US announces visa bans after warning Israel over West Bank violence

December 7, 2023

The US on Tuesday began imposing visa bans on people involved in violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Washington officials said, after several appeals for Israel to do more prevent violence by Jewish settlers, Reuters reports. A new State Department visa restriction policy targets “individuals believed to have been involved in undermining peace, security, or Continue Reading

Despite Gaza death toll soaring, US unlikely to rethink weapons supplies to Israel

December 7, 2023

Facing a soaring death toll from Israel’s renewed offensive in southern Gaza, the Biden administration is trying to pressure its ally to minimise civilian deaths while stopping well short of the kind of measures that might force it to listen, such as threatening to restrict military aid. Top US officials, including Vice President Kamala Harris […]Continue Reading

Israel forces fight Hamas in southern Gaza, civilians seek shelter

December 7, 2023

Residents say Israeli bombing intensifies overnight across the Gaza Strip, killing or wounding a number of people, while tanks battled Palestinian militants north and east of Khan Younis. Khan Younis residents continue to flee their houses either to the west or to Rafah further south. Israeli troops fought fierce battles with Hamas in southern Gaza […]Continue Reading

Hamas releases 24 hostages on first day of Gaza truce

November 24, 2023

Hamas fighters released 24 hostages on Friday during the first day of the war’s first truce, including Israeli women and children and Thai farm workers, after guns fell silent across the Gaza Strip for the first time in seven weeks, Reuters reports. The hostages were transferred out of Gaza and handed over to Egyptian authorities […]Continue Reading

Israel, Hamas agree deal for release of Gaza hostages, truce

November 22, 2023

Israel’s government and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to a four-day pause in fighting to allow the release of 50 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for 150 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, and the entry of humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave, Reuters reports. Officials from Qatar, which has been mediating secret negotiations, as well as […]Continue Reading

Nearly 1,000 Rohingya arrive by boat in Indonesia in one week

November 21, 2023

Almost 1,000 Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar have arrived by boat in Indonesia’s northernmost province of Aceh in the last six days, officials said Monday, AP reports. They included five groups with women and children who were afloat for days. One batch of more than 240 people was twice denied landing by residents in Aceh Utara […]Continue Reading

In Beijing, Arab and Muslim ministers urge end to Gaza war

November 20, 2023

Arab and Muslim ministers called on Monday for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, as their delegation visited Beijing on the first leg of a tour to push for an end to hostilities and to allow humanitarian aid into the devastated Palestinian enclave, Reuters reports. The delegation, which is set to meet officials representing each of […]Continue Reading

Yemen’s Houthis hijack Israeli-linked ship in Red Sea and take 25 crew members hostage

November 19, 2023

Yemen’s Houthi rebels seized an Israeli-linked cargo ship in a crucial Red Sea shipping route on Sunday, officials said, taking over two dozen crew members hostage and raising fears that regional tensions heightened over the Israel-Hamas war were playing out on a new maritime front, AP reports. The Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they hijacked the […]Continue Reading

About 250 Rohingya refugees in Indonesia sent back to sea

November 17, 2023

About 250 Rohingya refugees crammed onto a wooden boat have been turned away from western Indonesia and sent back to sea, residents said Friday, AFP reports. The group from the persecuted Myanmar minority arrived off the coast of Aceh province on Thursday but locals told them not to land. Some refugees swam ashore and collapsed […]Continue Reading

Third batch of around 250 Rohingya arrive in Indonesia

November 16, 2023

About 250 desperate Rohingya refugees reached western Indonesia on a decrepit, overcrowded wooden boat on Thursday, bringing the total number reported by local officials to have arrived this week to nearly 600, AFP reports. The boat holding the members of the persecuted Myanmar minority, many barefoot and some pleading for help, sat just off the […]Continue Reading