Israel Financial News

It was the first opposition attack on Aleppo since 2016, when a brutal air campaign by Russian warplanes helped Syrian President Bashar Assad retake the northwestern city. Intervention by Russia, Iran and Iranian-allied Hezbollah and other groups has allowed Assad to remain in power, within the 70% of Syria under his control. The surge in fighting has raised the prospect of another violent front reopening in the Middle East, at a time when U.S.-backed Israel is fighting Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, both Iranian-allied groups.

The fighters took control of «half of the city of Aleppo» as regime forces withdrew, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The offensive began on Wednesday, the same day that a fragile ceasefire took effect in neighbouring Lebanon between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

Nuseirat refugee camp at the centre of the enclave, medics said, after Israeli tanks pulled back from parts of the camp. Medics said they had recovered 19 bodies of Palestinians killed in northern areas of Nuseirat, one of the enclave's eight long-standing refugee camps. Later on Friday, an Israeli air strike killed at least 10 Palestinians in a house in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza Strip, medics said.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. NABATIEH, Lebanon—Exhausted Hezbollah fighters filed past a throng of civilians through this small Lebanese city on Thursday, withdrawing northward a day after a cease-fire aimed at halting more than a year of fighting between the Iranian-backed militant group and Israel. As they pulled back, ordinary residents flowed south, past mountains of rubble, returning to homes they had fled as intensifying fighting engulfed the towns and villages of Lebanon’s south.

Israeli troops, the military and emergency services said on Friday. Israel's MDA medical service said four people suffered gunshot wounds, with three in a serious condition, while four others were hurt by flying glass. There was no initial information about the identity of the attacker.

The escalation came a day after Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah began a ceasefire in Lebanon, halting more than a year of hostilities and raising hopes among many Palestinians in Gaza for a similar deal with Hamas, which rules the enclave. Israel's military campaign — with the avowed intent of eradicating Hamas militants after the group's deadly raid on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 — has laid waste to the enclave of 2.3 million people.

Hezbollah was breached hours after Lebanese security sources said Israeli tanks attacked six areas of southern Lebanon, calling into question a truce reached after more than a year of fighting. A ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah took effect on Wednesday under a deal brokered by the U.S. and France, intended to allow people in both countries to start returning to homes in border areas shattered by 14 months of fighting. The Israeli military said the ceasefire was violated after what it called suspects, some in vehicles, arrived at several areas in the southern zone.

Reuven Azar spoke to about Hamas, how Israel is neutralising the terrorists and the way Hamas is exploiting the aid meant for Palestinians. The conflict in Gaza reignited after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. About 2,500 terrorists breached the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing more than 1200 people, including citizens of more than 30 countries, and also took 250 people as hostages. Following the October 7 attack, Israel launched a counter-offensive against Hamas, vowing to eliminate the entire terror group. Ambassador Reuven Azar said that Israel has given «very severe blows» to Hamas.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon could not have come a moment too soon, especially since Tel Aviv had seemed determined to pursue its war against the Iran-backed militia with the same intensity as its campaign against Hamas in Gaza.

Gaza, triggered by a Hamas attack on Israel in October last year, and later pulled in Hezbollah too. The ceasefire does not extend to Gaza, where Israel’s military continues to fight Hamas as there is no progress on the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. Yet, the ceasefire is a definite turning point in the conflict and raises hope for final resolution. The ceasefire comes as a good news for India not just because India has trade and business interests in the Middle East which will be harmed if a wider war breaks out, but also because a highly ambitious project, which was deferred due to the conflict, can be back on track. The most consequential announcement at last year's G20 Summit in Delhi was the commitment to build a rail-and-port network that will connect India to the Middle-East and the Middle-East to Europe and the US. It has been named the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC). Though no leader from the participating countries mentioned China, it is an obvious alternative to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that aims to connect the whole world to China through shipping, rail and road networks.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. WASHINGTON—President-elect Donald Trump’s brandishing of tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico and China marks the passage from one era to another: Partnerships are out, and coercion is in. Trump is showing his second term will be much like his first, defined by the economic and diplomatic fights he picked with friends as well as foes.

Stocks in Asia saw a muted open after Donald Trump’s tariff plan roiled emerging markets in the previous session. Equities opened higher in Sydney, while dipping in Tokyo and Seoul. US equity futures were little changed after the S&P 500 rose for a seventh day to notch its 52nd record this year. A Bloomberg gauge of the dollar slipped 0.1%, paring some of its strength seen on Tuesday that pressured the Mexican peso and Chinese yuan, among others.

weapons storage facility in Syria in response to an attack on American forces a day earlier. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) wrote on X that the strike aimed to «degrade their ability to plan and launch future attacks on US and Coalition forces who are in the region to conduct D-ISIS operations,» referring to a mission to target the Islamic State group. It said that there were no civilian casualties found during its assessment of the strike.

Bitcoin surged by 9% over the past week and 31% since its September low, as markets bet on a potential Trump victory in the US election on 5 November.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The International Criminal Court, of which neither Israel nor the U.S. is a member, has issued arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and former defense minister as well as a Hamas terrorist commander who is probably dead.

Gold prices fell sharply, tumbling by Rs 2,200/ 10 grams in the last 2 days while silver prices fell by Rs 2,700/kg in the same period.

Gold prices fell on Tuesday to their lowest in more than a week, weighed down by a stronger dollar and reports of a potential Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire that dampened safe-haven demand.

small-cap Russell 2000 index hitting an all-time high after Scott Bessent's nomination as U.S. Treasury secretary helped push bond yields lower. Focus also turned to talks of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon, which pushed oil prices lower, dragging the Energy index 2% lower.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. BEIRUT—From his tiled terrace in the foothills overlooking Beirut, Mohammed Dayekh is watching a place he once loved go up in flames. A 34-year-old director and screenwriter with jet black hair and tattooed forearms, Dayekh grew up in southern Beirut.

Lebanon, including 29 deaths from a devastating attack that flattened a multi-story residential building in central Beirut's densely populated Basta area. According to the IDF, 12 Hezbollah command centers were struck by the Israel Air Force in Dahieh, Beirut, including sites used by Hezbollah's Intelligence Unit, coast-to-sea missile unit, and Unit 4400--responsible for smuggling weapons from Iran through Syria into Lebanon. The IDF said, these command centers were used to plan, command, and execute terrorist attacks against Israel and monitor terrorist activity against IDF troops operating in southern Lebanon. Meanwhile, the Lebanese Ministry of Health revised the death toll upward on Sunday, initially reporting 20 deaths before confirming the higher number. Rescue teams continued working late into the weekend as the tragic aftermath of the Israeli airstrike became clear.

antisemitic terror incident". The UAE's Interior Ministry later said authorities arrested three suspects involved in the killing of Zvi Kogan. The statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Sunday said that Israel «will act with all means to seek justice with the criminals responsible for his death». Israeli authorities did not say how they determined the killing of Kogan was a terror attack and offered no additional details.