25 h. ago Afghanistan and Pakistan are holding peace talks. Here's what to know

Pakistan and Afghanistan have been holding peace talks as a tenuous ceasefire holds following cross-border clashes last month that left dozens of people dead and hundreds wounded

Politics

3 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 This isn’t a real ceasefire in Gaza – it’s a holding pattern before war returns | Sanam Vakil

Israel’s airstrikes have exposed the fragility of Trump’s ‘peace plan’. Without international support, it risks crumbling altogether Israel’s recent airstrikes in Gaza, which have killed more than 100 people, show just how fragile this arrangement truly is. This is not the first violation since it came into effect on 10 October, but rather one of many over past weeks – showcasing that without stronger enforcement mechanisms and determined planning this is a ceasefire in name only.According to Israel, this round of violence resulted from Hamas fire against IDF forces in Rafah, an area still under Israeli control, resulting in the death of an IDF reservist. Hamas has denied involvement. Israel responded with additional strikes on Gaza City and Khan Younis. With each side interpreting violations to suit its own interests, the ceasefire’s vague structure leaves a wide margin for miscalculation and opportunism.Sanam Vakil is a senior research fellow in the Middle East and North Africa pr...

Events

9 d. ago CHRIS HUGHES: 'Only Netanyahu wins as Gaza ceasefire holds after 100 slaughtered'

After more than two weeks of the Gaza ceasefire, occasional flare-ups, another Israel soldier killed, and more than 100 Palestinians dead overnight - almost half of them children - peace deal 'holds'

Events

1 week ago Trump insists Gaza ceasefire will hold after Israeli airstrikes kill ‘more than 100 people’ overnight

Israel carried out powerful strikes on Gaza on Tuesday after a soldier was reportedly killed and Hamas handed over the wrong remains

Events

1 week 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

1 week 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 US Secretary of State accuses UNRWA of being ‘subsidiary of Hamas’ and insists Trump Gaza plan is ‘only option’

US Secretary of State insisted that the ceasefire is holding in place despite concerns over aid and recent clashes in Gaza

Politics

2 w. ago WHO says aid situation in Gaza ‘remains catastrophic’ despite ceasefire – Middle East live

WHO’s director general says there has been little improvement in the amount of aid going into Gaza since the ceasefire took holdTurkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the United States and others must do more to push Israel to stop violating the Gaza ceasefire agreement, including the possible use of sanctions or halting arms sales.According to an official readout of his remarks to reporters on board a return flight from Oman, Erdoğan said the Palestinian militant group Hamas was abiding by the agreement. He added that Turkey remains ready to support the planned Gaza taskforce in any way needed. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Trump threatens to cut all support for Israel in extraordinary escalation after JD Vance 'personal insult'

President Donald Trump revealed a red line that will force his administration to yank its support for Israel as it attempts to hold a fragile ceasefire with Hamas: annexation of the West Bank.

Politics

2 w. ago Gaza ceasefire live: JD Vance has ‘great optimism’ truce will hold as he meets Netanyahu

On a visit to Israel, the US vice-president said Washington would not set a deadline for the group to disarm under the US-brokered dealIsrael has completed the identification of the bodies of two more hostages, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Wednesday, the Associated Press (AP) reports. Authorities identified the deceased hostages as Arie Zalmanovich and Tamir Adar. Their bodies were transported in coffins by the Red Cross and handed over to the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip. A military ceremony attended by the chief rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces was planned for later in the day, Netanyahu’s office said. The two were killed in kibbutz Nir Oz during the 7 October 2023, attack by Hamas militants, which triggered the two-year war. Since the ceasefire began on 10 October, the remains of 15 hostages have been returned to Israel. Another 13 still need to be recovered in Gaza and handed over, a key element to the ceasefire agreement. Meanwhile, the burial of m...

Events

2 w. ago Gaza ceasefire live: JD Vance has ‘great optimism’ truce will hold as he prepares to meet Netanyahu

On a visit to Israel, the US vice-president said Washington would not set a deadline for the group to disarm under the US-brokered dealHello and welcome to our continuing Middle East coverage.JD Vance has expressed “great optimism” that the Gaza truce would hold, during a visit to Israel aimed at shoring up support for a ceasefire and postwar reconstruction plans.The top United Nations court will rule on Wednesday on Israel’s obligations towards agencies providing humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza, as aid groups scramble to scale up assistance after a ceasefire. Judges at the International Court of Justice in The Hague have been asked for an “advisory opinion” laying out Israel’s duty to facilitate aid in Gaza.At a press conference in Israel on Tuesday, JD Vance referred to Hamas as a “terrorist organisation” and said the Israeli army was “defending itself” throughout the conflict. He said there is “a lot of work left to do” and that it is going to take a “long time” a...

Events

3 w. ago Palestinian bodies returned by Israel show signs of torture and execution, say doctors

Almost all had been blindfolded and had gunshot wounds between the eyes, says doctor at Nasser hospital in GazaGaza ceasefire – latest updatesMany of the 90 bodies of Palestinians returned to Gaza by Israeli authorities under the ceasefire deal showed signs of torture and execution, including blindfolds, cuffed hands and bullet wounds in the head, according to doctors’ accounts.As part of the US-brokered truce, Hamas has handed over the bodies of some of the hostages who died in the course of the war, and Israel has transferred two groups of 45 Palestinians killed during the fighting. The exchange was carried out through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Continue reading...

Events

3 w. 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

Events

3 w. ago Missing bodies of hostages top the list of uncertainties as fragile Gaza ceasefire holds

The tenuous ceasefire in the two-year Israel-Hamas war is holding even as complex issues remain ahead, a day after widespread jubilation over the return to Israel of the last 20 living hostages held in Gaza and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange

Events

3 w. ago ‘Locked up for 24 years’: joy and sorrow as Palestinian prisoners and detainees return home

Nearly 2,000 people, including about 1,700 seized from Gaza and held without charge, set free from Israeli jailsGaza ceasefire – live updatesThe police could not hold the crowds back. As soon as they saw the Palestinian prisoners through the windows of the bus, hundreds of people gathering in front of a theatre in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank rushed forward, chanting the names of loved ones they had not seen for years and in some cases, decades.The prisoners were gaunt, the sharp angles of their faces decorated by freshly scabbed-over wounds. Loved ones hoisted them up on their shoulders with ease. One prisoner, swaddled in a Palestinian keffiyeh and splaying his fingers into a V for victory, was dropped before his mother, whose feet he began to kiss. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago ‘Locked up for 24 years’: release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees sparks joy and sorrow

Nearly 2,000 people, including about 1,700 seized from Gaza and held without charge, set free from Israeli jailsGaza ceasefire – live updatesThe police could not hold the crowds back. As soon as they saw the Palestinian prisoners and detainees through the windows of the bus, hundreds of people gathering in front of a theatre in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank rushed forward, chanting the names of loved ones they had not seen for years or, in some cases, decades.Their faces were gaunt, the sharp angles decorated by freshly scabbed-over wounds. Loved ones hoisted them up on their shoulders with ease. One, swaddled in a Palestinian keffiyeh and splaying his fingers into a V for victory, was dropped before his mother, whose feet he began to kiss. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago While the perpetrators of Gaza’s genocide pose as its saviours, survivors return home – to a wasteland | Nesrine Malik

Western leaders attending the Sharm el-Sheikh summit have enabled and sponsored this slaughter. They are in no position to build a Palestinian futureToday, Sharm el-Sheikh will host the most high-profile gathering of global leaders in the Middle East of recent years. Donald Trump, Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, Pedro Sánchez and others are meeting “to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security and stability”.If the ceasefire holds, this language is an augur of the future. One where there is no reckoning, no addressing of root causes. Only a hurtling into the imperatives of cleanings-up and workings-out. All the while illegal occupation continues, and another chapter of Israel’s violations is furtively closed without accountability not only for Israel, but for its sponsors.Nesrine Malik is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago The Latest: Palestinians journey back home as aid convoys start to enter Gaza

A ceasefire in the war in Gaza is holding for the third day as aid agencies work to rush in more desperately needed aid into the besieged territory under the truce deal

Politics

3 w. ago Gaza latest: Israelis praise Trump for peace deal at massive Tel Aviv rally as ceasefire holds

Fragile truce allows Palestinians to return to their flattened homes after repeated displacements during nearly two years of Israeli war on the Strip

Politics