14 h. ago Can J.D. Vance’s visit to Israel cement Gaza’s fragile ceasefire?

US Vice-President J.D. Vance arrived in Israel on Tuesday to shore up the fragile US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza that has teetered over the past few days following a burst of deadly violence and questions over how to move forward with the plan for cementing a long-term peace. Also on Tuesday, Israel said it has identified the body of a hostage that was released by Palestinian militants overnight, while the chief Hamas negotiator said the group remains determined to implement the ceasefire...

Politics

38 h. ago ‘Stolen too soon’: Nepal mourns hero hostage returned from Gaza after ceasefire

Nepal’s interim prime minister on Monday draped a national flag over the coffin of returned Gaza hostage Bipin Joshi, released under the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. “Bipin is a son of all Nepali mothers,” Sushila Karki said at a ceremony held at the airport in Kathmandu, after his body was flown back to the capital from Tel Aviv. “The name Bipin will be immortal, no one can forget him for his bravery and the hardships he had to face.” Joshi, an agriculture student who was 22 when...

Events

4 d. ago Hamas sends Israel another hostage’s body, vows to return the rest

Hamas handed over to Israel the remains of one more hostage on Friday night, after insisting it was committed to returning all the dead captives still unaccounted for under Gaza’s ruins after two years of war. “Israel received, via the Red Cross, the coffin of a deceased hostage who was returned” to its security forces in Gaza and would be identified at a medical analysis centre in Israel, the prime minister’s office said in a statement. Under a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas...

Politics

5 d. ago Trump threatens to ‘go in and kill’ Hamas if Gaza bloodshed continues

US President Donald Trump on Thursday warned Hamas “we will have no choice but to go in and kill them” if internal bloodshed persists in Gaza. The grim warning from Trump came after he previously played down the internal violence in the territory since a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect last week in the two-year war. Trump later clarified he would not send US troops into Gaza after launching the threat against Hamas. “It’s not going to be us,” Trump said in an...

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

7 d. ago ‘History shows otherwise’: Anwar casts doubts about Gaza ceasefire deal

As US President Donald Trump continues to hail the peace plan to end the Israel-Gaza conflict, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has urged caution, saying he was not invited to the ceasefire signing ceremony in Egypt due to his concerns over the deal’s details and its durability. On Monday, Israel began releasing nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners during the first phase of the deal, while Hamas militants released 20 surviving Israeli hostages kidnapped during its assault on southern Israel...

Events

7 d. ago The true test of Gaza peace begins after momentous ceasefire deal

On Monday, the fragile ceasefire in Gaza led to freedom for Israeli hostages and the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. It was the culmination of a long and tortuous process - but it may, in the end, have been the easier part. The coming weeks, months and years would require more than just rebuilding from the devastation that has left much of Gaza in ruins. Key details of the peace plan may remain unsettled. Granular details would need to be negotiated to keep the plan moving...

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

8 d. ago Trump, hailed in Israel, declares Gaza war ‘over’ as hostages return in ceasefire

Israel said the last 20 surviving hostages returned home on Monday after two years in captivity in Gaza, as US President Donald Trump received a standing ovation from Israeli lawmakers after brokering a ceasefire with Hamas. Trump’s lightning visit to Israel came ahead of a summit in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh co-chaired by the American president, who has declared the war in Gaza “over”. In Tel Aviv, a huge crowd that gathered to support hostage families erupted in joy, tears...

Events

8 d. ago Trump says ‘nightmare’ for Israelis, Palestinians over, sparking Gaza peace hope

US President Donald Trump hailed an end to a “painful nightmare” in a speech to Israel’s parliament on Monday, as the last surviving hostages returned home from Gaza and a group of Palestinian prisoners were freed under a ceasefire deal he spearheaded. The US president’s lightning visit came ahead of a summit on Gaza in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, with Trump departing Israel just hours after he had arrived. “From October 7 until this week, Israel has been a nation at war,...

Politics

9 d. ago Trump says Gaza ‘war is over’ as he heads to Middle East on high

The war in Gaza has ended and the Middle East is going to “normalise”, US President Donald Trump said on Sunday as he flew to Israel, which was waiting for Hamas to release Israeli hostages as world leaders were gathering to discuss the next steps toward peace. “The war is over, you understand that,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he began a flight from Washington to Israel. Asked about prospects for the region, Trump said: “I think it’s going to normalise”. A ceasefire between...

Politics

9 d. ago Netanyahu calls for Israel to unite after imminent hostage release

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged controversy over his handling of the Gaza ceasefire deal on Sunday but called for the imminent release of hostages to be a moment of unity. “This is an emotional evening, an evening of tears, an evening of joy, because tomorrow our children will return to our borders,” Netanyahu said, quoting a biblical verse. “Tomorrow is the beginning of a new path – a path of rebuilding, a path of healing and, I hope, a path of united hearts,” he said,...

Politics

9 d. ago Netanyahu calls for Israel to unite as Gaza hostages set for release

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged controversy over his handling of the Gaza ceasefire deal on Sunday but called for the imminent release of hostages to be a moment of unity. “This is an emotional evening, an evening of tears, an evening of joy, because tomorrow our children will return to our borders,” Netanyahu said, quoting a biblical verse. “Tomorrow is the beginning of a new path – a path of rebuilding, a path of healing and, I hope, a path of united hearts,” he said,...

Politics

9 d. ago Coming home? Israel expects last hostages to be released early Monday

Israel expects all hostages held in Gaza to be freed early on Monday, a spokeswoman for the prime minister’s office said, adding that all surviving captives are to be released simultaneously. “The release of our hostages will begin early Monday morning. We are expecting all 20 of our living hostages to be released together at one time to the Red Cross and transported among six to eight vehicles,” Shosh Bedrosian told journalists on Sunday. Also on Monday, US President Donald Trump is due to...

Politics

9 d. ago Coming home? Israel expects last hostages to be released early on Monday

Israel expects all hostages held in Gaza to be freed early on Monday, a spokeswoman for the prime minister’s office said, adding that all surviving captives are to be released simultaneously. “The release of our hostages will begin early Monday morning. We are expecting all 20 of our living hostages to be released together at one time to the Red Cross and transported among six to eight vehicles,” Shosh Bedrosian told journalists on Sunday. Israel will begin releasing Palestinian prisoners once...

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 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