2 h. ago Two years after 7 October and the kidnap of my parents, hate is in fashion. For all our sakes, we need compassion | Sharone Lifschitz

So many were killed – yet on her release, my mother said ‘shalom’ to her captors. Let’s learn from that moment of graceSharone Lifschitz is a London-based film-maker and academic whose parents were taken hostage on 7 OctoberSo much about the past two years has been horrific, but let me tell you how it began for me. On the morning of 7 October 2023, I was sitting on a train with my son and husband on our much anticipated way to pick up a new puppy. Life seemed predictable enough.I open my phone and see that something is happening on the Gaza-Israel border. I call my mum as usual, waiting to hear her cheery, relaxed voice telling me that she is in the safe room with Dad, telling me there is nothing to worry about. She doesn’t answer. Neither does my dad. I look again at the news feed. I call my brother and he answers. His voice is so different, altered, that I know already, before he tells me, that the worst has happened. “Terrorists broke into the kibbutz,” he says. “Dad said in his ...

Events

2 h. ago Gaza latest: Ceasefire talks underway in Egypt as Israel marks anniversary of October 7 attack

Parties have wrapped up the first round of negotiations, agreeing on most of first-phase terms, which include ceasefire and release of hostages, Egyptian official says

Events

3 h. ago The Latest: Israelis and Palestinians will mark 2 years of war

It’s been two years since thousands of Hamas-led militants poured into southern Israel after a surprise barrage of rockets

Politics

3 h. ago Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon marks 200 years of organized emigration to the US

Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon is marking the 200th anniversary of organized emigration from Norway to the U.S. On Tuesday, he'll visit Norway House, a cultural center in Minneapolis

Politics

3 h. ago Gaza latest: Israel marks anniversary of 7 October attack after Trump hails ‘tremendous progress’ in peace talks

Parties have wrapped up the first round of negotiations, agreeing on most of first-phase terms, which include ceasefire and release of hostages, Egyptian official says

Politics

4 h. ago Israelis gather to mark two years since 7 October Hamas attack that killed 1,200

Commemorations held in kibbutzim whose members were killed or kidnapped and Tel Aviv rally will call for hostages’ releaseIsraelis will gather across the country on Tuesday to mark the second anniversary of the 7 October attack, in which Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages during an assault on southern Israel.Unofficial commemorations will be held in the small kibbutzim of southern Israel whose members were killed or kidnapped, and a large rally will be held in Tel Aviv to call for the release of the remaining hostages from Hamas captivity in Gaza. Continue reading...

Events

5 h. ago A divided Israel marks 2 years since Oct. 7 attack as war in Gaza grinds on and hostages languish

Israelis are mourning the dead and fearing for the remaining hostages as they mark two years since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack plunged the region into a devastating war

Events

7 h. ago Mother of Israeli hostage snatched by Hamas at Nova festival hopes peace deal talks will see her 'strong, beautiful' son released

Hamas took Ditza Or's son Avinatan hostage two years ago today, but she dreams that soon she may finally be able to put her ear to his chest and hear his heartbeat.

Economics

8 h. ago Keir Starmer says 'time does not diminish evil' of October 7 attacks on sombre anniversary

In a statement to mark the two-year anniversary of October 7, PM Keir Starmer said he would not cease in his efforts to bring home the hostages and secure a ceasefire in Gaza

Events

8 h. ago 25 years after landmark UN resolution, UN chief says women are too often absent from peace talks

The United Nations chief is lamenting that 25 years after a landmark U.N. resolution demanded equal participation for women in all efforts to promote peace, far too often women remain absent

Politics

10 h. ago Watch: Greta Thunberg addresses Israeli deportation in first video after release

Greta Thunberg has spoken out after landing in Greece on Monday, 6 October, following her deportation from Israel alongside 170 other members of the Global Sumud Flotilla.

Politics

11 h. ago Love him or hate him, Trump just showed Biden and Democrats how to handle Israel’s Netanyahu. But can his Gaza ‘peace’ endure?

Liberals hate Donald Trump’s demanding and sometimes petulant approach to foreign policy. But it may have achieved what Joe Biden and Kamala Harris could not, writes John Bowden

Politics

12 h. ago What are the sticking points that could sink Trump’s peace plan for Gaza?

Hamas and Israel have been brought to the table by the US president - but huge gaps remain between them on crucial issues

Politics

12 h. ago Horror words of Israeli troops in Gaza as they fight on even as ceasefire looms

Israel’s bombs piled into Gaza City, announced by deep booms and sending vast black and grey smoke clouds billowing over the enclave, heavy machine gun fire echoing through the ruins

Events

13 h. ago Gaza peace talks latest: Trump demands Israel and Hamas ‘move fast’ as negotiations begin in Egypt

Egypt hosts negotiations as both sides meet to review US president’s 20-point peace plan

Politics

13 h. ago The Guardian view on Trump’s Gaza plan: the bloodshed must end, but this proposal betrays Palestinians | Editorial

An end to the annihilation, and the release of Israeli hostages, is urgently needed. But lasting peace cannot be built on the denial of basic rightsTwo years after the Hamas atrocities of 7 October 2023, in which militants killed about 1,200 Israelis, and amid the genocide in Gaza, in which Israel has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, the need for peace has never been more urgent. Palestinians are desperate for an end to starvation and airstrikes. Israelis want the war to end for the sake of remaining hostages and soldiers. Violence has reverberated across the region. Momentum has been growing around Donald Trump’s proposal, with both Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas grudgingly indicating acceptance under US threat.With indirect talks between Israel and Hamas beginning in Egypt on Monday afternoon, there are frail hopes of progress at last. Yet both parties have made it clear that they reject major parts of the 20-point US plan, which begins with an immediat...

Politics

13 h. ago Greta Thunberg cheered by crowd in Athens after Israel expels Gaza flotilla activists

‘Let me be very clear, there is a genocide going on,’ says activist

Politics

14 h. ago Who are the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza and what might happen to them?

More than 250 hostages were taken by Hamas in the 7 October attack but they could be freed under a deal being proposed by Trump

Politics

14 h. ago First footage of Greta Thunberg after Israel deports Gaza flotilla activists

Greta Thunberg landed in Greece on Monday, 6 October, after being deported from Israel alongside 170 other members of the Global Sumud Flotilla.

Politics

14 h. ago Greta Thunberg was 'beaten and dragged by hair by IDF', flotilla crew claims before she is kicked out of Israel and arrives to hero's welcome by crowd chanting free Palestine in Greece

Over 70 activists, lawyers and journalists were deported from Israel after they were seized aboard an intercepted Gaza aid flotilla.

Politics