3 h. ago UN ‘gravely concerned by rising violence’ in West Bank; Gaza ceasefire in doubt as first phase nears end – Middle East crisis live

Israeli tanks in West Bank for first time in more than two decades amid tensions over ceasefire agreement with HamasThe UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, has been speaking at the UN human rights council in Geneva.“I am gravely concerned by the rising violence in the occupied West Bank by Israeli settlers and other violations, as well as calls for annexation,” Guterres said, as he urged for the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel to remain intact.The ministry of foreign affairs and expatriates warns of the Israeli occupation army’s deployment of heavy tanks around Jenin, viewing it as a prelude to expanding its crimes against the Palestinian people – particularly in the northern West Bank and its refugee camps. This escalation comes as Israeli ‘defence’ minister Israel Katz boasts that the Israeli occupation army will prevent displaced Palestinians from returning to their homes and has ordered an extended military presence in the area. Israeli occupation forces have al...

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21 h. ago Middle East crisis live: Trump envoy says US expects second phase of Israel

Comments come after Israel suspended release of 600 Palestinian detaineesHezbollah leader Naim Qassem said the group would keep following the path of slain chief Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday during a televised speech broadcast at his massive funeral on the outskirts of Beirut.“We will uphold trust and walk on this path, we will uphold your will,” Qassem said referring to Nasrallah, adding: “you are still with us: your... path and struggle live within us” and “I am loyal to the legacy Nasrallah”. Continue reading...

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45 h. ago Hamas hands over six hostages but Israel delays release of 600 Palestinians

Ceasefire in jeopardy as Israel waits for meeting of security cabinet under pressure from right-wingersMiddle East crisis – live updatesHamas released six Israeli hostages on Saturday, but Israel delayed the handover of more than 600 Palestinians it was due to free from its prisons in exchange, putting the five-week-old ceasefire agreement once more in jeopardy.The government said the release would be delayed until after a scheduled meeting of the security cabinet on Saturday evening at the earliest. Continue reading...

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47 h. ago Middle East crisis live: Hamas releases six hostages as Israel prepares to free hundreds of Palestinians

Hisham al-Sayed, Tal Shoham, Avera Mengistu, Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov and Omer Wenkert have now been releasedA masked militant has sat down at a table on the stage with a Red Cross representative and they appear to be signing documents.Live images from Rafah are showing masked Hamas fighters taking to the makeshift stage, with one speaking into a microphone. Continue reading...

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50 h. ago Middle East crisis live: Israel says body of Shiri Bibas returned as Hamas releases more hostages

Hamas has released two hostages so far today, with another four to come laterA masked militant has sat down at a table on the stage with a Red Cross representative and they appear to be signing documents.Live images from Rafah are showing masked Hamas fighters taking to the makeshift stage, with one speaking into a microphone. Continue reading...

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51 h. ago Middle East crisis live: Israel says body of Shiri Bibas returned as Hamas begins release of six more hostages

Hamas says six captives to be freed from Gaza in swap for about 600 Palestinian prisoners and detaineesA masked militant has sat down at a table on the stage with a Red Cross representative and they appear to be signing documents.Live images from Rafah are showing masked Hamas fighters taking to the makeshift stage, with one speaking into a microphone. Continue reading...

Events

52 h. ago Middle East crisis live: Israel says body of Shiri Bibas handed over as Hamas begins release of six more hostages

Hamas says six captives to be freed from Gaza in swap for about 600 Palestinian prisoners and detaineesA masked militant has sat down at a table on the stage with a Red Cross representative and they appear to be signing documents.Live images from Rafah are showing masked Hamas fighters taking to the makeshift stage, with one speaking into a microphone. Continue reading...

Events

53 h. ago Middle East crisis live: Israel says body of Shiri Bibas handed over as Hamas prepares to release six more hostages

Hamas says six captives expected to be freed from Gaza on Saturday in swap for about 600 Palestinian prisoners and detaineesA convoy of Red Cross vehicles is now heading to a hostage handover site set up by Hamas in Rafah in southern Gaza, the Times of Israel is quoting an Israeli defense official as saying.The Red Cross is expected to receive two hostages there, the report says. According to Al Jazeera, hostages Tal Shoham and Avera Mengistu will be freed in Rafah. The other four — Omer Shem-Tov, Eliya Cohen, Omer Wenkert and Hisham al-Sayed — will be released later in central Gaza’s Nuseirat.On the stage prepared by Hamas in Rafah are the usual placards with messages including “We are the flood” as well as military weapons and equipment the group claims were stolen from the IDF on October 7 2023.One piece is a gun on which the group wrote “Ravshatz,” the Hebrew acronym for the head of a community’s local security team, indicating it was taken from such an individual killed by terr...

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69 h. ago Middle East crisis live: Israel claims Hamas killed Bibas children with their ‘bare hands’

Statement from IDF spokesman contradicts Hamas claim the family was killed in an airstrikeOne of the four bodies returned by Hamas to Israel on Thursday is not that of Shiri Bibas, Israel’s military has said, calling it a “violation of utmost severity” of a ceasefire deal that was already precarious.The Israeli military confirmed that two of the bodies belonged to Bibas’ children, Ariel and Kfir, in the early hours of Friday. However, it added “During the identification process, it was determined that the additional body received is not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other hostage. This is an anonymous, unidentified body” Continue reading...

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3 d. ago Middle East crisis live: Shiri Bibas remains mixed with others after airstrike, Hamas claims after Israel says wrong body returned

Israel has demanded the return of Shiri Bibas after it said testing showed that one of the four bodies released by Hamas did not belong to any other hostageFull report: Israeli military accuses Hamas of ‘serious violation’, saying Shiri Bibas not among returned hostagesOne of the four bodies returned by Hamas to Israel on Thursday is not that of Shiri Bibas, Israel’s military has said, calling it a “violation of utmost severity” of a ceasefire deal that was already precarious.The Israeli military confirmed that two of the bodies belonged to Bibas’ children, Ariel and Kfir, in the early hours of Friday. However, it added “During the identification process, it was determined that the additional body received is not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other hostage. This is an anonymous, unidentified body” Continue reading...

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3 d. ago Middle East crisis live: Shiri Bibas remains have been mixed with other remains after airstrike, Hamas says

Israel has demanded the return of Shiri Bibas after it said testing showed that one of the four bodies released by Hamas did not belong to any other hostageFull report: Israeli military accuses Hamas of ‘serious violation’, saying Shiri Bibas not among returned hostagesOne of the four bodies returned by Hamas to Israel on Thursday is not that of Shiri Bibas, Israel’s military has said, calling it a “violation of utmost severity” of a ceasefire deal that was already precarious.The Israeli military confirmed that two of the bodies belonged to Bibas’ children, Ariel and Kfir, in the early hours of Friday. However, it added “During the identification process, it was determined that the additional body received is not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other hostage. This is an anonymous, unidentified body” Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Middle East crisis live: Israeli military says body of Shiri Bibas is not among returned hostages

Israel has demanded the return of Shiri Bibas after it said testing showed that one of the four bodies released by Hamas did not belong to any other hostageThe Israeli military has said the two Bibas boys were “murdered by terrorists” in Gaza.The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said earlier that Ariel and Kfir Bibas had been identified after their bodies were released by Hamas on Thursday under the current ceasefire agreement.According to the assessment of professional officials, based on the intelligence available to us and forensic findings from the identification process, Ariel and Kfir Bibas were brutally murdered by terrorists in captivity in November 2023. Continue reading...

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4 d. ago Middle East crisis live: remains of four hostages, including mother and two children, returned to Israel

Bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir, who Hamas says were killed in an Israeli airstrike, as well as Oded Lifshitz, 83, handed overThe handover of the four bodies from Hamas to the Red Cross is now complete.The vehicles are on their way to Israel, and the crowd in Khan Younis is beginning to disperse. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Middle East crisis live: Hamas hands bodies of four Israeli hostages, including two children, to Red Cross in Gaza

Bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir, who Hamas says were killed in an Israeli airstrike, as well as Oded Lifshitz, 83, handed overThe handover of the four bodies from Hamas to the Red Cross is now complete.The vehicles are on their way to Israel, and the crowd in Khan Younis is beginning to disperse. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Middle East crisis live: Hamas to return bodies of four Israeli hostages, including two children

Bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir, who Hamas says were killed in an Israeli airstrike, as well as Oded Lifshitz, 83, to be handed overAhead of today’s release, Hamas said it is ready to release all its remaining hostages in a single exchange if the ceasefire agreement with Israel moves forward to a second phase next month.The offer came as the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, signalled his readiness to talk about a second phase of the Gaza ceasefire after an extended delay, by appointing one of his closest advisers, Ron Dermer, a US-born cabinet minister and former ambassador to Washington, to lead the Israeli delegation to the talks.Hamas has said it is ready to release all its remaining hostages in a single exchange if the ceasefire agreement with Israel moves forward to a second phase next month. A senior Hamas official, Taher al-Nunu, told Agence France-Presse “We have informed the mediators that Hamas is ready to release all hostages in one b...

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5 d. ago Middle East crisis live: Hamas says it will return bodies of four Israelis on Thursday and release six living hostages on Saturday

Militant group will release hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners as Israel confirms it will begin negotiations on second phase of ceasefire dealGeneva Abdul is a reporter for the GuardianMore than 200 organisations worldwide have called on nations involved in producing F-35 fighter jets to “immediately halt all arms transfers to Israel” amid fears they have failed to prevent the planes from being used to violate international law. Continue reading...

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6 d. ago Middle East crisis live: Israel to begin negotiations on second phase of Gaza ceasefire deal, says minister

Mediators hope second phase of deal will agree release of remaining hostages as well as full withdrawal of Israeli troops from GazaGeneva Abdul is a reporter for the GuardianMore than 200 organisations worldwide have called on nations involved in producing F-35 fighter jets to “immediately halt all arms transfers to Israel” amid fears they have failed to prevent the planes from being used to violate international law. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Middle East crisis live: Lebanon says it will consider any remaining Israeli presence on its lands an occupation

Israeli forces remain in five points in Lebanon for what the IDF says is security purposes but Lebanese presidency says truce deal demands a full withdrawalBack to news coming out of Lebanon. The country’s new government will negotiate with the International Monetary Fund for a new programme and will work to deal with the country’s financial default and public debt, according a policy statement – seen by Reuters – that has been approved by the cabinet. It also said the government would work towards an economic recovery achieved primarily through the reform of the banking sector.Lebanon is still grappling with a crippling economic crisis, now in its sixth year, which destroyed its state electricity sector and left many in poverty unable to access their savings. The local currency lost much of its value and commercial banks severely restricted foreign currency withdrawals. Continue reading...

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6 d. ago Middle East crisis live: Lebanon concerned Israel will not withdraw troops by deadline as IDF says Hamas leader killed in south

Israeli military said it killed a Hamas commander in an airstrike in southern Lebanon’s Sidon areaReuters has seen a document that sets out the EU’s plan to tell Israel next week in talks in Brussels that Palestinian people displaced from Gaza should be “ensured a safe and dignified return to their homes in the territory.The bloc is to outline its position to Israeli officials in talks on 24 February as part of the EU-Israel Association Council, the first such session since 2022. Continue reading...

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1 week ago 'No one will question it': Trump says US will 'take' Gaza not buy it – video

Donald Trump told reporters that the US would not need to 'buy Gaza', saying: 'We’re going to take it, we’re going to hold it, we’re going to cherish it.' When pushed by a reporter under whose authority would the US take Gaza, Trump replied: 'Under US authority.' The US president said that 'there's not going to be any problem and nobody's going to question it'Middle East crisis – live updates Continue reading...

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