Gaza

Israel receives remains of possible hostage, plans to reopen Gaza crossing

Israel received remains of what could be one of the last hostages in Gaza on Wednesday and said it will begin allowing Palestinians to leave the war-torn territory through a border crossing with Egypt. The remains found by militants in northern Gaza have been returned to Israel, where they will be examined by forensics experts. Remains militants handed over on Tuesday did not match either of the last two hostages in Gaza. The return of all the hostages taken on the October 7, 2023, attack that started the war is a key element of the first phase of the ceasefire that began in October. In exchange, Israel has been releasing Palestinian prisoners. Under the terms of the ceasefire, the long-closed Rafah crossing is to be opened for medical evacuations and travel to and from Gaza. The World Health Organization says there are more than 16,500 sick and wounded people who need to leave Gaza for medical care. It was not immediately clear when the border crossing would be opened, however. E

Israeli forces kill 2 suspected Palestinian attackers in West Bank

Israeli forces on Tuesday shot and killed two suspected Palestinian assailants wanted in a pair of attacks that wounded three Israelis in the occupied West Bank. It was the latest burst of violence in the territory, where fighting has spiked in recent weeks. The Israeli military said that troops shot and killed a suspect who stabbed two soldiers as they were confronting him near Ateret, an Israeli settlement in the central West Bank. It said the incident was under review. Israel's Mada rescue service said two soldiers were lightly wounded. In the southern West Bank, the army said it shot and killed a Palestinian who had earlier carried out a car-ramming attack that wounded a female soldier. The army said the man attempted to flee as they tried to arrest him near the city of Hebron while endangering the soldiers and he was shot dead. The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the suspect as a 17-year-old resident of Hebron. The Israeli army has stepped up its activities in the We

24 killed as Israel launches strikes in Gaza in latest test of ceasefire

Israel's military on Saturday said it launched airstrikes against Hamas militants in Gaza in the latest test of the ceasefire that began on October 10. Health officials in Gaza reported at least 14 people killed and another 45 wounded, including children. Similar waves of strikes have occurred during the ceasefire after reported attacks against Israeli forces. One strike targeted a vehicle, killing seven and wounding 18 Palestinians in Gaza City's Rimal neighbourhood, said Rami Mhanna, managing director of Shifa Hospital, where the casualties were taken. The majority of those wounded were children, director Mohamed Abu Selmiya said. Another strike targeting a house near Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza killed at least three people and wounded 11 others, according to the hospital. It said a strike on a house in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza killed one child and wounded 16 others. And a strike targeting a house in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza killed three people, including a woman,

At least 25 killed, several injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza, Khan Younis

According to a report, Israel has carried out 393 attacks on Gaza in violation of the US-brokered ceasefire, killing and wounding 280 and 672 people respectively

UN Security Council backs Trump's Gaza peace plan with 13 votes in favour

US officials had nonetheless pushed for the Security Council's stamp of approval for the plan, arguing the support would help ensure diplomatic momentum

Gaza death toll tops 69,000 as Israel, militants again exchange remains

More than 69,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war so far, Gaza health officials said Saturday, as both sides completed the latest exchange of bodies under the terms of the tenuous ceasefire. The latest jump in deaths occurred as more bodies are recovered in the devastated Gaza Strip since the ceasefire began on October 10, and as other bodies are identified. The toll also includes Palestinians killed by strikes that Israel says target remaining militants. Israel on Saturday returned the remains of another 15 Palestinians to Gaza, according to hospital officials there, a day after militants returned the remains of a hostage to Israel. He was identified as Lior Rudaeff, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said that Rudaeff was born in Argentina. The exchanges are the central part of the ceasefire's initial phase, which requires that Hamas return all hostage remains as quickly as possible. Families and .

Israel returns bodies of 15 Palestinians for Israeli hostages' remains

Israel on Saturday returned the bodies of 15 Palestinians to Gaza, hospital officials in the strip said, a day after militants returned the remains of a hostage to Israel under the terms of the tenuous ceasefire agreement in the two-year war. The exchange marked another step forward for the tenuous, US-brokered truce. As part of the deal, Israel has returned the remains of 15 Palestinians for each Israeli hostage. The Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis said the 15 bodies were brought there. The return came shortly after Israel confirmed the remains given back Friday night were of an Israeli man who died while fighting Hamas in the militants' Oct. 7, 2023, attack that started the war. The hostage's body was identified as that of Lior Rudaeff, according to a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said Rudaeff was born in Argentina and moved to Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak, a farming community in southern Israel, as a child. H

No safe passage for 200 Hamas terrorists trapped in Rafah: Netanyahu

Earlier, Israeli media reports suggested that Israel might approve the fighters' safe passage if they agreed to surrender their weapons and if Hamas returned the bodies of additional fallen hostages

Red Cross to hand over received remains of 3 hostages to Israel military

Israel said the Red Cross has received the remains of three hostages in Gaza and they will be handed over to Israel's military. A Hamas statement earlier said the remains were found Sunday in a tunnel in southern Gaza. Since the ceasefire in Gaza took effect on October 10, Palestinian militants had released the remains of 17 hostages, with 11 remaining in Gaza. Militants have released one or two bodies every few days. Israel has urged faster progress, and in certain cases it has said the remains aren't of any hostage. Hamas has said the work is complicated by widespread devastation. Israel's military said official identification of these remains would be provided to families first. Israel in turn has been releasing the remains of 15 Palestinians for the return of the remains of an Israeli hostage. Health officials in Gaza have struggled to identify bodies without access to DNA kits. Only 75 of the 225 Palestinian bodies returned since the ceasefire began have been identified, ...

Israel hands over bodies of 30 Palestinians as ceasefire deal edges forward

Israel returned the bodies of 30 Palestinians to health authorities in Gaza on Friday, completing an exchange after militants turned over remains of two hostages, in a sign that the tense Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement is edging forward. The incremental progress came despite Israeli strikes on Gaza this week that killed more than 100 people following the killing of an Israeli soldier. The bodies were transferred with the Red Cross serving as intermediary. The return of the Palestinian remains was confirmed by a doctor at Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, where medical workers were striving to identify them. Gaza and Israel grapple with latest exchange of bodies ----------------------------------------------------------- Photos showed the remains, in white body bags, arranged in rows inside the grounds of Nasser Hospital. Health officials have struggled to identify bodies without access to DNA kits. The handover brings the number of Palestinian bodies returned

Israel's $1.2 bn Nimbus deal asked Google, Amazon for 'secret data codes'

The Nimbus agreement is a key Israeli initiative to move government and military data into private cloud centers, with leaked files revealing a covert 'winking' data alert system

Israel has set up nearly 1,000 new barriers across West Bank since 2023

Since Israel's war with Hamas began more than two years ago, Israel has erected nearly 1,000 barriers in cities and towns in the occupied West Bank, further stifling movement for Palestinians and hindering daily lives, a local government body says. While Israel's military has long imposed movement and access constraints after capturing the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, the number of new barriers is unprecedented, residents say. According to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, an official Palestinian governmental body, 916 gates, barriers and walls have been installed since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel. Israeli military raids throughout the West Bank have also increased, with Palestinians killed or detained. Israel says it is trying to root out militancy. Among the new barriers are metal gates stationed at many village and town entrances and between cities, blocking access in and out. Sometimes the Israeli military is stationed at them. Palestinia

Pakistan plans to send peace troops to Gaza: 'We will be proud to do it'

Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the government will take a decision after consulting parliament and other relevant institutions

Israeli strikes kill 60 in Gaza after Hamas allegedly violated ceasefire

The Israeli military said that the operation was in response to Hamas attacking its troops in Rafah, a claim denied by the militant group

Israel's military kills three Palestinian militants in West Bank raid

Israeli authorities said they had killed three Palestinian militants early on Tuesday during an operation in the northern part of the occupied West Bank. Israeli police said the three men were shot as they came out of a cave near Jenin, a town in the northern West Bank known as a militant stronghold. A statement claimed the militants were planning an attack, but gave no further details. The statement said the Israeli military carried out an airstrike shortly afterward to destroy the cave. The army confirmed an airstrike in the area but gave no further details. Israel has stepped up its military activity in the occupied West Bank since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack that triggered the war in Gaza. Israel says the operations have cracked down on militants in the West Bank. But Palestinians and human rights groups say scores of uninvolved civilians have also been among the dead, while tens of thousands of people have been displaced from their homes.

British political commentator Sami Hamdi detained at California airport

Sami Hamdi, a British political commentator, was being held Monday by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement after he was detained by ICE officers at San Francisco International Airport, according to federal officials. One senior US official said the detention was related to comments he has made about the Middle East. Hamdi, who is Muslim, was on a speaking tour in the US and on Saturday had addressed the annual gala for the Sacramento, California, chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR. Earlier this morning, ICE agents abducted British Muslim journalist and political commentator Sami Hamdi at San Francisco Airport, apparently in response to his vocal criticism of the Israeli government during his ongoing speaking tour, the group said in a Sunday social media post. The detention is the latest in the Trump administration's ramped up efforts to identify and potentially expel thousands of foreigners in the United States who it says have either fomented or ...

Hamas handed over another hostage's body to Red Cross in Gaza, says IDF

Israel's military late Monday said that Hamas has handed over the remains of another hostage to the Red Cross in Gaza. Since the ceasefire began on October 10, the remains of 15 hostages have been returned to Israel. After the latest body is returned to Israel, another 12 bodies still need to be recovered in Gaza and handed over. Earlier, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told journalists in Hungary that Israel will not allow Turkish troops to take part in an international force the United States has proposed to oversee the ceasefire agreement in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The 20-point deal brokered by US President Donald Trump earlier this month calls for a force to monitor the ceasefire but does not mention which countries would provide troops. It says the US would work with Arab and international partners to develop a temporary International Stabilization Force to deploy in Gaza. The force would train and provide support to vetted Palestinian police forces" and will consul

Highlights: SIR exercise to be conducted in 12 states after Bihar, announces CEC Kumar

Highlights: Catch all the latest news developments here

Gaza ceasefire mediators shared intel to foil recent threat, says Rubio

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that Israel, the U.S. and the other mediators of the Gaza ceasefire deal are sharing information to disrupt any threats and that allowed them to identify a possible impending attack last weekend. The State Department said a week ago that it had credible reports Hamas could violate the ceasefire with an attack on Palestinian civilians in Gaza. We put out a message through State Department, sent it to our mediators as well, about an impending attack, and it didn't happen, he told reporters en route from Israel to Qatar, where he met up with President Donald Trump for a multistop tour in Asia. So that's the goal here, is ultimately to identify a threat before it happens." Rubio said multiple countries are interested in joining an international stabilization force that aims to deploy to Gaza but that they need more details about the mission and rules of engagement. The U.S. could call for a U.N. resolution supporting the force so more nation

India welcomes Gaza Peace Agreement; praises US, Egypt, and Qatar's roles

India has condemned terrorism; stressed there must be an end to destruction, despair and suffering of civilians and sought the immediate release of all hostages