Did Israel drop white phosphorus bombs on Gaza after Hamas attack? Video surfaces

As the Israeli strike on Hamas targets in Gaza continued in retaliation to Hamas’ surprise attack, a video showing the alleged use of white phosphorus bombs on densely populated areas in Gaza have emerged. The use of white phosphorus bombs on civilians is considered a war crime and was last used by Russia in Bakhmut of Ukraine.

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Israel-Hamas War Live: American oil giant to stop production in Mediterranean Sea off Israel

American oil giant Chevron Corp. said Monday that at Israel’s instruction it had stopped production at its offshore Tamar natural gas rig in the Mediterranean Sea off Israel.

In a statement announcing the action, the company declined to discuss any security issues and didn’t say why Israel ordered it.

The Tamar field, which went online in 2013, is believed to hold more than 300 billion cubic meters of gas. Chevron and the Israeli-American company Isramco each own around a third of Tamar, with the remainder held by smaller firms.

Israel-Hamas War Live: Xi reaction to Hamas attack exposes China’s limits as Peacemaker

Chinese leader Xi Jinping spent the first part of this year seeking to play global peacemaker, proposing a cease-fire in Ukraine and helping long-time rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran reach a diplomatic truce.

Israel-Hamas War Live: Airlines halt flights in and out of Israel after a massive attack

Major airlines have suspended flights in and out of Israel after the nation declared war following a massive attack by Hamas.

Israel hit more than 1,000 targets in Gaza and Palestinian militants continued firing barrages of rockets, setting off air raid sirens in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Video posted online appeared to show a plume of smoke near a terminal at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport.

Israel-Hamas War Live: ‘No justification for terrorism’, US and allies offer ‘united support’ to Israel. Read here

Several global leaders including UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, US President Joe Biden, France President Macron, Chancellor Scholz of Germany, and Italy’s PM Meloni on Tuesday issued a joint statement in support of Israel that has been attacked by the Hamas group, killing over 1,000 people so far.

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Israel strikes and seals off Gaza after incursion by Hamas, which vows to execute hostages

Israel increased airstrikes on the Gaza Strip and sealed it off from food, fuel and other supplies Monday in retaliation for a bloody incursion by Hamas militants, as the war’s death toll rose to nearly 1,600 on both sides. Hamas also escalated the conflict, pledging to kill captured Israelis if attacks targeted civilians without warnings.

260 dead at Hamas music festival: Israeli survivors share recounts horror, ‘worst place you could possibly’

Under the night sky in southern Israel near the Gaza border, a massive gathering of young men and women enjoyed an escape from reality. Thousands of party-goers, both old and new friends, came together in a vast field to dance with abandon, carried away by the pulsating bass-heavy beats, AP reported.

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UK’s Labour Party says it will invest for growth, as violence in Israel hangs over its conference

Britain’s main opposition Labour Party said Monday that it will focus on economic growth rather than higher taxes to “rebuild” the country after more than a decade of Conservative rule.

Labour economy spokeswoman Rachel Reeves told delegates at the party’s annual conference that “Labour will tax fairly and spend wisely.”

Israel-Hamas war: PM Netanyahu threatens, ‘Hamas will pay the price, and remember…’

Amid the war like situation in the Middle East, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a strong warning to Hamas said, ‘they will pay the price and will remember the same for a long time’. He added further “though Israel did not start this war” but “will finish it”.

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For years, Israelis trusted the army to defend and inform them. Now many feel abandoned

It was, they thought, an ironclad social contract. Israeli citizens would serve in the military and live along enemy borders. In exchange, the army would defend them.

That contract was shattered Saturday when hundreds of Hamas militants breached Israel’s defenses from the Gaza Strip, pouring in by air, land and sea on a rampage that would leave hundreds dead. The infiltration caught Israel’s storied high-tech army completely unaware and stunned a country that prides itself on military prowess.

Tourists alter plans as Israel-Palestine war escalates

With the Israel-Palestine conflict intensifying, tour operators are receiving last-minute rescheduling and cancellation requests from Indian travellers who had plans to visit the area or neighbouring regions during December.

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Hamas attack: From Adani Ports to JPMorgan to FedEx; this is how global companies in Israel have reacted

Global companies have temporarily shut some operations in Israel and have asked employees to work from home following a devastating weekend attack by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

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Israel Air Force continues destruction of Gaza infrastructure

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) reported that Israel Air Force (IAF) aircraft attacked many targets in the Gaza Strip since the morning hours of Monday.

Among other things, aircraft attacked a building used by Hamas in investigations and an operational infrastructure used by Hamas located inside a mosque.

Hundreds of rival protesters hold rallies in US, Europe

Thousands of pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters held vocal but peaceful gatherings Monday, at a historic French plaza and outside Israeli embassies in London and Athens, Greece.

Several thousand people rallied in Paris in support of Israel, marching to the Trocadero Plaza overlooking the Eiffel Tower. The monument was lit up in the colors of the Israeli flag, with a white Star of David in the middle, in a gesture of solidarity announced by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.

At least 11 US citizens have been killed in Israel-Palestine war, says Biden

At least 11 U.S. citizens have been confirmed dead in the surprise Hamas attacks, U.S. President Joe Biden said Monday.

Biden also said the U.S. government believes it is “likely” that Americans are among those currently being held hostage by Hamas militants, while other U.S. citizens are still unaccounted for after the deadly assault.

“My heart goes out to every family impacted by the horrible events of the past few days,” Biden said in a statement. “The pain these families have endured, the enormity of their loss, and the agony of those still awaiting information is unfathomable.”

More than 187,500 displaced in Gaza, says UN office

As retaliatory Israeli airstrikes continue, more than 187,500 people have been displaced in Gaza since the beginning of the conflict, according to a report from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Israeli airstrike in Gaza kills two Palestinian journalists: Report

An Israeli airstrike in Gaza City killed two Palestinian journalists early Tuesday, according to journalists on the scene who survived. The victims’ names and the news outlets they worked for weren’t immediately known. The airstrike targeted an area housing several media offices, survivors said. (AP)

Israel’s Netanyahu says offensive against Hamas will ‘reverberate’ for generations

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Monday that Israel’s fierce offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip has “only started.”

Netanyahu delivered the pronouncement in a nationally televised address as Israel pressed ahead with a third day of heavy airstrikes in Gaza following Hamas’ unprecedented and deadly incursion into Israel.

Pro-Palestinian rally held in New York City

Demonstrators attend a pro-Palestinian rally held across the street from the Consulate General of Israel in New York City, U.S.

Israel-Hamas war impact: Oil prices dip; gold prices surge amid the turmoil

As clashes between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas fueled worries that the conflict could spread beyond Gaza, oil prices edged down slightly on Tuesday after gaining more than 4% in the previous session.

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Israel-Palestine War: ‘Iran, Hezbollah had no role in attack’, says Hamas

The Israeli military on Monday called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists and imposed a complete blockade on the Gaza Strip after the Hamas group launched a deadly rocket attack on Israel that killed over 1,000 people and left hundreds injured.

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Israelis taken hostage were ripped from everyday activities

Yoni Asher last spoke to his wife on Saturday morning, when she called from her mother’s home in southern Israel near the Gaza border. “She told me terrorists had infiltrated the home,” he said. “The phone got disconnected.”

He last saw her later in the day — in a video circulating online. She and their daughters, 3 and 5 years old, were huddled with others on a flatbed in the back of a vehicle. Men with guns ushered them off.

US back as Israel’s unequivocal defender after Hamas attacks

The shock of a Hamas assault has restored the United States to a familiar role as unequivocal backer of Israel, using its leverage not to encourage calm but to shield its ally.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has historically had rocky relations with Democratic presidents such as Joe Biden over the Israeli leader’s opposition to Palestinian sovereignty and engagement with Iran and, most recently, his hard-right government’s overhaul of the judiciary.

Pro-Palestinian letter from Harvard students provokes alumni outrage

Prominent Harvard University alumni on Monday denounced a pro-Palestinian statement from students that blamed Israel for violence engulfing the region and urged the university to take action against the signatories.

The Islamist militant Hamas movement, which controls the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, attacked Israel on Saturday in the worst breach of the country’s defenses since Arab armies waged war in 1973. Israel has responded with air strikes on Gaza.

Israel strikes and seals off Gaza after incursion by Hamas, which vows to execute hostages

Israel increased airstrikes on the Gaza Strip and sealed it off from food, fuel and other supplies Monday in retaliation for a bloody incursion by Hamas militants, as the war’s death toll rose to nearly 1,600 on both sides. Hamas also escalated the conflict, pledging to kill captured Israelis if attacks targeted civilians without warnings.

Do not get involved in Israel crisis, top US general warns Iran

The United States’ top general on Monday warned Iran not to get involved in the crisis in Israel and said he did not want the conflict to the broaden, as Lebanese armed group Hezbollah fired a salvo of rockets onto northern Israel

The White House earlier on Monday said that Iran was complicit even though the United States has no intelligence or evidence that points to Iran’s direct participation in attacks in Israel by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

US warns Hezbollah not to open new front against Israel

Lebanese militant group Hezbollah should not make the “wrong decision” of opening a second front against Israel as it battles attacks by Hamas, a senior US defense official warned Monday.

“We are deeply concerned about Hezbollah making the wrong decision and choosing to open a second front to this conflict,” the official told journalists.

‘All Americans should be horrified’, says Barack Obama

“All Americans should be horrified and outraged by the brazen terrorist attacks on Israel and the slaughter of innocent civilians. We grieve for those who died, pray for the safe return of those who’ve been held hostage, and stand squarely alongside our ally, Israel, as it dismantles Hamas. As we support Israel’s right to defend itself against terror, we must keep striving for a just and lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” Barack Obama wrote on X. 

Hamas threatens to kill captives if Israel strikes civilians

The Islamist militant Hamas movement threatened to execute an Israeli captive every time Israel bombs a Palestinian home without warning, as Israel called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists and imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip, raising fears it planned a ground assault.

The violence, which has claimed more than 1,500 lives, prompted international declarations of support for Israel after a devastating weekend attack by Hamas, and appeals for an end to the fighting and protection of civilians.

Israel-Palestine War: 12 dead, 11 hostages in Thailand

Twelve Thai labourers were killed, eight were wounded and 11 were taken captive, foreign ministry spokeswoman Kanchana Patarachoke said Monday.

Israel didn’t start this war but will finish it: PM Netanyahu

In a stern warning to Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said that “though Israel did not start this war” but “will finish it”.

As part of its retaliation against Hamas, Israel has mobilised 3,00,000 troops. This is the largest mobilisation since the 1973 Yom Kippur War when Israel called up 400,000 reservists, Times of Israel reported.

Foreigners killed, missing or abducted in Hamas attack

Dozens of foreigners have been killed, injured or taken hostage during a surprise attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas that has left over 1,000 people dead, mostly Israelis.

Many of the missing foreigners were at an electronic music festival in the southern Israeli desert, at which scores of revellers were massacred.

US says Americans likely held by Hamas after ‘ISIS-level savagery’

President Joe Biden said Monday that 11 Americans are dead and others are likely being held hostage by the Palestinian militant group Hamas after a surprise attack on Israel using what a US official called “ISIS-level savagery.”

As fears grew that the conflict could turn into a regional conflagration, the White House said there was no intention to put US boots on the ground but warned Iran and other actors not to get involved.