[🇧🇩] Israel and Hamas war in Gaza-----Can Bangladesh be a peace broker?

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'Global Sumud Flotilla': Greta Thunberg plans second Gaza aid voyage; mission to sail on Aug 31 with 44 countries involved - Times of India

Middle East News: Greta Thunberg announced a second, larger flotilla mission to deliver aid to Gaza, launching from Spain on August 31st with activists from 44 countrie

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

 

[Saif]

Israeli air strikes on Gaza intensifying

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes on Gaza City have intensified in recent days, following prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet approving plans to expand the war there.

www.newagebd.net

Israeli air strikes on Gaza intensifying
Agence France-Presse . Palestinian Territories 13 August, 2025, 01:31

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes on Gaza City have intensified in recent days, following prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet approving plans to expand the war there.

The Israeli government has not provided an exact timetable on when its forces would enter the area, but according to the civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal, air strikes on Gaza City have been increasing for the past three days.

Bassal said the residential neighbourhoods of Zeitoun and Sabra have been hit ‘with very heavy airstrikes targeting civilian homes, possibly including high-rise buildings’.

‘For the third consecutive day, the Israeli occupation is intensifying its bombardment,’ said the spokesman.

‘The Israeli occupation is using all types of weapons in that area — bombs, drones, and also highly explosive munitions that cause massive destruction to civilian homes,’ he added.

Bassal said that at least 24 people had been killed across Gaza on Tuesday, including several casualties caused by strikes on Gaza City.

‘The bombardment has been extremely intense for the past two days. With every strike, the ground shakes. There are martyrs under the rubble that no one can reach because the shelling hasn’t stopped,’ said Majed al-Hosary, a resident in Zeitoun.

Israel has faced mounting criticism over the 22-month-long war with Hamas, with United Nations-backed experts warning of widespread famine unfolding in besieged Gaza.

Netanyahu is under mounting pressure to secure the release of the remaining hostages, as well as over his plans to expand the war, which he has vowed to do with or without the backing of Israel’s allies.

Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the war, resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s offensive has killed at least 61,499 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, whose toll the United Nations considers reliable.

Meanwhile, a senior Hamas delegation was due in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials on efforts by mediators to secure an elusive ceasefire in Gaza, two Palestinian sources said on Tuesday.

Together with Qatar and the United States, Egypt has been involved in mediation between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas that has failed to secure a breakthrough since a short-lived truce earlier this year.

Upon Egypt’s invitation, the Hamas delegation led by the group’s chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya ‘is expected to arrive in Cairo Tuesday or tomorrow morning’, the source said.

The source said the delegation was scheduled to meet Egyptian officials on Wednesday to ‘discuss the latest developments’ in ‘ceasefire negotiations and prisoner exchange’ that would include the release of hostages held in Gaza.

Another Palestinian source familiar with the negotiations confirmed the Cairo meeting was planned, and told AFP that ’mediators are working to formulate a new comprehensive ceasefire agreement proposal.’

Such a proposal could include ‘a 60-day truce followed by negotiations for a long-term ceasefire, and a deal for the exchange of all Israeli captives — both living and deceased — in one batch’, said the source.

Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

Both Israel and Hamas have accused the other side of failing to compromise, and the source said that ‘so far, there is nothing new to be optimistic about, especially as the occupation Israel has repeatedly worked to obstruct any agreement.’​

 

[Saif]

The Elders’ leaders term Gaza situation ‘genocide’

The Elders group of international stateswomen and statesmen for the first time on Tuesday called the situation in Gaza an ‘unfolding genocide’, saying that Israel’s obstruction of aid was causing a ‘famine’.

www.newagebd.net

The Elders’ leaders term Gaza situation ‘genocide’
Agence France-Presse . London 12 August, 2025, 22:18

A Palestinian man helps a wounded woman flee the site of an Israeli strike west of Gaza City on Tuesday. | AFP photo

The Elders group of international stateswomen and statesmen for the first time on Tuesday called the situation in Gaza an ‘unfolding genocide’, saying that Israel’s obstruction of aid was causing a ‘famine’.

‘Today we express our shock and outrage at Israel’s deliberate obstruction of the entry of life-saving humanitarian aid into Gaza,’ the non-governmental group of public figures, founded by former South Africa president Nelson Mandela in 2007, said in a statement after delegates visited border crossings in Egypt.

‘What we saw and heard underlines our personal conviction that there is not only an unfolding, human-caused famine in Gaza. There is an unfolding genocide,’ it added.

Helen Clark, former prime minister of New Zealand, called on Israel to open the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza so aid could be delivered, after visiting the site.

‘Many new mothers are unable to feed themselves or their newborn babies adequately, and the health system is collapsing,’ she said.

‘All of this threatens the very survival of an entire generation.’

Clark was joined by Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on the visit.

She said that international leaders ‘have the power and the legal obligation to apply measures to pressure this Israeli government to end its atrocity crimes’.

The delegation ‘saw evidence of food and medical aid denied entry, and heard witness accounts of the killing of Palestinian civilians, including children, while trying to access aid inside Gaza,’ said the statement.

They urged Israel and Hamas to agree a ceasefire and for the immediate release of remaining Israeli hostages being held in Gaza.

The London-based group also called for the ‘recognition of the State of Palestine’, but added ‘this will not halt the unfolding genocide and famine in Gaza’.

‘Transfers of arms and weapons components to Israel must be suspended immediately,’ it added, saying prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be sanctioned.

Israel has faced mounting criticism over the 22-month-long war with Hamas, with United Nations-backed experts warning of widespread famine unfolding in besieged Gaza.

Netanyahu is under mounting pressure to secure the release of the remaining hostages, as well as over his plans to expand the war, which he has vowed to do with or without the backing of Israel’s allies.

Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the war, resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s offensive has killed at least 61,499 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, whose toll the UN considers reliable.​

 

[Saif]

Israel pounds Gaza City, 123 dead in last 24 hours

Israel’s military pounded Gaza City on Wednesday prior to a planned takeover, with another 123 people killed in the last day according to the Gaza health ministry, while militant group Hamas held further talks with Egyptian mediators. The 24-hour death toll was the worst in a week and added

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Israel pounds Gaza City, 123 dead in last 24 hours

REUTERS
Published :
Aug 13, 2025 16:53
Updated :
Aug 13, 2025 16:53

Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike in north Gaza, as seen from Israel's border with Gaza, Israel August 12, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Israel’s military pounded Gaza City on Wednesday prior to a planned takeover, with another 123 people killed in the last day according to the Gaza health ministry, while militant group Hamas held further talks with Egyptian mediators.

The 24-hour death toll was the worst in a week and added to the massive fatalities from the nearly two-year war that has shattered the enclave housing more than 2 million Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated an idea - also enthusiastically floated by U.S. President Donald Trump - that Palestinians should simply leave.

“They’re not being pushed out, they’ll be allowed to exit,” he told Israeli television channel i24NEWS. “All those who are concerned for the Palestinians and say they want to help the Palestinians should open their gates and stop lecturing us.”

Arabs and many world leaders are aghast at the idea of displacing the Gaza population, which Palestinians say would be like another “Nakba” (catastrophe) when hundreds of thousands fled or were forced out during a 1948 war.

Israel’s planned re-seizure of Gaza City - which it took in the early days of the war before withdrawing - is probably weeks away, officials say. That means a ceasefire is still possible though talks have been floundering and conflict still rages.

Israeli planes and tanks bombed eastern areas of Gaza City heavily, residents said, with many homes destroyed in the Zeitoun and Shejaia neighbourhoods overnight. Al-Ahli hospital said 12 people were killed in an airstrike on a home in Zeitoun.

Tanks also destroyed several houses in the east of Khan Younis in south Gaza too, while in the centre Israeli gunfire killed nine aid-seekers in two separate incidents, Palestinian medics said. Israel’s military did not comment.

Eight more people, including three children, have died of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza in the past 24 hours, the territory’s health ministry said. That took the total to 235, including 106 children, since the war began.

Israel disputes those malnutrition and hunger figures reported by the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave.

Hamas chief negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya’s meetings with Egyptian officials in Cairo on Wednesday were to focus on stopping the war, delivering aid and “ending the suffering of our people in Gaza,” Hamas official Taher al-Nono said in a statement.

CEASEFIRE POSSIBILITIES

Egyptian security sources said the talks would also discuss the possibility of a comprehensive ceasefire that would see Hamas relinquish governance in Gaza and concede its weapons.

A Hamas official told Reuters the group was open to all ideas if Israel ends the war and pulls out. However, “Laying down arms before the occupation is dismissed is impossible,” the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.

Netanyahu’s plan to expand military control over Gaza, which Israeli sources said could be launched in October, has heightened global outcry over the widespread devastation, displacement and hunger in the enclave.

About half of Gaza’s residents live in the Gaza City area.

Foreign ministers of 24 countries, including Britain, Canada, Australia, France and Japan, said this week the humanitarian crisis in Gaza had reached “unimaginable levels” and urged Israel to allow unrestricted aid.

Israel denies responsibility for hunger, accusing Hamas of stealing aid. It says it has taken steps to increase deliveries, including daily combat pauses in some areas and protected routes for aid convoys.

The Israeli military on Wednesday said that nearly 320 trucks entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings and that a further nearly 320 trucks were collected and distributed by the U.N. and international organizations in the past 24 hours along with three tankers of fuel and 97 pallets of air-dropped aid.

The United Nations and Palestinians say aid entering Gaza remains far from sufficient.

The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza since then has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials.​

 

[Saif]

Some Palestinians already leaving Gaza City ahead of Israeli offensive

Fearing an Israeli onslaught could come soon, some Palestinian families began leaving eastern areas of Gaza City, now under constant Israeli bombardment, for points to the west and some explored evacuating further south. Israel's plan to seize control of Gaza City has stirred alarm abroad and at h

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Some Palestinians already leaving Gaza City ahead of Israeli offensive

REUTERS
Published :
Aug 18, 2025 17:24
Updated :
Aug 18, 2025 17:28

Palestinians, displaced by the Israeli offensive, shelter in a tent camp as the Israeli military prepares to relocate residents to southern Gaza, in Gaza City August 17, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas/Files

Fearing an Israeli onslaught could come soon, some Palestinian families began leaving eastern areas of Gaza City, now under constant Israeli bombardment, for points to the west and some explored evacuating further south.

Israel's plan to seize control of Gaza City has stirred alarm abroad and at home where tens of thousands of Israelis held some of the largest protests seen since the war began, urging a deal to end the fighting and free the remaining 50 hostages held by Palestinian militants in Gaza.

The planned offensive has spurred Egyptian and Qatari ceasefire mediators to step up efforts in what a source familiar with the talks with Hamas militants in Cairo said could be "the last-ditch attempt."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described Gaza City as Hamas' last bastion. But, with Israel already holding 75 per cent of Gaza, the military has warned that expanding the offensive could endanger hostages still alive and draw troops into protracted and deadly guerrilla warfare.

In Gaza City, many Palestinians have also been calling for protests soon to demand an end to a war that has demolished much of the territory and wrought a humanitarian disaster, and for Hamas to intensify talks to avert the Israeli ground offensive.

An Israeli armoured incursion into Gaza City could see the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom have been uprooted multiple times earlier in the war.

"The people of Gaza City are like someone who received a death sentence and is awaiting execution," said Tamer Burai, a Gaza City businessman.

"I am moving my parents and my family to the south today or tomorrow. I can't risk losing any of them should there be a surprising invasion," he told Reuters via a chat app.

A protest is scheduled for Thursday in Gaza City by different unions, and people took to social media platforms vowing to participate, which will raise pressure on Hamas.

The last round of indirect ceasefire talks ended in late July in deadlock with the sides trading blame for its collapse.

Sources close to the Cairo talks said Egyptian and Qatari mediators had met with leaders of Hamas, allied militant group Islamic Jihad and other factions with little progress reported. Talks will continue on Monday, the sources added.

Hamas told mediators it was ready to resume talks about a US-proposed 60-day truce and release of half the hostages, one official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters, but also for a wider deal that would end the war.

DIPLOMATIC DEADLOCK

Israel says it will agree to cease hostilities if all the hostages are released and Hamas lays down its arms - the latter demand publicly rejected by the Islamist group until a Palestinian state is established.

Gaps also appear to linger regarding the extent of an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and how humanitarian aid will be delivered around the enclave, where malnutrition is rife and aid groups warn of unfolding famine.

On Saturday, the Israeli military said it was preparing to help equip Gazans with tents and other shelter equipment ahead of relocating them from combat zones to the south of the enclave. It did not provide further details on quantities or how long it would take to get the equipment into the enclave.

Palestinian economist Mohammad Abu Jayyab said at least 100,000 new tents would be needed to house those heading to central and southern areas of the coastal strip should Israel begin its offensive or the army orders Gaza City's entire population to evacuate.

"The existing tents where people are living have worn out, and they wouldn't protect people against rainwater. There are no new tents in Gaza because of the (Israeli) restrictions on aid at the (border) crossings," Abu Jayyab told Reuters.

He said some families from Gaza City had begun renting property and shelters in the south and moved in their belongings.

"Some people learned from previous experience, and they don't want to be taken by surprise. Also, some think it is better to move earlier to find a space," Abu Jayyab added.

The UN humanitarian office said last week 1.35 million people were already in need of emergency shelter items in Gaza.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed across the border into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 61,000 Palestinians have since been killed in Israel's ensuing air and ground war in Gaza, according to local health officials, with most of the 2.2 million population internally displaced.

Five more Palestinians have died of malnutrition and starvation in the past 24 hours, the Gaza health ministry said on Monday, raising the number of people who died of those causes to 263, including 112 children, since the war started.

Israel disputed the figures provided by the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.​