4 h. ago Gaza ceasefire live: Israel says body handed over by Hamas is not one of the hostages

Four bodies were handed over by Hamas on Tuesday to ease pressure on the fragile ceasefire, after the first four on Monday Israel reportedly pulls back from threat to slash humanitarian aid entering GazaThe Israeli military said on Wednesday that one of the bodies handed over by Hamas the previous day as part of the ceasefire deal is not that of one of the hostages who was held in Gaza. Four bodies were handed over by Hamas on Tuesday to ease pressure on the fragile ceasefire, after the first four on Monday – when the last 20 living hostages were released. The military said that “following the completion of examinations at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, the fourth body handed over to Israel by Hamas does not match any of the hostages”.In the north of the territory, as Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza City, the Hamas government’s black-masked armed police resumed street patrols, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).Our message is clear: There will be no place for outlaws...

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7 h. ago Gaza ceasefire live: Israel says one of the bodies handed over by Hamas is not a hostage amid reports vital aid crossing to reopen

Israel previously said the flow of aid would be cut by half and Rafah crossing would not open as planned due to delay in returning bodies of hostagesIsrael limits aid into Gaza in dispute over hostages’ remainsThe Israeli military said on Wednesday that one of the bodies handed over by Hamas the previous day as part of the ceasefire deal is not that of one of the hostages who was held in Gaza. Four bodies were handed over by Hamas on Tuesday to ease pressure on the fragile ceasefire, after the first four on Monday – when the last 20 living hostages were released. The military said that “following the completion of examinations at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, the fourth body handed over to Israel by Hamas does not match any of the hostages”.In the north of the territory, as Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza City, the Hamas government’s black-masked armed police resumed street patrols, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).Our message is clear: There will be no place for ...

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7 h. ago It’s taken only 24 hours, but Trump’s fairytale of peace in the Middle East seems doomed

As the ceasefire teeters after only a day, the region looks set to remain trapped in a dystopian, ever-violent Groundhog Day, writes chief international correspondent Bel Trew

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7 h. ago A lasting peace between Israel and Palestine? We’ve heard that before – the result was more bloodshed | Jason Burke

In 1982, Ronald Reagan picked up the phone to Menachem Begin to tell him to end a war. There are lessons from history and we need to learn themSo, which year are we in? A US president, after months of tacit encouragement, has finally intervened to end an Israeli military offensive that has reduced swaths of a Middle Eastern city to rubble, leaving thousands dead and prompting global outrage. For months, the UN has looked on, impotent, as Israeli air raids and artillery shelling has pummelled apartment blocks and refugee camps beside the Mediterranean. The Israeli offensive’s target, according to its architect, is a “kingdom of terror”.The offensive has come after a series of attacks on Israel. Now, under pressure from the White House, the Israeli prime minister, a rightwinger with a gift for populist rhetoric and an intense sense of historic Zionist mission, has agreed to a ceasefire. So too have the Palestinian armed factions, which have faced the massive firepower of the Israeli m...

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7 h. ago Gaza latest: Israel says body returned by Hamas is not a hostage after closing Rafah Crossing to aid

Hamas returns four more bodies of deceased hostages after Israel threatens aid cuts

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8 h. ago Gaza latest: Israel will not open Rafah crossing in dispute over hostage bodies

Hamas returns four more bodies of deceased hostages after Israel threatens aid cuts

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9 h. ago Gaza latest: Trump warns that Hamas must disarm or ‘we will disarm them – perhaps violently’

Hamas returns four more bodies of deceased hostages after Israel threatens aid cuts

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24 h. ago Hamas says it will return bodies of four Israeli hostages tonight after Israel says it will keep Rafah crossing closed – Gaza ceasefire live

Hamas tells mediators it plans to transfer bodies of four deceased hostages at 10pm local timeDespite the ceasefire agreement, a medical source told Palestinian news agency Wafa today that four people were killed when Israeli drones fired at residents inspecting their homes in Gaza’s eastern Shejaiya neighbourhood. We have not yet been able to independently verify this information.Israel’s military said it opened fire on people who it says approached Israeli forces operating in the northern Gaza Strip. Continue reading...

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26 h. ago Rafah crossing to stay closed, Israel says, affecting aid after Hamas failed to hand over bodies of hostages – Gaza ceasefire live

Israeli defence minister says delay in returning bodies is violation of ceasefireDespite the ceasefire agreement, a medical source told Palestinian news agency Wafa today that four people were killed when Israeli drones fired at residents inspecting their homes in Gaza’s eastern Shejaiya neighbourhood. We have not yet been able to independently verify this information.Israel’s military said it opened fire on people who it says approached Israeli forces operating in the northern Gaza Strip. Continue reading...

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29 h. ago POLL OF THE DAY: Will Trump's deal bring lasting peace to Gaza?

Some 20 Israeli hostages were released yesterday after Israel agreed, in exchange, to start freeing more than 1,900 prisoners and detainees as part of a ceasefire.

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30 h. ago BBC Breakfast chaos as row erupts between Donald Trump and reporter live on air

Donald Trump appeared to get into a row with a reporter live on BBC Breakfast when the US President was pressed about a peace deal between Israel and Palestine.

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30 h. ago The Latest: Gaza ceasefire holds as questions loom over next steps in US plan

The tenuous ceasefire in Gaza is holding after the release of the last living hostages and Palestinian prisoners

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30 h. ago Life in Gaza may go from utter hell to mere nightmare. What happens now? | Hussein Agha and Robert Malley

It took an American president unbound by traditional domestic constraints to get this done and provide the parties with what they could acceptDonald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza demands atonement from Palestinians for the horrific acts of 7 October, not from Israel for the barbarity that followed. It calls for Gaza’s deradicalization but not an end to Israel’s messianism. It micromanages the future of Palestinian governance while saying nothing about the future of Israel’s occupation.It is riddled with ambiguities, devoid of timetables, arbiters or consequences for inevitable eventual violations. If all goes according to plan – if the deal’s vagueness is not exploited to torpedo it; unavoidable clashes over subsequent phases do not get in the way of the first stage; Arab and Muslim states maintain pressure on the United States and the United States gets Israel to comply – life for Gazans will transition from utter hell to mere nightmare. Their condition will shift from defenceless pr...

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31 h. ago Gaza ceasefire live: Israel identifies dead hostages and says troops have fired at suspects as key truce issues remain

Defence minister says delay in returning more bodies would be a violation of ceasefire as forces open fire on people approaching troops in northern GazaIsraelis and Palestinians celebrate as truce brings hope of ‘era of peace’Despite the ceasefire agreement, a medical source told Palestinian news agency Wafa today that four people were killed when Israeli drones fired at residents inspecting their homes in Gaza’s eastern Shejaiya neighbourhood. We have not yet been able to independently verify this information.Israel’s military said it opened fire on Tuesday to remove a threat posed by several suspects who approached Israeli forces operating in the northern Gaza Strip. Continue reading...

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32 h. ago Voices: Sorry, Donald Trump, but that’s not what I call a peace deal

No other world leader could have brought about this sequence of events to end the war in Gaza – but what happens when but the US president’s boastful speeches stop, asks former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert

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38 h. ago Indonesia’s president heard on hot mic asking Trump if he can meet son Eric

The request from Prabowo Subianto at the Gaza peace summit in Egypt comes as the Trump Organisation is set to open new properties in IndonesiaIndonesian president Prabowo Subianto has been heard on a hot mic asking Donald Trump if he can meet with the president’s son Eric, as the leaders gathered in Egypt for a summit aimed at securing a lasting peace in Gaza.Prabowo appeared to be unaware that a live microphone was recording his conversation as he spoke to the president and referenced a region that is “not safe, security-wise”. He then asks Trump: “Can I meet Eric?” Continue reading...

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39 h. ago Biden hails Trump's Gaza peace deal while attempting to take some credit as last 20 hostages are freed from 'unimaginable hell'

Former President Joe Biden has praised Donald Trump for his success in negotiating a peace deal which allowed the 20 remaining Hamas survivors to return home.

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43 h. ago Moment buses carrying 2,000 freed Palestinian prisoners including murderers & terrorists arrive in Gaza

ISRAELIS are counting the cost of having the 20 ­hostages home as buses carrying nearly 2,000 freed Palestinians — including murderers and terrorists — arrived in Gaza. Around 250 serious offenders serving life sentences in Israel were being welcomed back to Palestinian communities, along with 1,750 detainees held in Gaza. And many of the notorious...

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45 h. ago ‘How long we dreamt of this day’: Joy and pain as families reunite across Israel and Palestine

As Donald Trump claims ‘Holy Land is finally at peace’ in bombastic Knesset speech, Bel Trew in Tel Aviv, Rateb al-Qaissy in Ramallah and Nedal Hamdouna in Gaza witness very different homecomings for Israelis and Palestinians freed in deal

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45 h. ago Trump vows lasting peace in Middle East and talks rebuilding Gaza as he signs Egypt accord — but offers few details

Signing caps off a day-long victory lap for Trump as Israeli hostages were freed after two years of Hamas captivity

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