Page 3 - Gaza

Rafah crossing to reopen Monday for returnees to Gaza: Palestinian embassy

The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt will reopen Monday for people returning to Gaza, the Palestinian embassy in Egypt said Saturday, but the territory's sole gateway to the outside world will remain closed to people trying to leave. The number of people registering to return to Gaza is very big, Naji al-Naji, cultural counselor at the embassy, told The Associated Press without saying how many. There was no immediate comment from Israel. The Rafah crossing is the only one not controlled by Israel before the war. It has been closed since May 2024, when Israel took control of the Gaza side. A fully reopened crossing would make it easier for Gazans to seek medical treatment, travel internationally or visit family in Egypt, home to tens of thousands of Palestinians. Meanwhile, Gaza's ruins were being scoured for the dead, over a week into a ceasefire. Newly recovered bodies brought the Palestinian toll above 68,000, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ministry, part o

Daily struggles persist in Gaza even as ceasefire offers some respite

Bassil Naggar can finally sleep without getting jolted awake by the sounds of Israeli airstrikes. For Naggar and his displaced family, and for many in Gaza facing similar challenges, the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war has provided a much-needed respite from a two-year war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and left much of the territory in ruins. But many daily struggles, big and small, persist from how to put an actual roof over one's head and what to wear as winter approaches, to how to secure proper food, to worries over whether the fragile ceasefire will hold. The extent of some of the personal and communal losses has become clearer since the ceasefire went into effect on October 10, allowing many to return to their neighbourhoods and discover what remains of their homes. Life after the ceasefire is still anxious. Is the war really over? said Naggar, who has been displaced about a dozen times since the war began. Fuelling his fears are memories of the deadly

Pro-Hamas hackers hit US and Canada airports with anti-Trump messages

Hackers disrupted public announcement systems in at least four airports in the US and Canada, broadcasting foreign-language messages and music. They accessed the system via third-party software

We'll have to go in if Hamas doesn't stop killings in Gaza, says Trump

Trump's remarks suggest the possibility of direct US military involvement in Gaza, marking a shift from earlier statements that the US would support renewed Israeli action if the ceasefire was broken

With Gaza ceasefire taking hold, Trump now looking to 'get Russia done'

With a fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage deal holding, President Donald Trump says he's now turning his attention to bringing Russia's war on Ukraine to an end and is weighing providing Kyiv long-range weaponry as he looks to prod Moscow to the negotiating table. Ending the wars in Ukraine and Gaza was central to Trump's 2024 reelection pitch, in which he persistently pilloried President Joe Biden for his handling of the conflicts. Yet, like his predecessor, Trump also has been stymied by President Vladimir Putin as he's unsuccessfully pressed the Russian leader to hold direct talks with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy to end the war that is nearing its fourth year. But fresh off the Gaza ceasefire, Trump is showing new confidence that he can finally make headway on ending the Russian invasion. He's also signalling that he's ready to step up pressure on Putin if he doesn't come to the table soon. Interestingly we made progress today, because of what's happened in the Middle

Israel receives remains of 2 hostages; body mix-up strains fragile truce

Israel received the remains of two more hostages on Wednesday, hours after the Israeli military said that one of the bodies previously turned over was not that of a hostage. The confusion added to tensions over the fragile truce that has paused the two-year war. The remains were transferred by the Red Cross from Hamas. After the two coffins arrived in Israel, the military in a statement cautioned that the hostages' identities had yet to be verified. Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Ministry said it received 45 more bodies of Palestinians from Israel, another step in implementation of the ceasefire agreement. That brought to 90 the total number of bodies returned to Gaza for burial. The forensics team examining the remains said they showed signs of mistreatment. As part of the deal, four bodies of hostages were handed over by Hamas on Tuesday, following four on Monday that were returned hours after the last 20 living hostages were released from Gaza. In all, Israel has been awaiting the ..

1 of 4 bodies handed by Hamas is not that of a hostage: Israeli military

The Israeli military said Wednesday that one of the bodies handed over by Hamas the previous day as part of the ceasefire deal is not that of one of the hostages who was held in Gaza. Four bodies were handed over by Hamas on Tuesday to ease pressure on the fragile ceasefire, following the first four on Monday - when the last 20 living hostages were released. The military said that following the completion of examinations at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, the fourth body handed over to Israel by Hamas does not match any of the hostages.

If they don't disarm, we will disarm them: Trump issues warning to Hamas

The President's statement on Hamas' disarmament added further clarity to the terms of the US-brokered peace agreement

Israel receives remains of 4 more deceased hostages as Gaza aid cuts loom

Hamas hastened on Tuesday to ease the pressure on a fragile ceasefire in its war with Israel by returning the bodies of more dead hostages. The move came after an Israeli military agency said it would slash aid deliveries to Gaza by half over concerns that the militant group was handing remains over slower than agreed. The Israeli Prime Minister's office confirmed late on Tuesday that authorities received four deceased hostages that the Red Cross handed over to Israeli military authorities inside Gaza. The bodies will be taken to the National Centre for Forensic Medicine where they will be identified and the families notified. This latest transfer of remains comes a day after Israel received the bodies of four other dead hostages. Despite the development, it was unclear if the Israeli military agency known as COGAT will follow through with its decision to allow into Gaza only half of the 600 aid trucks called for under the deal. The United Nations' humanitarian office in ...

On the Margins of Protection: How refugee rights are being redefined

With right-wing populism on the rise, refugee protection is seen as a problem. This book examines how protection works across contexts, shaped by history and geopolitics

Trump's peace plan faces toughest test in deweaponising Hamas in Gaza

Despite Trump's repeated, unqualified declarations that the war is over, backsliding on either side could threaten a renewal of fighting, analysts said

What was FIFA President doing at Gaza peace summit in Egypt? All we know

Gianni Infantino could be seen standing alongside US President Donald Trump, engaging in casual conversation, smiling, and posing for photographs

At risk of his career, Trump calls Italian PM Giorgia Meloni 'beautiful'

Trump also reiterated his claims of having resolved the India-Pakistan conflict, which began in May after India launched missile strikes on Pakistan in Operation Sindoor

Amazon fires employee who protested company's ties to Israeli govt

Ahmed Shahrour, a 29-year-old Palestinian engineer, was fired on Monday for violations of company policy

Biden welcomes hostage release, ceasefire deal, commends Trump

Biden also emphasised the efforts of his administration during his presidency to address the humanitarian crisis and bring an end to the conflict

Trump welcomes Bill Clinton's praise for Gaza ceasefire, calls it very nice

Clinton's remarks earlier in the day credited Trump, his administration, and other regional actors for their roles in facilitating the Gaza ceasefire

Hostages freed, but complex challenges remain in Israel-Hamas ceasefire

Israel and Hamas moved ahead on a key first step of the tenuous Gaza ceasefire agreement on Monday by freeing hostages and prisoners, raising hopes that the US-brokered deal might lead to a permanent end to the two-year war that ravaged the Palestinian territory. But thornier issues such as whether Hamas will disarm and who will govern Gaza and the question of Palestinian statehood remain unresolved, highlighting the fragility of an agreement that for now only pauses the deadliest conflict in the history of Israel and the Palestinians. For Israelis, the release of the 20 remaining living hostages brought elation and a sense of closure to a war many felt they were forced into by Hamas, although many pledged to fight on for the return of deceased hostages still in Gaza. But with the living hostages freed, the urgency with which many were driven to call for an end to the war will likely diminish, easing pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to advance the next phases o

Trump hails Gaza war's end, Netanyahu cautious on future peace prospects

President Donald Trump is declaring Israel's war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip over and has already barrelled ahead toward far larger goals arguing that the fragile ceasefire his administration helped broker is a chance to bring a lasting peace to the greater Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is equally exuberant about the present, but far more measured in his assessments going forward. He's characterised the deal, which is still in its early stages, as a proposal to free hostages and end the war while also saying that his country used two years of often brutal war in Gaza to showcase its military might. The pair seemingly offering strikingly different perspectives about the prospects for future peace is noteworthy given just how much each lavished the other with praise during speeches before the Knesset, Israel's parliament, on Monday. But it also reflects just how different the political and diplomatic stakes may be for each leader going forward. That's ...

Palestinians celebrate release of prisoners under Gaza ceasefire deal

Cheers erupted among Palestinians on Monday as Israel released nearly 2,000 prisoners under a Gaza ceasefire agreement that saw them exchanged for Israeli hostages freed by Hamas. Large crowds greeted the freed prisoners in Beitunia in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in Khan Younis in Gaza, flashing V-for-victory signs as they descended from International Committee of the Red Cross buses. In Beitunia, they were given traditional keffiyeh scarves as a show of nationalist pride. Some were lifted onto people's shoulders. Others sank into chairs, exhausted. It was an indescribable journey of suffering hunger, unfair treatment, oppression, torture and curses more than anything you could imagine, said Kamal Abu Shanab, a 51-year-old from the West Bank town of Tulkarem who was released after more than 18 years in prison. His face was gaunt. He said he lost 139 pounds (59 kilograms) in prison. We don't recognise him. He's not the person we knew. Our uncle doesn't look like our uncle,

News highlights: Tejashwi meets Kharge to finalise RJD-Cong seat-sharing for Bihar polls

Latest news updates, October 13: US President Donald Trump is set to meet hostage families in Israel and co-host a Cairo summit. Catch all the latest news developments from across the world here