Lebanon said Israeli strikes killed 33 people across the country on Tuesday, among them many who had been displaced by the intensified conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

President-elect Donald Trump said on Tuesday he was nominating former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee as the next U.S. ambassador to Israel.

The NISAR satellite, a joint NASA-ISRO Earth observation mission launching in 2025, will provide precise data on shifts in Earth’s surface, focusing on high-risk areas. Using advanced radar technology, the satellite aims to support natural disaster response and infrastructure monitoring by tracking subtle movements in regions prone to earthquakes and landslides. With each organisation contributing specialised radar systems, the collaboration is a significant leap forward in space-based Earth monitoring.

The Zomato delivery boy shared a video on the day of Diwali showing his low income of Rs. 300.

Citing widespread delays in mail deliveries, President Trump’s intent to use the Postal Service to suppress the vote, and reports of deliberate disruptions in daily postal operations amid a global pandemic, Attorney General Kathy Jennings announced Tuesday that Delaware and other states are suing the United States Postal Service to stop their practices. “Every American depends on […]

Attorney General Kathy Jennings released the following statement Friday regrading the violence committed against innocents in Israel: Dave and I are grieving for the innocents lost in Israel, and for their families abroad and here in Delaware. I have struggled to find words for what the world has witnessed: Hamas’ flagrant violence and kidnappings committed […]

1. Donald Trump picks ex-US spy John Ratcliffe as CIA chief, Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel  Hindustan Times
2. Trump picks Ratcliffe as CIA director, Kash Patel misses out  India Today
3. Donald Trump picks ‘China hawk’ John Ratcliffe as CIA director, taps Fox News host Pete Hegseth as defence secretary  Mint
4. Trump picks John Ratcliffe to be CIA director  The Hindu
5. Meet former US spy John Ratcliffe, Trump's choice for CIA director  The Times of India

Virtuoso Studio IC23.1 ISR7 production release is now available for download.(read more)

Virtuoso Studio IC23.1 ISR8 production release is now available for download.(read more)

Virtuoso Studio IC23.1 ISR9 production release is now available for download.(read more)

Virtuoso Studio IC23.1 ISR10 production release is now available for download.(read more)

The ICADVM20.1 ISR26 and IC6.1.8 ISR26 production releases are now available for download.(read more)

The ICADVM20.1 ISR27 and IC6.1.8 ISR27 production releases are now available for download.(read more)

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has entered into a joint venture with Australia’s Bis to launch Auto-mate, a new company that will provide autonomous systems to the mining industry.

Tel Aviv, Israel — Israeli protesters expressed concern for the hostages in Gaza on Saturday, after Qatar said it was pausing as a key mediator for a cease-fire that would help bring the captives home. Thousands of people rallied in Tel Aviv holding signs reading "400," the number of days since the hostages were taken when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Efforts to broker a truce in the ensuing war between Hamas and Israel have proven fruitless, and on Saturday Qatar put its mediation on hold until the two sides showed "willingness and seriousness" in talks. Protester Ruti Lior said she was unsure how much sway Qatar had, but was still "very, very worried" by their decision to pull back from negotiations. "This is further proof for me that there really is no seriousness, and these deals are being sabotaged," the 62-year-old psychotherapist told AFP. Saturday's rally featured an installation of masks representing Netanyahu along with signs bearing the word "Guilty." Other placards read "Hostage deal now" and "Drop your weapon, stop the war." "How many more tears must fall and how much more blood must be shed before someone does what needs to be done and brings our children home?" Niva Wenkert, mother of hostage Omer Wenkert, was quoted as saying in a statement released by campaign group Hostage and Missing Families Forum. In the October 7, 2023, attack, Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and captured about 250 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza. Israel says it believes Hamas is still holding 101 hostages, including 35 the military says are dead. Hamas has been designated a terror group by the United States, the U.K. and other Western countries. Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 people, according to the territory's health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. Israelis have been protesting weekly to pressure their government to do more to secure the captives' release. Qatar, which has hosted Hamas's political leadership since 2012 with U.S. blessing, has been involved in months of protracted diplomacy aimed at ending the war in Gaza. But the talks, also mediated by Cairo and Washington, have repeatedly hit snags since a one-week truce in November 2023 -- the only one so far -- with both sides trading blame for the impasse. 

JERUSALEM — With virtually no food allowed into the northernmost part of Gaza for the past month, tens of thousands of Palestinians under Israeli siege are rationing their last lentils and flour to survive. As bombardment pounds around them, some say they risk their lives to search for cans of food in the rubble of destroyed homes. Thousands have staggered out of the area, hungry and thin, into Gaza City, where they find the situation little better. "We are being starved to force us to leave our homes," said Mohammed Arqouq, whose family of eight is determined to stay in the north, weathering Israel's siege. "We will die here in our homes." Medical workers warn that hunger is spiraling to dire proportions under a monthlong siege on north Gaza by the Israeli military, which has been waging a fierce campaign since the beginning of October, saying it's rooting out militants. Hamas militants, who are still holding hostages inside Gaza, have regrouped in the area and have been carrying out hit-and-run attacks from tunnels and bombed-out buildings. The military has severed the area with checkpoints, ordering residents to leave. Many Palestinians fear Israel aims to depopulate the north long-term. On Friday, experts from a panel that monitors food security said famine is imminent in the north or may already be happening. The growing desperation comes as the deadline approaches next week for a 30-day ultimatum the Biden administration gave Israel: raise the level of humanitarian assistance allowed into Gaza or risk possible restrictions on U.S. military funding. The U.S. says Israel must allow a minimum of 350 trucks a day carrying food and other supplies. Israel has fallen far short. In October, 57 trucks a day entered Gaza on average, according to figures from Israel's military agency overseeing aid entry, known as COGAT. In the first week of November, the average was 81 a day. The U.N. puts the number even lower — 37 trucks daily since the beginning of October. It says Israeli military operations and general lawlessness often prevent it from collecting supplies, leaving hundreds of truckloads stranded at the border. U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Israel had made some progress by announcing the opening of a new crossing into central Gaza and approving new delivery routes. But he said Israel must do more. "It's not just sufficient to open new roads if more humanitarian assistance isn't going through those roads," he said. A trickle of food has reached Gaza City, but as of Thursday, nothing entered the towns farther north for 30 days, even as an estimated 70,000 people remain there, said Louise Wateridge, spokesperson for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, speaking from Gaza City. The Israeli government acknowledged in late October that it hadn't allowed aid into Jabaliya because of military "operational constraints" in response to a petition by Israeli human rights groups. On Saturday, COGAT said it allowed 11 trucks of food and supplies into Beit Hanoun and Jabaliya. But Alia Zaki, a spokesperson for the U.N.’s World Food Program, said Israeli troops at a checkpoint forced the convoy to unload the food before it could reach shelters in Beit Hanoun. It was not clear what then happened to the supplies. Palestinians in the north described to The Associated Press a desperate daily struggle to find food, water and safety, as strikes level buildings, sometimes killing entire families. Arqouq said he goes out at night to search bombed-out buildings: "Sometimes you find a half-empty package of flour, canned food and lentils." His family relies on help from others sheltering at a Jabaliya school, he said, but their food, too, is running low. "We are like dogs and cats searching for their food in the rubble," said Um Saber, a widow. She said she and her six children had to flee a school-turned-shelter in Beit Lahiya when Israel struck it. Now they live in her father-in-law's home, stretching meager supplies of lentils and pasta with 40 others, mostly women and children. Ahmed Abu Awda, a 28-year-old father of three living with 25 relatives in a Jabaliya house, said they have a daily meal of lentils with bread, rationing to ensure children eat. "Sometimes we don't eat at all," he said. Dr. Rana Soboh, a nutrition specialist at Gaza City's Patient Friend Benevolent Hospital, said she sees about 350 cases of moderate to severe acute malnutrition daily, most from the north but also Gaza City. "The bone of their chest is showing, the eyes are protruding," she said, and many have trouble concentrating. "You repeat something a number of times, so they can understand what we are saying." She cited a 32-year-old woman shedding weight in her third month of pregnancy — when they put her on the scale, she weighed only 40 kilograms. "We are suffering, facing the ghost of famine that is hovering over Gaza," Soboh said. Even before the siege in the north, the Patient Friend hospital saw a flood of children suffering from malnutrition — more than 4,780 in September compared with 1,100 in July, said Dr Ahmad Eskiek, who oversees hospital operations. Soboh said staff get calls from Beit Lahiya and Jabaliya pleading for help: "What can we do? We have nothing." 

Paris — Paris police said Sunday that 4,000 officers and 1,600 stadium staff will be deployed for a France-Israel soccer match to ensure security in and around the stadium and on public transportation a week after violence against Israeli fans in Amsterdam.  France and Israel are playing in a UEFA Nations League match Thursday.  “There's a context, tensions that make that match a high-risk event for us,” Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez said on French news broadcaster BFM TV, adding authorities “won't tolerate” any violence.  Nuñez said that 2,500 police officers would be deployed around the Stade de France stadium, north of the French capital, in addition to 1,500 others in Paris and on public transportation.  “There will be an anti-terrorist security perimeter around the stadium,” Nuñez said. Security checks will be “reinforced,” he added, including with systematic pat-downs and bag searches.  Nuñez said that French organizers have been in contact with Israeli authorities and security forces to prepare for the match.  Israeli fans were assaulted last week after a soccer game in Amsterdam by hordes of   young people apparently riled up by calls on social media to target Jewish people,   according to Dutch authorities. Five people were treated at hospitals and dozens were arrested after the attacks, which were condemned as antisemitic by authorities in Amsterdam, Israel and across Europe.  On Sunday, Dutch police detained several people for taking part in a demonstration in central Amsterdam that had been outlawed following the violence targeting Israeli fans, a local broadcaster reported.  French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau confirmed Friday that the France-Israel match would go ahead as planned.  “I think that for a symbolic reason we must not yield, we must not give up,” he said, noting that sports fans from around the world came together for the Paris Olympics this year to celebrate the “universal values” of sports. 

Qatar pauses cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas citing unwillingness and unseriousness from the warring parties. Meanwhile, Israel ratchets-up strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza and Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports.

Israeli airstrikes killed dozens of people in Lebanon and northern Gaza on Sunday, even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump have been discussing the way forward for when Trump takes office in January. The Israeli leader said he has spoken with Trump three times since the U.S. presidential election last week and that they “see eye-to-eye on the Iranian threat in all its aspects, and on the dangers they reflect.” Netanyahu said he sees “great opportunities facing Israel, in the area of peace and its expansion,” but did not expand on his statement.   Before the election, Trump, according to Israeli news accounts, told Netanyahu that he wanted Israel to resolve its wars against two Iranian-supported groups, Hamas militants in Gaza and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, before his inauguration as president on January 20. Israeli President Isaac Herzog is scheduled to meet with outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday in Washington as the mid-month deadline approaches for Israel to meet a Biden administration ultimatum that it allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza to assist Palestinians or risk possible restrictions on U.S. military funding. Israeli forces have encircled and largely isolated Jabaliya and the nearby northern Gaza towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun for the past month, allowing in only a trickle of humanitarian aid. Experts from a panel that monitors food security say famine is imminent or may already be happening.   In the Sunday fighting, an Israeli airstrike killed at least 23 people, including seven children, in Aalmat village north of Beirut, far from the areas in the east and south where Hezbollah militants have a major presence. Lebanon's health ministry said another six people were wounded. Watch related report by Arash Arabasadi: There was no Israeli evacuation warning and no immediate Israeli comment on the attack. In northern Gaza, an Israeli strike on a home sheltering displaced people in the urban refugee camp of Jabaliya killed at least 17 people including nine women, according to Dr. Fadel Naim, director of Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza City. The Israeli military, without offering evidence, said it had targeted a site where militants were operating. It said the details of the strike are under review. A separate strike hit a house in Gaza City, killing Wael al-Khour, a minister in the Hamas-run government, as well as his wife and three children, according to the Civil Defense first responders who operate under the government. In Syria, the state news agency SANA said an Israeli airstrike hit a residential building in the Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab, killing seven civilians. The Britain-based opposition war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, suggested Hezbollah was targeted, but Israel did not offer any immediate comment. The war in Gaza was triggered when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, although about one-third of them are believed to be dead. Israel's counteroffensive has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to local health authorities. The Israeli military says the death toll includes thousands of Hamas militants. Some material in this report came from The Associated Press.

An intercepted missile fired from Yemen sparked blazes near Jerusalem Monday, and later the Houthi rebels said they carried out a successful attack on central Israel. The Iran-backed militant group said it executed a "military operation targeting the Nahal Sorek military base" southeast of Jaffa, and that the "hit was accurate and led to a fire." Meanwhile, the main television news outlet operated by the Houthis said U.S. and British forces carried out a series of airstrikes targeting the Amran and Saada governorates in Yemen. The Israeli military told Agence France-Presse a projectile from Yemen was intercepted in the Bet Shemesh area west of Jerusalem, and debris from that interception caused fires. In a statement to the AFP, it said: "Following the sirens that sounded in the Shfelat Yehuda, Yehuda, and Lakhish areas of central Israel, the IAF (Israeli Air Force) intercepted one projectile that approached Israel from the direction of Yemen. "The projectile did not cross into Israeli territory. Sirens were sounded in accordance with protocol." An Iran-backed coalition, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, claimed to have carried out four drone attacks on “vital targets” in Israel Monday, but did not disclose details about the targets in a series of Telegram posts. Strikes in Gaza, Lebanon At least three people were killed Sunday when an Israeli strike hit a tent sheltering a displaced family in the central Gaza Strip, Palestinian health officials reported. Palestinians reported heavy bombing late Sunday in the western areas of Nuseirat camp, and least 24 people were wounded and taken to the Awda hospital in Nuseirat, the head of the hospital’s ambulance service told the Associated Press. Earlier Sunday in northern Gaza, an Israeli strike on a home sheltering displaced people in the urban refugee camp of Jabaliya killed at least 17 people including nine women, according to Dr. Fadel Naim, director of Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza City. An Israeli airstrike killed at least 23 people, including seven children, in Aalmat village north of Beirut, far from the areas in the east and south where Hezbollah militants have a major presence. Lebanon's health ministry said another six people were wounded. There was no Israeli evacuation warning and no immediate Israeli comment on the attack. The United Nations children’s agency says the war between Israel and Hezbollah has killed more than 200 children in Lebanon.   Lebanon’s Health Ministry said at least 3,189 people have been killed and over 14,000 wounded in Lebanon in more than a year of conflict between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group. Some 1.2 million people have been displaced. The war in Gaza was triggered when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, although about one-third of them are believed to be dead. Israel's counteroffensive has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to local health authorities. The Israeli military says the death toll includes thousands of Hamas militants. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, the United Kingdom, European Union and others. Israeli President Isaac Herzog is scheduled to meet with outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday in Washington as the mid-month deadline approaches for Israel to meet a Biden administration ultimatum that it allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza to assist Palestinians or risk possible restrictions on U.S. military funding. Information from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters was included in this report.

Jerusalem/Beirut — Israel said on Monday there was progress in talks about a Lebanon cease-fire and indicated Russia could play a part by stopping Hezbollah rearming via Syria, although the Iran-backed group said it had not received any new truce proposals. Pummeled by Israel's offensive, Hezbollah said diplomatic contacts were under way involving its backers in Tehran, Washington and Moscow, whilst reiterating its readiness to fight on, saying it had enough weapons for a "long war." In Jerusalem, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the war against Hezbollah was not yet over. The main challenge facing any cease-fire deal would be enforcement, he said, though there was "a certain progress" in talks. After previous rounds of fruitless U.S.-led diplomacy to secure a Lebanon truce, the comments indicate renewed focus on the issue as President Joe Biden prepares to leave office in January, with President-elect Donald Trump set to replace him. Hopes of a Gaza truce have meanwhile suffered a setback, with Qatar suspending its mediation role. Ignited by the war in Gaza, the conflict at the Lebanese-Israeli border had been rumbling on for a year before Israel went on the offensive in late September, pounding wide areas of Lebanon with airstrikes and sending troops into the south. Saar, addressing a Jerusalem news conference, said Israel was working with the United States on a cease-fire. Israel wants Hezbollah north of the Litani river – some 30 km from the border - and unable to rearm, he said. Saar said a basic principle for any agreement had to be that Hezbollah would not be able to bring weapons into Lebanon from Syria. "It is vital to the success of any arrangement in Lebanon," he said. "And the Russians are, as you know, present in Syria. And if they are in agreement with this principle, I think they can contribute effectively to this objective." Russia deployed forces into Syria nearly a decade ago to support President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war there. Hezbollah also sent fighters to help Assad, and carved out big sway on the ground alongside other Iran-backed groups. Syria is widely seen as a major conduit for Iran to supply weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Israel has struck targets in Syria regularly during the conflict. An Israeli airstrike temporarily cut Syria's main Homs-Damascus highway on Monday, Syrian media reported. In Lebanon, relatives held funerals for 20 people killed in a strike on the southern town of Deir Qanoun-Ras al-Ain, including seven medics from rescue groups affiliated with Hezbollah and its Shiite ally Amal. 'Testing the waters' In Beirut, Hezbollah official Mohammad Afif linked intensified political contacts to the looming change of U.S. leadership. "There is a great movement between Washington and Moscow and Tehran and a number of capitals," he said. "We hear a lot of talk, but so far, according to my information, nothing official has reached Lebanon or us in this regard," he told a news conference. The contacts were "in the phase of testing the waters and presenting initial ideas." Israel Hayom reported on Sunday that substantial progress has been made in diplomatic negotiations over a proposed Lebanon cease-fire that would require Hezbollah to withdraw north of the Litani River, barring its military presence near the Israeli border, while the IDF would return to the international border. Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's best-selling newspaper, reported on Monday that Israel and Lebanon have exchanged drafts through U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein, signaling progress in efforts to reach a final agreement. The Lebanese government, which includes Hezbollah, has repeatedly called for a cease-fire based on the full implementation of a U.N. resolution that ended a war between the group and Israel in 2006. The resolution calls for the area south of the Litani river to be free of all weapons other than those of the Lebanese state. Lebanon and Israel have accused each other of violating the resolution. Israel says its campaign aims to secure the return home of tens of thousands of people forced to evacuate the north due to rockets fired by Hezbollah, which opened fire on Oct. 8, 2003, in solidarity with Hamas. Israel's offensive has forced more than 1 million people to flee their homes in Lebanon in the last seven weeks. Since the eruption of hostilities a year ago, Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,189 people in Lebanon, the majority of them since late September, according to health ministry figures, which do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Hezbollah attacks have killed roughly 100 civilians and soldiers in northern Israel, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and southern Lebanon over the last year.

Tehran, Iran — Iran's foreign ministry is calling for an arms embargo on Israel and the expulsion of its arch-foe from the United Nations, following a deadly strike in Syria.  Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran "strongly condemned the aggressive attack carried out by the Zionist regime against a residential building" in the Damascus area.  The strike on an apartment Sunday belonging to the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, killed nine people including a Hezbollah commander, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said.  Baghaei called for measures against Israel, including "an arms embargo" and its "expulsion from the United Nations."  Regional tensions have soared since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, triggered by the Palestinian Hamas militant group's unprecedented attack on Israel.  The conflict has drawn in Tehran-aligned militants in the region and included rare direct attacks between Iran and Israel.  Since Syria's civil war broke out in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria, mainly targeting army positions and fighters including from Hezbollah.  Israeli authorities rarely comment on the strikes but have repeatedly said they will not allow arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence in Syria.

The United States said Tuesday that Israel has made limited progress on increasing the flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip as Washington requested, so the Biden administration will not limit arms transfers to Israel. State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters that "we at this time have not made an assessment that the Israelis are in violation of U.S. law." The administration told its ally on October 13 that it had one month to increase aid to Gaza, where the situation after 13 months of war between Israel and Hamas militants has unleashed a catastrophic humanitarian situation, or face a reduction in military aid. The deadline was Tuesday. “We are not giving Israel a pass," Patel said, adding that "we want to see the totality of the humanitarian situation improve, and we think some of these steps will allow the conditions for that to continue to progress." Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israel’s top national security adviser, Ron Dermer, in Washington on Monday to go over the steps that Israel has taken. At the United Nations, U.S. envoy Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council that Israel has taken some important steps, including restoring aid deliveries to the north, but that it must ensure its actions are “fully implemented and its improvements sustained over time.” “And we continue to reiterate, there must be no forcible displacement nor policy of starvation in Gaza, which would have grave implications under U.S. and international law,” she said. A senior U.N. human rights official said at the same meeting that the entry and distribution of aid into Gaza has fallen to “some of the lowest levels in a year” and criticized Israel’s conduct of military operations in the north. “All states, consistent with their obligations under international law, must therefore assess arms sales or transfers and provision of military, logistical or financial support to a party to the conflict, with a view to ending such support if this risks serious violations of international law,” Ilze Brands Kehris, U.N. assistant secretary-general for human rights, said. Israel denies it is limiting aid to Gaza, blaming the U.N. and aid agencies for slow distribution and Hamas for stealing it. Earlier Tuesday, eight international aid organizations said that of 19 measures of compliance with the U.S. demands, Israel failed to comply with 15 and only partially complied with four. "Israel not only failed to meet the U.S. criteria that would indicate support to the humanitarian response, but concurrently took actions that dramatically worsened the situation on the ground, particularly in Northern Gaza," the report said. “That situation is in an even more dire state today than a month ago.” Asked what grade the United Nations would give Israel, spokesperson Stephane Dujarric would not offer one, but said, “I think from what we've been telling you over the last few days and frankly much longer, it's pretty clear that we're nowhere near what we need.” While aid entering Gaza is insufficient overall, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says it is especially bad in northern Gaza, where 85% of its attempts to coordinate aid convoys and humanitarian visits in October were denied or impeded. “As I brief you, Israeli authorities are blocking humanitarian assistance from entering North Gaza, where fighting continues, and around 75,000 people remain with dwindling water and food supplies,” acting humanitarian chief Joyce Msuya told the Security Council meeting. “Conditions of life across Gaza are unfit for human survival,” she said. Famine alert On Friday, U.N.-backed food security experts issued an urgent warning, saying there is a strong likelihood that famine is occurring or imminent in parts of northern Gaza and that immediate action is needed to avert a catastrophe. “By the time famine has been declared, people are already dying of hunger, with irreversible consequences that can last generations,” Rein Paulsen told the Security Council meeting. Paulsen is the director of the Office of Emergencies and Resilience at the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization. “The window of opportunity to deliver this assistance is now, today, not tomorrow,” he said. Israel’s U.N. ambassador told reporters ahead of the council meeting that the report by the famine committee of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC as the experts are known, is “harmful propaganda” and “filled with baseless and slanderous claims” against Israel. “As I have said here in the past, there are agencies dedicated to real humanitarian work, and then there are those like the IPC, which prioritize smearing Israel over actually helping those in need,” Danny Danon said. Inside the council, he said IPC claims of imminent famine in northern Gaza are “simply false,” and that Israel facilitated over 713 trucks into the north in October. He said across Gaza, a dozen bakeries produce pita bread, and overall, Israel is allowing aid in through multiple crossing points, including the Kissufim crossing to central Gaza, which was opened on Tuesday after having been shuttered 19 years ago. “Are these the actions of a state wishing to cause a famine?” Danon asked. Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour said Israel should allow international journalists into Gaza to see for themselves whether there is famine or not. “We need international media, independent media, to go and to document exactly what is happening,” Mansour told reporters. “It is genocide in northern Gaza, and we need the international media to go and tell the story.” In 13 months of war, Israel has allowed only a few handpicked reporters to accompany its troops into Gaza on brief tours to see the Hamas tunnels. It has also shuttered the bureau of Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera in Israel. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 137 journalists and media workers have been killed, nearly all of them Palestinian. As the situation worsens, the Security Council’s 10 elected members are working on a draft resolution on the protection of civilians in the conflict and the need for an immediate cease-fire, release of hostages and scaling up of aid. Biden reaffirms support for Israel President Joe Biden reiterated his support of Israel during a Tuesday Oval Office meeting with Israel’s president and echoed the wish to see the return of the remaining hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza for more than a year. “My commitment to Israel is ironclad,” Biden told President Isaac Herzog during their morning meeting in the White House. “And we share a deep friendship.” Herzog underscored his government’s main objective: “First and foremost, we have to get the hostages back.” As President-elect Donald Trump begins to put his government together, his transition office announced Tuesday that former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee is his nominee for U.S. ambassador to Israel, and real estate investor Steve Witkoff will be his special envoy to the Middle East. Air strikes in Gaza, Beirut Israeli airstrikes killed at least 14 people in Gaza on Tuesday, Palestinian authorities said, while in Lebanon, plumes of smoke rose above Beirut’s southern suburbs less than an hour after Israeli forces told residents to evacuate. A strike early Tuesday hit a house at a refugee camp in central Gaza, killing three people, according to Al-Awda Hospital, which received the casualties. Israel's new defense minister, Israel Katz, said on X that during a meeting with military officials Tuesday, he reiterated that Israel will continue hitting Hezbollah with full force, and that there will be no cease-fire in Lebanon. The war in Gaza was triggered when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, although about one-third of them are believed to be dead. Israel's counteroffensive has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to local health authorities. The Israeli military says the death toll includes thousands of Hamas militants. The war spread to Lebanon in mid-September, after months of rocket fire from Hezbollah into Israel and drone and airstrikes by Israel’s military in south Lebanon escalated. More than 3,200 Lebanese have been killed, most of them in the past six weeks. Both Hamas and Hezbollah have been designated as terrorist organizations by the United States. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell and United Nations correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Information from The Associated Press and Reuters was used in this report.

Isniintii, 3 diyaaradood oo reer Yurub ah ayaa ku dhawaaqay inay kordhiyeen hakinta duullimaadyada ay ku…

The post Shirkadaha diyaaradaha ee Yurub ayaa kordhiyey hakinta duulimaadyadooda Israel appeared first on Horseed Media.

International aid groups say Israel hasn’t met the U.S. demand deadline for allowing more humanitarian access into the Gaza Strip. The groups say conditions are worse now than any point in the 13-month-old war. This week, the outgoing Biden administration is expected to judge whether Israel has done enough to meet a demand issued last month to get more aid flowing into Gaza. We speak to Larry Garber, former USAID Mission Director to the West Bank and Gaza.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday hosted Israel's president while President-elect Donald Trump has separately held multiple phone calls recently with Israel's head of government, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. These parallel talks have focused on the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon and hopes for the release of hostages held by Hamas. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from Washington.

Diplomacy is in full swing as U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israel's president, and President-elect Donald Trump speaks with Israel's prime minister. Fast-rising methane emissions could undermine efforts to limit global warming by mid-century, prompting scientists and policymakers to urge aggressive action to curb the output of the potent greenhouse gas. An election in Somaliland, and the fight against Boko Haram in Chad. Plus, Trump’s foreign policy.

the hague, netherlands — Dozens of people armed with sticks and firecrackers set a tram on fire in Amsterdam on Monday, police said, while the city is facing tensions following violence last week targeting fans of an Israeli soccer club. Police said the fire was quickly extinguished and riot officers cleared the square. Images online showed people damaging property and setting off firecrackers. Police said it was not clear who started the unrest or whether it was related to what happened last week. But they noted the tense atmosphere since five people were treated in the hospital and dozens detained Thursday following a Maccabi Tel Aviv-Ajax match. Youths on scooters and on foot went in search of Israeli fans, punching and kicking them and then fleeing to evade police, according to Amsterdam’s mayor. Dutch police announced five new arrests Monday in their investigation into that earlier violence. The suspects are men aged 18 to 37 and are from Amsterdam or surrounding cities. Four are still in custody; the fifth has been released but remains a suspect. Earlier, police said that four other men who had been arrested last week would remain in custody while the investigation continued. Two of those are minors, a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old from Amsterdam. The other two men are from Amsterdam and a nearby city. Police said they have identified over 170 witnesses and have taken forensics evidence from dozens. Prime Minister Dick Schoof said they were also examining videos posted to social media. Reports of antisemitic speech, vandalism and violence have been on the rise in Europe since the start of the war in Gaza, and tensions mounted in Amsterdam ahead of Thursday night’s match. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators were banned by local authorities from gathering outside the stadium. Before the match, Maccabi fans also tore a Palestinian flag off a building in Amsterdam and chanted anti-Arab slogans on their way to the stadium. There were also reports of Maccabi fans starting fights. The mayor has banned all demonstrations in the city and declared several parts of Amsterdam risk zones where police can stop and check anyone. Dozens were detained on Sunday for taking part in a pro-Palestinian demonstration in central Amsterdam that had been outlawed. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar rushed to the Netherlands on Friday and offered Israel’s help in the police investigation. He met on Saturday with the Dutch prime minister and said in a statement that the attacks and demands to show passports “were reminiscent of dark periods in history.”

The United States on Wednesday said Israel must avoid any Gaza-like military action in Lebanon after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned it risked "destruction" like that in the Palestinian territory.

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu called a vote in parliament on his new government for Thursday Dec. 29, the speaker of the Knesset said on Monday, after almost two months of coalition wrangling.  Netanyahu's bloc of right-wing and religious parties won a clear victory in parliamentary elections last month, but the veteran leader has had a harder time than expected in finalizing deals with his partners.  Despite campaigning together, Netanyahu has struggled to meet the demands of his allies, who have demanded a significant slice of power in exchange for their support.   Ahead of the vote in parliament and a formal swearing in of the new government, Netanyahu will have to officially present the members of his cabinet.  Israel's longest serving prime minister has vowed to govern for all Israelis but he will head one of the most right-wing governments in the country's history with key ministries in the hands of hardliners.  Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of the Jewish Power party will have authority for police as security minister while Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionism party will have broad authority to allow the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.  Both oppose Palestinian statehood and support extending Israeli sovereignty into the West Bank, adding another obstacle to a two-state solution, the resolution backed by Palestinian leaders, the United States and European governments.  The finance ministry is expected to be shared by Smotrich and Aryeh Deri, from the religious Shas party, with each man serving for two years. Deri's appointment will depend on parliamentary support for a legal amendment allowing him to serve despite a conviction for tax fraud.  Liberal Israelis have also been alarmed by statements from a number of other members of coalition parties against gay rights and in favor of allowing some businesses to refuse services to people based on religious grounds.  President Isaac Herzog, the head of state who stands outside day-to-day politics, said on Sunday that any threat to the rights of Israeli citizens based on their identity or values would be counter to Israel's democratic and ethical traditions. 

An anti-normalization boycott of educational organizations in Israel and Palestine is making much-needed education and dialogue more difficult.

Two decades of failed negotiations, perpetual conflict and an expanded occupation should encourage an alternative to the two-state solution.

Despite Israel's ongoing sabotage of peace talks, Turkey continues to work toward reconciliation between theocratic rivals in the Middle East.

Israel's unreasonableness, backed by U.S. opposition to Palestinian statehood, is bound to isolate Israel and undermine American influence in the region.

Through his increasingly belligerent position toward Palestinians and Iran, Netanyahu has managed to incense the United States, Israel's one indispensable ally.

Since Israel restricted Muslim access to a holy site in Jerusalem, Israelis and Palestinians have plunged into a new battle in their eternal war.

Just before the teach-in, the school’s Jewish provost called him and asked if he wanted extra security.

Israeli health experts reveal that 1 in 10 youth struggle with eating disorders, highlighting a need for urgent action.

The study surveyed 1,180 participants in Israel about their knowledge and attitudes regarding climate change and its effects on the environment.

Israel showcases climate tech at COP29 but misses deeper environmental focus.

A Vatican official arranged the encounter in Sheba, where he met with civilians and soldiers injured in the ongoing conflict, including Alon Kaminer, an Israeli soldier.

Israeli government officials have recognized this situation of a potential terrorist attack and shared a travel warning to Israelis.

Moreover, the IDF said that it marked the start of Germany building the next submarine, the Dakar, which is due to be delivered sometime in the next decade.

Speculation spiked after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu replaced Gallant with Katz that the attempts to draft Haredim would be halted, given Netanyahu and the haredi coalition parties' opposition.