Hamas releases 16 more hostages; Blinken in Tel Aviv to extend truce deal

TEL AVIV, Nov 30: The war between Israel and the terror group Hamas entered its 55th day on Thursday, with a ceasefire currently being observed by the two sides. The peace deal between the two, which came into effect on November 24, was further extended by 2 days till Wednesday.

Amid the global pressure on Israel and Hamas to extend the truce, 16 more hostages were released by Hamas on the final day of a two-day truce extension on Wednesday, while Israel's prison service said it released 30 more Palestinians from its jails in a sixth round of swaps.

Further, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv early on Thursday on his third trip to the war-torn nation since the October 7 attacks, and was set to meet with Israeli leaders to discuss extending the temporary truce and boosting humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The six-day truce has brought the much needed respite to Gaza in seven weeks war that began on October 7.

On October 7, Hamas launched an unprovoked attack on Southern Israel with terrorists killing around 1,200 people and took 240 hostages. In a retaliatory move, Israel sworn to annihilate Hamas. Health authorities in Gaza say Israel's bombardment has so far killed more than 15,000 Gazans.

India Must Take 'Canada's Allegations Seriously': Trudeau After US Case

OTTAWA, Nov 30: U.S. allegations that an Indian government official directed an unsuccessful plot to assassinate a Khalistani terrorist on U.S. soil underscores the need for India to take similar allegations by Canada seriously, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday.

The U.S. Justice Department said earlier on Wednesday that a 52-year-old man worked with an Indian government employee, whose responsibilities included security and intelligence, on the plot to assassinate a New York City resident who advocated for a Sikh sovereign state in northern India.

"The news coming out of the United States further underscores what we've been talking about from the very beginning, which is that India needs to take this seriously," Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa.

The U.S. charges come about two months after Canada said there were "credible" allegations linking Indian agents to the murder of a Khalistani terrorist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in a Vancouver suburb, in June. India has rejected that allegation.

Ex-Israeli Hostage, 85, Says She Confronted Hamas Chief And Asked 'If He Was Not Ashamed'

JERUSALEM, Nov 29: An 85-year-old Israeli woman kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 and set free two weeks later said she met its Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar while in captivity and asked him how he was not ashamed for having acted violently against peace activists like herself.

Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, was taken from her Kibbutz Nir Oz home in Israel to Gaza. She told the Israeli newspaper Davar she confronted Sinwar when he visited the hostages in an underground tunnel where Hamas was holding them captive.

"Sinwar was with us three to four days after we arrived," Lifshitz told the Hebrew-language Davar newspaper. "I asked him how he is not ashamed to do such a thing to people who all these years have supported peace."

"He didn't answer. He was silent," she said.

Lifshitz is a peace activist who, together with her husband, helped sick Palestinians in Gaza get to hospital for years, her grandson told Reuters. Her 83-year-old husband, Oded, was also kidnapped from their home and remains in captivity.

Speaking with reporters following her release from Hamas captivity last month, Lifshitz said that she "went through hell" during her two weeks as a hostage in the Gaza Strip.

Lifshitz was one of four women freed by Hamas early in the war. She said she had been beaten when she was abducted but was then treated well during her two-week captivity.

On her release, she turned to shake the hand of a masked captor. Asked why, she replied: "They treated us gently and met all our needs."

Taiwan Appoints Veteran Diplomat As New US De-Facto Ambassador

TAIPEI, Nov 29: Taiwan on Wednesday appointed Alexander Yui, a veteran diplomat, as its new de facto ambassador to the United States, Taipei's highest-profile global posting despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties, after the previous ambassador quit to run for vice president.

Hsiao Bi-khim, well-connected in Washington, resigned from the job as U.S. envoy this month to be the running mate for current Vice President Lai Ching-te in Taiwan's January 13 presidential election. President Tsai Ing-wen cannot run again after two terms in office.

The presidential office said it had appointed Alexander Yui, Taiwan's representative to the European Union, to replace Hsiao.

The United States is Taiwan's most important international backer and arms supplier even though Washington does not formally recognise its government, maintaining official relations only with Beijing which claims the island as its own territory.

Tsai "hopes to use Ambassador Yui's rich cross-regional diplomatic experience to help promote the continuous deepening of Taiwan-U.S. relations on the existing solid foundation", the presidential office said.

The government only approved the EU appointment of the trilingual Yui, who also speaks fluent Spanish, in June.

Yui is a former deputy foreign minister and previously ran Taiwan's office in Geneva.

The statement used the title "ambassador" though it is not formally used, given neither the United States nor EU have official relations with Taiwan.

Yui's spot in Brussels will be filled by deputy foreign minister Roy Lee, the presidential office said, a rising diplomatic star in Taiwan's foreign service who received his doctorate from the Australian National University in Canberra.

Israel at UN meeting: Sexual violence by Hamas 'widespread weapon of war'

GENEVA, Nov 28: Israel held a meeting at the UN in Geneva late on Monday to raise awareness of sexual violence against women perpetrated during Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks amid criticism that the global body has kept quiet about the issue.

Israeli authorities have opened an investigation into sexual violence during the most deadly attack on Israel in its history, including rape, after evidence emerged pointing to sexual crimes, such as victims found disrobed and mutilated.

Hamas denies the abuses.

The U.N. human rights office said it has condemned the Oct. 7 attacks as "heinous, brutal and shocking" and that Israel has so far not granted its monitors access to the country.

The private event, attended by diplomats, rights groups and U.N. agencies, is the first Israel-organised event outside the country to address acts of sexual violence by Hamas, which Israel's diplomatic mission described as "widespread".

U.N. rights bodies "downplayed" and "minimised" the sexual violence, said Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, an Associate Professor at the Bar-Ilan University, who spoke at the event.

"We expected a clear and loud statement that says that there is no justification for using the bodies of women as a weapon of war. None of this came up until now," she told Reuters on the sidelines. Asked to explain, she said: "It turns around the conventional framing of viewing Israel as the aggressor, and Palestinians as the ultimate victim."

Halperin-Kaddari, formerly Vice-President at the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), is meeting U.N. Human Rights chief Volker Turk on Tuesday to convey this message, supply him with new evidence and request a strong condemnation of the attacks, she said.

A U.N. rights office spokesperson said Turk's office had requested access to Israel to monitor and collect information on the Oct. 7 attacks but had not received a response from Israel.

"The Office is attempting to carry out remote monitoring of these and other human rights violations reported in Israel and the OPT (Occupied Palestinian Territories). Lack of direct access to Israel and the OPT has hampered the work," said Ravina Shamdasani in response to emailed questions.

"We have repeatedly stressed the need for rigorous investigations and accountability for all serious breaches of international human rights and humanitarian law, irrespective of the identity of the alleged perpetrators," she added.

Evidence about sexual violence includes testimonies by first responders at the sites of the attacks as well as military reservists who tended to the bodies in the identification process.

Halperin-Kaddari said she has been given access to some evidence and testimonies by Israeli authorities in order to "raise awareness and demand condemnation and accountability".

She described meeting a paramedic who tended to a woman after the Oct. 7 music festival who was bleeding heavily after being raped by four attackers.

Halperin-Kaddari said she would also like to see independent bodies investigate the crimes.

One body that rights experts say could investigate is an independent commission of inquiry set up by the U.N. Human Rights Council, but Israel does not cooperate with it, alleging bias. Turk's office also called for Israeli authorities to cooperate with this inquiry.

‘Stay the course on Ukraine’, NATO chief urges allies

BRUSSELS, Nov 28: NATO boss Jens Stoltenberg urged members of the alliance on Tuesday to "stay the course" in supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia's invasion as both the United States and European Union struggle to agree on further military aid.

"It's our obligation to ensure that we provide Ukraine with the weapons they need," Stoltenberg told reporters as he arrived for a gathering of foreign ministers from NATO countries at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels.

"We just have to stay the course. This is about also our security interests," the secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization said.

His remarks come as the fate of a $60 billion U.S. military aid package proposed by the Biden administration is in limbo due to opposition from some Republicans in Congress.

Administration officials have expressed confidence they will get the package through, saying a majority of Republicans and Democrats in Congress still back support for Kyiv.

Stoltenberg also voiced optimism.

"I'm confident that the United States will continue to provide support and because it is in the security interests of the United States to do so. And it's also in line with what we have agreed," he said.

Arriving in Brussels, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said NATO ministers would be "strongly reaffirming our support for Ukraine as it continues to face Russia's war of aggression".

The meeting takes place amid gloom in Ukraine that a major counter-offensive launched earlier this year against Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces has failed to make substantial progress.

Meanwhile, a proposal by the European Union's foreign policy chief to allocate up to 20 billion euros ($21.90 billion) over four years for military aid to Ukraine has run into resistance among the bloc's member states, which would have to provide the cash.

Stoltenberg pointed out, though, that EU members Germany and the Netherlands have announced multi-billion-euro packages of bilateral military support in recent weeks. He said the war in Ukraine had significance far beyond its borders.

"It will be a tragedy for Ukrainians if President Putin wins but it will also be dangerous for us," he said.

“Then the message to all authoritarian leaders - not only in Moscow, but also in Beijing - is that when they violate international law, when they invade another country, when they use force, they get what they want.”

Ukraine Spy Chief's Wife Poisoned With Heavy Metals: Report

KYIV, Nov 28: The wife of Ukraine's military intelligence chief has been poisoned with heavy metals, several Ukrainian media outlets reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed intelligence sources.

Marianna Budanova is the wife of Kyrylo Budanov, who heads the Ukrainian military intelligence agency GUR, which has been prominently involved in clandestine operations against Russian forces throughout the 21-month war.

Budanov's public profile has surged in Ukraine, where he is portrayed as a behind-the-scenes mastermind of efforts to strike back at Russia. In Russian media, he is a hate figure.

If confirmed as deliberate, the alleged poisoning of his wife would represent the most serious targeting of a high-profile Ukrainian leadership figure's family member since Moscow began its invasion in February last year.

Ukraine's military intelligence and domestic security services did not respond to requests for comment.

The reports did not make any suggestions of who was behind the alleged poisoning or clarify when it took place.

One media outlet, Babel, cited an unnamed source who said Budanova had been in hospital, and was finishing a course of treatment for the effects of the poisoning. Public broadcaster Suspilne and online outlets Ukrainska Pravda and RBC Ukraina also reported she had been poisoned.

Ukrainska Pravda cited a source saying the poison had likely been administered in her food and that several other GUR staff members had also been poisoned.

Russian media has reported that a court in Moscow had arrested Budanov in absentia in April on terrorism charges.

Moscow has previously blamed Ukrainian secret services for the murders of a pro-war Russian blogger and a pro-war journalist on Russian soil. Kyiv denies involvement in those deaths.

Budanov has previously said he would "keep killing Russians anywhere on the face of this world until the complete victory of Ukraine".

Israel-Hamas Truce In Gaza Extended By 2 Days: Mediator Qatar

DOHA, Nov 27: Israel and Hamas will agree to prolong a truce in Gaza that had been due to expire on Tuesday, mediator Qatar said, as hostage and prisoner exchanges were set to continue.

The State of Qatar announces, as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip.

With just hours to go before the so-called "humanitarian pause" was to end, both Hamas and Israel had been under international pressure to avoid a return to battle.

Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said "an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip."

Hamas confirmed in a statement "that an agreement has been reached with the brothers in Qatar and Egypt for an extension of the temporary humanitarian pause for an additional two days, with the same conditions as the previous truce."

Qatar -- with the support of the United States and Egypt -- has been engaged in intense negotiations to establish and prolong the truce in Gaza.

Hamas, which runs Gaza and triggered the latest round of fighting by launching a bloody cross-border raid last month, said it was drawing up a new list of hostages for release.

Meanwhile, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it had informed families of the identities of hostages to be released on Monday, the last day of the initial four-day truce.

Israel has been clear that the pause is designed to allow Hamas to free more of the hostages it is holding since the October 7 attack, which killed 1,200 Israelis including many women and children, according to Israeli officials.

But both sides are under pressure to build on the break in hostilities to allow humanitarian aid to reach civilians in Gaza, where Israel's campaign against Hamas has left almost 15,000 dead, mostly Palestinian civilians, according to Gaza's Hamas government.

The Qatari announcement came after US President Joe Biden, top EU envoy Josep Borrell and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg all joined a global chorus urging the parties to extend their temporary break in fighting.

As part of the truce deal, Hamas has so far released 39 Israeli hostages, including a four-year-old girl orphaned by the group's October 7 attack, with more expected later Monday.

Israel has freed 117 Palestinian prisoners under the terms of the agreement.

In parallel, 19 foreign nationals have also been released by Palestinian militants.

Tearful reunions of families and hostages have brought relief from images of civilian death and suffering in the seven-week war.

"That's our goal, to keep this pause going beyond tomorrow so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief in to those in need," Biden said Sunday.

The White House welcomed the agreement to extend the truce.

"We would of course hope to see the pause extended further, and that will depend upon Hamas continuing to release hostages," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

Borrell called for the pause to be prolonged "to make it sustainable and long lasting while working for a political solution."

"Nothing can justify the indiscriminate brutality Hamas unleashed against civilians," he said. "But one horror cannot justify another horror."

Three successive days of hostage releases have buoyed spirits in Israel, with tearful reunions weeks after Hamas militants poured across the border on October 7.

The third group of hostages released Sunday included a four-year-old American citizen called Abigail whose parents were both killed in the Hamas attacks.

Inside Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry complained that, despite the four-day pause, no fuel had been taken to generators in hospitals in the north of the Gaza Strip.

And Yahya al-Siraj, the mayor of Gaza City, complained that without fuel the territory could not pump clean water nor clear waste accumulating in the streets, warning of a potential public health "catastrophe".

Israel has faced mounting pressure to extend the pause mediated by Qatar, the United States and Egypt, though its leaders have dismissed any suggestions of a lasting halt to the offensive.

"We continue until the end -- until victory," Netanyahu said in Gaza on Sunday, on the first visit by an Israeli premier since 2005.

His office has proposed a war budget of 30 billion shekels ($8 billion) for 90 days.

Wearing military fatigues and surrounded by soldiers, Netanyahu vowed to free all the hostages and "eliminate Hamas", in footage posted online by his office.

In another sign of mounting international concern, UN rights experts called Monday for independent investigations into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out in Israel and the Palestinian territories since October 7.

Morris Tidball-Binz, the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, and Alice Jill Edwards, the special rapporteur on torture, issued a joint statement stressing the need for "prompt, transparent and independent investigations".

14 Israeli Hostages, 3 Foreigners Handed Over To Red Cross In Gaza: Israel Army

JERUSALEM, Nov 26: Fourteen Israeli hostages and three foreign nationals were handed over to the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, the Israeli army said.

"Based on information that was received from the Red Cross, 14 Israeli hostages and three foreign hostages have been transferred to the Red Cross," it said in a statement on the third day of an agreed pause in the fighting between Israel and Hamas, that is to also see Palestinian prisoners freed in Israel.

Earlier, a report from Cairo said Egypt received lists of 13 Israelis and 39 Palestinians scheduled for release on Sunday, the third batch in the four-day truce deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar, Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt's State Information Service (SIS), said in a statement.

"The truce is proceeding without roadblocks," the statement said, adding that 120 aid tucks crossed from Egypt to Gaza on Sunday including two fuel trucks and two with gas for cooking.

Hamas Confirms Senior Commander, 3 Other Leaders Killed In Gaza

GAZA, Nov 26: Hamas' military wing said Sunday that the commander of its northern brigade, Ahmed Al-Ghandour, and three other senior leaders had been killed during Israel's offensive against the Islamist movement.

In a statement, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades said Ghandour was a member of its military council and named three other leaders who had died, including Ayman Siyyam, who Israeli media reports said was head of the Brigades' rocket-firing units.

"We pledge to Allah we will continue their path and that their blood will be a light for the mujahedeen and a fire for the occupiers," the statement said, without saying when they were killed.

Ghandour -- whose nom de guerre was Abu Anas -- was listed by the US in 2017 as a "specially designated global terrorist", putting him on an economic sanctions blacklist.

The State Department described him as a former member of Hamas' Shura council and member of its political bureau.

Ghandour "has been involved in many terrorist operations," it said, including a 2006 attack on an Israeli military outpost at the Kerem Shalom border crossing which left two Israeli soldiers dead and four wounded.

That attack resulted in the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was held by Hamas for five years before he was freed in 2011 in exchange for the release of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners.

The announcement came on the third day of a four-day pause in fighting in Gaza which began on October 7 when Hamas terrorist stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and snatching around 240 others, according to Israeli authorities.

Israel responded with a bombing and land campaign against Hamas that has killed nearly 15,000 people, also mostly civilians, according to Gaza's Hamas-led government.

So far under the pause deal, Hamas has returned 26 Israeli hostages in two batches, with 78 Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli detention in exchange.

Hamas Delays Second Hostage Release, Israel Gives Midnight Deadline

GAZA, Nov 25: The armed wing of Hamas said it had decided to delay Saturday's scheduled second round of hostage releases until Israel committed to allowing aid trucks to enter northern Gaza.

Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades said the hostage releases would be delayed if Israel did not adhere to the agreed terms for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Israeli media on Saturday quoted an unnamed security source as saying that unless hostages are released by midnight, the military will resume its offensive in Gaza, after Hamas said it was delaying the swap deal.

The comment was carried by Channel 13 news, N12 News, Ynet news website and others.

Earlier, an Israeli military spokesperson had told France's BFM television station that, barring last-minute changes, 13 Israeli hostages were expected to be freed.

He said 39 Palestinian prisoners would be released in return.

Under the truce deal between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Qatar, a total of 50 hostages are to be exchanged for 150 Palestinian prisoners, some of them convicted on weapon charges and violent offences, over four days.

In the first exchange on Friday, 13 Israeli women and children - out of around 240 hostages captured by Hamas fighters on a killing spree in southern Israel on Oct. 7 - were released. Twenty-four jailed Palestinian women and 15 teenagers were released from Israeli jails.

Saturday's setback came just hours after Egypt, which controls the Rafah border crossing into southern Gaza through which vital aid supplies have resumed, said it had received "positive signals" from all parties over a possible extension of that deal.

Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt's State Information Service (SIS), said in a statement that Cairo was holding extensive talks with all parties to reach an agreement which would mean "the release of more detainees in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails."

Israel has said the ceasefire could be extended if Hamas continues to release hostages at a rate of at least 10 per day. A Palestinian source has said up to 100 hostages could go free.

Israel and Hamas have said hostilities would resume as soon as the truce ends, although U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday there was a real chance of extending the truce.

24 Hostages Released By Hamas Nearly 2 Months After War Began

TEL AVIV, Nov 24: Hamas on Friday freed a first batch of hostages seized in the deadliest attack in Israel's history under a deal that saw a temporary truce take hold in war-ravaged Gaza.

Thirteen Israeli hostages captured during Palestinian militants' murderous October 7 cross-border raids were handed over to their country's security forces, an Israeli security source said.

It came after Hamas sources said the hostages had been transferred to the Red Cross to be taken to the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. AFPTV live footage showed Red Cross jeeps entering the crossing with passengers on board, some of them waving.

The first group of women and child hostages were set to return to Israel under a deal that followed weeks of talks involving Israel, Palestinian militant groups, Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

Israel is set to release three times as many Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails -- women and teenage boys.

Key mediator Qatar confirmed Hamas had on Friday released a total of 24 hostages and that Israel had freed 39 women and children from its prisons.

"Those released include 13 Israeli citizens, some of whom are dual citizens, in addition to 10 Thai citizens and a Filipino citizen," its foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said.

A White House official said "we do not expect Americans to be among the first group released today but remain hopeful that there will be Americans among the 50 released".

Pictures released earlier by the Israeli army showed bright pink and blue headphones sitting on the seats of a helicopter ready for the released hostages to use, along with toys and teddy bears waiting at a reception centre where they were being taken to.

During a four-day truce, at least 50 hostages are expected to be freed, leaving an estimated 190 in the hands of Palestinian militants.

In exchange, 150 Palestinians prisoners are expected to be released.

Hamas broke through Gaza's militarised border with Israel on October 7 to kill, according to Israeli officials, about 1,200 people and seize around 240 Israeli and foreign hostages.

Qatar Accepts India's Appeal Against Death Penalty To 8 Navy Veterans

New Delhi: A Qatar court has accepted India's appeal against the death penalty to eight former Indian Navy personnel, who were handed the sentence last month in an alleged case of espionage.

Sources said that the Qatari court will set a hearing date after examining the appeal.

According to reports, the eight men were arrested in August 2022 by Qatar's intelligence agency for spying. But the Qatari authorities haven't made the charges against them public yet. Their bail petitions were rejected several times and the verdict against them was pronounced last month by the Court of First Instance in Qatar.

Granted consular access to them, Indian authorities have been working to secure their release. The Ministry of External Affairs has urged everyone to refrain from "engaging in speculation" due to the sensitive nature of the case.

The arrested Indian Navy veterans are Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Amit Nagpal, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vasisht and Sailor Ragesh Gopakumar.

All of the former Navy officers have a distinguished service record of up to 20 years in the Indian Navy and have held important positions including that of instructors in the force.

Meetu Bhargava, the sister of one of the former officers detained, had sought help from the government to bring her brother back. In a post on X on June 8, she had appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene.

"These Ex-Navy officers are the pride of the nation & again I request our Hon'ble Prime Minister with folded hands that it is high time that they all are brought back to India immediately without any further delay," read her post, tagged to PM Modi and Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh.

Gaza Ceasefire, Hostage Release To Start Friday: Qatar

DOHA, Nov 23: A Gaza truce and hostage release will start on Friday morning, Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman said.

"The pause will begin at 7:00 am (0500 GMT) on Friday... and the first batch of civilian hostages will be handed over at approximately 4:00 pm (1400 GMT) on the same day," Majed Al-Ansari said Thursday.

Thirteen people would freed initially, all women and children from the same families, Ansari said.

"Obviously every day will include a number of civilians as agreed to total 50 within the four days," the spokesperson added.

Israel and Hamas, which have been at war since October 7, had announced a deal on Wednesday allowing at least 50 hostages and scores of Palestinian prisoners to be freed, during a four-day truce.

The deal, facilitated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, is to take effect in stages that can be extended and broadened. It is also intended to provide aid to Gaza's 2.4 million residents.

The agreement follows weeks of war in the Gaza Strip after Hamas militants broke through the militarised Gaza border on October 7 in an unprecedented attack. Israeli officials say about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and around 240 taken hostage.

Relentless Israeli bombardments and a ground invasion since then have killed more than 14,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip.

Israel Agrees To Deal For Release Of 50 Hostages, Hamas Welcomes 'Truce'

JERUSALEM, Nov 22: Israel and Hamas announced a deal on Wednesday allowing at least 50 hostages and scores of Palestinian prisoners to be freed, while offering besieged Gaza residents a four-day truce after weeks of all-out war.

In the first major diplomatic breakthrough in the war, Palestinian operatives will release during a four-day truce 50 women and children kidnapped during their October 7 raids.

After weeks of Qatar-brokered negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet approved the truce accord Wednesday after a near-all-night meeting, in which he told ministers this was a "difficult decision but it's a right decision."

The cabinet's sign-off was one of the last stumbling blocks after what one US official described as five "extremely excruciating" weeks of talks.

Hamas released a statement welcoming the "humanitarian truce" and said it would also see 150 Palestinians released from Israeli jails.

"The resistance is committed to the truce as long as the occupation honours it," said a Hamas official.

Hamas gunmen carried out on October 7 a cross-border attack, the worst in Israel's history, that left around 1,200 people dead, most of them civilians, according to the Israeli government.

Hamas and other Palestinian groups also took an estimated 240 Israelis and foreigners hostage, among them elderly people and young children.

Israel declared war on Hamas, vowing to bring the hostages home and to destroy the group.

It launched a major bombing campaign and ground offensive in Gaza, which, according to the Hamas government in the territory, has killed 14,100 people, thousands of them children.

Israel said that to facilitate the hostage release it would initiate a four-day "pause" in its six-week-old air, land and sea assault of Gaza, while it stressed that the agreement did not spell the end of the war.

For every 10 additional hostages released, there would be an extra day's "pause", the Israeli government said.

'Extraordinarily Gratified': Biden Hails Hostage Deal Between Israel-Hamas

WASHINGTON, Nov 22: US President Joe Biden said Tuesday he was deeply relieved that some hostages taken when Hamas operatives entered Israel on October 7 will soon go free under a deal brokered with help from across the Middle East.

"I am extraordinarily gratified that some of these brave souls... will be reunited with their families once this deal is fully implemented," Biden said in a statement released by the White House.

Biden thanked the leaders of Qatar and Egypt for their "critical leadership" in reaching the deal and also hailed Israel for agreeing to an extended pause in fighting in Gaza to allow for the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

He noted that two American hostages were freed in late October as part of intense diplomacy.

"Today's deal should bring home additional American hostages, and I will not stop until they are all released," Biden said.

North Korea Claims It Successfully Launched First Spy Satellite, Promises More

SEOUL/TOKYO, Nov 22: North Korea said it successfully placed its first spy satellite in orbit on Tuesday and vowed to launch more in the near future, defying international condemnation from the United States and its allies.

Officials in South Korea and Japan, which first reported the launch, said they could not immediately verify whether a satellite was placed in orbit.

Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said the US military was still assessing whether the launch was a success or not.

South Korea responded to the North Korean announcement by saying it would take steps to suspend parts of a 2018 inter-Korean agreement designed to lower military tensions, its Yonhap news agency reported.

Yonhap cited a South Korean National Security Council statement as saying the move would involve restoring reconnaissance and surveillance operations in the area around the military demarcation line between the countries.

North Korea's KCNA state news agency said the Malligyong-1 satellite was launched on a Chollima-1 rocket from the Sohae satellite launch facility at 10:42 p.m. (1342 GMT) and entered orbit at 10:54 p.m. (1354 GMT). KCNA cited North Korea's National Aerospace Technology Administration.

North Korea had earlier notified Japan it planned to send up a satellite between Wednesday and Dec. 1, after two failed attempts to launch what it called spy satellites earlier this year.

US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson called the launch "a brazen violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions," and said it "raises tensions, and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region and beyond."

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the launch employed ballistic missile technology UN resolutions ban North Korea from using.

Tuesday's launch would be the first since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met Vladimir Putin at Russia's modern space facility in September for a summit where the Russian president promised to help Pyongyang build satellites.

South Korean officials have said the latest launch attempt likely incorporated technical assistance from Moscow as part of a growing partnership that has seen North Korea send millions of artillery shells to Russia. Russia and North Korea have denied such arms deals, but are publicly promising deeper cooperation.

KCNA said Kim Jong Un personally observed the launch, which came just over a week before South Korea plans to send its first spy satellite into space on a Falcon 9 rocket operated by the US company Space X.

North Korea's space agency will send up multiple spy satellites in the near future to continue securing surveillance capabilities over South Korea and other regions of interest to North Korea's armed forces, the report said.

"The launch of reconnaissance satellite is a legitimate right of (North Korea) for strengthening its self-defensive capabilities," KCNA said, adding that it would enhance the country's military preparedness in the face of its enemies' "dangerous military moves."

After the May launch attempt, South Korea retrieved the wreckage of the satellite from the sea and said an analysis showed it had limited use as a reconnaissance platform.

India resumes e-visa services for Canadian nationals after 2-month pause

NEW DELHI, Nov 22: India has resumed e-visa services for Canadian nationals after a pause of almost two months, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Issuing of visas was suspended on September 21 following turmoil in the relationship between the two countries after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made unsubstantiated allegations of a “potential” Indian link in the killing of pro-Khalistani figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia.

However, in October, India resumed visa services in certain categories for Canadian citizens, excluding tourist, employment, student, film, missionary and journalist visas.

The resumption of services for all categories of visas comes hours ahead of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's participation in the virtual G20 Leaders' Summit. Trudeau’s participation was confirmed by the Canadian prime minister’s office (PMO) as it features on his itinerary for November 22.

This would be the first time Trudeau would come face to face with Prime Minister Modi, albeit virtually, after ties between India and Canada took a nosedive following the former's allegations against New Delhi.

Khalistani Terrorist Gurpatwant Pannun Faces Terror Case Over Threat Video

NEW DELHI, Nov 20: A case has been registered against designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun for threatening people flying Air India and the airline with closure of operations from November 19, the NIA said on Monday.

The case has been registered under the Indian Penal Code and the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

In video messages, released on November 4, Pannun had asked Sikhs to stop flying on Air India planes on and after November 19, citing a potential threat to their lives.

Pannun, the self-proclaimed general counsel of the outlawed "unlawful association", Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), released the video messages on various social media platforms. Following this a high alert was issued and investigations started by security forces in Canada, India and certain other countries where Air India flies.

Pannun has been under the NIA's lens since 2019, when the anti-terror agency registered its first case against him. In September, the NIA had confiscated his share of a house and land in Amritsar in Punjab and Chandigarh.

Non-bailable arrest warrants were issued against Pannun by a NIA Special Court on February 3, 2021, and he was declared a "Proclaimed Offender" on November 29 last year.

Israel releases shocking footage of ‘tunnel of terror’ built by Hamas under Al Shifa hospital in Gaza

TEL AVIV, Nov 20: Israel Defence Forces released shocking new footage on Sunday which proves to be evidence of Hamas-inflicted terror in Gaza. The footage reveals a huge “tunnel of terror” built by the terrorist group under Gaza's biggest hospital, Al Shifa.

Israel notes that it is “more proof” that Hamas uses the patients as human shields as per the Mirror. The tunnel, which drops below 10 metres (30 feet) underground is declared an “operational tunnel shaft” by Israeli forces.

The IDF stated, “The medical centre has become an Iron Dome for the ranks of Hamas' commanders, and in the case of the October 7 attack, for holding hostages - both in Al Shifa and in Al Quds, Al Rantisi and Al Nasser hospitals,” as per ynetnews. According to a statement, a staircase leading to a 55-meter-long (180-foot) terror tunnel was discovered beneath the Al Shifa Hospital complex.

Israeli army further explained that the terrorist organisation uses the “terror tunnel” to “block Israeli forces from entering the command centres and the underground assets belonging to Hamas.” The shocking discovery was made after a controlled explosion was carried out on a car, which reportedly belonged to Hamas, as per the IDF.

They further revealed on X, formerly Twitter, “The tunnel entrance contains various defense mechanisms, such as a blast-proof door and a firing hole, in an attempt by Hamas to block Israeli forces from entering. For weeks we've been telling the world about Hamas' cynical use of the residents of Gaza and patients of Shifa Hospital as human shields.”

The tweet further added, “For weeks we've been telling the world about Hamas' cynical use of the residents of the Gaza and patients of Shifa Hospital as human shields. Here is more proof.” In a separate tweet, the IDF said, “The operation is ongoing and is being conducted carefully, all in order to locate and dismantle Hamas infrastructure in the hospital.”

Israel raids homes of senior Hamas members in North Gaza

TEL AVIV, Nov 19: Israel said it was entering the “next stage” of the six-week-old war against Hamas as focus shifted to the south of the besieged Gaza Strip. Separately, Israeli paratroopers raided what were called the homes of senior Hamas officials in northern Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wouldn’t say if he believed top Hamas leaders were now hiding around the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis.

“We’ll get to them,” he told reporters, describing the leadership as “dead men walking.” About 2,500 internally displaced persons, along with patients and staff, on Saturday vacated northern Gaza’s Al Shifa Hospital, the focus of Israel’s ground offensive for the past week, a United Nations agency said.

Israel’s army said it launched strikes against both Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah across its northern border in Lebanon early Sunday.

Meanwhile, Hamas — designated a terror organization by the US and European Union — said it had lost contact with groups assigned to guard some of the hostages it seized on Oct. 7.

At least 30 premature babies were evacuated from Gaza’s main hospital on Sunday and will be transferred to facilities in Egypt, it was reported, citing the territory’s health ministry.

A World Health Organization team that visited Al Shifa Hospital on Saturday said 32 babies were among scores of patients stranded at the hospital, where Israeli forces have been operating since last week.

Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said there’s been “good progress” in the past few days on reaching an agreement between Israel and Hamas to release hostages.

Al Thani, who’s also the foreign minister, said he’s “more confident” about sealing a deal, with the remaining challenges “practical and logistical.” He spoke at a joint press conference with European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell.

India-bound ship hijacked by Yemen's Houthi rebels in Red Sea: Report

TEL AVIV, Nov 19: Israel’s government said on Sunday that Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen hijacked a cargo ship in the Red Sea, endangering a key global shipping route.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office condemned the seizure of what it said was a vessel owned by a British company and operated by a Japanese firm, without naming either of those.

There were no Israelis among the ship’s 25 crew members, it said.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have threatened to strike Israel since its war against Palestinian militant group Hamas began in early October, and has launched failed missile attacks that were believed to have targeted Israel.

Sunday’s incident marks the first big escalation in the threat posed by Houthis against global maritime shipping since the latest conflict began.

Hours earlier, Houthi rebels in Yemen said they would target ships carrying the Israeli flag as well as those operated by or belonging to Israeli companies. A Houthi spokesman, posting on X, called on other countries to withdraw citizens working on Israeli vessels.

The rebel group is based in Yemen, allowing it to stage attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea. In January of 2022, Houthis hijacked a United Arab Emirates-flagged cargo ship carrying supplies for a Saudi Arabian hospital.

Houthis are believed to be getting training, technical expertise and increasingly sophisticated weapons — including drones, ballistic and cruise missiles — from Iran.

Netanyahu’s office blamed Sunday’s attack on the government in Tehran, which it said is endangering global shipping lanes. Iran hasn’t commented on the incident.

The Israeli government said the ship’s crew members include people from Ukraine, Bulgaria, the Philippines and Mexico. Israel’s army said the vessel was on its way from Turkey to India at the time of the attack.

Israel Continues Raid At Gaza Hospital

TEL AVIV, Nov 18: Fighting raged in the Gaza Strip, with Israel saying it would attack anywhere Hamas exists, including South Gaza where civilians are taking refuge. Israel launched a ground offensive after 1,200 Israelis were killed in an attack by Hamas on Oct 7.

The Al Shifa Hospital has become the latest war zone as Israeli troops continue to push deep into Gaza in a bid to destroy Hamas.

The hospital, Gaza's largest, has run out of oxygen, fuel, and other basic supplies which has resulted in the deaths of three newborns and 24 other patients, according to the Palestine Health Ministry.

"Twenty-four patients in different departments have died over the last 48 hours as vital medical equipment has stopped functioning because of the power outage," said ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra.

Israeli troops carried out a third day of searches at the hospital today, which they claim is being used as a command centre by Hamas. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) has released videos of Hamas tunnels that they claim were found in the hospital compound. The IDF has also claimed to have found the body of a hostage at Al Shifa.

A first consignment of fuel entered Gaza from Egypt after Israel agreed to a US request to allow limited deliveries to end a communications blackout that has halted aid convoys for two days.

After storming North Gaza, Israel has issued a fresh warning asking civilians in the South to relocate and avoid getting in the line of fire.
"We're asking people to relocate. I know it's not easy for many of them, but we don't want to see civilians caught up in the crossfire," Mark Regev, an aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel Defence Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that the troops will advance wherever Hamas exists. "We are determined to advance our operation. It will happen wherever Hamas exists, including in the south of the strip," he said.

Israel vowed to annihilate the Hamas group that controls the Gaza Strip following an October 7 rampage into Israel in which its fighters killed 1,200 people and dragged 240 hostages into the enclave.

Since then, Israel has bombed much of Gaza City to rubble, ordered the depopulation of the entire northern half of the enclave, and left homeless around two-thirds of the strip's 2.3 million Palestinians.

Maldives Asks India To Withdraw Military Presence

MALE, Nov 18: A day after he was sworn in, the office of Maldives president Mohamed Muizzu on Saturday announced that the government has officially asked India to withdraw its military presence from the country.

Sources in the ministry of external affairs said "workable solutions" are being discussed between the two governments.

The announcement said Mr Muizzu formally made the request when he met Union Minister Kiren Rijiju at the President's office earlier in the day. Rijiju, who is the minister of earth sciences, was in the country to attend the swearing-in ceremony.

India has around 70 soldiers in the Maldives, manning radars and surveillance aircraft. Indian warships also help patrol the country's exclusive economic zone.

Indian government sources said when Rijiju called on Mr Muizzu, the president brought up the issue of Indian military personnel present in the Maldives to operate aircraft for medical evacuation and anti-drug trafficking purposes.

The sources said President Muizzu acknowledged the contribution of these Indian helicopters and planes towards the medical evacuation of Maldivian citizens. They are also central to the confidence that international tourists have while staying on remote islands.

It was agreed that the two Governments would discuss workable solutions for continued cooperation through the use of these platforms as this serves the interests of the people of Maldives.

The withdrawal of foreign troops from the archipelago has been one of the key promises of the new president and he had reiterated his resolve to do so in his first speech to the nation after being sworn in on Friday.

Without naming India, Muizzu said, "The country will not have any foreign military personnel in the Maldives."

"When it comes to our security, I will draw a red line. The Maldives will respect the red lines of other countries too," a news agency quoted him as saying.

Earlier in the week, Muizzu, who is widely seen as pro-China, had said that his intention was not to upend the regional balance by replacing the Indian military with Chinese troops.

"Maldives is too small to be entangled in geopolitical rivalry. I am not very much interested to engage the Maldivian foreign policy in this," he had said.

The Maldives' announcement on Indian troops came on a day when the Special Envoy of the Chinese President, Shen Yiqin, paid a courtesy call on President Muizzu.

A statement released by Muizzu's office said Ms Yiqin congratulated the president on his successful inauguration and expressed confidence that relations between the two countries would strengthen during his presidential term.

"During the meeting, the President thanked the Government of China for its contributions to the socio-economic development of the Maldives over the years. He stated that today marks a new chapter in the shared historic friendship between the two countries. The President further expressed his confidence in continued collaboration in areas of mutual interest, including regional cooperation, economic cooperation and people-to-people contact," the statement said.

Israel Found Hamas Tunnel, Body Of Hostage At Gaza Hospital

TEL AVIV, Nov 17: Gaza hospitals have become a focal point for Israeli operations, with the military saying it has found tunnels or military equipment at the Al-Shifa, Rantisi and Al-Quds facilities.

More than half of Gaza's hospitals are no longer functional, due to either combat, damage, or shortages. Israel has launched a "targeted operation" in Al-Shifa facility it accuses Hamas of using as a command centre.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alleged hostages may even have been held at the Al-Shifa hospital. "We had strong indications that they were held in the Shifa Hospital, which is one of the reasons we entered the hospital," he told "CBS Evening News".

Israel said its forces were searching Al-Shifa "one building at a time," and claimed that they found the body of a woman hostage at a building nearby. "Yehudit (Weiss) was murdered by the terrorists in the Gaza Strip and we didn't manage to reach her in time," spokesman Daniel Hagari told a televised briefing.

There has been little news on the fate of the hostages, Israelis and foreigners, some of them just infants, despite ongoing negotiations for the release of some in exchange for a pause in fighting.

Qatar, where Hamas has political offices, and Egypt have been mediating negotiations, which Egypt's foreign minister described Thursday as "very delicate."

Netanyahu said Israel is doing all it can to get civilians out of harm's way as it battles Hamas in Gaza, including dropping leaflets warning them to flee, but its attempts to minimize casualties were "not successful".

"Any civilian death is a tragedy. And we shouldn't have any because we're doing everything we can to get the civilians out of harm's way, while Hamas is doing everything to keep them in harm's way," he said.

Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas in response to the group's October 7 attack, which killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and saw about 240 taken hostage, according to Israeli officials. Israel's ground operation has so far focused on the north of the Gaza Strip, though aerial bombardment and civilian deaths have continued in the south as well.

With international concern about the conflict growing, the UN Security Council on Wednesday passed a resolution urging "urgent and extended humanitarian pauses" in fighting. Over 1.5 million people have been internally displaced, and Israel's blockade of the territory means "civilians are facing the immediate possibility of starvation," World Food Programme executive director Cindy McCain said.

The UN warned that the communications blackout in Gaza would compound the misery of civilians, complicating efforts to distribute aid and possibly triggering looting of its supplies.

Rabbi Says Hamas Operative Who Paraded German Tourist Dead

TEL AVIV, Nov 17: The Hamas operative who paraded German tourist Shani Louk's body through Gaza has been killed by Israeli forces, according to a rabbi who spoke to her mother. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that the "monster is now roasting in hell forever".

Twenty-three-year-old Shani Louk was taken hostage when she was attending the Supernova music festival near the Gaza border, which became one of the targets of a surprise Hamas attack on October 7. Her death was confirmer weeks later.

The rabbi posted a world breaking news, saying Ms Louk was "savagely murdered" on October 7.

In a separate post, he wrote that the tourist "was actually murdered after being tortured, and who knows what else".

"Hamas are evil incarnate. They are the Nazis of our time. Whoever denies, after witnessing what they did to this poor innocent woman, that Hamas does not need to be completely destroyed is immoral," he added.

However, the rabbi's claims have not been officially confirmed by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). It was also not clear which of the four men pictured with Ms Louk's body the rabbi was referring to.

The Telegraph, however, carried a larger excerpt of the alleged conversation of Ms Louk's mother Ricarda with the rabbi where she said there is one less bad person in the world.

Rajnath emphasises open trade in international waters amid Chinese aggression in South China Sea

JAKARTA, Nov 16: After calling out China’s aggression in the South China Sea at the India-US 2+2 meeting in New Delhi last week, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reaffirmed Thursday that India was committed to “freedom of navigation and unimpeded commerce in international waters”.

Singh, who was speaking at the 10th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta Thursday, also appreciated the grouping’s role in “promoting dialogue and consensus in the region”.

Last week, during the 2+2 ministerial dialogue with America, Singh had stressed on the need to counter China’s aggression in the Indo-Pacific region.

On Thursday, Singh called for security initiatives — such as the ASEAN — to be “consultative and development-oriented”, adding: “We (India) are committed towards nurturing practical, forward-looking and result-oriented cooperation with ADMM-Plus for enhancing maritime security in the ASEAN region.”

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN is an intergovernmental organisation comprising Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. India is part of the ASEAN Plus Six grouping, which also includes China, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia.

The ADMM is the highest defence consultative and cooperative mechanism in ASEAN. Since 2017, this grouping has met annually to strengthen cooperation among ASEAN and the Plus countries. Indonesia is hosting the meeting this year as the current chair of ADMM-Plus.

In his address to other defence ministers, Singh emphasised on the importance of dialogue and diplomacy to have “enduring peace, and in ensuring global stability”. He also reiterated India’s global message – “this is not an era of war” – and spoke about the imperative to give up the “us versus them” mindset.

The South China Sea is an essential shipping route and one of the busiest waterways in the world. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, roughly $3.37 trillion or 21 percent of global trade travelled through these waters in 2016.

Incidentally, China claims “indisputable sovereignty” over 90 percent of the South China Sea on the basis of a U-shaped “nine-dash line”, etched on a map in the 1940s by a Chinese geographer.

Earlier this year, ASEAN foreign ministers had appealed to countries to “exercise self-restraint” in their practices along the South China Sea. The joint statement highlighted land reclamations, in what was seen as a subtle warning to China about its activities in the region.

Apart from interacting with ASEAN member countries, Singh also met US Defence Secretary Llyod Austin on the sidelines of the Jakarta meeting. The two ministers discussed ways to contribute to ASEAN’s centrality in the Indo-Pacific in accordance with this year’s theme “Peace, Prosperity and Security”.

They also discussed bilateral issues including expanding the India-US partnership to address rising global challenges and advance defence technology cooperation between the two countries.

Israel Storms Gaza Hospital With Tanks, Newborns Among 2,300 Stuck Inside

TEL AVIV, Nov 15: Israel has launched a "targeted operation" in Gaza's biggest hospital it accuses Hamas of using as a command centre. The hospital is sheltering thousands of sick, displaced Gazans, and the move could intensify international criticism of Israel.

Israel troops said they are carrying out "a precise and targeted operation against Hamas" inside the al-Shifa hospital. The Israel Defence Forces in a statement said they had "conveyed to the relevant authorities in Gaza once again that all military activities within the hospital must cease within 12 hours. Unfortunately, it did not." IDF has also asked the Hamas operatives at the hospital to surrender.

The Associated Press and BBC report that Israeli tanks are in the hospital compound. Mohammed Zaqout, the director of hospitals in Gaza, told AP Israeli tanks have entered the medical compound at al-Shifa.

"The forces stormed the buildings. The patients, including children, are terrified. They are screaming. It's a very terrifying situation … we can do nothing for the patients but pray."

The United Nations estimates that at least 2,300 patients, staff, and displaced civilians are inside the facility, trapped by days of fierce fighting and aerial bombardments.

The al-Shifa hospital was caring for 36 babies as of Tuesday, according to medical staff there who said there was no clear mechanism to move them despite an Israeli effort to supply incubators for an evacuation. Three premature babies have already died since the al-Shifa hospital ran out of fuel over the weekend to power generators that had kept their incubators going.

Aid agencies and hospital staff have said that the situation is already "catastrophic" with medical procedures taking place without anesthetic, families with scant food or water living in corridors, and the stench of decomposing corpses filling the air.

"There are bodies littered in the hospital complex and there is no longer electricity at the morgues," said hospital director Mohammad Abu Salmiya.
Both Israel and the United States have said that Hamas operatives have been using Gaza's hospitals to hide command posts and hostages using underground tunnels.

Hamas has accused US President Joe Biden of being "wholly responsible" for the operations at the al-Shifa hospital. "We hold the occupation (Israel) and President Biden wholly responsible for the assault on the Al-Shifa medical complex," Hamas said in a statement.

Israel said rockets were still being fired from Gaza into southern Israel, where it has said about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 taken hostage by Hamas last month.

The conflict has stoked regional tensions, with deadly cross-border exchanges intensifying between the Israeli army and Lebanon's Hezbollah movement. Meeting in Saudi Arabia, Arab countries called for an immediate end to military operations in Gaza, rejecting Israel's justification of self-defence.

Hamas Tunnel With Bulletproof Doors Leads To Gaza Hospital, Claims Israel

TEL AVIV, Nov 14: Israel's security forces claim to have discovered a Hamas-operated tunnel that leads to a hospital in Gaza amid criticism that their ground operations have left medical facilities inoperative in the blockaded strip.

The tunnel is next to the house of a Hamas operative who heads the naval operations of Hamas that led the October 7 raids on Israel, said a military spokesperson.

Rantisi hospital is only 200 yards (183 metres) away, said Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, as he sought to prove the accusations that the Palestinian Hamas group has been operating from hospitals.

"Inside these tunnels, Hamas terrorists hide, operate and hold Israeli hostages against their will," said the Israel Security Forces on X, formerly Twitter.

The tunnel is electrified with the help of solar panels and leads to a bulletproof and explosives-proof door about 20 metres down the ground level, he said. "It looks like a hard and clear evidence that the hospital is connected," he added.

The tunnel remains covered so that no one can find it and the hospital is next to a school and an UN building, the Israeli forces said.

The military spokesperson then enters the basement of the hospital where he finds "operational gears" of the Hamas in a room, including explosive body vests, hand grenades, Kalashnikov rifles, and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs).

"Hamas is using hospitals...people shooting RPGs from hospitals. This is Hamas. The world has to understand who is Israel fighting against," he asserted.

Hostages were brought from across the Gaza border on bike and held hostage in this basement, he claimed, pointing to a bike with bullet marks. Women's clothes, ropes tied to a chair, diapers, and a feeding bottle in the basement added to the "suspicion for areas where hostages were held".

A makeshift washroom complete with a commode and ventilation were also found there. "We see infrastructure like toilets, showers and a small kitchen provided the terrorists their needs," he said.

He further claimed that a roster in Arabic on the wall of a room mentioned "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood", the name given to the October 7 Hamas attack, and the shifts of Hamas operatives.

Fact-checker Mohammed Zubair has refuted this claim and said the text in Arabic was nothing but the days of the week.

Israel also claimed its forces were transporting incubators from hospitals in Gaza to Al-Shifa, but later deleted the social media post. In a fresh post, they claimed are in the process of coordinating the transfer of incubators from a hospital in Israel to Gaza.

Hospitals have become the latest focal point of Israel-Hamas fight in Gaza. At least six babies and nine patients have died due to fuel shortages in hospitals and all hospitals in northern Gaza are now "out of service", said the Hamas-run health ministry yesterday. This includes the Al-Shifa hospital, the largest in the blockaded strip.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains grim with hundreds of patients trapped in the hospital without electricity and water, besides thousands others who have taken shelter in those complexes.

US President Joe Biden has urged Israel to protect the Al-Shifa hospital.

'You Failed To Deliver': Sacked UK Minister In Letter To Rishi Sunak

LONDON, Nov 14: Former UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman, sacked by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, quit her office today with a massive parting shot -- a scathing resignation posted on social media where she accused him of being "weak" and failing to deliver on key policies and keep their promise to the British people.

The Prime Minister, she wrote in the three-page letter, got the office partly because of her support.

"I agreed to support you because of the firm assurances you gave me on key policies... our deal was no mere promise over dinner, to be discarded when convenient and denied when challenged," she wrote.

"Your rejection of this path was not merely a betrayal of our agreement but a betrayal of your promise to the nation that you would do 'whatever it takes' to stop the boats," she wrote.

"Either your distinctive style of government means you are incapable of doing so. Or, as I must surely conclude now, you never had any intention of keeping your promises," she added.

The "promises" she accused Sunak of breaking include reduction of illegal migration, stopping the migrant boats from crossing the English Channel, issuing statutory guidance to schools protection of biological sex and deliver on the north Ireland protocol.

"Someone needs to be honest: your plan is not working, we have endured record election defeats, your resets have failed and we are running out of time," she wrote.

Her letter spoke of Wednesday's much-anticipated Supreme Court ruling on the legality of the government's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda and described Sunak's rejection of the withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights as a way to push through the scheme a "betrayal".

"You opted instead for wishful thinking as a comfort blanket to avoid having to make hard choices. This irresponsibility has wasted time and left the country in an impossible position," Ms Braverman wrote.

Suella Braverman was sacked after the comments she made last week about the police's handling of a pro-Palestinian march.

In an article she wrote published by The Times, she had accused the police of "playing favourites" during protests and claimed they largely ignored "pro-Palestinian mobs".

She also wrote that she did not believe the protests were "merely a cry for help for Gaza" but were more an "assertion of primacy by certain groups -- particularly Islamists".

The Opposition Labour Party alleged it had increased tension at pro-Palestinian rallies and Mr Sunak came under increasing pressure to drop her from his cabinet.

Taiwan Official Says China's Foxconn Probe Aims To Disrupt Elections: Report

TAPEI, Nov 14: Taiwan's national security chief has claimed that a Chinese tax probe into Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn is a "political" move. The billionaire founder of the company, Terry Gou is running for president in democratically ruled, Taiwan, Al Jazeera reported.

Terry Gou relieved himself of management duties at Foxconn four years' prior, launching his presidential bid in August as an independent candidate in Taiwan's January polls.

Foxconn is one of the world's largest contract producers of electronics as well as being a key supplier for Apple's iPhones.

The Chinese state-run Global Times reported last month that Foxconn was under a "normal and legitimate" investigation for tax and land issues by mainland authorities, reports Al Jazeera.

Taiwan has governed independently from mainland China since 1949, yet China has continually attempted to reclaim control of the island on the southeastern coast of China, particularly in recent years.

Foxconn has said they will cooperate on "operations concerned" in order to maintain confidence in the company during its investigation.

Taiwan's National Security Council head said on Monday in Taipei' that there was a political element to the probe into the company. Al Jazeera reports that Gou's entry into the electoral race could split the opposition vote.

When Gou first entered the presidential race, he was accused of holding a relationship between Foxconn and Beijing, due to the numerous mainland factories that Foxconn has. Gou was quick to disregard these statements, he said he had "never been under the control of the [Chinese Communist Party]".

The current president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen and her party, the Democratic Progressive Party hold a particularly Taiwanese nationalist position, advocating a strengthening of the Taiwanese identity.

Analysts say Gou has a slim chance of winning, with DPP candidate Vice President Lai Ching-te currently in the lead, Al Jazeera reports.

"They [China] certainly don't want Terry Gou to run," Wellington Koo, whose department falls under President Tsai Ing-wen said, reports Al Jazeera. "Based on our observations, China does not want Terry Gou to split votes [within the pro-Beijing camp]," he said.

Koo also mentioned that Foxconn has been looking to diversify its supply chain lines away from China, which suggests another reason that Chinese authorities may be looking to investigate the company.

"If all assembly lines are moved out under the request of major US brands, the harm to China will be significant," Koo said.

With more than a million workers nationwide, Foxconn is China's largest private-sector employer. Top Taiwanese official, Deputy Premier Cheng Wen-tsan, said Taiwanese businesses in China should not be subject to "political interference".

China is continuing to struggle with a persistent bout of industrial unrest with the United States.

Foxconn is turning its attention to India, in May, it bought a huge tract of land on the outskirts of Indian tech hub Bengaluru and has since announced plans to expand its India operations, reports Al Jazeera.

The Taiwanese company have reportedly invested up to 600 million dollars into Indian production.

Hamas Has 'Lost Control In Gaza', Says Israel Defence Minister

TEL AVIV, Nov 13: Hamas has "lost control in Gaza", Israel's Defence Minister claimed on Monday, over a month after the Palestinian group launched a "surprise" attack on the nation, firing over 500 rockets.

"Hamas has lost control of Gaza. Terrorists are fleeing southward. Civilians are looting Hamas bases," he said without providing evidence. "They don't have faith in the government anymore," Gallant added in a video broadcast on Israel's main TV stations.

The bloodiest-ever Gaza war broke out after Hamas fighters poured through the militarised border with Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 240 people hostage, according to the most recent Israeli figures.

The deputy health minister in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, Youssef Abu Rish said that all hospitals in the north of the territory are "out of service" amid energy shortages. Abu Rish said seven premature babies and 27 patients had died in recent days in the Al-Shifa hospital, Gaza's largest.

Gaza has been under near total Israeli siege and run short of food, fuel and other basic supplies. Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Monday called on the European Union and the United Nations to "parachute aid" into Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US media a deal could be afoot to free hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, but declined to provide details for fear of scuttling the potential plan.

Asked on NBC show "Meet the Press" whether there was a potential deal, Netanyahu replied: "There could be."

A Palestinian official in Gaza, however, blamed Netanyahu "for the delay and obstacles in reaching a preliminary agreement on the release of several prisoners".

Israeli fighter jets pounded Hezbollah hideouts in southern Lebanon with strikes on Sunday after an incoming anti-tank missile wounded Israeli civilians near the border, the army said.

Since October 8, Israel has traded fire with Iran-backed Hezbollah and other groups in southern Lebanon on a near-daily basis, amid heightened fears of a regional conflagration.

Hamas Commander Ahmed Siam Killed

TEL AVIV, Nov 13: The Israeli military claimed it killed a senior Hamas commander in an airstrike, who was responsible for holding approximately 1,000 people and patients as hostages in a Gaza hospital.

In a tweet posted on X, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said that Ahmed Siam was also responsible for preventing the evacuation of Gaza residents to the Southward.

"IDF aircraft just struck Ahmed Siam, responsible for holding approximately 1,000 Gazan residents and patients hostage at the Rantisi Hospital and preventing their evacuation southward. Siam was a commander in Hamas' Naser Radwan Company and is another example of Hamas using civilians in Gaza as human shields for terrorist purposes," the tweet read.

Ahmed Siam was a company commander of Hamas's Naser Radwan Company, according to the IDF.

He was struck via a fighter jet while hiding at the al-Buraq school in Gaza City, along with other Hamas operatives under his command.

The IDF said that they had received intelligence gathered by the Shin Bet and Military Intelligence Directorate regarding his whereabouts. The Givati Brigade troops guided the fighter jet to strike the location where the Hamas terrorist was hiding.

The strike on Siam came shortly after the IDF accused him of keeping about 1,000 civilians hostages inside Gaza City's al-Rantisi Hospital, home to Gaza's only pediatric cancer ward.

Israel said that Siam's actions proved that Hamas uses the civilians of the Gaza Strip as human shields for terror purposes. Israel's military also said Hamas uses hospitals as operational bases and hides weapons in tunnels underneath them, although Hamas denied these charges.

Israeli forces have also killed several other Hamas operatives linked to the October 7 attacks, during which the Palestinian group launched an unprecedented assault on Israel. Hamas operatives including Ali Qadi, Muetaz Eid, Zachariah Abu Ma'amar, Joad Abu Shmalah, Belal Alqadra, and Merad Abu Merad have all been eliminated by Israel.

The war between Israel and Hamas has killed an estimated 11,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

Israel Offers Gaza Hospital Evacuation For Babies But Fighting Continues

TEL AVIV, Nov 12: Israel's army said it was ready to evacuate babies from Gaza's largest hospital on Sunday, but Palestinian officials said people inside were still trapped, with two newborns dead and dozens at risk from a power outage amid intense fighting nearby.

Al-Shifa and other hospitals in northern Gaza, the focus of Israel's month-old war to wipe out Hamas and free hostages held by the militants, were barely able to care for patients. More people are wounded daily by fierce Israeli bombardment.

Speaking from inside the biggest hospital, Al-Shifa, Gaza health ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qidra said Israeli fire had not hit it directly overnight but was "terrorising medical officials and civilians alike".

Israel's chief military spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said on Saturday Israel's military would help evacuate babies from the hospital at the request of staff there. Al-Qidra had said there were 45 babies in total and two had already died.

Asked about the evacuations, Al-Qidra said: "We have not been informed about any mechanism to get the babies out to a safer hospital. So far we are praying for their safety and not to lose more of them."

In the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, Mosab Subeih, a baby boy, Mosab Subeih, had been rushed in from a house that was struck by an Israeli missile.

"He has a direct injury to the head and bleeding, and we have no surgeries," said one of the medics, who were treating him with a manual resuscitator as power had been cut.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said medical staff at another hospital in northern Gaza, Al-Quds, were struggling to care for those there with little medicine, food and water.

"Al Quds hospital has been cut off from the world in the last 6-7 days. No way in, no way out," said Tommaso Della Longa, spokesman for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Shifa was also out of reach for the newly wounded, said Mohammad Qandil, a doctor at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, who is in touch with colleagues there.

"Shifa hospital now isn't working, no one is allowed in, nobody is allowed out, and if you are wounded or injured around Gaza area you can't be evacuated by our ambulance to Shifa hospital, so Shifa hospital now is out of service," he said.

On Sunday, Israel said people could safely evacuate from three hospitals in northern Gaza, including Shifa via one of its exits. Hospital director Mohammad Abu Selmeyah told Al Arabiya television that there was no safe passage out.

With the humanitarian situation across Gaza worsening, 80 foreigners and several injured Palestinians crossed into Egypt in the first evacuations since Friday, four Egyptian security sources said. Poland said 18 of them were Polish citizens.

Very little aid has entered Gaza since Israel declared war on Hamas more than a month ago after militants rampaged through southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 200 hostage, according to Israeli officials.

Palestinian officials said on Friday that 11,078 Gaza residents had been killed in air and artillery strikes since then, around 40% of them children.

Disease is spreading amid evacuees packed into schools and other shelters and surviving on tiny amounts of food and water, international aid agencies say.

Some countries have taken to delivering aid by parachute; Jordan said it had air-dropped a second batch into a field hospital early on Sunday.

Hamas said it had completely or partially destroyed more than 160 Israeli military targets in Gaza, including more than 27 tanks and vehicles in the past 48 hours. An Israeli military spokesperson said Hamas had lost control of northern Gaza.

At a news conference late on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the deaths of five more Israeli soldiers in Gaza. The Israeli military said 46 had been killed since its ground operations there began.

Residents said there was increased fighting around Al-Shati refugee camp, by the coast in northern Gaza. The Israeli military said it had killed a number of militants there and called on civilians to use a four-hour pause to evacuate south.

Speaking from inside Gaza City, Jamila, 54, said she and her family could hear the roar of tanks operating in streets 700 meters (yards) away.

"During the day, people try to look for essential items such as bread and water, and at night people try to stay alive," she said by phone.

"We hear explosions throughout the night, sometimes we can tell that some of these explosions are exchanges of fire between the resistance fighters and the Israeli forces."

The mother of six said her family was scared to leave.

"We hear lots of bombings in the south, and there is no food. Things there don't seem different from our situation here," she said.

Palestinian health officials said 13 people had been killed in an Israeli air strike on a house in Khan Younis on Sunday.

Israel has said doctors, patients and thousands of evacuees who have taken refuge at hospitals in northern Gaza must leave so it can destroy what it says are Hamas command centres under and around them. Hamas denies using hospitals this way.

Al Shifa staff said there had been continuous bombardment for more than 24 hours. Most hospital staff and people sheltering there had left, but 500 patients remained.

The World Health Organisation expressed "grave concern" for the safety of everyone trapped there by the fighting and said it had lost communications with its contacts in the hospital.

Israel's three major TV news channels said on Saturday there was some progress toward a deal to free hostages held by Hamas in Gaza but there was little sign of one on Sunday. They did not cite any named sources and there was no public comment from Hamas or Israel on the reports.

Trudeau's Fresh Barb At India Amid Diplomatic Row

OTTAWA, Nov 12: In his fresh remarks on the diplomatic face-off with India, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that the world will become "more dangerous" for everyone "if bigger countries can violate international law without consequences".

Ties between New Delhi and Ottawa have been strained ever since Trudeau accused Indian agents of involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Nijjar, 45, was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Canada's British Columbia in June. He was chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force and one of India's most wanted terrorists. India has termed the allegations "absurd" and "motivated".

The Canadian Prime Minister was addressing the media at the launch of a countrywide smart energy grid. Responding to a question on whether the US should take up the matter with India on Canada's behalf, he said, "From the very beginning, when we learnt of credible allegations that agents of the Indian government are involved in the killing of a Canadian citizens on Canadian soil, we reached out to India to ask them to work with us in getting to the bottom of this matter. We also reached out to our friends and allies, like the United States, and others to work on these really serious violation of international law and sovereignty of a democracy. This is something we are taking very very seriously, we will continue to work with all partners as law enforcement and investigative agencies continue to do their work."

"Canada is a country that will always stand up for the rule of law because if might starts to make right, if bigger countries can violate international law without consequences, then the whole world gets more dangerous for everyone," he added.

Asked if Canadian MP Chandra Arya's invitation to Indian envoy Sanjay Kumar Verma for an event was appropriate amid the diplomatic face-off, Trudeau said Canada wants to "work constructively" with India on this "very serious matter".

"We have reached out to the Indian government and to partners around the world to get to the bottom of this, to take it seriously. That's why we were so disappointed when India violated the Vienna convention and arbitratrily revoked the diplomatic immunity of over 40 Canadian diplomats in India," he said.

"We have serious reasons to believe that agents of the government of India could have been involved in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil. And India's response is to kick out a whole bunch of Canadian diplomats by violating their rights under the Vienna convention. That is of concern to countries around the world because if a given country," the Canada Prime Minister added.

Trudeau said Canada has tried to "work constructively" with India and that it will continue to do so. "This is not a fight we want to be having right now but we will always unequivocally stand up for the rule of law," he said.

The Ministry of External Affairs is yet to respond to Trudeau's latest remarks.

In a firm response to Trudeau's allegations, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has said that they have told Ottawa that "this is not the government of India's policy". "We told them that look, if you have something specific, if you have something relevant, let us know. We are open to looking at it," he said.

"In the last few years, Canada actually has seen a lot of organised crime relating to the secessionist forces, organised crime, violence, extremism. They're all very, very deeply mixed up," he added.

Dr Jaishankar also raised concern over Indian diplomats and consulates facing threats in Canada.

"We have a situation where actually our diplomats are threatened, our consulates have been attacked and often comments are made about 'there's interference in our politics'. And, a lot of this is often justified as saying, well, that's how democracies work," he said.

'No Safe Place Left': Israeli Strike On Gaza's Biggest Hospital Kills 13

GAZA, Nov 10: Palestinians said Friday a deadly strike hit Gaza's largest hospital compound as heavy fighting between Hamas and Israel has sent tens of thousands of civilians fleeing their homes.

Gaza's Hamas government, which reported a death number of 13, and the director of the Al-Shifa hospital, blamed Israeli troops for the strike at the facility sheltering people trying to flee the fighting. Israel did not immediately comment.

Al-Shifa hospital director Mohammad Abu Salmiya reported two people were killed and 10 wounded in a strike that he said hit the compound's maternity ward.

A Hamas government statement said: "Thirteen martyrs and dozens wounded in an Israeli strike on Al-Shifa compound today" in central Gaza City, giving a toll which could not be immediately independently verified.

On Thursday Israel had reported heavy fighting near the hospital, saying it had killed dozens of operatives and destroyed tunnels that are key to Hamas's capacity to fight.

The Israeli army has repeatedly accused Hamas of using hospitals, particularly Al-Shifa, to coordinate their attacks against the army and also as hideouts for its commanders. Hamas authorities deny the accusations.

"There is no safe place left. The army hit Al-Shifa. I don't know what to do," he said. "There is shooting... at the hospital. We are afraid to go out."

Witnesses said tanks had surrounded some other hospitals in Gaza City as fierce fighting continued, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee to the south of the territory over the past few weeks.

The heavy fighting in the densely populated coastal territory, which is effectively sealed off, has prompted repeated calls for a ceasefire to protect civilian lives.

'Don't Seek To Govern Gaza, But...': Netanyahu As Israel Intensifies Assault

WASHINGTON, Nov 10: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled out a ceasefire in Gaza on Thursday, saying the military was performing "exceptionally well," but insisted Israel does not plan to reoccupy the Palestinian territory.

"A ceasefire with Hamas means surrender," he told Fox News, adding there was no "timetable" for the military offensive.

"I think the Israeli army is performing exceptionally well," he added.

"However long it takes, we'll do it."

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the group poured across the border from Gaza on October 7, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians and taking around 240 people hostage, according to Israel.

The retaliatory aerial bombing and ground offensive has killed more than 10,800 people in Gaza, mostly civilians and many of them children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Netanyahu said Israel has no plans to remain in Gaza longterm.

"We don't seek to govern Gaza. We don't seek to occupy it, but we seek to give it and us a better future," he said, adding that Israel does not "seek to displace anyone."

Pushed on his plan for Gaza's future, he said the impoverished and blockaded territory must be "demilitarised, deradicalised and rebuilt."

"We'll have to find a government, a civilian government that will be there," he added, without detailing who might form such a government.

And he said Israeli forces would have to remain ready to reenter Gaza and "kill the killers".

"That's what will prevent the reemergence of a Hamas-like entity."

The October 7 attack and subsequent conflict came as Israel moved closer to a peace deal with Saudi Arabia, building on the so-called Abraham accords that normalised ties with several Arab countries.

Netanyahu insisted the conflict would not torpedo diplomatic momentum and that conditions would be "ripe" for negotiations to resume after Israel destroys Hamas.

"I think conditions will be ripe. In fact, after a victory, I think they'll be even riper."

India, U.S. hold 2+2 ministerial dialogue with focus on Indo-Pacific, critical minerals and global challenges

NEW DELHI, Nov 10: India and the U.S. on November 10 held extensive deliberations to further expand their global strategic partnership through greater defence industrial ties, enhancing engagement in the Indo-Pacific and boosting cooperation in key areas such as critical minerals and high-technology.

The U.S. delegation at the 2+2 ministerial talks was led by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh headed the Indian side.

"Our dialogue today will be an opportunity to advance the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Joe Biden to build a forward-looking partnership and construct a shared global agenda," Jaishankar said in his televised opening remarks.

"We are exploring cooperation in new domains such as critical technologies, collaboration in civil outer space and in areas of critical minerals," he said.

In his remarks, Blinken said both sides are promoting a free and open, prosperous, secure and resilient Indo-Pacific including by strengthening the U.S.-India partnership through the Quad.

He said the focus is to bolster the partnership in international peace, security and specifically working to promote rules-based order, uphold principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence.

In his opening comments, Singh said the India-U.S. bilateral relationship has seen a growing interest in strategic convergence and enhanced defence cooperation.

"Defence cooperation remains one of the most important pillars of our bilateral relationship," he said.

"We look forward to closely working with the U.S. across domains of capability building," Singh said.

U.S. Defence Secretary Austin, in his opening remarks, said in the face of urgent global challenges, it is more important than ever that the world's two largest democracies exchange views, find common goals and "deliver for our people".

"Our increasingly strong ties give us all hope for the future of this partnership and our common efforts towards a more secure world," he said.

India Says Made 'Our Concerns Very Clear' To US Over Row With Canada

NEW DELHI, Nov 10: India on Friday conveyed to the US its serious concerns over increasing activities of pro-Khalistani elements in Canada. India flagged its concerns at the '2 2' foreign and defence ministerial meeting.

"We have made our concerns very very clear," Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said at a media briefing.

The American delegation at the '2 2' ministerial dialogue talks was led by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin while External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh headed the Indian side.

"We have core security concerns and I am sure you are all aware of recent video that has surfaced from one such individual," Kwatra said adding the US side understood New Delhi's concerns.

The ties between India and Canada came under severe strain following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations in September over the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June in the Canadian town of Surrey.

Days after Trudeau's allegations, India temporarily suspended issuance of visas to Canadian citizens and asked Ottawa to downsize its diplomatic presence in the country to ensure parity.

Canada has already withdrawn 41 diplomats and their family members from India.

India has already resumed some of the visa services.

'We Take Every Threat Seriously': Canada On Khalistani Terrorist's Video

OTTAWA, Nov 10: Canada's federal police are investigating a warning in videos circulating online not to fly Air India starting November 19, the transportation minister said Thursday.

"We take every threat seriously, especially when it concerns airlines," Transportation Minister Pablo Rodriguez told reporters in Ottawa.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, he added, "is doing an investigation."

The videos, posted online in the last week, feature Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the general counsel for the Khalistani outfit, Sikhs for Justice.

He warns Sikhs in the video: "Don't fly Air India after November 19, your lives may be in danger."

He told Canadian media this was not a threat, but rather a call to boycott Indian businesses. Canada is home to some 770,000 Sikhs, who make up about two percent of the overall population.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in September raised allegations that Indian agents played a role in the June murder of a Canadian Sikh leader, near Vancouver, and expelled an Indian diplomat believed to have a link to the slaying.

India dismissed as "absurd" the bombshell accusation. Relations between India and Canada have plunged over the unsolved murder, and Indian unhappiness over how Ottawa has handled Sikh separatists.

Thousands Flee As Israel Troops Push On Gaza, Target 'Hamas Structures'

TEL AVIV, Nov 9: Thousands of Palestinians fled North Gaza as Israel intensified their ground assault bombarding residential areas in a bid to "tighten the stranglehold" around Hamas. Israel doubled down on its denial of a ceasefire till Hamas releases hostages.

Israeli troops and Hamas operatives are fighting at close range in Gaza City as thousands of civilians fled south to avoid being trapped in the heart of the conflict. On Thursday, Israel said that their troops have entered the "heart" of the Gaza Strip.

Thousands still remain inside the encircled north, including at Gaza City's main Al Shifa hospital, where Um Haitham Hejela was sheltering with her young children in an improvised tent.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) shared a video on X of their assault on Gaza cities and claimed that they were targetting Hamas infrastructure and the tunnels being used by their operatives.

Hamas' armed wing also released a video that appeared to show intense street battles alongside bombed-out buildings in Gaza City.

The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 and, according to Israeli officials, killed about 1,400 people, mainly civilians, and seized 239 hostages.

Aiming to destroy Hamas, Israel retaliated with a relentless bombardment and ground invasion of the Gaza Strip that, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, has killed more than 10,500 people, many of them children.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has again rejected international calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, saying that Hamas must first release all the hostages.

Hamas claimed that Israel has also stopped evacuations of wounded Palestinians or foreigners from the Gaza Strip to Egypt via the Rafah crossing. The crossing point remained closed due to Israel's refusal to approve the list of wounded who were to be evacuated, said a Hamas official.

US warplanes carried out a strike on an Iran-linked weapons storage facility in eastern Syria today in response to attacks against American personnel, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

It is the second time in roughly two weeks that the United States has targeted a location in Syria it said was tied to Iran, which supports an array of groups that Washington blames for a spike in attacks on its forces in the Middle East.

Israel agrees to daily 4-hour pauses in Gaza fighting to allow civilians to flee: White House

WASHINGTON, Nov 9: The White House said Israel has agreed to put in place four-hour daily humanitarian pauses in its assault on Hamas in northern Gaza starting on Thursday, as the Biden administration said it has secured a second pathway for civilians to flee fighting.

President Joe Biden had asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to institute the daily pauses during a Monday call.

U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the first humanitarian pause would be announced Thursday and that the Israelis had committed to announcing each four-hour window at least three hours in advance.

Biden also told reporters that he had asked the Israelis for a “pause longer than three days” during negotiations over the release of some hostages held by Hamas, though he ruled out the chances of a general cease-fire.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had warned Israel last week that it risked destroying an eventual possibility for peace unless it acted swiftly to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza for Palestinian civilians as it intensifies its war against Hamas.

In a blunt call for Israel to pause military operations in the territory to allow for the immediate and increased delivery of assistance, Blinken said the situation would drive Palestinians toward further radicalism and effectively end prospects for any eventual resumption of peace talks to end the conflict.

French President Emmanuel Macron has opened a Gaza aid conference on Thursday with an appeal for Israel to protect civilians, saying that “all lives have equal worth” and that fighting terrorism “can never be carried out without rules.”

On Israel-Hamas conflict, India says de-escalate, create conditions for talks

NEW DELHI, Nov 9: India on Thursday again called on the parties in the Israel-Hamas conflict to de-escalate, avoid violence and create conditions that facilitate an early resumption of direct peace negotiations for achieving a two-state solution.

The Indian side, which has strong strategic ties with both Israel and key Arab states, has sought to fashion a nuanced approach to the conflict triggered by the October 7 terror attacks by Hamas. While condemning the terror attacks, India has asked for adherence to international humanitarian law but has stopped short of directly calling for a ceasefire.

India has “urged the parties to de-escalate, eschew violence and work towards creating conditions for an early resumption of direct peace negotiations towards a two-state solution”, external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told a regular media briefing in response to questions on the Israel-Hamas conflict.

“We have made our position clear on multiple occasions, including during the United Nations General Assembly debate on October 27. We have strongly condemned the horrific terrorist attack on Israel, urged the need for zero tolerance for terrorism, and called for immediate and unconditional release of hostages,” he said.

“We have also conveyed our deep concern at the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the increasing civilian toll and welcomed efforts to de-escalate the situation and provide humanitarian assistance,” he said. The Indian side has also emphasised the need for “strict observance of international humanitarian law”.

Describing the situation as “difficult”, Bagchi said India has so far provided 38 tonnes of humanitarian relief materials.

The Hamas’ terror attacks killed more than 1,400 people while Israel’s bombardment of Gaza has killed more than 10,500 people and injured 26,400.

In the wake of several media reports that a builders’ association in Israel is keen to bring in up to 100,000 Indian workers to replace Palestinian labour, Bagchi said he was not aware of any “specific conversations or requests”. He added that many Indians are employed in Israel, especially as caregivers.

“Since 2022, we have been discussing a bilateral framework in the construction and care-givers sectors but this is a long-term initiative and I’m not aware of any specific requests or numbers floating around,” he said. These discussions are part of India’s efforts to give its citizens access to the global workplace.

Bagchi didn’t rule out the possibility that the Israel-Hamas conflict could figure in the India-US 2+2 dialogue of defence and foreign ministers in New Delhi on November 10. “I guess considering the nature of our relationship and the global strategic partnership, a variety of issues are discussed, including topical issues, regional developments. I wouldn’t rule it out but I certainly wouldn’t like to prejudge it,” he said.

In response to another question, he said the Indian side would be “happy to discuss” the diplomatic row with Canada over the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar if it comes up in the 2+2 dialogue.

“On Canada, if they wish to discuss it, we are happy to discuss all issues but again I wouldn’t have a position yet,” he said.

India-Canada relations have plummeted since Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged there was a potential link between Indian government agents and Nijjar’s killing. Both sides expelled one senior diplomat each, and Canada withdrew 41 diplomats from India after New Delhi sought parity in diplomatic presence.

India Files Appeal In Case Of Eight Navy Veterans On Death Row In Qatar

NEW DELHI, Nov 9: India has filed an appeal with Qatar over the death penalty to eight former Navy personnel, who were arrested in August last year for reasons still not known and sentenced last month. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said Thursday Delhi has "already filed an appeal".

The Indian government had earlier said it is "deeply shocked by the verdict".

At a scheduled press briefing, Bagchi said case details remain unavailable. "The judgement is confidential... has only been shared with the legal team. We are now pursuing further legal steps."

"We are in touch with the family (of the eight Naval officers)... if you remember, the External Affairs Minister (S Jaishankar) met their family in Delhi. We will continue to extend all possible legal and consular support," Bagchi stressed and cautioned against speculation in this sensitive matter.

Consular access to the eight was last provided on Tuesday, Bagchi added.

The eight ex-Navy officers include decorated individuals who once commanded major Indian warships, and were working for Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services when arrested.

Dahra is a private firm providing training and related services to Qatar's armed forces.

Sources said some of the sailors were working on a sensitive project - stealth submarines based on Italian technology. Media reports have claimed they have been accused of spying for Israel.

Those sentenced include Navtej Singh Gill, Birendra Kumar Verma, and Saurabh Vasisht, all of whom hold the rank of Captain and Amit Nagpal, Purnendu Tiwari, Sugunakar Pakala, and Sanjeev Gupta, who retired with the rank of Commander. Their trial began March 29 after bail pleas were rejected.

Israel Hunts Hamas In Tunnels After Entering Heart Of Gaza City

TEL AVIV, Nov 8: Israel on Wednesday said its forces have reached the "heart of Gaza City" as the campaign to crush Hamas for its October terror attacks continues in the besieged Palestinian territory for over a month.

Israel has vowed to destroy the Hamas after a surprise attack by their operatives on border towns killed at least 1,400 people. A counterattack is on since then with Israeli forces fighting the group inside Gaza alongside heavy aerial attacks that have killed over 10,000 in the Palestinian territory.

Israel's ground forces are now locating and destroying the vast tunnel network built by the Hamas beneath the besieged enclave. A top military spokesperson said their combat engineering corps were using explosives to destroy a tunnel network that stretches for hundreds of kilometres.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Lebanon's Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, that it will be a mistake on its part if its choses to join the war.

In a televised address marking a month of the war, he said no fuel will be delivered to Gaza unless Hamas releases those held hostage across the border, and also ruled out any ceasefire until then.

Israel Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Tuesday underlined Israel's determination "to destroy Hamas" and said their forces are in the "heart of the Gaza City." "Gaza is the largest terrorist base ever built," he said.

A Red Cross convoy carrying lifesaving medical supplies came under attack in Gaza City yesterday. Five of its trucks and two other vehicles were part of the convoy. Two trucks were damaged and a driver was injured in the attack, it said without specifying who had fired at the convoy. The convoy then changed its route and reached Al-Shifa hospital to deliver the supplies, Red Cross said.

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said one of its employees and several members of his family had been killed after his Gaza home in a refugee camp collapsed due to bombing. "It is clear that no place in Gaza is safe from brutal and indiscriminate bombing," said the group.

Israel has vowed to assume "overall security" in Gaza after the war ends and allow "tactical pauses" before then for releasing hostages and delivering aid. But the US has opposed any such long-term Israeli occupation of Gaza and said the Palestinians must be at the forefront of decision-making in the Strip.

"We do not support reoccupation of Gaza and neither does Israel," the US said.

Israel's intensified military operations in the Gaza Strip has sharply heightened fears for the 2.4 million inhabitants with the UN rights chief saying the past month was marked by "carnage, of incessant suffering, bloodshed, destruction, outrage and despair".

Gazans are going through immense suffering with entire city blocks reduced to rubble by Israeli airstrikes. Surgeons worked to save lives under phone flashlights. An average of 160 children are killed every day in Gaza by the war, according to the World Health Organization.

US said over 400 of its citizens have left Gaza through the Rafah crossing with Egypt while hundreds of Palestinians holding foreign passports waited for their turn to leave. Yesterday was the fifth day when the Rafah crossing opened in the past week to wounded Palestinians, foreigners and dual nationals.

Blinken says Israel shouldn't 'reoccupy' Gaza: ‘Not now, not after war’

TOKYO, Nov 8: US secretary of state Antony Blinken called on Israel not to reoccupy Gaza once its war with Hamas ends. Speaking to reporters after Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers held talks in Japan, US' top diplomat listed the "key elements" in order to create "durable peace and security."

"The United States believes key elements should include: no forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, not now, not after the war; No use of Gaza as a platform for terrorism or other violent attacks; No reoccupation of Gaza after the conflict ends," Antony Blinken said, adding that other conditions included no "attempt to blockade or besiege Gaza" or any "reduction in the territory of Gaza."

The G7 foreign ministers agreed on the need for humanitarian “pauses” in Israel’s war with Hamas, as per the joint statement.

“We support humanitarian pauses and corridors to facilitate urgently needed assistance, civilian movement, and the release of hostages,” the ministers said, continuing, “All parties must allow unimpeded humanitarian support for civilians.”

This comes after Antony Blinken’s whirlwind tour of the Middle East where he called for halts in the fighting in Gaza to allow delivery of basic necessities as Israel bombarded the enclave with more air and ground attacks.

Japanese foreign minister Yoko Kamikawa hailed the joint statement, in which the ministers condemned the “terror attacks by Hamas” and rejected both antisemitism and Islamophobia, saying, “This is the first time the G-7 has issued a unified message in writing on the situation. It’s an important achievement. I believe it's important that the G7 was able to put out its first unified message as a statement... regarding a humanitarian pause and a future peace process, both in terms of the responsibility the G7 has towards the international community and for Japan as this year's chair of the G7."

The group also pledged their commitment to Ukraine’s fight for its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity while Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba took part in one of the group’s sessions remotely.

Over 10 Million Australians Lose Internet, Phone Services In Major Telecom Outage

SYDNEY, Nov 8: More than 10 million Australians were cut off from internet and phone services on Wednesday after unexplained outages struck one of the country's largest communications companies.

The mystery glitch crashed electronic payment systems, disrupted phone lines used by ambulances and police, and briefly halted rush-hour trains in the country's largest city, Melbourne.

Optus, a subsidiary of Singapore telecommunications company Singtel, said some services had been restored on Wednesday afternoon -- but it was unable to pinpoint what had caused the fault.

"Our team is still pursuing every possible avenue. We had a number of hypotheses and each one so far that we've tested and put in place new actions for has not resolved the fundamental issue," company chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin told national broadcaster ABC.

"When we have identified a root cause and a time for restoration, we'll be updating everybody as soon as we can."

She said there was "no indication" the outage was the result of hacking. Just over a year ago, more than nine million Optus customers had their personal data stolen in a cyberattack.

The company said in a separate statement that it "may take a few hours for all services to come back on line".

A host of organisations and business confirmed Wednesday evening that issues had been resolved, including the federal department of education, the Royal Melbourne Hospital, and Australia's Commonwealth Bank.

Optus, Australia's second-largest telecoms firm with more than 10 million customers, identified the outage at around 4:05 am local time.

For the next nine hours, widespread issues plagued Optus networks as engineers scrambled to find a fix.

Dozens of hospitals were unable to receive phone calls, and landline phones on the Optus network could not ring emergency services.

The poisons hotline in the state of New South Wales also said it was impacted.

And there was rush-hour chaos in Melbourne after a "communications outage" disrupted train services.

"I'm looking forward to Optus resolving this technical issue," Metro Trains Melbourne chief executive Raymond O'Flaherty said on Wednesday afternoon.

"We need to have our backup contingency arrangements in place and I'm hoping they'll solve their issues as soon as possible."

Australian Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the Optus outage had been caused by a "deep fault" in a "fundamental" part of the company's network.

"What we do know is that this is a deep fault. It has occurred deep within the network," she told reporters.

"It has wide ramifications across mobile, fixed, and broadband services for Optus customers.

"Customers are clearly frustrated about it, and Optus should respond to that accordingly."

Australia's Communication Workers Union said the outage was an "absolute disgrace", linking it to recent job losses at the company.

Israeli defence minister says soldiers 'in the heart' of Gaza City

TEL AVIV, Nov 7: Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant says Israeli troops are "in the heart of Gaza City".

"They came from the north and the south. They stormed it in full coordination between land, air and sea forces," Gallant said in a televised news conference, according to a news agency.

"They are manoeuvring on foot, armoured vehicles and tanks, along with military engineers from all directions and they have one target - Hamas terrorists in Gaza, their infrastructure, their commanders, bunkers, communication rooms."

The army says it’s taken control of a Hamas stronghold and is fighting its way deep into the city, capturing large quantities of military equipment as it moves forward.

This seems to have triggered a fresh exodus of civilians, heeding Israeli warnings to get out of the city and head south.

Pictures show hundreds, perhaps thousands of people on the move, most of them on foot.

Israelis, meanwhile, have been marking a month since the attacks of the seventh of October in which around 1,400 people were killed.

There was a minute’s silence in Tel Aviv where a giant table was set for 240 people – the number of hostages, Israelis and foreigners, still being held inside the Gaza Strip.

Israel Says 'Gaza Cut Into 2' As Netanyahu Vows To Continue Until Victory

TEL AVIV, Nov 6: Israel said Sunday it was pounding Gaza with "significant" strikes after cutting it in two, as America's top diplomat pressed a Middle East tour focused on humanitarian aid for the Palestinians.

Israeli forces "have encircled Gaza City... Now there exists a south Gaza and a north Gaza," army spokesman Daniel Hagari said.

He spoke after US Secretary of State visited the occupied West Bank, Iraq and Cyprus Sunday on a whirlwind tour with the focus on aid for beleaguered civilians in Gaza and preventing attacks by Iran-backed groups on American troops in response to Israel's Gaza war.

Blinken met Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas who denounced what he called "genocide" in Gaza, where the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said at least 9,770 people, mostly civilians, had been killed in more than four weeks of war.

With telecommunications in Gaza cut for a third time, Washington rebuffed calls for a ceasefire and backed Israel's goal of crushing Hamas who staged the worst attack in the country's history on October 7, killing more than 1,400 people, also mostly civilians, and taking over 240 hostages, according to Israeli officials.

Global concern has soared over the spiralling Gaza death toll, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again vowed that "there won't be a ceasefire until the hostages are returned".

"Let them remove this from their lexicon. We are saying this to our enemies and to our friends," the veteran right-wing premier said after meeting troops at an air force base.

"We will simply continue until we win. We have no alternative."

Soldiers engaged in house-to-house combat on Sunday as tanks and armoured bulldozers churned through the sand in footage released by the army.

"This strike is like an earthquake," Gaza City resident Alaa Abu Hasera said in a devastated area where entire blocks have been reduced to rubble.

Blinken, in his talks with Abbas, said Palestinians in Gaza "must not be forcibly displaced", a US State Department spokesman said.

Israel has distributed leaflets and sent text messages urging Palestinian civilians in northern Gaza to head south, but a US official said Saturday at least 350,000 civilians remained in what is now an urban war zone.

Abbas denounced "the genocide and destruction suffered by our Palestinian people in Gaza at the hands of Israel's war machine, with no regard for the principles of international law," the official Palestinian news agency Wafa said.

Israel has relentlessly pounded Gaza in its battle to destroy Hamas, levelling entire city blocks.

After visiting the West Bank, Blinken made a brief stop in Cyprus, the nearest EU member state, which has said it is working towards establishing a maritime corridor for aid to Gaza.

He then flew to Baghdad and met Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani.

"I made very clear that attacks or threats coming from militias that are aligned with Iran are totally unacceptable," Blinken said in Baghdad.

Blinken Meets Turkish Foreign Minister In Ankara As War In Gaza Rages

ANKARA, Nov 6: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held tough talks in Turkey today aimed at soothing the anger of one of Washington's most strategic but difficult allies about the bloodshed in Gaza.

Blinken's first visit since Israel went to war with Hamas in reprisal for the operatives' October 7 attack comes with fury at both Israel and the West boiling over on the streets of Turkey and in the palace of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse hundreds of protesters who marched on an air base housing US forces in Turkey's southeast hours before Blinken's arrival Sunday.

Erdogan himself was travelling across Turkey's remote northeast Monday in a seeming snub of Washington's top diplomat.

Blinken's closed-door talks with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Ankara would have been packed with problems even before Israel launched a relentless bombing and expanding ground campaign aimed at eradicating Hamas.

Israel shows ‘proof’: Hamas using Qatar, Indonesia-funded hospitals for hiding

TEL AVIV, Nov 6: Israel presented evidence that Hamas was using a Qatari-funded medical centre in the Gaza Strip.

In a briefing, Israel Defense Forces (IDF_ spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari showed visual proof of a terrorist tunnel entrance that was exposed by Israeli soldiers at Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Hospital which is located along the coast north of Gaza City.

Presenting a video of Hamas firing at Israeli soldiers from inside the hospital which was established in 2016 by the former emir of Qatar, Daniel Hagari said, “Hamas launches rockets on Israel 75 meters from a hospital.”

Daniel Hagari also showed evidence that the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia, which was funded by NGOs from Indonesia and was also inaugurated in 2016. There were underground terrorist facilities there before the hospital was constructed, he demonstrated.

This comes after the case presented earlier about Shifa Hospital, the largest in Gaza. Hamas's headquarters is located under the massive Shifa Hospital complex in the northern Gaza Strip, the IDF said.

"Hamas is hiding behind hospitals, sickly behind hospitals to hide its war machine," Daniel Hagar said adding, “We will not accept Hamas's cynical use of hospitals to hide their terror infrastructure. It must come to an end. It is a war crime.”

Israel is prioritizing efforts to evacuate Gaza civilians to the safe zone in the south, beyond Wadi Gaza, he said. Hamas continues to try to prevent Gazans from leaving the northern danger zone, he added.

"Hamas is weak without human shields. They are actively stopping Gazans from moving to safer areas," he asserted.

This comes as Israeli military dropped more than 1.5 million leaflets warning civilians to evacuate and relayed nearly six million phone messages in Arabic and conducted nearly 20,000 phone calls with Gaza residents urging them to leave for their safety.

Blinken Meets Palestine President In Surprise West Bank Visit

RAMALLAH, Nov 5: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a high-security surprise visit to the Israeli-occupied West Bank Sunday, meeting with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, according to photographs released by the Palestinian Authority.

The top US diplomat met with Abbas in Ramallah as global concern grows over rising violence in the occupied territory in tandem with the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza since October 7.

The war erupted after Hamas operatives launched an attack on southern Israel that killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.

Since the outbreak of the war, which has seen nearly 9,500 killed in Israel's retaliatory land, air and sea assault on Gaza according to the Hamas-run health ministry, Blinken has made three trips to Israel and also visited numerous other Arab nations.

But this was his first trip to the West Bank since October 7.

The trip was not announced in advance for security reasons and came after Blinken visited Jordan and neighbouring Israel on Friday.

Following a meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan, Blinken "expressed concern regarding the increasing violence in the West Bank and emphasised the US commitment to working with partners towards a durable and sustainable peace in the region," according to a statement.

More than 150 Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers and attacks by Israeli settlers since the start of the war, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority.

Blinken's meeting with Abbas, whose secularist Fatah party is Hamas's rival, came at a time when Washington has heaped political and military support behind Israel.

The United States has advocated that a two-state solution is the only path out of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Blinken recently said the Palestinian Authority should take control of the Gaza Strip which is currently governed by Hamas.

The United States and a number of European and Arab countries, as well as the United Nations, have stated alarm at flaring tensions in the West Bank.

The Israeli army said Friday its forces were "operating against Hamas" notably in Jenin and Nablus, in the north of the territory it has occupied since 1967.

Blinken has advocated for "humanitarian pauses" in his tour of the Middle East, to protect civilians and ease aid deliveries in the densely populated Gaza Strip under bombardment.

He is due to travel to Ankara in Turkey on Sunday evening.

Over 300 Americans, US residents evacuated from Gaza, says White House

WASHINGTON, Nov 5: More than 300 Americans, US residents, and their families have been evacuated from the Gaza Strip as Israel's fight against Hamas rages, the White House said on Sunday.

The evacuation, carried out in recent days, was the result of "pretty intensive negotiations with all sides relevant to this conflict," White House deputy national security advisor Jonathan Finer told CBS News.

Despite these efforts, the United States believes there are still "a number" of Americans inside Gaza, he added.

"This is obviously a major priority and one that we're going to continue to work out until every American who wants to leave is able to do so," Finer said.

The Rafah border crossing from Gaza to Egypt opened up Wednesday after weeks of war, allowing a trickle of wounded Palestinians and people with dual nationality to leave, all desperate to escape Israel's bombardment.

Egypt has said it would help evacuate 7,000 foreigners through the crossing, but Hamas said late Saturday that the evacuation of dual nationals and foreigners from was being suspended until Israel lets some wounded Palestinians reach Rafah so they can cross the border for hospital treatment.

A senior White House official on Friday accused Hamas of abusing a US-brokered deal to open the crossing to get its fighters out of Gaza.

A third of the names on a list provided by Hamas of Palestinians needing medical evacuation were those of Hamas members and fighters, the official said.

Sunday's latest count of evacuated Americans comes after the White House said nearly 80 US citizens and their family members had left Wednesday and Thursday.

The fighting in Gaza was triggered by Hamas's bloody raids into Israel on October 7, which Israeli officials say killed more than 1,400 people, mainly civilians.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says more than 9,227 people have died in Israeli bombardments, mostly women and children.

Israel Presses Siege Of Gaza City After US Urges 'Pauses' In War

TEL AVIV, Nov 4: Top US diplomat Antony Blinken left Israel largely empty-handed Friday after urging its leaders to do more to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza during their war to destroy Hamas.

Later, he also held talks in neighbouring Jordan with the foreign ministers of Arab countries who have expressed mounting concern and anger over the civilian death toll from the conflict, now entering its fifth week.

After meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Blinken said he had discussed the idea of "humanitarian pauses" to secure the release of hostages and to allow aid to be distributed to Gaza's beleaguered population.

"We believe that each of these efforts would be facilitated by humanitarian pauses, by arrangements on the ground that increase security for civilians and permit the more effective and sustained delivery of humanitarian assistance," Blinken told journalists.

And he reiterated Washington's long-standing support for the eventual recognition of a Palestinian state: "Two states for two peoples. Again, that is the only way to ensure lasting security for a Jewish and democratic Israel."

Netanyahu, however, warned that there could be no "temporary truce" in Gaza unless Hamas releases the estimated 241 Israeli and foreign hostages it took during its October 7 attacks.

Both Israel and the United States have previously ruled out a blanket ceasefire, which they say would allow Hamas to regroup and resupply, but US President Joe Biden has backed "temporary, localised" pauses.

Israel, meanwhile, began expelling thousands of Palestinian workers back to Gaza, despite ongoing fighting and air strikes that have killed thousands of civilians.

In Washington, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Hezbollah "should not try to take advantage of the ongoing conflict".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hezbollah it would "pay an unimaginable price" for any misstep.

The fighting was triggered by Hamas's bloody raids on October 7, which Israeli officials say killed more than 1,400 people, mainly civilians.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says more than 9,227 people have died in Israeli bombardments, mostly women and children.

Before his departure, Blinken said he would seek to ensure that harm to Palestinian civilians is reduced, in a visible shift of tone for the United States, which has promised full support and ramped-up military aid to Israel.

But, beginning his visit with talks with President Isaac Herzog, Blinken reiterated the basis of its support, telling reporters: "Israel has not only the right but the obligation to defend itself ... to make sure that this October 7 never happens again."

Netanyahu said Israel had already had some "very impressive successes" with troops "more than on the outskirts of Gaza City. We are advancing," he said late Thursday at a base near Tel Aviv.

Israel's military describes Gaza City as "the centre of the Hamas terror organisation".

Hezbollah Chief Warns Israel Over Lebanon Strikes

BEIRUT, Nov 4: Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned Friday that war between Israel and Hamas could turn into a regional conflict if attacks on Gaza continue, placing responsibility firmly on the United States.

In his first speech since war broke out almost four weeks ago between Hamas militants and Israel, the head of the powerful Iran-backed movement warned that "all options" were open for an expansion of the conflict to Lebanon.

"America is entirely responsible for the ongoing war on Gaza and its people, and Israel is simply a tool of execution," Nasrallah said in a televised broadcast, calling the conflict "decisive".

"Whoever wants to prevent a regional war -- and this is addressed to the Americans -- must quickly stop the aggression on Gaza," he said.

Thousands of supporters gathered to hear the fiery speech at an event in Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, held in memory of the group's fighters killed in Israeli bombardments.

Others gathered elsewhere in Lebanon and the region, including Tehran and Baghdad.

Since Hamas militants launched a shock October 7 attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, Lebanon's southern border has seen escalating tit-for-tat exchanges, mainly between Israel and Hezbollah, an ally of the Palestinian group, stoking fears of a broader conflagration.

US President Joe Biden has sent two aircraft carrier groups to the eastern Mediterranean.

But a defiant Nasrallah told the United States that "your fleet in the Mediterranean does not scare us... we are ready to face the fleet you threaten us with."

"You Americans know well that if there is war in the region, your fleet will be of no use, nor will air combat help. Your interests and your soldiers and your fleet will be the first to pay the price," he added.

In Washington, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Hezbollah "should not try to take advantage of the ongoing conflict".

"This has the potential of becoming a bloodier war between Israel and Lebanon than 2006," she said. "The United States does not want to see this conflict expand into Lebanon."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hezbollah it would "pay an unimaginable price" for any misstep.

The 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 in Israel, largely soldiers.

Israeli officials say Hamas's bloody raids on October 7 killed more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says more than 9,200 people have died in Israeli bombardments, mostly women and children.

Nasrallah saluted "heroic" Hamas, calling the October 7 attacks "100 percent Palestinian" and saying the plan was not disclosed to allies in advance.

He praised attacks targeting US bases in the Middle East, after a string of assaults on facilities hosting US troops in Iraq and Syria.

Hezbollah along with armed groups from Iraq, Syria and Yemen are part of a regional, Iran-led "axis of resistance" against Israel and the United States.

Nasrallah also warned Israel against attacking Lebanon, saying that "all options are open on our Lebanese front".

The current situation at the Lebanon-Israel border is linked "to the course and development of events in Gaza", Nasrallah said, claiming Hezbollah's actions had tied up "a large section" of the Israeli army that might otherwise have been fighting in the Palestinian territory.

He warned that the chance of open conflict was "realistic".

"We say to the enemy that might think of attacking Lebanon or carrying out a pre-emptive operation, that this would be the greatest foolishness of its existence," he said.

Cross-border skirmishes have killed 72 people on the Lebanese side, among them at least 54 Hezbollah fighters but also other combatants and civilians.

On the Israeli side, at least six soldiers and one civilian have been killed, the army said.

Maha Yahya of the Carnegie Middle East Center, said Nasrallah's speech was "the best middle ground that he could take".

Ultimately "neither Iran nor Hezbollah are interested in getting into a conflict which would probably end up being a zero sum game", she said.

17 Soldiers, 9 Terrorists Killed In Terror Attacks In Pak

ISLAMABAD, Nov 4: Nine heavily armed terrorists attacked a Pakistan Air Force training base in Punjab province early this morning and all of them were "sent to hell", the army said, a day after 17 soldiers were killed in three separate terror strikes in the country.

The Mianwali Training Air Base of Pakistan Air Force was attacked by nine terrorists, the Pakistan Army said in a statement, confirming that some damage was done to three already phased-out non-operational aircraft during the attack.

The Tehreek-i-Jihad Pakistan (TJP), a newly emerged terror group that is an affiliate of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement to the media.

Condemning the attack, caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar said, "Any attempt to undermine our security will meet with unwavering resistance."

The attack comes hours after a series of terror strikes killed at least 17 soldiers in the restive Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

Fourteen Pakistani soldiers were killed on Friday when terrorists ambushed two vehicles carrying security forces from Pasni to the Ormara area of Gwadar district in the restive south-western Balochistan province.

Friday's count is the heaviest suffered by the military in Balochistan province this year where separatists have stepped up their attacks since a ceasefire deal between TTP and the Pakistan government ended in November 2022.

Hours before the Gwadar attack, a series of bomb blasts targeting convoys of police and security forces killed one soldier and five others and wounded 24 others in the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Two soldiers were killed in another attack in Lakki Marwat district in the same province.

Interim interior minister Sarfraz Bugti said the names of terrorists involved in Friday's and Saturday's attacks "must have been different but the enemy behind the scenes is the same".

He termed the current wave of terror a "conspiracy to make Pakistan a target of uncertainty and instability once again".

Throughout the year, terrorists and separatists have been targeting security forces in Pakistan, mainly in the troubled Balochistan province. Two soldiers were killed in the Khoro area of Awaran district last Sunday.

In July, 12 soldiers were killed in separate military operations in the Zhob and Sui areas of Balochistan.

Pakistan has been facing a rise in violence in the wake of the Taliban getting power in Afghanistan in August 2021.

According to a Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) report issued in September, Pakistan suffered 99 attacks in August, the highest number in a single month since November 2014. The number of terror attacks in August was the highest tally for monthly strikes in almost nine years.

The Gwadar district has seen the highest number of attacks in recent months and in August separatists belonging to the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army attacked a convoy of 23 Chinese engineers in the port town of Gwadar.

The Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), a think tank, in a report released in October, noted that the security forces lost at least 386 personnel in the first nine months of 2023, marking an eight-year high.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan were the primary centres of violence, accounting for nearly 94 per cent of all fatalities and 89 per cent of attacks (including incidents of terrorism and security forces operations) recorded during this period.

157 Killed In Nepal Earthquake

KATHMANDU, Nov 4: At least 157 people were killed in a magnitude 6.4 earthquake that struck a remote region of Nepal late Friday. According to Nepal authorities, hundreds have been injured and the death count is expected to rise.

Locals were filmed digging through rubble in the dark of night, searching for survivors in the wreckage of collapsed homes and buildings.

Several houses collapsed or sustained damage, as survivors huddled outside in fear, surrounded by the wail of emergency sirens. The earthquake's tremors even reached New Delhi, over 500 kilometres away.

Bihar's Disaster Management Department reported that tremors were felt in Patna, Katihar, East Champaran, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, West Champaran, Sasaram, Nawada, and several other districts along the India-Nepal border.

The National Centre for Seismology reported that the 6.4 magnitude earthquake originated in Jajarkot district, about 227 km north of Ayodhya and 331 km west-northwest of Kathmandu. Tremors were felt in Kathmandu and surrounding areas, with the worst damage in the western districts of Jajarkot and Rukum.

Nepal's Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal offered his condolences over the terrible loss of life and the severe infrastructural damage caused by the earthquake.

"Honorable Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" has expressed his deep sorrow over the human and material damage caused by the earthquake at Ramidanda in Jajarkot at 11:47 on Friday night and has mobilized all 3 security agencies for the immediate rescue and relief of the injured," Nepal PMO posted on X.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed deep sadness over the loss of lives and damage caused by the powerful earthquake.

"Deeply saddened by loss of lives and damage due to the earthquake in Nepal. India stands in solidarity with the people of Nepal and is ready to extend all possible assistance. Our thoughts are with the bereaved families and we wish the injured a quick recovery," he said in a post on X.

Nepal is nestled in a geologically active region, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates collide, forming the Himalayas and making earthquakes a frequent occurrence.

A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal in 2015, causing widespread devastation. The quake killed nearly 9,000 people, injured over 22,000, destroyed over 500,000 homes, and damaged or destroyed nearly 8,000 schools, leaving almost a million children without classrooms.

'No ceasefire till Hamas releases hostages', Netanyahu clarifies as Blinken visits Israel

TEL AVIV, Nov 3: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday told the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that he will not halt the fight against the Hamas terror group without "the release of our hostages".

Netanyahu also quashed all the reports of Israel allowing entry of fuel to Gaza and said, "We will not enable the entry of fuel to Gaza."

He said he told Blinken that "Israel refuses a temporary ceasefire that does not include the release of our hostages. Israel will not enable the entry of fuel to Gaza and opposes sending money to the Strip."

In a brief televised statement before the start of Shabbat (the Jewish Day of Rest), promised that the victory would be "sharp and clear" and would "resonate for generations."

Netanyahu also said that Israel's enemies aim to destroy the country and will fail and affirmed that Israel won't stop until victory, he said, specified that this means "to destroy Hamas, return of the hostages and the restoration of security for our citizens and children."

Hailing Israeli troops, he also warned Israel's "enemies in the north" not to make the costly mistake of escalating the war. "You cannot imagine how much this will cost you."

"Our forces are working in all the arenas. We will be loud and clear. Our enemies will be defeated and we will not stop until victory and achieving all our goals... In the north, I say to our enemies: don't make a mistake. A mistake will cost you dearly," Netanyahu said.

Speaking even as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah issues a prolonged statement in Lebanon, Netanyahu warns Israel's "enemies in the north" not to make the costly mistake of escalating the war. "You cannot imagine how much this will cost you."

Regarding Blinken's visit, he said he appreciates it and values the support of President Biden and the US. He added that he showed Blinken footage of Hamas atrocities, which the secretary mentioned in his press conference earlier.

He noted that Israel has lost hundreds of civilians and soldiers on and since October 7 -- wonderful fighters, incredible Israelis... people who blocked these monsters with their bodies."

"We are trying to fight with minimal danger to our warriors, but we will do whatever is needed to defeat our enemies," he stated.

US State Secretary Antony Blinken on Friday met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the third time since Israel declared war on the terrorist organisation Hamas.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken are meeting for the third time since the outbreak of the war, at the Kirya in Tel Aviv," read a post on the official X handle of the Israeli Prime Minister's Office.

Blinken and Netanyahu met privately before holding an extended meeting together with the War Cabinet.

"At the start of the expanded meeting, Prime Minister Netanyahu showed @SecBlinken and his delegation clips of the footage prepared by the IDF Spokesperson which depict the horrors and the massacre perpetrated by Hamas on October 7th," the Israeli Prime Minister's Office posted from its X handle.

Meanwhile, Israel Air Force (IAF) said that many terrorists who fired at IDF forces were eliminated in cooperation with ground forces and the Air Force.

IDF fighters identified a terrorist squad that came out of a tunnel shaft and directed an Air Force aircraft that attacked and eliminated the squad.

Israel PM Hails Advance Into Gaza City As Hamas Fights Back From Tunnels

JERUSALEM, Nov 2: Israeli forces have pushed further into Gaza City in their assault on Hamas in the north of the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday, but they faced resistance from terrorist hit-and-run attacks from underground tunnels.

The Palestinian death count from nearly four weeks of Israeli air and artillery strikes on the blockaded enclave meanwhile rose past 9,000 on Thursday, Gaza health authorities said.

The Gaza Strip's main population centre in the north has become the focus of attack for Israel, which has vowed to annihilate the Islamist group's command structure and has told civilians to flee to the south.

"We're at the height of the battle. We've had impressive successes and have passed the outskirts of Gaza City. We are advancing," Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. He gave no further details.

Israeli military chief Lieutenant-General Herzi Halevi said in a televised statement: "Our forces are now in the heart of a ground operation in the northern Gaza Strip."

Brigadier General Iddo Mizrahi, chief of Israel's military engineers, said troops were in a first stage of opening access routes in Gaza but were encountering mines and booby-traps.

"Hamas has learned and prepared itself well," he said.

Hamas and allied Islamic Jihad fighters were emerging from tunnels to fire at tanks, then disappearing back into the network, residents said and videos from both groups showed.

"They never stopped bombing Gaza City all night, the house never stopped shaking," said one Palestinian man, asking not to be identified by name.

"But in the morning we discover the Israeli forces are still outside the city, in the outskirts and that means the resistance is heavier than they expected."

As international calls for a humanitarian pause in hostilities go unheeded, Palestinians are suffering shortages of food, fuel, drinking water and medicine.

"Water is being used as a weapon of war," said Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA.

In Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, nine-year-old Rafif Abu Ziyada said she was drinking dirty water and getting stomach pains and headaches.

"There is no cooking gas, there is no water, we don't eat well. We are getting sick," she said. "There's garbage on the ground and the whole place is polluted."

Over a third of Gaza's 35 hospitals are not functioning, with many turned into impromptu refugee camps.

"The situation is beyond catastrophic," said the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians, describing packed corridors and many medics themselves bereaved and homeless.

The United Arab Emirates offered to treat 1,000 children while Turkey offered to take cancer patients.

The latest war in the decades-old conflict began when Hamas fighters broke through the border on Oct. 7. Israel says they killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and took more than 200 hostages in the deadliest day of its 75-year history.

Israel's ensuing bombardment of the small Palestinian enclave of 2.3 million people has killed at least 9,061 people, including 3,760 children and 2,326 women, according to Gaza health authorities.

Though the United States and other Western nations have traditionally supported Israel, harrowing images of bodies in the rubble and hellish conditions inside Gaza have triggered appeals for restraint and street protests around the world.

Residents reported mortar fire around Gaza City and said Israeli tanks and bulldozers were sometimes driving over rubble and knocking down structures rather than using regular roads.

Though Israel has told Gazans to go south, that part of the territory was not spared either. Three Palestinians died in tank shelling near the town of Khan Younis and an air strike killed five outside a U.N. school in Beach refugee camp, Gaza health officials said.

In central Gaza, an air strike destroyed clusters of houses in the Bureij refugee camp, residents and Gaza officials said, with 15 bodies pulled from the rubble.

"A massacre, a massacre," people cried as they gathered corpses in blankets.

After a total blockade of Gaza for more than three weeks, foreign passport-holders and some wounded were allowed out.

Palestinian border official Wael Abu Mehsen said 400 foreign citizens would leave for Egypt via the Rafah crossing on Thursday, after some 320 on Wednesday.

Dozens of critically injured Palestinians were to cross too. Israel asked foreign countries to send hospital ships for them.

"I want to pass. We are not animals," said Ghada el-Saka, an Egyptian at Rafah waiting to return home after visiting relatives. "We've seen death with our own eyes," she added, describing a strike near her siblings' house that had made her and her daughter live on the street.

Israel's latest strikes have included the heavily populated area of Jabalia, set up as a refugee camp in 1948.

Gaza's Hamas-run media office said at least 195 Palestinians were killed in the two hits on Tuesday and Wednesday, with 120 missing and at least 777 people hurt.

Israel, which accuses Hamas of hiding behind civilians, said it killed two Hamas commanders in Jabalia.

With Arab nations vocal in their outrage at Israel's actions, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said Israel's "disproportionate attacks" may constitute war crimes.

Israel says it has lost 18 soldiers and killed dozens of terrorist since ground operations were expanded on Friday.

Violence has also spread to the occupied West Bank, with Israeli raids touching off clashes with gunmen and people throwing stones.

2 Hamas Commanders Killed In Gaza Refugee Camp Attack, Claims Israel

TEL AVIV, Nov 2: More foreign nationals prepared to leave the besieged Gaza Strip on Thursday as the enclave's Hamas-run government said at least 195 Palestinians died in Israel's attacks on the Jabalia refugee camp, strikes that UN human rights officials said could be war crimes.

At least 320 foreign citizens on an initial list of 500, as well as dozens of severely injured Gazans, crossed into Egypt on Wednesday under a deal among Israel, Egypt and Hamas.

Passport holders from Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, the United Kingdom and the United States were in the evacuation.

Gaza border officials said the border crossing would reopen on Thursday so more foreigners could exit. A diplomatic source said some 7,500 foreign passport holders would leave Gaza over about two weeks.

Pressing an offensive against Hamas militants, Israel has bombed Gaza by land, sea and air in its campaign to wipe out the Islamist group after its cross-border rampage into southern Israel on Oct. 7. Israel said Hamas killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and took more than 200 hostages.

Loud explosions were heard in the early hours of Thursday around the al-Quds hospital in densely populated Gaza City, the Palestinian Red Crescent said. Israeli authorities have previously warned the hospital to evacuate immediately, which U.N. officials have said is impossible to do without endangering patients.

Two Hamas Commanders killed, says Israel

TEL AVIV, Nov 2: Israel said its strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday killed two Hamas military leaders in Jabalia, Gaza's biggest refugee camp. Israel said the group had command centres and other "terror infrastructure under, around and within civilian buildings, intentionally endangering Gazan civilians."

Gaza's Hamas-run government media office said on Thursday that at least 195 Palestinians were killed in the two Israeli attacks on Jabalia, with 120 still missing under the rubble. At least 777 more were wounded, it said in a statement.

Palestinians on Wednesday sifted through rubble in a desperate hunt for trapped victims. "It is a massacre," said one witness.

United Nations human rights officials said strikes on the camp could be a war crime.

"Given the high number of civilian casualties & the scale of destruction following Israeli air strikes on Jabalia refugee camp, we have serious concerns that these are disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes," the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights wrote on social media site X.

Amid growing international calls for a humanitarian pause in hostilities, conditions in the seaside enclave are increasingly desperate under Israel's assault and tightened blockade. Food, fuel, drinking water and medicine have run short.

Dr. Fathi Abu al-Hassan, a U.S. passport holder waiting to cross into Egypt on Wednesday, described hellish conditions inside Gaza without water, food or shelter.

"We open our eyes on dead people and we close our eyes on dead people," he said.

Hospitals have struggled as shortages of fuel forced shutdowns including Gaza's only cancer hospital. Israel has refused to let humanitarian convoys bring in fuel, citing concern that Hamas fighters would divert it for military purposes.

Ashraf Al-Qudra, a spokesman for the Gaza health ministry, said in a televised news conference on Thursday that the main power generator at the Indonesian Hospital was no longer functioning due to lack of fuel.

The hospital was switching to a back-up generator but would no longer be able to power mortuary refrigerators and oxygen generators. "If we don't get fuel in the next few days, we will inevitably reach a disaster," he said.

US Diplomat departs for Isreal again

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to depart on Thursday for his second visit to Israel in less than a month. He plans to meet Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday to voice solidarity but also to reassert the need to minimize Palestinian civilian casualties, his spokesperson said.

Blinken will also stop in Jordan, one of a handful of Arab states to have normalised relations with Israel. On Wednesday Jordan withdrew its ambassador from Tel Aviv until Israel ends its assault on Gaza. Israel said it regretted Jordan's decision.

In Jordan, Blinken will underscore the importance of protecting civilian lives and reiterate a U.S. commitment to ensure Palestinians are not forcibly displaced from Gaza, a growing concern of the Arab world, Miller said.

He will pursue talks led by Egypt and Qatar on securing the release of all of the hostages held by Hamas, Miller said.

Also on Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives could pass with Republican support a bill providing $14.3 billion in aid for Israel.

But it is unlikely to become law, as it faces stiff opposition in the Democratic-controlled Senate and the White House has threatened a veto. President Joe Biden wants a $106-billion bill that would fund Ukraine, border security and humanitarian aid as well as money for Israel.

Israel sent ground forces into Gaza late last week after weeks of air and artillery strikes to retaliate for the surprise Hamas attack of Oct. 7 that stunned Israelis.

The Gaza health ministry says at least 8,796 Palestinians in the narrow coastal enclave, including 3,648 children, have been killed by Israeli strikes since Oct. 7.

Netanyahu vows ‘victory’ against Hamas in long Gaza war despite ‘painful losses’

TEL AVIV, Nov 1: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said the war in Gaza would be long but “victorious”, even as Palestine-based Hamas militants claimed that seven hostages, including three foreign passport holders, were killed in Israeli forces' bombing of Gaza's largest refugee camp.

"We are in a tough war. It will be a long war. We have important achievements in it, but also painful losses. We know - each of our soldiers is a whole world. The entire nation of Israel embraces you, the families, from the bottom of our hearts. We are all with you in your time of great sorrow," Netanyahu said in a statement in which he also mourned mounting military losses.

"Our soldiers fell in an unjust war, the war for the house. I promise you citizens of Israel: we will continue until we fulfill the mission - we will continue until victory. I promise to all citizens of Israel: We will get the job done. We will press ahead until victory," he added.

Dozens of bodies were seen on Tuesday at the Jabalia camp where Israel said it killed a Hamas military commander in a strike on a tunnel complex.

"Seven detainees were killed in the Jabalia massacre yesterday, including three holders of foreign passports," said a statement from the Hamas military wing.