The United States on Wednesday vetoed a U.N. Security Council push to call for a ceasefire in Gaza that Washington said would have emboldened Hamas.
"We made clear throughout negotiations we could not support an unconditional ceasefire that failed to release the hostages," said U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood.
Full StoryIsrael has allowed an Al Jazeera journalist wounded in an airstrike in Gaza last month to be evacuated to Jordan for medical treatment.
Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Ali al-Attar had been transferred to the kingdom with his sister in coordination with the World Health Organization. There was no immediate comment from Israel.
Full StoryThe Syrian defense ministry said 36 people were killed and more than 50 wounded in Israeli air strikes in the city of Palmyra on Wednesday.
"The Israeli enemy launched an air attack from the direction of the Al-Tanf area, targeting a number of buildings in the city of Palmyra," a ministry statement said, adding that it had killed 36 people and wounded more than 50, as well as causing "significant material damage".
Full StoryQatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson says Hamas leaders have left Doha but denied reports that Qatar has ordered a permanent closure of the Palestinian militant group’s political office or expulsion of its previously Doha-based leadership.
Qatar, which had served as a mediator in indirect cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas for a cease-fire and hostage exchange deal, has suspended its efforts after growing frustration with the lack of progress on a cease-fire deal for Gaza.
Full StoryIraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has dismissed an Israeli complaint to the U.N. Security Council about strikes by Iraq's Iran-backed Shiite militias on Israel as a “pretext and argument to attack Iraq” and to “expand the war in the region.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar had earlier posted on X a letter to the Security Council saying that “Israel has the inherent right to self-defense ... and to take all necessary measures to protect itself and its citizens against the ongoing acts of hostilities by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq.”
Full StoryThree Palestinians were killed on Tuesday during an Israel military operation in the occupied West Bank near Jenin, said the governor of the region, citing local authorities.
"There are three bodies of martyrs that are now with the Israeli side, after they killed them," Kamal Abu al-Rub said, citing the District Coordination Office. The Israeli military has yet to comment on the operation.
Full StoryG20 leaders called for "comprehensive" ceasefires in both Gaza and Lebanon in a joint statement at a summit in Brazil on Monday.
The leaders of the world's biggest economies called for a U.S.-proposed permanent ceasefire in Gaza in return for the release of all hostages, as well as a Lebanon ceasefire "that enables citizens to return safely to their homes on both sides of the Blue Line."
Full StoryIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel's late October attack on Iran damaged "a component" of the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.
"It has been published that a certain component of their nuclear program was hit in this attack", Netanyahu told the Israeli parliament, adding that "the program itself and its ability to operate here have not yet been thwarted."
Full StoryU.S. President Joe Biden called on G20 leaders Monday to step up pressure on Hamas for a ceasefire with Israel, as he vowed to "keep pushing" for a deal in his last weeks before Donald Trump returns to the White House.
"I ask everyone here to increase their pressure on Hamas, which is currently refusing this deal," Biden said in his opening remarks to the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro.
Full StoryA suspected attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted a commercial ship late Sunday night traveling through the southern reaches of the Red Sea, though it caused no damage nor injuries, authorities said.
The attack comes as the rebels continue their monthslong assault targeting shipping through a waterway that typically sees $1 trillion in goods pass through it a year over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and Israel's ground offensive in Lebanon.
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