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Prime minister also seeks to assure allies Israel’s response to Iran will be measured, as officials urge him to focus on ceasefire dealBenjamin Netanyahu has told western diplomats that he will go ahead with a ground offensive on Rafah in southern Gaza, and has also suggested that Israel’s anticipated reprisal for Iran’s missile and drone salvo will be aimed at Iranian interests rather than...

Gantz says government ‘must set a consensual date for September’ while Netanyahu’s popularity continues to decline amid the ongoing war in GazaIsraeli minister Benny Gantz, a member of the war cabinet and main rival of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has called for snap parliamentary elections in September, as pressure builds over the war in Gaza.“We must set a consensual date for the month of...

Vermont senator makes remarks after Israeli strike kills seven aid workers, amid war that has killed more than 32,000 PalestiniansThe Vermont senator and former US presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has a message for the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu: “Stop murdering innocent people.”Sanders delivered his blunt message in an interview with MSNBC on Tuesday, a day after seven aid workers were killed by...

Humanitarian groups say they cannot operate safely after Israeli targeting of food charity convoy prompts international outcry Gaza aid convoy strike: what happened and who were the victims?The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza seems likely to worsen after charities announced they are suspending operations in the territory in the aftermath of an Israeli drone attack which repeatedly targeted a clearly identified convoy of international aid...

Demonstrators join families of hostages in cities across country and vow to persist until he is ousted as PMTens of thousands of people across Israel joined the families of hostages this weekend to protest against the government and call for the removal of Benjamin Netanyahu, as the Israeli prime minister grappled with one of the most serious threats yet to his coalition.The protesters in...

Judges issue unanimous decision and say Palestinians are in urgent need of humanitarian assistanceThe international court of justice has ordered Israel to allow unimpeded access of food aid into Gaza, where sections of the population are facing imminent starvation, in a significant legal rebuke to Israel’s claim it is not blocking aid deliveries.A panel of judges at the UN’s top court, which is already...

For years Haredi men have been allowed to continue Torah study, but proposal could force some to enlist A proposed bill to extend compulsory military service to ultra-Orthodox students, historically exempt from conscription, has ignited a fierce debate in Israel, with Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly warning that failure to pass the law could jeopardise the stability of the government.Israel has mandatory army service but for...

PM acknowledges international pressure is increasing but says it will not stop Israel achieving its goalsBenjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead with sending Israeli troops into Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, rejecting deep international concerns over the risks to more than a million Palestinians who have sought shelter there.The prime minister said no amount of international pressure would stop Israel from realising all...

President also condemns US surge in Islamophobia in comments that could portend broader shift in sentiment towards Gaza warJoe Biden on Friday said Senator Chuck Schumer made “a good speech” that reflected many Americans’ concerns when he publicly broke with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, over his handling of the war in Gaza.While the US president announced no changes in his administration’s policy...

Israeli PM’s decision may be intended to put negotiating pressure on Hamas, observers say, after his cabinet discussed truce proposal Middle East crisis – live updatesBenjamin Netanyahu has approved plans for an attack on Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza, where more than a million people displaced from elsewhere in the territory have sought shelter, officials in Israel have said.The decision was made as...

Prime minister vows to continue offensive as Hamas delegation withdraws from ceasefire talksIsrael will not give in to international pressure to stall an attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah and will continue its bloody offensive against Hamas, said Benjamin Netanyahu.“There is international pressure and it’s growing, but … we need to stand together against the attempts to stop the war,” the prime...

Details of draft truce emerged in reports hours after US president Joe Biden said ‘my hope is by next Monday we’ll have a ceasefire’Reuters is reporting that a Hamas official has told it that US president Joe Biden’s words about a halt to fighting in Gaza are premature, and do not match the situation on the ground.The official told the new agency there were...

Israel’s prime minister told US media that a deal to release hostages held in Gaza would only delay a planned assault on RafahLebanon’s Hezbollah said on Monday it had downed an Israeli Hermes 450 drone over Lebanese territory with a surface-to-air missile, the second time it has announced bringing down this type of unmanned aerial vehicle.Reuters reports:The Hermes 450 is an Israeli multi-payload drone...

Israeli PM brushes aside warnings that assault on Gaza’s southernmost town would be a ‘human catastrophe’ Benjamin Netanyahu appears determined to push ahead with a ground offensive against Gaza’s southernmost town of Rafah but has claimed Israel will provide safe passage to the 1.3 million displaced Palestinians sheltering there.Despite mounting warnings from aid agencies and the international community that an assault on Rafah would...

Hundreds killed and injured in central Gaza Strip while Palestinians crowd into camps and the city of Rafah• Middle East crisis – live updatesIsraeli forces struck densely populated areas across the middle and southern Gaza Strip in a midnight attack on Friday and early Saturday, killing at least 25 people amid fears of an impending push south by ground troops as pressure builds for...

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...

Josep Borrell says minister came to meeting with plans for an artificial island off Gaza and a railway to IndiaMiddle East crisis – live updatesOne of the EU’s most senior diplomats has criticised the Israeli foreign minister for not properly engaging with a summit in Brussels designed to pave the way for a peace plan in the Middle East.Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative...

The prime minister said he rejected the terms of a deal which included Israel’s complete withdrawal from GazaSee all our Israel-Gaza war coverageThe prospect of a deal to release the remaining hostages held by Hamas appeared to recede on Sunday after a Hamas official said Benjamin Netanyahu’s rejection of their conditions meant there was “no chance” of their return.Netanyahu had earlier dismissed the militant...

Territory’s health ministry says most casualties are women and children, and that thousands more may lie under rubbleMiddle East crisis – live updatesIsrael’s war against Hamas in Gaza has killed 25,000 Palestinians, the health ministry in the territory has announced, as the UN chief described the scale of civilian killings as “heartbreaking and utterly unacceptable”.Most of the casualties were women and children, the ministry...

The Israeli leader is under pressure over course of the Gaza war but is doubling down on opposition to a two-state solutionDefiant Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down on opposition to Palestinian statehood, deepening the divide with Israel’s closest international allies, as cracks in his wartime “unity” government became increasingly evident.Anger with Netanyahu is also increasingly visible on the streets, even though there...

Washington wants concessions from the Netanyahu administration, as critics say plans lack detail or commitmentSee all our coverage of the Middle East crisisIsraeli officials are scrambling to head off mounting frustration in Washington in the run-up to a potentially difficult meeting between the top US diplomat and Benjamin Netanyahu by offering a series of policy proposals on Gaza that critics say lack detail or...

Security officials keen to arrange meeting as ‘time running out’, according to reportsIsrael-Gaza war – live updatesThe Israeli military expanded its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip to the densely populated urban refugee camps in the central part of the territory as the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was reported to have refused requests from security officials to make plans for control of Gaza after...