Gaza Strip

Illustrative. A suspicious balloon in the yard of a house in the southern city of Sderot on June 24, 2018. (Israel Police)

Fire balloons land in south as Israel considers easing Gaza restrictions

Defense minister said to meet with security chiefs on possibility of lifting controls on goods entering Strip, expanding fishing zone

Employees of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)and their families protest against job cuts announced by the agency outside its offices in Gaza City on July 31, 2018. (AFP PHOTO / SAID KHATIB)

August 14, 2018, 3:27 pm

Strip-search: 9 things to know for August 14

Israel may be on the verge of a Gaza truce, but apparently doesn't want Abbas anywhere near the enclave; plus a minor celebrity gets the Israel-critic special at the airport

By Joshua Davidovich

August 14, 2018, 2:34 pm

Fire balloons land in south as Israel considers easing Gaza restrictions

Defense minister said to meet with security chiefs on possibility of lifting controls on goods entering Strip, expanding fishing zone

By Judah Ari Gross

A picture taken on August 9, 2018 shows people inspecting the rubble of a cultural center following an Israeli air strike on Gaza City. (AFP PHOTO / MAHMUD HAMS)

August 14, 2018, 9:22 am

Israel and Hamas reportedly near truce after days of relative quiet

Jerusalem official quoted as saying Gaza ceasefire 'virtually done,' as defense minister mulls lifting border restrictions

By TOI staff and Judah Ari Gross

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman speaks during a press conference on July 19, 2018. (Flash90)

August 13, 2018, 10:55 pm

Defense minister’s office clarifies: Not all Gazans killed on fence were Hamas

Liberman had said Hamas 'sustained 168 deaths' in border clashes, but meant this in terror group's role as ruler of the Strip, not that all dead were members

By Judah Ari Gross

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, meets with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, right, in New York on September 19, 2017. (Avi Ohayun)

August 13, 2018, 10:16 pm

Netanyahu reportedly had secret talks on Gaza with Sissi in Egypt in May

Leaders said to have discussed easing blockade in exchange for ceasefire, PA assuming control of Strip and return of Israelis held by Hamas

By TOI staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman (2nd-L) meet with top IDF generals and Israeli security officials at the military's Kirya headquarters in Tel Aviv on August 9, 2018. (Ariel Hermoni/ Defense Ministry)

August 13, 2018, 9:41 pm

Israel to discuss easing restrictions on Gaza if lull in arson attacks continues

Defense minister to meet with security chiefs on possibility of lifting restrictions on goods entering Strip, expanding fishing zone

By Judah Ari Gross and TOI staff

Palestinians carry a demonstrator injured during clashes with Israeli forces near the border between the Gaza strip and Israel east of Gaza City on May 14, 2018. (MAHMUD HAMS/AFP)

August 13, 2018, 8:08 pm

Gazan shot in May during border demonstrations dies

Hamas-run health ministry says Wissam Hijazi, 30, who was being treated in Egypt, was shot by Israel on day of US Embassy opening

By AFP and TOI staff

Trucks are seen at the gate of the Kerem Shalom crossing, the main passage point for goods entering Gaza, in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, on July 17, 2018. (AFP PHOTO / SAID KHATIB)

August 13, 2018, 7:06 pm

Rights groups file petition calling on Israel to renew entry of goods into Gaza

Leftist NGOs ask High Court to overrule 'immoral and illegal' decision to ban fuel and other products from Strip in response to arson attacks

By TOI staff

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, center, speaks with IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot, right, and other senior military officers during a visit to the Gaza Division on August 13, 2018. (Shahar Levi/Defense Ministry)

August 13, 2018, 1:35 pm

Defense minister: Next round of fighting with Hamas is a matter of when, not if

Liberman meets IDF top brass in Gaza Division to discuss ongoing violence in the Strip, says Israel's security policies are set responsibly, not to appease 'online commenters'

By Judah Ari Gross

An employee of the Palestinian health ministry checks the Beit Hanoun hospital in the northern Gaza Strip after it stopped its services on January 29, 2018, after it ran out of fuel. (Mahmud Hams/AFP)

August 13, 2018, 2:44 am

Amid major shortage, PA orders cancer drugs be sent to Gaza

Forty-five of 60 chemotherapy medications needed at a hospital in the Gaza Strip were out of stock as of Monday, according to a medical official in the coastal enclave

By Adam Rasgon

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, arrives ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem, August 12, 2018. (Jim Hollander/AFP)

August 12, 2018, 7:05 pm

Security cabinet huddles over Gaza Strip violence, ceasefire with Hamas

Netanyahu says Israel will continue to operate against terror targets unless all attacks stop; decrease reported in number of arson attacks from Gaza

By TOI staff

Palestinian youths play volleyball as the sun sets in Gaza City, on April 26, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED ABED

August 12, 2018, 2:29 pm

Over half of Palestinian college graduates are unemployed, report finds

37.8% and 72% of male and female graduates, respectively, did not have jobs in 2017; nearly 70% of those who pursued education degrees unemployed

By Adam Rasgon

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the weekly cabinet meeting in his Jerusalem office, Sunday, August 12, 2018. (Jim Hollander/Pool via AP)

August 12, 2018, 1:48 pm

Netanyahu: Israel won’t accept anything less than a full ceasefire in Gaza

Hamas has paid a heavy price in recent hostilities, Israel has operational plans ready, prime minister says

By TOI staff

Israeli Arabs and Jews protest against the nation-state law' in Tel Aviv on August 11, 2018. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

August 12, 2018, 9:53 am

Flagging support: 7 things to know for August 12

The appearance of Palestinian flags at a protest against the nation-state law has those on the right crowing and those in the center shaking their heads

By Joshua Davidovich

Hamas officials Husam Badran (2nd-L) and Khalil al-Hayya (L) arrive for a meeting with Palestinian factions in Gaza City on August 5, 2018. (AFP Photo/Mahmud Hams)

August 12, 2018, 9:32 am

Minister: Toppling Hamas is an option, Israel closer to it than ever

Yuval Steinitz's comments come in wake of report that Israel has plan to assassinate leaders of the terrorist group, hopes to delay conflict until Gaza defense barrier completed

By TOI staff