Page 13 - Gaza Conflict

Israeli strikes kill nearly 413 in Gaza, risk fully reigniting Hamas war

Israel carried out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, southern Lebanon and southern Syria on Monday, killing at least 10 people, including a child, according to local authorities. The Israeli military said it was targeting militants plotting attacks. The airstrikes were the latest in what have been frequent and often deadly attacks by Israeli forces during the fragile ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon. Israel has blocked all food, medicine, fuel and other supplies from entering Gaza the past two weeks, demanding Hamas accept changes in the two sides' ceasefire deal. In Syria, Israel seized a zone in the south after the fall of longtime autocrat Bashar Assad in December. Israel says it is a preemptive security measure against the former Islamist insurgents who now run Syria, though their transitional government has not expressed threats against Israel. The strikes hit a residential area in the southern Syrian city of Daraa, killing three people and wounding 19 others, including four children

Will only release American-Israeli hostage if truce deal implemented: Hamas

Hamas said Saturday it would only release an American-Israeli and the bodies of four other hostages if Israel implements the existing ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, calling it an exceptional deal aimed at getting the truce back on track. A senior Hamas official said long-delayed talks over the ceasefire's second phase would need to begin the day of the release and last no longer than 50 days. Israel would also need to stop barring the entry of humanitarian aid and withdraw from a strategic corridor along Gaza's border with Egypt. Hamas would also demand the release of more Palestinian prisoners in exchange for hostages, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks. Edan Alexander, 21, who grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey, was abducted from his military base during Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war, and is the last living American citizen held in Gaza. Israel has cast doubt on Hamas' offer There was no immediate commen

US offers 'bridge' proposal to extend Gaza ceasefire, seek permanent peace

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and National Security Council official Eric Tager presented the proposal in Qatar, according to a statement from their offices

Activists vandalise Trump golf resort over his remark on emptying out Gaza

Pro-Palestinian activists said Saturday they have vandalised one of US President Donald Trump's golf resorts in Scotland in response to his proposal to empty the Gaza Strip of its Palestinian population. Activists targeted Trump's Turnberry golf course and hotel in southwest Scotland overnight, painting Gaza Is Not For Sale in giant letters on the lawn and using red spray paint on the club house's exterior wall. The group Palestine Action said it rejects Donald Trump's treatment of Gaza as though it were his property to dispose of as he likes. To make that clear, we have shown him that his own property is not safe from acts of resistance," it said in a statement. Police Scotland said it received a report of damage to the golf course in the early hours of Saturday, and that inquiries are ongoing. The future of Gaza is uncertain as the first phase of a ceasefire that paused the 15-month war between Israel and Hamas ended with no clarity on what would come next because the agreement'

Israel's delegation to visit Qatar for 'advancing' ceasefire negotiations

Israel said that it would send a delegation to Qatar on Monday in an effort to advance the negotiations around the ceasefire in Gaza, while Hamas reported positive signals in talks with Egyptian and Qatari mediators on starting negotiations on the truce's delayed second phase. The statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office gave no details except to say it had accepted the invitation of US-backed mediators. Hamas spokesman Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua also gave no details. Talks on the second phase should have started a month ago. There was no immediate comment from the White House, which on Wednesday made the surprise confirmation of direct US talks with Hamas. Over the past week, Israel has pressed Hamas to release half of the remaining hostages in return for an extension of the first phase, which ended last weekend, and a promise to negotiate a lasting truce. Hamas is believed to have 24 living hostages and the bodies of 35 others. Israel last weekend cut off all

Gaza aid imperiled as millions in promised USAID funds remain undelivered

The Trump administration's cuts to USAID have frozen hundreds of millions of dollars in contractual payments to aid groups, leaving them paying out of pocket to preserve a fragile ceasefire, according to officials from the U.S. humanitarian agency. The cutbacks threaten to halt the small gains aid workers have made combatting Gaza's humanitarian crisis during the Israel-Hamas ceasefire. They also could endanger the tenuous truce, which the Trump administration helped cement. USAID was supposed to fund much of the aid to Gaza as the ceasefire progressed, and the Trump administration approved over $383 million on January 31 to that end, according to three USAID officials. But since then, there have been no confirmed payments to any partners in the Middle East, they said. The officials, who have survived multiple rounds of furloughs, spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. Two senior officials at aid organizations confirmed they have not received any of the promised .

Egypt's proposal to rebuild Gaza fails to meet requirements, says US

Egyptian plan, which was endorsed this week by the Arab League, includes temporary housing inside Gaza for 1.5 million displaced Palestinians during reconstruction, estimated to cost about $50 bn

US holds secret talks with Hamas for release of US hostages in Gaza

US special envoy for hostage affairs Adam Boehler has been holding the direct talks with Hamas in recent weeks in Doha

Creators of 'No Other Land' urge to end Gaza's ethnic cleansing at Oscars

The documentary 'No Other Land' won the Oscar for Best Documentary on Sunday. It tells the story of Palestinian activists trying to stop the Israeli military from demolishing their communities

Hamas rejects Israel's conditions for extension as Gaza ceasefire

Israel "is trying to reset the situation to zero by mixing the cards" and hasn't given a commitment to fully withdraw from Gaza, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said

'Pretty good talks going on': Donald Trump on Gaza ceasefire deal

A three-phase ceasefire in Gaza went into effect on January 19 and has led to the handover of 33 Israeli hostages held in Gaza and some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel

Israel army admits Oct 7 failures, probe may add pressure on Netanyahu

An investigation by the Israeli military has determined that Hamas was able to carry out the deadliest attack in Israeli history on October 7, 2023, because the much more powerful Israeli army misjudged the militant group's intentions and underestimated its capabilities. The findings, released Thursday, could pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to launch a widely demanded broader inquiry to examine the political decision-making that preceded the attack. Many Israelis believe the failures of October 7 extend beyond the military and blame Netanyahu for a failed policy of deterrence and containment in the years leading up to the attack. That approach included allowing Qatar to send suitcases of cash into Gaza and sidelining Hamas' rival, the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority. The prime minister has not taken responsibility, saying he will answer tough questions only after the war, which has been paused for nearly six weeks by a tenuous ceasefire. Despite public

Donald Trump's AI-generated video shows Gaza as luxury resort, sparks row

The video features a golden statue of Trump, a hummus-eating, dancing Musk, and American and Israeli leaders relaxing on beach, promoting his proposal to expel 2.1 mn Palestinians and transform Gaza

Trump shares Gaza plans through AI video: Gold statues, cocktails, luxury

Trump's AI Gaza video stirs controversy with Netanyahu, men in bikinis & luxury, reimagining the war-torn region as a futuristic paradise with golden skyscrapers

Palestinians struggle to rebuild their lives amid Gaza's devastation

When night falls over northern Gaza, much of the cityscape of collapsed buildings and piled wreckage turns pitch black. Living inside the ruins of their home, Rawya Tamboura's young sons get afraid of the dark, so she turns on a flashlight and her phone's light to comfort them, for as long as the batteries last. Displaced for most of the 16-month-long war, Tamboura is back in her house. But it is still a frustrating shell of a life, she says: There is no running water, electricity, heat or services, and no tools to clear the rubble around them. Nearly 600,000 Palestinians flooded back into northern Gaza under the now month-old ceasefire in Gaza, according to the United Nations. After initial relief and joy at being back at their homes even if damaged or destroyed they now face the reality of living in the wreckage for the foreseeable future. Some people wish the war had never ended, feeling it would have been better to be killed, Tamboura said. I don't know what we'll do long-term

Israel ready to extend ceasefire for hostage release: FM to EU counterparts

'Ceasefire will not be extended without the release of hostages,' Sa'ar said in his meetings with the Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Finnish, and Slovakian foreign ministers

EU, Israel to revive discussions on Gaza's future, regional politics

Ahead of today's meeting, the European Union's 27 member countries negotiated a compromise position that praises areas of cooperation with Israel while also raising concerns

Trump clarifies Gaza takeover remark, says it was a 'recommendation' only

Speaking to Fox News, Trump reiterated his belief that his plan was the "best approach" to resolve the situation in the West Asia

Hamas frees all 6 Israeli hostages to be released in latest exchange

Hamas is set to free six more Israeli hostages Saturday from the Gaza Strip, but the exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners is shadowed by heightened tension between the adversaries that clouds the future of the fragile ceasefire deal. As preparations moved forward Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed revenge for a cruel and malicious violation of the agreement centred on the wrong identification of a body released by Hamas. The family of Shiri Bibas said Israeli forensic authorities had confirmed that the remains released overnight are those of Israeli mother of two small boys. Her body had been released by militants Friday after one set of remains handed over Thursday had been misidentified as hers but later determined to be an unidentified Palestinian woman. Three other bodies returned were confirmed as those of Bibas' sons and Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when all were taken hostage during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas that killed 1,200 in Israel and

Hamas returns four captives' bodies said to include mother, her 2 children

Hamas on Thursday released the bodies of four Israeli hostages, said to include a mother and her two children who have long been feared dead and had come to embody the nation's agony following the October 7, 2023, attack. The remains were presumed to be of Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir, as well as Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted. Kfir, who was 9 months old when he was taken, was the youngest captive. Hamas has said all four were killed along with their guards in Israeli airstrikes. "Our hearts the hearts of an entire nation lie in tatters," Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a statement. On behalf of the State of Israel, I bow my head and ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness for not protecting you on that terrible day. Forgiveness for not bringing you home safely. The militants displayed four black coffins on a stage in the Gaza Strip surrounded by banners, including a large one depicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a vampire. Thousands o