Page 31 - Israel-palestine

UAE strongly condemns provocative Israeli statements against Saudi Arabia

Khalifa Bin Shaheen Al Marar, Minister of State, underlined the UAE's full solidarity with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Hamas frees three more Israeli hostages in exchange for 183 Palestinians

Hamas-led militants released three gaunt, frail-looking Israeli hostages on Saturday, and Israel freed 183 Palestinian prisoners as part of a fragile agreement that has paused the war in the Gaza Strip. The hostages' emaciated condition and scenes of Hamas forcing them to speak in a staged release ceremony sparked outrage in Israel and could increase the pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend the ceasefire beyond its current six-week phase. Netanyahu has previously signalled he would resume the war, even if that meant leaving dozens of remaining hostages in Hamas captivity. Before a crowd of hundreds, armed Hamas fighters led Eli Sharabi, 52, Ohad Ben Ami, 56, and Or Levy, 34, onto a stage to make public statements before handing them over to the Red Cross. The three civilian men were among about 250 people abducted during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, that sparked the war. They appeared in much poorer physical condition than the previous 18 ..

Hamas names 3 hostages to be freed, accuses Israel of breaching ceasefire

The Hamas prisoners' media office said Israel was expected to free 183 Palestinians in exchange, including 18 who have been serving life sentences

We are determined to stay here: Gaza residents on Trump's displacement plan

Amid the devastation, Gazans vowed to remain steadfast in their homeland, rejecting US President Donald Trump's controversial proposal to seize the enclave

Future looks dire for UN Palestinian refugee agency amid ban: UNRWA chief

The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said Thursday that while an Israeli ban has not yet forced the agency to cease operations, it faces an existential threat in the long run. I have been very clear that despite all the obstacles and the pressure the agency is under, our objective is to stay and deliver until we are prevented to do so, Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, also known as UNRWA, said in an interview with The Associated Press during a visit to Beirut. Israel last week formally banned UNRWA from operating on its territory. As a result, Lazzarini said, international staff have had to leave East Jerusalem because their visas expired, but in Gaza and the West Bank there has been no immediate impact on operations. Even in East Jerusalem, he said, health care and other services provided by UNRWA "are continuing, though not necessarily at the same scope it used to be. UNRWA is also likely to face increased pressure from

Trump signs order imposing sanctions on ICC over investigations of Israel

President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court over investigations of Israel, a close U.S. ally. Neither the U.S. nor Israel is a member of or recognizes the court, which has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes over his military response in Gaza after the Hamas attack against Israel in October 2023. Tens of thousands of Palestinians, including children, have been killed during the Israeli military's response. The order Trump signed accuses the ICC of engaging in illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel" and of abusing its power by issuing baseless arrest warrants against Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant. The ICC has no jurisdiction over the United States or Israel, the order states, adding that the court had set a dangerous precedent with its actions against both countries. Trump's action came as .

Israel to turn Gaza strip over to US after fighting ends, says Trump

Trump said that Gaza Strip would be turned over to US by Israel at conclusion of fighting. The Palestinians ... would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, he said

Israeli defence min tells army to set plans for Palestinians to leave Gaza

Israel's defence minister says he has instructed the army to prepare plans for large numbers of Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip in line with President Donald Trump's proposal for the war-ravaged territory. Defence Minister Israel Katz on Thursday said the plan will include options for exit at land crossings as well as special arrangements for exit by sea and air. He said he welcomed Trump's bold plan, which could allow a large population in Gaza to leave for various places in the world. He did not say whether Palestinians would be able to one day return to Gaza, which has been rendered largely uninhabitable by Israel's 15-month military campaign against Hamas. Trump on Wednesday proposed that most of Gaza's population be permanently resettled elsewhere while the United States rebuilds the territory. US officials later said the relocation would only be temporary, but Palestinians fear Israel would never allow them to return, deepening and perpetuating a refugee crisis dating b

With Gaza rehab, Trump goes from 'America First to America Everywhere'

President Donald Trump promised voters an administration that wouldn't waste precious American lives and taxpayer treasure on far-off wars and nation building. But just weeks into his second go-around in the White House, the Republican leader laid out plans to use American might to take over and reconstruct Gaza, threatened to reclaim US control of the Panama Canal and floated the idea that the US could buy Greenland from Denmark, which has shown no interest in parting with the island. The rhetorical shift from America First to America Everywhere is leaving even some of his allies slack-jawed and wondering if he's really serious. The pursuit for peace should be that of the Israelis and the Palestinians, a flummoxed Sen. Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican and Trump ally, posted Wednesday on social media. I thought we voted for America First. We have no business contemplating yet another occupation to doom our treasure and spill our soldiers' blood. The president's shocking declarat

Jairam Ramesh calls Trump's Gaza plan 'bizarre' and 'unacceptable'

President Trump's loud thinking on the future of Gaza is bizarre, dangerous, and totally unacceptable, said Ramesh

Trump wants to displace Palestinians from Gaza temporarily, say officials

President Donald Trump's top diplomat and his main spokesperson on Wednesday walked back the idea that he wants the permanent relocation of Palestinians from Gaza, after American allies and even Republican lawmakers rebuffed his suggestion that the U.S. take ownership of the territory. Trump on Tuesday had called for permanently resettling Palestinians from war-torn Gaza and left open the door to deploying American troops there as part of a massive rebuilding operation. But Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said he only sought to move the roughly 1.8 million Gazans temporarily to allow for reconstruction. Even that proposal has drawn criticism from Palestinians, who are worried they may never be allowed back in if they flee, and from the Arab nations that Trump has called on to take them in. Rubio, on his first foreign trip as secretary of state, described Trump's proposal as a very generous offer to help with debris removal and ...

US allies, adversaries reject Trump's proposal to 'take over' Gaza Strip

President Donald Trump's proposal that the United States take over the Gaza Strip and permanently resettle its Palestinian residents was swiftly rejected and denounced on Wednesday by American allies and adversaries alike. Trump's suggestion came at a White House news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who smiled several times as the president detailed a plan to build new settlements for Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip, and for the US to take ownership in redeveloping the war-torn territory into the Riviera of the Middle East. The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too, Trump said. We'll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site, and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs. His remarks drew swift opposition and were certain to roil the ceasefire talks between Ham

Palestinians fear repeat of 1948 expulsion in wake of Trump's Gaza remarks

Palestinians will mark this year the 77th anniversary of their mass expulsion from what is now Israel, an event that is at the core of their national struggle. But in many ways, that experience pales in comparison to the calamity now faced in the Gaza Strip particularly as President Donald Trump has suggested that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be permanently resettled outside the war-torn territory and that the United States take ownership of the enclave. Palestinians refer to their 1948 expulsion as the Nakba, Arabic for catastrophe. Some 700,000 Palestinians a majority of the prewar population fled or were driven from their homes before and during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that followed Israel's establishment. After the war, Israel refused to allow them to return because it would have resulted in a Palestinian majority within its borders. Instead, they became a seemingly permanent refugee community that now numbers some 6 million, with most living in slum-like urban refugee ..

Won't establish ties with Israel without Palestinian state: Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia refutes Donald Trump's claim that it hasn't insisted on a Palestinian state, reaffirming no Israel ties without it; Trump also proposed a US takeover and redevelopment of Gaza

US will 'take over' the Gaza strip, own it and develop it, says Trump

Trump said we're going to own and develop the Gaza strip, create thousands and thousands of jobs, and it'll be something that the entire Middle East can be very proud of

Hamas officials say they've started talks on second phase of ceasefire

Hamas officials on Tuesday said they've begun talks with international mediators over the second phase of the ceasefire while claiming Israel hasn't abided by some of the terms of the first phase. Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua, a spokesperson for the militant group, said Tuesday that it had started communications and negotiations over the next phase, which is expected to include further hostage releases and Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. The group also claimed in a statement Tuesday that Israel had delayed and obstructed the flow of aid into the enclave. "What has been implemented in these aspects is much less than what was agreed on, Hazem Qassam, the group's spokesperson, said in a statement. Negotiations of the ceasefire's second phase were set to begin Monday. Netanyahu's office said Tuesday that he would send a delegation to Qatar this weekend to continue negotiations. Netanyahu is in Washington, where he met with Trump's Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff on Monday and was set to

No clear direction on Gaza's governance, four competing models emerging

The outcome will likely depend in large part on Trump, who is set to discuss Gaza's future on Tuesday in Washington with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel

Trump holds talks with Netanyahu, warns 'no guarantees' for peace in Gaza

President Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are set to meet Tuesday as the Israeli prime minister faces competing pressure from his right-wing coalition to end a temporary truce against Hamas militants in Gaza and from war-weary Israelis who want the remaining hostages home and the 15-month conflict to end. Trump is guarded about the long-term prospects for the truce, even as he takes credit for pressuring Hamas and Israel into the hostage and ceasefire agreement that went into effect the day before he returned to office last month. I have no guarantees that the peace is going to hold," Trump told reporters Monday. The leaders' talks are expected to touch on a long-sought Israel-Saudi Arabia normalization deal and concerns about Iran's nuclear program, but hammering out the second phase of the hostage deal will be at the top of the agenda. Netanyahu's arrival in Washington for the first foreign leader visit of Trump's second term comes as the prime minister's popular support is .

Aid surging into Gaza after ceasefire, but is it reaching everyone?

Two weeks after the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel took effect, aid is flooding into the Gaza Strip, bringing relief to a territory suffering from hunger, mass displacement and devastation following 15 months of war. But Palestinians and aid workers say it's still an uphill battle to ensure the assistance reaches everyone. And looming large is the possibility that fighting will resume if the ceasefire breaks down after the six-week first phase. As part of the ceasefire agreement, Israel said it would allow 600 aid trucks into Gaza each day, a major increase. Israel estimates that at least 4,200 trucks have entered each week since the ceasefire took hold. Humanitarian groups say aid distribution is complicated by destroyed or damaged roads, Israeli inspections and the threat of unexploded bombs. On Saturday, Samir Abu Holi, 68, watched over a food-distribution point in Jabaliya, an area in northern Gaza razed to the ground during multiple Israeli offensives, the most recent of .

Israel's Netanyahu heads to US to discuss 'victory over Hamas' with Trump

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he will discuss "victory over Hamas, countering Iran and expanding diplomatic relations with Arab countries in his meeting with US President Donald Trump. Tuesday's meeting at the White House will be Trump's first with a foreign leader since returning to office. It comes as US and Arab mediators begin the daunting work of brokering the next phase of an agreement to wind down the war in the Gaza Strip and release dozens of militant-held hostages. Hamas, which has quickly reasserted its control over Gaza since the ceasefire took hold last month, has said it will not release the hostages slated to go free in the second phase without an end to the war and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces. Netanyahu, who is under mounting pressure from far-right governing partners to resume the war after the first phase ends in early March, has said Israel is still committed to victory over Hamas and the return of all the hostages captured in the