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Two reservists brigades mobilised for Gaza missions while rows of tents put up in Khan YounisIsrael appears to be readying to send troops into Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, the only corner of the strip that has not seen fierce ground fighting and where more than half of the Palestinian territory’s population of 2.3 million has sought shelter.The Israeli military said on Wednesday that...

Spokesperson says some bodies allegedly had their hands tied while others were bound and strippedThe UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, has said he was “horrified” by reports of mass graves containing hundreds of bodies at two of Gaza’s largest hospitals.Palestinian civil defence teams began exhuming bodies from a mass grave outside the Nasser hospital complex in Khan Younis last week after Israeli troops...

Aipac and other groups targeting candidates critical of Israel’s war in Gaza – but progressives are not going down without a fight Pro-Israel groups are pumping millions into this year’s heated congressional races, singling out progressives who have voiced criticism of the Israeli government and its relentless campaign in Gaza.The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) is betting that $100m will be enough to...

Maj Gen Aharon Haliva is first senior figure to step down over role in deadliest assault in country’s historyMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe head of Israel’s military intelligence directorate has resigned over the failures surrounding Hamas’s unprecedented attack on 7 October, the military said, becoming the first senior figure to step down over his role in the deadliest assault in Israel’s history.Maj Gen...

Expected measures are under Leahy law and against the Netzah Yehuda battalion, accused of human rights violations against PalestiniansBenjamin Netanyahu has said he will fight against any efforts to impose sanctions on Israeli military units, amid reports that an Israel Defense Forces battalion is facing US sanctions over its treatment of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.The US outlet Axios reported on Saturday that...

Tory MPs urging government not to restore funding despite UN’s roadmap, published on Monday, to make agency more transparentA plan due to be published today to improve the accountability and transparency of Unrwa, the UN relief works agency for Palestinians, is not expected to lead to a snap British decision to restore funding to the agency.Britain joined 18 other nations in suspending funding for...

More than half of Gaza’s population has sought refuge in areaOvernight Israeli strikes on Rafah killed 18 people, including 14 children, health officials have said in an update (earlier we reported that 13 people, including 9 children, were killed in the overnight strikes).The first strike killed a man, his wife and their 3-year-old child, according to the nearby Kuwaiti hospital, which received the bodies....

Turkish president says recent events between Iran and Israel should not allow Israel to ‘gain ground’ in GazaTurkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan urged Palestinians to unite amid Israel’s war in Gaza following hours-long talks with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul on Saturday, his office said.Erdoğan has failed to establish a foothold as a mediator in the Gaza conflict that has roiled the region,...

Grim milestone comes as G7 leaders urge Netanyahu not to press ahead with Rafah invasionThe death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza climbed to more than 34,000 on Saturday, with the majority of victims women and children, including at least six killed by an overnight airstrike on a house in Rafah.The latest grim milestone comes as hope of a ceasefire has dimmed, and global...

Controversy followed a viral video of pro-Palestinian students interrupting a dinner held by a Berkeley free-speech defenderDuring a dinner for students that the dean of the University of California, Berkeley law school held in his house’s backyard earlier this month, a woman wearing a hijab and checkered Palestinian scarf suddenly stood up with a microphone and amplifier. What followed lasted only a couple of...

Iranian official indicates no ‘immediate’ plan for retaliation after explosions reported in sky over Isfahan and TabrizMiddle East crisis: live updatesWhat we know so far about Israel’s strike on IranWhat’s in Isfahan? The city home to Iranian nuclear facilitiesUS officials have confirmed that Israel has carried out airstrikes against Iran, as explosions were reported in the sky over the cities of Isfahan and Tabriz,...

Reported Israeli drone strike on Isfahan may signal that this widening conflict has become more dynamicWhile the details remain vague, and Iranian denials strong, it seems very likely, given past history and strong comments from US officials, that a limited Israeli drone strike was launched against the Iranian city of Isfahan on Friday morning.Isfahan is significant for its military-industrial facilities, the presence of an...

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...

How much should Britain get involved in the conflict in the Middle East? The Guardian’s John Harris is joined by the columnist Gaby Hinsliff and former national security adviser Peter Ricketts to talk about the fallout from Iran’s attack on Israel at the weekend. Plus, John talks to Gaby about smoking bans, NatCon and Liz Truss’s new bookArchive: Sky News, BBC News Continue reading...

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...

Labour shadow minister also says Israel should be held accountable before international tribunal for war conduct in GazaMiddle East crisis – live updatesLisa Nandy, the UK’s shadow minister for international development, has called for support for the UN relief agency, Unrwa, warning that “time has run out for hundreds of thousands” of people in Gaza.Nandy is in Washington this week attending the spring meetings...

Exclusive: Government ministries and offices behind most contentious of projects, which will create thousands of housing unitsIsrael’s government has accelerated the construction of settlements across East Jerusalem, with more than 20 projects totalling thousands of housing units having been approved or advanced since the start of the war in Gaza six months ago, planning documents show.Ministries and offices within the Israeli government are behind...

National security adviser Jake Sullivan made the announcement as EU considers similar movesSee all our updates on the Israel-Gaza war and wider Middle East crisisThe US has said it will impose sanctions aimed at Iran’s missile and drone programme as well as the Revolutionary Guard and defence ministry in the next few days, and expects its allies to follow suit, in the wake of...

UN human rights office expresses concern over escalating violence after deaths near Nablus over weekendThe UN and the UK have voiced grave concern over escalating violence in the West Bank, demanding that Israeli security forces “immediately” stop supporting settler attacks on Palestinians in the occupied territory.The comments came hours after two Palestinian men were killed by Israeli settlers in a northern village south of...

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...

General gives clearest confirmation yet that Israel will hit back but it is unclear what form response will takeIsrael’s top general has said the country will respond to Iran’s missile and drone attack, but it remains unclear what form that response will take and whether it will be so forceful that it could tip a worsening spiral of violence into a full-scale regional war.US...

In today’s newsletter: Mohammad Ali Shabani, editor of Amwaj.media, explains the internal dynamics in Tehran, and what Israel and America may do next• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. For the first time, Iran has launched a direct attack against Israel from its own soil – and the Middle East stands closer to an all-out regional war than at any...

Israel signals it will not immediately act alone, while US states it would not take part in any counter-offensive against TehranMiddle East crisis – live updatesIsrael is weighing its response to Iran’s unprecedented missile and drone assault on its territory, signalling on Sunday night that it would not immediately act alone, but insisting its forces remained on high alert and that the leadership had...