40 h. ago Trump’s envoys arrive in Israel as Gaza ceasefire teeters after deadly strikes

The top US envoys to the Middle East conflict arrived in Israel on Monday to inspect progress on the Gaza plan after weekend violence threatened to wreck the hard-won ceasefire. Israel reopened the Kerem Shalom border crossing into Gaza for aid shipments, a security official and a humanitarian source said, after it was closed briefly on Sunday following the killing of two Israeli soldiers. In response, Israel carried out dozens of strikes targeting Hamas across Gaza, accusing the militant group...

Events

3 d. ago ‘Massive job’ ahead to rebuild ruined Gaza, UN aid chief says

The United Nations’ aid chief took stock of the monumental task of restoring basic necessities in the devastated Gaza Strip on Saturday, as Israel and Hamas exchanged more human remains. In a short convoy of white UN jeeps, relief coordinator Tom Fletcher and his team wound their way through the twisted rubble of shattered homes to inspect a wastewater treatment plant in Sheikh Radwan, north of Gaza City. “I drove through here seven to eight months ago when most of these buildings were still...

Politics

4 d. ago Hamas and Israel’s Gaza ceasefire hangs by a thread as Trump warns of war

Hamas moved on Friday to shore up its brittle ceasefire agreement with Israel by reaffirming its commitment to the terms of the deal that includes a pledge to hand over the remains of all dead Israeli hostages. The militant group’s statement released in the early hours on Friday follows a dire warning from US President Donald Trump that he would approve Israel to resume the war if Hamas doesn’t live up to its end of the deal and return all the hostages’ bodies. Hamas, however, maintains that...

Events

5 d. ago Israel, Hamas trade blame over truce violations, Rafah border reopening in limbo

Israel said on Thursday it was preparing for the reopening of Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt to let Palestinians in and out, but set no date as it traded blame with Hamas over violations of the US-mediated ceasefire. A row over the return of bodies of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza retains the potential to upend the truce along with other major planks of the plan yet to be resolved, including disarmament of militants and Gaza’s future governance. Israel demanded that Hamas fulfil its...

Politics

5 d. ago Israel, Hamas trade blame over truce violations, Rafah reopening in limbo

Israel said on Thursday it was preparing for the reopening of Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt to let Palestinians in and out, but set no date as it traded blame with Hamas over violations of the US-mediated ceasefire. A row over the return of bodies of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza retains the potential to upend the truce along with other major planks of the plan yet to be resolved, including disarmament of militants and Gaza’s future governance. Israel demanded that Hamas fulfil its...

Politics

6 d. ago Trump and Israel warn of resumed fighting in Gaza if Hamas does not respect deal

Israel’s defence minister threatened on Wednesday to resume fighting if Hamas does not honour the terms of a US-backed ceasefire that halted the war in Gaza. The statement from Defence Minister Israel Katz’s office came after Hamas handed over the remains of two more deceased hostages, and said it would be unable to retrieve any more bodies from the ruins of Gaza without specialised equipment. Since Monday, under a ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump, the Palestinian...

Events

7 d. ago Trump says Hamas must disarm or be disarmed, perhaps violently

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he had communicated to Hamas that the militant group must disarm or it will be forced to. On Monday, Hamas freed the last living Israeli hostages from Gaza, and Israel sent home busloads of Palestinian detainees under a ceasefire deal brokered by Trump, but Hamas has not publicly committed to putting down its weapons. “If they don’t disarm, we will disarm them. And it will happen quickly and perhaps violently,” Trump said during a meeting at the...

Politics

7 d. ago Trump threatens to violently disarm Hamas as Gaza ceasefire is tested

Hamas handed over more bodies of deceased hostages to Israel on Tuesday, one sign of progress after a number of apparent setbacks in the day since US President Donald Trump touted his plan to end the Gaza war. The bodies were returned after Israel announced it would cut in half the number of humanitarian aid trucks allowed into Gaza in a move to punish Hamas for what Israel called the militant group’s violation of its agreement to transfer remains under the ceasefire deal reached last...

Events

8 d. ago Trump hails ‘tremendous day for Middle East’ as leaders sign Gaza declaration

US President Donald Trump hailed a “tremendous day for the Middle East” as he and regional leaders signed a declaration on Monday meant to cement a ceasefire in Gaza, hours after Israel and Hamas exchanged hostages and prisoners. Trump made a lightning visit to Israel, where he lauded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an address to parliament, before flying to Egypt for a Gaza summit where he and the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey signed the declaration as guarantors to the Gaza...

Politics

8 d. ago Trump hails ‘peace in the Middle East’ as leaders sign Gaza declaration

US President Donald Trump hailed a “tremendous day for the Middle East” as he and regional leaders signed a declaration meant to cement a ceasefire in Gaza, hours after Israel and Hamas exchanged hostages and prisoners. Trump made a lightning visit to Israel, where he lauded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an address to parliament, before flying to Egypt for a Gaza summit where he and the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey signed the declaration on Monday as guarantors to the ceasefire...

Politics

8 d. ago Hamas begins releasing Gaza hostages as Trump arrives in Israel

Hamas handed over the first seven of 20 surviving Israeli hostages on Monday, sparking cheers of joy in Tel Aviv where a huge crowd was gathered to support hostage families. Under a ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump after two years of war, Hamas is due to release all surviving hostages on Monday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. The first seven living hostages were released by Hamas to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza, who then...

Politics

1 week ago ‘Nothing left’: Palestinians return to rubble in Gaza as truce takes effect

Tens of thousands of Palestinians headed back to the heavily destroyed northern Gaza Strip on Friday as a US-brokered ceasefire came into effect in a deal that raised hopes for ending the Israel-Hamas war. All the remaining hostages were set to be released within days. Questions remain over who will govern Gaza as Israeli troops gradually pull back and whether Hamas will disarm, as called for in US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who unilaterally ended...

Politics

1 week ago Israeli military says Gaza ceasefire in effect, as troops begin withdrawal

A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas for the Gaza Strip came into effect at noon local time, the Israeli military said on Friday, adding that troops were withdrawing to agreed-upon deployment lines. The announcement came hours after Israel’s cabinet approved President Donald Trump’s plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the release of the remaining hostages and Palestinian prisoners. Palestinians reported heavy shelling in parts of Gaza throughout Friday morning. The Israeli...

Events

1 week ago Trump’s Gaza deal forged by diplomacy blitz, help from Arab and Muslim allies

After months of gridlock, US President Donald Trump finally landed a long-sought Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza - an agreement that only came together after a weeks-long diplomacy blitz and a whole lot of help from some Arab and Muslim allies. The breakthrough is designed to bring about a pause in the fighting unleashed by Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. The group is expected to release 48 hostages - about 20 of them believed to be alive - in the coming days. The...

Politics

1 week ago End to Gaza hostilities looms after Israel government approves deal with Hamas

Israel’s government ratified a ceasefire with the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Friday, clearing the way to suspend hostilities in Gaza within 24 hours and free Israeli hostages held there within 72 hours after that. The Israeli cabinet approved the deal early Friday morning, roughly 24 hours after mediators announced the agreement, which calls for the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and the start of a phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza under US...

Politics

1 week ago Israel and Hamas sign ceasefire and hostage deal, sparking hope for peace in Gaza

Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas signed an agreement on Thursday to cease fire and free Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s initiative to end the war in Gaza. Israelis and Palestinians alike rejoiced after the deal was announced, the biggest step yet taken to end two years of war in which over 67,000 Palestinians have been killed, and return the last hostages seized by Hamas in the attacks that unleashed...

Events

1 week ago Trump says Israel and Hamas have agreed to first phase of Gaza peace deal

Israel and Hamas have signed off on the first phase of the US-proposed Gaza deal, allowing for the release of all Israeli hostages, US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday. “I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan,” Trump said on social media. “This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and...

Politics

1 week ago Israel and Hamas agree to first phase of Trump’s Gaza peace plan

Israel and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza, a ceasefire and hostage deal that could open the way to ending a bloody two-year-old war that has upended the Middle East. Just a day after the second anniversary of Hamas militants’ cross-border attack that triggered Israel’s devastating assault on Gaza, indirect talks in Egypt yielded an agreement on the initial stage of Trump’s 20-point framework to bring peace to the Palestinian enclave. The...

Politics

1 week ago Hamas submits prisoner list to Israel amid ‘optimism’ of Gaza talks

Hamas said on Wednesday that “optimism” was prevailing in indirect talks with Israel aimed at ending the Gaza war, with the militant group submitting a list of prisoners it wants to be released in exchange for freeing Israeli hostages under a deal. The talks aim to thrash out a plan to implement a 20-point peace proposal put forward last month by US President Donald Trump, to which both Israel and Hamas have responded positively. The plan calls for a ceasefire, the release of all the hostages,...

Events

2 w. ago Israel shells Gaza on war anniversary, amid Hamas talks on Trump plan

Israeli tanks, boats and jets pounded parts of Gaza on Tuesday, giving Palestinians no respite on the anniversary of the Hamas attack that led to two years of war and underlining the challenges at talks on US President Donald Trump’s plan to halt the conflict. With no ceasefire in place, residents said Israel pressed on with its offensive after Hamas and Israel began indirect negotiations on Monday in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on key issues such as Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and Hamas’...

Politics