https://www.scmp.com/rss/522538/feed The latest news and top stories on the Palestinian Authority. A prominent West Bank-based governmental body, the Palestinian Authority (PA) was established in 1994 through the Oslo Accords as an interim self-government. Its primary mission is to exercise partial civil control and internal security over designated Palestinian territories. Headquartered in Ramallah, its main areas of activity include civil administration, public services and building state institutions. The PA, which also seeks... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Associated Press Associated Press A US$656 million judgment against Palestinian authorities has been reinstated by appeal judges, following a US Supreme Court ruling in favour of Americans killed or wounded in attacks in Israel. The decision from the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals comes a decade after it first tossed out a verdict against the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority on the grounds that US courts could not consider lawsuits against foreign groups over overseas attacks that were not... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3349107/appeal-court-reinstates-us656-million-judgment-against-plo-and-palestinian-authority?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3349107/appeal-court-reinstates-us656-million-judgment-against-plo-and-palestinian-authority?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Apr 2026 21:54:46 +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 Reuters Reuters Palestinian actor Motaz Malhees said a travel ban imposed by Donald Trump’s administration is preventing him from attending Sunday’s Academy Awards, whose nominees include a movie in which he has a starring role. The Voice ‌of Hind Rajab, a film about a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in 2024, has been Oscar-nominated for best international feature film. Malhees, who plays the role of a call centre operator attempting to help her, said he cannot attend the Academy... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3346583/palestinian-actor-motaz-malhees-blocked-oscars-trump-travel-ban?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3346583/palestinian-actor-motaz-malhees-blocked-oscars-trump-travel-ban?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 05:34:36 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Arab and Muslim nations on Saturday sharply condemned comments by the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who said Israel has a right to much of the Middle East. Huckabee made the comments in an interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson that aired on Friday. Carlson said that according to the Bible, the descendants of Abraham would receive land that today would include essentially the entire Middle East, and asked Huckabee if Israel had a right to that land. Huckabee responded:... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3344233/us-ambassador-says-israel-has-right-much-middle-east-sparking-uproar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3344233/us-ambassador-says-israel-has-right-much-middle-east-sparking-uproar?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Feb 2026 21:46:10 +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 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 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 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 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 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 Reuters Reuters Israel wants to restrict the number of Palestinians entering ‌Gaza through the border crossing with Egypt to ensure that more are allowed out than in, three sources briefed on the matter ‍said ahead of the border’s expected opening next week. The head of a transitional Palestinian committee backed by the US to temporarily administer Gaza, Ali Shaath, announced on Thursday that the Rafah Border Crossing – effectively the sole route in or out of Gaza for nearly all of the more than 2 million... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3341057/israel-empty-gaza-palestinians-more-out-rafah-border-policy-sources?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3341057/israel-empty-gaza-palestinians-more-out-rafah-border-policy-sources?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Jan 2026 14:07:46 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Israeli forces on Wednesday killed at least 11 Palestinians in Gaza, including two 13-year-old boys, three journalists and a woman, hospitals said, on one of the war-battered enclave’s deadliest days since the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel took effect in October. The United States is trying to push the deal forward and implement its challenging second phase. Among the dead were three Palestinian journalists who were killed while filming near a displacement camp in central Gaza, a camp... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3340870/israeli-forces-kill-palestinian-children-and-journalists-gaza-despite-ceasefire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3340870/israeli-forces-kill-palestinian-children-and-journalists-gaza-despite-ceasefire?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Jan 2026 11:07:02 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A Palestinian baby died from hypothermia on Tuesday in the Gaza Strip, underscoring the grim humanitarian conditions in the territory as world leaders were gathering at a Swiss resort where US President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan is high on the agenda. Shaza Abu Jarad’s family found the 3-month-old on Tuesday morning in their tent in the Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City. “She was freezing, and dead,” the baby’s father, Mohamed Abu Jarad, who spoke by phone after a funeral, said. “She... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3340706/palestinian-baby-dies-cold-gaza-tent-trump-talks-board-peace-davos?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3340706/palestinian-baby-dies-cold-gaza-tent-trump-talks-board-peace-davos?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Jan 2026 10:34:32 +0000 Reuters Reuters Israel demolished structures inside the UN ‍Palestinian refugee agency’s East Jerusalem compound on Tuesday after seizing the site last year, in an act condemned by the agency as a violation of international law. Surrounded by Israeli forces, bulldozers razed several large buildings and other smaller structures inside the United Nations Relief and Works Agency’s (UNRWA) compound, where ⁠dozens of agency staff once worked. UNRWA, which has been accused of bias by Israel, has not used the building... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3340566/israel-demolishes-uns-east-jerusalem-site-unprecedented-attack-defying-international-law?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3340566/israel-demolishes-uns-east-jerusalem-site-unprecedented-attack-defying-international-law?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Jan 2026 10:09:55 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Hamas said on Sunday it will dissolve its existing government in Gaza once a Palestinian technocratic leadership committee takes over the territory, as mandated under the US-brokered peace plan. But the group gave no specifics on when the change will take place. Hamas and the rival Palestinian Authority, the Palestinians’ internationally recognised representative, have not announced the names of the technocrats, who are not supposed to be politically affiliated, and it remains unclear if they... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3339518/hamas-says-it-will-dissolve-its-gaza-government-when-new-palestinian-body-takes-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3339518/hamas-says-it-will-dissolve-its-gaza-government-when-new-palestinian-body-takes-over?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Jan 2026 18:18:22 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A relative said Israeli gunfire on Thursday killed an 11-year-old girl whose family had returned to a designated safe zone, adding to more than 400 deaths reported since a ceasefire was reached to halt fighting in Gaza nearly three months ago. After shells and shrapnel hit her home in northern Gaza’s Jabalia area, Hamsa Housou was taken to Shifa Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Outside the hospital mortuary, her uncle Khamis Housou said that the family had returned home on October 11, a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3339214/israeli-gunfire-kills-11-year-old-girl-gaza-safe-zone-despite-ceasefire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3339214/israeli-gunfire-kills-11-year-old-girl-gaza-safe-zone-despite-ceasefire?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Jan 2026 12:06:01 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The United Nations on Wednesday said decades of discrimination and segregation of Palestinians by Israel in the West Bank were intensifying, and called on the country to end its “apartheid system”. In a new report, the UN rights office said the “systematic discrimination” against Palestinians across the occupied Palestinian territories had “drastically deteriorated” in recent years. “There is a systematic asphyxiation of the rights of Palestinians in the West Bank,” UN rights chief Volker Turk... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3339072/un-accuses-israel-west-bank-apartheid-citing-discrimination-against-palestinians?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3339072/un-accuses-israel-west-bank-apartheid-citing-discrimination-against-palestinians?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Jan 2026 11:02:45 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Israel on Tuesday said it had suspended more than two dozen humanitarian organisations, including Médecins Sans Frontières and CARE, from operating in the Gaza Strip for failing to comply with new registration rules. Israel said the rules were aimed at preventing Hamas and other militant groups from infiltrating the aid organisations. But the organisations said the rules were arbitrary and warned that the new ban would harm a civilian population desperately in need of humanitarian aid. Israel... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3338204/israel-ban-medecins-sans-frontieres-aid-groups-gaza-2026-over-new-vetting-rules?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3338204/israel-ban-medecins-sans-frontieres-aid-groups-gaza-2026-over-new-vetting-rules?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Dec 2025 14:48:13 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse US President Donald Trump warned Iran of fresh strikes and said Hamas would have “hell to pay” if it fails to disarm in Gaza, as he presented a united front with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. Speaking at a news conference with Netanyahu in Florida, Trump threatened to “eradicate” any attempt by Tehran to rebuild its nuclear programme or ballistic missile arsenal following US and Israeli strikes earlier this year. Trump also played down reports of tensions with Netanyahu... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3338079/trump-calls-hamas-disarm-he-meets-netanyahu-florida-discuss-gaza-peace-plan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3338079/trump-calls-hamas-disarm-he-meets-netanyahu-florida-discuss-gaza-peace-plan?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Dec 2025 20:55:15 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Israeli President Isaac Herzog denied a claim by Donald Trump on Monday that the pair had discussed the US president’s request for a pardon on corruption charges for Israel’s premier. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is accused of accepting luxury goods from billionaires in exchange for political favours, and of seeking to negotiate more favourable coverage from Israeli media outlets. “There has not been a conversation between President Herzog and President Trump since the pardon... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3338078/trump-says-netanyahu-pardon-its-way-president-herzogs-office-disputes-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3338078/trump-says-netanyahu-pardon-its-way-president-herzogs-office-disputes-it?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Dec 2025 20:17:23 +0000 Reuters Reuters US President Donald Trump is expected to ‌push for progress in the stalled ceasefire in Gaza when he meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday for talks ‍that will include Israel’s concerns over Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran. Netanyahu said this month that Trump had invited him for talks, as Washington pushes to establish transitional governance and an international security force for the Palestinian enclave. It will be Netanyahu’s fifth visit to see Trump in the United States... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3337962/trump-and-netanyahu-discuss-next-phase-gaza-ceasefire-plan-us-talks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3337962/trump-and-netanyahu-discuss-next-phase-gaza-ceasefire-plan-us-talks?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Dec 2025 23:42:35 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Former Israeli premier Naftali Bennett, widely regarded as a leading contender in next year’s legislative elections, called on Monday for the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing his office of “treason” over alleged Qatari funding to his aides. Netanyahu has also announced he intends to seek another term in office ahead of the legislative elections scheduled for October 2026. At the centre of the controversy is the “Qatargate” affair, in which close associates of Netanyahu... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3337391/ex-israeli-pm-accuses-netanyahu-treason-over-alleged-qatar-funding-aides?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3337391/ex-israeli-pm-accuses-netanyahu-treason-over-alleged-qatar-funding-aides?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Dec 2025 17:01:44 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it was expanding travel restrictions to an additional 20 countries and the Palestinian Authority, doubling the number of nations affected by sweeping limits announced earlier this year on who can travel and emigrate to the US. The Trump administration included five more countries as well as people travelling on documents issued by the Palestinian Authority to the list of countries facing a full ban on travel to the US and imposed new limits on... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3336687/trump-expands-us-travel-ban-and-restrictions-include-another-20-countries?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3336687/trump-expands-us-travel-ban-and-restrictions-include-another-20-countries?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Dec 2025 23:49:56 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse US ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz and European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas were both visiting Jordan on Sunday to discuss humanitarian aid for Gaza. Their visits came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he expected the second phase of the US-sponsored ceasefire plan for the Palestinian territory to begin soon. Waltz said on social media that he was in the Jordanian capital Amman to discuss speeding up the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza and “to see the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3335533/trump-un-envoy-waltz-eus-kallas-jordan-discuss-gaza-aid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3335533/trump-un-envoy-waltz-eus-kallas-jordan-discuss-gaza-aid?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Dec 2025 16:59:40 +0000 Reuters Reuters US President Donald Trump has invited Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House in the “near future”, the prime minister’s office said on Monday, soon after Trump said Israel should maintain a strong and true dialogue with Syria. A visit to the White House would mark the Israeli prime minister’s fifth since Trump returned to office in January. The two leaders have publicly projected a close relationship, though US and Israeli sources have said Trump has at times expressed frustration with... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3334819/trump-invites-netanyahu-white-house-near-future-israeli-pms-office-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3334819/trump-invites-netanyahu-white-house-near-future-israeli-pms-office-says?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Dec 2025 19:44:05 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Egypt is training hundreds of Palestinian police officers with an eye towards integrating them into a post-war security force in Gaza, according to a Palestinian official. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty announced the plan to train 5,000 officers for Gaza during talks with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in August. A first group of more than 500 officers was trained in Cairo in March and since September, the two-month courses have resumed to welcome hundreds more people, the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3334653/egypt-trains-hundreds-palestinian-officers-police-post-war-gaza?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3334653/egypt-trains-hundreds-palestinian-officers-police-post-war-gaza?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Nov 2025 03:52:18 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Israel’s military announced the dismissal of three generals and disciplinary actions against several other senior officers over their failure to prevent the October 2023 assault by Hamas, the deadliest attack in the country’s history. The move comes two weeks after Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir called for a “systemic investigation” into the failures that led to the onslaught, even as the government dragged its feet on establishing a state commission of inquiry despite public pressure. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3333980/israeli-generals-dismissed-after-review-hamas-attack-failures?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3333980/israeli-generals-dismissed-after-review-hamas-attack-failures?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Nov 2025 12:00:42 +0000 SCMP Editorial SCMP Editorial The horrors of the war in Gaza have so shocked the whole world that anything is better than allowing it to continue. The fragile ceasefire has significantly slowed but not ended the killings and is itself in danger of imminent collapse. The United States-backed peace plan, now adopted by the United Nations Security Council, at least offers a way to end the killings and bring some stability and safety to the Palestinian territory. But while it has been hailed as a major diplomatic win for the... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3333525/flawed-us-gaza-peace-plan-better-more-palestinian-suffering?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3333525/flawed-us-gaza-peace-plan-better-more-palestinian-suffering?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Nov 2025 22:45:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The Trump administration’s blueprint to secure and govern Gaza won strong approval at the United Nations on Monday, a crucial step that provides international support for US efforts to move the devastated territory towards peace following two years of war. The US resolution that passed the UN Security Council authorises an international stabilisation force to provide security in Gaza, approves a transitional authority to be overseen by US President Donald Trump and envisions a possible future... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3333175/un-approves-us-plan-authorising-international-stabilisation-force-gaza?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3333175/un-approves-us-plan-authorising-international-stabilisation-force-gaza?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Nov 2025 23:25:37 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press After repeated delays, Israel’s government has agreed to launch an investigation into the government failures that led to the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, that triggered the war in Gaza. But questions about the investigation’s independence drew accusations on Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to evade personal responsibility in the worst attack in Israel’s history. Israel has traditionally appointed an independent state commission of inquiry, led by a retired judge,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3333142/netanyahu-puts-himself-charge-october-7-hamas-probe-slammed-over-lack-independence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3333142/netanyahu-puts-himself-charge-october-7-hamas-probe-slammed-over-lack-independence?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Nov 2025 13:58:35 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Israel’s military said Monday it had killed a Hezbollah operative in southern Lebanon, a region that has witnessed several attacks despite the ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed group. “Yesterday evening (Sunday)... The IDF struck and eliminated Hezbollah terrorist Muhammad Ali Shuweikh in the Mansouri area in southern Lebanon,” the military said in a statement. The army said the targeted operative was the local representative for Hezbollah in the area. “He was responsible for... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3333015/lebanon-says-israeli-strike-killed-principal-resulted-martyrdom-citizen?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3333015/lebanon-says-israeli-strike-killed-principal-resulted-martyrdom-citizen?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 Nov 2025 23:28:14 +0000 Reuters Reuters Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel remained opposed to a Palestinian state after protests by far-right coalition allies over a US-backed statement indicating support for a pathway to Palestinian independence. Netanyahu spoke two days after Israel’s key ally the United States and many Muslim-majority nations endorsed a draft UN resolution backing US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, saying the process offered a route to Palestinian statehood. The 15-member UN... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3332999/netanyahu-government-threatened-over-us-statement-palestinian-state?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3332999/netanyahu-government-threatened-over-us-statement-palestinian-state?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 Nov 2025 14:24:38 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas turns 90 on Saturday, still holding authoritarian power in tiny pockets of the West Bank, but marginalised and weakened by Israel, deeply unpopular among Palestinians, and struggling for a say in a post-war Gaza Strip. The world’s second-oldest serving president – after Cameroon’s 92-year-old Paul Biya – Abbas has been in office for 20 years, and for nearly the entire time has failed to hold elections. His weakness has left Palestinians leaderless, critics... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3332932/weakened-israel-palestinian-leader-mahmoud-abbas-90-struggles-role-gaza?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3332932/weakened-israel-palestinian-leader-mahmoud-abbas-90-struggles-role-gaza?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Nov 2025 11:10:00 +0000 Reuters Reuters From regulating the price of chicken to levying fees on cigarettes, Hamas is seeking to widen control over Gaza as US plans for its future slowly take shape, Gazans say, adding to rivals’ doubts over whether it will cede authority as promised. After a ceasefire began last month, Hamas swiftly reestablished its hold over areas from which Israel withdrew, killing dozens of Palestinians it accused of collaborating with Israel, theft or other crimes. Foreign powers demand the group disarm and leave... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3332867/hamas-tightens-grip-gaza-trump-plan-faces-hurdles?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3332867/hamas-tightens-grip-gaza-trump-plan-faces-hurdles?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Nov 2025 12:39:32 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Israeli settlers torched and defaced a mosque in a Palestinian village in the central West Bank overnight, scribbling hateful messages in a show of defiance a day after some Israeli leaders condemned a recent attack by settlers against Palestinians. One wall and at least three copies of the Koran and some of the carpeting at the mosque in the Palestinian town of Deir Istiya had been torched when an AP reporter visited Thursday. On one side of the mosque, settlers had left graffitied messages... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3332693/israeli-settlers-spark-outrage-mosque-attack-west-bank-village?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3332693/israeli-settlers-spark-outrage-mosque-attack-west-bank-village?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Nov 2025 13:52:22 +0000 Reuters Reuters US President Donald Trump on Wednesday sent a letter to Israel’s president asking him to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a long-running corruption trial that has bitterly divided the country. It was the latest attempt by Trump to intervene in the case on behalf of Netanyahu, raising questions about undue American influence over internal Israeli affairs. Trump also called for a pardon for Netanyahu during a speech to Israel’s parliament last month, when he made a brief visit to... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3332519/trump-urges-israeli-president-herzog-pardon-netanyahu-corruption-trial?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3332519/trump-urges-israeli-president-herzog-pardon-netanyahu-corruption-trial?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Nov 2025 11:49:53 +0000 Reuters Reuters Unicef said on Tuesday, essential items including syringes to vaccinate children and bottles for baby milk formula are being denied entry into Gaza by Israel, preventing aid agencies from reaching those in need in the war-devastated territory. As Unicef undertakes a mass children’s vaccination campaign with a fragile ceasefire in place, it said it faces serious challenges getting 1.6 million syringes and solar-powered fridges to store vaccine vials into Gaza. The syringes have awaited customs... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3332385/israel-denies-entry-baby-milk-formula-vaccines-gaza-children-unicef-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3332385/israel-denies-entry-baby-milk-formula-vaccines-gaza-children-unicef-says?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Nov 2025 16:00:08 +0000 Reuters Reuters A de facto partition of Gaza between an area controlled by Israel and another ruled by Hamas is increasingly likely, multiple sources said, with efforts to advance US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war beyond a ceasefire faltering. Six European officials with direct knowledge of the efforts to implement the next phase of the plan told Reuters it was effectively stalled and that reconstruction now appeared likely to be limited to the Israeli-controlled area. That could lead to years of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3332373/gaza-faces-de-facto-partition-israel-trumps-peace-plan-falters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3332373/gaza-faces-de-facto-partition-israel-trumps-peace-plan-falters?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Nov 2025 11:35:09 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Israel said the remains it received on Sunday from Hamas were those of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, an Israeli officer killed more than a decade ago in the 2014 Gaza war. Goldin was the 24th deceased hostage whose remains have been returned by Hamas since the start of the ceasefire on October 10 that has halted the latest war in Gaza, which broke out in October 2023. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said forensic experts had confirmed the remains were of Goldin. “Today, we are united in... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3332125/israel-confirms-remains-returned-hamas-are-those-soldier-killed-2014-gaza-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3332125/israel-confirms-remains-returned-hamas-are-those-soldier-killed-2014-gaza-war?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Nov 2025 20:13:20 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Gaza’s future must be Palestinian-led and avoid any new system of tutelage, Turkey and six of its top Muslim allies said on Monday after talks in Istanbul. Turkey, which played a central role in forging the now shaky three-week-old ceasefire, is pushing for Muslim nations to bring their influence to bear on the reconstruction of the embattled territory. “Our principle is that Palestinians should govern the Palestinians and ensure their own security, the international community should support... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3331399/turkey-and-muslim-allies-say-palestinian-self-rule-key-gazas-future?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3331399/turkey-and-muslim-allies-say-palestinian-self-rule-key-gazas-future?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Nov 2025 22:09:16 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Israel on Sunday announced that the remains of three hostages had been handed over from Gaza and would be examined by forensic experts, as a fragile month-old ceasefire held. A Hamas statement earlier said the remains were found on Sunday in a tunnel in southern Gaza. Since the ceasefire took effect on October 10, Palestinian militants had released the remains of 17 hostages, with 11 remaining in Gaza, before Sunday’s handover. Israel’s military said official identification of these remains... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3331256/israel-says-it-has-received-remains-3-hostages-gaza?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3331256/israel-says-it-has-received-remains-3-hostages-gaza?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 02 Nov 2025 19:32:34 +0000 Agence France-Presse,Associated Press Agence France-Presse,Associated Press Israel said on Saturday that three bodies it received from Gaza the night before were not hostages held in the Palestinian territory, as a Hamas security source reported fresh strikes in the south. Despite occasional flare-ups, a fragile truce has been holding in Gaza since October 10, based on a US-brokered deal centred on the return of all Israeli hostages, both living and dead. Israel’s military said that a forensic analysis revealed that three bodies it received via the Red Cross on Friday... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3331189/israel-confirms-bodies-received-hamas-are-not-hostages-amid-uncertain-gaza-truce?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3331189/israel-confirms-bodies-received-hamas-are-not-hostages-amid-uncertain-gaza-truce?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Nov 2025 13:48:08 +0000 Reuters Reuters Israeli planes and tanks pounded areas in eastern Gaza on Thursday, Palestinian residents and witnesses said, a day after Israel said it remained committed to a US-backed ceasefire despite launching more lethal bombardments in the territory. Witnesses said Israeli planes carried out 10 air strikes in areas east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, while tanks shelled areas east of Gaza City in the north. No injuries or deaths were reported. The Israeli military said it carried out... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3330955/israel-resumes-gaza-strikes-despite-commitment-us-backed-ceasefire-war-still-ongoing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3330955/israel-resumes-gaza-strikes-despite-commitment-us-backed-ceasefire-war-still-ongoing?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Oct 2025 14:00:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Hamas handed over human remains that did not belong to missing Israeli hostages – an announcement that is likely to rattle the tenuous, US-brokered ceasefire agreement. Hamas said it was complying with the ceasefire and doing its best to locate hostage remains, but was hindered by a lack of equipment to identify bodies. Netanyahu said human remains handed over by the militant group overnight belonged to a hostage whose body had already been... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3330657/netanyahu-says-hamas-returned-remains-previously-retrieved-body-clear-violation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3330657/netanyahu-says-hamas-returned-remains-previously-retrieved-body-clear-violation?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Oct 2025 11:52:04 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain Hopes for peace and reconstruction in Gaza have suffered a deadly blow after US envoys unveiled a plan that analysts say will split the territory in two and set the stage for the prolonged, if not permanent, Israeli occupation of more than half the Strip. With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu making any further military withdrawal conditional upon the disarmament of a recalcitrant Hamas, the future of the proposed International Stabilisation Force (ISF) meant to take control of peaceful... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3330270/us-plan-split-gaza-threatens-peace-reconstruction-hopes-little-way-forward?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3330270/us-plan-split-gaza-threatens-peace-reconstruction-hopes-little-way-forward?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Oct 2025 13:09:35 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Israeli settlers descended on Palestinian olive harvesters and activists this week in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, beating them with clubs in an attack Palestinian health officials said sent at least one woman to the hospital with serious injuries. The attack on Sunday in the town of Turmus Ayya, which was captured in videos obtained by Associated Press, came as Palestinians say settler violence in the region is worsening. The United Nations and rights groups have raised the alarm as harvest... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3329948/videos-show-masked-israeli-settlers-beating-palestinian-olive-harvesters-west-bank?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3329948/videos-show-masked-israeli-settlers-beating-palestinian-olive-harvesters-west-bank?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Oct 2025 09:51:43 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Top US envoys arrived in Israel on Monday to assess the progress of the Gaza peace plan, following weekend violence that jeopardised the ceasefire. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held discussions with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner about the current developments in the region, as confirmed by his office. Additionally, a spokesperson from the Prime Minister’s office stated that US Vice-President J.D. Vance and his wife were scheduled to visit Israel, and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3329694/trumps-envoys-arrive-israel-gaza-ceasefire-faces-new-challenges?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3329694/trumps-envoys-arrive-israel-gaza-ceasefire-faces-new-challenges?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Oct 2025 10:47:28 +0000