Israel cut ties with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees yesterday following accusations it provided cover for Hamas, a move likely to hamper delivery of its vital services after 15 months of offensive in Gaza.
Iran is ready to discuss its nuclear programme if Western countries show they are “serious”, the foreign ministry spokesman was quoted as saying in an interview published yesterday.
The Israeli military said it intercepted a surveillance drone launched by Lebanese militant group Hezbollah yesterday amid a fragile ceasefire.
Five people were injured in an Israeli drone strike targeting the southern Lebanese town of Majdal Selm yesterday, the Lebanese health ministry said.
Two Hamas officials yesterday accused Israel of delaying the delivery of vital humanitarian aid to Gaza, as agreed in the ceasefire deal, and warned that it could impact the release of hostages.
More than 300,000 Palestinians have crossed from southern Gaza into the north, the Hamas-run Gaza media authority said in a statement early yesterday, as the United Nations warned that “needs on the ground remain immense”.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians streamed along the main roads leading north in Gaza yesterday after Hamas agreed to hand over three Israeli hostages later this week and Israeli forces began to withdraw from a main corridor across the enclave.
Israeli forces killed 15 people in south Lebanon yesterday as a deadline for their withdrawal passed and thousands of people tried to return to their homes in defiance of Israeli military orders, Lebanese authorities said.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran yesterday morning, the Palestinian group and Tehran said, drawing threats of revenge on Israel in a region already shaken by the offensive in Gaza and a deepening conflict in Lebanon.
Thousands of Palestinians returned to their homes in the ruins of Gaza’s main southern city Khan Younis yesterday, after Israeli forces ended a week-long incursion there which they said aimed to prevent Hamas from regrouping.
Israel struck Hezbollah’s stronghold in southern Beirut on Tuesday in retaliation for rocket fire from Lebanon that killed 12 children over the weekend, saying it had targeted the commander responsible for the attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday vowed a “severe” response to a deadly strike that killed youths in the annexed Golan Heights, as diplomats raced to contain escalation between Israel and Hezbollah.
Israeli forces advanced deeper into some towns on the eastern side of Khan Younis in southern Gaza yesterday and tanks advanced in central Rafah, with airstrikes and shelling killing 30 Palestinians over the past day, health officials said.
Israeli forces carried out new raids in the Gaza Strip yesterday, hours before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to address the US Congress.
A top WHO official said yesterday he was “extremely worried” over possible outbreaks in Gaza after poliovirus was detected in the sewage, warning that communicable diseases could cause more deaths than injuries.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seized a Togo-flagged oil tanker on Monday and arrested its 12 foreign crew members over alleged fuel smuggling, the Guards’ news website said.
Hamas announced yesterday that it had signed an agreement in Beijing with other Palestinian organisations including rivals Fatah to work together for “national unity”, with China describing it as a deal to rule Gaza together once the offensive ends.
The Israeli military yesterday ordered Gaza civilians to leave the eastern part of Khan Yunis city, saying it was preparing to “forcefully operate” there after rockets were fired from an area designated as a humanitarian zone.
