Category Archives: Middle East and North Africa

‘I don’t know if she’s dead or alive’: prisoner releases leave Palestinian girl’s family in limbo

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Nofuz Hammad, 16, was on the list of those to be freed, but when her father went to meet her, she did not emerge

Palestinian families, as well as Israelis, have been celebrating reunions, as loved ones held in Israeli prisons return home under the ceasefire deal with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But for the Hammad family, from occupied East Jerusalem, this week has brought more questions than answers – and more worry than joy.

Their daughter, 16-year-old Nofuz Hammad, was on the list of imprisoned women and children to be released on Saturday, the second day of an agreed four-day truce. Only one member of each family was allowed to go to collect the detainees, some of whom, including Nofuz, were supposed to be released at the notorious West Jerusalem detention and interrogation facility known as the Russian Compound.

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Israel-Hamas war: 57 journalists killed in conflict, Committee to Protect Journalists says – as it happened

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Hani Mahmoud, reporting for Al Jazeera from Khan Younis inside Gaza, says that people there consider it “an incomplete and unfair truce” as they are being forbidden from travelling from the south back to their homes and families in the north.

He says Palestinians are “taking this opportunity to secure necessities such as food and water. It’s also an opportunity to grieve properly and to hold proper funerals”.

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US warship rescues Israeli-linked tanker Central Park after attack in Gulf of Aden

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Ship boarded by gunmen – who fled and then surrendered when USS Mason arrived – in latest incident in region

A US warship rescued an Israeli-linked tanker that had been attacked by “armed individuals” in the Gulf of Aden, the US military has said, in the latest such incident to underscore the heightened risk to shipping in the region.

The USS Mason responded to a distress call by the Central Park tanker in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday and demanded the ship’s release, US Central Command said.

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Israel and Hamas exchange more hostages and prisoners as US hopeful of truce extension

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Israel frees more prisoners in exchange but insists its military campaign in Gaza is far from over

The third exchange of hostages and prisoners between Hamas and Israel has taken place as the US expressed hope that a fragile four-day truce in Gaza would be extended beyond Monday, while Israel indicated its campaign was far from over.

Israel said 17 hostages were released by Hamas, including a Russian national and three Thai nationals. The Israelis were all women or children. Thirty-nine Palestinian prisoners, also women and children, were freed from Israeli jails, authorities said.

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Israeli foreign minister accuses Irish taoiseach of legitimising terror over hostage statement

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Eli Cohen criticised Leo Varadkar’s description of nine-year-old Emily Hand as being ‘lost’, not ‘kidnapped’

The Israeli government has accused Ireland’s taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, of legitimising terror and losing his moral compass by saying a freed Irish-Israeli hostage had been “lost” as opposed to kidnapped.

Eli Cohen, Israel’s foreign minister, on Sunday summoned the Irish ambassador to the foreign ministry in Jerusalem for a formal reprimand over Varadkar’s response to the release of nine-year-old Emily Hand, who was reunited with her family after 50 days as a hostage in Gaza.

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IDF messaging suggests Gaza truce unlikely to last much beyond Tuesday

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Many expect pause to be extended if more hostages are released, but experts predict military campaign could run into next year

Gaza’s truce is unlikely to last significantly beyond Tuesday, with Israel’s military stepping up pressure on Sunday to restart the air and ground offensive in a campaign that some experts predict could run into next year.

The four-day halt in fighting, described by the Israel DefenceForces (IDF) as “an operational pause”, is scheduled to end on 7am on Tuesday if the agreed transfer of 50 hostages held by Hamas and others in Gaza goes to plan.

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Syria says Israeli strikes put Damascus airport out of service – as it happened

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Israel’s military has issued a statement about its activity in Jenin in the occupied West Bank overnight. In a post to social media, it said:

In the operation commanded by the 646th Reserve Brigade, five terrorists were eliminated, 21 wanted persons were arrested, a cargo laboratory was destroyed and an aircraft attacked from the air an armed terrorist squad that endangered the IDF forces.

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‘Soldiers started shooting at my feet’: Palestinians describe fleeing northern Gaza

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People trying to escape Israeli bombardment have to cope without the most basic life necessities

Dogs biting at a human corpse. An exhausted, heavily pregnant woman carrying a toddler on her back. A seemingly lifeless body pushed on a cart. The sights of the Salah al-Din road, the main highway that runs like a spine through Gaza, remain with those who’ve walked it.

“What we experienced cannot be seen in horror movies,” said Nahla from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza.

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‘The people don’t want the Americans’: Gaza war fuels tensions in Iraq

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Attacks on US troops in Iraq have led to US airstrikes, highlighting the risk of spillover from the situation in Gaza

A salvo of machine gun fire, customary during funerals, illuminated the night sky as dozens of men converged in a dimly lit, unpaved alley on the edges of the sprawling slums of Sadr city to pay their respects. A giant picture of Ali Hassan al-Daraaji had been erected outside the family home in northeast Baghdad to announce his “martyrdom” in this week’s US airstrikes on Iraqi armed groups.

The series of strikes left a total of nine fighters dead, including Daraaji, the first Iraqi fatalities linked to the Israel-Hamas war. Even as a tenuous truce takes hold in Gaza, the pace and intensity of clashes in Iraq has picked up, highlighting the risk of spillover in a country that has long been mired in conflict.

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‘Overjoyed’: nine-year-old hostage Emily Hand returns to family in Israel

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Relatives say they ‘can’t find the words to describe our emotions’ as Israeli-Irish girl comes back from Gaza

The family and friends of Emily Hand have spoken of their joy after Hamas released the nine-year-old Israeli-Irish girl from captivity in Gaza late on Saturday.

“Emily has come back to us,” her father, Thomas Hand, said after an emotional reunion at a hospital in Israel.

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Sixty-one trucks deliver aid to northern Gaza, says UN – as it happened

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Here are some pictures of Yaffa Adar, 85, as she was reunited with her family after being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.

She had been kidnapped from Nir Oz and taken into the Gaza Strip in a golf cart on 7 October.

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Israel releases 39 Palestinian prisoners as Hamas frees 17 hostages in latest stage of ceasefire deal

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Exchange takes place after ceasefire was plunged into crisis when Hamas accused Israel of blocking aid convoys

Prison authorities in Israel announced early on Sunday that they had released 39 Palestinian prisoners after Hamas freed 13 Israelis and four Thai nationals in the latest stage of a four-day ceasefire.

Television footage showed hostages on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing after leaving Gaza, as Hamas handed over the captives to the International Committee of the Red Cross late on Saturday.

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Hair, makeup and hopefully a sister back home: Palestinians await prisoner release

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With 42 women and children set to be released under the ceasefire deal, hopes for family reunions are running high in the West Bank

The daughters of the Awad family were busy dressing up at their home in Qalandiya, on the West Bank side of the notorious checkpoint, on Saturday evening. Hair was curled and eyeliner applied; all four chose outfits in black and white to match their Palestinian keffiyeh scarves. The celebration was to mark the unexpected release of their big sister, Noorhan, 24, from prison in Israel. She was jailed eight years ago; the youngest, 10-year-old Mayar, does not remember her.

Their community centre was decked out with Palestinian flags and posters of Noorhan and two other young people from the neighbourhood. “So much has changed since Noorhan was home last,” said her mother Sumaya. “We are so excited. I don’t want to hope too much.”

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Hamas says it will delay next hostage releases over Gaza aid dispute

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Second brokered release will not happen until Israel allows aid trucks to enter northern Gaza, says militant group

Hamas’s armed wing said they will delay Saturday’s brokered second release of hostages until Israel allows aid trucks to enter northern Gaza.

The announcement comes a day after the release of dozens of hostages held by militants, as well as Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, as part of a deal brokered by Qatar with the support of the US which has brought about a temporary pause in hostilities.

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Israeli boy embraces family members in hospital corridor after hostage release

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Video shows Ohad Munder, nine, running into father’s arms as total of 24 people freed by Hamas in prisoner exchange

The moment a Rubik’s-cube-loving boy who spent his ninth birthday as a hostage in Gaza was freed from captivity on the first day of a four-day truce and prisoner exchange has been captured on video.

Footage released by the Schneider children’s medical centre showed Ohad Munder running through a hospital corridor into his father’s arms as the pair were reunited after almost 50 days without any contact.

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Who are the first hostages released from Gaza?

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Hamas released 24 hostages on Friday, including 13 Israelis, one Filipino man and 10 Thai citizens

The group of hostages brought out of Gaza on the first day of the ceasefire with Israel included 13 Israelis, 10 Thai citizens and one Filipino man.

The Israeli hostages included four children with female relatives, who were all visiting family at Nir Oz kibbutz when Hamas attacked on 7 October, and five elderly women, four of them residents of Nir Oz and one from a nearby kibbutz.

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‘Everybody is crying’: Thai relatives welcome release of hostages by Hamas

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Group of nine men and one woman being treated in hospital before returning to Thailand to reunite with families

The 10 Thai hostages released on Friday are now being supervised in an Israeli hospital, the Thai government has said, adding that a further 20 of its nationals are still being held hostage.

In a statement, Thailand’s ministry of foreign affairs said the 10, who were among 24 hostages freed on Friday hours after a ceasefire was implemented, were now being accompanied by embassy officials and were staying at Shamir medical centre, south-east of Tel Aviv.

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‘I won’t believe it until I see it’: Palestinians gather to greet freed prisoners

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Families await possible reunion with detained women and children as Israel reportedly releases 39 in ceasefire deal

As the sun began to set on Friday, thousands of Palestinians gathered at an Israeli checkpoint north of Jerusalem, next to the notorious Ofer military prison, in the hopes that imprisoned loved ones would return home as part of a ceasefire deal in the seven-week-old war between Israel and Hamas.

Qatari officials said 39 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli jails were released on Friday night. That came in exchange for the safe return of 13 Israelis held in the Gaza Strip as hostages since Hamas attacked communities in the south of the country last month, sparking the deadliest round of fighting in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict to date.

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‘It’s not yet post-traumatic stress disorder … we’re still in it’: Israel, a nation at war

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Jonathan Freedland talks to survivors, displaced people and senior political and military figures about life in Israel before and after 7 October, and considers the longer-term ramifications

• Israel-Hamas war – latest updates

The war is paused, but it is not over.

There will be relief at the promised four days of quiet between Israel and Hamas, and there will be joy for the families waiting to be reunited with loved ones, thanks to Friday’s exchange of hostages held in Gaza for prisoners held in Israel.

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‘It brings hope’: in Tel Aviv plaza, cheers greet news of hostage release

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Hundreds waiting in ‘Hostages Square’ sing songs as the names of those being released filter out

In the heart of Tel Aviv, several hundred people waited in the plaza now called Hostages Square. As darkness fell the mood was melancholic but hopeful as people waited for a confirmation that 13 women and children held by Hamas had been freed as planned. Then came a cheer as news of their release was confirmed.

People sang Shabbat or old folklore songs as they waited outside the Museum of Art, where among the most poignant displays was an empty dinner table, surrounded by 240 empty seats, representing each of the missing hostages, not just the handful in the slow process of coming home.

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