Israel says ‘will not be deterred' after Hamas issues hostage video
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Hamas confirms it responded to latest Gaza truce proposal
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Hamas confirmed on Thursday that it has responded to an Israeli proposal for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, after more than two weeks of indirect talks in Qatar have failed to yield a truce. 'Hamas has just submitted its response and that of the Palestinian factions to the ceasefire proposal to the mediators,' the Palestinian militant group said in a statement on Telegram. The response included proposed amendments to clauses on the entry of aid, maps of areas from which the Israeli army should withdraw, and guarantees on securing a permanent end to the war, according to a Palestinian source familiar with ongoing talks in Doha. Negotiators from both sides have been holding indirect talks in Doha with mediators in an attempt to reach an agreement on a truce deal that would see the release of Israeli hostages. Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas's 2023 attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. But the talks have dragged on for more than two weeks without a breakthrough, with each side blaming the other for refusing to budge on their key demands. For Israel, dismantling Hamas's military and governing capabilities is non-negotiable, while Hamas demands firm guarantees on a lasting truce, a full withdrawal of Israeli troops and the free flow of aid into Gaza. Israeli government spokesman David Mencer on Wednesday accused Hamas of obstructing talks. 'Israel has agreed to the Qatari proposal and the updated (US special envoy Steve) Witkoff proposal, it is Hamas that is refusing,' Mencer told reporters, adding that Israel's negotiating team was still in Doha and talks were ongoing. The United States said Witkoff will head to Europe this week for talks on a possible ceasefire and an aid corridor. More than 100 aid organizations warned on Wednesday that 'mass starvation' was spreading in Gaza.
Al Arabiya
4 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Brazil to join South Africa's Gaza genocide case against Israel at ICJ
Brazil is finalizing its submission to join South Africa's genocide case against Israel's actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. South Africa filed a case in 2023 asking the ICJ to declare that Israel was in breach of its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention. The case argues that in its war against Hamas militants, Israel's military actions go beyond targeting Hamas alone by attacking civilians, with strikes on schools, hospitals, camps, and shelters. Other countries – including Spain, Turkey, and Colombia – have also sought to join the case against Israel. In its statement, the Brazilian government accused Israel of violations of international law 'such as the annexation of territories by force' and expressed 'deep indignation' at violence suffered by the civilian population. Israel denies deliberately targeting Palestinian civilians, saying its sole interest is to annihilate Hamas. Lawyers for Israel have dismissed South Africa's case as an abuse of the genocide convention. The Israeli embassy in Brasilia did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Brazil's National Israeli association CONIB said in a statement in response to Wednesday's decision that 'the breaking of Brazil's long-standing friendship and partnership with Israel is a misguided move that proves the extremism of our foreign policy.' Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has long been an outspoken critic of Israel's actions in Gaza, but Wednesday's decision carries added significance amid heightened tensions between Brazil and Israel's ally the United States. The Trump administration announced 50 percent tariffs on all Brazilian goods this month. A diplomat familiar with the thinking of the Lula administration told Reuters that Brazil does not believe its decision to join South Africa's case will impact its relationship with Washington, however. The United States has opposed South Africa's genocide case under both former president Joe Biden and Trump. In February, Trump signed an executive order to cut US financial assistance to South Africa, citing in part its ICJ case.
Arab News
7 hours ago
- Arab News
Israel, Palestinian envoys trade barbs at UN over Gaza
NEW YORK: Palestinian and Israeli envoys traded angry accusations Wednesday at the United Nations over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, as aid and human rights groups warned of 'mass starvation' in the war-torn territory. Israel is facing growing international pressure over chronic food shortages in Gaza, where more than two million people lack food and other essentials after 21 months of conflict. Even after Israel began easing a more than two-month aid blockade in late May, Gaza's population is still suffering extreme scarcities. 'Every day now we receive heart-wrenching messages from Gaza...'I am hungry,'' Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour told the Security Council. 'This is what our children are saying and every individual in Gaza is saying: 'I am hungry. There is no food for my family. We are dying. Help us,'' he said. 'What should we tell them? What should the Security Council tell them? That the whole world is against this starvation policy and yet it is worsening?' But Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon accused Hamas, which rules Gaza, of using the misery to 'feed it into their propaganda machine.' 'For Hamas, the suffering of its own people is their greatest weapon,' he said. Claiming Israel was making the Middle East safer, Danon accused the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of 'bias' against his country. OCHA is a 'propaganda machine' against Israel, he said, which purposely undercounts aid trucks heading into Gaza. 'We will not work with organizations that have chosen politics over principles,' Danon said, with Israel in future granting just one-month visas to the agency's international staff. More than 100 aid and human rights groups said Wednesday that 'mass starvation' was spreading in the Gaza Strip, and France warned of a growing 'risk of famine' caused by 'the blockade imposed by Israel.' 'I don't know what you would call it other than mass starvation — and it's man-made,' World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters. The lack of food and water was affecting the ability of journalists to carry out their work documenting the conflict. AFP's journalists in Gaza said this week that desperate hunger and lack of clean water is making them ill and exhausted. Some have even had to cut back on their coverage of the war, now in its 22nd month, with one journalist saying 'we have no energy left due to hunger.'
