9 Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza City ambush in sign that Hamas resistance is still strong

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Israeli soldiers attend the funeral of military commander Lieutenant Colonel Tomer Grinberg at Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem on December 13, 2023. (Reuters)
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Updated 14 December 2023
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9 Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza City ambush in sign that Hamas resistance is still strong

  • Among the nine dead were a colonel, the most senior officer to have been killed in the ground operation, and a lieutenant colonel, a battalion commander
  • Israeli troops are still locked in heavy combat with Palestinian fighters in and around Gaza City, more than six weeks after invading Gaza’s north

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Palestinian militants carried out one of the deadliest single attacks on Israeli soldiers since the Gaza invasion began, killing at least nine in an urban ambush, the military said Wednesday, a sign of the stiff resistance Hamas still poses despite more than two months of devastating bombardment.

The ambush in a dense neighborhood came after repeated recent claims by the Israeli military that it had broken Hamas’ command structure in northern Gaza, encircled remaining pockets of fighters, killed thousands of militants and detained hundreds more.
The tenacious fighting underscores how far Israel appears to be from its aim of destroying Hamas — even after the military unleashed one of the 21st century’s most destructive onslaughts. Israel’s air and ground assault has killed more than 18,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health officials. Gaza City and surrounding towns have been pounded to ruins. Nearly 1.9 million people have been driven from their homes.
The resulting humanitarian crisis has sparked international outrage. The United States has repeatedly called on Israel to take greater measures to spare civilians, even as it has blocked international calls for a cease-fire and rushed military aid to its close ally.
Israeli troops are still locked in heavy combat with Palestinian fighters in and around Gaza City, more than six weeks after invading Gaza’s north following the militants’ Oct. 7 attack.
Clashes raged overnight and into Wednesday in multiple areas, with especially heavy fighting in Shijaiyah, a dense neighborhood that was the scene of a major battle during the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas.
“It’s terrifying. We couldn’t sleep,” Mustafa Abu Taha, a Palestinian agricultural worker who lives in the neighborhood, said by phone. “The situation is getting worse, and we don’t have a safe place to go.”
The ambush took place Tuesday in Shijaiyah, where troops searching a cluster of buildings lost communication with four soldiers who had come under fire, the military said. When the other soldiers launched a rescue operation, they were ambushed with heavy gunfire and explosives.
Among the nine dead were Col. Itzhak Ben Basat, 44, the most senior officer to have been killed in the ground operation, and Lt. Col. Tomer Grinberg, a battalion commander.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was a “very difficult day,” but he rejected international calls for a cease-fire.
“We are continuing until the end, there is no question. I say this even given the great pain and the international pressure. Nothing will stop us, we will continue until the end, until victory, nothing less,” he said in a talk with military commanders.
SUFFERING IN THE SOUTH
Heavy rainfall overnight swamped tent camps in Gaza’s south, where Israel has told people to seek refuge, even as that region has also come under daily bombardment.
In the central city of Deir Al-Balah, the storm brought cold winds and flooded a shelter area behind a hospital, sending torrents of water coursing between the tents. “The situation is catastrophic,” said Ibrahim Arafat, a father of 13 who fled Shijaiyah.
Because of the fighting and Israel’s blockade of Gaza, the health care system and humanitarian aid operations have collapsed in large parts of the territory, and aid workers have warned of starvation and the spread of disease among displaced people.
Israel invaded southern Gaza nearly two weeks ago, and heavy fighting has continued in its first target — the city of Khan Younis. Israeli strikes overnight hit two residential buildings in and around the city, and the dead included three children, two women and an elderly man, according to relatives and hospital records.
A strike Wednesday evening in the southern city Rafah killed 19 people from two families, according to hospital records.
The military rarely comments on individual strikes. Israel says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames the high toll on Hamas because it conceals fighters, tunnels and weapons in residential areas.

Distant war aims
Anger over the war’s toll appears to have brought a surge in support among Palestinians for Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007 and touts itself as resisting Israeli occupation.
A poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found 44 percent of respondents in the occupied West Bank said they supported Hamas, up from just 12 percent in September. In Gaza, the militants enjoyed 42 percent support, up from 38 percent three months ago.
Though Hamas’ backing remains a minority, the poll showed overwhelming rejection of Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, with nearly 90 percent saying he must resign. Many Palestinians view the octogenarian leader’s administration as corrupt, autocratic and ineffective.
The findings signal more difficulties ahead for the American administration’s postwar vision for Gaza and raise questions about Israel’s stated goal of ending Hamas’ military and governing capabilities.
The US wants Abbas’ internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank, to also govern Gaza, which Hamas seized from it in 2007. It also wants to revive the long-defunct peace process to negotiate the creation of a Palestinian state. Netanyahu’s government is firmly opposed to Palestinian statehood.
President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he told Netanyahu that Israel was losing international support because of its “indiscriminate bombing.”
“Israel doesn’t seem to be anywhere near achieving its military objective,” Mairav Zonszein, a senior Israel analyst with the International Crisis Group, wrote on X, pointing to Tuesday’s deadly ambush.
“With Biden already signaling loss of patience, with no signs of a hostage release and Israel’s economy overstretched, and with a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions in Gaza, Israel could find itself in a much worse position the day after, with a lot of losses and no win,” she wrote.
While the Israeli public appears to overwhelmingly support the war against Hamas, that sentiment could change if the death toll among Israeli soldiers continues to rise.
Deaths of soldiers are an emotional topic in Israel, a small country of 9 million people where military service is compulsory for most Jews. Virtually every family knows a relative, friend or co-worker who has lost a family member in war. The names of fallen soldiers are announced at the top of national newscasts.
In Israel, attention is still focused on the atrocities carried out on Oct. 7, when some 1,200 people were killed, mostly civilians, and some 240 people were taken hostage, around half of whom remain in captivity. The military says 115 soldiers have been killed in the ground offensive.
There has been little media coverage or public discussion of the plight of civilians in Gaza, even as international outrage has mounted.
Despite US calls to reduce civilian casualties, the toll has continued to mount at a dizzying rate.
When it released the latest Gaza death toll of 18,600, the Gaza Health Ministry did not specify the number of women and minors, but they have consistently made up around two-thirds of the dead. The toll is likely higher because thousands are believed buried under rubble. The ministry’s count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
 


France condemns deadly 'Israeli fire' near Gaza aid point

Updated 6 sec ago
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France condemns deadly 'Israeli fire' near Gaza aid point

  • The territory of more than two million people is suffering from famine-like conditions after Israel blocked all supplies from early March to the end of May and continues to impose restrictions, according to human rights groups
  • The United Nations and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives

PARIS: France on Tuesday condemned what it called deadly “Israeli fire” against civilians in Gaza, after rescuers accused Israeli forces of killing 21 people as they waited for aid.
“France condemns the Israeli fire that last night hit civilians gathered around an aid distribution center in Gaza, causing several dozen dead and wounded,” the foreign ministry said, appearing to refer to an incident early on Tuesday in central Gaza that the Israeli military says was “under review.”
In a second such incident, a civil defense spokesman also reported Israeli fire killing a further 25 people seeking rations in south Gaza later in the day.
According to figures issued on Tuesday by the health ministry in the Gaza Strip, a territory run by the Hamas Islamist group, at least 516 people have been killed and nearly 3,800 wounded by Israeli fire while seeking rations since late May.
The territory of more than two million people is suffering from famine-like conditions after Israel blocked all supplies from early March to the end of May and continues to impose restrictions, according to human rights groups.
The aid is being distributed by US- and Israeli-backed privately run aid group Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which was brought into the Palestinian territory at the end of May to replace UN agencies.
The United Nations and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.
“France reiterates its full support for United Nations agencies and their humanitarian partners, who have proven their integrity and ability to deliver aid in full respect of humanitarian principles,” the ministry said.
“Humanitarian aid must not be exploited for political or military purposes,” it added.
“France calls on the Israeli government to allow immediate, massive, and unhindered access to humanitarian aid in Gaza.”

 


Algeria prosecution seeks 10 years jail for writer Sansal on appeal

Updated 22 min 9 sec ago
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Algeria prosecution seeks 10 years jail for writer Sansal on appeal

  • The dual Algerian French writer, whose case has been at the heart of a diplomatic row between Paris and Algiers, was sentenced to five years imprisonment on March 27
  • Sansal, 80, was arrested in November at the Algiers airport and has been detained since for undermining Algeria’s territorial integrity

ALGIERS: Algeria’s prosecutor general sought at an appeal hearing on Tuesday 10 years in prison for novelist Boualem Sansal, doubling his current sentence, an AFP journalist in the courtroom reported.

The dual Algerian French writer, whose case has been at the heart of a diplomatic row between Paris and Algiers, was sentenced to five years imprisonment on March 27.

A verdict is expected on July 1.

Sansal, 80, was arrested in November at the Algiers airport and has been detained since for undermining Algeria’s territorial integrity.

This came after he said in an interview with a far-right French media outlet that France unfairly ceded Moroccan territory to Algeria during the 1830-1962 colonial era.

The statement was viewed by Algeria as an affront to its national sovereignty and echoed a long-standing Moroccan claim.

On Tuesday, Sansal appeared before the judge without legal representation after authorities said he wished to defend himself.

“The Algerian Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and conscience,” he told the court during the roughly 20-minute hearing, seemingly in good health. “This makes no sense.”

Defending the remarks he made to French far-right media on Algeria’s borders, he said: “Fortunately, after independence in 1962, the African Union declared that inherited colonial borders are inviolable.”

Also questioned on some of his books, Sansal answered: “We are holding a trial over literature? Where are we headed?“

According to his relatives, Sansal has been undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, and many feared his health would deteriorate in prison.

French President Emmanuel Macron has urged his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune to show “mercy and humanity” toward Sansal.

But Algiers has insisted that the writer has been afforded due process.

His conviction and sentence further frayed ties between Paris and Algiers, already strained by migration issues and Macron’s recognition last year of Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara, which is claimed by the Algeria-backed pro-independence Polisario Front.

Charges against the writer include “undermining national unity,” “insulting state institutions,” “harming the national economy,” and “possessing media and publications threatening the country’s security and stability.”


UAE’s president welcomes Israel-Iran ceasefire

Updated 56 min 2 sec ago
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UAE’s president welcomes Israel-Iran ceasefire

  • In call with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan says he hopes agreement will enhance security, peace across Middle East

LONDON: Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the president of the UAE, welcomed a ceasefire agreement between Iran and Israel during a phone call with his Iranian counterpart on Tuesday.

Sheikh Mohamed told President Masoud Pezeshkian he hoped the agreement would “serve as a foundation for enhancing stability, security and peace across the Middle East,” the Emirates News Agency reported.

Sheikh Mohamed added it was important to “ensure the success of the agreement in a way that benefits all the countries and peoples of the region.”

Pezeshkian gave thanks for the UAE’s position during Israel’s recent airstrikes against Iran.

The ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump came into force on Monday, a day after Iran attacked a US military base in Qatar in retaliation for the American bombing of its nuclear sites.

The UAE on Monday “condemned in the strongest terms” the Iranian attack on the Al-Udeid Air Base, which saw almost all of the missiles intercepted.


Rubio thanks Turkmenistan for letting through Americans from Iran

Updated 43 min 37 sec ago
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Rubio thanks Turkmenistan for letting through Americans from Iran

  • Turkmenistan, one of the world’s most closed and authoritarian countries, initially balked at allowing Americans to cross
  • Rubio, in his call with FM Rashid Meredov, expressed gratitude for Turkmenistan’s cooperation

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday thanked Turkmenistan and promised cooperation with the authoritarian state after it let US citizens cross through as they fled Iran following Israeli strikes.

Turkmenistan, one of the world’s most closed and authoritarian countries, initially balked at allowing Americans to cross but agreed over the weekend following appeals from Washington, officials said.

Rubio, in his call with Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov, “expressed gratitude for Turkmenistan’s cooperation,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.

Rubio said he “looks forward to further partnership with Turkmenistan, including expanding economic and commercial ties,” she said.

Washington has organized evacuation flights for its citizens in Israel, but has limited capacity in Iran due to the lack of diplomatic relations.

Most US citizens in Iran are dual nationals and hundreds have left since Israel launched its military campaign on June 13, another State Department official said.

Around 200 Americans had voiced an interest in going through Turkmenistan, which shares a 1,148-kilometer (713-mile) border with Iran, although so far only “tens” have proceeded through that route, the official said.

“We’re communicating to all of the US citizens... in Iran looking to go to Turkmenistan that that border is open,” the official said on customary condition of anonymity.

With flights unavailable, the vast majority have gone through Azerbaijan, with some also going through Armenia and Turkiye, the official said.

President Donald Trump, who has prioritized cracking down on immigration, earlier this month banned virtually all Iranian citizens and partially restricted nationals of Turkmenistan from entering the United States.

The visa restrictions continue to apply to Iranian nationals who leave even if they are family members of US citizens, the State Department official said.

Trump on Monday announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran but voiced frustration at implementation.


Israel lifts domestic restrictions linked to Iran war

Updated 24 June 2025
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Israel lifts domestic restrictions linked to Iran war

  • Israel’s airport authority also announced that all flights to and from the country would resume
  • The country has been under tight restrictions since the start of the war, with schools closed and non-essential businesses shut

JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said Tuesday it was lifting restrictions on public gatherings, workplaces and schools it imposed during its 12-day war with Iran after a ceasefire took effect.
“All areas of the country will shift to full activity” from 8:00 p.m. (1700 GMT) on Tuesday on the orders of Defense Minister Israel Katz, the military said in a statement.
The guidelines will be effective until Thursday evening when they will be reviewed.
Israel’s airport authority also announced that all flights to and from the country would resume.
According to the transport ministry, between 100,000 and 150,000 Israelis were stranded abroad when Israel closed its airspace after launching a massive bombing campaign against Iran on June 13.
Tens of thousands of them have since been repatriated by air or sea.
The country has been under tight restrictions since the start of the war, with schools closed and non-essential businesses shut.
Israel and Iran both said Tuesday they would abide by a ceasefire deal first announced by US President Donald Trump.
Israel, in announcing it had agreed to Trump’s plan, said it had achieved all its military objectives.
Iran initially stopped short of officially accepting the proposal, but President Masoud Pezeshkian later said that if “the Zionist regime does not violate the ceasefire, Iran will not violate it either.”
Israel hit Iranian military and nuclear facilities as well as key commanders and scientists, prompting waves of retaliatory Iranian missile fire at Israel.
The full extent of the damage in Israel is still not known due to military censorship rules, but at least 50 impacts have been acknowledged nationwide and the official death toll stands at 28.
At least four people died in the southern city of Beersheba on Tuesday in a missile attack launched by Iran shortly before the ceasefire entered force, the emergency services said.