Author: France 24

Israel has ordered civilians in Rafah to move towards Khan Younis, in the clearest sign yet that a military operation is imminent. A ceasefire in Gaza looks as distant as ever with Hamas refusing to lay down arms unless there is a complete cessation of the war. Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would go it alone if necessary, even in the face of criticism from its Western allies. Oliver Farry has more. Source link

Israel believes that Hamas has again torpedoed a ceasefire deal while Hamas is blaming Israel. The sides disagree on whether this deal should end the war definitively and require Israel to withdraw all its troops from the Gaza Strip. ABC Correspondent Jordana Miller reports from Jerusalem.  Source link

A Hamas official said Sunday the group’s delegation for Gaza truce talks in Cairo was leaving for “consultations” in Qatar, after public disagreement with Israel intensified over demands to end their seven-month war. Source link

Israeli Prime Minister Binjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected international pressure to halt the war in Gaza in a fiery speech marking the country’s annual Holocaust memorial day, declaring: “If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone.” Source link

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that “surrendering” to a demand to end the war would amount to defeat, while Qatar-based Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh accused Netanyahu of sabotaging the talks. Read our liveblog for all the latest developments in the Israel-Hamas war. Source link

Israel’s army announced on Sunday that it had closed Kerem Shalom, a key border crossing used to deliver humanitarian aid to southern Gaza, after an attack for which Hamas claimed responsibility. Three soldiers and a dozen others were wounded in the attack, the Israeli army told AFP. Read our blog to see how the day’s events unfolded. Source link

A senior Hamas official on Saturday said the group would not accept a truce that did not completely end the Gaza war, accusing Israeli leader Binyamin Netanyahu of “personally hindering” a deal. Protesters kept up the pressure on Netanyahu Saturday, turning out in their thousands again in Tel Aviv to demand the government accept the ceasefire deal and secure the release of the remaining hostages. Source link

Talks to reach a Gaza truce were expected to resume Sunday after officials from the Hamas Islamist organisation and Israel publicly disagreed over demands to end their seven-month war. Israel has yet to send a delegation to Cairo as it awaits a written response from Hamas which is due Sunday, ABC Correspondent Jordana Miller told FRANCE 24, adding that the two parties are “the closest” that they’ve been to a deal in many months. Source link

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his government has voted unanimously to shut down the local offices of Qatar-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera, escalating Israel’s long-running feud with the channel at a time when ceasefire negotiations with Hamas — mediated by Qatar — are gaining steam. Qatar is currently hosting Hamas’s leadership. “This has probably got a lot more to do with these negotiations, pressure, or some sort of message being sent to Qatar than it has to do with Al Jazeera as a television network,” said John Lyndon, executive director at the Alliance for Middle East Peace.…

Palestinians wait in long queues for food in Gaza as shortages persist despite slight improvements in deliveries of aid to the besieged Strip. Gazans say they are forced to skip meals and haven’t seen vegetables in weeks. “There is famine, full-blown famine in the north and it’s moving its way south,” World Food Programme Executive Director Cindy McCain said in an interview Friday as she called for a ceasefire and unfettered, safe access to Gaza. Source link