DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ An Ohio-class submarine, possibly equipped with ballistic missiles, has arrived in the Mediterranean
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

CENTCOM on Sunday confirmed an Ohio-class submarine has traveled to the Mediterranean Sea. Ohio-class submarines can be equipped with advanced ballistic or Tomahawk missiles. AdvertisementAdvertisementAn Ohio-class submarine, a type of vessel which can be equipped with advanced ballistic or Tomahawk cruise missiles, has arrived in the Mediterranean as the US continues to bolster its defensive posture amid the Israel-Hamas war. Israel news outlet Ynet reported the submarine newly deployed in the region is the largest of the 14 ballistic submarines controlled by the US Navy and comes equipped with ballistic munitions. AdvertisementAdvertisementLast month, the Pentagon dispatched two US Navy carrier strike groups to the eastern Mediterranean — the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group and the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group.

Persons: —, CENTCOM, Anthony Blinken, Mahmoud Abbas, Dwight D, Gerald R Organizations: Sunday, Red Seas, Service, Department of Defense, . Central Command, US Navy, State, Pentagon, Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, Ford Carrier Strike Locations: Ohio, . Ohio, Suez, Egypt, Red, Israel, East, West, Central Asia, Jordan, Cyprus, Lebanon, Qatar, Gaza, Iran

GAZA, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Having rebuffed calls for a ceasefire, Israel was set to come under sustained pressure on Monday to avoid civilian casualties during its assault on Gaza, while a U.S. diplomatic blitz in the region sought to reduce risks of the conflict escalating. But after Blinken repeated U.S. concerns that a ceasefire could aid Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled that out unless hostages held by Hamas were released. "We demand that you stop them from committing these crimes immediately," Abbas told Blinken, urging an "immediate ceasefire" from Israel. "Stop in the name of God," he said, calling for humanitarian aid and help for the injured to ease the "very grave" situation in Gaza. Instead, the U.S. wants localized pauses in fighting to allow in humanitarian aid and for people to leave Gaza.

Persons: Antony Blinken, Blinken, Mahmoud Abbas, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, WAFA, we're, Jonathan Conricus, Conricus, William Burns, Burns, Lloyd Austin, Yoav Gallant, Austin, Kamala Harris, King Abdullah, Mohammed Shia, Al Sudani, Jonathan Ernst, Saeed al, Abbas, Israel, Mohammed al, Pope Francis, Nidal al, Ali Sawafta, Simon Lewis, Dan Williams, Costas Pitas, David Lawder, Lincoln, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: Sunday, West Bank, Palestinian, Israeli, Hamas, Paltel, CNN, U.S, CIA, Israel, New York Times, Times, Reuters, . Defense, Pentagon, U.S . Central Command, Baghdad International, REUTERS, Israel Defense Forces, United Arab Emirates, Thomson Locations: GAZA, Israel, Gaza, U.S, Ankara, Turkey, Gaza City, Palestinian, Jordanian, Ohio, Iran, Baghdad, Iraq, LEBANON, Lebanon, Kiryat Shmona, Qatar, Saudi, Egypt, Jordan, Amman, Ramallah, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, Washington

☆ Blinken says progress made on Middle East trip despite few tangible results
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Jennifer Hansler | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Ankara, Turkey CNN —Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday asserted he made progress on the goals he set for a whirlwind Middle East trip as he departed with few tangible results to show for a flurry of meetings with leaders about the Israel-Hamas war. Meanwhile, the civilian death toll in the war-torn Gaza Strip is mounting, and concerns about regional conflagration loom large. There have been no further releases of any hostages held by Hamas since Israel escalated its offensive in Gaza. But we also believe that a pause could help advance that proposition as well,” Blinken said Monday. Throughout the trip, Blinken repeatedly spoke of the need to discuss the “day of” but also the “day after” for the region and Gaza.

Persons: Antony Blinken, Jordan, we’ve, ” Blinken, “, Majed Al, Ansari, –, we’re, Blinken, Benjamin Netanyahu, Joe Biden, Netanyahu “, “ We’ve, Saudi Arabia –, ”, Mahmoud Abbas, Ayman Safadi Organizations: Turkey CNN —, West Bank, Tokyo, CNN, Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, State Department, United Arab, Palestine Liberation Organization, Palestinian Authority, Palestinian, West Bank . Locations: Ankara, Turkey, Israel, Gaza, Iraq, Qatari, Qatar, Washington, Amman, Jordan, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordanian

Israeli airstrikes hit two refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday, killing scores of people, health officials said. The strikes came as the U.S. keeps urging Israel to take a humanitarian pause from its relentless bombardment of Gaza and rising civilian deaths. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Ramallah in the West Bank for a previously unannounced meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Political Cartoons View All 1234 ImagesCurrently:— Gaza has lost telecom contact again, while Israel’s military announces it has surrounded Gaza City. — A U.N. official says the average Palestinian in Gaza is living on two pieces of bread a day.

Persons: Israel, Antony Blinken, Mahmoud Abbas, Blinken, Mohammed Shia, Benjamin Netanyahu, Joe Biden, evacuee Sara El, Masry, –, JORDAN, Jordan, King Abdullah II, ”, Michael Hertzog, ” Hertzog, OBAMA, Barack Obama, “, he’s, ” Obama, I’ve, Alp Toker, Juliette Touma, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ismail Haniyeh, IRNA, Khamenei, Haniyeh, JERUSALEM —, Jacob Lew, Biden, ” Lew, Isaac Herzog, Lew, Antony Blinken’s Organizations: West Bank, Iraqi, Hamas, Ministry, WHO, GAZA, SYDNEY AIRPORT SYDNEY, Nine, Sydney Airport, Australian, United Arab Emirates, Mideast, Central Command, FIRE, NATIONS, Inter, Agency, UNRWA, United Nations, Jordanian, Twitter, ISRAEL, CBS, JERUSALEM, Paltel, Associated Press, Hezbollah, U.S, Israel, Embassy, . Riot Locations: Gaza, Ramallah, Baghdad, Jordan, Israel, United States, Egypt, Qatar, Gaza City, —, U.S, Berlin, israel, Sydney, Rafah, DUBAI, United Arab, Suez, ., Ohio, America's, Iran, UN, Palestinian Territory, GAZA AMMAN, Jordanian, GAZA, Palestinian, IRAN, TEHRAN, Lebanon, GAZA JERUSALEM, Beit Hanoun, TURKEY, ISTANBUL –, Ankara, Turkish

☆ Israel-Hamas war live updates: Blinken in Turkey for Gaza talks; Israel says it's taken control of Hamas outpost
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Ruxandra Iordache | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) shakes hands with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas during their meeting in Jordan's capital Amman on October 13, 2023. Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Kingdom, said Sunday that the United States has not taken a hard enough stance in support of Palestinians. But Blinken and Abbas still diverged when it came to demands for an immediate ceasefire. Blinken has expressed support for "humanitarian pauses" of the violence in order to ease aid deliveries and hostage rescues. "Unfortunately, we haven't heard that and that's why we did not come up with a joint statement," Zomlot said.

Persons: Antony Blinken, Mahmud Abbas, Husam Zomlot, Zomlot, Mahmoud Abbas, Abbas, Blinken, — Rebecca Picciotto Organizations: CBS, West Bank, U.S Locations: Jordan's, Amman, Palestinian, United Kingdom, United States, U.S, Ramallah, Palestine, Israel

RAMALLAH, West Bank—Secretary of State Antony Blinken worked to assure Palestinian leaders that the U.S. is committed to helping Palestinian civilians and was met with a demand for an immediate cease-fire in Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip. Blinken’s unannounced Sunday visit to the West Bank, to meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas , came hours after an Israeli airstrike hit a refugee camp in Gaza, killing at least 38 people according to the Hamas-controlled health authority. Israeli officials didn’t immediately comment on the explosion at the Al Maghazi refugee camp.

Persons: Antony Blinken, Mahmoud Abbas, didn’t Organizations: West Bank —, West Bank, Palestinian, Al Locations: RAMALLAH, West, Gaza, Al Maghazi

The three proposed tranches of semiautomatic and automatic rifles are valued at $34 million and are being ordered directly from American gunmakers, but they require State Department approval and congressional notification. U.S. officials attributed that to the encouragement of settlers by the far-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and statements by some Israeli officials supporting the annexation of the West Bank. Since Oct. 7, more than 150 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank — nearly equal to the number in all of 2022, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Settler intimidation of Palestinians, leading to their displacement from strategic areas of the West Bank, makes any prospect of that much more difficult. State Department officials who oversee weapons sales have discussed potential concerns with Israeli counterparts.

Persons: Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr, ”, Antony J, Blinken, Mahmoud Abbas, “, Jessica Lewis Organizations: State Department, West Bank, Department, New York Times, The State Department, West Bank —, Palestinian Health Ministry, Palestinian Authority, The Times, Israeli National Police Locations: United States, U.S, American, Gaza, Tel Aviv, Ramallah, Sunday, Israel, I.N.P

Aside from pleasantries, neither man spoke as they greeted each other in front of cameras and the meeting ended without any public comment. It was not immediately clear if the lack of words indicated the meeting had gone poorly. Blinken had visited Israel and met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday before decamping to Jordan for meetings with senior Arab officials on Saturday. U.S. officials believe that Netanyahu may soften his opposition if he can be convinced that it is in Israel’s strategic interests to ease the plight of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Blinken and other U.S. officials are offering a vague outline that it might include a combination of a revitalized Palestinian Authority along with international organizations and potentially a peacekeeping force.

Persons: Antony Blinken, Mahmoud Abbas, Blinken, Matthew Miller, Abbas, Miller, –, Benjamin Netanyahu, decamping, Netanyahu, United Arab Emirates –, ”, Israel, Ayman al Organizations: West Bank, —, State Department, Authority, Israeli, U.S, United, United Arab Emirates Locations: RAMALLAH, West, Israel, Gaza, Ramallah, Jordan, Washington, Berlin, Amman –, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab, U.S, Jordanian, Palestinian

A spokesman for the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said Israeli forces had struck the camp overnight, killing at least 47 people. In a separate attack, 21 Palestinians from one family, including women and children, were killed in strikes overnight, the health ministry said. 'NO WORDS'"We demand that you stop them from committing these crimes immediately," Abbas told Blinken, urging an "immediate ceasefire" from Israel. The Palestinian health ministry said three Palestinians were killed in the incident, which it described as clashes with Israeli forces. Another Palestinian was killed by Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Hebron, the ministry said.

Persons: Gazans, Mahmoud Abbas, Antony Blinken, Jonathan, Saeed al, Abbas, Blinken, WAFA, Israel, Pope Francis, Matthew Miller, Mohammed Salem, Benjamin Netanyahu, Crescent, Gaza's Tal Al, David Satterfield, Cindy McCain, Mc Cain, Abu Dis, Nidal al, Ali Sawafta, Simon Lewis, Dan Williams, Yusri Mohamed, Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, Clauda Tanos, Michael Perry, Ingrid Melander, William Mallard, Alexander Smith, Conor Humphries Organizations: U.S, West Bank, Israel, U.S . State Department, Gaza, Reuters, United Arab Emirates, Hamas, REUTERS, Palestinian, Food, Thomson Locations: GAZA, RAMALLAH, Egypt, Ramallah, Israel, Rafah, Gaza, U.S, Qatar, Saudi, Jordan, Amman, United States, Palestinian, Al, Quds, Gaza's, Gaza City, Jerusalem, Hebron, Ismailia, Cairo

☆ Israel's Netanyahu says no Gaza ceasefire until hostages returned
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz (not pictured) in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv , Israel , 28 October 2023. ABIR SULTAN POOL/Pool via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsJERUSALEM, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected growing calls for a ceasefire in Gaza until all of the more than 240 hostages captured by militant Palestinian group Hamas during its Oct. 7 attacks are returned. "There will be no ceasefire without the return of the hostages. This should be completely removed from the lexicon," Netanyahu told crews at the Ramon air force base in southern Israel, reiterating the government's long-standing position. Blinken, in the region for a second time in less than a month as part of U.S. efforts to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spreading, has rejected ceasefire calls.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Benny Gantz, Netanyahu, Antony Blinken, Israel, Mahmoud Abbas, Blinken, Maytaal Angel, Alexander Smith, Giles Elgood Organizations: REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Sunday, Hamas, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, U.S, West Bank, Blinken, Thomson Locations: Tel Aviv, Israel, ABIR, Gaza, Palestinian, Qatar, Saudi, Egypt, Jordan, U.S, Amman , Jordan

☆ Blinken makes unannounced visit to Iraq
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( Jennifer Hansler | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Baghdad, Iraq CNN —Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Sunday – a significant stop on his whirlwind trip through the region. Blinken met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Baghdad for more than an hour. In the wake of Hamas’ October 7 attack, Iranian-backed proxy groups have scaled up attacks aimed at US troops in Iraq and Syria. Ahead of his stop in Iraq, Blinken on Sunday also met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah amid escalating Israeli settler violence in the West Bank. Before Blinken’s visit to Iraq, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was the highest-ranking Biden administration official to travel to the country, when he made an unannounced trip to Baghdad in March.

Persons: Antony Blinken, Blinken, Mohammed Shia, “, ” Blinken, Matthew Miller, ” Miller, Mahmoud Abbas, Blinken’s, Defense Lloyd Austin, Biden, CNN’s Jack Forrest, Abby Baggini, Oren Liebermann Organizations: Iraq CNN, Sunday, Iraqi, Embassy, US, State Department, Palestinian, West Bank, Defense Locations: Baghdad, Iraq, Sudani, Israel, Iranian, Syria, Gaza, Ramallah, Jordan, Cyprus, Turkey

☆ Blinken visits West Bank to meet Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( Simon Lewis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Blinken told Abbas that the Palestinian Authority should play a central role in what comes next in the Gaza Strip, a senior State Department official told Reuters. Abbas told Blinken there should be an immediate ceasefire and that aid should be allowed into Gaza, according to spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh. Abbas' Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has seen its popularity shrivel amid allegations of graft, incompetence and widely hated security cooperation arrangements with Israel. The meeting was Blinken’s second with Abbas since the conflict began, but the first to take place in the West Bank. Blinken and Abbas "discussed efforts to restore calm and stability in the West Bank, including the need to stop extremist violence against Palestinians and hold those accountable responsible," Miller said.

Persons: Antony Blinken, General Hussein al, Mahmoud Abbas, Blinken, Israel, Abbas, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Matthew Miller, Miller, Jordan, Simon Lewis, Ali Sawafta, Hugh Lawson, Alexander Smith Organizations: PLO, Hamas, West Bank, Sunday, Palestinian Authority, State Department, Reuters, Palestinian, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Israel, Palestinian, Ramallah, RAMALLAH, Gaza, United States, Egypt

☆ Israel's Netanyahu Says No Gaza Ceasefire Until Hostages Returned
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected growing calls for a ceasefire in Gaza until all of the more than 240 hostages captured by militant Palestinian group Hamas during its Oct. 7 attacks are returned. "There will be no ceasefire without the return of the hostages. This should be completely removed from the lexicon," Netanyahu told crews at the Ramon air force base in southern Israel, reiterating the government's long-standing position. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, for his part, demanded an immediate ceasefire earlier when he met Blinken during the U.S. secretary's unannounced visit to the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Blinken, in the region for a second time in less than a month as part of U.S. efforts to prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spreading, has rejected ceasefire calls.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Antony Blinken, Israel, Mahmoud Abbas, Blinken, Maytaal Angel, Alexander Smith, Giles Elgood Organizations: Sunday, Hamas, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, U.S, West Bank, Blinken Locations: JERUSALEM, Gaza, Palestinian, Israel, Qatar, Saudi, Egypt, Jordan, U.S, Amman , Jordan

☆ Blinken Meets With Palestinian and Iraqi Leaders in Bid to Contain Gaza War
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( Adam Entous | More About Adam Entous | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Mr. Blinken, who has been in the Middle East since Friday, early in the day held an unannounced meeting in the Israeli-occupied West Bank with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. During his visit to the West Bank city of Ramallah earlier in the day, Mr. Blinken spoke to Mr. Abbas about U.S. efforts to get Israeli leaders to “minimize civilian harm” in Gaza, a senior State Department official said. The Health Ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip says more than 9,700 people in the territory have been killed in the Israeli campaign. Mr. Abbas called for “an immediate halt” to the war in Gaza and an end to Israeli attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, which he described as “no less horrific,” according to Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency. An explosion overnight in a densely populated residential area in the central Gaza Strip destroyed several buildings and appeared to have killed and wounded many people, photos and videos from the scene showed.

Persons: Antony J, Blinken, Mahmoud Abbas, ” Mr, Abbas Organizations: West Bank, Sunday, Palestinian, State Department, Health Ministry Locations: Iraq, United States, Gaza, Israel, Iran, Baghdad, Ramallah

☆ Blinken says Palestinian voices key to Gaza future
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( Simon Lewis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Blinken passed through Israeli checkpoints to meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah, and then traveled on to Iraq. Palestinian views, voices and aspirations need to be “at the center” of conversations about the future of Gaza, Blinken told reporters in Baghdad. Blinken had some "good ideas" about the future he said, but "now is the time to ....stop the murder of civilians"Abbas told Blinken there should be an immediate ceasefire and that aid should be allowed into Gaza, according to spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh. While Hamas tightly controls besieged Gaza, the West Bank is a complex patchwork of hillside cities, Israeli settlements and army checkpoints that split Palestinian communities. Blinken credited Abbas for tamping down tension in the West Bank and told him he had pressed Israeli officials for accountability, the senior State Department official said.

Persons: Antony Blinken, Blinken, Mahmoud Abbas, Israel, Abbas, WAFA, Mohammed Shia, Al Sudani, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Matthew Miller, Miller, Jordan, Simon Lewis, Ali Sawafta, Doina Chiacu, Ted Hesson, Hugh Lawson, Alexander Smith, Heather Timmons Organizations: U.S, Palestinian Authority, Palestinian, West Bank, Hamas, CBS, United Nations, senior State Department, Thomson Locations: RAMALLAH, BAGHDAD, Gaza, Ramallah, Iraq, Israel, Baghdad, Iran, United States, East Jerusalem, Palestinian, U.S, United Kingdom, Egypt, Washington

[1/2] Palestinians gather at the site of Israeli strikes on houses in Bureij in the central Gaza Strip,November 2, 2023. The White House said on Wednesday there were "no plans or intentions" to put U.S. troops on the ground in Gaza. As the debate gains momentum, Gaza health authorities say more than 9,000 people have been killed in the 25-mile-long strip of land, home to 2.3 million Palestinians. Any entity that seeks to exert authority in post-war Gaza would also have to contend with the impression among Palestinians that it is beholden to Israel. Israel expects a long war but says it has no interest in re-occupying Gaza.

Persons: Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa, Antony Blinken, Mahmoud Abbas, Aaron David Miller, Miller, Jordan, Blinken, We're, Benjamin Netanyahu, Washington’s, Joe Biden, U.N, Antonio Guterres, Dennis Ross, Ross, Israel, Matt Spetalnick, Steve Holland, Humeyra Pamuk, Simon Lewis, Michelle Nichols, Heather Timmons, Grant McCool Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Hamas, United Nations, Palestinian Authority, West Bank, U.S . Middle, U.S, HAITI U.S, Israeli, . Security, Washington Institute for Near East, United Arab, Carnegie Endowment, International Peace, Thomson Locations: Bureij, Gaza, Washington, Palestinian, Israel, U.S, IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN, HAITI, Iraq, Afghanistan, United Nations, Lebanon, Haiti, Kenya, Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco

☆ Israel cuts Gaza funds from Palestinian tax transfer
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Steven Scheer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Following a debate over whether to make the transfer as Israel battles Hamas militants in Gaza, the Israeli cabinet said it would also withhold money to offset stipends the PA pays to Palestinian militants and their families. There was no immediate comment from the PA, which in the past has refused to accept trimmed tax transfers. The PA is estimated to spend some 30% of its budget in Gaza, where it also pays for medicine and social assistance programs. Together with aid from foreign donors, the tax funds make up the bulk of the cash-strapped PA's public revenues and also help pay for civil servant salaries and other services in the West Bank. In 2019, the Palestinians rejected the tax money several times after Israel cut the sum over the PA's support to the families of jailed or slain Palestinian militants.

Persons: Bezalel Smotrich, Amir Cohen, Israel, Yoav Gallant, Mahmoud Abbas, Steven Scheer, Emily Rose, Rami Ayyub, Maytaal Angel, William Maclean, Sandra Maler Organizations: Finance, Tel, REUTERS, Rights, Palestinian Authority, West Bank, Palestinian, Bank, Hamas, Thomson Locations: Tel Aviv, Petah Tikva, Israel, Gaza

The Hamas-run government said airstrikes killed and wounded many people, but the exact toll was not yet known. The toll from Tuesday's strikes was also unknown, though the director of a nearby hospital said hundreds were killed or wounded. Dozens of people could be seen entering the Rafah crossing — the only one currently operating — and ambulances carrying wounded Palestinians exited on the Egyptian side. Egypt had earlier said that more than 80 Palestinians — out of many thousands wounded in the war — would also be brought in for treatment. Over 1,400 people have died on the Israeli side, mainly civilians killed during Hamas’ initial attack, also an unprecedented figure.

Persons: Israel, Ayman al, Israel “, Wael Abu Omar, Mohamed Zaqout, Paltel, ” Alp Toker, Cross, ”, Jessica Moussan, Antony Blinken, Mahmoud Abbas, Daniel Hagari, “, ___ Magdy, Wafaa Shurafa, Amy Teibel Organizations: Hamas, Wednesday, Palestinian, Authority, Health Ministry, Associated Press, POWER, COMMUNICATIONS, Committee, ICRC, Palestinian Health Ministry, Palestinian Authority, West Bank, U.S Locations: RAFAH, Gaza, Gaza City, Jordan, Israel, U.S, Egypt, GAZA, Rafah, Palestinian, Turkish, Gaza’s, Syria, Iran, Eilat, Red Sea, Yemen, Cairo, Deir al, Jerusalem, israel

☆ Biden Found Even Modest Israel-Palestinian Peace Steps Impossible
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Michael Crowley | More About Michael Crowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Even as President Biden presses Israel to define clearly the goals of its war against Hamas in Gaza, he is turning his eyes to a much larger endgame: the ever-elusive hope for a lasting peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. The question is how hard Mr. Biden intends to work for that outcome. Biden administration officials also doubted whether Israel’s increasingly hawkish leadership was interested in any plausible deal. Unlike his recent predecessors, Mr. Biden did not appoint a special envoy for Middle East peace or task his secretary of state with trying to forge an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. “It was not a tier-one policy objective to solve this conflict,” said David Makovsky, a former peace process negotiator in the Obama administration.

Persons: Biden, Israel, —, Israel’s, Mahmoud Abbas, ”, David Makovsky, Obama, “ Organizations: Trump, Palestinian Locations: Gaza, Israel, Palestinian, China, Ukraine, United States, Middle, Saudi Arabia

☆ The Lost Promise of the Oslo Accords - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Serge Schmemann | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +7 min

As a result, the Oslo peace process he had begun, named after the city where it was secretly hatched, had become irreversible. In fits and starts, the Oslo process ground to a halt, and the Israeli “peace camp” that had championed it disintegrated. We must live side by side in peace, equality and cooperation.” Mr. Savir and Mr. Qurei emerged close friends from the negotiations. (Mr. Savir died last year; Mr. Qurei in February). In the 1996 electoral campaign following Mr. Rabin’s death, Mr. Netanyahu attacked Shimon Peres, Mr. Rabin’s partner and often guide in the Oslo negotiations, for “subcontracting” Israeli security to the Palestinians.

Persons: Yitzhak Rabin, Rabin, Yasir Arafat, ”, Rabin’s, Benjamin Netanyahu, dispossession, Uri Savir, Ahmed Qurei, “, we’ve, Qurei, Abu Ala, ” Mr, Savir, Arafat, Netanyahu, Shimon Peres, subcontracting, Ariel Sharon’s, Mahmoud Abbas Organizations: Mr, Palestine Liberation Organization, Palestinian Authority, West Bank Locations: Oslo, Israel, Lebanon, Gaza, Palestinian, Jerusalem, Ramallah, United States

1967 - War and Israeli military occupationIsrael captured the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war. Seizing the angry mood, the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood created an armed Palestinian branch, Hamas, with its power base in Gaza. [1/3]Smoke rises after Israeli strikes on the seaport of Gaza City, in Gaza, October 10, 2023. Israel stopped tens of thousands of Palestinian workers from entering, cutting off an important source of income. Conflict cycleGaza's economy has suffered repeatedly in the cycle of conflict, attack and retaliation between Israel and Palestinian militant groups.

Persons: Napoleon, Samson, Alexander the Great, shutdowns, Yasser Arafat's, Arafat, Israel, Mohammed Salem, Israel evacuates, Mahmoud Abbas, Abdel Fattah al, Stephen Farrell, Nidal, Rosalba O'Brien, Peter Graff Organizations: Crusaders, Ottomans, United Nations, UNRWA, West Bank, Hamas, Brotherhood, Fatah, Oslo Accords, Palestinian Authority, REUTERS, Islamic, Palestinian, Gaza International, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Asia, Africa, Gaza City, Islam, Ottoman Empire, British, Palestine, Israel, Sinai, Ashkelon, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Israeli, Gaza's Jabalya, Oslo, Palestinian, Jericho, Authority, United States

Over the last century Gaza passed from British to Egyptian to Israeli military rule. 1950s & 1960s - Egyptian military ruleEgypt held the Gaza Strip for two decades under a military governor, letting Palestinians work and study in Egypt. 1967 - War and Israeli military occupationIsrael captured the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war. Hamas formedTwenty years after the 1967 war, Palestinians launched their first intifada, or uprising, after an Israeli military truck crashed into a vehicle carrying Palestinian workers near Gaza's Jabalia refugee camps, killing four. [1/4]A view shows the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Deir Al-Balah, in central Gaza Strip, November 6.

Persons: Napoleon, Samson, Alexander the Great, shutdowns, Yasser Arafat's, Arafat, Israel, Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa, Israel evacuates, Mahmoud Abbas, Stephen Farrell, Nidal, Rosalba O'Brien, Peter Graff, Alistair Bell Organizations: Crusaders, Ottomans, United Nations, UNRWA, West Bank, Hamas, Brotherhood, Fatah, Oslo Accords, Palestinian Authority, REUTERS, Islamic, Palestinian, Gaza International, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Asia, Africa, Gaza City, Islam, Ottoman Empire, British, Palestine, Israel, Sinai, Ashkelon, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Israeli, Gaza's, Oslo, Palestinian, Jericho, Authority, Deir Al, United States

☆ What is Hamas, the Palestinian group at war with Israel?
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Oct 30 (Reuters) - The Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise attack from Gaza into Israel on Oct. 7, triggering an Israel-Hamas war that marked the most serious escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in many years. It is designated as a terrorist group by Israel, the United States, European Union, Canada, Egypt and Japan. Hamas's 1988 founding charter called for the destruction of Israel, although Hamas leaders have at times offered a long-term truce, or Hudna in Arabic, with Israel in return for a viable Palestinian state on all Palestinian territory occupied by Israel in the 1967 war. Since then, there have been numerous rounds of conflict with Israel, often involving Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel and Israeli airstrikes and bombardment of Gaza. Although a Sunni Muslim group, Hamas is part of a regional alliance comprising Iran, Syria and the Shi'ite Islamist group Hezbollah in Lebanon, which all broadly oppose U.S. policy in the Middle East and Israel.

Persons: Suhaib, Fatah, Mahmoud Abbas, Abbas, Deen al, Mohammed Deif, Tom Perry, Stephen Farrell, Nick Macfie Organizations: Palestinian, Hamas, Movement, Muslim Brotherhood, West Bank, Palestine Liberation Organization, PLO, REUTERS, WHO, THE, Brigades, Hezbollah, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Israel, Egypt, United States, European Union, Canada, Japan, Oslo, Gaza City, Suhaib Salem, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, East, Qatar

However, it does not appear as though any major ground offensive aimed at seizing and holding significant amounts of the territory is yet underway. Hamas’ initial surprise attacks on Israel earlier in the month killed more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians. In its Saturday statement, the UN added that a ceasefire could facilitate the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza. Saudi Arabia “condemns and denounces any ground incursions” by Israeli forces into Gaza due to the impact on civilians, the country’s Foreign Ministry wrote in a Saturday statement. Citing the UN resolution calling for a humanitarian truce, Abbas said Israel responded “with more bombing and destruction.”This story is developing and is being updated.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Daniel Hagari, ” Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Netanyahu, Nic Robertson, Mohammed Saber, Hagari, ” Gallant, ”, Gonen, Romi Gonen, Yahya Al, Saudi Arabia “, Abdel Fattah Al, Sisi, Mahmoud Abbas, Abbas Organizations: Jerusalem CNN, Hamas, Israel Defense Forces, United Nations, UN, Saturday, Israel’s, Netanyahu Saturday, CNN, Palestinian Ministry of Health, UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, Communications, IDF, Foreign, Palestinian, West Bank Locations: Gaza, Jerusalem, Israel, Hamas, Sderot, Ramallah, Egypt, United States, Saudi Arabia, Saudi, Ramallah

☆ Israel presses ground campaign against Hamas in 'second stage' of Gaza war
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( Emily Rose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

"This is the second stage of the war whose goals are clear - to destroy Hamas' governing and military capabilities and to bring the hostages home," Netanyahu told reporters. Israel has tightened its blockade and bombarded Gaza for three weeks since the Islamist group Hamas' devastating Oct. 7 attack. [1/8]Smoke rises over Gaza, as seen from Israel's border with Gaza, in southern Israel October 28, 2023. TARGETING MAZE OF HAMAS TUNNELSIsrael sent troops and tanks into Gaza on Friday night, focusing on infrastructure including the extensive tunnel network built by Hamas, the Israeli military said. Qatar-mediated negotiations between Israel and Hamas continued but at a much slower pace than before Friday's escalation in Gaza, a source briefed on the talks said.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Gaza's, Netanyahu, Joe Biden's, Mahmoud Abbas, “, Amir Cohen, Israel, Antonio Guterres, Elon Musk, Al, Yoav Gallant, James Mackenzie, Nidal, Emily Rose, Riham Alkousaa, Omar Abdel, Razek, Ari Rabinovitch, Adam Makary, Ali Swafta, John Davison, Michelle Nichols, Matt Spetalnick, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: Israeli, Saturday, U.S, Hamas, Palestinian, West Bank, REUTERS, . Security, Billionaire, Brigades, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Tel Aviv, Israel, Iran, Qatar, Hamas, United States, Europe, East, Asia

Search resuls for: "MAHMOUD ABBAS"

25 mentions found