One of the most visited places in the world, Jerusalem’s Old City, has closed its stores, churches, and other public areas due to the ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hamas militants, that started on October 7. Tourists and pilgrims have fled the city in fear of escalating violence.
The US has reiterated its call that innocent civilians fleeing the Israel-Hamas conflict be given basic necessities and protection. A US senator has also strongly warned Iran and the Lebanese group Hezbollah over concerns of a wider regional conflict.
Concerns about Jewish safety have been raised globally by Hamas’s calls for solidarity events. From Washington state, Natasha Mozgovaya is on a US campus where tensions were visible.
Following the first Friday prayers since the start of the Israeli-Hamas war less than a week ago, Jerusalem was explosive on Friday, with clashes outside the Old City near the Palestinian-Israeli border. Yan Boechat has this report from Jerusalem.
Scrap-metal trader MD Alam was sleeping in his riverside cabin along the Teesta River in northeast India on Oct. 4 when he received an urgent phone call.
In March, Michael Amushelelo, a Namibian activist, was arrested along with three others. Hundreds to two hundred people showed up in support of Michael. They were asking for his immediate release when they gathered during his trial.
A potential Hezbollah attack has prompted the evacuation of some towns in northern Israel. And as Yan Boechat reports for VOA from Metula, Israel, soldiers prepare for what they fear could become a new front while Israel shoots down rockets over the city.
Disinformation spread like wildfire on Saturday, just as rockets and Hamas militants infiltrated Israel.In addition to being fought offline, the conflict is also being fought online.
China has replaced the use of the term “Tibet” with “Xizang” as the romanized Chinese name on official diplomatic documents, a recent speech by the Foreign Minister Wang Yi shows.
As missiles pound Gaza and more Israeli victims’ bodies are found in their homes, the dead toll from the Israel-Hamas conflict has risen to more than 2,300 on both sides.