Obama demands Hezbollah be named a terrorist group
US President Barack Obama on Thursday demanded that foreign governments brand Hezbollah a “terrorist organization,” slamming the Lebanon-based militia for attacks on Israelis.
US President Barack Obama on Thursday demanded that foreign governments brand Hezbollah a “terrorist organization,” slamming the Lebanon-based militia for attacks on Israelis.
Two rockets fired by militants in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Thursday hit southern Israel, police said, sparking a top-level condemnation from visiting US President Barack Obama.
Barack Obama landed in Israel for the first time as US president on Wednesday, on a mission to ease past tensions with his hosts and hoping to paper over differences on handling Iran’s nuclear threat.
New Secretary of State John Kerry has assured Israeli and Palestinian leaders that the Obama administration will continue to pursue a Mideast peace agreement while recognizing the individual concerns on both sides.
Euphoric Palestinians erupted in cheers, honked car horns and chanted “God is great” after the United Nations endorsed an independent state of Palestine, giving sweeping international backing to their demands for sovereignty over lands Israel occupied in 1967.
The Philippines was one of the 138 countries that voted in favor of a UN General Assembly resolution upgrading Palestine’s observer status at the world body.
The United Nations voted overwhelmingly Thursday to recognize a Palestinian state, a long-sought victory for the Palestinians but an embarrassing diplomatic defeat for the United States.
The body of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will be exhumed on Tuesday to undergo poison tests, the head of the Palestinian inquiry team said on Saturday.
Israel and Hamas agreed on a truce that will take effect on Wednesday night, ending a week of violence in and around the Gaza Strip that killed more than 150 people, Egypt and the United States said.
An Israeli soldier and a civilian were killed by Gaza rockets on Tuesday, and an Iranian-built Fajr 5 scored a direct hit on a residential building in greater Tel Aviv causing major damage, officials said.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Jerusalem on Tuesday during Israel’s conflict in Gaza that Washington’s commitment to the Jewish state’s security remains “rock solid.”
A top Hamas commander was among seven people killed in more than 20 Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, as Israel began an operation targeting militant groups.
The Palestinians and Israelis made rival calls Sunday for the UN Security Council to act as Israel hit back with deadly air strikes against rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip.
