Palestine

Iran’s Khamenei: Fight to ‘Liberate Palestine’ Is ‘Islamic Duty’

Iran’s supreme leader said it was an “Islamic duty” to fight for the “liberation of Palestine” in a landmark speech Friday amid rising tensions with regional arch-enemy Israel. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei lashed out at Western governments and their Arab “puppets” for supporting the Jewish state, in his first ever address marking Quds (Jerusalem) Day. The 80-year-old leader also appeared to confirm for the first time that Iran has helped to provide Palestinians with arms. The remarks came at the end of a week that saw Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launch a Twitter tirade against Khamenei and reports that the two sides carried out cyber attacks on each other. “The aim of this struggle is the liberation of the entire Palestinian land” and “the return of all Palestinians to their country,” Khamenei said in the speech broadcast live on state television. “The policy of normalizing the presence of the Zionist regime in the region is one of the major policies of the United States of America,” he said. “Some Arab governments in the region, which play the role of U.S. puppets, have provided the necessary preconditions for this, such as economic ties and the like; these efforts are completely fruitless and sterile. …

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Israel reinforces troops in West Bank ahead of US approval for partial annexation

The IDF sent reinforcements into the West Bank to brace for Trump's declared support for Israeli plan to annex the Jordan Valley settlements

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Who carried out the latest suicide bombings in Gaza – and why?

The suicide bombings in Gaza were conducted by Salafi jihadist and ISIS-inspired elements likely motivated by Hamas' perceived ineffectiveness vis-a-vis Israel

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Gaza police killed in overnight bomb attacks

Hamas said that two overnight bomb attacks killed three police officers in the Gaza Strip as the Palestinian enclave was placed under a state of alert

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Israeli killed by IED near West Bank settlement

An IED blast killed one Israeli and seriously wounded two of her family members in an attack near a settlement in the West Bank

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Israel begins airstrikes in Gaza after rocket hits house near Tel Aviv

Israel launched airstrikes in the Gaza Strip hours after a rocket from the Palestinian enclave hit a house and wounded seven Israelis

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Israeli warplanes strike Gaza after ‘explosive balloon’ damages house

Israeli aircraft targeted military sites in Gaza after an "explosive balloon" damaged a house in Israel, the army said

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Israel defense minister resigns after Gaza ceasefire announcement

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman resigned and called for early elections after a sharp disagreement over a Gaza ceasefire deal

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Ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian groups begins following worst Gaza violence in years

An Egyptian-brokered ceasefire between Palestinian groups and Israel took effect, putting an end to a brief yet intense flare-up with Gaza

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Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes in renewed Gaza violence

Renewed violence in Gaza threatened to thwart efforts to end unrest as Israeli airstrikes killed five Palestinians and destroyed a TV building while a barrage of rocket fire from the enclave left one dead

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