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Israel's Netanyahu sends Mossad director to Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar in sign of progress

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  • North Korea's suicide soldiers pose new challenge for Ukraine in war with Russia

    After a battle in Russia's snowy western region of Kursk this week, Ukrainian special forces scoured the bodies of more than a dozen slain North Korean enemy soldiers. But it is among mounting evidence from the battlefield, intelligence reports and testimonies of defectors that some North Korean soldiers are resorting to extreme measures as they support Russia's three-year war with Ukraine. "Self-detonation and suicides: that's the reality about North Korea," said Kim, a 32-year-old former North Korean soldier who defected to the South in 2022, requesting he only be identified by his surname due to fears of reprisals against his family left in the North.

  • Hamas 'accepts draft Gaza ceasefire agreement' and release of some Israeli hostages

    Hamas has reportedly accepted a draft ceasefire agreement and the release of dozens of hostages, with an Israeli official saying the details are being finalised. Hamas said negotiations had reached their "final stage" and it hoped this round of negotiations would lead to a deal. "I believe we will get a ceasefire," US secretary of state Antony Blinken said.

  • Everything we know about North Korean soldiers captured by Ukraine

    Kyiv claims to have captured two North Korean soldiers during fighting in Russia’s Kursk region

  • Hamas OKs draft agreement of a Gaza ceasefire and the release of some hostages, officials say

    Hamas has accepted a draft agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of dozens of hostages, two officials involved in the talks said Tuesday. Mediators from the United States and Qatar said Israel and the Palestinian militant group were at the closest point yet to sealing a deal to bring them a step closer to ending 15 months of war. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the proposed agreement, and an Egyptian official and a Hamas official confirmed its authenticity.

  • The curious crackdown on Hamas by Palestinians – and what it means for Gaza’s future

    The city of Jenin in the northern West Bank has been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades.

  • Israeli minister Ben-Gvir threatens to quit Netanyahu cabinet over Gaza deal

    Israeli far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened on Tuesday to quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government if he agrees to a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal being negotiated at talks in Qatar. Ben-Gvir, whose departure would not bring down Netanyahu's government, urged Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to join him in a last-ditch attempt to prevent a ceasefire deal, which he described as a dangerous capitulation to Hamas. "This move is our only chance to prevent (the deal's) execution, and prevent Israel's surrender to Hamas, after more than a year of bloody war, in which more than 400 IDF (Israel Defence Forces) soldiers fell in the Gaza Strip, and to ensure that their deaths are not in vain," Ben-Gvir said on X.

  • At UN, Israel accuses Hezbollah of trying to rebuild with Iran's help

    Lebanon's Hezbollah is trying "to regain strength and rearm with the assistance of Iran," Israel's U.N. ambassador told the Security Council on Monday, declaring that the militants remain a "serious threat" to Israel and regional stability. Updated U.S. intelligence last month - reported by Reuters - had warned that Iran-backed Hezbollah would likely try to rebuild its stockpiles and forces, posing a long-term threat to the U.S. and its regional allies. Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a U.S.-brokered 60-day ceasefire - starting Nov. 27 - after more than a year of conflict.

  • Hamas expected to release 33 hostages in first phase of emerging ceasefire deal, Israeli officials say

    Hamas is expected to release 33 hostages during the first phase of an emerging ceasefire agreement being finalized by negotiators in Doha, two Israeli officials said.

  • Hundreds in Jerusalem protest against expected Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal

    Hundreds marched in Jerusalem on Tuesday against an expected agreement between Israel and Hamas for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages. Israeli protesters chanted, “You don’t make a deal with the devil,” and shouted that the Israeli government has “no mandate to surrender to Hamas.”

  • Israeli cabinet to approve Gaza ceasefire deal despite opposition, minister says

    Hamas have approved a draft deal for a ceasefire in Gaza, with Israel's cabinet debating the conditions, officials suggest. A truce, if agreed, would put an end to over a year of war in the Gaza Strip.View on euronews

  • Why India is reaching out to the Taliban now

    Last week, India’s top diplomat met a senior Taliban minister, the highest-level engagement since Kabul's fall.

  • What we know about the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal so far

    A “final round” of ceasefire negotiations aimed at ending the 15-month war in Gaza began in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday.

  • Biden: Israel and Hamas ‘on brink of’ signing ceasefire deal

    Israel and Hamas are “on the brink” of signing a ceasefire deal that would release hostages and “surge” aid into Gaza, Joe Biden has said.

  • Malala Yousafzai says Taliban do not see women as human beings

    Activist urges Muslim leaders to confront Afghanistan’s government over its oppressive policies against girls and women

  • Significant progress made in talks over Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage release, officials say

    U.S. and Arab mediators made significant progress overnight toward brokering a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and the release of scores of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, but a deal hasn't been reached yet, officials said Monday. A U.S. official briefed on the negotiations said all sides are “closer than we’ve ever been, but it could still fall apart.” Two other officials, including one associated with Hamas, said there were still a number of hurdles.

  • Middle East latest: Gaza ceasefire talks press on in Qatar

    Israel and Hamas appear to be inching closer to a phased ceasefire agreement, officials said Monday. Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023, when militants stormed into southern Israel and killed about 1,200 people and abducted around 250. A third of the 100 hostages still held in Gaza are believed to be dead.

  • Demonstration in front of the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem to demand agreement on Gaza hostages

    The demonstrators chanted the names of the hostages and “come back” in Hebrew, while holding 98 photographs of the hostages held in Gaza since the October 7 attacks, 466 days ago, by Hamas militants.View on euronews

  • Lebanon's Nawaf Salam to be designated PM, angering Hezbollah

    BEIRUT (Reuters) -Lebanese President Joseph Aoun summoned Nawaf Salam, head of the International Court of Justice, to designate him prime minister after most lawmakers nominated him on Monday, a big blow to Hezbollah, which accused opponents of seeking to exclude it. The choice of Salam underlined the major shift in the power balance among Lebanon's sectarian factions since the Iran-backed Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah was pummelled in a war with Israel last year, and its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad was toppled. The presidency said Salam, currently outside the country and due to return on Tuesday, had secured the backing of 84 out of parliament's 128 lawmakers, and Aoun had summoned him to assign him to form the government.

  • How Trump’s ‘salty’ envoy may have forced Israel’s hand on hostage deal

    The call last week from Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy was reportedly blunt and short on diplomatic nicety.

  • Blinken says Israel and Saudi ties are ‘ready to go,’ urges Trump to accept Biden plan for Gaza

    Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday said normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia is ready to go, but requires following through on ending the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and a commitment to a pathway to a Palestinian state. Blinken, speaking at the Atlantic Council, said negotiations to achieve a…