Residents of the Gaza Strip, mostly house-bound and fearful after 13 days of Israeli bombardment, lit fireworks and chanted “God is great!” into the early morning darkness on Monday after Hamas said it had captured an Israeli soldier. Abu Ubaida, the masked and camouflaged spokesman of the Palestinian Islamist militant group’s armed wing, announced that…
The U.S. under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs published and then removed a tweet with a hashtag in support of Gaza. Rick Stengel used the hashtag #UnitedForGaza in a tweet published late Saturday night calling for an international investigation into the crash of a Malaysian Airlines flight earlier this week in…
(Reuters) — The Palestinian death toll in an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip jumped to more than 500 on Monday, as the United States, alarmed by escalating civilian bloodshed, took a direct role in efforts to secure a ceasefire. Despite growing calls for a halt to two weeks of fighting, violence raged on, with…
France’s interior minister promised on Monday to crack down on anti-Semitism after violence marred pro-Palestinian rallies in and around Paris to protest against Israel’s role in the two-week-old Middle East conflict. France has both the largest Jewish and Muslim populations in Europe and flare-ups of violence in the Middle East often add to tensions between…
Two American men were among the 13 Israeli soldiers killed in the conflict in Gaza on Sunday, the U.S. State Department said, the bloodiest day of the conflict, in which about 100 Palestinians were also killed. Max Steinberg, a native of California’s San Fernando Valley, was a sniper in the Golani Brigade of the Israel…
(Reuters) — Despite the red scars on his wrists, a souvenir from a summer vacation to see Palestinian relatives that became a nightmare, Tariq Khdeir felt lucky on Sunday as he described his apparent beating by Israeli police earlier this month. Three cousins arrested with the U.S. teenager during clashes in east Jerusalem are still in…
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was overheard on Sunday expressing what appeared to be pointed concern over the deaths of civilians during an Israeli offensive in Gaza. In a conversation caught on an open microphone before an interview, Kerry made what seemed to be a sarcastic remark about Israel’s insistence it was doing its…
Rockets discovered in a United Nations agency school in Gaza were returned to Hamas, an Israeli official said. The rockets were handed over to local government authorities, a senior Israeli official told the Times of Israel. The local government authorities in Gaza are Hamas, he reportedly pointed out. About 20 rockets were discovered on the…
Israeli-Arab lawmaker Hanin Zoabi was detained at a demonstration in Haifa against Israel’s Gaza operation. Zoabi and lawmaker Jamal Zahalka, both of the Balad party, were handcuffed on Friday night during the demonstration, which reportedly became violent. They were released later due to their immunity as lawmakers, but both may still be charged with attacking…
Anti-Israel protesters hurled a firebomb at a synagogue during an unauthorized demonstration in a heavily Jewish suburb of Paris. The riot broke out on Sunday afternoon in Sarcelles after a few hundred people assembled at a local metro station to protest Israel’s actions in Gaza, as well as the decision by French Interior Minister Bernard…
U.S. President Barack Obama told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday that he has serious concerns about the rising number of casualties from clashes between Israel and the Palestinians. Obama spoke by telephone to Netanyahu for the second time in three days. He told him Israel has the right to defend itself and he…
