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Palestinian Terrorists Fire Rockets Into Israel, Tanks Advance in Gaza

Israeli soldiers walk near a tank, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, near the Israel-Gaza Border, in southern Israel, May 9, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen

The Palestinian terrorist group Islamic Jihad fired a barrage of rockets into Israel on Monday as fighting raged in Gaza and Israeli tanks advanced deeper in parts of the enclave, residents and officials said.

The armed wing of Islamic Jihad, an Iranian-backed ally of Hamas, said its fighters fired rockets towards several Israeli communities near the fence with Gaza in response to “the crimes of the Zionist enemy against our Palestinian people.”

The volley of around 20 rockets caused no casualties, the Israeli military said. But the attack showed Palestinian terrorists in Gaza still possess rocket capabilities almost nine months into an offensive that Israel says is aimed at neutralizing threats against it.

Violence also flared on Monday in the West Bank, where the Palestinian health ministry said a woman and a boy were killed in the city of Tulkarm during an operation by Israeli forces. A day earlier, an Israeli strike in the same area killed an Islamic Jihad member.

In some parts of Gaza, militants continue to stage attacks on Israeli forces in areas that the army had left months ago.

Israeli tanks deepened incursions into the Shejaia suburb of eastern Gaza City for a fifth day, and tanks advanced further in western and central Rafah, in southern Gaza near the border with Egypt, residents said.

The Israeli military said it had killed a number of terrorists in combat in Shejaia on Monday and found large amounts of weapons there.

Hamas, the terrorist Islamist group that governs Gaza, said its fighters had lured an Israeli force into a booby-trapped house in the east of Rafah and blown it up, causing casualties.

The Israeli military announced the death of a soldier in southern Gaza without providing details. Israel‘s Army Radio said the soldier was killed in Rafah in a booby-trapped house — a possible reference to the incident reported by Islamic Jihad.

Also in Rafah, the Israeli military said that an airstrike killed a terrorist who fired an anti-tank missile at its troops.

Israel has signaled that its operation in Rafah, meant to stamp out Hamas, will soon be concluded. After the intense phase of the war is over, its forces will focus on smaller scale operations meant to stop Hamas reassembling, officials say.

The war began when Hamas-led fighters burst into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killed 1,200 people, and took around 250 hostages, including civilians and soldiers, back into Gaza.

In response, Israel launched a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’ military and governing capabilities in Gaza. Hamas-controlled health authorities in Gaza say nearly 38,000 people have died during the Israeli offensive, although experts have cast doubt on the reliability of such figures coming out of the enclave, which among other issues don’t distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Israel says 317 of its soldiers have been killed in Gaza and that at least a third of the Palestinian dead are fighters.

CEASEFIRE EFFORTS STALLED

Arab mediators’ efforts to secure a ceasefire, backed by the United States, have stalled. Hamas says any deal must end the war and bring a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel says it will accept only temporary pauses in the fighting until Hamas is eradicated.

Israeli authorities released 54 Palestinians it had detained during the war, Palestinian border officials said.

Among them was Mohammad Abu Selmeyah, the director of Al Shifa Hospital, arrested by the military when its forces first stormed the facility in November.

Israel said Hamas had been using the hospital for military purposes. The military has released the hospital’s CCTV footage from Oct. 7 showing gunmen and hostages on the premises and has taken journalists into a tunnel found at the complex.

Hamas has been widely criticized for its military strategy of embedding its terrorists within Gaza’s civilian population and commandeering civilian facilities like hospitals, schools, and mosques to run operations and direct attacks.

Hamas has denied using hospitals for military purposes; however, The Algemeiner has previously reported how the terrorist group touted its presence at Al Shifa in Arabic while rejecting the notion to English-language sources.

Abu Selmeyah rejected the allegations altogether on Monday and told a press conference at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah that detainees had been abused during their detention and that some had died.

Israel in May said it was investigating the deaths of Palestinians captured during the war as well as a military-run detention camp where released detainees and rights groups have alleged abuse of inmates.

The military did not immediately comment on Abu Selmeyah’s remarks.

The post Palestinian Terrorists Fire Rockets Into Israel, Tanks Advance in Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Riding Anti-Trump Wave, Australia’s Albanese Secures 2nd term

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a press conference with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Aug. 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy

i24 NewsAustralia’s Anthony Albanese claimed a second term as prime minister on Saturday, in a comeback against once-resurgent conservatives that commentators said was powered by voters’ concerns about the impact of US President Donald Trump.

Peter Dutton, leader of the conservative Liberal party, conceded defeat and the loss of his own seat, echoing the fate of Canada’s conservatives and their leader Pierre Poilievre, whose election losses last week were also widely attributed to a Trump backlash.

Supporters at Labor’s election party in Sydney cheered and hugged each other as Albanese claimed victory and said his party would form a majority government.

“Our government will choose the Australian way, because we are proud of who we are and all that we have built together in this country,” Albanese told supporters.

The Australian Electoral Commission website projected Labor would win 81 of 150 seats in the House of Representatives, increasing its majority in parliament, with 68% of the vote counted.

The post Riding Anti-Trump Wave, Australia’s Albanese Secures 2nd term first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israeli PM Netanyahu Postpones Upcoming Visit to Azerbaijan

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, Feb. 16, 2025. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has postponed next week’s visit to Azerbaijan, his office announced on Saturday, in part due to recent developments in Gaza and Syria.

The prime minister’s office also cited “the intense diplomatic and security schedule” and said that the visit would be rescheduled, without announcing a new date.

Netanyahu was to visit Azerbaijan from May 7-11 and was expected to meet with President Ilham Aliyev. Israel and Azerbaijan maintain close security and energy ties.

The post Israeli PM Netanyahu Postpones Upcoming Visit to Azerbaijan first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israel Says It Intercepted Missile Fired from Yemen; Houthis Claim Responsibility

Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Israel’s military said on Saturday it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen and Houthi forces claimed responsibility for the attack, the third of its kind by the Iran-aligned group in 24 hours.

The Israeli military said sirens were activated in a number of areas in Israel after the missile was launched. No casualties or serious damage have been reported from the missile salvos.

The claim of responsibility, announced by the Houthis’ military spokesperson, came amid an intensification of US airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

In March, US President Donald Trump ordered large-scale strikes against the Houthis to reduce their capabilities and deter them from targeting commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

The deadly strikes on the group have been the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since Trump took office in January.

The Houthis say their attacks on Israel and Red Sea shipping are in solidarity with the Palestinians in the war between Hamas terrorists and Israel in Gaza.

The group pledged to expand its range of targets in Israel in retaliation for a renewed Israeli offensive in Gaza launched in mid-March, breaking a two-month-old ceasefire after the mediated talks on terms for extending it broke down.

The post Israel Says It Intercepted Missile Fired from Yemen; Houthis Claim Responsibility first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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