LONDON — Hamas said in a statement Thursday it would release the next group of hostages as planned in accordance with its ceasefire agreement with Israel, adding that Egyptian and Qatari mediators had confirmed they will work to “remove obstacles and close gaps.” The next hostage-prisoner exchange is set to take place Saturday, as previously agreed in the current ceasefire deal. There was no immediate comment from Israeli officials. MORE: Netanyahu warns ‘ceasefire will be terminated’ if Hamas doesn’t free hostages This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Tag Archives: Israel
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Feb
Feb
We are the State of the Start-Up Nation and need to act like it. Will that be easy? No. But if there’s any country in the world that can make chaos work efficiently, it is Israel. By ZVIKA KLEIN FEBRUARY 7, 2025 05:54 WOULDN’T IT be great if every prime minister had an advisery group comprising the top Jewish and Israeli businessmen and women? Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu takes Elon Musk on a tour of Kibbutz Kfar Aza in November 2023. (photo credit: Amos Ben-Gershom-GPO/Handout via Getty Images) It would appear as though no day goes by without another scandal or story hitting the headlines involving Elon Musk – the candid, colorful billionaire who has become the right-hand man to US President Donald Trump since the campaign trail. He disrupted the
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Donald Trump said the ICC abused its power by issuing “baseless arrest warrants” targeting Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. By HANNAH SARISOHN FEBRUARY 7, 2025 00:42 Updated: FEBRUARY 7, 2025 01:54 US PRESIDENT Donald Trump holds a signed executive order in the Oval Office last week. (photo credit: Carlos Barria/Reuters) US President Donald Trump issued sanctions to members of the International Criminal Court through an executive order on Thursday evening as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrapped up his day meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Trump said the ICC abused its power by issuing “baseless arrest warrants” targeting Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, according to the order. “The ICC has no jurisdiction over the United States or Israel, as neither country is a party to the
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Feb
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Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it would not formalise ties with Israel unless a Palestinian state was established, after the Israeli prime minister remarked that he thought normalisation with the Gulf kingdom was “going to happen”. “Saudi Arabia will continue its relentless efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that,” the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement. Both US President Donald Trump and his predecessor Joe Biden have backed Israel and Saudi Arabia having diplomatic relations. Riyadh paused tentative talks on the matter early in the Gaza conflict and hardened its rhetoric as the war continued. In a shock announcement on Tuesday, Trump said the US would take over the war-ravaged Gaza Strip after
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See Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC. By BENJAMIN NETANYAHU FEBRUARY 5, 2025 09:09 US President Donald Trump greets Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he arrives at the North Portico of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 4, 2025. (photo credit: JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images) “Thank you, Mr. President. I’m honored that you invited me to be the first foreign leader to visit the White House in your second term. This is a testament to your friendship and support for the Jewish state and the Jewish people. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: You are the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House. That’s why the people of Israel have such enormous respect
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In a stunning proposal, President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the U.S. will “take over” the Gaza Strip, “level the site” and rebuild it, after earlier saying Palestinians living there should leave. “They instead can occupy all of a beautiful area with homes and safety, and they can live out their lives in peace and harmony” in other areas or countries, he said at a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too. 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,” he said. “Create an economic development that
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Jan
Hamas’s failure demonstrates how quickly years of diplomatic work can be jeopardized by chaos on the ground, which could derail future releases. By JPOST EDITORIAL JANUARY 31, 2025 06:01 Updated: JANUARY 31, 2025 06:07 Palestinian terrorist surround hostage Arbel Yehoud, held in Gaza since the deadly October 7 2023 attack, on the day they hand her to members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Khan Yunis. (photo credit: Ramadan Abed/Reuters) Our ceasefire and hostage exchange deal is hanging by the thinnest of threads, and no instance proved that more than Thursday’s hostage return. On yet another emotional and miraculous occasion, Israel saw the release of eight hostages: three Israelis and five Thai
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It’s important to understand how abuse of women is a key part of how Hamas remains in power. By SETH J. FRANTZMAN JANUARY 20, 2025 14:43 Updated: JANUARY 20, 2025 15:26 Hamas terrorists parade as they prepare to hand over hostages. (photo credit: Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters) When Hamas prepared to release Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher on Sunday, they purposely choreographed the event. Large numbers of armed Hamas members formed a line around a large parking lot in the back of a row of buildings. Hundreds of men came to watch. When it was time to bring the hostages out, they were brought in a Hamas vehicle that was parked two meters from a Red Cross SUV. The hostages were then taken out of the back seat of
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BBC The area in Gaza which Israel’s military has told people to go to “for their safety” has been hit by 97 strikes since May, BBC Verify analysis has revealed. The findings come as negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas appear to be nearing a breakthrough. Mediators in Qatar say talks are in their final stages, raising hopes that an agreement could be reached soon. The “humanitarian zone” was first established by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in October 2023 to protect civilians and keep them out of harms way. On 6 May 2024, the IDF significantly expanded the zone to include the cities of Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah. The area – much of which is a strip of land along the Mediterranean sea – is densely
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Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighbourhood in Beirut’s southern suburbs on November 12, 2024. (Photo by Anwar AMRO / AFP) Lebanon said two Israeli strikes on central Beirut killed six people on Sunday, with Hezbollah confirming its spokesperson was among the dead. Israel has been heavily bombing Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, since all-out war erupted on September 23, but attacks on central Beirut have been rarer. The first strike, on Beirut’s Ras al-Nabaa district, killed four people, including Hezbollah’s media relations chief Mohammed Afif, the group and Israel’s military said. Rescuers with the Amal-linked Risala Scouts association use an excavator to search the rubble for survivors or victims, a day after an Israeli airstrike hit their headquarters in the southern Lebanese
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An excavator clears rubble and debris at the site of an overnight Israeli air strike on town of Sarafand, between Sidon and Tyre in southern Lebanon, on October 30, 2024. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP) Lebanese state media said the Israeli army on Friday detonated explosives planted inside houses in three border villages that have been battered by the Israel-Hezbollah war. Hezbollah says it is engaged in fighting Israeli forces in the area, more than a month into an Israeli ground invasion aimed at pushing the Iran-backed group away from the border. Rescuers walk in front of a destroyed building following an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese town of Ghaziyeh on November 3, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)
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Hundreds of passionate Hezbollah supporters gathered in the bustling streets of Beirut late Sunday afternoon, undeterred by the escalating threats from Israeli politicians. The Israeli government has accused Hezbollah of orchestrating the tragic massacre of young football players in the Golan Heights, but the Lebanese group and its supporters remain steadfast in their denial. “We […]
In the aftermath of the Israeli attack on the UN-run al-Sardi school in Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, at least 40 Palestinians lost their lives, including 14 children and nine women. The assault, which occurred in the early hours of Thursday, left 74 others wounded. An Al Jazeera investigation of the debris revealed that the weapons […]