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Israeli airstrike hits a Gaza humanitarian zone as Netanyahu OKs a delegation to talks in Qatar

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  • 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.

  • 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

  • Gazans shed tears of joy, disbelief at news of ceasefire deal

    Palestinians burst into celebration across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday at news of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, with some shedding years of joy and others whistling, clapping and chanting "Allahu akbar" (God is greatest). "I am happy, yes, I am crying, but those are tears of joy," said Ghada, a mother of five displaced from her home in Gaza City during the 15-month-old conflict. "We are being reborn, with every hour of delay Israel conducted a new massacre, I hope it is all getting over now," she told Reuters via a chat app from a shelter in Deir Al-Balah town in central Gaza.

  • Iran says Gaza ceasefire is a 'victory' for Palestinian resistance

    The ceasefire in Gaza represents a "great victory" for the Palestinian resistance, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Thursday, warning against any possible breach by Israel. Palestinian armed group Hamas and Israel reached a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza that mediators said would take effect on Sunday. "The end of the war and the imposition of a ceasefire on the Zionist regime (Israel) is a clear and great victory for Palestine and a greater defeat for the Zionist regime," a statement by the Guards said.

  • US says Gaza ceasefire to start as planned despite 'loose end'

    The Gaza Strip ceasefire should begin on Sunday as planned, despite the need for negotiators to tie up a "loose end" at the last minute, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday. With longstanding divisions apparent among ministers, Israel delayed cabinet meetings to ratify the ceasefire with Hamas, and media reports said voting could occur Friday or even Saturday, although the deal is expected to be approved. Israel blamed the militant group for the hold-up, even as Israeli warplanes pounded Gaza in some of the most intense strikes for months.

  • Gaza ceasefire deal reached between Israel, Hamas

    STORY: BIDEN: “I can announce a ceasefire and a hostage deal has been reached between Israel and Hamas."U.S. President Joe Biden - in the final days of his presidency - confirmed the successful negotiation of a ceasefire in Gaza, after more than 15 months of bloodshed.BIDEN: "The deal is structured in three phases. Phase one will last six weeks. It includes a full and complete cease fire, withdrawal of Israeli forces from all the populated areas of Gaza and and the release of a number of hostages held by Hamas, including women and elderly and the wounded. // In exchange, Israel release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.”The U.S. and fellow mediator Qatar said the ceasefire would take effect on Sunday.It comes after months of on-and-off negotiations by Egyptian and Qatari mediators with the backing of the United States.At a news conference in Doha, Qatar's Prime Minister said the deal includes the release of 33 Israeli hostages, including all women, children and men over 50 years old.Israel's acceptance of the deal will not be official until it is approved by the country's security cabinet and government. An Israeli official said votes were slated for Thursday.On the streets of Tel Aviv and in Khan Younis, Israelis and Palestinians both celebrated the news.DISPLACED FROM GAZA, ABU SUFYAN: “We are here happy with this victory because the Palestinian people simply want their freedom. Freedom for the Palestinian people. We don't want anything but freedom and to live with dignity without occupation.”United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the priority now must be on getting humanitarian aid into Gaza.“The humanitarian situation is at catastrophic levels and I call on all parties to facilitate rapid, unhindered, and safe humanitarian relief for all civilians in need.”On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led gunmen broke through security barriers and burst into Israeli border-area communities, killing 1,200 soldiers and civilians and abducting over 250 foreign and Israeli hostages.In response, Israel's air and ground war in Gaza has since killed over 46,000 people, according to Gaza health ministry figures. Despite Wednesday's breakthrough, residents and medics said Israeli airstrikes killed several people Wednesday evening in Gaza, just hours after the ceasefire deal was reached.

  • A ceasefire between Hamas and Israel brings hope, but there's still great uncertainty about whether deal can last

    If all goes well, the violence in Gaza which has ravaged the enclave for 467 long and brutal days will halt and hopefully lead to a better future. More than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel's military campaign, according to the Hamas-led health ministry in Gaza. Israel launched its response after around 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage in Hamas's attacks on 7 October 2023.

  • Israelis, Palestinians, celebrate Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal

    STORY: :: Israelis and Palestinians celebrate ceasefire and hostage deal:: January 15, 2025:: Tel Aviv, Israel:: Khan Younis, Gaza StripNegotiators reached a phased deal on Wednesday to end the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, an official briefed on the negotiations said, after 15 months of conflict that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and inflamed the Middle East.The accord, which has not yet been formally announced, outlines a six-week initial ceasefire phase and includes the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, the official told Reuters.Phase one entails the release of 33 Israeli hostages including all women, children and men over 50.Negotiations on implementing the second phase will begin by the 16th day of phase one and it is expected to include the release of all remaining hostages, a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.The third phase is expected to address the return of all remaining dead bodies and the start of Gaza's reconstruction supervised by Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations.The agreement follows months of on-off negotiations conducted by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, with the backing of the United States, and comes just ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

  • Netanyahu: no vote on Gaza ceasefire deal until Hamas accepts all terms

    Israeli prime minister’s demand before expected cabinet meeting threatens to derail peace negotiations

  • Israel conducted the worst bombardment of the 21st century. Now Iran and its proxies face a new reality

    Four hundred and sixty-six days since Hamas fighters massacred over 1,000 Israelis and kidnapped hundreds more, the guns may finally be falling silent.

  • Analysis-Biden to hand unfinished agenda to Trump for chaotic Mideast

    U.S. President Joe Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan described the Middle East in late September 2023 as "quieter" than it had been in two decades. Just eight days later, Hamas launched a deadly surprise attack from Gaza into Israel, triggering a war that devastated the Palestinian enclave and spread turmoil across the region - a cascade of crises that has cast a cloud over Biden's foreign policy legacy as he prepares to leave office on Jan. 20. Even with Biden aides having played a major role in securing a Gaza ceasefire deal for Hamas' release of hostages announced on Wednesday, Biden's Middle East record is likely to be remembered not so much for how conflicts ended on his watch but mainly for how they unfolded, seemingly beyond his ability to contain them, analysts say.

  • Israel accuses Hamas of backtracking on fragile ceasefire deal

    Israel accused Hamas on Thursday of backtracking on parts of a fragile ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Gaza war, and carried out fresh air strikes ahead of an expected vote by the cabinet.But the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Hamas had "reneged on parts of the agreement reached with the mediators and Israel in an effort to extort last-minute concessions".

  • Iraq wants Iran-backed factions to lay down weapons, foreign minister says

    Iraq is trying to convince powerful armed factions in the country that have fought U.S. forces and fired rockets and drones at Israel to lay down their weapons or join official security forces, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said. The push comes with a backdrop of seismic shifts in the Middle East that have seen Iran's armed allies in Gaza and Lebanon heavily degraded and Syria's government overthrown by rebels. The incoming U.S. Trump administration promises to pile more pressure on Tehran, which has long backed a number of political parties and an array of armed factions in Iraq.

  • AP Exclusive: Egypt's chief diplomat urges Israel and Hamas to enact ceasefire 'without any delay'

    Egypt’s chief diplomat on Thursday called on Israel and Hamas to implement a Gaza ceasefire plan “without any delay,” raising pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the deal. Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty delivered the message at a sensitive time in efforts to end a devastating 15-month conflict. A day after President Joe Biden and other international mediators announced the ceasefire agreement, Netanyahu insisted there still was no deal.

  • Gaza ceasefire brings relief to groups in Toronto but advocates say deal should have happened sooner

    Pro-Palestinian activists and Jewish leaders in Toronto say they are relieved at news of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas to pause the 15-month war in the Gaza Strip.Pro-Palestinian groups say they will continue to protest in Toronto because they want to hold Israel accountable for the bombardment in Gaza. Meanwhile, Jewish leaders say they hope the ceasefire deal will lead to a decrease in antisemitic attacks in the city.Qatar said the ceasefire deal will begin Jan. 19, with Hamas rele

  • 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.

  • Israel-Hamas ceasefire live: Protesters rally against deal in Jerusalem as Israeli cabinet set to vote on Friday

    Hamas and Israel reportedly ironed out a final stumbling block in negotiations on Thursday, relating to Palestinian prisoners

  • Israel, Hamas agree deal for Gaza truce, hostage release: source briefed on talks

    Israel and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to a deal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages being held in Gaza following separate meetings with Qatar's prime minister, a source briefed on the talks told AFP. A US official confirmed the deal.A source briefed on the talks later told AFP a "Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal (was) reached following (the) Qatari PM's meeting with Hamas negotiators and separately Israeli negotiators in his office".

  • International reactions pour in following Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal

    Reactions from world leaders have been pouring in hailing the ceasefire deal in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.View on euronews