ceasefire - The African Mirror

Mar

2024

By STEPHANIE VAN DEN BERG and NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI

World Court orders Israel to halt Gaza famine; Hamas says ceasefire needed

THERE was no immediate comment from Israel's Foreign Ministry on the World Court ruling. Israel has said it is making efforts to expand access for humanitarian groups to Gaza overland, through airdrops and by ship. Israeli leaders have said Hamas can end the war by surrendering, freeing all hostages it holds in Gaza and handing over for trial those involved in the October 7 attack. The Israeli army said it continued to operate around the Al Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza City after storming it more than a week ago. Its forces had killed around 200 gunmen since the start…

Mar

2024

By NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI

UN Security Council demands ceasefire amid Israeli airstrikes

WORLD

THE United Nations Security Council demanded an immediate ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas as Israeli forces carried out new airstrikes in Gaza and laid siege to two hospitals. After vetoing three earlier draft council resolutions on the war in the Gaza Strip, Israel's main ally, the United States, abstained in the vote following global pressure for a ceasefire to ease fears of famine after nearly six months of war. Hamas welcomed the resolution, which also demanded the unconditional release of all hostages seized by the militant group in its deadly October 7 raid on southern Israel.…

Feb

2024

By JEFF MASON

Biden: Israel agrees to halt military activity over Ramadan, risks losing world support

WORLD

U.S. President Joe Biden said Israel has agreed not to engage in military activities during Ramadan in the Gaza Strip, where it is at war with Hamas militants, and said the Jewish state risked losing support from the rest of the world as Palestinians die in high numbers. Biden, who made his remarks during an appearance on NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers," said Israel had committed to making it possible for Palestinians to evacuate from Rafah in Gaza's south before intensifying its campaign there to destroy Hamas. Biden, whose remarks were recorded on Monday and broadcast on Tuesday, said…

Dec

2023

By NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI, BASSAM MASOUD and DAN WILLIAMS

Hamas leader visits Egypt amid intensive talks on new ceasefire

WORLD

THE leader of Hamas made his first visit to Egypt for more than a month on Wednesday, a rare personal intervention in diplomacy amid what a source described as intensive talks on a new ceasefire to let aid reach Gaza and get hostages freed. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who normally resides in Qatar, typically intervenes in diplomacy publicly only when progress seems likely. He last travelled to Egypt in early November before the announcement of the only agreement on a ceasefire in the war so far, a week-long pause during which more than 100 hostages were released. Islamic Jihad, a…

Dec

2023

By The African Mirror

Sudanese warring parties throw cold water on African mediation gains

NEWS

THE Sudanese army and the rival paramilitary force it has been fighting for eight months have both cast doubt on an announcement by regional mediators that they had committed to a ceasefire and political dialogue. IGAD, a grouping of East African nations, has sought along with the United States and Saudi Arabia to mediate an end to the conflict which has killed more than 12,000 people, displaced more than 6.5 million, and severely hit Sudan's economy. IGAD had said on Sunday that army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Rapid Support Forces leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo had agreed to meet for the…

Dec

2023

By BASSAM MASOUD and NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI

Israel orders more evacuations in Khan Younis after US blocks Gaza ceasefire call

WORLD

ISRAEL ordered residents out of the centre of Gaza's main southern city Khan Younis and pounded the length of the enclave, after the United States wielded its U.N. Security Council veto to shield its ally from a demand for a ceasefire. Since a truce collapsed last week, Israel has expanded its ground assault into the southern half of the Gaza Strip by pushing into Khan Younis. Simultaneously, both sides have reported a surge in fighting in the north. Israel said its campaign was making progress. National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said Israeli forces had killed at least 7,000 Hamas militants so far,…

Nov

2023

By NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI, MOHAMMED SALEM and EMILY ROSE

Islamic Jihad says it frees some hostages as truce talks proceed

WORLD

THE Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement said that it had handed over several civilian hostages as part of an exchange deal with Israel, on the final day of a two-day extension of a truce in the Gaza war. The release was overshadowed by an unconfirmed claim by Hamas, the largest militant group in Gaza, that a family of Israeli hostages, including the youngest hostage, baby Kfir Bibas, had been killed during earlier Israeli bombardment. Israeli officials said they were checking the Hamas report about the Bibas family, a very sensitive issue in Israel where the family is among the most high-profile…

Nov

2023

By BASSAM MASOUD and JANIS LAIZANS

Hamas releases 24 hostages on first day of Gaza truce

WORLD

HAMAS fighters released 24 hostages during the first day of the war's first truce, including Israeli women and children and Thai farm workers, after guns fell silent across the Gaza Strip for the first time in seven weeks. The hostages were transferred out of Gaza and handed over to Egyptian authorities at the Rafah border crossing, accompanied by eight staff members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in a four-car convoy, the ICRC said. Qatar, which acted as a mediator for the truce deal, said 13 Israelis had been released, some with dual nationalities, plus 10 Thais…

Jun

2023

By The African Mirror

Sudanese forces clash in Khartoum after talks break down

NEWS

SUDAN'S warring parties fought in the capital after the collapse of talks to maintain a ceasefire and ease a humanitarian crisis. Residents of Khartoum and Omdurman across the Nile said the army had resumed air strikes and was using more artillery. But said there was no sign the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was retreating from the streets and homes it had occupied, they said. "We are suffering so much from this war. Since this morning there have been sounds of violence. We're living in terror. It is a real nightmare," said Shehab al-Din Abdalrahman, 31, in a southern district of Khartoum.…

Feb

2023

By The African Mirror

Somaliland agree on ceasefire

NEWS

ABDIQANI HASSAN THE administration of Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland said late it had agreed to an unconditional ceasefire, following five days of clashes in the east of the territory that health workers say have killed dozens of people. Heavy fighting broke out between Somaliland forces and militiamen in and around the town of Las Anod, the administrative centre of the Sool region, on Monday after local leaders said they wanted to rejoin federal Somalia.Advertisement · Scroll to continue Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but has not gained widespread international recognition for its status, and has faced opposition from…