Reuters: World

Israel readies ground offensive; Biden condemns 'sheer evil' of Hamas attacks Israel vowed to escalate its response to an attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas with a ground offensive, while U.S. President Joe Biden pledged support for Israel and issued a warning to anyone who might seek to take advantage of the situation. Israel said dozens of its fighter jets struck more than 200 targets overnight on Wednesday in a neighbourhood of Gaza City that it said had been used by Hamas to launch its unprecedented wave of attacks. Gaza's health ministry said at least 900 people have been killed and 4,600 wounded in the crowded coastal enclave. read more

What's the Israel-Palestinian conflict about? The origin of wars explained The conflict pits Israeli demands for security in what it has long regarded as a hostile region against Palestinian aspirations for a state of their own. Israel's founding father David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the modern State of Israel on May 14, 1948, establishing a safe-haven for Jews fleeing persecution and seeking a national home on land to which they cite deep ties over generations. Palestinians lament Israel's creation as the Nakba, or catastrophe, that resulted in their dispossession and blocked their dreams of statehood. In the war that followed, some 700,000 Palestinians, half the Arab population of what was British-ruled Palestine, fled or were driven from their homes, ending up in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria as well as in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. read more

Iran's Khamenei says Tehran was not behind Hamas attack on Israel Tehran was not involved in the militant Hamas group's weekend attack on Israel, Iran's top authority Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday, but hailed what he called Israel's "irreparable" military and intelligence defeat. "We kiss the hands of those who planned the attack on the Zionist regime," said Khamenei, who was wearing a Palestinian scarf, in his first televised speech since the attack. "This destructive earthquake (Hamas' attack) has destroyed some critical structures (in Israel) which will not be repaired easily ... The Zionist regime's own actions are to blame for this disaster," said Khamenei. read more

Do not get involved in Israel crisis, top U.S. general warns Iran The United States' top general on Monday warned Iran not to get involved in the crisis in Israel and said he did not want the conflict to the broaden, as Lebanese armed group Hezbollah fired a salvo of rockets onto northern Israel The White House earlier on Monday said that Iran was complicit even though the United States has no intelligence or evidence that points to Iran's direct participation in attacks in Israel by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. Asked what his message for Iran was, General Charles Q. Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said: "Not to get involved." read more

How Hamas duped Israel as it planned devastating attack A careful campaign of deception ensured Israel was caught off guard when the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched its devastating attack, enabling a force using bulldozers, hang gliders and motorbikes to take on the Middle East's most powerful army. Saturday's assault, the worst breach in Israel's defences since Arab armies waged war in 1973, followed two years of subterfuge by Hamas that involved keeping its military plans under wraps and convincing Israel it did not want a fight. While Israel was led to believe it was containing a war-weary Hamas by providing economic incentives to Gazan workers, the group's fighters were being trained and drilled, often in plain sight, a source close to Hamas said. This source provided many of the details for the account of the attack and its buildup that has been pieced together by Reuters. read more

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Afghan earthquakes kill 2,445, Taliban say, as deaths mount More than 2,400 people were killed in earthquakes in Afghanistan, the Taliban administration said on Sunday, in the deadliest tremors to rock the quake-prone mountainous country in years. The Saturday quakes in the west of the country hit 35 km (20 miles) northwest of the city of Herat, with one of 6.3 magnitude, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said. They were among the world's deadliest quakes this year, after tremors in Turkey and Syria killed an estimated 50,000 in February. Janan Sayeeq, spokesman for the Ministry of Disasters, said in a message to Reuters that the toll had risen to 2,445 dead, but he revised down the number of injured to "more than 2,000". Earlier, he had said that 9,240 people had been injured. read more

Israel retaliates after Hamas attacks, deaths pass 1,100 Israel pounded the Palestinian enclave of Gaza on Sunday, killing hundreds of people in retaliation for one of the bloodiest attacks in its history when Islamist group Hamas killed 700 Israelis and abducted dozens more. Hamas fighters' rampage through Israeli towns on Saturday was the deadliest such incursion since Egypt and Syria's attacks in the Yom Kippur war 50 years ago and has threatened to ignite another conflagration in the long-running conflict. In response, Israeli air strikes hit housing blocks, tunnels, a mosque and homes of Hamas officials in Gaza, killing more than 400 people, including 20 children, in keeping with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's vow of "mighty vengeance". "The price the Gaza Strip will pay will be a very heavy one that will change reality for generations," said Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in the town of Ofakim, which suffered casualties and had hostages taken. read more

Israel pounds Gaza after deadly Hamas raid as conflict threatens to spiral Israel battered Gaza on Sunday, a day after suffering its bloodiest attack in decades when Hamas fighters rampaged through Israeli towns, killing hundreds and abducting an unknown number of others, threatening a major new war in the Middle East. In a sign the conflict could spread beyond Gaza, Israel and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah militia exchanged artillery and rocket fire, while in Alexandria, two Israeli tourists were shot dead along with their Egyptian guide. Overnight, Israeli air strikes had hit housing blocks, tunnels, a mosque and homes of Hamas officials in Gaza, killing more than 300 people, including 20 children, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed "mighty vengeance for this wicked day". read more

Israel vows 'mighty vengeance' after surprise attack Gunmen from the Palestinian group Hamas rampaged through Israeli towns on Saturday, killing at least 250 Israelis and escaping with dozens of hostages in by far the deadliest day of violence in Israel since the Yom Kippur war 50 years ago. More than 230 Gazans were also killed when Israel responded with one of its most devastating days of retaliatory strikes. Fighting continued into the night. "We will take mighty vengeance for this wicked day," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. "Hamas launched a cruel and wicked war. We will win this war but the price is too heavy to bear," he said. "Hamas wants to murder us all. This is an enemy that murders mothers and children in their homes, in their beds. An enemy that abducts elderly, children, teenage girls." read more

Hamas launches surprise attack as gunmen enter Israel The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas launched the biggest attack on Israel in years on Saturday in a surprise assault that combined gunmen crossing the border with a heavy barrage of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip. As warning sirens sounded across southern and central Israel, including in Jerusalem, Israel's military said it was on a war footing as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called an emergency meeting of security officials. Saturday's incident marked an unprecedented infiltration by Hamas gunmen into Israel from Gaza, and was the most serious escalation since Israel and Hamas fought a 10-day war in 2021. Israeli media reported gunbattles between bands of Palestinian fighters and security forces in towns in southern Israel. In Gaza, people rushed to buy supplies in anticipation of days of conflict ahead. read more

Biden to build more US border wall using Trump-era funds President Joe Biden's administration said on Thursday it will add sections to a border wall to stave off record migrant crossings from Mexico, carrying forward a signature policy of former President Donald Trump. Trump is the frontrunner for the Republican Party nomination to challenge Biden, a Democrat, in the 2024 presidential race. Trump made building border barriers a central tenet of his first campaign for president with the rally chant, "Build That Wall." One of Biden's first actions after taking office in January 2021 was to issue a proclamation pledging that "no more American taxpayer dollars be diverted to construct a border wall" as well as a review of all resources that had already been committed. read more