Saturday, April 18, 2026

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Israel says Gaza ground war could take months

Israel’s ground incursion of Gaza could take up to three months, but will result in the final destruction of Hamas, Israeli minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant has told members of the Air Force.

Officials: Half of Gaza’s residential units damaged, 1.5mn displaced as death toll nears 5,000

Israel's relentless bombing of Gaza has damaged half of the besieged enclave's residential units and displaced 70 percent of its population, Palestinian officials announced on Sunday.

Rockets target Iraqi base housing American troops

Katyusha rockets on Sunday targeted the Ain al-Asad air base, which hosts US and other international forces in western Iraq, and one blast was heard inside the base, two army sources have confirmed. Since the start of the war between Israel and Palestine, the US forces in the region have come under repeated drone attacks in Iraq and Syria.

Israeli air raids put Syria’s Damascus, Aleppo airports out of service, 2 workers killed

Syrian officials say Israel has carried out fresh airstrikes on the Arab country’s two main airports in the cities of Damascus and Aleppo, knocking both facilities out of commission in the third such attacks within the span of 10 days.

UN agencies warn humanitarian situation in Gaza ‘Catastrophic’

The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is "catastrophic", five United Nations agencies have warned, calling for more international help.

US to deploy additional air defense systems in West Asia: Pentagon

The US will send a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system and additional Patriot air defense missile system battalions to the Middle East, the Pentagon has announced, in response to recent attacks on American troops in the region.

Hezbollah says six fighters killed in one day

Lebanon’s resistance group Hezbollah has confirmed six more of its fighters have now been killed along the border with Israel, taking to 19 the number of its members who have died since October 7.

Hamas says planned to release 2 more captives, but Israel declined offer

Gaza-based Palestinian group Hamas says that it planned to release two more hostages on humanitarian grounds, but the Israeli side declined the offer.

Gaza to be Israel’s graveyard in case of ground incursion: Hezbollah

Palestinian fighters will turn Gaza into a graveyard for Israeli troops if the Zionist regime launches a ground invasion of the besieged territory, a high-ranking official with Lebanon’s resistance movement Hezbollah has warned.

IDF chief of staff: “We’ll enter Gaza Strip”

The so-called Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, told IDF commanders that the Israeli military will initiate an operation to take out Hamas, based in Gaza.

Iraq warns Middle Eastern states could cut off oil supplies

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has reportedly warned that supplies of Middle East oil to international markets could be disrupted if the war between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas escalates to the point of involving other states in the region.

Israel says nearly 7,000 rockets fired from Gaza in 2 weeks

Over 6,900 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip against Israel during a fortnight of Palestinian-Israeli conflict aggravation, the press service of the so-called Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported on Saturday.

Gaza Hospitals “on brink of collapse”: UN

Hospitals in Gaza are "on the brink of collapse", the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has warned. The office stressed that the number of patients treated or waiting to be treated is at 150% of the hospitals' capacity, and people are lying on the floors and corridors.

1.4mn Gazans internally displaced: UN

The number of internally displaced persons in the Gaza Strip increased to 1.4 mln people, the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has announced.

Israel-Palestine conflict LIVE: Humanitarian aid begins crossing into Gaza from Egypt’s Rafah

Palestinian group, Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, has announced the start of military the operation Al-Aqsa Flood against Israel. Thousands of rockets have been fired from the blockaded enclave towards the occupied territories as far away as Tel Aviv, killing over 1,400 Israelis, including both military and settlers. More than 4,300 Palestinians have been so far killed in an exchange of fire between the two sides.

Abbas rejected Biden phone call: Report

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has refused to hold a telephone conversation with US President Joe Biden during the latter’s visit to Israel on Wednesday, Israeli state media reported.

80% of Israelis blame Netanyahu for failure to prevent Hamas attack: Poll

Nearly 80% of Israelis blame Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the failure to prevent the  attack by the Palestinian group Hamas in early October, according to a recent survey conducted in Israel.

US to hold Iran ‘accountable’ for providing military support to Russia, Hamas: Biden

US President Joe Biden used his address to the American people Thursday night to claim Tehran would be held accountable for supporting both Moscow and Palestinian group Hamas. Iran has vehemently denied any involvement in recent Hamas' military attack on Israel, while rejecting claims of transferring drones to Russia for use in the Ukraine war.

Pentagon says US warship shot down missiles and drones near Israel

The American destroyer USS Carney has shot down three missiles and several drones launched from the territory of Yemen controlled by Houthi fighters, the Pentagon has announced.

Israeli raids on Gaza can trigger regional war: Hamas

The head of the Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas' Politburo Ismail Haniyeh has sounded a stern warning concerning continuation of the Israeli regime's atrocities against the Gaza Strip. Haniyeh says continued Israeli strikes could lead to a regional conflict.

Rafah crossing preparing to open for aid delivery Friday morning: Egypt

The Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip will be opened from the Egyptian side to deliver humanitarian aid to the coastal enclave on Friday morning, Egyptian security officials at the border crossing told CNN.

Israeli soldiers kill seven in West Bank, including four children

Israeli troops have killed seven Palestinians in the occupied West Bank overnight and Thursday morning, including four children.

Hamas: Evidence shows flames, sound explosion of Gaza hospital bombing matches previous Israeli missiles

Palestinian group Hamas announced in a statement that Tel Aviv is “trying to evade its responsibility for the crime of bombing the al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City, while hundreds of people were sheltering there after being displaced due to Israeli aggression”.

Hezbollah confirms three fighters killed in Lebanon

Hezbollah has confirmed that three of its members were killed in southern Lebanon while “they were engaged in fighting”. Israel’s military had previously announced they struck a squad of Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon with a drone.

Israel will continue to deny responsibility for Gaza hospital attack: Palestinian ambassador to UN

The Palestinian ambassador to the UN has stated that Israel will deny again and again that it is behind the attack on al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, which authorities in Gaza say killed at least 500 people and injured hundreds more.

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