.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Jordan's King Abdullah-II amid the Israel-Hamas conflict as the two leaders shares concerns regarding terrorism, violence and loss of civilian lives.
Modi said on X that concerted efforts are needed for an early resolution of the security and humanitarian situation.
"Spoke with His Majesty @KingAbdullahII of Jordan. Exchanged views on the developments in the West Asia region. We share concerns regarding terrorism, violence and loss of civilian lives. Concerted efforts needed for early resolution of the security and humanitarian situation," he said. Read More
Police detained some students as they tried to hold a protest near the Israeli embassy here in support of Palestine. Scores of students from JNU, Jamia Millia Islamia and Delhi University had gathered to take part in the protest. Police had erected barricades to stop them from reaching the embassy at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road.
When some of the students tried to march towards the embassy, they were detained as they did not have the required permission to hold the protest, said a police officer, adding that 'no one was allowed to violate law and order'.
Police arrested two people after one of them allegedly fired a shot and another pepper-sprayed protesters outside a pro-Israel rally in Chicago’s northern suburbs. The rally took place Sunday evening at a Skokie banquet hall, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
About 1,000 people attended to show solidary with Israel, according to organizers.A group of about 200 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the hall. A man allegedly drove his car into the group, got out and fired a shot before police took him into custody. A witness told the newspaper that the man's car had been covered in Israeli flags.
A man coming out of the banquet hall wearing an Israeli flag as a cape sprayed the crowed with pepper spray before he was arrested. No one was seriously hurt in the melee.
Turkey sent two cargo planes to Egypt carrying medical equipment and supplies for Gaza, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said, adding two more aircraft would be sent with more supplies. Earlier this month, Turkey sent three aircraft carrying aid for Gaza.
The cargo planes carried medicine, generators, medical supplies, incubators for babies, phototherapy machinery, diapers and baby food. Among the medical supplies were emergency response equipment, operating tables, ventilators, ultrasound machines and orthopaedic supplies for those wounded in the fighting.
When the Israeli army told Palestinians in the Beach refugee camp in Gaza City to flee south because it was safer, 18-year-old Dima Al-Lamdani's family prayed they would escape relentless air strikes.
But days later, Lamdani was left to identify the bodies of her relatives at a makeshift morgue in the southern city of Khan Younis. She said she lost her parents, seven siblings and four members of her uncle's family in an Israeli air strike. "They told us to evacuate your place and go to Khan Younis because it is safe... They betrayed us and bombed us," she said.
Lamdani's family was staying at a temporary shelter in Khan Younis when she said: "At 4.30 a.m. I was awake and sitting with my aunt drinking coffee. Suddenly I woke up in the middle of ruins. Everyone around me was screaming, so I screamed." Lamdani said that only her brother and two young cousins had survived but had sustained some injuries.
A third convoy of aid trucks entered the Rafah crossing from Egypt bound for the besieged Gaza Strip, an aid worker and two security sources told Reuters.
On Saturday and Sunday, 34 trucks passed through. The number of trucks in Monday's convoy was similar to each of those days. UN officials say about 100 trucks would be needed daily to meet essential needs in Gaza, which is home to 2.3 million people and where stocks of food, water and fuel have been running low.
Cryptocurrency's role in terrorist financing and funding militant groups has come under renewed scrutiny following a deadly attack in Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Israel has seized crypto accounts it says are linked to Hamas. U.S. lawmakers have urged the government to crack down on the use of cryptocurrencies by Hamas and its affiliates.
But cryptocurrencies are just one way that violent militant groups and groups designated as terrorist organisations get and use money. Here's what we know about crypto's role.
Anyone can set up a cryptocurrency wallet address, without always having to undergo checks such as those by a bank. The addresses are pseudonymous – labelled only by a string of letters and numbers – which means people can send and receive cryptocurrency without revealing their identity. The blockchain technology that underpins cryptocurrency operates digitally, across borders, meaning that it can act as an instant payments system.
Crypto is subject globally to less specific regulation than traditional finance, although new rules are being introduced in some regions.
The Indian Union Muslim League, an ally in the Congress-led UDF in Kerala, announced it would be holding a huge rally this week against the alleged "wanton" killing of civilians, including children, in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza strip.
The IUML said the conscience of the world appears to have been paralysed as no nation was taking steps to end the conflict. "Despite all that is happening, the western and European nations are coming out with more support for Israel. They are competing with each other to support Israel. The actions of Israel raise the question as to whether the conscience of the world and that of humanity has been paralysed," IUML National General Secretary P K Kunhalikutty said at a press conference.
He said the situation in Gaza indicates that in the civilised world of today "there is no limit to bloodshed". (PTI)
In a normal year, Diwali is the time for a sales boom, and salary bonus and gifts for the workers, in diamond hub Surat. But this year, thousands of skilled diamond polishers engaged in the business are staring at a gloomy picture and a possible salary cut. This is because of a slowdown in business primarily due to conflicts abroad, first the Russia-Ukraine war and then the Israel-Hamas war, according to diamond traders. Read more
Israel's military said its ground forces had mounted limited raids into the Gaza Strip overnight and said their air strikes were focusing on sites where Palestinian militants were assembling to attack any wider Israeli invasion.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Sunday its fighters had engaged what it described as an armoured force infiltrating a southern area of Gaza and had destroyed some Israeli military equipment. There was no Israeli comment on such losses.
In a televised briefing describing Israel's latest moves on the ground, Israel's chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari also said 222 people had now been confirmed as taken hostage during the Oct. 7 cross-border onslaught by Hamas.
Iraq's prime minister has ordered security forces to pursue the perpetrators of attacks on military bases hosting international coalition advisers, a government military spokesman said today.
The announcement came after a recent spike in rocket and drone attacks against Iraq military bases which host US and other international forces.
"Attacks that target Iraqi bases that houses advisers from the international coalition in Iraq are unacceptable. They are here based on the invitation of the government," said a spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister and commander-in-chief of the armed forces Mohammed al-Sudani. (Reuters)
Hamas fighters engaged with an Israeli force that infiltrated the Gaza Strip and returned to their base after destroying some Israeli military equipment, the Palestinian group's armed wing Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades said yesterday.
The group said in a statement the infiltration by what it described as an armoured force took place east of Khan Younis in the southern region of Gaza, amid expectations of a full-scale ground offensive by Israeli forces massed around the enclave.
“Fighters engaged with the infiltrating force, destroying two bulldozers and a tank and forced the force to withdraw, before they returned safely to base,” the statement said. There was no immediate Israeli comment about the destruction of Israeli equipment or vehicles. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a security assessment at the Kirya in Tel Aviv, along with members of the War Cabinet and senior security officials. Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden confirmed that the first two convoys of humanitarian assistance had arrived in Gaza, with more aid to follow.
Oil prices fell more than $1 today as concerns about supply disruptions eased due to diplomatic efforts intensifying in an attempt to contain the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
Brent crude futures fell 67 cents to $91.49 a barrel, as of 0628 GMT, having lost $1.08 to $91.08 a barrel earlier on Monday. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 82 cents at $87.26 a barrel, after sliding $1.72 to $87.03 a barrel earlier in the session.
The contracts had risen more than 1% last week for a second consecutive weekly jump on fears of potential supply disruption if the Israel-Hamas war grows into a wider confrontation in the Middle East, the world's biggest oil-supplying region. (Reuters)
The Israeli army today said that it hit around 320 targets belonging to the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror in Gaza over the past day, as per media reports.
"Among the targets that were attacked at the direction of the Shin Bet and Amman, tunnels in which operatives of the terrorist organization Hamas, dozens of operational headquarters, some of which were hiding from Hamas and GAP terrorists, military compounds used by the organization and observation posts," it said in a post.
The United States has advised Israel to delay its ground invasion plans in order to allow for more time to negotiate the release of 212 hostages held by Hamas and allow more aid into Palestinian civilians, reported The New York Times.
It said that President Biden "not making a demand of Israel and still supports the ground invasion and Israel’s goal of eradicating Hamas".
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, two Palestinians were killed at the Jalazone refugee camp near Ramallah, the Palestinian health ministry said today.
Residents told Reuters that Israeli forces raided the camp and carried out widespread arrests, as they clashed with gunmen and some youths who threw stones. The Israeli army has not issued a statement about the incident. (Reuters)
The historical significance of the dates August 29-31 to the global Jewish community can hardly be overemphasised. The three-day conference held at Basel, Switzerland in 1897, was to usher in a whole new phase in the history of modern Zionism, that eventually led to the the birth of Israel. Months of preparation had gone into ensuring the success of the conference. The chair of the conference, Theodore Herzl, an Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist who is better known as the father of modern Zionism, had thrown himself into the heart of the preparation, carrying out extensive correspondence with Zionist leaders from across Europe and distributing the agenda in every major European Jewish community.
By the eve of the conference a total of 204 delegates arrived from 15 countries, including the United States, Algeria, Palestine as well as Western and Eastern Europe. The sessions began at the Stadt Casino, a concert hall. A modern Zionist flag hung out at the entrance while the galleries were packed with visitors and correspondents from all the leading newspapers of Europe. Herzl began his speech amidst a roar of applause: “We are here to lay the foundation stone of the house which is to shelter the Jewish nation.” (Read more)
Several Western analysts have said that the October 7 attacks on Israel are the country’s 9/11 moment. Closer home, a few observers compare the attacks to the 26/11 terror strikes on Mumbai. Both these comparisons ignore historical contexts. At the same time, it cannot be denied that these attacks were intelligence failures in multiple ways.
From 2001 to 2008 to 2023, the world has seen a massive transformation of intelligence functioning with the infusion of technology. Digital footprints have become the guiding indicators of information and are crucial for building surveillance. Israel’s reliance on technology for its overall security ecosystem is perhaps second to none. The country has deployed a vast network of surveillance cameras along its borders — these include thermal-imaging cameras, pan-tilt-zoom cameras, and other advanced video analytics systems. These cameras provide real-time monitoring and help detect and track suspicious activities and individuals. Israel has constructed physical barriers, such as fences and walls, to secure its borders. The most well-known example is the West Bank Barrier, aimed at preventing unauthorised access. The country employs drones to conduct constant aerial surveillance along its borders. These machines are equipped with advanced sensors and cameras for monitoring and detecting potential security threats. (Read more)
The Israeli military has carried out airstrikes near the Al-Shifa and Al-Quds hospitals in Gaza City, reported The Times of Israel quoting the Palestinian Authority’s Wafa news site.
The Wafa report came after the Israel Defense Forces said it was bombing dozens of Hamas-linked sites in the Gaza Strip, but there was no immediate news on casulaties or damage.
Express's Diplomatic Editor Shubhajit Roy travelled across Israel — from the Gaza border in south Israel to the occupied territory of West Bank — to find two sides united by the searing pain of seeing their loved ones, and their idea of home and country, coming under attack. (Read here)
Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to convey condolences over the loss of civilian lives at the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, India on Sunday sent its first humanitarian aid for the beleaguered residents of Gaza via Egypt.
“India sends humanitarian aid to the people of Palestine. An IAF C-17 flight carrying nearly 6.5 tonnes of medical aid and 32 tonnes of disaster relief material for the people of Palestine departs for El-Arish airport in Egypt,” the Ministry of External Affairs’ official spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi, posted on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter).
“The material includes essential life-saving medicines, surgical items, tents, sleeping bags, tarpaulins, sanitary utilities, water purification tablets among other necessary items,” he posted. (Read more)
The remains of three Nepali students who tragically lost their lives in a Hamas attack have been brought back to Kathmandu, Nepal. This solemn return marks the end of a harrowing chapter in the lives of the victims' families, as they prepare to lay their loved ones to rest.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said that the United States expects the Israel-Hamas war to escalate through involvement by proxies of Iran, and they asserted that the Biden administration is prepared to respond if American personnel or armed forces become the target of any such hostilities.
“This is not what we want, not what we're looking for. We don't want escalation,” Blinken said. "We don't want to see our forces or our personnel come under fire. But if that happens, we're ready for it.”
Austin, echoing Blinken, said “what we're seeing is a prospect of a significant escalation of attacks on our troops and our people throughout the region.” He said the US has the right to self-defence “and we won't hesitate to take the appropriate action.”
The warning from the high-ranking US officials came as Israel's military response to a deadly October 7 attack by Hamas on civilians in communities in southern Israel entered its third week. (AP)
In the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and the militant group Hamas, Israeli warplanes struck parts of Gaza and two airports in Syria on Sunday (October 22). This was roughly two weeks after Hamas struck Israel, in what was the biggest attack on Israel since the founding of the Jewish state in 1948.
Regional rivalries and long-running divides have determined how various West Asian countries and other actors have responded to the current bout of violence. In this regard, what explains the attack on Syria? (Read more)
The second aid convoy destined for desperate Palestinian civilians reached Gaza on Sunday, as Israel widened its attacks to include targets in Syria and the occupied West Bank.
COGAT, the Israeli defense body responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs, said the aid included water, food and medical supplies and that everything was inspected by Israel before it was brought into Gaza. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees confirmed the arrival of 14 trucks. Israel has not allowed any fuel to enter Gaza.
Relief workers said far more aid was needed to address the spiralling humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where half the territory's 2.3 million people have fled their homes. The UN humanitarian agency said Saturday's convoy carried about 4% of an average day’s imports before the war and “a fraction of what is needed after 13 days of complete siege."The Israeli military said the humanitarian situation was “under control,” even as the UN called for 100 trucks a day to enter. (AP)
India has extended a helping hand to the Palestinian city of Gaza, which has been enduring a siege by Israeli forces for two weeks following the outbreak of hostilities between Israel and the militant group Hamas.
The Ministry of External Affairs announced via social media that an Indian Air Force C-17 flight has departed, carrying approximately 6.5 tonnes of medical aid and 32 tonnes of disaster relief supplies destined for the people of Palestine. The aid includes crucial life-saving medicines, surgical equipment, tents, sleeping bags, tarpaulins, sanitary utilities, water purification tablets, and other essential items to support those affected by the conflict in Gaza.
US President Joe Biden today said that the first two convoys of humanitarian assistance arrived in Gaza yesterday, and more aid will follow.
Sharren Haskel, 39, is a rising star in Israeli politics and a member of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset. She started out as a member of the Likud party led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. When she was first elected in 2015, she was the youngest member of Likud and the second youngest member of the 20th Knesset. Three years ago, she left Likud and joined the New Hope party, following which she was a part of the National Unity — a political alliance made up of Benny Gantz’s Blue and White alliance and Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope party, as well as former Israeli Defence Forces Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot.
A vocal critic of Netanyahu’s judicial reforms law, she is part of the Opposition alliance, which has now joined the wartime cabinet with Netanyahu, after the October 7 attacks by Hamas. In an exclusive interview with The Indian Express, she talks about the aftermath of the October 7 attacks, the priorities of the new political establishment, the decision to defer the political issues with the Netanyahu government and the possible fault-lines within Israeli society between Jews and Arabs. (Read more)
Several Egyptian border guards sustained minor injuries on Sunday after being accidentally hit by fragments of a shell from an Israeli tank, a spokesperson for the Egyptian army said.
Israel's military earlier said one of its tanks accidentally hit an Egyptian position near the border with the Gaza Strip.
Israel's defence force "expresses sorrow regarding the incident," which is being investigated," it said in a statement, giving no further details. (Reuters)
Sharren Haskel, 39, is a rising star in Israeli politics and a member of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset. She started out as a member of the Likud party led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. When she was first elected in 2015, she was the youngest member of Likud and the second youngest member of the 20th Knesset. Three years ago, she left Likud and joined the New Hope party, following which she was a part of the National Unity — a political alliance made up of Benny Gantz’s Blue and White alliance and Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope party, as well as former Israeli Defence Forces Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot.
A vocal critic of Netanyahu’s judicial reforms law, she is part of the Opposition alliance, which has now joined the wartime cabinet with Netanyahu, after the October 7 attacks by Hamas. In an exclusive interview with The Indian Express, she talks about the aftermath of the October 7 attacks, the priorities of the new political establishment, the decision to defer the political issues with the Netanyahu government and the possible fault-lines within Israeli society between Jews and Arabs. (Click here to read the full interview)
Israeli forces killed six Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, bringing the number of deaths to 91 since Oct. 7, the Palestinian health ministry said on Sunday. (Reuters)
As 'Operation Ajay' continues, the sixth flight carrying Indian nationals has departed from Tel Aviv for Delhi.
Confirming the same, the Indian Embassy in Israel posted on social media platform X, "The sixth flight has taken off from Tel Aviv to Delhi. Embassy wishes everyone on board a safe journey." The pictures posted by the Indian embassy showed people carrying the Indian tricolour as they expressed happiness over evacuation from Israel during its ongoing war with Hamas.
"#OperationAjay update Flight #6 departs from Tel Aviv," the External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar posted on X. Notably, Operation Ajay is an ongoing operation conducted by the Indian Armed Forces to evacuate Indian citizens from Israel during the 2023 Israel-Hamas war.(ANI)
On Oct. 7, a few hours after Hamas began its devastating attack on Israel, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by telephone with Qatar’s prime minister.
Hamas gunmen had just slaughtered more than 1,400 people and kidnapped more than 200, including Americans, and Blinken raised the issue of the hostages with the prime minister, according to two senior State Department officials. The hope among many diplomats was that Qatar could play the middleman. That’s exactly what it did.
Over nearly the next two weeks, Blinken and other US officials, their Qatari counterparts and representatives from Turkey, Egypt, France and many other countries held delicate talks about how to get the captives out — or least start the process. Qatar, a tiny country on the Persian Gulf, played an outsized role. It’s an American ally with open lines to Hamas — many of Hamas’ political leaders reside at least part-time in Doha, Qatar’s capital — and it has a long history of brokering deals with groups that the United States considers terrorists.
On Friday night, when Hamas released two captives, Judith and Natalie Raanan, an American-Israeli mother and daughter, one of the first things US officials did was thank the Qataris. (Read More)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hezbollah on Sunday against opening a second war front with Israel, saying that doing so would bring Israeli counter-strikes of "unimaginable" magnitude that would wreak "devastation" upon Lebanon.
In an official transcript of a briefing Netanyahu gave Israeli commandos near the Lebanese border, he also said: "I cannot tell you right now if Hezbollah will decide to enter the (Gaza) war fully."
That war, launched after a devastating cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct 7, was "do or die" for Israel, Netanyahu said. (Reuters)
According to an AP news report, a convoy of 17 trucks bringing aid to besieged Palestinians crossed into Gaza on Sunday, Egypt’s state-run media said.
The delivery would be the second shipment into the territory in the past two days. Residents of Gaza have been under an Israeli blockade that cut off food, water, medicine and electricity since Hamas militants rampaged through southern Israel on October 7.
The historical significance of the dates August 29-31 to the global Jewish community can hardly be overemphasised. The three-day conference held at Basel, Switzerland in 1897, was to usher in a whole new phase in the history of modern Zionism, that eventually led to the the birth of Israel. Months of preparation had gone into ensuring the success of the conference. The chair of the conference, Theodore Herzl, an Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist who is better known as the father of modern Zionism, had thrown himself into the heart of the preparation, carrying out extensive correspondence with Zionist leaders from across Europe and distributing the agenda in every major European Jewish community.
By the eve of the conference a total of 204 delegates arrived from 15 countries, including the United States, Algeria, Palestine as well as Western and Eastern Europe. The sessions began at the Stadt Casino, a concert hall. A modern Zionist flag hung out at the entrance while the galleries were packed with visitors and correspondents from all the leading newspapers of Europe. Herzl began his speech amidst a roar of applause: “We are here to lay the foundation stone of the house which is to shelter the Jewish nation.” Adrija Roychowdhury writes...
According to a Reuters report, Gaza's health ministry spokesman said on Sunday that since Oct. 7, Israeli strikes on Gaza have resulted in the death of 4,651 Palestinians, of which 40% were children.
More than 14,245 others have been wounded, with 70% of them being children and women. The spokesman, Ashraf Al-Qudra, said that Israel strikes had killed 266 Palestinians over the past 24 hours, including 117 children.
India has extended a helping hand to the Palestinian city of Gaza, which has been enduring a siege by Israeli forces for two weeks following the outbreak of hostilities between Israel and the militant group Hamas. The Ministry of External Affairs announced via social media that an Indian Air Force C-17 flight has departed, carrying approximately 6.5 tonnes of medical aid and 32 tonnes of disaster relief supplies destined for the people of Palestine. The aid includes crucial life-saving medicines, surgical equipment, tents, sleeping bags, tarpaulins, sanitary utilities, water purification tablets, and other essential items to support those affected by the conflict in Gaza.
Israel's military has escalated its airstrikes on northern Gaza as the conflict with Hamas entered its sixteenth day. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on October 21 in Tel Aviv to discuss the ongoing situation and condemn the loss of lives in war-torn Israel. PM Netanyahu called on both countries to unite against the ongoing violence, labeling it "barbarism." Italian Prime Minister Meloni assured Israel of Italy's support.
Israeli warplanes struck targets across Gaza overnight and into Sunday, as well as two airports in Syria and a mosque in the occupied West Bank allegedly used by militants, as the two-week-old war with Hamas threatened to spiral into a broader conflict.
Israel has traded fire with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group on a near-daily basis since the war began, and tensions are soaring in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces have battled militants in refugee camps and carried out two airstrikes in recent days.
For days, Israel has seemed to be on the verge of launching a ground offensive in Gaza as part of its response to Hamas’ deadly October 7 rampage. (Read More)
The remains of three Nepali students who tragically lost their lives in a Hamas attack have been brought back to Kathmandu, Nepal. This solemn return marks the end of a harrowing chapter in the lives of the victims' families, as they prepare to lay their loved ones to rest. On October 7, a tragic incident occurred when Hamas launched a sudden strike at a farm in Israel's Kibbutz, where 17 Nepalese students were present. Regrettably, ten Nepalese students lost their lives in the attack, six managed to escape, and one student went missing during the incident.
Syrian state media reported that Israeli airstrikes early Sunday targeted the international airports of the Syrian capital Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo, killing one person.
Israel has targeted airports and sea ports in the government-held parts of Syria in an apparent attempt to prevent arms shipments from Iran to militant groups backed by Tehran, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah. (AP)
? Israeli Defense Forces said a military aircraft launched a strike early Sunday on the Al-Ansar mosque at the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank
? The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Saturday that the death toll has reached 4,385, while 13,561 people have been wounded
? 203 people are believed captured by Hamas during the incursion and taken into Gaza, the Israeli military has said
? The United Nations humanitarian chief says it’s unclear whether more aid will enter Gaza on Sunday.
? At least 130 premature babies are at “grave risk” because of lack of fuel at Gaza hospitals, the U.N. health agency said Sunday.
? India on Sunday sent nearly 6.5 tonnes (7.1 tons) of medical aid and 32 tonnes (35 tons) of disaster relief supplies to Palestinians.
? The Palestinian Health Ministry in the occupied West Bank said at least four people were killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank early Sunday.
? Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni has made a trip to Israel to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, her office said. The meeting Saturday came after Meloni participated in a summit in Cairo focused on ways to de-escalate the raging Israel-Hamas war.
? Israel plans to step up its attacks on the Gaza Strip starting Saturday as preparation for the next stage of its war on Hamas, Israel's military spokesman says (AP)
Among the casualties on the Israeli side since the October 7 Hamas assault plunged Israel and Gaza into a vortex of violence, are at least four Bedouin soldiers. A popular video on social media shows local Israelis expressing their gratitude to a Bedouin commander named Ashraf for putting up an effective defence against Hamas fighters.
The Bedouins are a nomadic Muslim Arab people who live mainly in the Negev desert of southern Israel. They have traditionally been pastoralists with no powerful or exclusive national affiliation, who would, until about a century and a half ago, wander the area between Saudi Arabia and the Sinai with their livestock.
Manraj Grewal Sharma explains the Bedouin people's connection with the Jewish state
Palestinians in Gaza say they have received renewed warnings from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to move southwards, or risk being identified as a partner or sympathiser with "terrorists".
According to news agency Reuters, the message was delivered in leaflets marked with the IDF name and logo and sent to people via mobile phone audio messages across the Gaza Strip, a narrow territory that is just 45 km long.
"Urgent warning, to residents of Gaza. Your presence north of Wadi Gaza puts your life in danger. Whoever chooses not to leave north Gaza to the south of Wadi Gaza might be identified as an accomplice in a terrorist organisation," the leaflet said.
(With Reuters inputs)
At least two workers were killed on Sunday "as a result of Israeli bombardment targeting Syria's Damascus airport at dawn," Syria's general directorate of meteorology said in a statement. (Reuters)
The Palestinian Health Ministry on Sunday said that Israeli forces killed a fifth Palestinian in the occupied West Bank, according to news agency Reuters.
This brings the total number of deaths to 90 since October 7, when Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an infiltration into southern Israel.
India on Sunday sent humanitarian aid to the Palestinian city of Gaza, which has been under siege by Israeli forces since two weeks after war broke out between Israel and militant group Hamas. In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), the Ministry of External Affairs said, “An IAF C-17 flight carrying nearly 6.5 tonnes of medical aid and 32 tonnes of disaster relief material for the people of Palestine departs for El-Arish airport in Egypt. The material includes essential life-saving medicines, surgical items, tents, sleeping bags, tarpaulins, sanitary utilities, water purification tablets among other necessary items.”
More than 50 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes overnight, medical sources told news agency Reuters.
Israel added 14 communities to its evacuation plan in the north of the country, a joint statement by the defence ministry and military said on Sunday.
The communities outlined in the statement, which were approved by Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, lie close to Lebanon and Syria. (Reuters)
Canada's National Department of Defence on Saturday said that Israel was not behind the the Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital strike in Gaza on October 17. It further blamed "an errant rocket fired from Gaza" for the strike.
"Analysis conducted independently by the Canadian Forces Intelligence Command indicates with a high degree of confidence that Israel did not strike the Al-Ahli hospital on 17 October 2023," a statement from the National Department of Defence read.
Canada said its assessment is informed by an analysis of the blast damage to the hospital complex, including adjacent buildings and the area surrounding the hospital, as well as the flight pattern of the incoming munition.
According to Palestinian officials, 471 people were killed in the blast.
(With Reuters inputs)
United Nations leaders and agencies have welcomed the entry of a humanitarian aid convoy into Gaza via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt but noted that it is only a small beginning, still far from enough and reiterated their appeal for an immediate ceasefire.
A 20-truck convoy of the Egyptian Red Crescent entered Gaza with humanitarian supplies, the first since the conflict began following attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel on October 7.
"I want to express my deep gratitude to Egypt in this regard. But the people of Gaza need a commitment for much, much more – a continuous delivery of aid to Gaza at the scale that is needed," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Saturday.
"We are working nonstop with all parties that are relevant to make it happen,” he said in remarks at the Cairo Summit for Peace.
Five UN agencies - UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) - said the “first, but limited, shipment of life-saving humanitarian supplies” from the UN and the Egyptian Red Crescent that entered Gaza through the Rafah Crossing, will provide an urgently needed lifeline to some of the hundreds of thousands of civilians, mostly women and children, cut off from water, food, medicine, fuel and other essentials.
“But it is only a small beginning and far from enough. More than 1.6 million people in Gaza are in critical need of humanitarian aid. Children, pregnant women and the elderly remain the most vulnerable. Nearly half of Gaza's population are children,” the agencies said.
“Gaza was a desperate humanitarian situation before the most recent hostilities. It is now catastrophic. The world must do more,” they said.
The agencies added that with so much civilian infrastructure in Gaza damaged or destroyed in nearly two weeks of constant bombings, including shelters, health facilities, water, sanitation, and electrical systems, “time is running out” before mortality rates could skyrocket due to disease outbreaks and lack of health-care capacity.
They also noted that hospitals are overwhelmed with casualties. Civilians face mounting challenges in accessing essential food supplies, and health facilities no longer have fuel and are running on small amounts they have secured locally.
"These are expected to run out in the next day or so. Water production capacity is at 5 per cent of normal levels. Pre-positioned humanitarian supplies have already been depleted,” they said.
The agencies called for a humanitarian ceasefire, along with immediate, unrestricted humanitarian access throughout Gaza, allowing humanitarian actors to reach civilians in need, save lives and prevent further human suffering.
“Flows of humanitarian aid must be at scale and sustained and allow all Gazans to preserve their dignity,” the agencies said.
They also called for safe and sustained access to water, food, health – including sexual and reproductive health – and fuel necessary to enable essential services.
“We call for the protection of humanitarian workers in Gaza who are risking their lives in the service of others. And we call for the utmost respect of international humanitarian law by all parties," the agencies said.
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths welcomed the announcement that the aid convoy has entered Gaza, the first since the outbreak of hostilities on October 7.
The 20-truck convoy includes life-saving supplies provided by the Egyptian Red Crescent and the UN, which are approved to cross and be received by the Palestinian Red Crescent.
“The delivery follows days of deep and intense negotiations with all relevant sides to make sure that aid operation into Gaza resumes as quickly as possible and with the right conditions,” he said.
Griffiths expressed confidence that the delivery of aid will be the “start of a sustainable effort" to provide essential supplies – including food, water, medicine and fuel – to the people of Gaza in a safe, dependable, unconditional and unimpeded manner.
“Two weeks since the start of hostilities, the humanitarian situation in Gaza – already precarious – has reached catastrophic levels. It is critical that aid reaches people in need wherever they are across Gaza and at the right scale,” he said.
Adding that the people of Gaza have endured decades of suffering, Griffiths said, “The international community cannot continue to fail them.” UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, thanked the Egyptian authorities for facilitating the entry of the first truckloads of aid into the Gaza Strip through Rafah.
“This is an important step that must not be the last. Aid needs to flow safely and continuously going forward. It is a war zone in Gaza, and the needs are immense. All of us can and must do more to save lives now,” he said.
Wennesland reiterated the secretary-general's urgent appeal for the immediate and unconditional release of hostages and an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. (PTI)
A senior Israel Defense Forces official said that private residences are "legitimate targets" if they are housing members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
He also said that the Israeli military will try to not strike zones in Gaza where humanitarian aid is being distributed, unless rockets are fired from that area, news agency AP reported.
"It’s a safe zone. We have a system which every time we decide that an area … is a safe zone, we declare no attack in this area. We won’t attack them,” he told foreign journalists in Jerusalem.
He added that the definition of what constitutes a “legitimate target” has changed, because the use of civilian infrastructure by Hamas “turns a private home into a legitimate target. And anyone who supports that home is a legitimate target.”
He also acknowledged that the IDF has attacked houses where there are civilians living among militants.
(With AP inputs)
The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt opened on Saturday to let in humanitarian aid for the city for the first time since Israel laid it under siege. The reopening of the border followed over a week of intensive diplomatic efforts involving various mediators, including visits to the region by US President Joe Biden and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Additionally, the Palestinian side of the crossing had been temporarily closed due to Israeli airstrikes. While more than 200 trucks loaded with approximately 3,000 tons of aid had been waiting near the crossing for several days, Egypt’s state-owned Al-Qahera news, which has close ties to security agencies, reported that only 20 trucks entered Gaza on Saturday.
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Israeli aircraft struck a compound beneath the al-Ansar Mosque in the occupied West Bank early on Sunday, news agency Reuters reported. Israeli military claimed that the compound beneath the mosque in Jenin refugee camp belonged to operatives from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad who were responsible for attacks in recent months. Palestinian medics said at least one person was killed in the strike.
The Israeli air strike is at least the second in recent days to hit the West Bank, where violence has surged since Hamas carried out an infiltration into southern Israel on October 7, after which Israel declared itself at war with the militant group.