New Gaza talks push as Israeli attacks kill at least 21
Israeli gunfire and air strikes have killed at least 21 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, local health authorities say, as mediators reach out to Israel and Hamas to seek a resumption of ceasefire talks to end the war.
Local health authorities said an Israeli air strike killed at least nine people at a school housing displaced families in the Sheikh Radwan suburb in Gaza City, while another strike killed nine people near a tent encampment in Khan Younis in the south of the enclave.
Three other people were killed by Israeli gunfire and dozens were wounded as crowds awaited UN aid trucks along a main route in central Gaza, medics said, the latest in a series of fatalities at aid distribution points.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on Thursday's incidents.
Israel says it is seeking to eliminate militants from Hamas, which attacked southern Israel from Gaza in 2023, and free hostages still held by the group.
The new deaths come as Arab mediators, Egypt and Qatar, backed by the United States, reached out to the warring parties in a bid to hold new ceasefire talks, but no exact time was set for a new round, according to Hamas sources.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads a coalition with far-right parties, insists that Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, release all hostages, relinquish any role and lay down its weapons to end to the war.
Hamas, in turn, has stated it would release the hostages if Israel agrees to a permanent ceasefire and withdraws from Gaza.
While it has conceded it would no longer govern Gaza, Hamas has refused to discuss disarmament.
Hamas-led militants killed close to 1200 people and took 251 hostages when they attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, according to tallies from Israel, which launched a huge military campaign in response.
Israel's retaliatory war has so far killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, and destroyed much of the coastal strip.
Most of the hostages released so far have been freed through indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel.
Israeli gunfire and air strikes have killed at least 21 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, local health authorities say, as mediators reach out to Israel and Hamas to seek a resumption of ceasefire talks to end the war.
Local health authorities said an Israeli air strike killed at least nine people at a school housing displaced families in the Sheikh Radwan suburb in Gaza City, while another strike killed nine people near a tent encampment in Khan Younis in the south of the enclave.
Three other people were killed by Israeli gunfire and dozens were wounded as crowds awaited UN aid trucks along a main route in central Gaza, medics said, the latest in a series of fatalities at aid distribution points.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on Thursday's incidents.
Israel says it is seeking to eliminate militants from Hamas, which attacked southern Israel from Gaza in 2023, and free hostages still held by the group.
The new deaths come as Arab mediators, Egypt and Qatar, backed by the United States, reached out to the warring parties in a bid to hold new ceasefire talks, but no exact time was set for a new round, according to Hamas sources.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads a coalition with far-right parties, insists that Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, release all hostages, relinquish any role and lay down its weapons to end to the war.
Hamas, in turn, has stated it would release the hostages if Israel agrees to a permanent ceasefire and withdraws from Gaza.
While it has conceded it would no longer govern Gaza, Hamas has refused to discuss disarmament.
Hamas-led militants killed close to 1200 people and took 251 hostages when they attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, according to tallies from Israel, which launched a huge military campaign in response.
Israel's retaliatory war has so far killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, and destroyed much of the coastal strip.
Most of the hostages released so far have been freed through indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel.
Israeli gunfire and air strikes have killed at least 21 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, local health authorities say, as mediators reach out to Israel and Hamas to seek a resumption of ceasefire talks to end the war.
Local health authorities said an Israeli air strike killed at least nine people at a school housing displaced families in the Sheikh Radwan suburb in Gaza City, while another strike killed nine people near a tent encampment in Khan Younis in the south of the enclave.
Three other people were killed by Israeli gunfire and dozens were wounded as crowds awaited UN aid trucks along a main route in central Gaza, medics said, the latest in a series of fatalities at aid distribution points.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on Thursday's incidents.
Israel says it is seeking to eliminate militants from Hamas, which attacked southern Israel from Gaza in 2023, and free hostages still held by the group.
The new deaths come as Arab mediators, Egypt and Qatar, backed by the United States, reached out to the warring parties in a bid to hold new ceasefire talks, but no exact time was set for a new round, according to Hamas sources.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads a coalition with far-right parties, insists that Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, release all hostages, relinquish any role and lay down its weapons to end to the war.
Hamas, in turn, has stated it would release the hostages if Israel agrees to a permanent ceasefire and withdraws from Gaza.
While it has conceded it would no longer govern Gaza, Hamas has refused to discuss disarmament.
Hamas-led militants killed close to 1200 people and took 251 hostages when they attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, according to tallies from Israel, which launched a huge military campaign in response.
Israel's retaliatory war has so far killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, and destroyed much of the coastal strip.
Most of the hostages released so far have been freed through indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel.
Israeli gunfire and air strikes have killed at least 21 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, local health authorities say, as mediators reach out to Israel and Hamas to seek a resumption of ceasefire talks to end the war.
Local health authorities said an Israeli air strike killed at least nine people at a school housing displaced families in the Sheikh Radwan suburb in Gaza City, while another strike killed nine people near a tent encampment in Khan Younis in the south of the enclave.
Three other people were killed by Israeli gunfire and dozens were wounded as crowds awaited UN aid trucks along a main route in central Gaza, medics said, the latest in a series of fatalities at aid distribution points.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on Thursday's incidents.
Israel says it is seeking to eliminate militants from Hamas, which attacked southern Israel from Gaza in 2023, and free hostages still held by the group.
The new deaths come as Arab mediators, Egypt and Qatar, backed by the United States, reached out to the warring parties in a bid to hold new ceasefire talks, but no exact time was set for a new round, according to Hamas sources.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads a coalition with far-right parties, insists that Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, release all hostages, relinquish any role and lay down its weapons to end to the war.
Hamas, in turn, has stated it would release the hostages if Israel agrees to a permanent ceasefire and withdraws from Gaza.
While it has conceded it would no longer govern Gaza, Hamas has refused to discuss disarmament.
Hamas-led militants killed close to 1200 people and took 251 hostages when they attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, according to tallies from Israel, which launched a huge military campaign in response.
Israel's retaliatory war has so far killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, and destroyed much of the coastal strip.
Most of the hostages released so far have been freed through indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel.
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The Advertiser
31 minutes ago
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Israel halts aid in north Gaza, clans deny Hamas theft
Israel has stopped aid from entering northern Gaza but is still allowing it to enter from the south, two officials said after images circulated of masked men on aid trucks who clan leaders said were protecting aid, not Hamas stealing it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a joint statement with Defense Minister Israel Katz, said late on Wednesday that he had ordered the military to present a plan within two days to prevent Hamas from taking control of aid. They cited new unspecified information indicating that Hamas was seizing aid intended for civilians in northern Gaza. A video circulating on Wednesday showed dozens of masked men, some armed with rifles but most carrying sticks, riding on aid trucks. Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer on Thursday told reporters that aid was continuing to enter from the south but did not specify whether any supplies were entering in the north. The US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which operates aid distribution sites in southern and central Gaza, said on X that it was the only humanitarian organisation permitted on Thursday to distribute food in Gaza. A spokesperson said the foundation was exempt from a two-day suspension of humanitarian aid deliveries into the territory. The Israeli prime minister's office and the defence ministry did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment. The Higher Commission for Tribal Affairs, which represents influential clans in Gaza, said that trucks had been protected as part of an aid security process managed "solely through tribal efforts". The commission said that no Palestinian faction, a reference to Hamas, had taken part in the process. Hamas, the militant group that has ruled Gaza for more than two decades but now controls only parts of the territory after nearly two years of war with Israel, denied any involvement. There is an acute shortage of food and other basic supplies after the nearly two-year military campaign by Israel that has displaced most of Gaza's two million inhabitants. Aid trucks and warehouses storing supplies have often been looted, frequently by desperate and starving Palestinians. Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies. "The clans came ... to form a stance to prevent the aggressors and the thieves from stealing the food that belongs to our people," Abu Salman Al Moghani, a representative of Gazan clans, said, referring to Wednesday's operation. The Wednesday video was shared on X by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who claimed that Hamas had taken control of aid allowed into Gaza by the Israeli government. Bennett is widely seen as the most viable challenger to Netanyahu at the next election. Netanyahu has also faced pressure from within his right-wing coalition, with some hardline members threatening to quit over ceasefire negotiations and the delivery of humanitarian aid. The war began when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killing nearly 1200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 others hostage into Gaza. In response, Israel launched a military campaign that has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, according to local health authorities in Gaza. At least 118 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since Wednesday, local health authorities said, including some shot near an aid distribution point, the latest in a series of such incidents. Israel has stopped aid from entering northern Gaza but is still allowing it to enter from the south, two officials said after images circulated of masked men on aid trucks who clan leaders said were protecting aid, not Hamas stealing it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a joint statement with Defense Minister Israel Katz, said late on Wednesday that he had ordered the military to present a plan within two days to prevent Hamas from taking control of aid. They cited new unspecified information indicating that Hamas was seizing aid intended for civilians in northern Gaza. A video circulating on Wednesday showed dozens of masked men, some armed with rifles but most carrying sticks, riding on aid trucks. Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer on Thursday told reporters that aid was continuing to enter from the south but did not specify whether any supplies were entering in the north. The US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which operates aid distribution sites in southern and central Gaza, said on X that it was the only humanitarian organisation permitted on Thursday to distribute food in Gaza. A spokesperson said the foundation was exempt from a two-day suspension of humanitarian aid deliveries into the territory. The Israeli prime minister's office and the defence ministry did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment. The Higher Commission for Tribal Affairs, which represents influential clans in Gaza, said that trucks had been protected as part of an aid security process managed "solely through tribal efforts". The commission said that no Palestinian faction, a reference to Hamas, had taken part in the process. Hamas, the militant group that has ruled Gaza for more than two decades but now controls only parts of the territory after nearly two years of war with Israel, denied any involvement. There is an acute shortage of food and other basic supplies after the nearly two-year military campaign by Israel that has displaced most of Gaza's two million inhabitants. Aid trucks and warehouses storing supplies have often been looted, frequently by desperate and starving Palestinians. Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies. "The clans came ... to form a stance to prevent the aggressors and the thieves from stealing the food that belongs to our people," Abu Salman Al Moghani, a representative of Gazan clans, said, referring to Wednesday's operation. The Wednesday video was shared on X by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who claimed that Hamas had taken control of aid allowed into Gaza by the Israeli government. Bennett is widely seen as the most viable challenger to Netanyahu at the next election. Netanyahu has also faced pressure from within his right-wing coalition, with some hardline members threatening to quit over ceasefire negotiations and the delivery of humanitarian aid. The war began when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killing nearly 1200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 others hostage into Gaza. In response, Israel launched a military campaign that has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, according to local health authorities in Gaza. At least 118 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since Wednesday, local health authorities said, including some shot near an aid distribution point, the latest in a series of such incidents. Israel has stopped aid from entering northern Gaza but is still allowing it to enter from the south, two officials said after images circulated of masked men on aid trucks who clan leaders said were protecting aid, not Hamas stealing it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a joint statement with Defense Minister Israel Katz, said late on Wednesday that he had ordered the military to present a plan within two days to prevent Hamas from taking control of aid. They cited new unspecified information indicating that Hamas was seizing aid intended for civilians in northern Gaza. A video circulating on Wednesday showed dozens of masked men, some armed with rifles but most carrying sticks, riding on aid trucks. Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer on Thursday told reporters that aid was continuing to enter from the south but did not specify whether any supplies were entering in the north. The US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which operates aid distribution sites in southern and central Gaza, said on X that it was the only humanitarian organisation permitted on Thursday to distribute food in Gaza. A spokesperson said the foundation was exempt from a two-day suspension of humanitarian aid deliveries into the territory. The Israeli prime minister's office and the defence ministry did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment. The Higher Commission for Tribal Affairs, which represents influential clans in Gaza, said that trucks had been protected as part of an aid security process managed "solely through tribal efforts". The commission said that no Palestinian faction, a reference to Hamas, had taken part in the process. Hamas, the militant group that has ruled Gaza for more than two decades but now controls only parts of the territory after nearly two years of war with Israel, denied any involvement. There is an acute shortage of food and other basic supplies after the nearly two-year military campaign by Israel that has displaced most of Gaza's two million inhabitants. Aid trucks and warehouses storing supplies have often been looted, frequently by desperate and starving Palestinians. Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies. "The clans came ... to form a stance to prevent the aggressors and the thieves from stealing the food that belongs to our people," Abu Salman Al Moghani, a representative of Gazan clans, said, referring to Wednesday's operation. The Wednesday video was shared on X by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who claimed that Hamas had taken control of aid allowed into Gaza by the Israeli government. Bennett is widely seen as the most viable challenger to Netanyahu at the next election. Netanyahu has also faced pressure from within his right-wing coalition, with some hardline members threatening to quit over ceasefire negotiations and the delivery of humanitarian aid. The war began when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killing nearly 1200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 others hostage into Gaza. In response, Israel launched a military campaign that has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, according to local health authorities in Gaza. At least 118 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since Wednesday, local health authorities said, including some shot near an aid distribution point, the latest in a series of such incidents. Israel has stopped aid from entering northern Gaza but is still allowing it to enter from the south, two officials said after images circulated of masked men on aid trucks who clan leaders said were protecting aid, not Hamas stealing it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a joint statement with Defense Minister Israel Katz, said late on Wednesday that he had ordered the military to present a plan within two days to prevent Hamas from taking control of aid. They cited new unspecified information indicating that Hamas was seizing aid intended for civilians in northern Gaza. A video circulating on Wednesday showed dozens of masked men, some armed with rifles but most carrying sticks, riding on aid trucks. Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer on Thursday told reporters that aid was continuing to enter from the south but did not specify whether any supplies were entering in the north. The US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which operates aid distribution sites in southern and central Gaza, said on X that it was the only humanitarian organisation permitted on Thursday to distribute food in Gaza. A spokesperson said the foundation was exempt from a two-day suspension of humanitarian aid deliveries into the territory. The Israeli prime minister's office and the defence ministry did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment. The Higher Commission for Tribal Affairs, which represents influential clans in Gaza, said that trucks had been protected as part of an aid security process managed "solely through tribal efforts". The commission said that no Palestinian faction, a reference to Hamas, had taken part in the process. Hamas, the militant group that has ruled Gaza for more than two decades but now controls only parts of the territory after nearly two years of war with Israel, denied any involvement. There is an acute shortage of food and other basic supplies after the nearly two-year military campaign by Israel that has displaced most of Gaza's two million inhabitants. Aid trucks and warehouses storing supplies have often been looted, frequently by desperate and starving Palestinians. Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies. "The clans came ... to form a stance to prevent the aggressors and the thieves from stealing the food that belongs to our people," Abu Salman Al Moghani, a representative of Gazan clans, said, referring to Wednesday's operation. The Wednesday video was shared on X by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who claimed that Hamas had taken control of aid allowed into Gaza by the Israeli government. Bennett is widely seen as the most viable challenger to Netanyahu at the next election. Netanyahu has also faced pressure from within his right-wing coalition, with some hardline members threatening to quit over ceasefire negotiations and the delivery of humanitarian aid. The war began when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killing nearly 1200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 others hostage into Gaza. In response, Israel launched a military campaign that has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, according to local health authorities in Gaza. At least 118 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since Wednesday, local health authorities said, including some shot near an aid distribution point, the latest in a series of such incidents.
Perth Now
2 hours ago
- Perth Now
Israel halts aid in north Gaza, clans deny Hamas theft
Israel has stopped aid from entering northern Gaza but is still allowing it to enter from the south, two officials said after images circulated of masked men on aid trucks who clan leaders said were protecting aid, not Hamas stealing it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a joint statement with Defense Minister Israel Katz, said late on Wednesday that he had ordered the military to present a plan within two days to prevent Hamas from taking control of aid. They cited new unspecified information indicating that Hamas was seizing aid intended for civilians in northern Gaza. A video circulating on Wednesday showed dozens of masked men, some armed with rifles but most carrying sticks, riding on aid trucks. Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer on Thursday told reporters that aid was continuing to enter from the south but did not specify whether any supplies were entering in the north. The US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which operates aid distribution sites in southern and central Gaza, said on X that it was the only humanitarian organisation permitted on Thursday to distribute food in Gaza. A spokesperson said the foundation was exempt from a two-day suspension of humanitarian aid deliveries into the territory. The Israeli prime minister's office and the defence ministry did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment. The Higher Commission for Tribal Affairs, which represents influential clans in Gaza, said that trucks had been protected as part of an aid security process managed "solely through tribal efforts". The commission said that no Palestinian faction, a reference to Hamas, had taken part in the process. Hamas, the militant group that has ruled Gaza for more than two decades but now controls only parts of the territory after nearly two years of war with Israel, denied any involvement. There is an acute shortage of food and other basic supplies after the nearly two-year military campaign by Israel that has displaced most of Gaza's two million inhabitants. Aid trucks and warehouses storing supplies have often been looted, frequently by desperate and starving Palestinians. Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies. "The clans came ... to form a stance to prevent the aggressors and the thieves from stealing the food that belongs to our people," Abu Salman Al Moghani, a representative of Gazan clans, said, referring to Wednesday's operation. The Wednesday video was shared on X by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who claimed that Hamas had taken control of aid allowed into Gaza by the Israeli government. Bennett is widely seen as the most viable challenger to Netanyahu at the next election. Netanyahu has also faced pressure from within his right-wing coalition, with some hardline members threatening to quit over ceasefire negotiations and the delivery of humanitarian aid. The war began when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killing nearly 1200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 others hostage into Gaza. In response, Israel launched a military campaign that has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, according to local health authorities in Gaza. At least 118 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since Wednesday, local health authorities said, including some shot near an aid distribution point, the latest in a series of such incidents.
ABC News
5 hours ago
- ABC News
Donald Trump calls for Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial to be cancelled
US President Donald Trump has called for Israel to pardon Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or cancel his corruption trial, saying the US would save him like it did his country. Mr Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 in Israel on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust — all of which he denies. The trial began in 2020 and involves three criminal cases. He has pleaded not guilty. "Bibi Netanyahu's trial should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero, who has done so much for the State (of Israel)," Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday, local time. He said he had learned that Mr Netanyahu was due to appear in court on Monday. Israel's opposition leader Yair Lapid said the US president should keep out of the matter. "With all due respect and gratitude to the president of the United States, he's not supposed to intervene in a legal process of an independent state," Mr Lapid told Israeli news website Ynet. "I hope and suppose that this is a reward he (Trump) is giving him (Netanyahu) because he is planning to pressure him on Gaza and force, to force him into a hostage deal that will end the war." Mr Trump extolled Mr Netanyahu as a "warrior" but also said in his post: "It was the United States of America that saved Israel, and now it is going to be the United States of America that saves Bibi Netanyahu". That appeared to be a reference to US involvement and support for Israeli strikes on Iran's nuclear program. It was unclear if Mr Trump meant the US could do anything to aid Netanyahu in his legal battle. The Republican president described the case against the Israeli leader as a "witch hunt," a term Mr Trump has frequently applied to US attempts to prosecute him and the same term Mr Netanyahu has used to describe his own long-running trial. The warm words contrasted with the rare rebuke he issued on Tuesday over Israel's post-ceasefire strikes on Iran. Reuters
