24 h. ago Israel and Hamas hand over bodies as part of Gaza ceasefire deal

Hamas hands remains of three soldiers to Israel and bodies of 45 Palestinians are returned to Gaza amid fragile ceasefireIsrael has announced that the remains of three soldiers killed by Hamas during its raid into Israel on 7 October 2023 have been handed over by the militant group.The transfer is the latest since the precarious ceasefire in Gaza came into effect just over three weeks ago. Continue reading...

Events

51 h. ago The grim task of recovering thousands of bodies from the rubble of Gaza

Relatives and experts tell of the human and societal need to find and identify the dead, while images and data shed light on the scale of the jobIt has been described as one of the most gruelling recovery efforts in modern warfare.As negotiations over the fragile Gaza ceasefire continue, Palestinians have started to dig through 61m tonnes of debris, 20 times more than the combined mass of all debris generated by conflicts since 2008. Underneath, at least 10,000 people are thought to be buried. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Israel strikes Gaza again after overnight bombardment that killed at least 104

Attacks shatter Palestinians’ short-lived relief since start of ceasefire that now looks increasingly fragileIsrael carried out another strike in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after bombarding the territory overnight and killing at least 104 Palestinians, including children, in the gravest challenge yet to the increasingly fragile US-brokered ceasefire. The Israeli military said it struck military infrastructure where weapons were being stored in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza. People in Gaza City reported hearing an explosion and seeing a column of smoke coming from the north of the territory. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 96 overnight as ceasefire looks increasingly fragile

Netanyahu ordered strikes on Tuesday evening after firefight between Israeli troops and Palestinian militantsIsraeli airstrikes on Gaza overnight killed at least 96 Palestinians, half of them children, in what appeared to be the gravest challenge yet to the increasingly fragile US-brokered ceasefire and the deadliest day since the truce began.The strikes, one of the bloodiest attacks in the two-year war, killed at least 46 children and 20 women and injured 200 people, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency. They took place hours after Donald Trump said nothing would jeopardise the ceasefire agreement he had helped broker. Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 104 overnight as ceasefire looks increasingly fragile

Netanyahu ordered strikes on Tuesday evening after firefight between Israeli troops and Palestinian militantsIsraeli airstrikes on Gaza overnight killed at least 104 Palestinians, including children, in what appeared to be the gravest challenge yet to the increasingly fragile US-brokered ceasefire and the deadliest day since the truce began.The strikes, one of the bloodiest attacks in the two-year war, killed at least 35 children and injured 200 people, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency. They took place hours after Donald Trump said nothing would jeopardise the ceasefire agreement he had helped broker. Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 81 overnight as ceasefire looks increasingly fragile

Netanyahu ordered strikes on Tuesday evening after firefight between Israeli troops and Palestinian militantsIsraeli airstrikes on Gaza overnight killed at least 81 Palestinians, including children, in what appeared to be the gravest challenge yet to the increasingly fragile US-brokered ceasefire and the deadliest day since the truce began.The strikes, which according to Gaza’s civil defence agency killed at least 22 children and injured 200 people, took place hours after Donald Trump said nothing would jeopardise the ceasefire agreement he had helped broker. Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 60 overnight as ceasefire looks increasingly fragile

Netanyahu ordered strikes on Tuesday evening after firefight between Israeli troops and Palestinian militantsIsraeli airstrikes on Gaza overnight killed at least 60 Palestinians, including 22 children, in what appeared to be the gravest challenge yet to the increasingly fragile US-brokered ceasefire and the deadliest day since the truce began.The strikes, which according to Gaza’s civil defence agency killed many children and injured 200 people, took place hours after the US president, Donald Trump, said “nothing” would jeopardise the ceasefire agreement he helped broker. Continue reading...

Events

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...

Politics

2 w. ago Scrutiny grows over Trump competence – but can an unfit president be removed?

Impeachment and 25th amendment offer routes for removal – but experts say system is set up to protect the presidentDonald Trump looked out across the White House ballroom at his audience of wealthy donors and business figures – people who had given millions of dollars to his extravagant plan to build a vast ballroom attached to the building’s East Wing.The president, 79, told the crowd he had enjoyed a “really historic trip” to the Middle East, and indulged in some of his familiar patter: saying his tariffs were successful, and claiming that under Joe Biden, countries were “literally emptying out insane asylums into our country”. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Israel launches air strikes and halts aid into Gaza after claiming Hamas violated fragile ceasefire

The IDF has said an alleged attack by Hamas was a ‘bold violation of the ceasefire’, and has halted aid into Gaza

Events

2 w. ago Israel launches air strikes in Gaza after it claims Hamas violated fragile ceasefire

The IDF called the alleged attack a ‘bold violation of the ceasefire’, but Hamas says it is ‘unaware’ of any clashes

Events

2 w. ago Hamas reasserts control in a chaotic Gaza, posing a risk to the fragile ceasefire

Hamas has deployed hundreds of police and clashed with armed groups in Gaza in what the militant group says is an attempt to restore law and order in areas where Israeli troops have withdrawn for the U.S.-brokered ceasefire

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2 w. ago Fears for fragile Gaza ceasefire after seven Palestinians killed and aid cut off

Hamas has also been filmed carrying out public executions of men accused of ‘collaborating’ with Israeli forces

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

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3 w. ago ‘For the sake of peace’: why a Palestinian forgives the Israeli soldier who shot him

Exclusive: Munib al-Masri Jr is part of a campaign asking the UK to help create a ‘just future’ in Palestine – starting with an apology for its role in the crisisHe has spent 14 years in pain, adjusting to paralysis below the waist. But Munib al-Masri Jr, 37, says he forgives the Israeli soldier who shot him.Masri is among Palestinians who welcomed the UK’s recognition of Palestinian statehood last month but are pushing the government to go further. The Britain Owes Palestine campaign that Masri is part of wants the UK to formally apologise for what they say is its historical role in creating the Middle East crisis, as ceasefire talks bring an uneasy peace to the region and raise questions about its future. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Donald Trump tells crowds there are world leaders he 'doesn't like at ALL' as he teases who they are

Leaders from across the world stood behind the US President as he delivered a speech following the signing of an historic peace deal in the Middle East which has brought an end to the war in Gaza

Politics

3 w. ago Trump says it's now time to end the Ukraine war as he heralds the Middle East new dawn and hails it the 'end of an age of terror and death'

Trump will welcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House on Friday for what could prove to be a pivotal meeting.

Events

3 w. ago Hamas releases final hostages as Trump hails ‘historic dawn’ in Middle East

Israel frees more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners as first phase of peace plan is implemented

Politics

3 w. ago Trump attends Egypt summit after hailing ‘historic dawn of a new Middle East’

President addressed Knesset after release of all remaining living Israeli hostages from Gaza

Politics

3 w. ago ‘All we see is destruction’: Palestinians pulling bodies from the rubble of Gaza fear the fragile ceasefire will not last

As aid trickles in, families reunite and homes are returned to, Gazans tell The Independent that they are still in danger

Events