https://www.scmp.com/rss/524155/feed A Tel Aviv-based governmental body, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) is dedicated to defending the State of Israel’s existence, territorial integrity and sovereignty. Its main areas of focus include comprehensive defence operations, counter-terrorism and developing advanced military technology. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi Israel’s reported deployment of its Iron Dome missile defence battery in the UAE signals a “watershed moment” in Middle Eastern security alignments, analysts say, as the war in Iran highlights the critical role of such air defence systems. Israel sent an Iron Dome air-defence system along with troops to the United Arab Emirates “early in the war with Iran”, Axios said in a report this week citing two Israeli officials and one from the US. The Israeli officials, who were not named, told the US... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3351701/will-israels-use-iron-dome-aid-arab-neighbour-recalibrate-mideast-defence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3351701/will-israels-use-iron-dome-aid-arab-neighbour-recalibrate-mideast-defence?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Apr 2026 04:00:16 +0000 Agencies Agencies Israel on Monday told residents of south Lebanon ⁠to stay out of a belt of territory running the length of the border and not to approach the area of the Litani River, entrenching its grip over southern Lebanon despite a ceasefire in the war with Hezbollah. The US-mediated, 10-day ceasefire took effect on Thursday, largely halting the war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah that spiralled out of the ‌conflict between the United States and Iran. But it remains fragile, with Israeli troops... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3350658/israel-says-military-use-full-force-lebanon-despite-truce-if-soldiers-face-threat?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3350658/israel-says-military-use-full-force-lebanon-despite-truce-if-soldiers-face-threat?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Apr 2026 20:35:39 +0000 Dewey Sim Dewey Sim A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon appeared to be holding on Friday, a breakthrough that could provide critical relief to Washington’s strained temporary truce with Tehran Announcing the ceasefire, which came into effect at 5pm EST Thursday (5am Friday Hong Kong time), US President Donald Trump said it followed what he described as “excellent conversations” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. “These two Leaders have agreed that in order... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3350372/israel-and-lebanon-agree-10-day-ceasefire-us-pushes-broader-deal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3350372/israel-and-lebanon-agree-10-day-ceasefire-us-pushes-broader-deal?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:32:37 +0000 Dewey Sim,Khushboo Razdan Dewey Sim,Khushboo Razdan Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors held rare face-to-face talks, facilitated by Washington, on Tuesday, with all sides agreeing to launch “direct negotiations at a mutually agreed time and venue”. “Israel expressed its commitment to engage in direct negotiations to resolve all outstanding issues and achieve a durable peace that will strengthen security, stability and prosperity in the region,” as per a readout issued by the US State Department. The statement said that Lebanon called for a... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3350092/israel-lebanon-talks-rare-historic-moment-amid-hopes-conflict-resolution?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3350092/israel-lebanon-talks-rare-historic-moment-amid-hopes-conflict-resolution?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Apr 2026 16:41:04 +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 Reuters Reuters Wrapped in bloodied bandages, seven-year-old Aline Saeed barely survived the Israeli strike on her home in south Lebanon last week. She was there to bury her father as hopes of a truce spread across the region, but a new strike killed her infant sister and other relatives. The strike on the Saeed family home in the village of Srifa took place on Wednesday, the first day ‌of a US-Iran ceasefire that many in Lebanon hoped would apply to their country, too. Instead, Israeli strikes killed more than... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349814/israeli-bombardment-kills-infant-lebanon-during-fathers-funeral?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349814/israeli-bombardment-kills-infant-lebanon-during-fathers-funeral?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Apr 2026 13:41:20 +0000 Reuters Reuters An Israeli air strike on Kfarhata, a village in south Lebanon, killed seven people on Sunday, including a four-year-old child, Lebanon’s health ministry said in a statement. Another Israeli attack on the Jnah neighbourhood in Beirut killed four people and injured ‌39 others, the ministry added. The strike on Kfarhata followed an overnight evacuation order by the Israeli military instructing residents to leave the village. As Lebanese Christians, who make up roughly a third of the population,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349099/israeli-strikes-kill-11-lebanon-israel-announces-security-buffer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349099/israeli-strikes-kill-11-lebanon-israel-announces-security-buffer?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Apr 2026 15:14:58 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The Israeli military said on Saturday it had begun striking “Hezbollah infrastructure” in Beirut after it destroyed a bridge in eastern Lebanon to prevent the Iran-backed group’s reinforcements from crossing. Two loud explosions were heard in the capital within half an hour early on Saturday, with smoke billowing from one of them. Local media reported two strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, a locality that has been a target of Israeli strikes in recent days as the military presses on with its... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349021/israel-targets-iran-backed-hezbollah-sites-lebanon-fresh-strikes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349021/israel-targets-iran-backed-hezbollah-sites-lebanon-fresh-strikes?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Apr 2026 05:16:02 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Israel’s parliament on Monday passed a law approving the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis. The bill’s passage marked a major victory for Israel’s far-right, which has pushed hard for the measure. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the chamber to vote yes in person. The law makes the death penalty – by hanging – the default punishment for West Bank Palestinians convicted for nationalistic killings. The law also gives Israeli courts the authority to impose... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348454/israeli-parliament-approves-death-penalty-palestinians-convicted-murdering-israelis?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348454/israeli-parliament-approves-death-penalty-palestinians-convicted-murdering-israelis?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Mar 2026 18:49:16 +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 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 Reuters Reuters Israel will occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River, an area Defence Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday described as a “security zone”, spelling out for the first time Israel’s intent to seize territory amounting to nearly a 10th of the country. At a meeting with the military chief of staff, Katz said Israeli forces would “control the remaining bridges and the security zone up to the Litani,” a river that meets the Mediterranean about 30km (20 miles) ‌north of Israel’s border. Lebanon’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347801/israels-military-occupy-swathe-southern-lebanon-amid-widening-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347801/israels-military-occupy-swathe-southern-lebanon-amid-widening-war?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Mar 2026 04:48:04 +0000 CNA CNA Singapore authorities warned on Tuesday that involvement in organisations linked to the Israeli military, such as Sar-El, would not be acceptable under current conditions and could attract action under the law. In a joint media release, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ministry of Defence (Mindef) noted that Sar-El’s website states that it is “deeply committed to supporting the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces)”, and its volunteers “work side-by-side with soldiers on IDF bases”. “Being involved... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3347696/singapore-says-involvement-israeli-military-linked-groups-not-acceptable?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3347696/singapore-says-involvement-israeli-military-linked-groups-not-acceptable?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Mar 2026 08:05:47 +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 Israel’s military said it was investigating whether its own fire killed an Israeli civilian near the Lebanese border on Sunday, after Hezbollah claimed an attack in the same area. Israeli emergency workers said earlier on Sunday that a man was killed in a “direct hit” on his car by a rocket from Lebanon. Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group said after the incident that its fighters had attacked Israeli soldiers in the same area. But the Israeli army later said it was “conducting a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347503/hezbollah-claims-rocket-killed-one-israeli-army-demolishes-houses?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347503/hezbollah-claims-rocket-killed-one-israeli-army-demolishes-houses?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Mar 2026 14:54:27 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press US and Israeli strikes on Iran have damaged at least four cultural and historical sites, including palaces and an ancient mosque, raising alarms about the impact of the widening war on protected landmarks that are important to Iranian identity and world history. The speed and extent of the damage have so concerned Iran and Lebanon that they sent a request to the United Nations’ cultural agency, Unesco, to add more sites to its enhanced protection list. Unesco confirmed that it has verified... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3346738/damage-irans-historical-sites-raises-alarm-about-impact-war-cultural-heritage?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3346738/damage-irans-historical-sites-raises-alarm-about-impact-war-cultural-heritage?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Mar 2026 11:15:07 +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 Reuters Reuters Israeli strikes and mass evacuation orders have seen nearly 700,000 people flee their homes in Lebanon in just over a week, with more than 100,000 fleeing in 24 hours, the UN said on Tuesday. “Lives have been upended on a massive scale,” said Karolina Lindholm Billing, the representative in Lebanon of UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency. In just over a week since the new escalation in Lebanon, Israeli air strikes and evacuation warnings to residents of dozens of villages “forced families... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346067/war-middle-east-nearly-500-dead-lebanon-israeli-offensive-last-week?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346067/war-middle-east-nearly-500-dead-lebanon-israeli-offensive-last-week?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Mar 2026 06:22:42 +0000 dpa dpa US President Donald Trump has demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender”, a dramatic escalation of his demands a week into the war he launched alongside Israel, which said on Friday that it had struck and destroyed the underground military bunker of Iran’s slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei. Trump made the remarks on social media just hours after Iran’s president announced that unspecified countries had begun mediation efforts, one of the first signals of any diplomatic initiative to end the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345775/50-israeli-fighter-jets-destroy-iran-leaders-underground-command-centre-tehran?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345775/50-israeli-fighter-jets-destroy-iran-leaders-underground-command-centre-tehran?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Mar 2026 14:49:43 +0000 Tian Shichen Tian Shichen The smoke rising from Iran on Saturday signalled more than just a localised escalation in the Middle East. Coming on the heels of the United States’ military invasion of Venezuela earlier this year, the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran represent a watershed moment for the 21st century. We are witnessing the systematic dismantling of the post-1945 legal order, replaced by the unvarnished “law of the jungle” where strategic interests supersede legality, and the UN Charter is treated as a relic of... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3345081/attack-iran-normalises-global-descent-law-jungle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3345081/attack-iran-normalises-global-descent-law-jungle?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Mar 2026 12:30:07 +0000 Vanessa Cai,Laura Zhou,Josephine Ma,Alcott Wei,Dannie Peng Vanessa Cai,Laura Zhou,Josephine Ma,Alcott Wei,Dannie Peng Donald Trump called on the Iranian people to overthrow their government after the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran early on Saturday in what the US president described as “major combat operations”. “We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally … obliterated. We are going to annihilate their navy. We’re going to ensure that the region’s terrorist proxies can no longer destabilise the region or the world and attack... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3344963/israel-launches-preemptive-strike-against-iran-saying-it-seeks-remove-threats?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3344963/israel-launches-preemptive-strike-against-iran-saying-it-seeks-remove-threats?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Feb 2026 06:46:02 +0000 CNA CNA Action will be taken against any Singaporean who fights overseas for foreign causes, Coordinating Minister for National Security K Shanmugam has said, emphasising the importance of racial and religious harmony in maintaining peace in Singapore. He also noted the critical role of religious and community leaders who help set the tone for harmony in Singapore. Shanmugam, who is also minister for home affairs, was speaking on Monday at a fast-breaking session co-organised by Khadijah Mosque and the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3344405/singapore-warns-action-will-be-taken-against-citizens-fighting-foreign-causes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3344405/singapore-warns-action-will-be-taken-against-citizens-fighting-foreign-causes?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Feb 2026 03:53:09 +0000 Jean Iau Jean Iau Singapore has no substantiated information that any Singaporean is or was fighting as part of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) during the war in Gaza, its Ministry of Home Affairs has said, after several media reports claimed two passport holders from the city state were among 200 Southeast Asians who had fought with Israeli troops. Qatari news outlet Al Jazeera reported on Sunday, citing information obtained by Israeli non-governmental organisation Hatzlacha under Israel’s Freedom of Information... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3344032/no-proof-any-singaporean-fighting-israel-gaza-government-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3344032/no-proof-any-singaporean-fighting-israel-gaza-government-says?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Feb 2026 12:42:37 +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 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 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 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 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 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 Resty Woro Yuniar Resty Woro Yuniar Indonesia’s decision to join US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” has raised eyebrows at home, with critics zeroing in on how it deviated from Jakarta’s values by serving the interests of only the US and Israel instead of Palestine. Some observers, however, argue that the move is “consistent” with Indonesia’s proactive foreign policy stance and allows it access to major powers. President Prabowo Subianto was among several world leaders flanking Trump at Thursday’s signing of the board’s... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3341420/indonesias-move-join-trumps-board-peace-stirs-debate-foreign-policy-shift?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3341420/indonesias-move-join-trumps-board-peace-stirs-debate-foreign-policy-shift?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Jan 2026 09:52:57 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The remains of the final hostage in Gaza have been recovered, Israel’s military said on Monday, clearing the way for efforts to rebuild Gaza and disarm Hamas in the next phase of the ceasefire that paused the Israel-Gaza war. The announcement that the remains of police officer Ran Gvili had been found and identified came a day after Israel’s government said the military was conducting a “large-scale operation” in a cemetery in northern Gaza to locate them. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3341300/israel-recovers-final-gaza-hostage-remains-key-phase-two-ceasefire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3341300/israel-recovers-final-gaza-hostage-remains-key-phase-two-ceasefire?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Jan 2026 14:21:54 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Israel said on Sunday its military was conducting a “large-scale operation” to locate the last hostage in Gaza, as Washington and other mediators pressured Israel and Hamas to move into the next phase of their ceasefire. The statement came as Israel’s Cabinet met to discuss the possibility of opening Gaza’s key Rafah border crossing with Egypt, and a day after top US envoys met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about next steps. The return of the remaining hostage, Ran Gvili, has been... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3341188/israel-launches-large-scale-operation-locate-remains-last-hostage-gaza?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3341188/israel-launches-large-scale-operation-locate-remains-last-hostage-gaza?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Jan 2026 21:42:28 +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 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse At a hospital in Gaza, wards are filled with patients fearing they will be left without care if Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is forced out under an Israeli ban due to take effect in March. Last month, Israel announced it would prevent 37 aid organisations, including MSF, from operating in Gaza from March 1 for failing to provide detailed information on their Palestinian staff. “They stood by us throughout the war,” said 10-year-old Adam Asfour, his left arm pinned with metal rods after he was... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3339495/gaza-clings-medecins-sans-frontieres-following-israeli-aid-ban?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3339495/gaza-clings-medecins-sans-frontieres-following-israeli-aid-ban?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Jan 2026 09:58:31 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain Expectations of change at the top of Iran’s Islamic Republic are growing as nationwide protests over surging living costs unite an unusually broad swathe of society – from pro-regime merchants and the conservative rural poor to the cosmopolitan urban middle class – for the first time since the 1979 revolution. Fuelled by the rial’s dramatic collapse following Iran’s 12-day conflict with Israel and the United States in June, the unrest has become a lightning rod for public anger at corruption,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3339404/protest-fury-pushes-iran-edge-social-revolution?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3339404/protest-fury-pushes-iran-edge-social-revolution?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Jan 2026 05:30:10 +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