Hamas - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

Israeli troops storm back into eastern Khan Younis

ISRAELI troops fought their way back into an eastern section of Khan Younis in a surprise raid, residents said, sending people who had returned to abandoned homes in the ruins of the southern Gaza Strip's main city fleeing once more. Elsewhere in Khan Younis, scores more bodies were recovered from what Palestinian authorities said were mass graves on the site of the city's main hospital, abandoned by Israeli troops. Further south there were fresh air strikes on Rafah, the last refuge where more than half of the enclave's 2.3 million people have sought shelter. Israel abruptly pulled most of its ground troops…

Apr

2024

By RAMI AMICHAY

Thousands of Israelis join anti-government protests

WORLD

THOUSANDS of Israeli demonstrators took to the streets to call for new elections and demand more action from the government to bring the hostages held in Gaza home, in the latest round of protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The protests have continued as the war in Gaza moves through its seventh month and amid growing anger over the government's approach to the 133 Israeli hostages still held by the Islamist movement Hamas. Surveys indicate that most Israelis blame Netanyahu for the security failures that led to the devastating attack by Hamas fighters on communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7. Israel's…

Apr

2024

By MOHAMMAD SALEM

Gazans live on memories of past Eid festivals as war ruins special day

WORLD

PALESTINIANS visited the graves of loved ones killed in the Gaza war and prayed beside the wreckage of a mosque and in shattered streets as the devastating conflict cast a pall over the Eid al-Fitr holiday. Millions of Muslims around the world are observing Eid, marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, with festivities, feasts and family gatherings. But few in Gaza can take solace from this special time for Muslims. After six months of war, their focus is on surviving Israeli air strikes, shelling, a ground offensive and a humanitarian crisis. Amany Mansour and her mother stood at…

Apr

2024

By NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI and AHMED MOHAMED HASSAN

Hamas says Gaza truce talks still deadlocked despite reports of progress

WORLD

A Hamas official said that no progress had been made at a new round of talks in Cairo on a ceasefire in the Gaza war after the Egyptian hosts said headway had been achieved on the agenda. Israel and Hamas sent teams to Egypt on Sunday after the arrival on Saturday of CIA Director William Burns, whose presence underlined rising U.S. pressure for a deal that would free Israeli hostages held in Gaza and get aid to Palestinian civilians. Qatari representatives also attended. "There is no change in the position of the occupation (Israel) and therefore, there is nothing new in the…

Mar

2024

By STEPHANIE VAN DEN BERG and NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI

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

WORLD

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 MAAYAN LUBELL

As Israel’s politicians squabble, some soldiers voice their anger

WORLD

Standing in front of a tank on the edge of the Gaza Strip, an Israeli general interrupted his speech on the war against Hamas to deliver a televised rebuke to Israel's political leaders. Brigadier General Dan Goldfus urged politicians "on all sides" to reject extremism and unite, avoiding a return to the status quo before the outbreak of the conflict in October - when political divisions and months of protests had left Israel deeply polarized. "You must be worthy of us. You must be worthy of those fighters who have lost their lives," Goldfus said in his March 13 briefing, broadcast on…

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.…

Mar

2024

By SAMIA NAKHOUL

Hamas presents ceasefire proposal detailing exchange of hostages, prisoners

WORLD

HAMAS has presented a Gaza ceasefire proposal to mediators and the U.S. that includes the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for freedom for Palestinian prisoners, 100 of whom are serving life sentences, according to a proposal seen by Reuters. Hamas said the initial release of Israelis would include women, children, elderly and ill hostages in return for the release of 700-1,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, according to the proposal. The release of Israeli "female recruits" is included. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Thursday a new Gaza truce proposal presented by Hamas to mediators was still…

Mar

2024

By The African Mirror

South Africa asks World Court for more measures against Israel

NEWS

SOUTH Africa has asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to order additional emergency measures against Israel, which it says is breaching the measures already in place, the U.N.'s top court said. In its application, South Africa warned that Palestinians in Gaza were facing starvation and asked the court to order that all parties cease hostilities and release all hostages and detainees. In a statement issued Wednesday the South African presidency warned that the people of Gaza cannot wait. "The threat of all-out famine has now materialised. The court needs to act now to stop the imminent tragedy by immediately and effectively…

Mar

2024

By JEFF MASON

Kamala Harris calls out Israel over ‘catastrophe’ in Gaza

WORLD

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris bluntly called out Israel for not doing enough to ease a "humanitarian catastrophe" in Gaza as the Biden administration faces increasing pressure to rein in its close ally while it wages war with Hamas militants. Harris, speaking in front of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, where state troopers beat U.S. civil rights marchers nearly six decades ago, called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to accept a deal to release hostages in return for a 6-week cessation of hostilities. But she directed the bulk of her comments at Israel in…