Reuters: World

Sunak follows Biden to Israel to show support as bombs hit Gaza Israel pounded Gaza with more air strikes on Thursday, as British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak followed U.S. President Joe Biden on visits to demonstrate support for the war against Hamas while urging Israel to ease the plight of besieged Gazans. Biden flew home on Wednesday night after an eight-hour trip having pledged to assist Israel's defence and consoled survivors of the Oct. 7 raid by Hamas gunmen who rampaged through southern Israel, killing 1,400 people. But he appeared to have only limited success in his other mission, to persuade Israel to ease the plight of 2.3 million Gazans under a total siege. read more

Gaza hospital blast: what we know about the explosion Israelis and Palestinians have blamed each other for the hospital bombing. Biden, who has stood squarely behind Israel from the start of the conflict, said that based on information he had seen the hospital blast appeared to be the result of an errant rocket fired by a "terrorist group", echoing Israel's view. Some Western countries have called for an investigation, without pointing the finger at this stage, while Arab states have blamed Israel. read more

In deadly day for Gaza, hospital strike kills hundreds Gaza's health ministry spokesman said an Israeli air strike on Tuesday killed hundreds of people at a hospital in the Palestinian enclave, but Israel said a Palestinian barrage had caused the blast. The death toll was by far the highest of any single incident in Gaza during the current violence, triggering protests in the occupied West Bank, Istanbul and Amman. The Palestinian Authority's health minister, Mai Alkaila, accused Israel of "a massacre" at Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital. The strike killed hundreds of people and occurred during Israel's intense 11-day bombing campaign in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "barbaric terrorists" in Gaza had attacked the hospital, not Israel's military. read more

King Abdullah on Gaza: 'No refugees in Jordan, no refugees in Egypt' ordan's King Abdullah on Tuesday warned against trying to push Palestinian refugees into Egypt or Jordan, adding that the humanitarian situation must to be dealt with inside Gaza and the West Bank. "That is a red line, because I think that is the plan by certain of the usual suspects to try and create de facto issues on the ground. No refugees in Jordan, no refugees in Egypt," King Abdullah said at a news conference following a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin. source

Jerusalem Catholic Patriarch offers to be exchanged for Gaza hostages Pope Francis' representative in the Holy Land said on Monday he was willing to exchange himself for Israeli children taken hostage by Hamas and held in Gaza. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, made his comment in response to a question during a video conference with journalists in Italy. "I am ready for an exchange, anything, if this can lead to freedom, to bring the children home. No problem. There is total willingness on my part," he said. read more

Biden says Hamas must be eliminated, US officials warn of escalation U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sunday he believes the Hamas militant group must be eliminated but there should be a path to a Palestinian state, after top U.S. officials warned the war between Israel and Hamas could escalate. Biden did not think American troops would be necessary on the ground as Israel has one of the "finest fighting forces," even as American warships headed to the area amid growing clashes on Israel's northern border with Lebanon. Israel unleashed a ferocious bombing campaign over Gaza in retaliation for unprecedented attacks by Hamas eight days ago that killed some 1,300 Israelis, mostly civilians. read more

Iran warns of 'far-reaching consequences' if Israel not stopped Iran warned in a social media post on Saturday that if Israel's "war crimes and genocide" are not stopped then the situation could spiral out of control with "far-reaching consequences." The post on X by Iran's mission to the United Nations came after Axios reported Tehran warned Israel - in a message sent via the U.N. - that it would have to respond if Israel carries out a ground offensive in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. "If the Israeli apartheid's war crimes & genocide are not halted immediately, the situation could spiral out of control & ricochet far-reaching consequences - the responsibility of which lies with the UN, the Security Council & the states steering the Council toward a dead end," Iran's U.N. mission posted. read more

Reuters journalist killed in Lebanon in missile fire from direction of Israel A Reuters video journalist was killed and six other journalists injured in southern Lebanon on Friday when missiles fired from the direction of Israel struck them, according to a Reuters videographer who was at the scene. The group of journalists, including from Al Jazeera and Agence France-Presse, were working near Alma al-Shaab, close to the Israel border, where the Israeli military and Lebanese militia Hezbollah have been trading fire in border clashes. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and a Hezbollah lawmaker blamed the incident on Israel. read more

Israel calls for civilians to leave Gaza City as military amasses tanks Israel called on Friday for all civilians in the northern half of the Gaza Strip, more than 1 million people, to relocate south within 24 hours, as it amassed tanks for an expected ground assault in response to an attack by the militant group Hamas. Hamas, which controls the strip, told residents to stay put, and vowed to fight to the last drop of blood. By Friday afternoon there was no sign of any mass exodus as Israel prepared its onslaught. "Death is better than leaving," said Mohammad, 20, standing in the street outside a building reduced to rubble in an Israeli air strike two days ago near the centre of Gaza. "I was born here, and I will die here, leaving is a stigma." read more

US must be ready for simultaneous wars with China, Russia, report says The United States must prepare for possible simultaneous wars with Russia and China by expanding its conventional forces, strengthening alliances and enhancing its nuclear weapons modernization program, a congressionally appointed bipartisan panel said on Thursday. The report from the Strategic Posture Commission comes amid tensions with China over Taiwan and other issues and worsening frictions with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. A senior official involved in the report declined to say if the panel's intelligence briefings showed any Chinese and Russian nuclear weapons cooperation. "We worry ... there may be ultimate coordination between them in some way, which gets us to this two-war construct," the official said on condition of anonymity. read more

Israel conducts 'large-scale strike' on Gaza as Blinken heads to region Israel's military said it was conducting a "large-scale strike" on targets belonging to Hamas in Gaza on Thursday, but gave no details, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed to the region to meet leaders on both sides of the conflict. Israeli jets have pounded Gazan targets for days in retribution for a weekend attack by Hamas militants who breached the border fence enclosing the enclave and rampaged through towns and villages, killing 1,200 people, injuring over 2,700, and taking scores of hostages, the Israeli military said. At around 4:30 a.m. on Thursday, Israel's military said it was conducting a "large-scale strike" on targets belonging to Hamas in Gaza. It did not provide details. Hamas media said 15 Palestinians had been killed and several wounded in Israeli air strikes. read more

Who is Mohammed Deif, the Hamas commander behind the attack on Israel? Israel calls last week's devastating attack by Hamas its 9/11 moment. The secretive mastermind behind the assault, Palestinian militant Mohammed Deif, calls it Al Aqsa Flood. The phrase Israel's most wanted man used in an audio tape broadcast as Hamas fired thousands of rockets out of the Gaza strip on Saturday signalled the attack was payback for Israeli raids at Jerusalem's Al Aqsa mosque. It was in May 2021, after a raid on Islam's third holiest site that enraged the Arab and Muslim world, when Deif began planning the operation that has killed 1,200 people in Israel and wounded more than 2,700, a source close to Hamas said. read more