Hamas - The African Mirror

Mar

2024

Israel reported to boycott ceasefire talks in Cairo over Hamas’ rejection of hostage list

ISRAEL boycotted Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo after Hamas rejected its demand for a complete list naming hostages that are still alive, an Israeli newspaper reported. A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo for the talks, billed as a possible final hurdle before an agreement that would halt the fighting for six weeks. But by early evening there was no sign of the Israelis. "There is no Israeli delegation in Cairo," Ynet, the online version of Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, quoted unidentified Israeli officials as saying. "Hamas refuses to provide clear answers and therefore there is no reason to dispatch the Israeli delegation."…

Feb

2024

By SAMIA NAKHOUL, JONATHAN SAUL and HUMEYRA PAMUK

Rafah attack: How Israel plans to hit Hamas and scale back war

WORLD

ISRAEL expects to continue full-scale military operations in Gaza for another six to eight weeks as it prepares to mount a ground invasion of the enclave's southernmost city of Rafah, four officials familiar with the strategy said. Military chiefs believe they can significantly damage Hamas' remaining capabilities in that time, paving the way for a shift to a lower-intensity phase of targeted airstrikes and special forces operations, according to the two Israeli and two regional officials who asked to remain anonymous to speak freely. There is little chance that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government will heed international criticism to call…

Feb

2024

By NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI

Israel bombards Gaza, with biggest functioning hospital under siege

WORLD

GAZA'S largest functioning hospital was under siege in Israel's war with Islamist group Hamas, leaving patients and doctors helpless in the chaos, as warplanes struck Rafah, the last refuge for Palestinians in the enclave, officials said. Israeli forces said on Thursday they had raided the medical complex as footage showed shouting and gunfire in dark corridors in an incursion that raised fresh alarm over the fate of hundreds of patients and medical workers and the many displaced Palestinians who had sought shelter there from the fighting. Israel's military called the raid on Nasser Hospital "precise and limited" and said it was based on information…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

Israel says South Africa serving Hamas in latest bid to World Court

NEWS

SOUTH Africa's latest request to the World Court against a possible offensive by Israel in southern Gaza serves Hamas and is an attempt to stop Israel from defending itself, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said. South Africa on Tuesday asked The International Court of Justice (ICJ) to consider whether Israel's plan to extend its offensive in Gaza into the city of Rafah requires additional emergency measures to protect Palestinians' rights. Israel has said it is planning to expand its ground assault into Rafah, where over a million Palestinians have sought refuge from the offensive that has laid waste to much of the Gaza Strip since…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

Gaza post-war reconstruction estimated at $20 billion: UN trade body

WORLD

GAZA will need a new "Marshall Plan" to recover from the conflict between Israel and Hamas, a U.N. trade body official said, adding that the damage from the conflict so far amounted to around $20 billion. Speaking on the sidelines of a U.N. meeting in Geneva, Richard Kozul-Wright, a director at trade body UNCTAD, said the damage was already four times that endured in Gaza during the seven-week war in 2014. "We are talking about around $20 billion if it stops now," he said. Kozul-Wright said the estimate was based on satellite images and other information and that a more…

Feb

2024

By RAMI AMICHAY

Israeli hostage families fly to The Hague to press ICC to investigate Hamas

WORLD

FAMILIES of Israelis held hostage by Hamas since October 7 urged the International Criminal Court to ensure justice for their loved ones and to help bring them home. "Today is Valentine's day and Ohad, the love of my life, is still being held hostage," freed hostage Raz Ben Ami, whose husband Ohad remains captive in Gaza, said after travelling to The Hague, where the ICC is based. "My love, I hope you can hear me, I am still waiting for you," she said near the ICC's headquarters. Standing in the rain, families and activists waved Israeli flags and chanted "Bring…

Feb

2024

By SAMIA NAKHOUL and ANDREW MILLS

Exclusive: Hamas proposes three-stage ceasefire over 135 days, leading to end of war

WORLD

HAMAS has proposed a ceasefire plan that would quiet the guns in Gaza for four-and-a-half months leading to an end to the war, in response to a proposal sent last week by Qatari and Egyptian mediators and backed by the United States and Israel. According to a draft document seen by Reuters, the Hamas counterproposal envisions three phases lasting 45 days each. The proposal would see militants exchange the remaining Israeli hostages they captured on October 7 for Palestinian prisoners. The reconstruction of Gaza would begin, Israeli forces would withdraw completely, and bodies and remains would be exchanged. U.S. Secretary…

Feb

2024

By MICHELLE NICHOLS

Algeria pushes UN Security Council to demand Gaza ceasefire

NEWS

ALGERIA has drafted a U.N. Security Council resolution to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, a move that the United States - a council veto power - opposes because it says it would only benefit the Palestinian militants. The draft, seen by Reuters on Thursday, also "rejects the forced displacement of the Palestinian civilian population" and again demands all parties comply with international law and calls for full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access into and throughout the entire Gaza Strip. Algeria shared the draft with the 15-member council on Wednesday, diplomats said, after the body met to…

Feb

2024

By NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI and MOHAMMED SALEM

Backs to the fence, Gazans fear Israeli attack on last refuge

WORLD

ISRAELI forces shelled the outskirts of the last refuge on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip, where the displaced population, penned against the border fence in their hundreds of thousands, feared a new assault with nowhere left to flee. More than half of Gaza's 2.3 million residents are now homeless and crammed into Rafah. Tens of thousands more have arrived in recent days, carrying belongings in their arms and pulling children on carts, since Israeli forces last week launched one of the biggest assaults of the war to capture adjacent Khan Younis, the main southern city. If the Israeli…

Jan

2024

By DAN WILLIAMS and GABRIELLE TÉTRAULT-FARBER

Israel accuses 190 UN staff of being ‘hardened’ militants

WORLD

AN Israeli intelligence dossier that prompted a cascade of countries to halt funds for a U.N. Palestinian aid agency includes allegations that some staff took part in abductions and killings during the October 7 raid that sparked the Gaza war. The six-page dossier, seen by Reuters, alleges that some 190 UNRWA employees, including teachers, have doubled as Hamas or Islamic Jihad militants. It has names and pictures for 11 of them. The United Nations has not formally received a copy of the dossier, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Monday. The Palestinians have accused Israel of falsifying information to tarnish UNRWA, which says it has…