Israel-Palestine category
Blast rocks Tehran after Israel threatened to target area where pro-government rally was being held
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A large explosion rocked an area of Iran’s capital where thousands were gathered Friday for the annual state-organized Quds Day to support the Palestinians and call for Israel’s demise. Israel had earlier warned that it would target the area in central Tehran. There were no...
Lebanese parliament extends term for 2 years due to war in Middle East
BEIRUT — The Lebanese parliament has extended its term for two years on Monday due to the U.S.-Israel war with Iran and Israel steps up its attacks on Lebanon. The country’s state news agency said 76 legislators voted in favor, 41 voted against, and four abstained. Hezbollah’s 13-member bloc in...
As Israel pounds Lebanon, thousands of Syrians there flee back home
Thousands of Syrians living in Lebanon have fled to their home country in recent days after Lebanon was dragged back into conflict, with Israeli airstrikes bombarding several cities. Earlier this week, Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group, fired rockets and launched drones toward Israel, in what it said was retaliation...
U.S. sinks Iranian warship as Iran vows to destroy military and economic infrastructure in Mideast
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, as Washington and Israel intensified their bombardment Wednesday of Iran’s security forces and other symbols of power. As the war expanded yet again, Tehran vowed to completely destroy the Middle East’s military and economic...
War widens to include Iranian-backed militias as Israeli and American planes pound Iran
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran and Iranian-backed militias fired missiles at Israel and Arab states Monday, apparently hitting the U.S. Embassy compound in Kuwait, while Israel and the United States pounded targets in Iran as the war expanded with statements of defiance and increasing casualties. At least 555 people...
Israeli strike kills 2 Palestinians in Gaza, health officials say, the latest deaths as truce stalls
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — An Israeli strike on Thursday killed at least two Palestinians and wounded five others east of Gaza City, according to Fadel Naeem, director of Al-Ahli Hospital, where the casualties arrived. The Israeli military had no immediate comment. Deadly Israeli strikes have repeatedly disrupted the truce...
Israeli settlers torch and deface a West Bank mosque during Ramadan
TELL, West Bank — Israeli settlers vandalized a mosque in the Israeli-occupied West Bank early Monday, spray-painting offensive phrases and setting a fire, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Religious Affairs. Worshippers arriving for the day’s first prayers found the damage and a smoldering fire that spewed black smoke...
U.S. ambassador causes uproar by claiming Israel has a right to much of the Middle East
TEL AVIV, Israel — Arab and Muslim nations on Saturday sharply condemned comments by the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who said Israel has a right to much of the Middle East. Huckabee made the comments in an interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson that aired Friday. Carlson said...
Trump gets pledges for Gaza reconstruction and troop commitments at inaugural Board of Peace talks
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Thursday at the inaugural Board of Peace meeting that nine members have agreed to pledge $7 billion toward a Gaza relief package and five countries have agreed to deploy troops as part of an international stabilization force for the war-battered Palestinian territory. While lauding...
Israeli drone strike kills 2 cyclists in Gaza as death toll mounts despite ceasefire
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Two Palestinians on bicycles were killed in an Israeli drone strike on Tuesday, hospital officials said, marking the latest deaths since an October ceasefire that hasn’t halted deadly attacks in the Gaza Strip. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said the two men were hit near the ceasefire...
Gaza’s Rafah border crossing has reopened but few people get through
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — When the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt finally reopened this week, Palestinian officials heralded it as a “window of hope” after two years of war as a fragile ceasefire deal moves forward. But that hope has been sidetracked by disagreements over who should...
Gaza’s border crossing to Egypt reopens in a key step for truce but few Palestinians can cross
CAIRO — Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt reopened on Monday for limited traffic, a key step in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire but a mostly symbolic one as few people will be allowed to travel in either direction and no goods will pass through. An Egyptian official said 50 Palestinians were...
Israel reopening Gaza’s border crossing with Egypt on Sunday after long closure
JERUSALEM — Israel said Friday that it will reopen the pedestrian border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt in both directions over the weekend, marking an important step forward for U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza,...
Rafah crossing is Gaza’s lifeline to the world and could open soon
CAIRO — Palestinians are eagerly awaiting the reopening of the Rafah border crossing, which is Gaza’s lifeline and only gateway to the outside world that wasn’t controlled by Israel before the war. The opening is expected after Israel on Monday announced that the remains of the final hostage in Gaza,...
Israel says the remains of the final hostage in Gaza have been recovered
JERUSALEM — Israel says the remains of the final hostage in Gaza have been recovered, clearing the way for the next phase of the ceasefire that stopped the Israel-Hamas war. Monday’s announcement came a day after Israel’s government said the military was conducting a “large-scale operation” in a cemetery in...
U.S. envoys meet with Netanyahu, urge Israel to move into the 2nd phase of Gaza ceasefire
CAIRO — American officials met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, urging Israel to move into the second phase of the ceasefire that stopped the war in Gaza. Netanyahu met with President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and Middle East adviser, according to the...
Israeli crews target UN facilities for Palestinian refugees in east Jerusalem
JERUSALEM — Israeli forces on Tuesday targeted at least two United Nations facilities, pushing forward with its crackdown against the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees tasked with delivering humanitarian services to millions of people across the region. Crews began bulldozing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency ‘s offices in...
White House names some leaders with roles in next steps in Gaza, while Palestinian committee meets
CAIRO — The White House released the names of some of the leaders who will play a role in overseeing next steps in Gaza after the Palestinian committee set to govern the territory under U.S. supervision met for the first time Friday in Cairo. The committee’s leader, Ali Shaath, an...
Netanyahu says announced start of Gaza ceasefire’s next phase is a ‘declarative move’
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cast the U.S. announcement that the fragile ceasefire in Gaza would advance to its second phase as largely symbolic, raising questions about how its more challenging elements will be carried out. Speaking late Wednesday with the parents of the...
Howling winds send walls crashing down on Gaza tent camps, killing 4
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — At least four people were killed overnight in Gaza after walls collapsed onto their tents from strong winds that lashed the Palestinian coastal territory, hospital authorities said Tuesday. Dangerous living conditions persist in Gaza after more than two years of devastating Israeli bombardment and aid...
Israeli strikes kill at least 13 across Gaza, as Trump is expected to announce Board of Peace
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes across Gaza have killed at least 13 people, according to health officials, as U.S. President Donald Trump was expected to announce his Board of Peace to oversee the fragile ceasefire. Health officials and family members said at least one child was among the...
Israel clears final hurdle to start settlement construction that would cut the West Bank in 2
JERUSALEM — Israel has cleared the final hurdle before starting construction on a controversial settlement project near Jerusalem that would effectively cut the West Bank into two, according to a government tender. The tender, seeking bids from developers, would clear the way to begin construction of the E1 project. The...
Israel says it will halt operations of several humanitarian organizations in Gaza starting in 2026
JERUSALEM — Israel on Tuesday said it will suspend over two dozen humanitarian organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, for failing to meet its new rules to vet international organizations working in Gaza. The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs said the organizations that will be banned on Jan. 1 did not meet...
Trump and Netanyahu are to meet in Florida at a crucial moment for the U.S.-backed Gaza ceasefire
PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, as Washington looks to create fresh momentum for a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza that could be in danger of stalling before a complicated second phase. Trump could use the face-to-face at...
3 Palestinians arrested on suspicion of torching a Christmas tree at a Catholic church in West Bank
Three Palestinians have been arrested on suspicion of setting fire to a Christmas tree and damaging part of a Nativity scene at a Catholic Church in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinian Authority police said. Police said late Wednesday that the arrests were made after reviewing surveillance footage....
