Displaying items by tag: Gaza

Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted his troops will advance on the Gazan city of Rafah, defying international pleas to reconsider. He has ordered his army to prepare for a ground assault on the city, where some 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering, but talked of first ‘allowing the civilian population to leave the battle zones’. His aim is to eliminate Hamas from the city. The prime ministers of France, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand have urged Israel to refrain from the operation to avoid a humanitarian disaster, while Spain and Ireland have asked the EU to investigate ‘urgently’ whether Israel is complying with its human rights obligations in Gaza. The Hamas-run health ministry reports that the death toll in Gaza is now at least 28,500 casualties.

On 7 February Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Hamas's proposed ceasefire deal, describing their demands as ‘bizarre’. Talks persist, but Israeli officials are vehemently opposed to Hamas's attempt to end the conflict on their terms. The proposed deal aimed for a 45-day ceasefire, followed by exchanges of prisoners and hostages and an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu claimed that achieving ‘total victory’ in Gaza within months is possible, and announced preparations for potential Israeli operations in Rafah. His comments are a blow to a sustained push by the US to reach a deal which its top diplomat, Antony Blinken, described as ‘the best path forward’. They also highlighted the fundamental mismatch between the US and Israel's plans for Gaza's future. The immediate challenge now is salvaging talks to facilitate hostage exchanges and a desperately needed humanitarian pause, to allow more aid into Gaza.

There are signs which suggest a potential pause in the Israel-Hamas conflict, although a full ceasefire remains uncertain. Hamas, which has consistently said that it will only free more Israeli hostages in exchange for a permanent ceasefire, is engaged in talks in Cairo, led by its leader Ismail Haniyeh. Both Egypt and Qatar are involved in mediating these discussions. Although Israel's goal is to dismantle Hamas completely, it has reportedly presented a plan to secure the release of around forty hostages, focusing on women, elderly individuals, and those in urgent need of medical care. In return, they could exchange Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails with more serious convictions than those released in previous deals. Benjamin Netanyahu emphasised the importance of retrieving the hostages, revealing that Mossad has been actively promoting a new release deal through diplomatic channels. These developments come alongside the news that over 20,000 Palestinians have now been killed in the conflict: see

On 12 December, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict. With 153 votes in favour, 10 against (including the United States and Israel), and 23 abstentions (including the UK and Germany), the resolution emphasises the need to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, provide humanitarian assistance, and seek a peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict. It also calls for an end to the use of force and the resumption of negotiations. It is reported that the conflict has now led to over 18,600 civilian casualties in the Gaza strip, 70% of them women and children. The vote serves as a strong international call for an end to hostilities and a return to peace talks. On 8 December, an almost identically worded resolution proposed at the UN security council was vetoed by the USA. There is a sense that Joe Biden’s administration is becoming increasingly isolated in its unconditional support of Israel’s actions.

On 6 December Israeli troops fought fierce battles with Hamas in an expanding offensive into southern Gaza, forcing tens of thousands of displaced Palestinian civilians to cram into a city close to the Egyptian border to avoid Israeli bombardment. However, many feared they would not be safe in Rafah either, with their options for refuge dwindling, and at least nine people were killed when a house in the city was shelled. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled to the south during the two-month-old war between Israel and Hamas are now increasingly cornered in an area deemed safe by Israel's military. UN Secretary General António Guterres has called on Security Council members to avert a humanitarian catastrophe In other news, harrowing details have been released about the acts of sexual violence committed by Hamas fighters when they attacked Israel on 7 October. See

On 30 November Israel and Hamas struck a last-minute agreement to extend their ceasefire for a seventh day. Both sides agreed to extend the truce, with Hamas releasing more hostages and Israel receiving a list of those to be freed. So far, 97 hostages have been released by Hamas and 180 prisoners by Israel: however, there are reports that israel has been arresting more Palestinians. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/28/arrests Washington hoped the truce could be extended further to free more hostages and let more aid reach Gaza. The ceasefire has allowed 220 lorries a day to bring in humanitarian aid to the strip, but two-thirds of its residents are homeless and more than 15,000 have been killed during the Israeli campaign. The USA has urged Israel to specify safe zones for Palestinian civilians if and when its offensive resumes. Meanwhile, soon after the agreement three people have been killed and six injured by Hamas gunmen in Jerusalem: see

Israel and Hamas have struck a deal to exchange fifty hostages in Gaza for a four-day ceasefire. This agreement also includes the release of 150 Palestinian women and teenagers held in Israeli prisons and an increase in humanitarian aid for Gaza. The four-day pause came into effect on 24 November, with Israel offering to extend it even further if Hamas agreed to release more hostages. Joe Biden has welcomed the deal, hoping it will end the suffering of the hostages and alleviate the plight of innocent Palestinian families. Until the ceasefire, Israel continued the conflict, with at least 300 airstrikes within 24 hours: see Israel remains committed to its mission to eliminate Hamas and secure the release of over 200 hostages captured in October. Hamas sees this agreement as an opportunity for Palestinians to recover after enduring an intense Israeli military operation. 

In Gaza, a significant number of Muslim men have recently converted to Christianity after reportedly seeing visions of Jesus in their dreams, an event described as miraculous by underground Christian communities in the area. This phenomenon was first reported online by Michael Licona, a Christian apologist and professor at Houston Christian University. The report by the underground Christian ministries detailed their efforts to aid hundreds of fathers who had lost their children in the war. These men were moved to safety, fed, clothed, and introduced to the Bible, which led to over 200 of them experiencing visions of Jesus in their dreams. Licona, while expressing his stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict, highlighted the importance of this event for Christians worldwide. He noted the small Christian population in Gaza, which is less than 1% and potentially as low as 1,000 individuals.

On 2 November Israeli soldiers advanced on war-torn Gaza City, meeting fierce resistance from Hamas militants, as hundreds of foreign nationals waited to cross the border into Egypt. Battles were reported to be raging in five different areas of the Strip. Footage has emerged of Hamas fighters using guerrilla-style tactics, emerging from underground tunnels to fire at Israeli tanks, then disappearing back into the tunnels. Benjamin Natanyahu has said, ‘We are at the height of the battle’, and claimed ‘impressive successes’: for up-to-date news, see Meanwhile, the Rafah border crossing into Egypt was opened on 1 November for the first time, allowing over 500 foreign nationals to leave: its foreign ministry has said Egypt would ultimately assist in evacuating about 7,000 foreigners, representing more than sixty nationalities. Speaking on condition of anonymity, an Egyptian official said that some ambulances carrying wounded Palestinians were also allowed to leave Gaza.

Following two nights of violence between police and ‘agitators’ at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque, 34 rockets were launched into Israel’s civilian population from southern Lebanon terrorists. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said 25 of the projectiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome defence system. See Israel’s military then carried out air strikes on Hamas targets in southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. Gaza retaliated with dozens more rockets. IDF warplanes struck Hamas’ infrastructures in Lebanon and Gaza, including an underground shaft to construct weapons, three weapons workshops and an underground terrorist tunnel. Another 44 rockets from Gaza towards southern Israel were intercepted. See On Good Friday, two British-Israeli sisters were killed and their mother later died after being shot in the West Bank. The next day, an Italian tourist was killed and seven others injured in a Tel Aviv car-ramming. Benjamin Netanyahu has called up army and police reservists.