JERUSALEM — Israel on Friday deported thousands of Palestinian workers from the Gaza Strip back to the besieged territory, Palestinian authorities said, capping what many described as harrowing weeks trapped in legal limbo since their detention when the Israel-Hamas war erupted. Some workers, streaming by foot through an Israeli crossing that had been sealed shut … Read more
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Hundreds of foreign passport-holders and dozens of other seriously wounded Palestinians desperate to escape Israel’s bombardment of Gaza crowded around the black iron gate on the Egyptian border Wednesday, hoping to pass through the enclave’s only portal to the outside world for the first time since the war began. Restless children … Read more
The word “thakla” (ثكلى) in Arabic refers to a parent who has lost a child, usually a grieving mother. It has appeared in classical Arabic for over 1,500 years and likely predates Islam, according to Mohamed-Salah Omri, a professor of modern Arabic literature at Oxford University. As the war in Gaza rages on, the word … Read more
Comment on this storyCommentAdd to your saved storiesSave JERUSALEM — A small group of injured Palestinians was permitted to leave Gaza early Wednesday and receive medical care in Egypt, as Palestinian officials and medical workers said that Israel carried out another deadly strike on the Jabalya refugee camp, the third in less than 24 hours. … Read more
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinians reported another widespread outage of internet and phone service in Gaza early Wednesday, hours after Israeli airstrikes leveled apartment buildings near Gaza City and as ground troops battled Hamas militants inside the besieged territory. Humanitarian aid agencies have warned that such blackouts severely disrupt their work in an already dire … Read more
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Two days after cellular and internet service abruptly vanished for most of Gaza amid a heavy Israeli bombardment, the crowded enclave came back online Sunday as communications systems were gradually restored throughout the day. That’s a welcome development for Gaza following a communications blackout that began late Friday as Israel … Read more
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes early Sunday near Gaza’s largest hospital, which is packed with patients and tens of thousands of Palestinians seeking shelter, residents said. Israel has said Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers have a command post under the hospital, without providing much evidence. The strikes came a day after … Read more
For more than three weeks, Gaza has faced an almost total internet blackout. The cables, cell towers, and infrastructure needed to keep people online have been damaged or destroyed as Israel launched thousands of missiles in response to Hamas attacking Israel and taking hundreds of hostages on October 7. Then, this evening, amid reports of … Read more
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — The only thing worse than the screams of a patient undergoing surgery without enough anesthesia are the terror-stricken faces of those awaiting their turn, a 51-year-old orthopedic surgeon says. When the Israeli bombing intensifies and the wounded swamp the Gaza City hospitals where Dr. Nidal Abed works, he treats patients … Read more
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry at a joint news conference in Turkiye’s capital Ankara in April. Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images Egypt does not see why it should squarely shoulder the responsibility of taking in refugees coming from the besieged Gaza Strip, said Egypt’s Minister of … Read more