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Gaza Conflict
Palestinians in Gaza watched with hope and impatience Sunday as workers laid the groundwork to reopen the territory's Rafah border crossing with Egypt, its lifeline to the world. Israel says the crossing is scheduled to resume Monday as its ceasefire with Hamas moves ahead. "Opening the crossing is a good step, but they set a limit on the number of people allowed to cross, and this is a problem," said Ghalia Abu Mustafa, a woman from Khan Younis. Israel said the crossing had opened in a test, and the Israeli military agency that controls aid to Gaza said residents could begin crossing Monday. But only a small number of people can cross at first. "We want a large number of people to leave, for it to be open so that sick people can go and return," said Suhaila Al-Astal, a woman displaced from the city of Rafah who said her sick daughter needed help abroad. "We want the crossing to be open permanently." Israel's announcement came a day after Israeli strikes killed at least 30 ...
Hospitals in Gaza said Israeli strikes killed at least 12 Palestinians Saturday, one of the highest tolls since an October agreement aimed at stopping the fighting. The strikes hit locations in northern and southern Gaza, including an apartment building in Gaza City and a tent in Khan Younis, officials at hospitals that received the bodies said. The casualties included two women and six children from two different families. The strikes came a day before a border crossing is set to open in Gaza's southernmost city, a reminder that the death toll is still rising even as a ceasefire agreement inches forward. All of the territory's border crossings have been closed since the start of the war and Palestinians see the Rafah crossing with Egypt as a lifeline for the tens of thousands in need of treatment outside the territory, where the majority of medical infrastructure has been destroyed. Shifa Hospital said the Gaza City strike killed a mother, three children and one of their relatives
Israel turned over the bodies of 15 Palestinians on Thursday, just days after recovering the remains of the last Israeli hostage, a Gaza Health Ministry official said. This marks the last hostage-detainee exchange between Israel and Hamas carried out as part of the first phase of the US-brokered ceasefire reached in October. The Red Cross said it helped facilitate the return of the bodies. They were taken to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, said Zaher al-Wahidi, a spokesperson at the health ministry. The return of all remaining hostages, living or dead, had been a key part of the first phase in the ceasefire that paused the war. Israel agreed to return 15 Palestinian bodies for each hostage recovered, according to the ceasefire terms. It's unclear if the bodies released Thursday were of Palestinian detainees who died in Israeli custody or bodies taken from Gaza by Israeli troops during the war. Israel has released roughly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners under the ceasefire deal, many who
India voiced appreciation to the US towards addressing the "long-standing" conflict in Gaza as New Delhi noted the recent progress with regard to the implementation of the UN Security Council resolution on the issue. These remarks were made by India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish on Wednesday. "India takes note of recent progress with regard to the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2803 to end the Gaza conflict. India also takes this opportunity to express appreciation to the United States in addressing this long-standing issue," Harish said in his remarks to the UN Security Council open debate on the Situation in the Middle East. The UN Security Council resolution 2803, adopted in November last year, endorsed US President Donald Trump's 'Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict' of September 29 that entails that "Gaza will be a deradicalised terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbours" and will be redevelope
The remains of the final hostage in Gaza have been recovered, Israel's military said Monday, clearing the way for the next phase of the ceasefire that paused the Israel-Hamas war. The announcement that the remains of Ran Gvili had been found and identified came a day after Israel's government said the military was conducting a "large-scale operation" in a cemetery in northern Gaza to locate them. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it "an incredible achievement" for Israel and its soldiers, telling Israeli media that "I promised we would bring everyone home and we have brought everyone home." He said Gvili, who was killed during the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war, was among the first to be taken into Gaza. The return of all remaining hostages, living or dead, has been a key part of the Gaza ceasefire's first phase, and Gvili's family had urged Israel's government not to enter the second phase until his remains were recovered and returned. Netanyahu's ..
Israel said Sunday its military was conducting a "large-scale operation" to locate the last hostage in Gaza, as Washington and other mediators pressure Israel and Hamas to move into the next phase of their ceasefire. The statement came as Israel's Cabinet met to discuss the possibility of opening Gaza's key Rafah border crossing with Egypt, and a day after top US envoys met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about next steps. The return of the remaining hostage, Ran Gvili, has been widely seen as removing the remaining obstacle to moving ahead with opening the Rafah crossing, which would signal the ceasefire's second phase. The return of all remaining hostages, alive or dead, has been a central part of the first phase of the ceasefire that took effect on Oct 10. Before Sunday, the previous hostage was recovered in early December. While Israel has carried out search efforts before for Gvili, more detail than usual was released about this one. Israel's military said it was search
Top US envoys met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, urging his government to move into the second phase of the ceasefire in Gaza. Netanyahu met with US President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and Middle East adviser, according to the prime minister's office, which did not give details. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe the talks, told reporters the envoys had been working closely with Netanyahu on recovering the remains of the last hostage in Gaza, and on the next steps for demilitarising the territory. The US is anxious to keep the Trump-brokered deal moving, but Netanyahu faces pressure to wait until Hamas returns the hostage's remains. The biggest signal of the second phase would be the reopening of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. Ali Shaath, the head of a future technocratic government in Gaza that is expected to run day-to-day affairs, said Thursday the border ..
Indian-American President of the World Bank Group, Ajay Banga, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio are among the leaders named to the 'Board of Peace' for Gaza redevelopment under President Donald Trump's comprehensive plan to end the conflict. The White House on Friday released a list of appointed members to the founding Executive Board of the Board of Peace, which it said comprises leaders with "experience across diplomacy, development, infrastructure, and economic strategy". Besides Banga and Rubio, the Executive Board includes US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, former UK prime minister Tony Blair, private equity firm Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan and US Deputy National Security Advisor Robert Gabriel. Each Executive Board member will oversee a defined portfolio critical to Gaza's stabilisation and long-term success, including, but not limited to, governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, ...
Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 13 people, according to health officials, as US President Donald Trump was expected to announce the Board of Peace to oversee the fragile ceasefire. Health officials and family members said at least one child was among the dead in northern Gaza following several strikes there as well as east of Gaza City. Israel's army said Friday it struck Hamas infrastructure and fighters in southern and northern Gaza in response to a failed projectile launched by militants from the Gaza City area. The phased ceasefire between Israel and Hamas remains in its initial stage as efforts continue to recover the remains of the final hostage in Gaza. Officials say next week Trump is expected to announce the Board of Peace, which he has said he will head, marking an important step forward for his Mideast peace plan. The process has moved slowly since a ceasefire in October ended more than two years of fighting between Israel and Hamas. The US official and anot
An Israeli strike in Gaza on Monday hit a tent housing displaced people, killing a 5-year-old girl and her uncle and wounding two other children, hospital officials said. The strike took place in the Muwasi area northwest of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, officials at Nasser Hospital said. The Associated Press couldn't independently very those details. Family members wept over the bodies as they were brought to the hospital. The dead are among the more than 400 people killed in Gaza since an October ceasefire began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The Israeli military said on social media it struck a Hamas militant who planned an imminent attack on Israeli troops in the southern Gaza Strip. It said the strike complied with the ceasefire agreement, and was done in a targeted way to mitigate civilian harm. It was not immediately clear if the statement referred to the fatal tent strike. The military also said that, because of continued ceasefire violations, it had begu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a fiery speech at the Knesset (Israeli parliament) on Monday, defended his handling of the country's affairs, asserting that despite a wave of anti-semitism against the Jewish state, it enjoys an unprecedented support from many countries and leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Speaking during a so-called '40-signature debate', a parliamentary mechanism that allows the opposition to compel the Prime Minister to appear once a month at the Knesset forum, Netanyahu put up a strong defence of his government's policy on various fronts, including Israel's foreign relations. "Israel is today stronger than ever," he said. The Israeli Premier hit back at what the opposition described as the collapse of Israel's international standing, arguing that Israel remained diplomatically, militarily, and economically dominant despite its two years at war with Hamas, highlighting his ties to global leaders. Sitting through a series of scathing
An international body tasked with governing the Gaza Strip under the next phase of the US-brokered ceasefire is expected to be announced by the end of the year, an Arab official and a Western diplomat said Friday. According to the ceasefire agreement, the authority known as the Board of Peace and chaired by US President Donald Trump is to oversee Gaza's reconstruction under a two-year, renewable UN mandate. It will include about a dozen other Middle Eastern and Western leaders, the Arab official and the Western diplomat told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter. Also to be announced is a committee of Palestinian technocrats who will run the day-to-day administration of post-war Gaza, they two said. The Western diplomat, who spoke to the AP over the phone from Cairo, said the announcement about this will likely happen when Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet later this month. The ...