Israel-Palestinian Conflict

Archaeologists in Israel have discovered two Byzantine-era coin weights that may be evidence of a Christian presence on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount before the Islamic conquest of the city between 636–637 AD, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports. The weights are believed to be official imperial weights required by 6th-century Byzantine law to be present in major churches and may even indicate a church on the Temple Mount before the Al Aqsa Mosque was built there in the 7th-8th centuries.

Worldwide, people observed Holocaust Remembrance Day on Saturday to remember the 6 million Jews as well as Sinti, Roma, and millions of others killed by the German Nazis and their collaborators during World War Two at a time of growing concerns about the future of Israel. Saturday’s ceremonies came amid mounting concerns about rising antisemitism after the October 7 attack by Hamas in Israel that killed more than 1,200 Israelis and others.

The European Union said Friday it demands “full openness” about the possible involvement of United Nations aid workers “in Hamas’ terrorist attacks” on Israel.

The United Nations’ top court ruled Friday that Israel must take all measures “to prevent genocidal acts” in Gaza but stopped short of ordering an immediate halt to operations or condemning Israel for genocide.

Israel says it expects the Netherlands-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) to throw out “spurious” genocide allegations on Friday.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) battled Hamas in all parts of the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing dozens of suspected terrorists linked to the group over 24 hours, officials and witnesses said.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated during a high-level meeting of the UN Security Council Tuesday that Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians has become “a major threat to global peace and security” and that an Israeli rejection of a two-state solution is “unacceptable.”

Israel confirmed Tuesday that 24 soldiers fighting in Gaza have been killed, the highest Israeli military death toll in a day so far during the Israel-Hamas war.

Israel has proposed a cease-fire of up to two months in exchange for the release of all the more than 130 hostages still held by Hamas, several officials confirmed.

Thousands of Israel-supporting Christians have gathered in recent weeks near the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Dutch city of The Hague, where Israel has been charged with genocide.

A group of relatives of Israelis held hostage by Hamas stormed a parliamentary committee session in Jerusalem, demanding that legislators and the government do more to free their loved ones who were kidnapped on October 7.

As battles raged Saturday in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday he told U.S. President Joe Biden that he rejected Palestinian sovereignty in the Gaza Strip, contradicting the president’s recollection of their talks.

Iran suggested Saturday it would attack Israel after a deadly strike in Syria killed several members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.

An Israeli missile strike on Syria’s capital, Damascus, killed at least four key members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, including the force’s information unit chief, Syrian and Iranian security officials said Saturday.

Israel’s prime minister hinted Thursday that Israel has begun attacking Iran to prevent it from further striking the Jewish nation and obtaining nuclear weapons.

Israel on Thursday was bracing for a massive armed confrontation with the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in neighboring Lebanon after warnings from the Israeli army’s chief of staff.

A mob of armed Palestinians in the West Bank targeted and extensively damaged Jacob’s Well, a Christian holy site in Nablus (Shechem), on Sunday night, the Tazpit Press Service (TPS) reports. Christian tradition holds that the site of the well was purchased by the Biblical Patriarch Jacob and is referred to in the New Testament as the Well of Sychar.

Battles raged between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip even after both agreed on delivering medicines to Israeli hostages and aid to Palestinians in the war-ravaged territory.

The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared on the social media platform X that a groundbreaking agreement has been successfully brokered between Israel and Hamas, facilitating the delivery of medical supplies for hostages held by the terrorist organization.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that the tunnel network built by Hamas under the Gaza Strip is far more extensive than previously thought, spanning between 350 and 450 miles, significantly larger than the original estimate of 250 miles given in December.