Displaying items by tag: airstrike

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have recovered the bodies of six hostages from tunnels in Khan Younis, bringing heartbreaking confirmation to their families. Meanwhile, on 20 August at least twelve Palestinians were killed in an airstrike on a school: see Over 40,000 Palestinians have now died since the conflict began. As the situation escalates, US secretary of state Antony Blinken has been involved in ceasefire negotiations, warning that this may be the last opportunity to secure a hostage and prisoner swap. While a potential agreement appears close, with Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly accepting a US ‘bridging proposal’, there still appear to be large gaps between the two sides. On the central issue of the hostages, Hamas is demanding assurances that Israel will not begin military operations again after thirty of the most vulnerable are released. Israel is concerned that Hamas will drag out a second phase in which the remaining hostages, including male soldiers, are freed.

On 31 July Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, along with his bodyguard, was killed in an airstrike in Iran, an act labelled a ‘severe escalation’ by the Palestinian terror group. His death came hours after he attended a swearing-in ceremony for new president Masoud Pezeshkian. Pezeshkian vowed to defend Iran's integrity and retaliate against the perpetrators. This assassination, attributed to Israel, follows the killing of Hezbollah’s top military leader in Beirut; Israel claimed that he was responsible for a rocket attack on 27 July which killed twelve people, mainly children. Haniyeh, based in Qatar and the face of Hamas’ international diplomacy, was the highest-ranking official killed since the conflict began; his three sons have also been killed.