Politics
Key moments in Israel-Hamas war
US President Donald Trump says Israel and Hamas have agreed the first phase of a Gaza peace plan after more than two years of war that killed tens of thousands and unleashed a major humanitarian crisis.
Here are some of the key moments in the conflict:
Hamas attacks
Hundreds of Hamas fighters infiltrate Israel at dawn on October 7, 2023, storming southern Israeli communities and a desert music festival with gunfire, rockets and grenades.
It results in the deaths of 1,219 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
They seize 251 hostages and take them back to Gaza. Israel´s military says 47 remain, many of them dead.
Ground offensive
Israel begins bombing and besieging Gaza. On October 13, it calls on civilians in the territory´s north to move south.
Almost all Gazans have been displaced during the war, according to the UN.
Israel begins a ground offensive on October 27.
More than two years later, Israel’s military campaign has killed at least 67,183 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the United Nations considers credible.
The data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children.
Truce and hostage swap
A week-long truce between Israel and Hamas begins on November 24.
Hamas releases 105 hostages, mostly Israeli but also Thai workers, in return for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
When the war resumes, Israel expands its operations into southern Gaza.
Regional spillover
Iran pounds Israel on April 13, 2024, with drones and missiles — its first-ever direct assault on Israel´s soil. The strikes are retaliation for an attack on its Damascus consulate, blamed on Israel.
Israel bombards a Yemeni port on July 20 after a drone attack on Tel Aviv by Iran-backed Huthi rebels who have been targeting shipping since November 2023 in solidarity with Gaza.
On September 17 and 18, hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Lebanese group Hezbollah exploded in an Israeli operation that Lebanese authorities say killed 39 and wounded thousands.
Israel escalates its air campaign in Lebanon and, on September 27, kills Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in southern Beirut.
Israel launches days later a ground offensive in southern Lebanon.
On October 1, Iran fired a barrage of 200 missiles at Israel in response to the killing of Nasrallah and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, assassinated on Iranian territory in July.
ICC warrants
On November 14, a United Nations Special Committee says Israel´s warfare in Gaza is consistent with the characteristics of “genocide”. Israel accuses the UN of bias.
The International Criminal Court issues on November 21 arrest warrants for Netanyahu, former defence minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif (likely already dead, as Hamas will confirm months later). Israel appeals.
Second ceasefire begins
A long-awaited truce between Israel and Hamas begins on January 19, 2025, allowing hundreds of thousands of war-weary displaced Palestinians to return to their homes.
When the first six-week phase ends on March 1, 33 Israeli hostages — including eight bodies — have been freed in exchange for some 1,800 Palestinians.
Israel allows more humanitarian aid into Gaza, which the UN says faces famine, but then cuts it off on March 2.
Israel-Iran war
Israel strikes Iranian nuclear and military installations on June 13, starting a 12-day conflict.
Washington enters the fray on June 22, hitting three nuclear sites. Two days later, a fragile ceasefire announced by Trump comes into effect.
Israel hits Qatar
Israel targets Hamas officials on September 9 in strikes on the capital of Qatar, a key mediator in the conflict in Gaza.
The strikes are condemned by the international community.
Shortly afterwards, Israel´s army launches a major ground operation in Gaza City.
Trump announces deal
Trump announces on October 8 that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of his peace plan.
The deal will see all hostages released and Israel redeploying troops to an agreed-upon line, with aid also entering the famine-stricken region.
US President Donald Trump purchased about $100 million in municipal and corporate bonds from mid-November to late December, his latest disclosures showed, including up to $2 million in Netflix and Warner Bros Discovery bonds just weeks after the companies announced their merger.
Financial disclosures posted on Thursday and Friday showed the majority of Trump’s purchases were municipal bonds from cities, local school districts, utilities and hospitals.
But he also bought bonds from companies including Boeing, Occidental Petroleum and General Motors.
The investments were the latest reported assets added to Trump’s expanding portfolio while he is in office.
It includes holdings in sectors that benefit from his policies, raising questions about conflicts of interest.
For example, Trump said in December that he would have a say in whether Netflix can proceed with its proposed $83 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, which faces a rival bid from Paramount Skydance.
Any deal to acquire Warner Bros will need regulatory approval.
A White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said on Friday that Trump’s stock and bond portfolio is independently managed by third-party financial institutions and neither Trump nor any member of his family has any ability to direct, influence or provide input regarding how the portfolio is invested.
Like many wealthy individuals, Trump regularly buys bonds as part of his investment portfolio.
He previously disclosed at least $82 million in bond purchases from late August to early October.
US President Donald Trump has reiterated his claim of having stopped a war between Pakistan and India, while also saying that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked him for saving at least 10 million lives.
He made the remarks at the renaming of Southern Boulevard to Donald J Trump Boulevard in Washington on Friday.
“In a year, we made eight peace deals and ended the conflict in Gaza. We have peace in the Middle East…We stopped India and Pakistan from fighting, two nuclear nations…The Pakistani Prime Minister said Donald Trump saved at least 10 million people, and it was amazing,” he said.
The US president further recalled that the Pakistani prime minister’s remarks were an honour for him.
Trump cited his administration’s foreign policy record and repeated assertions of brokering peace between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
Trump has made similar claims multiple times since May 10 last year, arguing that US pressure helped defuse tensions between India and Pakistan.
Saudi Arabia’s 90-year-old King Salman was discharged from hospital after undergoing medical tests in the capital Riyadh, the kingdom’s Royal Court said on Friday, adding that the results were “reassuring”.
The monarch “left the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh today (Friday) after undergoing medical tests that proved reassuring”, the royal court said in a statement shared on state media, having announced his admission earlier in the day.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude oil exporter, has for years sought to quell speculation over King Salman’s health.
He has been on the throne since 2015, though his son Mohammed bin Salman was named crown prince in 2017 and acts as de facto ruler.
The monarch’s well-being is rarely discussed, but he has been admitted for surgery and tests on multiple occasions in recent years.
In 2024, the Royal Court said he suffered from lung infections, which he recovered from.
He was hospitalised in May 2022, when he went in for a colonoscopy and stayed for just over a week for other tests and “some time to rest”, the official Saudi Press Agency reported at the time.
He was also admitted to hospital in March 2022 to undergo what state media described as “successful medical tests” and to change the battery of his pacemaker.
In 2020, he underwent surgery to remove his gall bladder.
ICICI Bank Q3 Net Profit Falls 4 Percent to Rs 11317.86 Crore
The 16 Best EVs Coming in 2026
‘India makes more coaches than US, Europe’: PM Modi flags off Vande Bharat sleeper; calls it self-reliance push – The Times of India
-
Tech4 days agoNew Proposed Legislation Would Let Self-Driving Cars Operate in New York State
-
Sports6 days agoClock is ticking for Frank at Spurs, with dwindling evidence he deserves extra time
-
Sports1 week ago
Commanders go young, promote David Blough to be offensive coordinator
-
Entertainment4 days agoX (formerly Twitter) recovers after brief global outage affects thousands
-
Fashion6 days agoSouth India cotton yarn gains but market unease over US tariff fears
-
Fashion6 days agoChina’s central bank conducts $157-bn outright reverse repo operation
-
Business1 week agoSoftBank reduces Ola Electric stake to 13.5% from 15.6% – The Times of India
-
Sports6 days agoUS figure skating power couple makes history with record breaking seventh national championship