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

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Hamas says weapons are ‘legitimate right’

Hamas’s Gaza chief Khalil al-Hayya said on Sunday that the militant group had a ‘legitimate right’ to hold weapons and that any proposal for the next phases of the Gaza ceasefire must uphold that right...

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Hamas says weapons are ‘legitimate right’
Agence France-Presse . Doha, Qatar 14 December, 2025, 22:29

Palestinian Ahmed Al-Mabhuh collects breeze blocks salvaged from the rubble of his destroyed home to build a shelter for his family ahead of winter in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday. | AFP photo

Hamas’s Gaza chief Khalil al-Hayya said on Sunday that the militant group had a ‘legitimate right’ to hold weapons and that any proposal for the next phases of the Gaza ceasefire must uphold that right.

‘Resistance and its weapons are a legitimate right guaranteed by international law and are linked to the establishment of a Palestinian state,’ Hayya said in a televised address on Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV.

‘We are open to studying any proposals that preserve this right while guaranteeing the establishment of a Palestinian state.’

The US-sponsored ceasefire, in effect since October 10, halted the war that began after Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. But it remains fragile as Israel and Hamas accuse each other almost daily of violations.

The agreement is composed of three phases. In the first phase of the deal, Palestinian militants committed to releasing the remaining 48 living and dead captives held in the territory.

So far they have released all of the hostages except for one body.

Under the second phase Israeli troops would further withdraw from their positions in Gaza and be replaced by an international stabilisation force, while Hamas would lay down its weapons.

The third phase includes the reconstruction of the vast areas of Gaza levelled by Israel’s retaliatory military campaign.

Hayya also confirmed the head of the group’s weapons production was killed in an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip the day before.

‘The Palestinian people are currently going through difficult times and suffering greatly with the martyrdom of more than 70,000 people, the latest of whom was the mujahid commander Raed Saad and his companions.’

Israel announced on Saturday that it had killed Saad, describing him as ‘one of the architects’ of the October 2023 attack.​

 

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undefined | The Financial Express

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

ICC rejects Israeli bid to halt Gaza war investigation

REUTERS
Published :
Dec 16, 2025 00:12
Updated :
Dec 16, 2025 00:12

The exterior of the International Criminal Court is seen in The Hague, Netherlands, Sept 22, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw

Appeals judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday rejected one in a series of legal challenges brought by Israel against the court's probe into its conduct of the Gaza war.

On appeal, judges refused to overturn a lower court decision that the prosecution's investigation into alleged crimes under its jurisdiction could include events following the deadly attack on Israel by militant Palestinian group Hamas on Oct 7, 2023.

The ruling means the investigation continues and the arrest warrants issued last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence chief Yoav Gallant remain in place.

Israel rejects the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court and denies war crimes in Gaza, where it has waged a military campaign it says is aimed at eliminating Hamas following the October 7 attacks.

The ICC initially also issued a warrant for Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Masri for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, but withdrew that later following credible reports of his death.

A ceasefire agreement in the conflict took effect on Oct 10, but the war destroyed much of Gaza’s infrastructure, and living conditions are dire.

According to Gaza health officials, whose data is frequently cited with confidence by the United Nations, some 67,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in Gaza.

This ruling focuses on only one of several Israeli legal challenges against the ICC investigations and the arrest warrants for its officials. There is no timeline for the court to rule on the various other challenges to its jurisdiction in this case.​

 

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Palestinians retrieve belongings from West Bank camp

Dozens of residents from the West Bank’s emptied Nur Shams refugee camp returned on Wednesday to retrieve belongings ahead of the Israeli military’s demolition of 25 residential buildings there...

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Palestinians retrieve belongings from West Bank camp

Agence France-Presse . Nur Shams, Palestinian Territories 18 December, 2025, 00:19
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Residents of the Nur Shams refugee camp walk past Israeli security forces as they return to collect belongings ahead of the Israeli military’s demolition of residential buildings in the camp near Tulkarem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Wednesday. | AFP photo

Dozens of residents from the West Bank’s emptied Nur Shams refugee camp returned on Wednesday to retrieve belongings ahead of the Israeli military’s demolition of 25 residential buildings there.

Early this year, the military launched an on-going operation it said was aimed at rooting out Palestinian armed groups from camps in the northern occupied West Bank — including Nur Shams, Tulkarem and Jenin.

Loading furniture, children’s toys and even a window frame onto small trucks, Palestinian residents hurried Wednesday to gather as much as they could under the watchful eye of Israeli soldiers, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.

Troops performed ID checks and physical searches, allowing through only those whose houses were set to be demolished.

Some who were able to enter salvaged large empty water tanks, while others came out with family photos, mattresses and heaters.

More than 32,000 people remain displaced from the now-empty camps, where Israeli troops are stationed, according to the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

Mahmud Abdallah, who was displaced from Nur Shams and was able to enter a part of the camp on Wednesday, said he witnessed for the first time the destruction that had taken place after he was forced to leave.

‘I was surprised to find that there were no habitable houses; maybe two or three, but they were not suitable for living,’ he said.

‘The camp is destroyed’.

The demolitions, affecting 25 buildings housing up to 100 families, were announced earlier this week and are scheduled for Thursday.

They are officially part of a broader Israeli strategy of home demolitions to ease its military vehicles’ access in the dense refugee camps of the northern West Bank.

Israel has occupied the Palestinian territory since 1967.

Ahmed al-Masri, a camp resident whose house was to be demolished, said that his request for access was denied.

‘When I asked why, I was told: ‘Your name is not in the liaison office records’,’ he said.

UNRWA’s director for the West Bank and east Jerusalem, Roland Friedrich, said an estimated 1,600 houses were fully or partially destroyed during the military operation, making it ‘the most severe displacement crisis that the West Bank has seen since 1967’.

Nur Shams, along with other refugee camps in the West Bank, was established after the creation of Israel in 1948, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced from their homes in what is now Israel.

‘We ask God to compensate us with palaces in paradise’, said Ibtisam al-Ajouz, a displaced camp resident whose house was also set to be destroyed.

‘We are determined to return, and God willing, we will rebuild. Even if the houses are demolished, we will not be afraid — our morale is high.’​

 

[Saif]

Rubio says US sanctioning ICC judges for targeting Israel

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that the US was sanctioning two judges of the International Criminal Court for targeting Israel. "Today, I am designating two International Criminal Court (ICC) judges, Gocha Lordkipanidze of Georgia and Erdenebalsuren Damdin of Mongolia, pursuant

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Rubio says US sanctioning ICC judges for targeting Israel

REUTERS
Published :
Dec 18, 2025 23:28
Updated :
Dec 18, 2025 23:28

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a US-Paraguay Status of Forces agreement signing ceremony at the State Department in Washington, DC, US, Dec 15, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that the US was sanctioning two judges of the International Criminal Court for targeting Israel.

"Today, I am designating two International Criminal Court (ICC) judges, Gocha Lordkipanidze of Georgia and Erdenebalsuren Damdin of Mongolia, pursuant to Executive Order 14203," Rubio said in a statement, referring to the order President Donald Trump signed in February sanctioning the ICC.

"These individuals have directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute Israeli nationals, without Israel's consent," he said.

The United States and Israel are not members of the ICC.

The US sanctions in February include freezing any US assets of those designated and barring them and their families from visiting the United States.​

 

[Saif]

Gazans fear renewed displacement after Israeli strikes

Now, many fear being forced from their homes, compelled to move west of the Yellow Line.

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Gazans fear renewed displacement after Israeli strikes
AFP Khan Yunis, Palestinian Territories
Published: 23 Dec 2025, 14: 25

Palestinian children sit by tents at a makeshift displacement camp set up amid building rubble in Gaza City on 12 May 2025 AFP

When her children, trembling with fear, ask where the family can go to escape Israel’s continued bombardment in southern Gaza’s Khan Yunis area, Umm Ahmed has no answer.

In her small, devastated village near Khan Yunis city, recent Israeli drone and artillery strikes shattered the tenuous sense of peace delivered by a ceasefire that has largely held since 10 October.

Residents say the strikes have targeted neighbourhoods east of the so-called Yellow Line—a demarcation established under the truce between Israel and Hamas.

The Israeli military says its troops are deployed in the area in accordance with the ceasefire framework, accusing Hamas militants of “crossing the Yellow Line and carrying out terrorist activities”.

More than two years after Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel sparked a devastating war, tens of thousands of Gazans still live in tents or damaged homes in these areas, where the Israeli army maintains control and operates checkpoints.

Now, many fear being forced from their homes, compelled to move west of the Yellow Line.

“We don’t sleep at night because of fear. The bombardments in the east are relentless,” said Umm Ahmed, 40.

“My children tremble at every explosion and ask me, ‘Where can we go?’ And I have no answer.”

Her home in Bani Suheila has been completely destroyed, yet the family has stayed, pitching a tent beside the ruins.

“Staying close to our destroyed home is easier than facing the unknown,” Umm Ahmed said.

Crossing the Yellow Line to Al-Mawasi, west of Khan Yunis, is not an option for them.

There, makeshift camps stretch as far as the eye can see, housing tens of thousands of Palestinians who fled the fighting.

“There is no place left for anyone there, and not enough food or water,” Umm Ahmed said, as Gaza remains trapped in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.

‘We will not leave’

The Israeli military blames continued threats from Hamas militants for its actions in the area.

“The IDF’s current operations in Gaza, and their deployment in the Yellow Line area in particular, are carried out to address direct threats from terrorist organisations in Gaza,” the Israeli military said in a statement to AFP.

The war in Gaza began with Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October, 2023 that resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Since the war began, more than 70,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

The vast majority of Gaza’s more than two million residents were displaced during the war, many multiple times.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place since 10 October, though both sides regularly accuse each other of violations.

Under the truce, Israeli forces withdrew to positions east of the Yellow Line.

Earlier this month, Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir described the Yellow Line as the “new border line” with Israel.

“The Yellow Line is a new border line—serving as a forward defensive line for our communities and a line of operational activity,” he said to reserve soldiers in Gaza.

For Palestinian officials, the line is seen as a tool for permanent displacement.

“The objective is to frighten residents, expel them from their areas, and force them west,” said Alaa al-Batta, mayor of Khan Yunis, denouncing the bombardments as “violations of the ceasefire agreement”.

Mahmud Baraka, 45, from Khuzaa, east of Khan Yunis, described constant artillery fire and home demolitions in the area.

“It feels like we are still living in a war zone,” he said.

“Explosions happen as if they are right next to us. The objective of the occupation is clear: to intimidate us and drive us out, so the region is emptied.”

For now, residents feel trapped between bombardment and displacement, uncertain how long they can endure.

Despite the danger, Abdel Hamid, 70, refuses to leave his home located north of Khan Yunis, where he lives with his five children.

“We will not leave... this is our land,” he said.

“Moving would not be a solution, but yet another tragedy.”​