Israel's Paranoia
Live Reporting
Nearly two-thirds of Gaza buildings damaged in conflict: UN
The United Nations has said that nearly two-thirds of the buildings in the Gaza Strip have been damaged or destroyed since the Gaza conflict began in October, AFP reports.
“UNOSAT’s latest damage building assessment, based on satellite imagery … reveals that 151,265 structures have been affected in the Gaza Strip,” the UN Satellite Centre said.
“Of these, 30 per cent were destroyed, 12pc severely damaged, 36pc moderately damaged, and 20pc possibly damaged, representing approximately 63pc of the total structures in the region.”
Ismail Al Ghoul, the Palestinian journalist seeking news from the mouth of ‘death’
Al Jazeera journalist Ismail Al Ghoul, and his cameraman Rami Al Refee, were killed on Wednesday in an Israeli strike targeting a car near the Aidia area, west of Gaza City.
Hamas had condemned the killings as a “heinous crime” which it said was “aimed at terrorising and silencing” Palestinian journalists as they reported “the ongoing genocide against our people in the Gaza Strip for nearly ten months”.
Diverse accounts emerge on method used in Haniyeh assassination
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran, with varying reports emerging about the method of the attack, Anadolu Agency reports.
The New York Times revealed that an explosive device, smuggled and hidden by Israeli spy agency Mossad in Haniyeh’s residence for about two months, was detonated remotely after confirming his presence.
The daily said the “explosive device was covertly smuggled into the Tehran guesthouse,” run by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), and hidden for about two months, according to seven Middle Eastern officials, including two Iranians, and an American official.
NA passes resolution: Haniyeh’s killing ‘deliberate conspiracy to sabotage’ Gaza ceasefire efforts
The National Assembly of Pakistan has adopted a resolution condemning the ongoing Israeli “state oppression and brutality” in Gaza.
The resolution was presented by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who said the document had been prepared with all parties’ consensus.
The resolution, which Dar read out on the NA floor, stated that Haniyeh’s killing in Tehran has “added to the angst and grief, and such incidents are seen as deliberate conspiracies to sabotage efforts to stop” the ongoing Gaza conflict and to establish peace in the region.
It noted that “atrocities by Israel on Palestinians have escalated, causing immense suffering and loss of over 40,000 innocent lives so far, including women and children”.
Biden says killing of Hamas leader Haniyeh not helpful for ceasefire
US President Joe Biden has said the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is not helpful for a ceasefire in Israel’s offensive in Gaza, Reuters reports.
Biden said he had a direct conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier on Thursday.
He made the comments at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, where a plane carrying detainees released by Russia landed late on Thursday.
Haniyeh's shoes are hard to fill
Ismael Haniyeh, Hamas' political chief killed in Tehran, forged strong ties with Arab allies and played an important role in ceasefire negotiations. It will be hard for Hamas to find his appropriate replacement, said Beirut-based Middle East analyst Sami Nader.
As Hamas’s political chief, Haniyeh gave the group a more “moderate profile” and succeeded in improving ties with many Arab governments with whom relations had been tense, Nader told Al Jazeera. During the Gaza war, he also played a leading role in ceasefire negotiations.
Picking a successor will be further complicated by the fact that Haniyeh’s deputy, Saleh al-Arouri, was killed in January this year in a Beirut air strike, noted Nader.
Funeral prayer of Ismail Haniyeh offered at Doha Mosque
The funeral prayer of Ismail Haniyeh, the Chief of the Political Bureau of Hamas who was killed in Tehran, offered at the Doha Mosque.
People from different walks of life including foreign and Palestinian dignitaries attended the funeral prayer held at the Imam Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab Mosque, Qatar.
Israel raining down terror on Nablus
Local Palestinian media platforms have published videos, documenting ongoing Israeli raids in the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that Israel has killed 569 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7.
Israel damaged 85% of Gaza’s schools during war
Since the Gaza war broke out, Israeli attacks have “directly hit or damaged” close to 85 percent of Gaza’s schools, says the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), citing satellite assessments by the Global Education Cluster.
“The war is destroying the present and the future of Palestinian children”, said the UN agency in a post on X.
Israel's offensive claims dozens of Palestinians lives in 24 hours
Israel’s military claims its 162nd Division, including the “Givat Brigade” and the 933rd ‘Nahal’ Brigade, is fighting in Rafah.
During the last day, its forces claim to have eliminated about 30 Palestinian fighters in face-to-face battles and air force attacks.
The reserve “Jerusalem Brigade” has also begun to fight in the centre of the Gaza Strip under the command of the 252nd “Sinai Division”.
The Israeli military said soldiers in the Brigade identified Palestinian fighters emerging from a tunnel in the Gaza Strip, and Israel fighter jets subsequently “eliminated” them.
Haniyeh killed by bomb planted in Tehran guesthouse: NYT
NEW YORK (APP) – Top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated on Wednesday by a bomb that was covertly smuggled into the Tehran guesthouse where he was staying two months before his arrival, according to a leading American newspaper.
Haniyeh, 62, who was initially thought to have been killed in an airstrike, died from a remotely detonated bomb inside the guesthouse, The New York Times reported, saying it interviewed seven Middle Eastern officials, including two Iranians and an American official in this regard.
Israeli strike on school leaves 12 dead
Gaza’s civil defence says at least 15 killed in Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians.
Israel's actions fan the flames of conflict, Erdogan
Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during a phone call with US President Joe Biden said Israel’s killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh “dealt heavy blow to ceasefire” talks, shows Netanyahu government wants “fire in Gaza” to spread regionally.
IDF confirms killing Al-Jazeera journalist, claims he was Hamas operative
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The Israeli military confirmed on Thursday that it had killed Al-Jazeera journalist Ismail Al-Ghoul in an airstrike in Gaza, saying he was a Hamas operative who had taken part in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Al-Jazeera dismissed what it said were "baseless allegations" which it said were an attempt to justify the deliberate killing of its journalists.
Mohammed Deif: Hamas military leader killed in Gaza airstrike, Israel says
CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The head of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza last month, the Israeli military said on Thursday, a day after the group's political leader was assassinated in Tehran.
Deif is believed to have been one of the masterminds of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that triggered war in the Palestinian enclave.
Biden calls Hamas leader's killing unhelpful for ceasefire
US President Joe Biden has said the assassination of Hamas leader Ismael Haniyeh will not help ceasefire negotiations between the Palestinian group and Israel.
Speaking at Joint Base Andrews in the US state of Maryland, where a plane landed late on Thursday carrying detainees released by Russia, Biden said he had a “direct conversation” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the attack.
Haniyeh was killed in his residence in the Iranian capital Tehran on Wednesday, in an attack widely blamed on Israel. Israel is yet to claim carrying out the assassination.
Israelis demand hostages' return as war hits 300 days
TEL AVIV (AFP) – Shouting slogans and waving national flags, hundreds of Israelis marched in Tel Aviv to demand the return of hostages, as they endured their 300th day of captivity in Gaza Thursday.
"There is no victory until the hostages are back," chanted the demonstrators, many wearing t-shirts emblazoned with "300 Days", near the defence ministry in the country's commercial hub, an AFP correspondent reported.
Hezbollah chief says response against Israel 'inevitable'
BEIRUT (Lebanon) (AFP) – Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned Thursday that the group was bound to respond to Israel's killing of its top military commander, saying his death and that of the Hamas leader "crossed" red lines.
"The enemy, and those who are behind the enemy, must await our inevitable response," he said in a speech broadcast at the funeral of Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr.
Iran, allies plan joint but limited retaliation against Israel
BEIRUT (Lebanon) (AFP) – Iran and armed groups backed by it are preparing coordinated action meant to deter Israel but avert all-out war, sources and analysts said, after the killings of top Hamas and Hezbollah figures.
On Wednesday, Iranian officials met in Tehran with representatives of the so-called "Axis of Resistance" -- a loose alliance of Tehran-backed groups hostile to Israel -- to discuss retaliation for the deaths of Hamas's leader and Hezbollah's top military commander, said a source close to Lebanese group.
