Page 33 - Hamas

Biden bats for hostage-for-truce deal; asks Israelis, Hamas to step up

President Joe Biden is looking past resistance from key Israeli officials as he presses Israel and Hamas to agree to a three-phase agreement that could immediately bring home dozens of Israeli hostages, free Palestinian prisoners and perhaps even lead to an endgame in the nearly eight-month-old Gaza war. Biden's big swing -- during a tough re-election battle -- could also demonstrate to a significant slice of his political base demoralised by his handling of the conflict that he's doing his part to end the war that has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians and left hundreds of thousands struggling to meet basic needs. White House officials on Monday said Biden's decision to make public what it describes as an Israeli proposal -- just one day after it was delivered to Hamas -- was driven by a desire to put Hamas on the spot. The move diverged from the US administration's position throughout the conflict to allow the Israelis to speak for themselves about hostage negotiations. "The ...

Prez Biden urges Qatar to pressure Hamas to accept cease-fire proposal

US President Joe Biden held a conversation with the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to discuss how the ceasefire and hostage deal offers a concrete roadmap for ending the crisis in Gaza

4 hostages found dead in Gaza, including 3 older men seen in video: Israel

The Israeli military on Monday confirmed the deaths of four more hostages held by Hamas -- including three older men seen in a Hamas video begging for their release. The three men, Amiram Cooper, Yoram Metzger and Haim Peri, were all age 80 or older. Looking weak and wary, they appeared in a video in December released by Hamas under the title, Don't let us grow old here. The fourth hostage was identified as Nadav Popplewell. Israel's military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the four men died together in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis when Israel was operating there. The cause of death was not immediately known. We are checking all of the options, Hagari said. There are a lot of questions. Israel carried out a major offensive in Khan Younis, a Hamas stronghold, early this year. Hamas claimed in May that Popplewell had died after being wounded in an Israeli airstrike, but provided no evidence. Cooper, Metzger and Peri were featured in a Hamas propaganda video in wh

No permanent ceasefire unless Hamas destroyed, says Israeli PM Netanyahu

His comments raise further questions about the three-phase peace plan laid out by Biden, which he said had been put forward by Israel

Israel seeks governing alternative to Hamas in Gaza, despite past failures

Israel is looking into an alternative local governing body for Gaza, the defence minister said on Sunday, proposing a future beyond Hamas but giving no idea who those challengers might be. Defence Minister Yoav Gallant's comments came at a time of new uncertainty in the eight-month war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under growing pressure from many Israelis to accept a new ceasefire deal proposed by US President Joe Biden while far-right allies threaten to collapse his government if he does. Gallant, part of Israel's three-member War Cabinet who recently urged the government to have a detailed postwar plan for Gaza, said in a briefing that "we seek a governing alternative to Hamas. The framework for this includes isolating areas, removing Hamas operatives in these areas and bringing in other forces that will enable the formation of a governing alternative". That will achieve Israel's goals of removing Hamas' military and governing authority in Gaza and returning home

US expects Israel to accept agreement to end Gaza war if Hamas agrees

"This was an Israeli proposal. We have every expectation that if Hamas agrees to the proposal" as was transmitted to them, an Israeli proposal" then Israel would say yes," US official said

Protesters in Tel Aviv demand hostage swap, call for Netanyahu's ouster

Organisers claim that Saturday's demonstration marked the largest gathering since October 7, estimating a turnout of 120,000 individuals in Tel Aviv alone

Israel offered Hamas a three-step road map to an enduring ceasefire: Biden

US President Joe Biden on Friday announced that Israel has offered to Hamas, a three-step roadmap to enduring ceasefire in the region. Now after intensive diplomacy carried out by my team and my many conversations with leaders of Israel, Qatar, and Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries, Israel has offered a comprehensive new proposal. It's a road map to an enduring ceasefire and the release of all hostages, Biden told reporters at the White House. This proposal has been transmitted by Qatar to Hamas, he said, adding that this new proposal has three phases. The first phase that would last for six weeks includes a full and complete ceasefire, a withdrawal of Israeli forces from all the populated areas of Gaza, release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly, the wounded, in exchange for release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. There are American hostages who would be released at this stage, and we want them home, he said, adding that Palestinian civilians would .

Hamas 'no longer capable' of carrying out another major attack: Biden

President Joe Biden said Friday that Hamas is no longer capable of carrying out another large-scale attack on Israel as he urged Israelis and Hamas to come to a deal to release remaining hostages for an extended cease-fire. Biden addressed the nearly 8-month-old Israel-Hamas war as the Israeli military confirmed on Friday that its forces are now operating in central parts of Rafah in its expanding offensive in the southern Gaza city. This is truly a decisive moment, Biden said as he spoke of a three-phase deal that Israeli officials have offered Hamas. Israel has made their proposal. Hamas says it wants a cease-fire. This deal is an opportunity to prove whether they really mean it. Israel launched its war in Gaza after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted about 250. Israel says around 100 hostages are still captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more. Cease-fire talks ground to a

Police arrest 'many' at Israel-Hamas war protest at UC Santa Cruz

Police in riot gear surrounded arm-in-arm protesters Friday at the University of California, Santa Cruz, to remove an encampment and barricades where pro-Palestinian demonstrations have blocked the main entrance to the campus this week. Many people were arrested, the university said. Campus, local and state police swarmed the protesters, and video from local news stations showed officers telling people to leave, then taking away signs and part of a barricade. There appeared to be some pushing and shoving between police and protesters. Officers carried zip ties and appeared to detain a few people. For weeks, encampment participants were given repeated, clear direction to remove the encampment and cease blocking access to numerous campus resources and to the campus itself, Scott Hernandez-Jason, a spokesperson for the university, said in a statement Friday. They were notified that their actions were unlawful and unsafe. And this morning they were also given multiple warnings by law ..

Israel could have used smaller weapons to avoid deaths in Gaza, say experts

Defence experts who have reviewed debris images from an Israeli airstrike that ignited a deadly fire in a camp for displaced Palestinians questioned why Israel did not use smaller, more precise weapons when so many civilians were nearby. They said the bombs used were likely US-made. The strikes, targeting Hamas operatives, killed as many as 45 people sheltering in a temporary displacement camp near the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Sunday and have drawn international condemnation. Israel is investigating the attack but says that the Hamas targets were 1.7 kilometres away from a declared humanitarian zone and that its review ahead of the strike determined no expected harm to civilians. But displaced civilians were scattered throughout the area, and Israel had not ordered evacuations. So even if the tents that burned were not inside the marked humanitarian zone, the civilians there thought it was safe. Israel, which was attacked by Hamas on October 7, 2023, has not said how far the

Stalemate in Gaza

International support for Israel is weakening

Israeli official cautions war in Gaza may extend seven more months

Despite earlier considerations for a ceasefire-for-hostages deal with Hamas, the more hawkish faction of Israel's war cabinet advocated for proceeding with the Rafah offensive

US military-built pier in Gaza breaks apart: Here's all you need to know

A string of security, logistical and weather problems has battered the plan to deliver desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza through a US military-built pier. Broken apart by strong winds and heavy seas just over a week after it became operational, the project faces criticism that it hasn't lived up to its initial billing or its USD 320 million price tag. US officials say, however, that the steel causeway connected to the beach in Gaza and the floating pier are being repaired and reassembled at a port in southern Israel, then will be reinstalled and working again next week. While early Pentagon estimates suggested the pier could deliver up to 150 truckloads of aid a day when in full operation, that has yet to happen. Bad weather has hampered progress getting aid into Gaza from the pier, while the Israeli offensive in the southern city of Rafah has made it difficult, if not impossible at times, to get aid into the region by land routes. Aid groups have had mixed reactions bot

Israel's Knesset advances bill labelling UNRWA as 'terror organisation'

The bill's preliminary reading passed by a vote of 42-6

Israel says Gaza war likely to last another 7 months as tanks probe Rafah

The United States, Israel's closest ally, reiterated its opposition to a major Israeli ground offensive in Rafah on Tuesday while saying it did not believe such an operation was under way

Algeria proposes UNSC resolution demanding Israel halt offensive in Rafah

Algeria is circulating a proposed UN Security Council resolution that would demand an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and order Israel to halt its military offensive in the southern city of Rafah immediately. The draft resolution, obtained on Wednesday evening by The Associated Press, also demands that the cease-fire be respected by all parties. It also calls for the immediate release of all hostages taken during Hamas' attack in southern Israel on October 7. Some diplomats said they hoped for a quick vote, even as early as Wednesday. It is our hope that it can be done as quickly as possible because life is in the balance, Chinese Ambassador Fu Cong told reporters. US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said: We're waiting to see it and then we'll react to it. The United States has vetoed multiple resolutions demanding a cease-fire in Gaza. The draft demands compliance with previous Security Council resolutions that call for the opening of all border crossings and humanitarian access

Hamas munitions caused fire in Rafah's displaced persons camp, says Israel

The Sunday night airstrike killed Hamas commanders Yassin Rabia and Khaled Nagar in a compound in the Rafah neighborhood of Tel Sultan

Israeli advisory panel to examine treatment of imprisoned Hamas terrorists

Approximately 2,300 Palestinian terror suspects have been detained in Gaza since Israel launched its ground invasion on October 27

Israeli strikes kill 37 Palestinians near Gaza's Rafah as offensive expands

Israeli shelling and airstrikes killed at least 37 people, most of them sheltering in tents, outside the southern Gaza city of Rafah overnight and on Tuesday pummelling the same area where strikes triggered a deadly fire days earlier in a camp for displaced Palestinians according to witnesses, emergency workers and hospital officials. The tent camp inferno has drawn widespread international outrage, including from some of Israel's closest allies, over the military's expanding offensive into Rafah. And in a sign of Israel's growing isolation on the world stage, Spain, Norway and Ireland formally recognised a Palestinian state on Tuesday. The Israeli military suggested Sunday's blaze in the tent camp may have been caused by secondary explosions, possibly from Palestinian militants' weapons. The results of Israel's initial probe into the fire were issued Tuesday, with military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari saying the cause of the fire was still under investigation but that the ..