DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Israel's Six-Week Drive to Hit Hamas in Rafah and Scale Back War
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +10 min

Gaza's ruling group can keep fighting and is prepared for a long war in Rafah and Gaza, said the official, who requested anonymity. A senior regional security official said Israel believed some Hamas commanders and hostages were in Rafah. UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron also told lawmakers that Britain and its allies "will look at the issue of recognising a Palestinian state, including at the United Nations". Yet for Netanyahu and many other Israeli officials, talk of a two-state solution amounts to a betrayal of the people killed on Oct. 7. "I say clearly to anyone still stuck in October 6: We will never lend a hand to the creation of a Palestinian state," Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar said on social media last month.

Persons: Samia Nakhoul, Jonathan Saul, Humeyra Pamuk, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Avi Melamed, Yoav Gallant, Joe Biden, Netanyahu, Biden, Gaza's, hasn't, Israel . Fighting, Khan Younis, Emad Joudat, Gallant, Israel, Yahya Sinwar, Antony Blinken, Washington, David Cameron, Britain haven't, Miki Zohar, Dan Williams, Nidal Al Mughrabi, Andrew Hay, Jeff Mason, Pravin Char Organizations: Humeyra Pamuk DOHA, Reuters, Military, Israel Defense Forces, Hamas, Israeli, America, . Senior, Palestinian Authority, State Department, Israel, United Nations Locations: Israel, Gaza, Rafah, Washington, Qatar, RAFAH, Hamas, Khan, Gaza City, Egypt, Cairo, U.S, Palestinian, Britain, Palestine, Doha, London, Jerusalem

☆ Gaza Ceasefire Hopes Alive With More Talks Planned
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

"Continued military pressure is a necessary condition for the release of the hostages," Netanyahu said. Israel began its military offensive after Hamas militants from Gaza killed 1,200 people and took 253 hostages in southern Israel on Oct. 7. Netanyahu rejects a Palestinian state, which Saudi Arabia says is a requirement for the kingdom to normalise relations with Israel. But last week Israel said it would expand its campaign into Rafah, where about half the enclave's 2.3 million people are penned against the border with Egypt. On the ground in southern Gaza, residents said Israel stepped up its assault on Rafah in the early hours of Thursday.

Persons: Nidal, Humeyra Pamuk, Antony Blinken, Khalil Al, Hayya, Benjamin Netanyahu, Blinken, Netanyahu, Yahya Sinwar, Israel, Washington, Khan Younis, Nidal al, Andrew Mills, Bassam Massoud, Cynthia Osterman, Howard Goller Organizations: Reuters, U.S, Israeli, Hamas, NBC News, Israel Democracy Institute, Nakhoul Locations: Humeyra Pamuk DOHA, TEL AVIV, U.S, Qatar, Egypt, Israel, Gaza, Palestinian, Cairo, Tel Aviv, Saudi Arabia, ISRAEL, RAFAH Israel, Gaza's, Rafah, Tel Al, Doha

☆ Exclusive-Iranian and Hezbollah Commanders Help Direct Houthi Attacks in Yemen, Sources Say
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +9 min

By Samia Nakhoul and Parisa HafeziDUBAI (Reuters) - Commanders from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Lebanon's Hezbollah group are on the ground in Yemen helping to direct and oversee Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, four regional and two Iranian sources told Reuters. In his weekly news conferences, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani has repeatedly denied Tehran is involved in the Red Sea attacks by the Houthis. Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam denied any Iranian or Hezbollah involvement in helping to direct the Red Sea attacks. The person said Iranian commanders had travelled to Yemen as well and set up a command centre in the capital Sanaa for the Red Sea attacks which is being run by the senior IRGC commander responsible for Yemen. According to two former Yemeni army sources, there is a clear presence of IRGC and Hezbollah members in Yemen.

Persons: Samia Nakhoul, Washington, Nasser Kanaani, Houthi, Mohammed Abdulsalam, Abdulaziz al, Sager, Adrienne Watson, Abdulghani, Abdulsalam, Bashar al, Assad, Ali Khamenei, Iryani, Mohammad Ghobari, Angus McDowall, David Clarke Organizations: Reuters, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Hezbollah, Hamas, Foreign, Guards, Gulf Research, White House, Sana'a Center, Strategic Studies, Iranian Guards Locations: Parisa, DUBAI, Yemen, Iran, Gaza, Israel, Tehran, Saudi, Asia, Europe, Gaza ., Lebanese, Iraq, Syria, Iranian, Bab, Sana'a, Sanaa, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Washington, Gulf, Islam, Lebanon, Aden

But the three men topping Israel's hit-list remain at large: Deif, the head of Hamas' military wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades; his second in command, Marwan Issa; and Hamas' leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar. The three leaders are directing Hamas' military operations and led negotiations for a prisoner-hostage swaps, possibly from bunkers beneath Gaza, three Hamas sources say. The objective of the war remains to dismantle Hamas' military and government capabilities, Michael said, which could involve a turbulent period in Gaza after the war. An Israeli military officer, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, said the IDF viewed the elimination of such combat-level commanders as essential to dismantling Hamas' military capabilities. Israel has killed Hamas' leaders in the past, including the group's founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and its former leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantisi, assassinated in a 2004 air strike.

Persons: Ilan Rosenberg, Yoav Gallant, Mohammed Deif, Deen al, Marwan Issa, Yahya Sinwar, Issa, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, Gallant, Sinwar, Michael Eisenstadt, we've, Eisenstadt, Osama Hamdan, Joe Biden's, al, Kobi Michael, Michael said, Michael, Gilad Shalit, Shalit, Gerhard Conrad, Conrad, Al, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Abdel, Aziz, Rantisi, Sheikh Yassin, Hamdan, Dan Williams, Samia Nakhoul, Daniel Flynn Organizations: REUTERS, Israeli, Hamas, Brigades, Qatar, Reuters, Military and Security, Washington Institute for Near East, Israel Defense Forces, Israel, Islamic, Israel's Ministry, Strategic Affairs, IDF, German Intelligence Agency, politburo, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Kibbutz Beeri, Israel, Tel Aviv, Deif, Gaza City, Lebanon, East, U.S, States, al Qaeda, Islamic State, Iran, United States, Iraq, Syria, Palestinian, Israeli, Sinwar, Al Jazeera, Rantissi, Jerusalem

According to three regional sources, Israel related its plans to its neighbours Egypt and Jordan, along with the United Arab Emirates, which normalised ties with Israel in 2020. He declined to offer details when asked whether those plans had been raised with international partners, including Arab states. A U.S. official, who declined to be identified, said Israel had "floated" the buffer zone idea without saying to whom. The regional sources compared the Gaza buffer zone plan to the "security zone" Israel once had in south Lebanon. "The buffer zone could make (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu's forces a target also in the zone," he said.

Persons: Ronen, Israel, Abu Dhabi, Ophir Falk, Benjamin Netanyahu, Lebanon's, it's, Mohammad Dahlan, Benjamin, Netanyahu's, Samia Nakhoul, Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, Jonathan Saul, Dan Williams, Aidan Lewis, Humeyra Pamuk, Steve Holland, Edmund Blair, Daniel Flynn Organizations: REUTERS, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Saudi, Reuters, U.S, Lebanon's Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestine Liberation Organization, PLO, Palestinian Fatah, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Gaza Israel, Egypt, Jordan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, U.S, DUBAI, CAIRO, LONDON, Israel, Riyadh, Arab Turkey, Qatar, Qatari, Turkish, Palestinian, Cairo, Lebanon, PLO, Dubai, London, Jerusalem, Washington

The speech by Hamas' leader in Gaza to thousands of cheering supporters bore the hallmarks of crowd-pleasing hyperbole. In the days after the Oct. 7 attacks, Sinwar was seen by some of the Israeli hostages in the tunnels, freed hostages have said. "DEAD MAN WALKING"Born in the Khan Younis refugee camp, Sinwar, 61, was elected as Hamas' leader in Gaza in 2017. Both Hamas leaders and Israeli officials who know Sinwar agree he is devoted to the militant movement to an extraordinary level. "He told me Hamas is my wife, Hamas is my child.

Persons: Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, Heard, Aqsa, Sinwar, Khan, Yoav Gallant, Michael Koubi, Koubi, Yuval Bitton, Bitton, Stephen Farrell, Jonathan Saul, Samia, Nidal Al, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: Hamas, Deif, Reuters, Shin Bet, Prison, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Israel, Israel's, Hamas, Al, Jerusalem, Qatar, Gaza City, Lebanon, Bitton, London, Samia Nakhoul, Beirut, Mughrabi, Cairo

Israel's response has been a fierce military campaign that has killed more than 14,000 people inside Gaza so far. Israel regards the entire Hamas leadership as terrorists, accusing Haniyeh, Meshaal and others of continuing to "pull the strings of the Hamas terror organisation." The plan, drawn up by the Hamas military council in Gaza, was such a closely guarded secret that some Hamas officials seemed shocked by its timing and scale. During the decade in which Haniyeh was Hamas' top leader in Gaza, Israel accused his leadership team of helping to divert humanitarian aid to the group's military wing. Three senior officials told Reuters that Khamenei told the Hamas leader in that meeting, that Iran would not enter the war having not been told about it in advance.

Persons: Ismail Haniyeh, Haniyeh, Israel, Khaled Meshaal, Yahya Sinwar, Adeeb Ziadeh, Meshaal, Iran's, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Khamenei, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, Yassin, Samia Nakhoul, Stephen Farrell, Edmund Blair Organizations: Palestinian, Gaza, Al, Hamas, Qatari, Qatar University, Reuters, Islamic University, Thomson Locations: Qatar, Gaza, Israel, Turkey, Doha, Iran, Al Jazeera, Meshaal, Muslim Iran, Egypt, Tehran, Iranian, Al, Gaza City, Al Jura, Ashkelon, Dubai

☆ Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh Leads Group's Diplomacy as Gaza War Rages
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

By Stephen Farrell and Samia Nakhoul(Reuters) - Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader based in Qatar, has been the tough-talking face of the Palestinian group's international diplomacy as war has raged back in Gaza where his family home was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in November. Israel regards the entire Hamas leadership as terrorists, accusing Haniyeh, Meshaal and others of continuing to "pull the strings of the Hamas terror organisation." The plan, drawn up by the Hamas military council in Gaza, was such a closely guarded secret that some Hamas officials seemed shocked by its timing and scale. During the decade in which Haniyeh was Hamas' top leader in Gaza, Israel accused his leadership team of helping to divert humanitarian aid to the group's military wing. Three senior officials told Reuters that Khamenei told the Hamas leader in that meeting, that Iran would not enter the war having not been told about it in advance.

Persons: Stephen Farrell, Samia Nakhoul, Ismail Haniyeh, Haniyeh, Israel, Khaled Meshaal, Yahya Sinwar, Adeeb Ziadeh, Meshaal, Iran's, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Khamenei, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, Yassin, Edmund Blair Organizations: Palestinian, Gaza, Al, Hamas, Qatari, Qatar University, Reuters, Islamic University Locations: Qatar, Gaza, Turkey, Doha, Iran, Israel, Al Jazeera, Meshaal, Muslim Iran, Egypt, Tehran, Iranian, Al, Gaza City, Al Jura, Ashkelon, Dubai

☆ Another Israel-Hamas prisoner swap will take place this month - Palestinian official
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Samia Nakhoul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, Nov 22 (Reuters) - The Israel-Hamas deal agreed on Wednesday for the freeing of 50 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners will be repeated later this month, a Palestinian official told Reuters. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that would mean a total release of 100 of the around 240 people Hamas seized during its Oct. 7 killing spree in southern Israel. In return, Israel would free a total of 300 Palestinian prisoners in the two exchanges - a number corresponding to a list of women and teenaged male inmates it published on Wednesday as candidates. They would need four or five days to organise it will involve 50 Israeli (hostages) in return for 150 Palestinian (prisoners)," the Palestinian official said. He said the prisoners would include elderly, women and children and the conditions will be the same.

Persons: Israel, Samia Nakhoul, Andrew Heavens Organizations: Reuters, Palestinian, Hamas, Thomson Locations: DUBAI, Israel, Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the weekend that the PA in its current form should not take charge of Gaza. In the wake of Netanyahu's comments, Israeli officials have insisted that Israel does not intend to occupy the Gaza Strip. Dahlan has the backing of the influential United Arab Emirates to lead a post-war administration in Gaza, according to diplomats and Arab officials. So far, the U.S. and its allies have not seen any clear roadmap from Israel for its exit strategy from Gaza beyond the declared aim of eradicating Hamas, diplomats say. Not since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 has there been such widespread concern about military action raging across the Middle East, according to Arab officials and diplomats.

Persons: Israel tightens, Gaza's, Mahmoud Abbas, Fatah, Benjamin Netanyahu, Mohammed Dahlan, Israel, Dahlan, Joe Biden, Netanyahu, Gaza –, –, Abu Mohammad, We're, Biden, Jonathan Panikoff, government's, Biden's, Antony Blinken, Blinken, Abbas –, Abbas, Mohammad Shtayyeh, Abu Dhabi, Marwan Barghouti, Washington, Joost R, John Kirby, Nidal al, Humeyra Pamuk, Matt Spetalnick, Andrew Mills, James Mackenzie, Crispian Balmer, John Irish, Aidan Lewis, Alexander Cornwell, Samia Nakhoul, Daniel Flynn Organizations: Palestinian, Hamas, Israel Defense Forces, REUTERS, Authority, Palestinian Authority, West Bank, United, Israel, U.S, policymaking, Reuters, Atlantic Council, Gaza, Western, Israel ., UAE, North Africa, Crisis, House, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Israel, Gaza Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestinian, U.S, United States, Washington, Hamas, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, America, Egypt, Jordan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Tokyo, Oslo, European, technocrats, United Nations, Middle East, Iran, GAZA, Doha, Jerusalem, Paris, Cairo, Dubai

☆ More questions than answers as Israeli PM Netanyahu seeks security control over Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( James Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a press conference with defense minister Yoav Gallant and Cabinet minister Benny Gantz in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv , Israel , 28 October 2023. The challenges that are likely to confront any reshaped Israeli security mechanism have already been clearly demonstrated during more than 18 months of increasingly violent clashes in the nearby occupied West Bank. The PA used to run both Gaza and the West Bank, but was forcibly ousted from Gaza by Hamas in 2007, and now only governs sections of the West Bank, which is dotted with ever-growing Jewish settlements. Dermer said that while Israeli troops had physically entered West Bank towns, they had essentially been absent from Gaza for the last 17 years. Jordan's former deputy prime minister, Marwan Muasher, told Reuters he had seen no convincing initiative on how Gaza might be governed once the conflict ended.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Benny Gantz, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Israel, Netanyahu, Gantz, Ron Dermer, Antony Blinken, It's, Ariel Sharon, Mohammad Shtayyeh, Dermer, Jordan's, Marwan Muasher, Muasher, James Mackenzie, John Geddie, Crispian Balmer, Daniel Wallis Organizations: Rights, U.S, NBC, United Nations, Israel, West Bank, Palestinian Authority, Palestinian, Reuters, Carnegie Endowment, International Peace, Thomson Locations: Tel Aviv, Israel, ABIR, Gaza, Palestinian, United States, Tokyo, West, Oslo, Nablus, Jenin, West Bank, Washington, Dubai

Israel has deployed overwhelming aerial firepower since the Oct. 7 attack, which saw Hamas gunmen burst out of the Gaza Strip, killing 1,400 Israelis and taking 239 hostages. Israeli airstrikes hit a crowded refugee camp in the Gaza on Tuesday, killing at least 50 Palestinians and a Hamas commander. In the 2008 Gaza war, Hamas rockets had a maximum range of 40 km (25 miles), but that had risen to 230 km by the 2021 conflict, he added. The plan offers Israel peace treaties with full diplomatic ties in exchange for a sovereign Palestinian state. Muasher, the former Jordanian minister at Carnegie, said Hamas' attack had ended any possibility that Middle Eastern stability could be reached without engaging with Palestinians.

Persons: U.N, Marwan Al, Benjamin Netanyahu, Danny Danon, It's, Ziadeh, they're, Ali Baraka, Baraka, Osama Hamdan, Netanyahu, Jordan, –, Matt Spetalnick, Simon Lewis, Steve Holland, Phil Stewart, James Mackenzie, Samia Nakhoul, Angus McDowall, Pravin Organizations: Reuters, Carnegie Endowment, International Peace, HAMAS, Qatar University, Washington, Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Authority, U.S, Bank, United Arab, Carnegie, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Israel, Qatar, Jerusalem, Washington, Israeli, United States, Hamas, Beirut, Lebanon, Iran, Palestinian, Oslo, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, U.S, Saudi Arabia, Jordanian

☆ Iran's Quandary: How to Stay Out of Israel's War on Hamas
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-22 | by ( Oct. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +9 min

Iran, a longtime backer of Gaza's rulers Hamas, finds itself in a quandary as it tries to manage the spiralling crisis, according to nine Iranian officials with direct knowledge of the thinking within the clerical establishment. "We are in contact with our friends Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah," Vahid Jalalzadeh, the head of parliament's National Security Committee said on Wednesday, according to Iranian state media. Iran's foreign ministry didn't respond to a request for comment about the country's response to the unfolding crisis, while Israeli military authorities declined to comment. Khamenei, the supreme leader, has denied Iran was involved in the attack, though he praised the damage inflicted on Israel. "Iran's nuanced position emphasizes the delicate balance it must maintain between regional interests and internal stability," said the former senior Iranian official.

Persons: Parisa Hafezi, Jonathan Saul, Arshad Mohammed DUBAI, wouldn't, Avi Melamed, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Israel, Israel didn't, Khamenei, Joe Biden, Biden, John Kirby, Washington, Jon Alterman, Jerusalem, Arshad Mohammed, Laila Bassam, Samia Nakhoul, Michael Georgy, Pravin Char Organizations: Reuters, Islamic, parliament's National Security, Israel, Wednesday, Hezbollah, U.S, Germany's Ramstein Air Base, House, State Department, CSIS, Swiss, Iran, Iranian Locations: Iran, Israel, Gaza, Tehran, U.S, Lebanon, Yemen, United States, Islamic Republic, Iranian, Lebanese, Syria, Iraq, Washington, America, GAZA, LEBANON, China, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Beirut, Paritosh, New York

[1/4] A formation of Israeli tanks is positioned near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel October 21, 2023. Iran, a longtime backer of Gaza's rulers Hamas, finds itself in a quandary as it tries to manage the spiralling crisis, according to nine Iranian officials with direct knowledge of the thinking within the clerical establishment. "We are in contact with our friends Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah," Vahid Jalalzadeh, the head of parliament's National Security Committee said on Wednesday, according to Iranian state media. Iran's foreign ministry didn't respond to a request for comment about the country's response to the unfolding crisis, while Israeli military authorities declined to comment. "Iran's nuanced position emphasizes the delicate balance it must maintain between regional interests and internal stability," said the former senior Iranian official.

Persons: Violeta Santos Moura, wouldn't, Avi Melamed, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Israel, Israel didn't, Khamenei, Joe Biden, Biden, John Kirby, Washington, Jon Alterman, Parisa Hafezi, Jonathan Saul, Jerusalem, Arshad Mohammed, Laila Bassam, Samia Nakhoul, Michael Georgy, Pravin Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Islamic, parliament's National Security, Israel, Wednesday, Hezbollah, U.S, Germany's Ramstein Air Base, House, State Department, CSIS, Swiss, Iran, Iranian, Thomson Locations: Israel's, Gaza, Israel, Rights DUBAI, Iran, Tehran, U.S, Lebanon, Yemen, United States, Islamic Republic, Iranian, Lebanese, Syria, Iraq, Washington, America, GAZA, LEBANON, China, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Beirut, Paritosh, New York

[1/4] A view shows smoke in the Gaza Strip as seen from Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel October 18, 2023. Israeli officials have said that they don't have a clear idea for what a post-war future might look like, though. Trips to Israel by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin this past week had stressed the need to focus on the post-war plan for Gaza, the source added. Israel's coming offensive is set to be much bigger than past Gaza operations that Israeli officials had previously referred to as "mowing the grass", degrading Hamas's military capabilities but not eliminating it. "Whatever worst-case scenario you have, it will be worse," a second regional source said about the potential for the conflict to spread beyond Gaza.

Persons: Amir Cohen, Bidens, Joe Biden's, Antony Blinken, Lloyd Austin, Israel hasn't, Israel doesn't, Biden, Aaron David Miller, Biden's, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Tzachi Hanegbi, Israel's, They're, Hossein Amir, Abdollahian, Blinken, Washington, Miller, Humeyra Pamuk, Jonathan Saul, Andrew Mills, Crispian Balmer, Pravin Organizations: REUTERS, U.S, Carnegie Endowment, International, National Security Council, National Security, Communist, Hamas, Brigades, Hezbollah, Iran, Iranian, Palestinian Authority, U.S . Middle, West Bank, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Israel, DUBAI, WASHINGTON, Washington, Israeli, New York, U.S, Vietnam, Iran, Hamas, Israel's, East Jerusalem, Jerusalem

☆ Reuters' Issam Abdallah Covered World's Biggest Events With Bravery and Insight
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-14 | by ( Oct. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +6 min

That passion was the same for a papal visit or covering an earthquake," said Reuters Europe Video Editor Eleanor Biles. While reporting in some of the world's most dangerous places, Abdallah had a reputation among his peers as careful and cautious in difficult environments. Lebanon's army has said Israel fired the missile that killed Abdallah, and another Reuters reporter at the scene said he was killed by projectiles fired from the direction of Israel. Abdallah first began providing Reuters with footage some 16 years ago, working as a freelancer while completing his university studies. Abdallah carried a video camera and a camera for still photographs wherever he went, zipping around Beirut on his motorcycle.

Persons: Issam Abdallah, Abdallah, Eleanor Biles, Ellen Francis, Israel, Abu Aun, Labib Nasir, Nasir, Liliane, Samia Nakhoul, Angus McDowall, Daniel Wallis Organizations: Islamic, Reuters, Washington Post, Journalists, ITN, Lebanese, North, Reuters Global Foreign Locations: BEIRUT, Lebanon, Islamic State, Syria, Iraq, Russian, Ukraine, Beirut, Europe, Khiyam, Israel, Lebanese, zipping, East, North Africa, Turkey

☆ Obituary: Reuters' Issam Abdallah covered the world's biggest events with bravery and insight
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

That passion was the same for a papal visit or covering an earthquake," said Reuters Europe Video Editor Eleanor Biles. While reporting in some of the world's most dangerous places, Abdallah had a reputation among his peers as careful and cautious in difficult environments. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLebanon's army has said Israel fired the missile that killed Abdallah, and another Reuters reporter at the scene said he was killed by projectiles fired from the direction of Israel. Abdallah first began providing Reuters with footage some 16 years ago, working as a freelancer while completing his university studies. Abdallah carried a video camera and a camera for still photographs wherever he went, zipping around Beirut on his motorcycle.

Persons: Issam Abdallah, Abdallah, Eleanor Biles, Ellen Francis, Zhanna Lishchynska, Ueslei Marcelino, Israel, Abu Aun, Labib Nasir, Nasir, Liliane, Samia Nakhoul, Angus McDowall, Daniel Wallis Organizations: Islamic, Reuters, Washington Post, REUTERS, Journalists, ITN, Lebanese, North, Reuters Global Foreign, Thomson Locations: BEIRUT, Lebanon, Islamic State, Syria, Iraq, Russian, Ukraine, Beirut, Europe, Khiyam, Zaporizhzhya, Israel, Lebanese, zipping, East, North Africa, Turkey

☆ How Hamas secretly built a 'mini-army' to fight Israel
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Samia Nakhoul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

[1/2] Palestinian Hamas militants take part in a rally marking the 31st anniversary of Hamas' founding, in Gaza City December 16, 2018. In the 2008 Gaza war, Hamas rockets had a maximum range of 40 km (25 miles), but that had risen to 230 km by the 2021 conflict, he added. For Iran, Hamas has helped it realise a years-long ambition to encircle Israel with legions of paramilitaries, including other Palestinian factions and Lebanon's Hezbollah, according to Western officials. After Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, Hamas began importing rockets, explosives and other equipment from Iran, Western intelligence sources have said. Iran seized the opportunity to co-opt Hamas in 1992 when Israel deported about 400 Hamas leaders to Lebanon, the source close to Hamas said.

Persons: Abu Mustafa, Ali Baraka, Baraka, Israel, Gazans, Ismail Haniyeh, SHEIKH YASSIN, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, It's, Jonathan Saul, John O'Donnell, William Maclean, Pravin Organizations: REUTERS, Israel, Hamas, Britain's Royal United Services Institute, Jewish Institute for National Security of, European Union, Al Jazeera, U.S . State Department, Front, Liberation of Palestine, General Command, Brotherhood, Hezbollah, U.S, Thomson Locations: Gaza City, DUBAI, Gaza, Iran, Israel, Iranian, Lebanon, Jihad, U.S, United States, Canada, Egypt, Japan, Qatar, Tehran, Syria, Sudan, Iraq, Yemen, Islam, Damascus, Lebanese, Al Aqsa, Britain, London

[1/3] The remains of a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel lies on a road where it fell in Ashkelon, southern Israel, October 10. An Israeli security source said Deif was directly involved in the planning and operational aspects of the attack. Deif said Hamas had urged the international community to put an end to the "crimes of the occupation", but Israel had stepped up its provocation. He also said Hamas had in the past asked Israel for a humanitarian deal to release Palestinian prisoners, but this was rejected. He was arrested by Israel in 1989 and spent about 16 months in detention, a Hamas source said.

Persons: Amir Cohen, Mohammed Deif, Al, Deif, Israel, Hamas's Al, Yehya Sinwar, Israel's, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ali Baraka, we've, Mohammad Masri, William Maclean, David Clarke Organizations: REUTERS, Brigades, Lebanese, Hezbollah, Tehran, Hamas, West Bank, Islamic University, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Israel, Ashkelon, Al Aqsa, DUBAI, Jerusalem's Al Aqsa, Jerusalem, Iran, Tehran, Washington, Khan

☆ Hamas deployed specialised units to attack Israel, says source
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Oct 9 (Reuters) - Palestinian Islamist group Hamas deployed a force of about 1,000 fighters to stage the most devastating attack on Israel in decades, organising them into specialised units, a source close to the group told Reuters. Some of the operations or training by the units were caught on videos released by Hamas and its armed wing the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades. Videos released by Hamas showed the unit, with badges carrying the name Air Force Falcon Squadron, in what appeared to be training for the assault. Videos issued by Hamas showed the fighters breaching the security fences, with the dim light and low sun suggesting it was at around the time as the rocket barrage. Hamas released a video showing what it described as drones called Zouari, saying they were the ones used to pave the way for the infiltration.

Persons: Deen al, paragliders, Samia Nakhoul, William Maclean, Edmund Blair Organizations: Hamas, Reuters, Brigades, AIRBORNE UNIT, Air Force Falcon Squadron, COMMANDO, UNIT, Thomson Locations: Israel, Israeli, Gaza, Dubai

There is no security in the whole region as long as Palestinians are left outside of the equation." The Hamas attack launched from Gaza follows months of rising violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, with stepped-up Israeli raids, Palestinian street attacks and assaults by Jewish settlers on Palestinian villages. "Some (Arab states) unfortunately started imagining that Israel could be the gateway for America to defend their security." "I would say for certain Hamas, terrorist groups like Hamas, will not derail any such outcome. Tehran called Saturday's attack an act of self-defence by Palestinians.

Persons: Ammar Awad, Israel, Ismail Haniyeh, Benjamin Netanyahu, Peacemaking, Laura Blumenfeld, Osama Hamdan, Netanyahu, Ali Baraka, Richard LeBaron, IRAN'S, Joe Biden's, Yahya Rahim Safavi, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Dennis Ross, Samia Nakhoul, Nidal El Mughrabi, Laila Bassam, Matt Spetalnick, Edmund Blair Organizations: REUTERS, Saudi, Israel Saudi, Hamas, Iran, Israel, Al, West Bank, Reuters, Johns Hopkins School, International Studies, U.S . Middle, Atlantic Council, Islamic, Palestinian, Analysts, Washington Institute for Near, U.S ., Thomson Locations: Gaza, Sderot, Israel, DUBAI, GAZA, WASHINGTON, Saudi Arabia, Washington, Riyadh, Tehran, Iran, Al Jazeera, Lebanese, U.S, East, Lebanon, America, Kippur, Egypt, U.S . Middle East, Saudi, Israeli, normalisation, Islamic Jihad, Palestine, Jerusalem, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Yemeni, Dubai, Beirut

An Israeli security source acknowledged Israel's security services were duped by Hamas. As a consequence, the source close to Hamas said, a crucial part of the plan was to avoid leaks. When the day came, the operation was divided into four parts, the Hamas source said, describing the various elements. The final part involved moving hostages to Gaza, mostly achieved early in the attack, the source close to Hamas said. the Israeli security source said.

Persons: Israel, Nir, Osama Hamdan, wasn't, Mahmoud Abbas, Yahya Al, Yaakov Amidror, Benjamin Netanyahu, Amidror, Samia Nakhoul, Jonathan Saul, William Maclean, Edmund Blair Organizations: Hamas, Reuters, Israeli Defence Forces, RAN, Israel, West Bank, Jihad, Fatah, National Security Council, Jerusalem Institute for Strategy, Security, Thomson Locations: Palestinian, Israel, Egypt, Syria, Gaza, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Re'im, Dubai, London

There is no security in the whole region as long as Palestinians are left outside of the equation." The Hamas attack launched from Gaza follows months of rising violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, with stepped-up Israeli raids, Palestinian street attacks and assaults by Jewish settlers on Palestinian villages. "I would say for certain Hamas, terrorist groups like Hamas, will not derail any such outcome. Tehran called Saturday's attack an act of self-defence by Palestinians. Dennis Ross, a former Middle East negotiator who is now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in Washington, said of Saturday's attack: "This is all about preventing the U.S.-Saudi-Israel breakthrough."

Persons: Ammar Awad, Israel, Ismail Haniyeh, Benjamin Netanyahu, Peacemaking, Osama Hamdan, Netanyahu, Ali Baraka, Richard LeBaron, IRAN'S, Joe Biden's, Yahya Rahim Safavi, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Dennis Ross, Samia Nakhoul, Nidal El Mughrabi, Laila Bassam, Matt Spetalnick, Edmund Blair Organizations: REUTERS, Saudi, Israel Saudi, Hamas, Iran, Israel, Al, West Bank, Reuters, U.S . Middle, Atlantic Council, Islamic, Palestinian, Analysts, Washington Institute for Near, U.S ., Thomson Locations: Gaza, Sderot, Israel, DUBAI, GAZA, WASHINGTON, Saudi Arabia, Washington, Riyadh, Tehran, Iran, Al Jazeera, Lebanese, U.S, Lebanon, America, Kippur, Egypt, U.S . Middle East, Saudi, Israeli, normalisation, Islamic Jihad, Palestine, Jerusalem, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Yemeni, Dubai, Beirut

☆ Analysis-In Surprise Attack, Hamas Strikes Israel and Regional Security Realignment
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-07 | by ( Oct. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +7 min

"Some (Arab states) unfortunately started imagining that Israel could be the gateway for America to defend their security." In the years since 1973, Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel and several other Arab states have also since normalised ties, including some Gulf Arab states next to Saudi Arabia. Netanyahu has previously said the Palestinians should not be allowed to veto any new Israeli peace deals with Arab states. Tehran called Saturday's attack an act of self-defence by Palestinians. Dennis Ross, a former Middle East negotiator who is now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in Washington, said of Saturday's attack: "This is all about preventing the U.S.-Saudi-Israel breakthrough."

Persons: Samia Nakhoul, Nidal, Matt Spetalnick, Laila Bassam, Israel, Ismail Haniyeh, Benjamin Netanyahu, Peacemaking, Osama Hamdan, Netanyahu, Ali Baraka, Richard LeBaron, IRAN'S, Joe Biden's, Yahya Rahim Safavi, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Dennis Ross, Nidal El Mughrabi, Edmund Blair Organizations: Hamas, Iran, Israel, Saudi, Al, West Bank, Reuters, U.S . Middle, Atlantic Council, Islamic, Palestinian, Analysts, Washington Institute for Near, U.S . Locations: Laila Bassam DUBAI, GAZA, WASHINGTON, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Washington, Riyadh, Tehran, Iran, Gaza, Al Jazeera, Lebanese, U.S, Lebanon, America, Kippur, Egypt, U.S . Middle East, Saudi, Israeli, normalisation, Islamic Jihad, Palestine, Jerusalem, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Yemeni, Dubai, Beirut

Search resuls for: "Samia Nakhoul"

25 mentions found