15 h. ago ‘Beating, torturing, killing’: freed Palestinian author on life in Israeli jails

Nasser Abu Srour says prisons became like ‘another front’ in Gaza war and tells of struggle to adjust to life outsideA celebrated Palestinian author who was freed last month after more than 32 years in Israeli prisons has said the use of torture increased dramatically during his last two years of captivity as Israel came to treat its jails as another front in the Gaza war.Nasser Abu Srour, whose prison memoir has been translated into seven languages and is tipped to win a major international literary prize this month, was among more than 150 Palestinians serving life sentences who were freed as part of the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire and then immediately exile to Egypt, where most remain in limbo. Continue reading...

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15 h. ago Torture in Israeli prisons rose sharply during war, says freed Palestinian author

Nasser Abu Srour says prisons became like ‘another front’ in Gaza conflict and tells of struggle to adjust to life outsideA celebrated Palestinian author who was freed last month after more than 32 years in Israeli prisons has said the use of torture increased dramatically during his last two years of captivity as Israel came to treat its jails as another front in the Gaza war.Nasser Abu Srour, whose prison memoir has been translated into seven languages and is tipped to win a major international literary prize this month, was among more than 150 Palestinians serving life sentences who were freed as part of the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire and then immediately exiled to Egypt, where most remain in limbo. Continue reading...

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41 h. ago In Gaza cemeteries, some displaced Palestinians live among the dead

Skeletons are neighbors for some Palestinians in Gaza who found nowhere else but cemeteries to shelter from the war

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3 d. ago Graves badly damaged after Israel bombs Hamas supply tunnel next to British war cemetery 

Hamas used the last resting place of hundreds of British soldiers buried at the British War Cemetery in Daraj Tuffah, Gaza City and Deir El Belah, also in Gaza, to store weapons.

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4 d. ago Gaza sliding into deadly limbo of ‘no war, no peace’, top Qatari diplomat warns

Majed al-Ansari calls for international force to be urgently set up to pave way for Israeli withdrawalGaza is sliding towards a deadly limbo where a ceasefire is nominally in place but killing continues, a top Qatari diplomat has warned, calling for rapid progress in setting up the international security force and administration to pave the way for full Israeli withdrawal.“We don’t want to reach a situation of no war, no peace,” said Majed al-Ansari, adviser to Qatar’s prime minister and spokesperson for the foreign ministry. Continue reading...

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4 d. ago Gaza risks sliding into deadly limbo of ‘no war, no peace’, top Qatari diplomat warns

Majed al-Ansari calls for international force to be set up urgently to pave way for Israeli withdrawalGaza risks sliding towards a deadly limbo where a ceasefire is nominally in place but killing continues, a top Qatari diplomat has warned, calling for rapid progress in setting up the international security force and administration to pave the way for full Israeli withdrawal.“We don’t want to reach a situation of no war, no peace,” said Majed al-Ansari, adviser to Qatar’s prime minister and spokesperson for the foreign ministry. Continue reading...

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5 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...

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6 d. ago Pope condemns antisemitism and vows to fight it as tensions rise over Israel's war in Gaza

Pope Leo XIV has reaffirmed the Catholic Church's commitment to fighting antisemitism amid rising tensions from Israel's war in Gaza

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9 d. ago Independent Arabia receives Press Freedom Award on behalf of its late correspondent Maryam Abu Daqqa

The International Press Institute honours late photojournalist who was killed in an Israeli strike in August while covering the Gaza war

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9 d. 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...

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1 week ago Rebuilding devastated Gaza after two years of war is a monumental task. Who is going to pay for it?

Donald Trump has declared peace in the Middle East and secured a fragile ceasefire. What happens next is not so clear, James C.Reynolds reports

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1 week ago Trump’s men come to Israel with plenty to say. But they’re silent on any real future for Gaza | Roy Schwartz

Kushner, Witkoff, Vance and Rubio – they’ve all been sent to keep the ceasefire in place. Now we need to hear about a concrete planThese days present quite a unique phenomenon: the first-ever US march of the babysitters. They vary in their qualifications and attributes, but they all share the same mission – to prevent an Israeli breach, or even destruction, of Gaza’s fragile ceasefire. Since the war ended, there have been few days without at least one of Donald Trump’s envoys on the ground. Just this past week saw the likes of Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff, JD Vance and Marco Rubio – all arriving to perform their duties.Israel keeps them busy. In just a few days it launched a series of attacks in Gaza after the killings of two Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers – resulting, according to reports, in dozens of Palestinian casualties. Several ministers called for a resumption of the war, and the Knesset passed a preliminary decision to annex the West Bank. The US reaction was somewher...

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1 week ago West Bank residents fear they may be Israel’s next target after Gaza

With the war in Gaza drawing down, Palestinians worry the Israeli military will turn its attention towards the West BankShadi Dabaya’s body bears the scars of the Israeli occupation. The 54-year-old proudly stuck out his jaw to show the chunk of his cheek torn away by Israeli fire and traced the zigzag scar on his arm, the pink, raised flesh marking the bullet’s path through his body.“I got these in the second intifada,” said Dabaya, beaming. He pulled up a video of himself a year earlier confronting an Israeli personnel carrier in Jenin camp wielding only a flip-flop, playing it from different angles. Continue reading...

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1 week ago Meet one of Gaza’s few prosthetic experts helping the thousands of Palestinians who lost limbs in the war

Many of the Gazans who have survived Israel’s assault on the war-torn enclave have suffered life-changing injuries

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1 week ago The EU was complicit in the war in Gaza. Trump's plan can't be an excuse to dodge responsibility now | Nathalie Tocci

Tiptoeing around Israel has cost Europe its credibility. It must exert meaningful pressure to ensure the horrors we have seen never happen againThe first phase of Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza has drawn a collective sigh of relief from European leaders. After two years of slaughter, the ceasefire, the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, the Israeli military’s partial withdrawal from Gaza and humanitarian access to the territory offer hope – and unfortunately, an excuse for Europe to continue doing nothing.When it comes to the war in Gaza, unlike Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, European governments have shown their worst colours. They are divided, and their political splits have led to policy paralysis. But worse than sitting on the sidelines hand-wringing, European governments and EU institutions in Brussels can be accused of complicity in Israel’s war crimes. They have been unwilling to exert any pressure on the perpetrators, while continuing economic, political and...

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2 w. ago Meet the mother who has saved dozens of children ravaged by war

A mother who has saved dozens of children ravaged by war in Bosnia and Gaza has been awarded a Pride of Britain Lifetime Achievement award for her three decades of work.

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2 w. ago Gaza ceasefire live: Vance arrives in Israel as Qatar condemns ‘continued violation’ of ceasefire

US vice-president’s trip comes a day after two Trump envoys met NetanyahuUS vice-president JD Vance has arrived in Israel with his wife, Usha.Vance is expected to meet top US Middle East envoys and military experts monitoring the truce on Tuesday. He is expected to meet with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and president Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem tomorrow. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Gaza and Sudan show why detecting famine cannot just be left to AI

As aid cuts threaten humanitarian monitoring, experts at FEWS NET – seen as the gold standard tool in famine detection – tell Nick Ferris why AI-based models should not replace hunger monitoring systems

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2 w. ago Gaza ceasefire live: Trump’s envoys arrive in Israel amid scramble to shore up fragile truce – Middle East crisis live

US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner expected to meet members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s governmentUS President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner have returned to Israel, a US embassy spokesperson has said.They are overseeing the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which they helped broker, and are expected to meet members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago In Gaza, and now Ukraine, Donald Trump may be peace activists' greatest ally. That deserves our backing | Simon Jenkins

It’s a fool’s game trying to understand the president’s true motives, but do our misgivings matter if the outcome is a speedy end to war?Donald Trump is sensible and he is right. Basking in glory after his Gaza ceasefire, he was on Friday evening flying to Florida with his entourage of reporters. The drums of war were beating across Europe and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had pleaded with him for Tomahawk missiles. What was his reply?Trump was clearly fed up. He had told Zelenskyy: go make a deal. He had said, “They should stop the war immediately. You go go by the battle line wherever it is and both sides should go home. Go to their families, stop the killing and that should be it.” Matter closed. Tomahawks would merely mean escalation and more killing. Get a deal.Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

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