https://www.scmp.com/rss/521485/feed Hamas is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islamist political organisation with a militant wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades. Hamas was founded in 1987, emerging from the Muslim Brotherhood. Headquartered in Gaza City, it has functioned as the de facto governing authority in the Gaza Strip since seizing control in 2007. Its primary mission is the establishment of an independent Islamic state in historical Palestine, pursuing this through armed resistance against Israeli occupation. Hamas also provides... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Associated Press Associated Press Israeli lawmakers approved a bill on Monday setting up a special tribunal that would try and have the authority to sentence to death Palestinians convicted of taking part in the 2023 Hamas-led attack that triggered the war in Gaza. The measure passed 93-0 in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament, reflecting widespread support for punishing those found responsible for what was the deadliest attack in Israel’s history. The remaining 27 lawmakers were absent or abstained from voting. Rights groups... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3353236/israel-pushes-ahead-eichmann-style-tribunal-october-7-attackers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3353236/israel-pushes-ahead-eichmann-style-tribunal-october-7-attackers?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 May 2026 06:19:43 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Israel deported two activists on Sunday after being detained near Greece for slightly over a week for leading an aid flotilla attempting to break the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. The two, Spanish-Swedish citizen of Palestinian origin Saif Abukeshek and Brazilian citizen Thiago Ávila, were among dozens of activists intercepted by the Israeli navy off the coast of Crete. Both are members of the Global Sumud Flotilla’s steering committee, whose mission is to break Israel’s naval... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3353043/spanish-brazilian-flotilla-activists-released-after-detention-israel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3353043/spanish-brazilian-flotilla-activists-released-after-detention-israel?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 May 2026 10:06:06 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Two foreign activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla who were brought to Israel for interrogation appeared before an Israeli court on Sunday, according to the rights group defending them. The flotilla of more than 50 vessels had set sail from France, Spain and Italy with the aim of breaking an Israeli blockade of Gaza and bringing supplies to the devastated Palestinian territory. They were intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters off Greece early on Thursday, with Israel saying it had... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3352266/gaza-flotilla-activists-detained-israel-face-extreme-brutality?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3352266/gaza-flotilla-activists-detained-israel-face-extreme-brutality?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 May 2026 08:34:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The UK government said on Thursday that the country was facing an antisemitism emergency and pledged to increase security for Jewish communities after a string of arson attacks and a double stabbing that have sparked fear and anger among Jews. The country’s official terror threat level was raised from substantial to severe after Wednesday’s stabbing attack in London, which police have called an act of terrorism with potential links to Iran. Severe is the second-highest rung on a five-point scale... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3352030/uk-tackle-antisemitism-emergency-police-probe-double-stabbing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3352030/uk-tackle-antisemitism-emergency-police-probe-double-stabbing?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Apr 2026 09:49:05 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Israeli forces near the southern Greek island of Crete intercepted more than 20 boats from a flotilla of several dozen seeking to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza and planned to transport about 175 detained activists to Greece on Thursday, Israeli authorities said. Activists aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla said Israeli forces stormed their vessels overnight, smashing engines and detaining some of those on board while they were sailing in international waters near Greece, hundreds of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3351997/israel-intercepts-gaza-aid-flotilla-international-waters-greece-detaining-dozens?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3351997/israel-intercepts-gaza-aid-flotilla-international-waters-greece-detaining-dozens?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Apr 2026 08:19:37 +0000 Dewey Sim Dewey Sim Lebanon’s social affairs minister has backed calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah, but cautioned the process would take time before a “political settlement” could be reached, noting that the group is also a “community”. Haneen Sayed told a discussion in Washington on Monday that disarming Hezbollah – an Iran-backed militant group – was a demand of her government and its people, and that it “must happen”. “Of course, we understand that implementation is not easy. It’s not instant coffee. It... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3351621/hezbollah-disarmament-must-happen-senior-lebanese-minister-tells-us-think-tank?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3351621/hezbollah-disarmament-must-happen-senior-lebanese-minister-tells-us-think-tank?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Apr 2026 18:33:04 +0000 Reuters Reuters Two of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s most formidable political rivals said on Sunday they were joining forces in a bid to oust his coalition government in the coming election expected later this year. The former prime ministers - right-wing Naftali Bennett and centrist Yair Lapid - issued statements announcing the merger of their parties, Bennett 2026 and There is a Future. “We are standing here together for the sake of our ‌children. The State of Israel must change direction,”... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3351517/netanyahus-biggest-rivals-join-forces-israels-coming-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3351517/netanyahus-biggest-rivals-join-forces-israels-coming-election?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Apr 2026 03:55:49 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Palestinians on Saturday buried a woman pregnant with twins and two of her children who were among at least 13 people killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza. The toll on Friday included two men who were killed in Gaza City, and eight others killed in the southern city of Khan Younis, according to local hospitals. Officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said the eight people, including four police officers, were killed after Israel targeted a police vehicle. While the heaviest fighting has mostly... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3351438/palestinians-bury-pregnant-woman-and-2-her-children-killed-israeli-attacks-gaza?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3351438/palestinians-bury-pregnant-woman-and-2-her-children-killed-israeli-attacks-gaza?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Apr 2026 14:57:07 +0000 dpa dpa Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip killed more than 38,000 women and girls between October 2023 and the end of 2025, a UN report published on Friday showed. Palestinian health authorities put the estimated total death toll by the end of 2025 at just over 71,000, rising to more than 72,000 by mid-April as Israel continued sporadic attacks despite a ceasefire with the Islamist group Hamas. According to the analysis by UN Women, this means over half of all the victims in Gaza by the end of 2025 were... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3350527/israeli-attacks-killed-over-38000-women-girls-gaza-october-2023-un-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3350527/israeli-attacks-killed-over-38000-women-girls-gaza-october-2023-un-says?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Apr 2026 13:42:52 +0000 Asad Ullah Asad Ullah The conventional indictment runs like this: blinded by ideology and captured by special interests, the US and Israel have blundered into a region they never understood, sowing instability they neither anticipated nor desired. It is a damning argument. It also happens to be, in one important respect, too generous. The more unsettling possibility, supported by two decades of observable behaviour, is that these policies produce not disorder as a side effect but something far more useful: a conflict... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3349970/who-profits-most-us-israel-iran-stalemate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3349970/who-profits-most-us-israel-iran-stalemate?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Apr 2026 12:30:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Sunday he was working to stop the Israel-Hezbollah war, even as Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu told troops in south Lebanon that the fight there was far from over. The Lebanese Red Cross said in a statement that one of its paramedics had been killed in the south. They said its teams had been “directly targeted by an Israeli drone” while on a humanitarian mission, even though “the ambulances and their crews bore the protective Red Cross... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349819/israels-netanyahu-south-lebanon-says-threat-invasion-removed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349819/israels-netanyahu-south-lebanon-says-threat-invasion-removed?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Apr 2026 19:10:38 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Friday marks six months since Gaza’s ceasefire deal took effect, a milestone largely lost in the confusion over the new and even more fragile ceasefire in the Iran war. The ravaged Palestinian territory of 2 million people has seen the most intense fighting stop between Israeli forces and Hamas-led militants. But most of the ceasefire work remains to be done, from disarming Hamas and ending its two-decade rule to deploying an international stabilisation force and beginning vast reconstruction.... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349651/gaza-marks-6-months-ceasefire-does-it-offer-lessons-iran-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349651/gaza-marks-6-months-ceasefire-does-it-offer-lessons-iran-war?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Apr 2026 09:14:41 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Three assailants opened fire at police outside a building housing the Israeli consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday, sparking a gunfight that left one attacker dead, Turkish officials said. The two other assailants were captured with injuries. Two police officers sustained slight injuries in the clash, Istanbul Governor Davut Gul told reporters. The assailants were carrying long-barrelled weapons. Interior Minister Mustafa Cifti wrote on X that the attackers had travelled to Istanbul from the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3349279/least-2-dead-gunfight-outside-israeli-consulate-istanbul?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3349279/least-2-dead-gunfight-outside-israeli-consulate-istanbul?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Apr 2026 10:42:59 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain Pakistan is hoping that its role in building a diplomatic off-ramp from the US-Israel war on Iran will enable it to become a key actor in the Middle East after the conflict ends, analysts say. If Islamabad can deliver without being sucked into the maelstrom, it can capitalise on its position as peacemaker by signing defence deals with Gulf monarchies and attracting investment from them to strengthen its weak economy. This will help finance Pakistan’s military expansion for its envisioned new... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3348621/pakistan-eyes-gulf-investment-defence-deals-return-playing-peacemaker-iran-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3348621/pakistan-eyes-gulf-investment-defence-deals-return-playing-peacemaker-iran-war?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Apr 2026 05:21:16 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The Israeli military has suspended a battalion whose soldiers assaulted a CNN crew in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in a rare case of punishment for soldier misconduct. The army announced on Monday it was suspending the Netzah Yehuda battalion after soldiers were filmed assaulting the CNN crew last week. Netzah Yehuda is a unit of ultra-Orthodox soldiers that has been linked to abuses of Palestinian civilians in the past, including the death of a 78-year-old Palestinian American man after his... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348440/israel-suspends-military-unit-assaulted-cnn-crew-west-bank?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348440/israel-suspends-military-unit-assaulted-cnn-crew-west-bank?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Mar 2026 13:41:57 +0000 Agencies Agencies Four European countries have called on Israel to abandon a bill seeking to revive the death penalty for people convicted of acts of terrorism, a measure opponents say would target only Palestinians. In a joint statement on Sunday ahead of an anticipated final vote in the Knesset on Monday, foreign ministers from France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom expressed their “deep concern” about the bill. “The death penalty is an inhumane and degrading form of punishment without any deterring... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348328/european-countries-appeal-israel-abandon-plans-revive-death-penalty?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348328/european-countries-appeal-israel-abandon-plans-revive-death-penalty?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Mar 2026 22:26:50 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that Israel will widen its invasion of southern Lebanon. Netanyahu said Israel would expand what he called the “existing security strip” in Lebanon as Israeli forces continue to target the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group. “We are determined to fundamentally change the situation in the north,” he said on a visit to northern Israel, adding that “Hezbollah still has residual capability to fire rockets at us”. There were no immediate... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348324/netanyahu-says-israel-will-widen-its-invasion-southern-lebanon?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348324/netanyahu-says-israel-will-widen-its-invasion-southern-lebanon?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Mar 2026 17:59:50 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A series of strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday and early Tuesday, the first attack on the Hezbollah stronghold in days, as Israel’s military said it captured two members of the Iran-backed group in southern Lebanon. An earlier Israeli strike hit the upscale, predominantly Christian area of Hazmieh near Beirut, with Israel saying it targeted a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ foreign operations arm. AFPTV’s live broadcast showed clouds of smoke over the capital’s southern... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347646/israel-strikes-south-beirut-claims-it-captured-hezbollah-members?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347646/israel-strikes-south-beirut-claims-it-captured-hezbollah-members?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Mar 2026 23:24:05 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Hundreds of people turned out in London on Sunday for a pro-Palestinian march banned by the government after police said it was organised by a group “supportive of the Iranian regime”. Police said in a statement they had arrested 12 people and were investigating anti-Israeli chants allegedly made at the rally. Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood said earlier this week she had agreed to the ban to “prevent serious public disorder” in the context of the continuing conflict in the Middle East, where... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3346690/police-arrest-12-hundreds-join-banned-pro-palestinian-march-london?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3346690/police-arrest-12-hundreds-join-banned-pro-palestinian-march-london?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2026 19:43:29 +0000 Agencies Agencies Gaza’s ⁠main gateway, ⁠the Rafah crossing with Egypt that was closed at the start of ‌the Iran war, will open on Wednesday for limited movement of people in both directions, Israel’s COGAT, the ⁠military body in charge of humanitarian ‌matters, said on Sunday. The crossing had reopened ‌in early February after being largely ⁠shut ⁠since May 2024, in the ‌early months of Israel’s war against Hamas ‌in ‌Gaza. Its reopening offered ‌some relief to Palestinians who ⁠want to leave Gaza for ⁠medical... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346689/gazas-rafah-crossing-open-wednesday-limited-movement-people-israel-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346689/gazas-rafah-crossing-open-wednesday-limited-movement-people-israel-says?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2026 18:49:00 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Turkey expressed deep concern on Saturday over Israel’s ongoing strikes on Lebanon, voicing fears it could commit “a new genocide” under the guise of fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah. “We are frankly concerned [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is moving toward a new genocide under the pretext of fighting Hezbollah,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told a news conference. “The international community must act as soon as possible in the face of the crimes that Israel continues to... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346629/israel-may-commit-new-genocide-lebanon-using-iran-war-pretext-turkey-warns?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346629/israel-may-commit-new-genocide-lebanon-using-iran-war-pretext-turkey-warns?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 17:40:47 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Saturday called on Iran to refrain from targeting neighbouring countries, while affirming Tehran’s right to defend itself against Israel and the United States. In a rare appeal, Hamas also urged the international community to take steps to end the war that has gripped the Middle East since it began on February 28. “While affirming the right of the Islamic Republic of Iran to respond to this aggression by all available means in accordance with international... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346608/hamas-calls-iran-avoid-targeting-neighbouring-countries?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346608/hamas-calls-iran-avoid-targeting-neighbouring-countries?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 11:30:07 +0000 Reuters Reuters Talks to advance US President Donald Trump’s plan to ⁠end the Gaza war have been on hold since last week when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran, sparking a broader Middle East war, three sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations said. The pause threatens to stall implementation of Trump’s flagship Middle East peace initiative, which he has cast as a major foreign policy objective. It comes less than a month after he secured billions of dollars in pledges for Gaza from Gulf Arab... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346040/trumps-gaza-plan-hold-iran-war-halts-disarmament-talks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346040/trumps-gaza-plan-hold-iran-war-halts-disarmament-talks?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Mar 2026 03:33:18 +0000 Donald Rothwell Donald Rothwell The Iranian diaspora has been celebrating and governments around the world have generally not mourned the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in last weekend’s US and Israeli air strikes on Iran. While there has been much political justification for these attacks from Washington and Israel, neither has sought to legally justify their conduct. No real effort has been made to reference the acknowledged right of self-defence, most likely because the evidence did not exist. In other words, there was no... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3345741/australia-needs-make-its-stance-iran-attacks-known?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3345741/australia-needs-make-its-stance-iran-attacks-known?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Mar 2026 04:00:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Some Palestinians say they fear the widening war sparked by US and Israeli attacks against Iran could overshadow the fragile situation in Gaza, just over a week after US President Donald Trump rallied billions of dollars in pledges for the territory’s reconstruction and tried to nudge a ceasefire forward. Residents said they were scared of neglect and deprivation, with Israel in the wake of the weekend strikes closing all crossings into their shattered territory of over 2 million people. COGAT,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345115/gazas-recovery-was-making-progress-it-risks-being-overshadowed-another-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345115/gazas-recovery-was-making-progress-it-risks-being-overshadowed-another-war?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Mar 2026 08:10:31 +0000 Marco Vicenzino Marco Vicenzino The coordinated US and Israeli strikes inside Iran mark more than another episode in a long-running confrontation. They represent a structural escalation – one whose consequences extend well beyond the Middle East. This is not the start of a new war. It is the next stage in a conflict that has been unfolding since October 2023, gradually shifting from proxy exchanges and shadow operations to direct state-on-state confrontation. On February 28, Washington moved from strategic backstop to visible... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3344982/us-israeli-strike-iran-signals-new-phase-global-escalation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3344982/us-israeli-strike-iran-signals-new-phase-global-escalation?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Feb 2026 13:20:08 +0000 Resty Woro Yuniar Resty Woro Yuniar Indonesia’s decision to accept a deputy commander post in the United States-led International Stabilisation Force (ISF) for Gaza has placed it in a position to play a prominent role in the mission as it prepares to deploy thousands of troops to the war-torn enclave. While the Indonesian government has stressed that its personnel would focus on protecting civilians and supporting humanitarian efforts, analysts say the ISF’s broader objectives – including the disarmament of Palestinian armed... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3344477/why-indonesias-lead-role-gaza-peacekeeping-force-carries-high-political-risk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3344477/why-indonesias-lead-role-gaza-peacekeeping-force-carries-high-political-risk?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Feb 2026 10:31:59 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain US President Donald Trump declared the war in Gaza “over” at his inaugural “Board of Peace” meeting on Thursday, even as regional analysts warned that Israeli military operations could resume within weeks. At the gathering in Washington, attended by senior officials from more than 20 countries, promises of reconstruction and a “bright future” for Gaza were coupled with blunt US warnings that the alternative to disarmament would be a return to war. Outside the meeting, Israeli officials... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3344087/trump-says-gaza-war-over-analysts-warn-fighting-could-resume-within-weeks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3344087/trump-says-gaza-war-over-analysts-warn-fighting-could-resume-within-weeks?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Feb 2026 05:33:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse US President Donald Trump on Thursday promised US$10 billion and Muslim-majority nations offered funding and troops for Gaza as he inaugurated his “Board of Peace”, a new institution whose ultimate mission has drawn questions. Trump brought together allies from around the world - many authoritarians, with few Western democrats who traditionally ally with the United States - to hail his peacemaking just as he sends US military might near Iran and threatens war. Presiding with a gavel over the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3344048/trump-kicks-his-board-peace-war-clouds-loom-over-iran?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3344048/trump-kicks-his-board-peace-war-clouds-loom-over-iran?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Feb 2026 17:06:55 +0000 Reuters Reuters Hamas is cementing its hold over Gaza by placing loyalists in key government roles, collecting taxes and paying salaries, according to an Israeli military assessment and sources in the Palestinian enclave. Hamas’ continuing influence over key Gaza power structures has fuelled widespread scepticism about the prospects of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, which requires the militant group to give up its weapons in exchange for an Israeli military withdrawal from the territory. Trump’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3344014/can-trumps-board-peace-succeed-while-hamas-still-runs-gaza?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3344014/can-trumps-board-peace-succeed-while-hamas-still-runs-gaza?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Feb 2026 09:47:12 +0000 dpa dpa The militant Palestinian organisation Hamas used emojis to signal to its fighters the start of the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the Israeli TV channel N12 reported on Monday. It cited the Israeli army as its source but a military spokeswoman was initially unable to officially confirm the story. According to the report, the emojis were found on mobile phones belonging to members of Hamas’ elite Nukhba Forces unit, which were seized by the Israelis on the day of the attack. The specific... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3343774/hamas-used-emojis-signal-start-october-7-2023-attack-israel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3343774/hamas-used-emojis-signal-start-october-7-2023-attack-israel?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Feb 2026 19:23:12 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Israel will begin a contentious land regulation process in a large part of the occupied West Bank, which could result in Israel gaining control over wide swathes of the area for future development, according to a government decision on Sunday. It paves the way for the resumption of “settlement of land title” processes, which had been frozen in the West Bank since the Mideast War in 1967. It means that when Israel begins the land registration process for a certain area, anyone with a claim to the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3343652/israel-will-begin-contentious-west-bank-land-registration-new-step-deepen-control?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3343652/israel-will-begin-contentious-west-bank-land-registration-new-step-deepen-control?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Feb 2026 18:26:15 +0000 Reuters Reuters Israel fired air strikes across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, killing at least 11 Palestinians, Palestinian officials said, in what the military called a response to ceasefire violations by Palestinian militant group Hamas. Gaza doctors said an Israeli air strike on a tent encampment housing displaced families killed at least four people, while health officials said another strike killed five in Khan Younis in the south ‌and another person was shot dead in the north. Air strikes also targeted what... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3343640/israeli-air-strikes-kill-11-gaza-say-palestinian-officials?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3343640/israeli-air-strikes-kill-11-gaza-say-palestinian-officials?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Feb 2026 13:21:35 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Over a hundred top figures from the world of entertainment signed an open letter on Saturday in support of UN Palestinian human rights expert Francesca Albanese, who faces calls to resign over comments about the war in Gaza. France and Germany have called for Albanese to step down over remarks last weekend in which she referred to a “common enemy of humanity” after criticising “most of the world” and the media for enabling Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza. Critics and Israel have accused the UN... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3343596/world-artists-back-palestine-rapporteur-francesca-albanese-despite-criticism?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3343596/world-artists-back-palestine-rapporteur-francesca-albanese-despite-criticism?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Feb 2026 15:17:56 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Award-winning Indian writer Arundhati Roy has said she is withdrawing from the Berlin Film Festival over jury president Wim Wenders’ comments that cinema should “stay out of politics” when asked about Gaza. Roy said in a statement on Friday that she was “shocked and disgusted” by responses from Wenders and other jury members to a question about the Palestinian territory at a press conference the day before. Roy, whose novel The God of Small Things won the 1997 Booker Prize, had been announced as... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3343567/indian-author-arundhati-roy-quits-berlinale-after-stay-out-politics-gaza-comments?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3343567/indian-author-arundhati-roy-quits-berlinale-after-stay-out-politics-gaza-comments?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Feb 2026 06:12:02 +0000 Kyodo Kyodo During an entrance exam for a top middle school in Japan in January, students were asked to read two poems depicting life in Palestine and write responses to key passages. Controversy soon followed on Japanese social media over the use of the material related to war and displacement. Some criticised the test section as politically one-sided for lacking Israeli views, while others praised the school for choosing a subject that, despite its complexities, has galvanised the world after much... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3343564/top-japanese-school-faces-backlash-over-palestinian-poetry-entrance-exam?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3343564/top-japanese-school-faces-backlash-over-palestinian-poetry-entrance-exam?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Feb 2026 05:07:59 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Australia is demanding criminal charges over a 2024 Israeli air strike on an aid convoy in Gaza that killed seven people, including an Australian aid worker, the country’s prime minister said on Wednesday in a case that has drawn sweeping condemnation and strained relations between the two countries. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he conveyed the request to visiting Israeli President Isaac Herzog during a meeting earlier in the day. Australian Zomi Frankcom was one of four World Central... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3343184/australia-presses-israels-herzog-criminal-charges-over-strike-killing-zomi-frankcom?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3343184/australia-presses-israels-herzog-criminal-charges-over-strike-killing-zomi-frankcom?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Feb 2026 09:10:36 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A top Israeli official said on Tuesday that measures adopted by the government that deepen Israeli control in the occupied West Bank amounted to implementing “de facto sovereignty”, using language that mirrors critics’ warnings about the intent behind the moves. The steps “actually establish a fact on the ground that there will not be a Palestinian state,” Energy Minister Eli Cohen told Israel’s Army Radio. Palestinians, Arab countries and human rights groups have called the moves announced... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3343094/israels-de-facto-sovereignty-over-west-bank-ends-future-palestinian-state-minister?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3343094/israels-de-facto-sovereignty-over-west-bank-ends-future-palestinian-state-minister?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Feb 2026 13:09:10 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Hanadi Abu Zant has not been able to pay rent on her flat in the occupied West Bank for nearly a year after losing her permit to work inside Israel. When her landlord calls the police on her, she hides in a mosque. “My biggest fear is being kicked out of my home. Where will we sleep, on the street?” she said, wiping tears from her cheeks. She is among some 100,000 Palestinians whose work permits were revoked after Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack ignited the war in the Gaza Strip. Confined to the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3343076/how-israeli-restrictions-are-starving-palestinian-families-occupied-west-bank?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3343076/how-israeli-restrictions-are-starving-palestinian-families-occupied-west-bank?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Feb 2026 10:13:05 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Israel’s military said it killed four suspected militants who attacked its troops as the armed men emerged from a tunnel in southern Gaza on Monday, calling the group’s actions a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire. Despite a US-brokered truce entering its second phase last month, violence has continued in the Gaza Strip, with Israel and Hamas accusing each other of breaching the agreement. “A short while ago, four armed terrorists exited an underground tunnel shaft and fired towards soldiers... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3342945/israel-kills-4-suspected-militants-gazas-rafah-despite-ceasefire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3342945/israel-kills-4-suspected-militants-gazas-rafah-despite-ceasefire?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Feb 2026 11:00:51 +0000 Reuters Reuters Thousands gathered across Australia on Monday to protest the arrival of Israeli ‍President Isaac Herzog, who is on a multi-city trip aimed at expressing solidarity with Australia’s Jewish community following a deadly mass shooting last year. Herzog is visiting Australia this week following an invitation from Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the aftermath of the December 14 shooting at a Hanukkah event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach ⁠that killed 15. The visit has attracted the ire of some... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3342906/israeli-president-herzogs-visit-australia-met-protests?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3342906/israeli-president-herzogs-visit-australia-met-protests?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Feb 2026 07:47:53 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press As the bodies of two dozen Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes arrived at hospitals in Gaza on Wednesday, the director of one asked a question that has echoed across the war-ravaged territory for months. “Where is the ceasefire? Where are the mediators?” Shifa Hospital’s Mohamed Abu Selmiya wrote on Facebook. At least 556 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since a US-brokered truce came into effect in October, including 24 on Wednesday and 30 on Saturday, according to Gaza’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3342483/gazas-violent-reality-hundreds-have-been-killed-october-ceasefire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3342483/gazas-violent-reality-hundreds-have-been-killed-october-ceasefire?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Feb 2026 06:35:55 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 21 Palestinians, most of them women and children, by midday on Wednesday, according to hospital officials. Israel pledged to continue strikes, saying that it was responding to a militant attack on Israeli soldiers that seriously wounded one. Among the Palestinians killed were five children, including a 5-month-old and a baby just 10 days old; seven women; and a paramedic, hospital officials said. They are the latest Palestinians in Gaza to die since a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3342381/israeli-strikes-kill-17-palestinians-mostly-women-and-children-gaza-ceasefire-crumbles?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3342381/israeli-strikes-kill-17-palestinians-mostly-women-and-children-gaza-ceasefire-crumbles?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Feb 2026 09:46:32 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt reopened on Monday for limited traffic, a key step in the Israeli-Hamas ceasefire but a mostly symbolic development on the ground as few people will be allowed to travel in either direction and no goods will be going into the war-torn territory. Within the first hour of the opening, no one was actually seen crossing in or out of Gaza. An Egyptian official said 50 Palestinians would cross in each direction on the first day of the crossing’s operation. About... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3342115/gazas-rafah-crossing-reopens-amid-israel-hamas-ceasefire-challenges-remain?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3342115/gazas-rafah-crossing-reopens-amid-israel-hamas-ceasefire-challenges-remain?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Feb 2026 09:57:54 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Hospitals in Gaza said Israeli strikes killed at least 30 Palestinians including several children on Saturday, one of the highest tolls since the October ceasefire, a day after Israel accused Hamas of new truce violations. The strikes hit locations throughout Gaza, including an apartment building in Gaza City and a tent camp in Khan Younis, said officials at hospitals that received the bodies. The casualties included two women and six children from two different families. Another airstrike hit a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3341946/israeli-strikes-gaza-kill-least-20-including-children-tent-camp-say-hospitals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3341946/israeli-strikes-gaza-kill-least-20-including-children-tent-camp-say-hospitals?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Jan 2026 11:26:39 +0000 Reuters Reuters Spanish police have detained a 38-year-old Chinese national who owned a ‌hair salon near Barcelona on suspicion of financing ‍the militant group Hamas through about €600,000 (US$715,000) in cryptocurrency transfers, regional police said on Friday. Investigators traced at least 31 crypto transactions ⁠from virtual wallets controlled by the suspect to addresses that are suspected of being linked to an entity used by the Islamist group, whose attack on Israel on October 7, ‍2023, triggered a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3341897/spain-arrests-chinese-hair-salon-owner-funding-hamas-crypto?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3341897/spain-arrests-chinese-hair-salon-owner-funding-hamas-crypto?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Jan 2026 16:03:18 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Israel said Friday that it will reopen the pedestrian border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt in both directions over the weekend, marking an important step forward for US President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, said in a statement that starting on Sunday a “limited movement of people only” would be allowed through the Rafah crossing, Gaza’s main gateway to the outside world. The announcement followed... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3341879/israel-signals-limited-rafah-reopening-sunday-after-nearly-2-year-gaza-border-shutdown?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3341879/israel-signals-limited-rafah-reopening-sunday-after-nearly-2-year-gaza-border-shutdown?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Jan 2026 13:10:58 +0000 Reuters Reuters US Agency for International Development staffers in early 2024 drafted a warning to senior officials in Joe Biden’s administration: Northern Gaza had turned into an “Apocalyptic Wasteland” with dire shortages of food and medical aid. Three months after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks and Israel’s incursion into the Gaza Strip, the internal message laid out in gruesome detail scenes observed by United Nations staff who visited the area on a two-part humanitarian fact-finding mission in January... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3341861/us-envoys-israel-blocked-apocalyptic-gaza-warning-2024-report?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3341861/us-envoys-israel-blocked-apocalyptic-gaza-warning-2024-report?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Jan 2026 11:43:37 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The European Union has listed Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organisation over Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests, the bloc’s top diplomat said in a post on social media on Thursday. Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said that foreign ministers unanimously agreed on the designation. “Any regime that kills thousands of its own people is working towards its own demise,” she said. “This will put them on the same footing with al-Qaeda, Hamas, Daesh,”... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3341739/eu-designates-irans-revolutionary-guard-terrorist-group-amid-bloody-crackdown?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3341739/eu-designates-irans-revolutionary-guard-terrorist-group-amid-bloody-crackdown?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Jan 2026 16:00:27 +0000 Reuters Reuters The UN children’s agency said on Tuesday it had for the first time in two and a half years been able to deliver ‌school kits with learning materials into Gaza after they were previously blocked by Israeli authorities. Thousands of ‍kits, including pencils, exercise books and wooden cubes to play with, have now entered the enclave, Unicef said. “We have now, in the last days, got in thousands of recreational kits, hundreds of school-in-a-carton kits. We’re looking at getting 2,500 more school... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3341447/after-25-year-israel-blockade-gaza-unicef-delivers-school-kits?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3341447/after-25-year-israel-blockade-gaza-unicef-delivers-school-kits?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Jan 2026 12:38:46 +0000