World

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the ongoing ground operation in Gaza is the “second stage of the war” after additional forces entered the territory. He described having troops on the ground as “only the beginning” and said Israel’s military would exert every effort to return those who have been taken captive. Mr Netanyahu,

Israel will expand ground operations tonight and has warned residents of Gaza City to move south. Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), said: “In addition to the attacks that we carried out in recent days, ground forces are expanding their activity this evening. “The IDF is acting with great

On 7 October – three weeks ago this weekend – Hamas launched a vicious, deadly and barbaric attack on Israel. Hamas is no match for Israel’s military capability, and the world watched in trepidation as Israel mobilised over 350,000 reservists and prepared for swift and decisive military retribution. However, three weeks later, despite regular threats

Israeli forces backed by warplanes and drones have carried out a second ground raid in Gaza as aid trickles into the besieged territory amid warnings of a deepening “humanitarian catastrophe”. The operation comes as the Israeli military prepares for a widely expected invasion of the Hamas-governed enclave. Meanwhile, US jets struck targets in eastern Syria

All the civilians being held hostage in Gaza can be released in days, if there is a pause in the fighting, the Qataris leading negotiations say. Dr Mohammed Al Khulaifi, senior negotiator and Qatar’s minister of state for foreign affairs, told Sky News in an exclusive interview that the negotiations to free Israelis taken by

Twenty seven people have died and four are missing after Hurricane Otis made landfall in Mexico, authorities have said. The hurricane intensified yesterday before hitting Acapulco, a beach resort town that’s home to more than one million people. Tens of thousands of residents, stranded in their damaged homes without power, have been awaiting assistance for

With Israel’s darkest hour falling on his watch, the Israeli prime minister knows that he must show strength and purpose in his war with Hamas, but every choice he faces is filled with peril. Benjamin Netanyahu made a televised address to the nation on Wednesday night, vowing to “destroy” the Hamas militant group based in

Negotiations to release more Hamas hostages from Gaza are ongoing but could be jeopardised by an Israeli ground offensive, Qatari mediators have warned. “If we can keep discussions going between both parties we should see some sort of breakthrough, hopefully soon,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani, Qatar’s foreign minister, told Sky News in a

US spy agencies believe the blast at a Gaza hospital a week ago was caused by a Palestinian rocket that suffered engine failure and broke apart into two pieces, with the warhead striking the hospital’s parking lot, intelligence officials said on Tuesday. Speaking to reporters by phone, the intelligence officials said they had “high confidence”

Israel is taking its time before launching a ground invasion into Gaza as troops would have “fallen into a deadly trap” set by Hamas had they entered too quickly, a top Israeli diplomat has said. Emmanuel Nahshon, a senior official at the country’s foreign ministry, said it was also “not a bad thing” for the

The key Hamas negotiator over the fate of more than 200 hostages held by the group inside Gaza says all the civilians among them will be released – if the right conditions are met. Khaled Meshaal is a powerful figure within Hamas, revered as a living martyr after surviving an Israeli attempt to assassinate him

Israel has evidence of Iranian “involvement” in the Hamas terror attack that left more than 1,400 people dead and over 200 kidnapped, a senior Israeli military officer has said. Major General Michael Edelstein, a veteran commander who is working with the Israel Defence Forces’ (IDF) Southern Command, said the attackers, were “well trained, well equipped”.

Hamas terrorists who broke into Israel were carrying instructions on how to make chemical weapons, according to Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Israeli forces claim they discovered the material on the bodies of dead fighters in Kibbutz Be’eri, where an estimated 20% of the 1,100 residents were killed or kidnapped. The documents, complete with diagrams, were shown

Five people have been killed in the West Bank as Israel carried out a strike on a mosque it says was used to organise attacks – as more than 50 Palestinians are reported to have died in strikes on Gaza overnight. Israel also struck two airports in Syria as fears grow the two-week old war

Hands pulling the wheels on his wheelchair, a young Israeli soldier led the way into his hospital bedroom, both legs patched up after surgery for three gunshot wounds. The reservist, a member of an elite unit called the counter-terror school, was wounded as he helped to recapture a rural community near Gaza that had been

Late on Friday night, somewhere along the Gaza-Israel border, Judith and Natalie Raanan were handed over by masked Hamas gunmen into the care of the International Red Cross. In a video released by Hamas, they look exhausted and dazed. No wonder. Follow latest: First aid trucks enter Gaza The Americans were just two of an

I stopped counting after the ninth person was shot in front of us on another day of protests in the West Bank.  It was clearly a tactic by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) to send a message – to the usual suspects who regularly hurl rocks at their vehicles and security posts – that today

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says she has separated from her partner Andrea Giambruno who has faced criticism for alleged sexist comments. Ms Meloni, 46, took to her social media accounts on Friday to say her near decade-long relationship with television journalist Mr Giambruno “ends here”. “I thank him for the splendid years we spent

The number of British people killed as a result of the Hamas attack on Israel has risen to nine, the prime minister’s spokesperson has said. A further seven remain missing after the incursion from Gaza into Israel on 7 October, the spokesperson added. Until yesterday, authorities said seven British nationals had been confirmed killed, with

We filmed as a small group of teenagers whirling slings above their heads lobbed stones at an Israeli military vehicle 100m or so up the road on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Ramallah.  They’re taunting members of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) stationed at their main military communications hub. Above them snipers

An explosion at the al Ahli hospital in Gaza on Tuesday evening killed scores of Palestinians. Here is what we know so far. What happened at the hospital in Gaza? There was a strike on al Ahli al Arabi hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday evening, around 7pm local time. The exact number of people

At least 500 people have been killed in a bombing of a hospital in Gaza City, the Palestinian Health Ministry has claimed. A spokesman for the ministry said in a statement: “Initial estimates indicate that between 200 and 300 martyrs were killed in the bombing that targeted Baptist Hospital in Gaza city.” The ministry later

The only cancer hospital in Gaza has been forced to shut down due to fuel shortages – as Israel bombed areas of southern Gaza where it told Palestinians to flee, killing dozens. Amid a worsening humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave, the Turkish Friendship Hospital – which is home to the area’s only oncology unit

Hamas’s attack on Israel has given rise to the largest-scale hostage crisis in the country’s 75-year history. About 200 people have been captured and taken into Gaza, according to the Israeli military. Over the course of the Arab-Israeli conflict, armed Palestinian groups have taken dozens of Israelis captive. The vast majority have been Israeli Defence

Two people have been shot dead in central Brussels, according to Belgian media reports. It is being reported that both victims were wearing Swedish football shirts, ahead of the country’s Euro qualifier match against Belgium this evening in the capital. This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please

President Joe Biden has said the Hamas militant group should be eliminated, but warned it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza, calling instead for a “two-state solution”. Speaking a week to the day since Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, Mr Biden said Israel has “to go after Hamas” but said

We’ve been travelling to the many different scenes where Hamas fighters carried out their terror attack on Israel this week, and it is becoming clear that their tactics and levels of brutality changed from location to location. Warning – this story contains descriptions and pictures of a graphic nature In the attack on the Nova

Israel is preparing to launch a “coordinated offensive” on the Gaza Strip, after the deadline given to Palestinians to move south to escape passed. Up to 1.1 million people on the sliver of land were offered safe passage south of the Gaza Wadi river by Israel’s Defence Forces until 4pm local time on Saturday (2pm

Holding out his phone, a soldier walked towards me in the shattered ruins of a kibbutz in southern Israel. “This is my friend,” he said, showing a photograph on the screen of a beautiful young woman and her fiancé. Their names were Nieve Raviv, 27, and Nirel Zini, also in his 20s. The soldier described

Israel’s military says infantry backed by tanks have carried out “localised raids” in the Gaza Strip. It comes ahead of an expected ground operation, with Israel warning more than a million people in the north of Gaza to evacuate to the south. The small raids were carried out to attack Hamas rocket crews and seek

Israeli infantry and tanks have carried out “localised raids” in Gaza – the first hint at a shift to ground assaults. The small raids were carried out to attack Hamas rocket crews and seek information on the location of hostages taken by Palestinian gunmen last Saturday, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said. It is the first

Britons are “highly likely” to be among those held by Hamas in Gaza, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has told Sky News. The cabinet minister revealed the UK had also sent additional intelligence personnel to the region as part of efforts to release those captured or assist citizens trapped in the besieged enclave. His comments came

I walked up the hill to the main stage area of the Nova Festival site knowing we were entering a murderous scene the world has heard so much about but has yet to fully understand. As I passed bullet-ridden cars where people trying to escape were gunned down; burnt-out cars where some young people had