State television on Wednesday night carried a statement by the Martyrs Foundation providing the toll and saying 2,427 of the dead in the demonstrations that began Dec. 28 were civilians and security forces. It did not elaborate on the rest.
Middle East News
Israel said the Gaza executive committee “was not coordinated with Israel and is contrary to its policy,” without details.
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that Donald Trump championed has mostly held, but progress has slowed recently.
The vote was a crucial next step for the fragile ceasefire and efforts to outline Gaza’s future following two years of war between Israel and Hamas.
The remains of four hostages are still in Gaza after Palestinian militants released the remains of another on Sunday.
With Monday’s return, the bodies of 270 Palestinians have been handed back since the start of the ceasefire.
The families of hostages are in a foggy limbo distinct from grieving, even as tight-knit Israel mourns the more than 1,400 people killed by terrorists.
Israeli forces appeared to be moving closer to an all-out invasion to crush the ruling Hamas terrorist group.
The U.S. military launched airstrikes early Friday on two locations in eastern Syria linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Pentagon said.
Soldiers killed fighters and destroyed terrorist infrastructure and anti-tank missile launching positions in Gaza, the military said.
President Joe Biden said he has not directly sought assurances from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel will hold off on an expected ground invasion into Gaza before hostages can be released.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has approved Jacob Lew to be ambassador to Israel, moving quickly to get him in place during the country’s new war with Hamas.
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s administration is linking a pro-Palestinian student organization to terrorism and is ordering state universities to ban the group from campuses.
The prospect of Israeli forces launching an assault into Gaza’s dense urban neighborhoods, where terrorists use civilians as human shields, brings back searing memories of the deadly battles the U.S.-led coalition fought against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
Officials told The Wall Street Journal that Israel has agreed to an American request to get proper air defenses in place before a ground invasion of Gaza.
Israeli officials were outraged Wednesday that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ said the Oct. 7 Hamas attack “did not happen in a vacuum.”
Israel Foreign Minister Eli Cohen also dismissed calls for “proportionality” in the country’s response to Hamas’ surprise attacks that killed 1,400 people.
A Lebanese politician allied with Hezbollah said Tuesday that Lebanon would not initiate a war with Israel but would defend itself if attacked.
Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, described the harrowing Oct. 7 assault on her kibbutz by Hamas terrorists and the terror of being taken hostage into the Gaza Strip.
Washington is speeding multiple sophisticated air defense systems to the Middle East days ahead of an anticipated ground counterattack on Gaza.
Israeli troops found instructions for dispersing cyanide gas on a Hamas terrorist’s body