All posts tagged: Israels

Why has the ‘ceasefire’ in Gaza failed to stop Israel’s attacks? | Israel-Palestine conflict News

Why has the ‘ceasefire’ in Gaza failed to stop Israel’s attacks? | Israel-Palestine conflict News

Published by Sam Flores

A so-called “ceasefire” agreed in October has not stopped the Israeli army’s attacks on the Gaza Strip. Nothing is off limits, including homes, tents sheltering the displaced and even funerals. The death toll is rising. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Israel says it is targeting Hamas fighters, but Gaza’s Health Ministry says most of those killed are women and children. The UN says Palestinians are stuck in a nightmare that’s difficult to reconcile with the existence of a truce. And talks to move the deal to the next phase have stalled. Presenter: Scott McLean Guests:  Gideon Levy –  Columnist at Haaretz newspaper and author of, The Punishment of Gaza Xavier Abu Eid – Former PLO communicators director, author of, Rooted in Palestine, and political analyst Julie Norman – Associate fellow, Middle East programme at Chatham House, professor of international relations at University College London and co-author of, Gaza: The Dream and the Nightmare Published On 18 Jul 202618 Jul 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera …

Israel’s parliament approves laws to enshrine exemption of ultra-Orthodox men from military service

Israel’s parliament approves laws to enshrine exemption of ultra-Orthodox men from military service

Published by Sam Flores

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s parliament has approved laws that effectively halt the enlistment of ultra-Orthodox men in the country’s military in a last-ditch effort by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition to woo religious political parties ahead of elections in the fall. Lawmakers voted in a marathon session on Monday and Tuesday to both freeze the arrests of ultra-Orthodox draft evaders and to enshrine Jewish religious studies as a “foundational value” of the state. Both laws represent significant concessions by Netanyahu’s Likud party to ultra-Orthodox politicians seeking to formalize their community’s de facto exemption from serving in the military, which is compulsory for most Jewish men and women in Israel. The military is already grappling with troop shortages and many Israelis have grown tired of the longstanding system that allowed ultra-Orthodox men to avoid service. Each year, roughly 13,000 ultra-Orthodox men reach the conscription age of 18, but less than 10% enlist, according to a parliamentary committee. The laws come in the wake of nearly three years of wars — from Gaza to Lebanon and Iran — …

Power cuts plunge Gaza hospitals into darkness as Israel’s attacks persist | Energy News

Power cuts plunge Gaza hospitals into darkness as Israel’s attacks persist | Energy News

Published by Sam Flores

Omar Abu Atwa, a 30-year-old driver, was walking home from work one day in central Gaza last month when an explosion shook the street around him. Bloodied and confused, he was taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, where doctors examined injuries to his hand. As he waited for an X-ray, the lights cut out, rendering much of the hospital’s medical equipment inoperable, including the machine doctors needed to inspect his wound. After a six-hour wait in the ward, Omar left tired and frustrated, without an X-ray or proper treatment for his injured hand. This is a repeated experience for patients in Gaza, including those rushed to hospital to receive potentially lifesaving surgery. “I waited for many hours inside the hospital hoping for electricity to return and the medical devices to start working again. During that time, I was in pain and anxious because I did not know the nature of my injury or whether my condition required urgent medical intervention,” he told Al Jazeera. “I saw children, elderly people and injured individuals waiting …

We have many friends”: Netanyahu rejects Vance claim that US is Israel’s “only ally

We have many friends”: Netanyahu rejects Vance claim that US is Israel’s “only ally

Published by Sam Flores

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit back at claims that Israel is basically friendless on Sunday, telling Fox News‘ Jacqui Heinrich that his country’s global relationships are “not quite as they appear.” Vice President JD Vance warned top Israeli officials to avoid angering the United States last month, saying any wrenches thrown into a peace deal between the US and Iran by Israel risked losing the support of the “only powerful ally that [they] have anywhere left in the entire world.” Netanyahu seemed unconcerned on Sunday, saying that Donald Trump is the “greatest friend that [Israel] ever had in the White House.”  He added that Israel has other powerful allies outside of the US. “Many leaders, you know, call me up and say, ‘Hey, look, I’ve got this problem with public opinion, but I want you to know, we respect you, and can we make some deals?’” he said. “We have many, many friends.” Start your day with essential news from Salon.Sign up for our free morning newsletter, Crash Course. Netanyahu went on to blame …

Psychological toll mounts as Lebanese villages erased by Israel’s war | Israel attacks Lebanon News

Psychological toll mounts as Lebanese villages erased by Israel’s war | Israel attacks Lebanon News

Published by Sam Flores

Beirut, Lebanon – In February 2025, Ali stood outside his house in Naqoura, in southern Lebanon, and pointed at the crack in the foundation and fruit trees pulled up by the Israeli military. The Israeli military had recently withdrawn from the town as part of a ceasefire agreement, but had left behind detonated homes, a graffiti-laden school, and power lines pulled out of the ground. Ali, an elderly man from the town, said at the time that he would fix it all. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list But a little more than a year later, Israel has completely razed the area of Naqoura, one of many towns and villages in southern Lebanon that the Israeli military has made completely uninhabitable. Forced to flee when the Israelis invaded again in March, Ali has traded his garden and family home by the sea for a room on a rooftop in the heart of Beirut. Sipping coffee, he lamented. “We had 20 good years,” he said, roughly referring to the period between the end of …

This Grieving Father and Ex-General Could Test the Grip of Israel’s Longest Serving Prime Minister

This Grieving Father and Ex-General Could Test the Grip of Israel’s Longest Serving Prime Minister

Published by Sam Flores

JERUSALEM (AP) — A leading Israeli general who quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war Cabinet after accusing him of lacking a strategy in Gaza has emerged as one of the premier’s most serious challengers in elections scheduled for the fall. His name is Gadi Eisenkot. On Tuesday in Israel, his centrist political party “Yashar!” or “Straight!” formally launched its election season campaign. “This time it’s on us,” said Eisenkot at the launch event Tuesday. “Will we turn a blind eye to the disaster that has befallen us? Will we accept the continued division and rush to the next disaster? Or will we heal and rebuild?” His rise from the highest ranks of the military could sharpen scrutiny of Netanyahu and his stewardship of Israel through multiple wars. Like nearly all of the prime minister’s rivals, Eisenkot has broadly supported Israeli military operations in places such as Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. He did not mention any of those conflicts in his speech Tuesday. But he has also accused Netanyahu of strategic failure in the wake of …

Orthodox Jew Believes Israel’s Failure to Build the Jewish Temple is Behind the Current Heatwave – OpentheWord.org

Orthodox Jew Believes Israel’s Failure to Build the Jewish Temple is Behind the Current Heatwave – OpentheWord.org

Published by Sam Flores

Credit: James Day, unsplash.com An early-summer heatwave is sweeping Europe, the Middle East and parts of North America. This has directly resulted in over 1,300 heat related deaths in Europe according to the BBC. But France added that there have been 1,000 ‘more deaths’ this year compared to this time last year. Many are 65 years and older and nearly half died at home. Since French homes do not generally have air conditioning, the heat may have been a contributing factor. Both Germany and Poland broke previous heat records recording 41.7 C temperatures (107 F). The heat even warped rail tracks in Sweden, causing a train to derail. This is particularly concerning since it’s not even summer yet. It’s estimated that over 62,000 people died in the heatwaves that hit Europe in the summer of 2024. In his vision of the end times, recorded in the Book of Revelation, the Apostle John saw heatwaves associated with the seven bowls of wrath judgement in chapter 16. John writes that as a result of the pouring out …

Forever wars: Israel’s cycle of conflict shows no finish line | US-Israel war on Iran News

Forever wars: Israel’s cycle of conflict shows no finish line | US-Israel war on Iran News

Published by Sam Flores

Less than a week after the signing of the memorandum of understanding between Tehran and Washington brought the stuttering, three-month-long US-Israel war on Iran to a close – for now – the verdict of Washington’s principal ally, Israel, was in. According to a recent poll, an overwhelming 92 percent of Israelis felt the US has signed away their victory over a decades-old enemy, with almost half of those polled saying Israel should continue its attacks on Lebanon and the pro-Iran group Hezbollah, irrespective of the urgings of Washington, its principal ally and sponsor. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Israel has spent the years since the surprise Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, in Israel, which killed 1,139 people, fighting continuous wars across the region. It has committed a genocide in Gaza, killing more than 73,000 Palestinians and razing large swaths of the territory to the ground. It has attacked Iran twice, killed thousands in Lebanon while fighting Iran ally Hezbollah, launched multiple ground incursions into Syria, and launched sporadic strikes on the …

No Consensus for EU Sanctions Against Israel’s Ben-Gvir, Top Diplomat Says

No Consensus for EU Sanctions Against Israel’s Ben-Gvir, Top Diplomat Says

Published by Sam Flores

BRUSSELS, June 15 (Reuters) – ⁠EU ⁠foreign ministers ⁠have not reached ​a consensus to approve ‌sanctions against Israel’s ‌far-right National ⁠Security ⁠Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, EU’s top diplomat ​Kaja Kallas said on Monday. “Many member states ​have also proposed to sanction ⁠Minister ⁠Ben-Gvir, but ⁠no consensus ​on that was reached,” she ​said. Western ⁠governments have expressed outrage after Ben-Gvir posted a video ⁠of himself taunting activists who had intended ⁠to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza being pinned to the ground. France decided to ban Ben-Gvir from French territory in ⁠May, while Italian prosecutors have put him under investigation. (Reporting by Charlotte ​Van Campenhout, editing by ​Inti Landauro) Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters. Source link

France bans Israel’s finance minister, slams him for promoting ‘recolonisation’ of Gaza

France bans Israel’s finance minister, slams him for promoting ‘recolonisation’ of Gaza

Published by Sam Flores

France Tuesday banned Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country, the French foreign minister said, as part of coordinated sanctions with other countries over settler violence against Palestinians. France’s sanctions were in coordination with Britain, Canada, Australia, Norway and New Zealand targeting “those responsible for the escalation of settlement activity and violence in the West Bank”, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on X. He said Smotrich “actively promotes the annexation of the West Bank, which he openly claims, the creation of new settlements in the West Bank, the re-colonisation of Gaza, the economic collapse of the Palestinian Authority and its harmful consequences for the Palestinian population”. “This is a policy that the overwhelming majority of the international community, firmly committed to the two-state solution, cannot accept,” Barrot wrote on X. Smotrich is the second member of the Israeli government to be forbidden from entering France in recent months, after National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was barred on May 23 for mocking activists detained by Israeli soldiers from a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying aid …