Hamas | DD News

June 6, 2024 12:30 PM

Diminished Hamas switches to full insurgent mode in Gaza

Hamas has seen about half its forces wiped out in eight months of war and is relying on hit-and-run insurgent tactics to frustrate Israel's attempts to take control of Gaza, U.S. and Israeli officials told Reuters. The enclave's ruling group has been reduced to between 9,000 and 12,000 fighters, according to three senior U.S. officials familiar with battlefield developments, down from American estimates of 20,000-25,000 before the conflict. By contrast, Israel says it has lost almost 30...

June 6, 2024 9:47 AM

At least 27 killed in Israeli strike on UN school in Gaza, local media says

Israel targeted a Gaza school on Thursday that it said contained an Hamas compound, killing fighters involved in the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the eight-month war, but Gaza media said the strike killed at least 27 people seeking shelter. Ismail Al-Thawabta, the director of the Hamas-run government media office, rejected Israel's claims that the U.N. school in Nuseirat, in central Gaza, had hidden a Hamas command post. "The occupation uses lying to the public opinion through false fabricated s...

June 5, 2024 4:09 PM

Hamas wants Israel to commit to permanent ceasefire, full withdrawal from Gaza

Hamas cannot agree to any deal unless Israel makes a "clear" commitment to a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, a senior official from the Palestinian militant group said on Tuesday. Qatar, which alongside the United States and Egypt has been mediating talks between Hamas and Israel, has also urged Israel to provide a clear position that has the backing of its entire government to reach a deal. "We cannot agree to an agreement that doesn't secure, guarantee, and...

June 4, 2024 3:57 PM

Four more Israeli hostages died in Gaza captivity, Israel’s military says

The Israeli military said another four Israeli hostages abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7 had died in captivity and that their bodies are being held by the Palestinian Islamist group. The four men were identified as Chaim Peri, 80, Yoram Metzger, 80, Amiram Cooper, 84, and Nadav Popplewell, 51. All four were filmed alive in hostage videos posted by Hamas. Hamas said that Popplewell had died of wounds sustained during an Israeli air strike when posting his video last month. Military spokesperson Rea...

June 3, 2024 11:56 AM

Biden’s Gaza plan ‘not a good deal’ but Israel accepts it, says PM Netanyahu aide

An aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Sunday that Israel had accepted a framework deal for winding down the Gaza war now being advanced by U.S. President Joe Biden, though he described it as flawed and in need of much more work. In an interview with Britain's Sunday Times, Ophir Falk, chief foreign policy advisor to Netanyahu, said Biden's proposal was "a deal we agreed to — it's not a good deal but we dearly want the hostages released, all of them". "There are a lot of d...

June 1, 2024 7:31 PM

Netanyahu says no Gaza ceasefire until Hamas destroyed

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday there could be no permanent ceasefire in Gaza until Hamas was destroyed, casting doubt on a key part of a truce proposal that U.S. President Joe Biden said Israel itself had made. Biden said on Friday that Israel had proposed a deal involving an initial six-week truce with a partial Israeli military withdrawal and the release of some hostages while the two sides negotiated "a permanent end to hostilities". However, Netanyahu's statemen...

May 30, 2024 9:19 AM

Israel warns war in Gaza may extend seven more months

An Israeli official cautioned Wednesday that the war in Gaza might persist until the year's end, casting doubt on hopes that the fighting would cease after the military operation against Hamas in Rafah. Tzachi Hanegbi, Israel's national security adviser, indicated that 2024 had been designated a "year of combat" by Israel's war cabinet. "We are now in the fifth month of 2024, which means we expect another seven months of fighting to deepen our achievements and achieve our goal of destroying the...

May 29, 2024 10:03 AM

U.S. says latest Rafah deaths won’t change Israel policy, military aid

The Biden administration said on Tuesday it was closely monitoring the probe into a deadly Israeli airstrike it called tragic, but that the recent deaths in Rafah didn't constitute a major ground operation there that crosses any U.S. red lines. "The Israelis have said this is a tragic mistake," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at the White House, when asked about whether the events over the weekend qualified as the type of "death and destruction" U.S. officials h...

May 28, 2024 5:24 PM

Ireland officially recognises Palestinian state

Ireland officially recognised a Palestinian state on Tuesday, the government said in a statement, defying Israel which had condemned the plan. The government approved the recognition in a cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning. "The Government recognises Palestine as a sovereign and independent state and agreed to establish full diplomatic relations between Dublin and Ramallah," the statement said. "An Ambassador of Ireland to the State of Palestine will be appointed along with a full Embassy of ...

May 28, 2024 11:10 AM

Spain, Ireland, Norway set to recognise Palestinian statehood

Spain, Ireland and Norway will officially recognise a Palestinian state on Tuesday, despite an angry reaction from Israel, which has found itself increasingly isolated after seven months of conflict in Gaza. About 144 of the 193 member-states of the United Nations recognise a Palestinian state, including most of the global south, Russia, China and India. Madrid, Dublin and Oslo have painted their decision as a way to accelerate efforts to secure a ceasefire in Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza. ...