Page 11 - Palestine

Palestinian president condemns Trump's suggestion to 'clean out' Gaza Strip

The office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has sharply condemned US President Donald Trump's suggestion to clean out the Gaza Strip and request that Egypt and Jordan take in more Palestinians. In a statement, the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited control over parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, says the prospect of mass displacement from the Gaza Strip constitutes a violation of the red lines that we have repeatedly warned against. Our people will not leave, the statement said. We warn of the repercussions of such a dangerous Israeli policy that contributes to severing the ties of the Gaza Strip, and displacing its people, which will lead to destabilization and security. Trump's remarks suggesting that Palestinians be encouraged to leave Gaza gets at the core of Palestinian fears that they will be driven from their remaining homeland. The Palestinian presidency said it was ready to assume its full duties in the Gaza Strip in hopes of eventually establishing

US President Trump wants Egypt, Jordan to take in Palestinians from Gaza

President Donald Trump's suggestion that Egypt and Jordan take in Palestinians from the war-ravaged Gaza Strip is likely to be met with a hard no" from the two US allies and the Palestinians themselves who fear Israel would never allow them to return. Trump floated the idea on Saturday, saying he would urge the leaders of the two Arab countries to take in Gaza's now largely homeless population, so that "we just clean out that whole thing. He added that resettling Gaza's population could be temporary or long term. It's literally a demolition site right now, Trump said, referring to the vast destruction caused by Israel's 15-month military campaign against Hamas, now paused by a fragile ceasefire. I'd rather get involved with some of the Arab nations, and build housing in a different location, where they can maybe live in peace for a change," Trump said. There was no immediate comment from Egypt, Jordan, Israel or Palestinian officials. The idea is likely to be welcomed by Israel, w

1 dead, 7 wounded in Israeli fire over ceasefire dispute in north Gaza

A Palestinian man was killed and seven people were wounded by Israeli fire overnight, local health officials said Sunday, as crowds gathered in hopes of returning to the northern Gaza Strip under a fragile week-old ceasefire aimed at winding down the war. In a separate development, President Donald Trump suggested Saturday that most of Gaza's population should be at least temporarily resettled elsewhere, including in Egypt and Jordan, in order to just clean out the war-ravaged enclave. Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians themselves have previously rejected such a scenario. Under the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, Israel on Saturday was to begin allowing Palestinians to return to their homes in northern Gaza on foot through the so-called Netzarim corridor bisecting the territory. Israel put the move on hold until Hamas freed a hostage who Israel said was supposed to have been released that day. The man was shot and two others were wounded late Saturday, according to the Awda Hospital, which

Video: 4 Israeli women hostages released from Gaza reunite with families

In Tel Aviv's Hostages Square, hundreds gathered to watch the release live on giant screens. Cries of joy erupted as the four women appeared on the screen

News Highlights: India will continue buying Russian crude if available at discount, says Puri

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Palestinian govt tells UNSC it's ready to run Gaza Strip, West Bank

The Palestinian government has said it is ready to take responsibility for running the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and is committed to managing crossing points in collaboration with the European Union and Egypt. Palestinian minister of state for foreign affairs, Varsen Aghabekian, told a ministerial meeting of the UN Security Council on Gaza on Monday that the government welcomes any assistance to train and equip the Palestinian police and security forces. She also called for urgent humanitarian aid. Aghabekian expressed hope that the six-week ceasefire will lead to a final ceasefire and lay the foundations for a political track to end Israel's occupation within a year as called for by the International Court of Justice, the UN's highest tribunal. Israel's political coordinator, Reut Shapir Ben Naftaly, told the council "this war will not end until every hostage is returned and Hamas' ability to terrorise is dismantled". She said the Middle East stands at "a turning point" where

Will topple govt if war doesn't resume after ceasefire: Israel minister

Israel's far-right finance minister has threatened to topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition if he doesn't resume the war in Gaza after the first phase of ceasefire expires in six weeks. Bezalel Smotrich made the threat on Monday, a day after the ceasefire went into effect. "If, God forbid, the war is not resumed, I will bring the government down," Smotrich told reporters. Smotrich, who leads an ultranationalist religious party, voted against the deal but has remained in the governing coalition for the time being. His departure would rob Netanyahu of his parliamentary majority, setting the stage for the government's collapse and early elections. Smotrich said he has received assurances that Israel will resume the war after the first phase, during which 33 hostages held in Gaza are to return home and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners are to be freed. The second phase, which must still be negotiated, is to work out an end to the war and return of all remaining hostage

Israel frees 90 Palestinian prisoners as Hamas returns 3 Israeli hostages

The first three hostages were released from Gaza and the first Palestinian prisoners were freed from Israeli custody as the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold following 15 months of war, with mixed emotions and more difficult steps ahead over the next six weeks. Palestinians across Gaza began making their way home, and the first trucks with a surge of humanitarian aid began to enter the devastated territory. The ceasefire that began on Sunday morning raises hopes for ending the devastating conflict and returning the nearly 100 remaining hostages abducted in Hamas' Oct 7, 2023, attack. But major questions remain about whether fighting will resume after the six-week first phase. First came the release of Emily Damari, 28; Romi Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, in a tense handover to the Red Cross on a Gaza City street. Footage showed them surrounded by a crowd of thousands, accompanied by masked, armed men wearing green Hamas headbands. The women were taken to

3 Israeli hostages with Israel army in Gaza as ceasefire passes 1st hurdle

Three Israeli hostages released from Gaza have been handed over to Israeli forces there in the first test of a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The three hostages are Romi Gonen, 24, kidnapped from the Nova music festival, and Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Later on Sunday, Israel is expected to release around 90 Palestinian prisoners. A gradual release of 33 captives over the next six weeks has been agreed on. In exchange, Israel will release almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and Palestinians from Gaza who have been detained. The truce has sparked hope and trepidation. Many Israelis fear that the three-phase deal could collapse before all hostages return, and they worry who has died in captivity. Some 250 people were kidnapped during Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack that triggered 15 months of war. Almost 100 hostages had remained in Gaza after the rest were released or their bodies recovered. The first three hostages set

Palestinians trek across rubble to return home as Gaza ceasefire takes hold

Even before the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was fully in place Sunday, Palestinians in the war-battered Gaza Strip began to return to the remains of the homes they had evacuated during the 15-month war. Majida Abu Jarad made quick work of packing the contents of her family's tent in the sprawling tent city of Muwasi, just north of the strip's southern border with Egypt. At the start of the war, they were forced to flee their house in Gaza's northern town of Beit Hanoun, where they used to gather around the kitchen table or on the roof on summer evenings amid the scent of roses and jasmine. The house from those fond memories is gone, and for the past year, Abu Jarad, her husband and their six daughters have trekked the length of the Gaza Strip, following one evacuation order after another by the Israeli military. Seven times they fled, she said, and each time, their lives became more unrecognisable to them as they crowded with strangers to sleep in a school classroom, ..

Gaza ceasefire begins after delay as Hamas names hostages to be released

A long-awaited cease-fire in Gaza has begun after a nearly three-hour delay. The truce was postponed after Hamas did not name the three hostages it plans to release later on Sunday. Israel vowed to keep fighting until it received the names, which were posted on social media by Hamas' armed wing around two hours later. That appeared to pave the way for the start of the ceasefire, which Israel said would begin at 11.15 am local time.

Trump's pressure & clarity of demand may secure Gaza ceasefire deal

As US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sought to highlight in a valedictory speech at Washington's Atlantic Council on Tuesday, the deal on offer appears to have changed very little

Hostages, prisoners swap terms in Israel-Hamas draft ceasefire deal

If the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal goes according to the current draft, then fighting will stop in Gaza for 42 days, and dozens of Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners will be freed. In this first phase Israeli troops will pull back to the edges of Gaza, and many Palestinians will be able to return to what remains of their homes as stepped-up aid flows in. The question is if the ceasefire will survive beyond that first phase. That will depend on even more negotiations meant to begin within weeks. In those talks, Israel, Hamas, and the US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators will have to tackle the tough issue of how Gaza will be governed, with Israel demanding the elimination of Hamas. Without a deal within those 42 days to begin the second phase, Israel could resume its campaign in Gaza to destroy Hamas even as dozens of hostages remain in the militants' hands. Hamas has agreed to a draft of the ceasefire deal, two officials confirmed, but Israeli officials say detai

Israel refuses to return Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar's body in hostage deal

Yahya Ibrahim Hassan Sinwar was considered one of the most influential leaders in Hamas with reports suggesting that he was the mastermind behind the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023

Israel launches raids across occupied West Bank, kills 3 Palestinians

The Israeli military launched a wave of raids across the occupied West Bank overnight and into Tuesday, killing at least three Palestinians. The army said it killed two Palestinian militants in an airstrike after they fired at troops in the area of Tamun, a village in the northern West Bank. It said another militant was killed in close-quarters combat in the nearby village of Taluza and that an Israeli soldier was severely wounded there. The military said it arrested more than 20 suspected militants in different parts of the territory. It said the overnight operations were not related to the shooting the day before, in which gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Israelis in the West Bank, killing two women in their 70s and a 35-year-old policeman before fleeing the scene. Israeli forces were pursuing those attackers in separate operations. Palestinians have carried out scores of shooting, stabbing and car-ramming attacks against Israelis, especially during the past 15 months of the

Shooting attack on bus carrying Israelis in occupied West Bank kills 3

A shooting attack on a bus carrying Israelis in the occupied West Bank has killed at least three people. Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said at least six others were wounded in the attack on Monday. Violence has surged in the West Bank since Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza ignited the ongoing war there.

Israel denies reports Hamas forwarded list of 34 hostages for release

The denial comes amid ongoing negotiations between Hamas and Israel, mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the US

Israeli Air Force eliminates head of Hamas Internal Security Forces in Gaza

The IDF further said that Shahwan was responsible for developing intelligence assessments in coordination with elements of Hamas' military wing in attacks on the IDF in Gaza

Israeli strikes kill 12 Palestinians in Gaza as war grinds into 2025

Israeli strikes killed at least 12 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children, officials said Wednesday, as the nearly 15-month war ground on into the new year with no end in sight. One strike hit a home in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza, the most isolated and heavily destroyed part of the territory, where Israel has been waging a major operation since early October. Gaza's Health Ministry said seven people were killed, including a woman and four children, and at least a dozen other people were wounded. Another strike overnight in the built-up Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed a woman and a child, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies. The military ordered people to evacuate an area near Bureij overnight, saying it would strike there in response to recent rocket fire by Palestinian militants. A third strike early Wednesday in the southern city of Khan Younis killed three people, according to the nearby Nasser Hospital and th

Global uprisings: Protests and movements which shook the world in 2024

Kenya's cost-of-living crisis, to martial law in South Korea. Here's a look at major protests that erupted across the globe in 2024