Israel says more than 100 hostages are now being held by Hamas militants, with the country vowing to free every last one of them. And though Middle Eastern countries are offering to mediate a prisoner swap, Israel may also decide to use force to rescue those taken captive. Redmond Shannon explains why such an operation
Nick Zhiharev was one of thousands of Israelis who attended an overnight music festival near Israel’s border with Gaza. The event was billed as a celebration of “friends, love and peace.” It ended in a massacre.Just after dawn on Saturday, Zhiharev spotted what he initially thought were fireworks streaming across the sky.“But then I told
Gaza is being pounded by airstrikes, setting the stage for a full-scale ground incursion by Israeli forces. The number of dead is constantly rising, with more than 700 people already killed on the Israeli side and as many as 400 killed in Palestinian territory. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is threatening to turn Gaza into
And finally, as the situation continues to develop, Farah Nasser speaks with Steven Simon, a former White House Middle East advisor for both the Obama and Clinton administrations and is now with the research-based Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. With Israel’s United Nations ambassador Gilad Erdan calling this “Israel’s 9/11” before an emergency UN Security
Have any plans next weekend? If not, here’s something worth taking a peek at — a solar eclipse will occur across North America on Saturday, Oct. 14. Unfortunately for Canadians, the eclipse — annular, not total, but more on that later — will track south of the border, though its sky-darkening effects will still be
Jewish and Palestinian communities in Alberta are reacting to the violence in Israel over the weekend. Without warning on Saturday, Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers attacked Israel by air, land and sea.Millions of Israelis in the country’s south awoke to incoming rockets and the inevitable thud of impact. Air raid sirens wailed as far north as Tel Aviv. Israel’s anti-rocket
A former deputy national security advisor for Israel is calling the attack by Hamas this weekend an “earthquake” for the country and people’s sense of security, and says the conflict has become a “battle for national survival.” Chuck Freilich made the comments in an interview with The West Block‘s Mercedes Stephenson on Sunday, a day
The death toll in Israel has reached at least 600 people, according to government numbers, with more than 100 believed to be kidnapped and more than 2,000 people injured after the Hamas militant group attacked the country by air, land and sea. Officials in Gaza say at least 370 people have died in the territory
After Hamas militants launched a surprise early morning attack on Israel that has left hundreds dead, Farah Nasser speaks with Eurasia Group chairman Cliff Kupchan on how Israeli Defence Forces were caught off guard, what the latest escalations could mean, and what lies ahead as the situation unravels.
Without warning on Saturday, Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers attacked Israel by air, land and sea. Millions of Israelis in the country’s south awoke to the searing sound of incoming rockets and the inevitable thud of impact. Air raid sirens wailed as far north as Tel Aviv. Israel’s anti-rocket interceptors thundered in Jerusalem.In an unprecedented escalation