Israel

Israel’s operation to conquer Gaza city is now entering its third day. Two IDF divisions are engaged on the ground. These are Division 98, which is the IDF’s airborne formation, and Division 162, a mechanised unit. An additional division, the 36th, is set to join the fighting in the coming days. As of now, Israeli forces are advancing from the Shejaya, Sheikh Radwan and Tal al Hawa neighbourhoods. Israel has established two exit routes for civilians wishing to leave the area. The first main route is the coastal road leading down to the designated safe zone in al-Mawasi. The IDF has temporarily also established a second route on the central

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has begun the most senseless battle in the history of Israel. Two conscript divisions with Merkava tanks, APCs and artillery, supported in the skies by the Israeli Air Force, are now engaged in a battle to conquer Gaza City. As they go, they are seizing what remains of the asphalt roads in Gaza. Artillery and air force planes are bombing and destroying more houses – about 70 per cent of the buildings in Gaza have already been destroyed by the IDF. This is now the most political war in Israel’s history. The country fought three wars against regular armies out of necessity: the War of

Despite its extraordinary discipline and repeated battlefield successes over the past two years, Israel has been judged in many quarters to have failed in one vital domain: the war of information. While Israel has neutralised enemy commanders, destroyed arsenals, and advanced through hostile territory, it has consistently been outflanked in the propaganda theatre, leading armchair generals to declare that no amount of military action can kill “an idea”. The elimination of Abu Ubaida shows that Israel constantly adapts Hamas and its allies have skilfully harnessed imagery, narrative, and the symbols of victimhood to mobilise global opinion, especially in the West. Yet in recent weeks, there has been a discernible shift.

When the BBC was forced to admit that a woman it featured as a starving victim of the Gaza war was in fact also receiving treatment for cancer, it was not a minor correction. It was a collapse of credibility. The image of her wasted body, presented as evidence of Israeli starvation tactics, ricocheted across global media. It was powerful and emotive. And it is part of a broader and deeply troubling pattern. Time and again, when it comes to Israel or Jews, the BBC abandons the basic obligations of journalism: verify before broadcasting, contextualise before condemning, and correct with real transparency when errors occur. The list of failures is

Since the renewal of ground operations in March this year under the Southern Command, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have entered a defining phase of their campaign in the Gaza Strip. Under the framework of Operation ‘Gideon’s Chariots’, Israeli troops have achieved what military officials describe as operational control over approximately 75 per cent of the territory. This advance has laid the foundation for the IDF’s current positioning on the outskirts of Gaza City and the launch of the next phase of the war: a concentrated assault on the remaining Hamas strongholds in the urban core. There is an undercurrent of exhaustion across the Israeli public The gains under Operation

The fragile negotiations between Israel and Hamas have once again entered a decisive phase, marked by the unveiling of a new ceasefire-hostage release proposal brokered by Egypt and Qatar. This proposal, which Hamas has reportedly accepted, includes notable shifts in its previous demands. Yet the core dilemma confronting the Israeli leadership remains unchanged: whether to accept a partial agreement that could save lives in the short term but risks undermining its broader strategic aims. According to multiple sources, Hamas has moderated two of its key positions that previously stalled talks. It is now seeking the release of 140 prisoners serving life sentences instead of 200, and has agreed to a

Israel is caught in a tragic paradox: the finest qualities that define its national character – its compassion, solidarity, and moral responsibility – are exploited by adversaries who recognise in these virtues not strength, but vulnerability. As over half a million Israelis joined a nationwide strike yesterday, demanding a ceasefire and the return of hostages from Gaza, it was impossible not to be moved by the depth of feeling, the urgency of the appeals, and the sheer moral weight of the demand. Yet what moves one side to tears hardens the heart of the other, moving them to ruthless calculation. The protests are genuine, justified, and born of unbearable grief, but

In a decision of historic weight, the Israeli government has formally approved a plan to expand its military operation and establish full control over the Gaza Strip. This has come despite the opposition of Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, who raised pointed warnings during a meeting that began at 6:00 pm Israeli time last night and stretched late into the night. Tensions between Zamir and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu surfaced throughout the protracted session, with several ministers directly challenging the chief of staff over his stance. Eventually, the Political-Security Cabinet voted by an ‘overwhelming’ majority to endorse Netanyahu’s proposal to defeat Hamas through a combination of military occupation, strategic disarmament,

Reports last night from Israeli Channel 12 quoting a senior official in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office have confirmed what has long been rumoured, feared, and for some, awaited: the decision has been made to occupy the Gaza Strip. This is not yet formal policy, pending cabinet approval, but the trajectory is now unmistakable. The prelude has ended. The war is entering a new, graver phase. Western commentary will, as usual, rush to treat this as a moral failure of Israeli restraint, or as the inevitable result of hawkish ideology. Yet that interpretation is not only false, it is profoundly dishonest and the opposite of the truth. The occupation of

They’re making Jews dig their own graves again. In grim mimicry of their Nazi heroes, who would often force Jews to dig ditches before shooting them into them, Hamas has released a video showing a shockingly emaciated Israeli hostage digging a grave. ‘This is the grave where I think I’m going to be buried,’ says the bag of bones as he feebly scoops up dirt with a spade. It is one of the most chilling images we have seen in this century. The man in the video is 24-year-old Evyatar David. He was abducted from the Nova music festival during Hamas’s pogrom of 7 October 2023. He has been held

A leaked internal email from a BBC executive editor reveals that the Corporation has issued prescriptive instructions to staff on how to cover the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The memo, titled ‘Covering the food crisis in Gaza’, amounts to a top-down editorial diktat that discards impartiality, elevates one side of a deeply contested narrative, and imposes a specific anti-Israel legal-political framing as settled fact. The existence of this email is a telling sign of how the Corporation works to ensure its journalists stick to its own ideological angles. This latest leaked BBC email suggests it is failing in its duty The email, which was sent to BBC staff on Friday, begins

For more than 650 days of war in Gaza, one swathe of territory remained mostly untouched by Israeli ground manoeuvres: the dense, urban core of the central camps – Nuseirat, Deir al-Balah, Maghazi, and Bureij. That pattern has now decisively changed. On Sunday morning, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) issued evacuation orders for southern Deir al-Balah. Within 24 hours, the area was under sustained air and artillery assault, with Gazan sources reporting the advance of Israeli tanks near the Abu Holi junction, adjacent to Salah al-Din Road. Though precise details of the strikes remain unclear, what is beyond doubt is that Israel is now expanding its war effort into one

There is increasing speculation that the UK will recognise a Palestinian state imminently, possibly in coordination with France. On this morning’s Today programme, for example, Emily Thornberry, chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, was the latest senior MP to push the idea. Open Jew hate is now the norm in Britain It sounds sensible, even obvious, doesn’t it? If a ‘political’ solution is the only way out of the current terrible situation in the region, surely a pre-requisite is to create a so-called partner for peace with Israel. But like so many superficially sensible and obvious ideas, that’s what it is: superficial. Worse, it’s dangerous – and specifically dangerous

As pressure intensifies on Israel to agree to a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza, the country faces a wrenching national dilemma: one that evokes a harrowing moral and strategic reckoning. With approximately 20 live hostages still held by Hamas, Israel must weigh the sacred imperative of bringing its citizens home against the hard-earned gains of a war fought to dismantle a terror regime. Israel stands alone before a terrible choice: pause now and risk preserving Hamas, or press on and risk the hostages’ lives The stakes are no longer theoretical. Hamas’s senior leadership has been decimated, its command structure shattered. Israeli forces now control more than sixty per

Last night, Israeli fighter jets struck multiple military targets belonging to the Houthi terrorist regime in Yemen, marking one of the most expansive and targeted responses to date. Among the sites hit were the ports of Al Hudaydah, Ras Isa, and Salif, as well as the Ras Kanatib power plant. The IDF confirmed that the Galaxy Leader, a commercial vessel seized by the Houthis in November 2023 and repurposed for terrorist use, was also among the targets struck. The Israeli military described the operation as a direct and forceful response to the repeated missile and drone attacks launched by the Houthis against Israeli territory. The Houthis, an Iranian-backed militia operating

You’ve heard of the two-state solution (or delusion, as I call it). But have you heard of the eight-state solution? Or the Palestinian Emirates plan? This is the idea of Professor Mordechai Kedar, who I spoke to in February 2024, just four months into the war started by the Palestinians on 7 October, 2023. If his vision once seemed outlandish or unrealistic to many, it now seems considerably less so in light of the fascinating developments emerging from Hebron. Hebron’s most powerful clan leaders, led by Sheikh Wadee’ al-Jaabari, have issued a public declaration of intent to break away from the Palestinian Authority A Wall Street Journal report explains that