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Discussion ‘leans more towards infiltration than attack’ says anonymous Iranian official as US says Israel has carried out military operationFull report: Israel has carried out airstrikes on Iran, US officials sayWhat we know so far about Israel’s strike on IranWhat’s in Isfahan? The city home to Iranian nuclear facilitiesIt’s 7:24am in Tehran and 6:54 In Tel Aviv. Let’s get a reminder of what we...

Washington blocks security council resolution supported by 12 member countries, with two abstentions including UKThe US has vetoed a Palestinian request to the United Nations security council for full UN membership, blocking the world body’s recognition of a Palestinian state.The vote in the 15-member security council was 12 in favor, the US opposed and two abstentions, the UK and Switzerland. Continue reading...

The gulf state’s prime minister said he was making the move due to ‘exploitation and abuse of the Qatari role’See all of our updates on the Israel-Gaza war and wider Middle East crisisThe EU has edged closer to calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East after a meeting of the 27 bloc leaders last night.Leaders have struggled to agree language from the...

IDF confirms buying thousands of tents for evacuation, raising fears over long-threatened attackIsrael has reportedly deployed extra artillery and armoured personnel carriers to the Gaza Strip periphery, suggesting that the military is preparing for its long-threatened ground offensive on Rafah, the only place of relative safety for at least 1.4 million displaced Palestinian civilians.Israeli daily Ma’ariv also said on Wednesday that troops had been...

UK foreign secretary is probably first non-Israeli politician to admit military reprisal is inevitable but urges Israel not to escalateDavid Cameron has said it is clear Israel is “making a decision to act” in response to last weekend’s Iranian mass drone and ballistic missile attack, as Benjamin Netanyahu brushed off calls for restraint and said his country would make its own decisions about how...

David Cameron says it is hoped Israel ‘does as little to escalate as possible’ as he visits Jerusalem as west considers new sanctions on IranSee all our Middle East crisis coverageHere are some more pictures sent over the news wires from Rafah showing the aftermath of an Israeli strike there.Reuters, citing the semi-official Tasnim news agency, reports that Iran’s navy is to begin escorting...

Iran’s military spokesperson tells western allies to stop supporting Israel and warns of response to any further aggressionFull report: IDF chief of staff says Israel will respondExplainer: how will Israel respond to Iran’s attackA senior spokesperson for Iran’s military has warned the US, UK, France and Germany to stop supporting Israel, and said that there will be an even stronger response from Iran if...

Flights delayed and traffic disrupted as protesters in major US cities intensify call for ceasefire in GazaThousands of people held protests across the US on Monday condemning Israel’s attack on Gaza, shutting down airports and disrupting traffic in major cities from New York to San Francisco.A portion of the Kennedy Expressway into Chicago O’Hare international airport, one of the US’s busiest, was blocked off...

Amman and allies insist Jordanian actions were self-defence after public anger at home and across regionJordan has found itself caught in the crosshairs of the confrontation between Iran and Israel, facing public anger at home and in the region for its role in downing dozens of Iranian drones targeting Israeli territory on Saturday night.Underlying its precarious position, Amman summoned the Iranian ambassador on Sunday...

Few of Hamas’s senior leaders have been harmed but its ability to govern is reduced and thousands of fighters are deadSix months after the surprise attacks it launched into Israel, triggering the Gaza conflict, Hamas is weakened and divided but far from defeated, experts, officials and sources close to the militant Islamist organisation say.Hamas remains in de facto control of swaths of Gaza, including...

Israel’s defence minister says it will launch ‘appropriate’ response if Iran retaliates over embassy attack in SyriaSee all our Israel-Gaza war covergeAn assessment conducted by a UN team in Khan Younis after the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the area, has reported “widespread destruction”.In an update on its website, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) wrote:Every building they visited –...

Samantha Power becomes first US official to confirm famine, while aid workers decry continuing lack of help ‘Man-made starvation’: the obstacles to Gaza aid deliveries – visual guideA promised surge in aid into Gaza that Benjamin Netanyahu promised Joe Biden a week ago has so far failed to materialise, aid workers say, as the US aid chief confirmed that famine is beginning to take...

This live blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereIsraeli forces killed three sons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in an airstrike in Gaza without consulting senior commanders or political leaders including prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, says Reuters citing Israeli media reports on Thursday.Quoting senior Israeli officials, Walla news agency said neither Netanyahu nor defence minister Yoav Gallant had been...

US-backed proposal involves women, children and elderly or sick hostages in Gaza being exchanged for 900 Palestinian prisonersMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe Palestinian militant group Hamas has indicated it does not have 40 captives who are still alive who meet the “humanitarian” criteria for a proposed hostages-for-prisoners ceasefire agreement with Israel.A senior Israeli official confirmed claims made at the weekend by Hamas during...

Israel’s foreign minister threatens Iran as tension between two countries flare after killings of Iranian generals at consulate in SyriaSee all of our Israel-Gaza war coverageThe commander of the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (Unifil), Aroldo Lazaro, said on Wednesday the danger of escalation on the Lebanon-Israel border was real, reports Reuters.“Unifil calls for a return to the cessation of hostilities, and a move...

US president gives some of his strongest criticism of Israeli PM yet, saying he needs to ‘empower’ Israel’s negotiators to call for a truceSee all our coverage of the Israel-Gaza warUS president Joe Biden has said prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach on Gaza was a “mistake” and urged Israel to call for a ceasefire, in an interview that aired on Tuesday.Biden’s comments were some...

Foreign secretary says Britain’s position on export licences is ‘unchanged’ after reviewing latest legal adviceMiddle East crisis – live updatesDavid Cameron has confirmed the UK government will not suspend arms exports to Israel after the killing of seven aid workers in an airstrike on Gaza last week, as he insisted the UK would continue to act within international law.The foreign secretary said that he...

Nicaragua asks UN’s highest court to halt German weapons sales to Israel, alleging it is breaching obligation to prevent genocideGermany has said Israel’s security is at “the core” of its foreign policy because of the history of the Holocaust, but denied accusations at the UN’s highest court that is aiding genocide in Gaza by arming Israel.Nicaragua has brought a case against Germany at the...

France’s foreign minister says they will continue to pressure Israel to obtain the opening for humanitarian aidRecent tragedies in Gaza are not a reason to “walk away from Israel”, the former British home secretary, Suella Braverman, said.Asked if the UK should still be selling arms to Israel, Braverman told LBC: “I don’t think the fact that these tragedies happen is a reason to walk...

Doctors describe rise in infections and amputations among dangerously malnourished patients Every morning, starving mothers arrive at the doors of al-Awda hospital in northern Gaza desperately seeking baby formula. Many mothers of newborns are unable to breastfeed, the head of the hospital said, because they are so underfed.Inside the hospital, where doctors are undergoing treatment for malnutrition alongside their patients, surgeons say they are...

People find landscape in southern Gaza city marked by shattered buildings and stench of death from under the rubbleCivilians return to Khan Younis – in picturesThousands of Palestinians, exhausted by six months of unrelenting war and multiple displacements, trudged back to the devastated city of Khan Younis on Monday, a day after Israel’s unexpected withdrawal of its forces from southern Gaza.With many making the...

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn gives jam as swathe of film and TV celebrities add support, including Zone of Interest’s Jonathan Glazer and Thor’s Tessa Thompson A host of film directors and stars, including Susan Sarandon, Paul Mescal and Olivia Colman, have added their names to those offering time and memorabilia to a Cinema for Gaza auction that is raising funds for humanitarian relief...

Families succeed in legal challenges after Home Office refused to decide on reunion applications without biometric dataFamilies in Gaza have won a legal case against the Home Office after a judge ruled the department’s decisions were a “disproportionate interference” in their right to a family life.Two challenges were brought against the Home Office in February this year after it refused to decide on family...

Israeli defence minister says withdrawal forms part of preparations for later attack on RafahAn Israeli strike on southern Lebanon early on Monday killed a field commander in the heavily-armed Lebanese group Hezbollah, as the United Nations warned that shelling was spreading and urged a halt to the violence.Hezbollah and the Israeli military have been exchanging fire across Lebanon’s southern frontier in parallel with the...