4 d. ago Where is the Gaza ‘peace process’ really going? | Ahmad Ibsais

Israel turns the violence up and down at will, maintaining full dominion over Gaza and the West Bank, then calls each pause a generous ‘ceasefire’If you started attending one funeral a day beginning 1 January 2025, you would finish in the year 3887. That is how long it would take to mourn every life lost in Gaza. By then, your grandchildren’s great10 grandchildren would be dust, and still you would be burying Palestinian bodies from a “war” Israel insists was about self-defense. Even then, this number does not tell you about the thousands of ways these bodies were burned, torn, crushed and made anything but whole.And yet here we are, watching world leaders gather in Egypt for a “peace summit” last month where the only people absent were Palestinians. The banner read “Peace 2025”, while Palestine’s representatives were barred from the room.Ahmad Ibsais is a first generation Palestinian American, law student and poet who writes the newsletter State of Siege Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago British grandmother sentenced to death in Bali on drugs charges ‘to fly back to the UK today’

Lindsay Sandiford was spared the firing squad after being held in the notorious Kerobokan prison on drugs charges

Events

7 d. ago More Palestinian bodies returned by Israel as shaky Gaza ceasefire holds

More than a dozen more Palestinian bodies handed back to Gaza after dead Israeli soldier's remains were released as the grim corpse swap continues to hold the shaky ceasefire

Events

9 d. ago Israel and Hamas hand over bodies as part of Gaza ceasefire deal

Hamas hands remains of three soldiers to Israel and bodies of 45 Palestinians are returned to Gaza amid fragile ceasefireIsrael has announced that the remains of three soldiers killed by Hamas during its raid into Israel on 7 October 2023 have been handed over by the militant group.The transfer is the latest since the precarious ceasefire in Gaza came into effect just over three weeks ago. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Israeli strikes overnight in Gaza kill at least 60 people, including children, local officials say

Israeli strikes overnight in Gaza have killed at least 60 people, including many children

Events

2 w. ago Palestine Action activist accused of breaking into RAF base led anti

A pro-Palestine activist accused of vandalising an RAF base with Palestine Action spoke to anti-Israel protesters gathered outside his jail using a prison telephone.

Politics

2 w. ago Netanyahu orders Israeli military to escalate attacks on Hamas in Gaza

Move comes after Israel accuses Palestinian militants of ceasefire violations over delayed return of bodies of hostages

Events

2 w. ago Returned body parts were of Gaza hostage recovered two years ago, Israel says

Netanyahu accuses Hamas of ‘clear violation’ of ceasefire as far-right ministers call for resumption of warBenjamin Netanyahu has accused Hamas of a “clear violation” of the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire, saying the militant group had returned body parts of a hostage whose remains Israeli troops had recovered two years before.Under the terms of the ceasefire, which took effect on 10 October, Hamas is required to return the remains of all Israeli hostages as soon as possible. In exchange, Israel has agreed to hand over 15 Palestinian bodies for each Israeli. Hamas has yet to return 13 bodies. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Hamas returns remains of Israeli hostage after Red Cross’s help in search

Exclusive: Red Cross acts as ‘neutral intermediary’ to recover hostages’ remains in areas under Israeli controlThe International Committee of the Red Cross has accompanied members of Hamas inside areas of Gaza still under the control of the Israeli military to facilitate the search for the bodies of Israeli hostages, as the Palestinian militant group delivered the remains of another captive.Under the US-brokered ceasefire, which took effect on 10 October, Hamas is required to return the remains of all Israeli hostages as soon as possible. In exchange, Israel has agreed to hand over 15 Palestinian bodies for each Israeli. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Red Cross accompanies Hamas in search for bodies of Israeli hostages in Gaza

Exclusive: Red Cross acts as ‘neutral intermediary’ to recover hostages’ remains in areas under Israeli controlThe International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) accompanied members of Hamas inside areas of Gaza still under the control of the Israeli military to facilitate the search for the bodies of Israeli hostages, an official from the ICRC told the Guardian.Under the US-brokered ceasefire, which took effect on 10 October, Hamas is required to return the remains of all Israeli hostages as soon as possible. In exchange, Israel has agreed to hand over 15 Palestinian bodies for each Israeli. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago The war in Gaza is supposed to be over. But be warned: without truth and justice, it will never truly end | Simon Tisdall

A fragile ceasefire is in place, but what’s needed is an international tribunal for resolution and reparation. That’s the only route to lasting peaceDonald Trump insists the war in Gaza is over. No, it isn’t. The violence is much reduced. Yet Israeli forces have reportedly killed about 100 Palestinians and wounded hundreds more since the 10 October ceasefire began. Food aid supplies are still heavily restricted. The occupation continues, in Gaza and the West Bank. US officials fear prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his accomplices may renege on the deal, as in the past.Likewise, Hamas elements and rival gangs have kept fighting. The terrorist group is not disarming; Israeli forces have not fully withdrawn to the agreed lines. US-framed security, governance and reconstruction proposals remain vague, hypothetical and contentious. The war’s root causes, principally the denial of Palestinian sovereignty and statehood, are not addressed. Unless that changes, it will all kick off agai...

Events

2 w. ago Two years in an Israeli jail without charge. He came home to find his family dead and life destroyed

Palestinians coming back to Gaza after being held without charge in Israeli prisons tell Nedal Hamdouna and Bel Trew how their families have been decimated and claim abuse at the hands of IDF soldiers

Events

2 w. ago Two years in an Israeli jail without charge. He came home to find his family dead and home destroyed

Palestinians coming back to Gaza after being held without charge in Israeli prisons describe to Nedal Hamdouna and Bel Trew how their families have been decimated and claim abuse at the hands of IDF soldiers

Events

2 w. ago US senior officials warn Israeli political factions not to disrupt Gaza ceasefire

Marco Rubio says bill passed by rightwing MPs to establish Israeli ‘sovereignty’ over occupied territories ‘threatens’ peace dealThe parade of senior US officials traveling to the Middle East in recent weeks is a clear warning from the White House to Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli political factions to not disrupt the recent Gaza ceasefire – including by an annexation of the West Bank – or face a serious rift in relations with the US.As the shaky ceasefire came into effect last week, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner quickly rushed to the region for consultations. Now they have been followed by secretary of state Marco Rubio and vice-president JD Vance as Trump deploys his top allies to tamp down on internal strife within Israel’s fractious Knesset. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago What to know about the 13 hostages whose remains are still inside Gaza

Palestinian militants have so far released 15 bodies of hostages that were held in Gaza for the past two years as part of the ceasefire agreement in the Israel-Hamas war

Events

3 w. ago At least 135 mutilated bodies of Palestinians had been held at notorious Israeli jail, say Gaza officials

Documents indicate they came from Sde Teiman, which already faces allegations of torture and unlawful deathsMiddle East crisis – live updatesAt least 135 mutilated bodies of Palestinians returned by Israel to Gaza had been held in a notorious detention centre already facing allegations of torture and unlawful deaths in custody, officials from Gaza’s health ministry told the Guardian.The director general of the health ministry, Dr Munir al-Bursh, and the spokesperson for Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, where the bodies are being examined, said a document found inside each body bag indicated the bodies all came from Sde Teiman, a military base in the Negev desert, where, according to photos and testimonies published by the Guardian last year, Palestinian detainees were held in cages, blindfolded and handcuffed, shackled to hospital beds, and forced to wear nappies. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Rafah border crossing to stay closed ‘until further notice’, says Israel

Officials say reopening of gateway between Gaza and Egypt would depend on Hamas returning remains of dead hostagesThe Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt will stay closed “until further notice”, Israel has said, after the Palestinian embassy in Cairo said the territory’s sole gateway to the outside world would reopen on Monday.The statement by Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said reopening Rafah would depend on how Hamas fulfils its ceasefire role of returning the remains of all 28 dead hostages. Israel’s foreign ministry earlier said the crossing would probably reopen on Sunday. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Hamas’s aim to retain authority in Gaza involves keeping the guns

With no law, order or any alternative administration under the ceasefire, the group is using violence to deter rivalsThroughout Israel’s two-year war in Gaza, aid officials working in the territory avoided naming Hamas in conversations they suspected might be intercepted, instead referring to the militant Islamist group as the “de facto authority”.This careful euphemism for Hamas, which violently seized power in 2007, captured an important truth. Though the group was a less obvious presence in the last months of the conflict, in the absence of any alternative, it remained the closest the increasingly devastated territory had to a ruler. Continue reading...

Culture

3 w. ago Mamdani and Cuomo spar in New York mayoral debate – US politics live

Candidates debate Trump, Gaza and New York-specific issues, while John Bolton indicted by federal grand juryFormer Trump adviser John Bolton indicted on 18 countsA reminder that my colleagues are covering the latest developments out of the Middle East, as Israel and Hamas continue to carry out various aspects of the US brokered ceasefire deal.This includes the news today that Israel returned the bodies of 30 Palestinians to Gaza, bringing the total number handed over to 120, according the Gaza health ministry and Nasser hospital in Khan Younis. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Gaza latest: Trump says ‘we will have no choice but to go in and kill Hamas’ if violence continues

Hamas has accused Israel of breaching the ceasefire by killing Palestinians while Israel says it wants the bodies of all hostages returned

Events