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New Indian Express
4 days ago
- General
- New Indian Express
Gaza marks start of Eid with outdoor prayers amongst rubble
DEIR AL-BALAH: Palestinians across the war-ravaged Gaza Strip marked the start of one of Islam's most important holidays with prayers outside destroyed mosques and homes early Friday, with little hope the war with Israel will end soon. With much of Gaza in rubble, men and children were forced to hold the traditional Eid al-Adha prayers in the open air and with food supplies dwindling, families were having to make do with what they could scrape together for the three-day feast. 'This is the worst feast that the Palestinian people have experienced because of the unjust war against the Palestinian people,' said Kamel Emran after attending prayers in the southern city of Khan Younis. 'There is no food, no flour, no shelter, no mosques, no homes, no mattresses ... The conditions are very, very harsh.' The Islamic holiday begins on the 10th day of the Islamic lunar month of Dhul-Hijja, during the Hajj season in Saudi Arabia. For the second year, Muslims in Gaza were not able to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform the traditional pilgrimage. The war broke out on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 hostages. They are still holding 56 hostages, around a third of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israeli forces have rescued eight living hostages from Gaza and recovered dozens of bodies.
Time of India
31-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Hamas says it is still reviewing a US proposal for a Gaza ceasefire
DEIR AL-BALAH: Hamas said Friday it was still reviewing a US proposal for a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, where 27 people were killed in new Israeli airstrikes, according to hospital officials. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The ceasefire plan, which has been approved by Israeli officials, won a cool initial reaction Thursday from the militant group. But President Donald Trump said Friday negotiators were nearing a deal. "They're very close to an agreement on Gaza, and we'll let you know about it during the day or maybe tomorrow," Trump told reporters in Washington. Late in the evening, asked if he was confident Hamas would approve the deal, he told reporters: "They're in a big mess. I think they want to get out of it." US negotiators have not publicized the terms of the proposal. But a Hamas official and an Egyptian official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks, said Thursday that it called for a 60-day pause in fighting, guarantees of serious negotiations leading to a long-term truce and assurances that Israel will not resume hostilities after the release of hostages, as it did in March. In a terse statement issued a few hours before Trump spoke, Hamas said it is holding consultations with Palestinian factions over the proposal it had received from US envoy Steve Witkoff. A United Nations spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, urged the parties to "find the political courage" to secure an agreement. While changes may have been made to the proposal, the version confirmed earlier called for Israeli forces to pull back to the positions they held before it ended the last ceasefire. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Hamas would release 10 living hostages and a number of bodies during the 60-day pause in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, including 100 serving long sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks. Each day, hundreds of trucks carrying food and humanitarian aid would be allowed to enter Gaza, where experts say a nearly three-month Israeli blockade, slightly eased in recent days, has pushed the population to the brink of famine. "Negotiations are ongoing on the current proposal," Qatar's ambassador to the United Nations, Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani said Friday, referring to talks between her country, the United States and Egypt. "We are very determined to find an ending to this horrific situation in Gaza." On Thursday, a top Hamas official, Bassem Naim, said the US proposal "does not respond to any of our people's demands, foremost among which is stopping the war and famine." The uncertainty over the new proposal came as hospital officials said that 27 people had been killed Friday in separate airstrikes. A strike that hit a tent in the southern city of Khan Younis killed 13, including eight children, hospital officials said. The Israeli military did not immediately comment. Meanwhile, the bodies of 12 people, including three women, were brought to Shifa Hospital on Friday from the nearby Jabaliya refugee camp. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the bodies of two others were brought to a hospital in Gaza City. Hospital officials also said Friday that at least 72 had been killed in Gaza during the previous day. That figure does not include some hospitals in the north, which are largely cut off due to the fighting. Since the war began, more than 54,000 Gaza residents, mostly women and children, have been killed according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking 250 hostages. Of those taken captive, 58 remain in Gaza, but Israel believes 35 are dead and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said there are "doubts" about the fate of several others. Some Gaza residents said their hope for a ceasefire is tempered by repeated disappointment over negotiations that failed to deliver a lasting deal. "This is the war of starvation, death, siege and long lines for food and toilets," Mohammed Abed told The Associated Press in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah. "This war is the 2025 nightmare, 2024 nightmare and 2023 nightmare." Abed said he and his family struggle to find food, waiting three hours to get a small amount of rice and eating only one meal daily. "It's heartbreaking that people are being starved because of politics. Food and water should not be used for political purposes," he said. Another Gaza resident, Mohammed Mreil, said about the possibility of a truce that: "We want to live and we want them (Israelis) to live. God did not create us to die."
New Indian Express
30-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Hamas says it is still reviewing a US proposal for a Gaza ceasefire
DEIR AL-BALAH: Hamas said Friday it was still reviewing a U.S. proposal for a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, where 27 people were killed in new Israeli airstrikes, according to hospital officials. The ceasefire plan, which has been approved by Israeli officials, won a cool initial reaction Thursday from the militant group. U.S. negotiators have not publicised the terms of the proposal. But a Hamas official and an Egyptian official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks, said Thursday that it called for a 60-day pause in fighting, guarantees of serious negotiations leading to a long-term truce and assurances that Israel will not resume hostilities after the release of hostages, as it did in March. In a terse statement issued Friday, Hamas said it is holding consultations with Palestinian factions over the proposal it had received from U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff. While changes may have been made to the proposal, the version confirmed earlier called for Israeli forces to pull back to the positions they held before it ended the last ceasefire. Hamas would release 10 living hostages and a number of bodies during the 60-day pause in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, including 100 serving long sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks. Each day, hundreds of trucks carrying food and humanitarian aid would be allowed to enter Gaza, where experts say a nearly three-month Israeli blockade — slightly eased in recent days — has pushed the population to the brink of famine. 'Negotiations are ongoing on the current proposal,' Qatar's ambassador to the United Nations, Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani said Friday, referring to talks between her country, the United States and Egypt.
Time of India
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Israeli strikes kill 52 in Gaza, including 36 in a school-turned-shelter
DEIR AL-BALAH: Israeli strikes killed at least 52 people in the Gaza Strip on Monday, including 36 in a school-turned-shelter that was struck as people slept, setting their belongings ablaze, according to local health officials. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The military said it targeted militants operating from the school. Israel renewed its offensive in March after ending a ceasefire with Hamas. It has vowed to seize control of Gaza and keep fighting until Hamas is destroyed or disarmed, and until it returns the remaining 58 hostages, a third of them believed to be alive, from the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war. Israel began allowing a trickle of humanitarian aid into Gaza last week after blocking all food, medicine, fuel or other goods from entering for 2 1/2 months. Aid groups have warned of famine and say the aid that has come in is nowhere near enough to meeting mounting needs. A new aid system supported by Israel and the United States but rejected by U.N. agencies and aid groups is expected to begin operations as soon as Monday, despite the resignation of the American leading the effort, who said it would not be able to operate independently. Israel says it plans to seize full control of Gaza and facilitate what it describes as the voluntary migration of its over 2 million population, a plan rejected by Palestinians and much of the international community. Hamas warned Palestinians on Monday not to cooperate with the new aid system, saying it is aimed at furthering those objectives. Israel's military campaign has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and internally displaced some 90% of its population. Many have fled multiple times. Rescuers recover charred remains The strike on the school in the Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City also wounded dozens of people, said Fahmy Awad, head of the ministry's emergency service. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now He said a father and his five children were among the dead. The Shifa and al-Ahli hospitals in Gaza City confirmed the overall toll. Awad said the school was hit three times while people slept, setting fire to their belongings. Footage circulating online showed rescuers struggling to extinguish fires and recovering charred remains. The military said it targeted a militant command and control center inside the school that Hamas and Islamic Jihad used to gather intelligence for attacks. Israel blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in residential areas. A separate strike on a home in Jabalya in northern Gaza killed 16 members of the same family, including five women and two children, according to Shifa Hospital, which received the bodies. Palestinian militants meanwhile fired three projectiles from Gaza, two of which fell short within the territory and a third that was intercepted, according to the Israeli military. Plans to control aid hit another obstacle Israel plans to roll out a new aid distribution system run by a group known as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, made up of former humanitarian, government and military officials, that would set up distribution points guarded by private security firms. Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off assistance, without providing evidence. The foundation said in a statement that it would begin delivering aid Monday and would reach a million Palestinians - around half of Gaza's population - by the end of the week. U.N. agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the planned U.S.-backed system, saying it would force even more displacement, fail to meet local needs and violate humanitarian principles that prohibit a warring party from controlling humanitarian assistance. They also say there is no evidence of systematic diversion of aid by militants. Jake Wood, the American heading the foundation, unexpectedly resigned Sunday, saying it had become clear that the foundation would not be allowed to operate independently. It's not clear who is funding the group. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in the 2023 attack. More than half the hostages have been returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals, eight have been rescued, and Israeli forces have recovered the remains of dozens more. The offensive has destroyed vast areas of Gaza, rendering entire neighborhoods uninhabitable. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to shelter in schools and squalid tent camps for well over a year. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed around 54,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. It says more than half the dead are women and children but does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.
New Indian Express
19-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Israel says will allow 'basic' aid into Gaza after nearly three months of blockade
DEIR AL-BALAH: Israel announced Sunday it will allow a limited amount of humanitarian aid into Gaza after a nearly three-month blockade, days after global experts on food security warned of famine. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a 'starvation crisis' would jeopardise Israel's new military offensive in Gaza, and his Cabinet approved a decision to allow a 'basic' amount of food into the territory of over two million people. It was not immediately clear when aid would enter Gaza, or how. The Israeli military body in charge of overseeing aid did not comment. Israel has been trying to impose a new aid system, despite objections by aid workers. Netanyahu said Israel would work to ensure that aid does not reach militants. Israel imposed the blockade starting March 2, cutting off all food, medicine and other supplies to Gaza, while pressing Hamas to accept new ceasefire terms. Israel resumed the war days later, shattering a two-month truce. Earlier on Sunday, Israel said it launched 'extensive' new ground operations in its new offensive — the largest since the ceasefire. Airstrikes killed at least 103 people, including dozens of children, hospitals and medics said. The bombardment also forced northern Gaza's main hospital to close as it reported direct strikes. Israel wants Hamas to agree to a temporary ceasefire that would free hostages from Gaza but not necessarily end the war. Hamas says it wants a full withdrawal of Israeli forces and a path to ending the war as part of any deal. 'When the Jews want a truce, Hamas refuses, and when Hamas wants a truce, the Jews refuse it. Both sides agree to exterminate the Palestinian people,' said Jabaliya resident Abu Mohammad Yassin, who was among those fleeing the new offensive on foot or in donkey carts. 'For God's sake, have mercy on us. We are tired of displacement.' Israel's military, which recently called up tens of thousands of reservists, said the ground operations are throughout the Palestinian territory's north and south. Israel's chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, said that plans include 'dissecting' the strip.
