Israel-Palestine category, Page 2
Netanyahu orders Israeli army to carry out ‘powerful’ strikes in Gaza
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday he has ordered the army to immediately carry out “powerful strikes” in Gaza, a new test for the tenuous U.S.-brokered ceasefire. The order from Netanyahu follows heightened tensions, as Israel reported Hamas firing on its forces in southern Gaza...
Netanyahu says Israel will respond after Hamas hands over remains not belonging to missing hostages
JERUSALEM/CAIRO — Israel will respond after Hamas handed over human remains that did not belong to missing Israeli hostages, which Israel considers a violation of the Gaza ceasefire, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday. Hamas said it was complying with the ceasefire and doing its best to locate hostage...
Clearing Gaza’s surface of bombs will take up to 30 years, aid group says
GENEVA — Clearing the surface of Gaza of unexploded ordnance will likely take between 20 to 30 years, according to an official with aid group Humanity & Inclusion, describing the enclave as a “horrific, unmapped minefield.” More than 53 people have been killed and hundreds injured by lethal remnants from...
Israel ‘not a protectorate’ of the U.S., Netanyahu says ahead of meeting with Vance
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s prime minister toughened his stance Wednesday by declaring that his country is in charge of its own security and isn’t an American protectorate as he prepared to discuss progress on Gaza’s fragile ceasefire agreement with Vice President JD Vance. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks ahead...
Trump threatens Hamas amid push toward next steps of Gaza truce
KIRYAT GAT, ISRAEL/CAIRO — The U.S. increased pressure on Hamas on Tuesday to disarm in the next phase of an already fragile Gaza ceasefire as President Donald Trump pushed to cement an end to the devastating conflict. In a visit to Israel, Vice President JD Vance said the ceasefire plan...
VP JD Vance is charged with keeping Trump’s Gaza peace deal alive. Can he succeed?
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s top messenger, Vice President JD Vance, will travel to Israel and is expected to try and rein in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while seeking to prevent the collapse of a week-old peace deal hailed as a coup for the United States in ending a brutal...
Mediators step up diplomacy after Gaza truce shaken
CAIRO/JERUSALEM — Israeli fire killed three people near a ceasefire line in Gaza on Monday, medics said, with U.S. envoys expected in Israel to try to push forward the fragile truce that faced its gravest test so far over the weekend. A Palestinian official close to ceasefire talks said efforts...
Israel strikes Gaza, accuses Hamas of attacking Israeli troops in ceasefire violation
The Israeli military said on Sunday that a ceasefire in Gaza had resumed after an attack that killed two of its soldiers and prompted a wave of airstrikes that killed 26 people, in the most serious test yet of this month’s U.S.-brokered truce. Aid into the enclave was set to...
Israeli military launches attacks on Gaza, ceasefire under strain
JERUSALEM/CAIRO -The Israeli military said it launched air strikes and artillery fire at targets in southern Gaza on Sunday, dimming hopes that a U.S.-mediated ceasefire would lead to lasting peace as Israel traded blame with Palestinian militant group Hamas. Israel’s attacks on Sunday were the most serious test of an...
Gaza’s Rafah border crossing to reopen on Monday, Palestinian embassy in Egypt says
Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt will reopen on Monday, the Palestinian embassy in Egypt said on Saturday, almost a week after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire and hostage deal was agreed between Israel and Hamas. The crossing, which has been largely closed since May 2024, will allow Palestinians residing in Egypt...
Israel, Hamas trade blame over truce violations amid delay in return of dead hostages
CAIRO — Israel said on Thursday it was preparing for the reopening of Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt to let Palestinians in and out, but set no date as it traded blame with Hamas over violations of a U.S.-mediated ceasefire. A dispute over the return of hostages’ bodies held by...
Aid trucks roll into Gaza as dispute over hostage bodies is paused
JERUSALEM/CAIRO — Aid trucks rolled into Gaza on Wednesday and Israel resumed preparations to open the main Rafah crossing after a dispute over the return of the bodies of dead hostages that had threatened to derail the fragile ceasefire deal with Hamas. Israel had threatened to keep Rafah shut and...
Trump convinced Netanyahu to take a deal. Can he keep him onboard?
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump, a self-proclaimed peacemaker who has campaigned for a Nobel Prize, finally got a camera-ready diplomatic victory on Monday as world leaders flew to Egypt for the signing of the ceasefire and hostage-release deal he brokered between Israel and Hamas. But if lasting peace is to...
Clans and armed groups challenging Hamas in Gaza
GAZA — As the Gaza war dragged on, a diminished Hamas faced growing internal challenges to its control of Gaza from long-standing rivals, many of them affiliated with powerful local clans. Since Friday’s ceasefire took hold, Hamas has sought to reassert itself, killing dozens of opponents in a crackdown after...
Gaza ceasefire outlook darkens as Israel delays aid and Hamas tightens grip
CAIRO/JERUSALEM — Israel delayed aid into Gaza and kept the enclave’s border shut on Tuesday, while re-emergent Hamas fighters demonstrated their grip by executing men in the street, darkening the outlook for President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war. Three Israeli officials said Israel had decided to restrict aid...
Gazans stream back home as Israel-Hamas ceasefire holds
GAZA — Thousands of Palestinians streamed north along the coast of Gaza on Saturday, trekking by foot, car, and cart back to their abandoned homes as a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas appeared to be holding. “It is an indescribable feeling; praise be to God,” said Nabila...
‘I’m cautiously optimistic’: Palestinians, Jews in Western Pa. share mixed emotions about peace deal
When Karim Alshurafa heard Thursday’s news of a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release, he felt conflicted. Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza, which could be the first step toward ending a 2-year-old war that has roiled the Middle East. Alshurafa, 42,...
Trump says Israel, Hamas reach agreement on 1st phase of Gaza deal
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says that Israel and Hamas have agreed to implement the first phase of a White House peace plan aimed at ending the war in Gaza and Israeli hostages will soon be released. Trump said in an Oct. 8 statement that Israel would also withdraw its...
Hamas says on war anniversary it’s ready to reach Gaza deal, but conditions remain
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt — Hamas said on Tuesday it was ready to reach a deal to end the war in Gaza based on President Donald Trump’s plan but still has demands, as Qatar’s prime minister and senior U.S. mediators headed to Egypt to join indirect negotiations between the Palestinian militant...
Trump warns of ‘complete obliteration’ if Hamas remains in power in GazaVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump warned of “complete obliteration” if Hamas insists on staying in power in Gaza, as negotiations to end the bloody war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group are set for this week. Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive...
Israel scales back Gaza assault after Trump demands halt to bombing
CAIRO/GAZA — Israel slowed its Gaza offensive on Saturday after President Donald Trump demanded it stop bombing in response to a declaration by Hamas that it was ready to free hostages under his plan to end the two-year-old war. Despite a relatively quieter start to the day compared to recent weeks,...
Gaza aid flotilla with Greta Thunberg intercepted by Israeli navy
Israel faced international condemnation and protests on Thursday after its forces intercepted around 40 boats carrying aid and more than 400 foreign activists, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, to Gaza. Cameras broadcasting live feeds from the boats, verified by Reuters, showed armed Israeli soldiers sporting helmets and night vision goggles...
Palestinian death toll tops 66,000 as Netanyahu prepares to meet Trump
CAIRO — The death toll in the Israel-Hamas war has topped 66,000 Palestinians, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Sunday, a day before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to the White House for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on halting Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza City. Israeli security forces meanwhile...
Hamas says it has not received Trump plan as Israel expands Gaza City assault
CAIRO — Hamas has not received U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan, the Palestinian group which runs the enclave said on Saturday as Israeli forces expanded their assault on Gaza City. The comments came after Israeli newspaper Haaretz cited sources saying Hamas had agreed in principle to release all...
‘Time to stop’: Trump vows Israel will not annex West Bank
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would not allow Israel to annex the West Bank, rejecting calls from some far-right politicians in Israel who want to extend sovereignty over the area and snuff out hopes for a viable Palestinian state. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has...
