'Hamas is going to be prepared. There will be booby traps and tunnels; it's going to be door to door fighting.'
Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resigned on Sunday to protest the planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank, but the dramatic step was unlikely to scuttle next week's pullout.\n\n
Israeli tanks and troops mounted on armoured vehicles were deployed in the region, seeming to suggest that a ground assault on Hamas in their backyard, Gaza, could begin any time soon.
However, Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour countered the Israeli prime minister's claim.
Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman today snapped a 20-month political alliance with Prime Minister Benjamin Natanyahu, the first fallout of a simmering discontent over the fractious ruling coalition's response to frequent attacks by Palestinian Hamas militants.
Both Israel and Hamas claimed that gunfights were ongoing at numerous locations within Israeli territory.
The 13 Israeli hostages in ambulances are heading from southern Gaza's Khan Younis to the Rafah crossing into Israel, The Times of Israel reported citing an Israeli official.
India on Sunday said it is seriously concerned over escalating hostilities between Israel and Iran, and called for immediate de-escalation of the situation.
According to the Qatar government, the agreement includes the release of 50 civilian women and children hostages currently held in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of a number of Palestinian women and children detained in Israeli prisons, the number of those released will be increased in later stages of implementing the agreement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a strict religious fast, has had several high profile engagements on the second day of his United States visit.
Former United States president and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Thursday refused to debate with his Democratic rival and Vice President Kamala Harris until the Democrats formally decide on their nominee, whereas the latter said that she is ready for a debate.
A 20-year-old Indian-origin soldier was among 17 Israeli soldiers killed fighting in Gaza, according to the mayor of the town in southern Israel where the deceased had resided.
Obama has said that he shares a business-like relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Taking to X, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office said, 'Israel strongly condemns the Iranian attack against an international vessel. The ship, which is owned by a British company and is operated by a Japanese firm, was hijacked with Iran's guidance by the Yemenite Houthi militia.'
Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has re-issued urgent calls for civilians in Gaza to move south as the ground forces move to the next phase of its war with the terrorist group Hamas.
Barel said Israel was currently in a state of war and there was a sequence of challenges and tasks at hand.
There is only one perpetrator, Hamas. It is a terrorist organisation. It is obscene to argue that until the Palestinian question is solved, anybody has the right to use terrorism as an instrument of policy, argues Shekhar Gupta.
Netanyahu has apologised to Israel's Arab citizens for racist remarks he made during last week's parliamentary election.
Mentioning the recent attacks on US forces in Syria and Iraq, he added, "The US sent messages to the Axis of Resistance but received a clear response on the battlefield."
Slamming Hamas, the IDF further said the terror group "embraces the ideology of Hitler", the one responsible for the "annihilation" of the Jewish people.
Israel Defence Forces (IDF), under the command of the Givati (infantry) Brigade overnight carried out a targeted raid using tanks in the territory of the northern Gaza Strip.
Joe Biden, seeking a second term in the White House, stumbled in his first televised presidential debate with his predecessor Donald Trump, setting off alarm bells among top Democrats about whether the incumbent President can stay atop in the gruelling months ahead of the elections.
World leaders condemned the ghastly attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists.
'We thought all the Jews in the world could live securely in today's world, and that feeling is broken.'
The strikes are targeting tunnels, ammunition, and rockets all around Shifa. Hamas expects the IDF will enter the hospitals in one or two days.
A surprise attack by Hamas militants from Gaza at daybreak killed at least 200 Israelis on Saturday even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared "war" and said his country would extract an "unprecedented price" from its enemy.
"The people of Gaza need food, water, medicine, shelter. Today, I asked the Israeli cabinet to agree to the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza...and the aid should go to civilians, not to Hamas. Israel agreed that the humanitarian assistance can begin to move from Egypt to Gaza. If Hamas diverts or steals the assistance it will have demonstrated once again that they have no concern for the welfare of the Palestinian people.. and it will stop the international community from being able to provide this aid," Biden said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu termed it the 'largest cooperation project in our history', one that would 'change the face of the Middle East, Israel, and impact the entire world'.
Iran and the Islamic State are "competing for the crown of militant Islam," Netanyahu said.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the instructions originated from an Al Qaeda design for chemical weapons dating back to 2003.
After his visit to Brussels, McGurk will visit Israel where he is slated to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and senior security and intelligence officials.
Hundreds of people are feared dead after a deadly blast at a hospital in Gaza for which Hamas and Israel traded charges holding each other responsible for the incident.
The Pakistan Army chief arrived in Washington last week on his first official visit to the US.
Kremlin on Tuesday dismissed the reports claiming President Vladimir Putin is suffering from ill health and called it 'yet another canard'.
Seven aid workers who were working for the World Central Kitchen, a charity delivering food to besieged Palestinians, were killed in the Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Tuesday. The victims comprised three British nationals, an Australian, a Polish national, an American-Canadian dual citizen and a Palestinian.
The both governments recognise that a ground invasion is very likely and not telling Israel not to launch one at all, but rather hold off to try and see if additional diplomatic efforts can succeed.
In Israel, its constitution committee -- no doubt nudged by Prime Minister Binaymin Netanyahu who has his personal problems with the judiciary -- is set to start voting on changes that would give politicians more power on selecting judges while limiting the supreme court's powers to strike down legislation.
As part of the deal, Israel has halted aerial surveillance above the enclave for some six hours daily to allow Hamas to locate all the hostages, which are held in separate locations, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Biden, in his call with Netanyahu, updated him on US military support and reiterated his warning against anyone seeking to expand the conflict, according to a readout of the call.
Israel needs to come terms with the new reality that they are no longer invincible or the dominant power in the West Asian region, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
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