Benjamin Netanyahu

January 16, 2025 8:41 AM

Israel, Hamas ceasefire accord followed by airstrikes on Gaza, residents say

Israel intensified strikes on Gaza hours after a ceasefire and hostage release deal was announced, residents and authorities in the Palestinian enclave said, and mediators sought to quell fighting ahead of the truce's start on Sunday. The complex ceasefire accord between Israel and militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, emerged on Wednesday after months of mediation by Qatar, Egypt and the U.S. and 15 months of bloodshed that devastated the coastal territory and inflamed the Middle East. ...

January 13, 2025 9:28 AM

Joe Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu discuss progress on Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal

US President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the progress of ongoing negotiations regarding the ceasefire-hostage deal in relation to the situation in Gaza, the White House said in a statement on Sunday (local time). Currently, negotiation on the Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal is taking place in Doha, Qatar, which involves a high-level Israeli delegation including Mossad Director David Barnea, Director of Israel's Internal Security Agency Ronen Bar, Netany...

January 10, 2025 9:54 AM

US House votes to sanction International Criminal Court over Israel

The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Thursday to sanction the International Criminal Court to protest its issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister over Israel's campaign in Gaza. The vote was 243 to 140 in favor of the "Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act," which would sanction any foreigner who investigates, arrests, detains or prosecutes U.S. citizens or those of an allied country, including Israel, who are not members of ...

November 22, 2024 11:21 AM

US Senate rejects bids to block military sales to Israel

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday (November 20) voted overwhelmingly to block three resolutions that would have halted the transfer of some U.S. weapons to Israel, introduced by progressives concerned about the human rights catastrophe faced by Palestinians in Gaza. All of the votes in favor came from the Democratic caucus, while "no" votes came from both Democrats and Republicans, underscoring the divide within President Biden's Democratic party over policy toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Ne...

November 11, 2024 10:20 AM

Israeli PM Netanyahu admits Israel’s role in Hezbollah pager, walkie-talkie attacks

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time during Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting, admitted that Israel was behind the attacks on Hezbollah's pager and walkie-talkies, which killed at least 39 people and wounded over 3,000, as reported by The Times of Israel. The attacks, carried out on September 17 and 18, targeted thousands of handheld pagers and hundreds of walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members across Lebanon and Syria. "The pager operation and the elimination of Hezboll...

November 6, 2024 6:47 PM

Israeli government celebrates Trump’s election triumph

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters celebrated Donald Trump's election as president, hailing what a leader of the Israeli settler movement called an ally who would support them "unconditionally". Congratulating Republican Trump, Netanyahu said the former president had made "history's greatest comeback". "Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America," he said in a ...

November 6, 2024 9:22 AM

Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu fires defence minister over ‘lack of trust’

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant citing lack of trust, Times of Israel reported. Gallant, who was a longtime rival from within the Likud Party, will be replaced by Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz. Minister without Portfolio Gideon Sa'ar will replace Katz, as per Times of Israel. Times of Israel quoted a statement from the Prime Minister's Office which stated that Netanyahu informed Gallant that his tenure as the Defence Minister would end "4...

October 29, 2024 10:18 AM

Israel votes to ban UN relief agency aiding Palestinians

Israel's parliament passed a law on Monday to ban the UN relief agency UNRWA from operating inside the country, alarming some of Israel's Western allies who fear it will worsen the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. Israeli officials cited the involvement of a handful of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees' thousands of staffers in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel and a few staffers' membership in Hamas and other armed groups. "UNRWA worke...

October 9, 2024 8:58 AM

Israel has eliminated Nasrallah’s ‘successors’, says Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the country's forces have successfully targeted and eliminated potential successors to Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed during precision strikes on the Lebanese capital Beirut by Isreali Defence Forces. In a video message released on Tuesday (local time), Netanyahu said, "We've degraded Hezbollah's capabilities. We took out thousands of terrorists, including Nasrallah himself and Nasrallah's replacement, and the repl...

October 7, 2024 5:22 PM

How the world is marking Oct. 7 attack on Israel, start of Gaza war

People around the world were holding vigils, ceremonies and protests to mark the first anniversary of the Hamas-led attack on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza, as fighting raged on in the enclave on Monday. The militants killed some 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages to Gaza on Oct. 7 last year, according to Israeli figures. Nearly 42,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities, and most of the 2.3-million-strong population displaced. Pro-Palest...