Israel Prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has said he has instructed Israel’s military to intensify pressure on Hamas after the Palestinian militant group rejected a temporary truce proposal. In a televised address, the Israeli prime minister said that while war came with a heavy price, Israel had ‘no choice but to continue fighting for our very existence, until victory’. On Thursday, …

Israeli Energy and Infrastructure Minister Eli Cohen signed an order on Sunday instructing the Israel Electric Corporation to immediately halt the supply of electricity to the Gaza Strip. ‘I have signed an order to immediately cut off electricity to the Gaza Strip. Enough talk, it’s time for action!’ Cohen wrote in a post on X. The move follows Israel’s announcement …

Israel will free 602 inmates from jails on Saturday as part of a hostage-prisoner swap with Hamas under an ongoing Gaza ceasefire deal, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club advocacy group. Among those released, 445 are people from Gaza who were arrested after Hamas’ October 7 attack that sparked the war, 60 are serving long sentences, 50 are serving life …

Hamas yesterday released three more Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip in the sixth such exchange following days of tense negotiations that threatened to undo the precarious ceasefire. In return, Israel began returning 369 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, most without any charges or convictions. It is the largest number of Palestinians to be freed since the beginning of …

Israel has released the first 90 Palestinian prisoners under the terms of the Gaza ceasefire deal, hours after the agreement took effect on Sunday. This development is aimed at stopping the fighting that has devastated the coastal territory. According to local media outlets, the prison authority confirmed the release, stating that most of the freed prisoners were women and minors. …

The US Department of State has notified Congress of a planned $8 billion (£6.4 billion) arms sale to Israel, an American official confirmed it to the BBC. The weapons consignment, which needs approval from House and Senate committees, includes missiles, shells and other munitions. The move comes just over a fortnight before President Joe Biden leaves office. Washington has rejected …

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister of State, Dr. Mariya Mahmoud, yesterday urged 290 pilgrims departing the territory for Jordan and Israel to remember that a holy pilgrimage is neither a jamboree nor tourism. She said a holy pilgrimage should be a spiritual call to strengthen one’s faith and to attain a new level of spirituality and responsibility. Mahmoud spoke …

President Bola Tinubu has officially launched the 2024 main Christian pilgrimage to Israel and Jordan. The airlift of pilgrims was flagged off on Sunday at Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos State. This was disclosed in a statement by the Deputy Director and Head of Media and Public Relations, Celestine Toruka, and published on the Commission’s official X handle, #NGChrisPilgComm, on Monday. According …

President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday that Iran did not seek war with Israel but was ready to deliver “an appropriate response” to strikes this week on Iranian military sites. “We do not seek war but we will defend the rights of our nation and country,” Pezeshkian told a cabinet meeting, adding: “We will give an appropriate response to the …

Israel launched multiple air strikes on Iran in the early hours of Saturday, in response to what the Israeli military called “months of continuous attacks” from Tehran and its proxies. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says Iran has been “relentlessly attacking Israel” since 7 October 2023. The IDF’s confirmation of strikes on Iran followed earlier reports by Iranian state media …