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Tag: Middle East conflict

  • Israeli military says ceasefire agreement in Gaza has taken effect

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    A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas for the Gaza Strip came into effect at noon local time, the Israeli military said Friday, adding that troops were withdrawing to agreed-upon deployment lines. The announcement came hours after Israel’s Cabinet approved President Donald Trump’s plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the release of the remaining hostages and of Palestinian prisoners.Tens of thousands of people who had gathered in Wadi Gaza in central Gaza in the morning started walking north after the military’s announcement at noon local time. Beforehand, Palestinians reported heavy shelling in parts of Gaza throughout Friday morning.The Israeli Cabinet’s approval of Trump’s plan marks a key step toward ending a ruinous two-year war that has destabilized the Middle East.A brief statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office early Friday said the Cabinet approved the “outline” of a deal to release the hostages, without mentioning other aspects of the plan that are more controversial.An Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the withdrawal, said the military would control around 50% of Gaza in their new positions.Shelling continues through early hoursAfter the Cabinet approval, Gaza residents reported intensified shelling well into Friday morning.In central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, Mahmoud Sharkawy, one of the many people sheltering there after being displaced from Gaza City, said artillery shelling intensified in the early hours.“The shelling has significantly increased today,” said Sharkawy, adding that low flying military aircraft had been flying over central Gaza.In northern Gaza, two Gaza City residents told The Associated Press that bombing had been ongoing since the early hours, mostly artillery shelling.The managing director of Shifa hospital, Rami Mhanna, said the shelling in southern and northern Gaza City had not stopped following the Israeli Cabinet’s approval of the ceasefire plan.“It is confusing, we have been hearing shelling all night despite the ceasefire news,” said Heba Garoun, who fled her home in eastern Gaza City to another neighborhood in the city after her house was destroyed.Details of the dealA senior Hamas official and lead negotiator made a speech Thursday laying out what he said were the core elements of the ceasefire deal: Israel releasing around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, opening the border crossing with Egypt, allowing aid to flow and Israeli forces withdrawing.Khalil al-Hayya said all women and children held in Israeli jails will also be freed. He did not offer details on the extent of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.Al-Hayya said the Trump administration and mediators had given assurances that the war is over, and that Hamas and other Palestinian factions will now focus on achieving self-determination and establishing a Palestinian state.“We declare today that we have reached an agreement to end the war and the aggression against our people,” Al-Hayya said in a televised speech Thursday evening.To help support and monitor the ceasefire deal, U.S. officials said they would send about 200 troops to Israel as part of a broader, international team. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not authorized for release.

    TEL AVIV, Israel —

    A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas for the Gaza Strip came into effect at noon local time, the Israeli military said Friday, adding that troops were withdrawing to agreed-upon deployment lines. The announcement came hours after Israel’s Cabinet approved President Donald Trump’s plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the release of the remaining hostages and of Palestinian prisoners.

    Tens of thousands of people who had gathered in Wadi Gaza in central Gaza in the morning started walking north after the military’s announcement at noon local time. Beforehand, Palestinians reported heavy shelling in parts of Gaza throughout Friday morning.

    The Israeli Cabinet’s approval of Trump’s plan marks a key step toward ending a ruinous two-year war that has destabilized the Middle East.

    A brief statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office early Friday said the Cabinet approved the “outline” of a deal to release the hostages, without mentioning other aspects of the plan that are more controversial.

    An Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the withdrawal, said the military would control around 50% of Gaza in their new positions.

    Shelling continues through early hours

    After the Cabinet approval, Gaza residents reported intensified shelling well into Friday morning.

    In central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, Mahmoud Sharkawy, one of the many people sheltering there after being displaced from Gaza City, said artillery shelling intensified in the early hours.

    “The shelling has significantly increased today,” said Sharkawy, adding that low flying military aircraft had been flying over central Gaza.

    In northern Gaza, two Gaza City residents told The Associated Press that bombing had been ongoing since the early hours, mostly artillery shelling.

    The managing director of Shifa hospital, Rami Mhanna, said the shelling in southern and northern Gaza City had not stopped following the Israeli Cabinet’s approval of the ceasefire plan.

    “It is confusing, we have been hearing shelling all night despite the ceasefire news,” said Heba Garoun, who fled her home in eastern Gaza City to another neighborhood in the city after her house was destroyed.

    Details of the deal

    A senior Hamas official and lead negotiator made a speech Thursday laying out what he said were the core elements of the ceasefire deal: Israel releasing around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, opening the border crossing with Egypt, allowing aid to flow and Israeli forces withdrawing.

    Khalil al-Hayya said all women and children held in Israeli jails will also be freed. He did not offer details on the extent of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

    Al-Hayya said the Trump administration and mediators had given assurances that the war is over, and that Hamas and other Palestinian factions will now focus on achieving self-determination and establishing a Palestinian state.

    “We declare today that we have reached an agreement to end the war and the aggression against our people,” Al-Hayya said in a televised speech Thursday evening.

    To help support and monitor the ceasefire deal, U.S. officials said they would send about 200 troops to Israel as part of a broader, international team. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not authorized for release.

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  • Israeli strikes kill 14 as some countries move to recognize Palestinian state

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    CAIRO — Israeli strikes killed at least 14 people overnight in Gaza City, health officials said, as Israel ramps up its offensive there and urges Palestinians to leave.

    What You Need To Know

    • Israeli strikes have killed at least 14 people overnight in Gaza City, according to health officials

    • Israel is ramping up its offensive and urging Palestinians to leave

    • The conflict has intensified, with Western countries considering recognizing Palestinian statehood at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly

    • The Israeli military aims to destroy Hamas’ military infrastructure, but no timeline for the offensive has been given

    The strikes come as Western countries are increasingly questioning the intensifying war in Gaza, with some moving to recognize Palestinian statehood at the gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly next week. In a statement Friday, Portugal’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said it will recognize a Palestinian state on Sunday. The Iberian country had previously announced its plans to do so but has now set an official date.

    Portugal is among other Western nations, including the U.K., France, Canada, Australia, Malta, Belgium and Luxembourg, expected to recognize Palestinian statehood in the coming days.

    The latest Israeli operation, which started this week, further escalates a conflict that has roiled the Middle East and likely pushes any ceasefire further out of reach. The Israeli military, which says it wants to “destroy Hamas’ military infrastructure,” hasn’t given a timeline for the offensive, but there were indications it could take months.

    Israeli bombardment over the past 23 months has killed more than 65,000 people in Gaza, destroyed vast areas of the strip, displaced around 90% of the population and caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with experts saying Gaza City is experiencing famine.

    Hospital director’s relatives among the dead

    Dr. Rami Mhanna, the managing director of Shifa Hospital, where some of the bodies were brought, said the dead included six people from the same family after a strike hit their home early Saturday morning. They were relatives of the hospital’s director, Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiya, he said.

    The Palestinian Red Crescent said five other people were killed in another strike close to Shawa Square.

    Israel’s military said it couldn’t comment on the specific strikes without more information, but that it was “operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities” and “takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm.”

    In recent days, Israel has been urging hundreds of thousands of Palestinians sheltering in Gaza City to move south to what it calls a humanitarian zone and opened another corridor south of Gaza City for two days this week to allow more people to evacuate.

    Palestinians have streamed out of the city by car and on foot. But many in the famine-stricken city are unwilling to be uprooted again, too weak to leave or unable to afford the cost of moving.

    Aid groups have warned that forcing thousands of people to evacuate will exacerbate the dire humanitarian crisis. They are appealing for a ceasefire so aid can reach those who need it.

    Families of hostages speak out

    Families of hostages still held by Hamas accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday of condemning their loved ones to death by continuing to fight rather than negotiate an end to the war.

    “The blood of our loved ones is, for him, nothing more than a political tool to cling to power,” they said in a statement read outside Netanyahu’s residence. “As long as there is war, Netanyahu has a government.”

    Forty-eight hostages remain in Gaza, with fewer than half believed to still be alive. Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 others.

    Meanwhile, an Israeli-American held hostage in Gaza for 584 days before being released in May said he will return to Israeli military service next month. Edan Alexander, 21, was kidnapped by Hamas from a base near the Gaza border and was the last living Israeli hostage freed from captivity.

    “We cannot forget them,” he said Friday. “We cannot stop until they are all home.”

    UNICEF trucks robbed

    On Friday, UNICEF said lifesaving therapeutic food meant for thousands of children in Gaza was stolen from four of its trucks. The statement said armed people approached the trucks outside their compound in Gaza City and held the drivers at gunpoint while the food was taken.

    “They were intended to treat malnourished children in Gaza City where famine is declared … it was a life-saving shipment amid the severe restrictions on aid delivery to Gaza City,” said Ammar Ammar, a spokesperson for UNICEF.

    In a statement Friday, Israel’s army blamed Hamas for stealing the food.

    Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid and using it to fund its military activities, without providing evidence. The U.N. says there are mechanisms in place that prevent any significant diversion of aid.

    Gaza’s Health Ministry says the death count in Gaza has surpassed 65,100 since the attack by Hamas that triggered the war. The ministry, part of a Hamas government, does not say how many of the dead were civilians or militants. Its figures are seen as a reliable estimate by the U.N. and many independent experts.

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    Associated Press

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  • Triangle Jewish community reacts to Iran drone strikes on Israel

    Triangle Jewish community reacts to Iran drone strikes on Israel

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    RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — For many in the Triangle’s Jewish community, the news of the drone strikes was even more terrifying given that this happened on their Sabbath when many were unplugged from their phones, and when they got back online, they were inundated with text messages and news – for many, reliving how they felt on October 7, only now the situation is even more uncertain.

    “This has been my fear from the very beginning,” said Rabbi Lucy Dinner from Temple Beth Or Synagogue. “I was afraid that this would happen and now we’ve come to that day.

    Rabbi Dinner already had fears for her community’s safety and the security of Israel on high alert after the Hamas terrorist attack, now Israel is facing retaliation from Iran launching direct attacks.

    ALSO SEE: Iran begins retaliatory attack against Israel

    “Iran is the one who trains Hamas and Hezbollah and the terrorist organizations that have been fueling hate against and terror against Israel for decades,” she said.

    After learning of the drone strikes, she’s been trying to get in touch with those in harm’s way. Dinner says her congregation has students in Israel and many with ties to the country and relatives living there.

    “So we’ve been in constant touch…Our family has with some very close friends who are there now,” she said.

    Dinner also worries about what this will mean for potential war in the region and for the future of both Israelis and Palestinians.

    “Ultimately, our congregation as a whole hopes for a two-state solution, and it feels like we’re further and further from that place,” she said.

    For now, all she can do from across the world is lean on her faith amid fear of the unknown.

    “Not only our prayers at this time that are needed but support for cooler heads that will not escalate in the Middle East and not escalate in our own country that we will foster relationships and bring strength in community,” Dinner said.

    Copyright © 2024 WTVD-TV. All Rights Reserved.

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    Tom George

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  • U.S. stock rally could wobble if tensions spike after Red Sea attacks

    U.S. stock rally could wobble if tensions spike after Red Sea attacks

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    By Krystal Hu and Ira Iosebashvili

    (Reuters) – An attack on an American warship and commercial vessels in the Red Sea on Sunday risks reigniting investor worries about a widening of the war between Israel and Hamas, potentially complicating the outlook for a rally that saw U.S. stocks crest a fresh closing high for the year last week.

    The Pentagon said it was aware of reports regarding attacks on an American warship and commercial vessels in the Red Sea on Sunday, while Yemen’s Houthi group claimed drone and missile attacks on two Israeli vessels in the area.

    Also on Sunday, a U.S. military official told Reuters the United States carried out a self-defense strike in Iraq against an “imminent threat” at a drone staging site.

    The developments risk inflaming fears that the Israel-Hamas war could widen into a broader conflict encompassing the U.S. and regional players like Iran. Such worries flared after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel but subsided in recent weeks.

    Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial, said a widening conflict could push some investors to take profits on the recent rally in stocks. The S&P 500 rose nearly 9% in November on signs of easing inflation and hopes the Federal Reserve is done raising interest rates. The index is up almost 20% on the year after notching a 2023 closing high on Friday at 4594.63.

    “The market is sensitive to any expansion of this conflict,” she said. “I think active managers in any event are more likely to lock in their gains if this is a harbinger of a deeper military conflict that involves the US.”

    Past spikes in geopolitical tensions have made investors head for popular havens such as gold, Treasuries and the U.S. dollar. Signs of an intensifying Middle East conflict could also boost oil prices, which have slumped in recent weeks.

    Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Hermes, said rising tensions in the region could send West Texas Intermediate crude prices up to between $80 and $90 per barrel. Prices on Friday stood at $74.07.

    The developments come as investors eye factors that could sway stocks in coming weeks. A U.S. employment report due on Friday could bolster the case for those arguing that a cooling economy will keep the Fed from raising interest rates further and possibly loosen monetary policy sooner than expected.

    Other potential catalysts include the Fed’s monetary policy meeting on Dec. 12-13, as well as seasonal factors such as tax-loss selling and the so-called Santa Claus rally.

    Orlando said a spike in geopolitical tensions could drop the S&P 500 by “one or two hundred points.”

    “There’s no question this represents an opportunity for investors to take profits,” he said. “However I’m still convinced the index ends the year at 4,600.”

    (Reporting by Krystal Hu and Ira Iosebashvili; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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