Page 5 - Gaza

Israel launches Operation 'Returning Home' to get hostages back from Hamas

Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, said the operation marks a significant achievement for Israel following sustained military and diplomatic efforts

Best of BS Opinion: Starmer visit shows room for growth in India-UK trade

Today's Opinion pieces look at the potential for growth in India-UK trade, the hurdles to the Gaza peace plan, India's geopolitical opportunity, and Trump's hidden call for global change

3 Qatari diplomats die in car crash while heading to Sharm el-Sheikh summit

Two other diplomats were injured when their vehicle overturned about 50 kilometres (31 miles) from Sharm el-Sheikh, the officials said

Ceasefire holds in Gaza ahead of hostage release, Trump's visit to Israel

Thousands of Palestinians continued to travel north towards Gaza City, the focus of Israeli attacks over the past two months, hopeful the ceasefire would bring an end to the war

Aid preparations ramp up in Gaza as ceasefire brings hope for end to war

Preparations were underway Sunday for a ramp-up of aid entering the war-battered Gaza Strip under a new ceasefire deal that many are hoping will signal an end to the devastating 2-year-long war. The Israeli defense body in charge of humanitarian aid in Gaza, COGAT, said that the amount of aid entering Gaza Strip is expected to ramp up on Sunday to around 600 trucks per day, as stipulated in the agreement. Egypt said it is sending 400 trucks carrying aid into Gaza Sunday. The trucks will have to be inspected by Israeli forces before being allowed in. Associated Press footage showed dozens of trucks crossing the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing. The Egyptian Red Crescent said the trucks include medical supplies, tents, blankets, food and fuel. The trucks will head to the inspection area in the Kerem Shalom crossing for screening by Israeli troops. In recent months, the UN and its partners have been able to deliver only 20% of the aid needed in Gaza because of the fighting, border

PM Modi invited by Trump for Gaza 'peace summit' in Egypt on Oct 13: Report

US President Donald Trump and Egypt's Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will host a Gaza peace summit on October 13 in Sharm el-Sheikh, inviting PM Modi and other world leaders to discuss regional stability

Huge crowds gather at 'Hostages Square' in Tel Aviv, worried but hopeful

In the crowd, a group of youngsters, shy and reluctant at the beginning, but happy to talk after some encouragement, open up their hearts

Palestinians return, US expects hostages freed as Gaza ceasefire holds

The Gaza ceasefire held in its second day as tens of thousands of Palestinians returned to their neighbourhoods Saturday and Israelis cheered Monday's expected release of remaining hostages. Gaza is completely destroyed. I have no idea where we should live or where to go, said Mahmoud al-Shandoghli in Gaza City as bulldozers clawed through the wreckage of two years of war. A boy climbed debris to raise the Palestinian flag. Israelis applauded US President Donald Trump, and some booed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner addressed a weekly rally in Tel Aviv that many hoped would be the last. To the hostages themselves, our brothers and sisters, you are coming home," Witkoff told the crowd estimated in the hundreds of thousands. Kushner said they would celebrate on Monday, when Israel's military has said the 48 hostages still in Gaza would be freed. The government believes around 20 remain alive. Kushner also noted the ...

Fattah el-Sisi, Trump to chair Gaza peace summit in Egypt on Monday

The meeting will see the participation of leaders from more than 20 countries

Israel refuses to release top Palestinian leader Barghouti from prison

The most popular and potentially unifying Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti is not among the prisoners Israel intends to free in exchange for hostages held by Hamas under the new Gaza ceasefire deal. Israel has also rejected freeing other high-profile prisoners whose release Hamas has long sought, though it was not immediately clear if a list of around 250 prisoners issued Friday on the Israeli government's official website was final. Senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk told the Al Jazeera TV network that the group insists on the release of Barghouti and other high-profile figures and that it was in discussions with mediators. Israel views Barghouti as a terrorist leader. He is serving multiple life sentences after being convicted in 2004 in connection with attacks in Israel that killed five people. But some experts say Israel fears Barghouti for another reason: An advocate of a two-state solution even as he backed armed resistance to occupation, Barghouti could be a powerf

Several Palestinians return to Gaza as US-brokered ceasefire takes effect

Tens of thousands of Palestinians headed back to the heavily destroyed northern Gaza Strip on Friday as a US-brokered ceasefire came into effect in a deal that raised hopes for ending the Israel-Hamas war. All the remaining hostages were set to be released within days. Questions remain over who will govern Gaza as Israeli troops gradually pull back and whether Hamas will disarm, as called for in US President Donald Trump's ceasefire plan. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who unilaterally ended a ceasefire in March, hinted that Israel might renew its offensive if Hamas does not give up its weapons. The latest truce nevertheless marks a key step toward ending a ruinous two-year war that was triggered by Hamas' 2023 attack on Israel. The fighting has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and displaced around 90 per cent of the Gaza population of some 2 million, often multiple times. Many of them will find fields of rubble where their homes once stood. The military confirmed the ..

Israeli forces start pulling back from parts of Gaza under ceasefire deal

Israeli forces withdrew from the Mediterranean coastal road into Gaza City, allowing hundreds to return to the main urban centre after a month of Israeli assault

Paves way for just peace: Saudi Arabia welcomes Gaza ceasefire deal

'The Kingdom appreciates the active role of US President Donald Trump and the mediation efforts by the State of Qatar, the Arab Republic of Egypt, and the Republic of Turkiye to reach this agreement'

US to deploy 200 troops to Israel to support, monitor Gaza ceasefire deal

The United States is sending about 200 troops to Israel to help support and monitor the ceasefire deal in Gaza as part of a team that includes partner nations, nongovernmental organisations and private sector players, US officials said Thursday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not authorised for release, said US Central Command is going to establish a civil-military coordination centres in Israel that will help facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid as well as logistical and security assistance into the territory wracked by two years of war.

PM Modi calls Netanyahu to congratulate on progress on Gaza peace deal

During the conversation, PM Modi congratulated Israeli PM on the progress made under US President Donald Trump's Gaza Peace Plan

Israeli govt approves ceasefire, hostage release under Trump peace plan

The government has now approved the outline for the release of all the hostages - the living and the dead," the Israeli Prime Minister's office announced

None of it would have been possible without Trump: Rubio on Gaza peace plan

Rubio said the Gaza peace plan, once thought impossible, became feasible after Trump convened a "historic" meeting of Muslim-majority nations, including Indonesia and Pakistan, at UN on September 23

Israeli strike kills 30 Palestinians since ceasefire deal announcement

Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said that the attack was on a "Hamas terrorist cell" in northern Gaza that "posed an immediate threat"

We settled 7 wars, this is number 8, says Trump after Gaza ceasefire deal

Trump stated that he had ended seven "unendable" wars and reiterated his claim of having helped broker a truce between India and Pakistan earlier this year

Explained: What we know about next steps in deal to pause war in Gaza

A breakthrough deal pausing the war in Gaza has been reached. But will it lead, as US President Donald Trump proclaimed, to a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace? It took pressure on both Israel and Hamas from the United States, Arab countries and Turkiye, each saying it was time to end a 2-year-old war that has devastated the Gaza Strip, killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, sparked other conflicts around the region and increasingly isolated Israel. That push sealed an agreement on a first phase that would free the remaining living Israeli hostages within days in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. But it left unanswered a long list of questions over what happens next. Israel wants to ensure Hamas disarms. Hamas wants to ensure Israel pulls its troops completely out of Gaza and is not allowed to restart the war. At the same time, a postwar government for Gaza must be worked out to replace Hamas' rule. Without that in place, reconstruct