Palestine Financial News

Israel-Hamas war: The United States is risking its position on the global stage as it decides to back Israel in its war against Gaza. But, serious disagreements seem near as Israel plans to push Palestinians out of Gaza and called for Israeli settlers to return to the region.

mourners broke into sobs as they huddled around defiant family members of slain Hamas deputy Saleh al-Aruri in his village in the occupied West Bank Wednesday, a day after his death in Lebanon. Aruri, exiled from his village Arura since he was released from an Israeli jail in 2010, was killed in a drone strike on a southern Beirut suburb that Lebanese officials said was carried out by Israel.

Israeli strike killed the deputy leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas. The day after loud blasts ripped through the district from the drone attack that killed Saleh al-Aruri, armed men of Hezbollah were standing guard in the mainly Shiite Muslim area that is their stronghold. Local residents said they were surprised to learn that their busy street housed the secretive Hamas bureau in a non-descript three-storey building nestled next to a pharmacy and a sweets shop. Israel has not claimed the deadly attack but Hamas, the group behind the October 7 attack that sparked the Gaza war, and Lebanese officials have no doubt it was Israel who killed Aruri and six Hamas operatives. Beirut's southern suburbs have long been a stronghold of the Iran-backed Hezbollah armed group, but it is also an overcrowded residential area packed with civilians, shops and restaurants. «No one knew that there was a Hamas office here,» said Ahmed, 40, who works in the nearby sweets shop.

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BEIRUT : Israel was on high alert for an escalation with Hezbollah on Wednesday after one of the top leaders of the Palestinian Hamas was killed in a strike in Beirut that was widely blamed on Israel and heightened the risk of a broader Middle East conflict. The killing of Saleh Arouri, the most senior Hamas member slain since the war in Gaza erupted nearly three months ago, provided a morale boost for Israelis still reeling from Hamas' Oct. 7 attack as the militants put up stiff resistance in Gaza and continue to hold scores of hostages.

Itamar Ben Gvir, dismissed the US State Department's condemnation of his statement for urging Palestinians in Gaza to be resettled outside the strip on Tuesday, The Times of Israel reported. «I really admire the United States of America but with all due respect, we are not another star in the American flag,» Ben Gvir, who heads the ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit party, said in a statement.

Asian shares extended a global sell-off on Wednesday while the dollar held gains as market optimism about early and aggressive U.S. interest rate cuts ebbed ahead of the release of Fed minutes and jobs data. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.1% after a 1.0% drop the previous day in a sluggish start of the new year.

air strikes on Tuesday, residents said, and Israeli ground troops and Hamas militants also battled in other parts of the shattered Palestinian enclave. Israel said its troops had killed dozens of militants in Gaza's north in the past day. Residents said Israeli tanks had shelled parts of the Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central area.

America’s polarisation and congressional paralysis. Republicans, especially those of Mr Trump’s “America First" tendency, have grown ever more sceptical about supporting Ukraine in its war. And Congress, unable to pass bills since the removal of the speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, on October 3rd, got a new one, Mike Johnson, only this week.

Hamas saw the world change stance from ‘right of one nation to defend itself’ to ‘need for aids to enter the attacked nation’, but none holding the power to has sought an ‘immediate ceasefire’. The war inflated on 7 October, when Hamas fighters from Gaza launched a multi-pronged attack on Israel, killing at least 1,200 people.

Reuters reported. This is likely to be a temporary move but the “most significant" one as this is the first pullback of troops announced since the beginning of the war in October 2023. The military said in a statement on Monday that five brigades, or several thousand troops, were being taken out of Gaza in the coming weeks for training and rest.

invade Gaza, one question keeps coming up: who should take control of it after they have rooted out Hamas—if, indeed, they are able to do so? Many, especially Israel’s allies, are looking to the Palestinian Authority (PA), which was thrown out of Gaza by Hamas almost two years after Israel withdrew its troops and dismantled its settlements there in 2005. But the PA seems to be in no position to take charge of the coastal enclave.

India monitoring Red Sea developments; got info on US-led naval task force It appeared to be undamaged in that attack and "was able to continue its transit north", said Maersk, one of the world's largest shipping companies. Why the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea are worrisome It was then attacked by four ships operated by Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels, which "engaged fire in an expected attempt to board the vessel", the Danish shipping company said.

Israel, causing alarm as the new year began. Sirens had been heard across various cities including Ashdod, and Sderot, as well as in Rehovot, Ness Ziona, Holon, Lod, and Modiin. There have been no injuries reported.

To gain a glimpse of the kind of strains many countries will face in 2024, it can help to focus on the challenges facing a single country. Consider Egypt’s recent experience. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the sharp global increase in grain and fertilizer prices disrupted the Egyptian economy, which was already worn down by the covid-19 pandemic, water shortages, and debt.

Indian equity markets will be looking towards in 2024. The Indian equity market has been an outperformer and a safe haven in 2023 largely on account of good policies and political stability. That is key. Personally, I am very bullish on India. But India needs trained manpower to truly leverage its demographic dividend. So I would emphasise skill development centres nationwide.

(Reuters) -New Zealanders were among the first in the world to celebrate the arrival of 2024 with a fireworks display in Auckland on Monday. The fireworks illuminated the cloudy night sky and were accompanied by a laser light and animation show.

By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Ahmed Elimam

By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Arafat Barbakh and Dan Williams

Palestinian Authority minister was killed on Sunday in an Israeli strike on his home in the Gaza Strip, the official Palestinian news agency and Hamas health ministry said. Youssef Salama, the 68-year-old former minister of religious affairs in the Palestinian Authority, was killed in a strike on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, Wafa news agency and the ministry reported.

Artificial Intelligence ruled 2023-- its discovery, usage, abuse, and a potential threat to jobs-- the new year 2024 can expect a changed stance of this discovery- based on takes the seat of governance. 2023 saw AI boost stock prices, and a profound shift in how humans function. 2024 will see regulators all over the world scrambling to impose rules on this rapidly growing technology.