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Israel reopens Gaza aid crossing as US pushes for restraint

Israel reopened an aid crossing into Gaza on Friday as staunch ally the United States urged more restraint in its all-out offensive against Hamas.

The Israeli army said its troops had shot and killed three hostages after mistaking them for a "threat" while Jerusalem came under rocket fire from Gaza for the first time since late October.

The war began after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 that Israeli officials say killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

Smoke billows over the northern Gaza Strip during Israeli bombardment

How COP's fossil fuel taboo was finally broken by the Emiratis

Hours after the applause and relief that the world had finally reached a landmark climate agreement in Dubai, US special envoy John Kerry admitted that he thought it might never happen.

The seasoned international negotiator recalled a conversation with one minister who worried about a deal that would signal the end of fossil fuels.

"One minister from one of those countries involved said, 'John, you can't ask us to commit economic suicide'," Kerry said.

Nearly 200 countries adopted on Wednesday a deal stating that the world will be 'transitioning away from fossil fuels'

US urges Israel to scale down Gaza offensive

The United States told Israel on Wednesday to scale down its war on Hamas in the "near future," with President Joe Biden urging it to take more care to save civilian lives in Gaza.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan made the push during talks in Tel Aviv with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials, discussing the war Israel launched after the October 7 attacks.

Washington has strongly backed Israel's right to defend itself, but mounting civilian casualties in the Palestinian territory have caused a growing rift between the close allies.

US President Joe Biden speaks about lowering prescription drug costs at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland

Spain FM urges Israel to distinguish 'terrorists' from Gaza civilians

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said Thursday that Israel should distinguish between "terrorist targets" and civilians in Gaza, adding that places of worship, hospitals and UN buildings should be spared.

"Spain's voice will always be raised to protect the rights of the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza," Albares said on a visit to Morocco.

Visiting Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares addresses a press conference in the Moroccan capital Rabat

Israel's kibbutzniks face long exile after Hamas attacks

Kibbutz Nahal Oz was supposed to celebrate the 70th anniversary of its founding near Gaza on October 7 -- the day Hamas militants launched their deadly attack on southern Israel.

More than two months on, its deeply traumatised residents are settling in for a year of displacement on the opposite side of the country.

With fighting between Israel and Hamas showing no sign of abating, kibbutzniks from 20 evacuated communities are making longer-term relocation plans from their homes near the Gaza Strip.

Teenagers from kibbutz Nahal Oz ride bicycles in kibbutz Mishmar Haemek in northern Israel

Multi-day Israeli raid kills 11 in West Bank: ministry

Israeli forces killed 11 people in a multi-day raid in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said Thursday.

The latest death was a 17-year-old boy who the ministry said was shot in the chest by the Israeli army in Jenin.

In addition to 11 killed by Israeli forces, Palestinian health officials said a sick 13-year-old boy also died after Israeli forces prevented him from reaching hospital.

Israeli troops launched their incursion into the northern city of Jenin and its refugee camp early Tuesday and were still present on Thursday afternoon.

An Israeli army patrol car blocks off one of the entrance roads to Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank as troops press a raid that has killed 11 Palestinians since Tuesday

Climate deal won't have immediate impact on Gulf oil

An agreement to "transition away" from fossil fuels may be a landmark moment but don't expect quick changes among the major producers of the Gulf, where the deal was hammered out.

After the UN's COP28 climate talks in Dubai, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman immediately played down the text, insisting it would have "no impact on exports" from the country that ships more oil than any other.

The deal "doesn't impose anything" on oil-producing countries and allows them to cut emissions "according to their means and their interests", the minister said.

Nations are scrambling to reach a climate deal at COP28 talks in Dubai

UK PM Sunak says open to tweaking Rwanda bill

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Thursday he was open to toughening up his controversial plan to send migrants to Rwanda, which has divided his ruling Conservative party.

The plan is Sunak's answer to a unanimous Supreme Court ruling last month that deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda is illegal under international law.

Sunak, who has been in power for just over a year, has staked his political future on cutting record levels of regular and irregular migration, with the issue set to be a key battle ground in the next general election.

The Rwanda bill is a key test of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's authority

OPEC+ cartel's grip on oil market loosening: IEA

Slowing demand growth and rising US crude production will make it more difficult for OPEC+ to continue to prop up prices, the IEA said on Thursday.

The OPEC+ cartel, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, has been restraining production to maintain prices but the latter have recently slumped due to the weakening of the global economy and increases in output outside the bloc.

The OPEC+ cartel's grip on the global oil market is loosening, according to the IEA

Number of journalists killed on job in 2023 declines despite Gaza: RSF

The number of journalists killed in the line of duty fell this year, despite reporter deaths in Gaza in the past two months, media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said Thursday.

In the first 11 months of 2023, 45 journalists were killed carrying out their work, down from 61 last year, according to the annual report by RSF.

It was the smallest number since 33 died in 2002, largely due to a major drop in Latin America.

Journalists killed in the line of duty in 2023