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Agencies including Oxfam and Save the Children note Gaza population already facing famine due to Israeli siege and bombardmentInternational aid agencies have said they are “deeply concerned and outraged” at the “reckless” decision by major donors to cut funding to a UN Palestinian aid agency after Israel accused some of its workers of taking part in Hamas’ 7 October attack.“We are shocked by the...

Open letter signed by more than 1,000 musicians from 2024 host country follows petition from artists in Finland and IcelandMore than 1,000 musical artists from Eurovision host country Sweden have signed an open letter calling for Israel to be excluded from this year’s edition of the song contest over its “brutal warfare in Gaza”.Published in Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, the open letter says that by...

US, Qatari, Israeli and Egyptian officials met in Paris and will continue to discuss optionsMiddle East crisis – live updatesTalks on Sunday initiated by Qatar, the US and Egypt aimed at brokering a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas were “constructive” but meaningful gaps remain, a statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office has said.The statement said the parties would continue to hold discussions...

Biden administration officials reported as saying terms emerging for prospective deal involving release of hostagesSee all our coverage of the Israel-Gaza war and the Middle East crisisThe Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) says that medical teams at the al-Amal hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis cannot perform surgical operations due to “oxygen depletion”.The PRCS on Saturday condemned the siege and targeting of...

War has led to a crisis in relations in Lod – the town that both Arab and Jewish residents call homeFrom a distance the market looks like a scene of communal harmony. Jewish and Arab Israelis inspect the piles of pomegranates, oranges, pears and carrots. Israeli flags flap in the winter breeze from the balconies of shabby apartment blocks. A hundred metres away, a...

Eight hours after the oil tanker was hit, the US military said it destroyed a Houthi anti-ship missile site that was aimed into the Red Sea and ready to launchSee all of our coverage on the Israel-Gaza war and the wider Middle East crisis.Hamas said in a statement that Israel is on a “campaign of incitement” against UN agencies that deliver aid to Palestinians...

Penny Wong says allegations are deeply concerning as UNRWA investigates several employees accused of taking part in Hamas attacksAustralia will temporarily pause its funding of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) while an investigation is under way into several employees accused of taking part in Hamas’s 7 October attacks in Israel, the foreign minister has announced.Penny Wong on Saturday said Australia will join...

A DNA test has helped Shalom Koray find relatives in the US after escaping the Holocaust in a rucksack at the age of twoIn 1943, a two-year-old boy found wandering the streets of the Warsaw ghetto at the height of the Jewish uprising was smuggled out in a rucksack, probably by a police officer.The identity of the child could not be known. There was...

UN court’s ruling is devastating for Israel and awkward for allies such as the UK and US, which belittled South Africa’s caseMiddle East crisis – live updatesIn seeking a provisional order from the international court of justice restraining Israel from committing potentially genocidal acts in Gaza, South Africa put not just Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in the dock but also the whole post-second world...

International court of justice stops short of granting South Africa’s request to order immediate ceasefireMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe ​UN’s international court of justice has ordered Israel to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, in a historic decision.In an interim judgment delivered on Friday, the president of the court, Joan Donoghue, said Israel must “take all...

UN judges set to decide on whether Israel should halt its war in Gaza; William Burns will reportedly meet in Europe with his Israeli and Egyptian counterparts plus the Qatari PMSee all of our updates on the Israel-Gaza warSnipers around the vicinity of al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, are shooting people as they try to leave the buildings, according to an Al...

Judges in The Hague to decide on whether to order Israel to end its military campaign against HamasMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe international court of justice in The Hague is set to give its decision on Friday in South Africa’s case alleging genocide by Israel in Gaza, as the world watches to see whether the judges will order a ceasefire.At a two-day hearing...

William Burns and the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service will reportedly meet Qatari prime minister in Europe as part of efforts to broker a dealSee all our Israel-Gaza war coverageThe director of the Central Intelligence Agency and his Israeli counterpart will meet Qatari officials in coming days for talks on a second potential Gaza hostage deal and pause in fighting, three sources familiar...

Behind bullish statements officials have been examining potential scenarios for impending decision in case brought by South AfricaIsraeli officials are bracing for an expected interim ruling from the international court of justice on South Africa’s allegation that the war in Gaza amounts to genocide against Palestinians, an emergency measure that could expose Israel to international sanctions.The UN’s top court, which settles disputes between states,...

Doha ‘appalled’ at leaked recordings allegedly showing Israeli PM saying Qatar’s role in talks is ‘problematic’Qatar has harshly criticised Israel’s prime minister, accusing Benjamin Netanyahu of deliberately obstructing ceasefire and hostage release negotiations with Hamas for personal political gain.Doha’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Majed al-Ansari, said on Wednesday night that his government was “appalled” by leaked remarks allegedly made by Netanyahu in which he criticised...

Israeli prime minister apparently called Gulf state ‘problematic’; training centre run by UN refugee agency hit by tank shelling on WednesdayThe Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, said the conflict in Gaza shows the UN and other world bodies have lost their effectiveness and called on Muslim countries and other nations to unite for a new “fair world order”, reports Al Jazeera.Reporting from Ankara on Wednesday,...

Israel’s assault on Gaza’s second-largest city continues as Hamas delegation travels to Egypt for ceasefire and hostage-release talks Thousands of people sheltering in hospitals in Khan Younis are now trapped by Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip’s second largest city, even as a delegation from Hamas travelled to Egypt for the latest round of talks aimed at another ceasefire and hostage-release deal.The Israeli army...

Poll released Wednesday shows divisions by age and political lines, with 35% overall saying campaign against Palestinians is genocideMore than one in three Americans believe Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians, a poll published on Wednesday has found.According to the Economist/YouGov poll, roughly equal numbers of adults believe Israel’s military campaign against Palestinians, which is estimated to have killed more than 25,000 people since...

South Africa’s foreign minister will fly to The Hague for the ruling in a possible sign of Pretoria’s confidence in its caseSouth Africa’s foreign minister, Naledi Pandor, is flying to The Hague to be present on Friday when the international court of justice (ICJ) delivers its highly anticipated verdict on South Africa’s request for an interim ruling in its genocide case against Israel.The ruling,...

Sources says Israel and Hamas closer to 30-day ceasefire; Iraqi PM’s office says US strikes undermine years of cooperationThe United Nations office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (Ocha) has outlined some of the violence happening in the West Bank in its latest update. It describes the number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank in 2023 as “the highest” since Ocha started recording...

António Guterres says denial of Palestinian state will embolden extremists at highly charged security council debateFollow the Middle East crisis liveIsrael’s “clear and repeated rejection of the two-state solution” is unacceptable, and could only prolong the conflict in Gaza, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, has said, at the launch of a highly charged security council debate focusing on aid shipments to Gaza.Gutteres told...

Deaths come as talks of ceasefire increase and pressure rises on Netanyahu over leadership and handling of war effortMiddle East crisis – live updatesTwenty-four Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza on Monday, by far the biggest single-day Israeli death toll in the three-month war against Hamas, as talks about a ceasefire intensified and Palestinian casualties continued to climb.The deaths came amid fierce fighting around...

IDF says deaths happened when militants fired rocket-propelled grenade as soldiers prepared explosives to demolish buildingsFull report on latest round of US and UK strikesReged Ahmad here picking up the blog from Jem BartholomewUS Central Command (Centcom) has posted some of the latest video and images of their airstrikes against Yemen’s Houthis.The US undertook its eighth round of airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen...

UK minister to tell meeting that suffering in Gaza is ‘unacceptable and our priority must be to alleviate it’Middle East crisis – live updatesCalls for Israel to allow more aid into Gaza and to accept a future Palestinian state as necessary for its own security are expected to dominate a meeting of the UN security council in New York on Tuesday.Before the meeting, the...