Netanyahu says he is ‘willing’ to reach deal to free Gaza hostages

Prime minister says military pressure is working, as he rejects claims that Israel is not serious about negotiations

Rejecting claims from Hamas and Israeli protesters that his government is not engaged in serious negotiations aimed at securing the release of those held captive in Gaza, Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he was committed to reaching an agreement to free the hostages and military pressure had been effective.

“We are willing,” Israel’s prime minister told a cabinet meeting. “We are negotiating under fire” and “can see cracks beginning to appear” in what Hamas has demanded in its negotiations, he said.

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Hamas reportedly agrees to release five living Israeli hostages for ceasefire

Militants release video of Israeli captive Elkana Bohbot pleading for freedom as they seek a 50-day halt to conflict

Hamas has allegedly agreed to free five living Israeli hostages in exchange for a 50-day ceasefire, as the militant group released a video of a hostage making an appeal for his freedom.

Hamas’s chief, Khalil al-Hayya, reportedly said on Saturday that the militant group expressed willingness to release the five hostages over the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr, which begins on Sunday, after a proposal it received two days ago from Egypt and Qatar, Reuters has reported.

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Israel admits firing at ambulances in Gaza after Palestinians say rescuers missing in Rafah

Body of team leader found almost a week after six rescuers went missing, Gaza’s civil defence agency says

Israel’s military admitted on Saturday it had fired on ambulances in the Gaza Strip after identifying them as “suspicious vehicles”, with Hamas condemning it as a “war crime” that killed at least one person.

The incident took place last Sunday in the Tal al-Sultan neighbourhood in the southern city of Rafah, close to the Egyptian border.

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Netanyahu repeats threat to seize territory in Gaza as anti-Hamas protests continue

Israeli PM warns of seizure of territories and ‘other measures’ if Hamas refuses to release remaining hostages

Benjamin Netanyahu has repeated Israeli threats to seize territory in Gaza if Hamas refuses to release the remaining Israeli hostages, as, for the second consecutive day, hundreds of Palestinians joined protests against the militant group and demanding the end of the war.

The Israeli prime minister’s warning came a week after Israel resumed its military operation in the territory, shattering the relative calm of a January ceasefire with Hamas.

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Hundreds join protest against Hamas in northern Gaza

Demonstrators shout ‘Hamas out’ and carry banners saying ‘we want to live in peace’

Hundreds of Palestinians have joined protests in northern Gaza, shouting anti-Hamas slogans and calling for an end to the war with Israel, in what has been described as the largest protest against the militant group inside the territory since the 7 October attacks.

Videos and photos shared on social media late on Tuesday showed hundreds of people, mostly men, chanting “Hamas out” and “Hamas terrorists” in Beit Lahiya, where the crowd had gathered a week after the Israeli army resumed its intense bombing of Gaza after nearly two months of a truce.

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Israeli strike at Gaza hospital kills five, including senior Hamas figure

Ismail Barhoum and medics die in attack, which Israel says was based on extensive intelligence

An Israeli airstrike on Sunday night hit the largest hospital in southern Gaza, killing five people, including a Hamas political leader.

The Gaza health ministry said the strike hit the surgery department at Nasser hospital in the city of Khan Younis. The Israeli military said its attack followed extensive intelligence and used precise munitions to minimise harm at the site.

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Israel strikes southern Lebanon and Gaza amid calls for halt to ‘endless war’

One killed and seven wounded in attack as freed hostages and families of those still held in Gaza urge end to fighting

Israel carried out a strike in Tyre, south Lebanon, on Saturday, killing one and wounding seven people and endangering the shaky truce that ended a year-long conflict against Hezbollah, as 40 survivors of Hamas captivity called on the Israeli government to halt the “endless war”.

The strike on a building came after Israel carried out dozens of airstrikes in Lebanon on Saturday, its most intense aerial assault on the country in four months. In total, six people were killed, including a child, and 28 injured, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

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Israel to ‘seize more ground’ and warns Hamas it will annex parts of Gaza

Defence minister issues threat as IDF intensifies offensive with ‘non-stop’ overnight attacks across territory

Israel’s defence minister said he had instructed the military to “seize more ground” in Gaza and threatened to annex part of the territory unless Hamas released 59 Israeli hostages still held in the devastated territory.

Israel Katz’s warning on Friday came as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) intensified the new offensive launched on Tuesday, when a wave of airstrikes shattered the truce that had brought a fragile and relative calm since mid-January.

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Who is Ronen Bar, the sacked chief of Israel’s Shin Bet security service?

Former special forces soldier made enemies after disagreements with far-right factions in Netanyahu government

Ronen Bar, the head of Israel’s powerful internal security service, the Shin Bet, may seem an unlikely rebel.

A former special forces soldier who holds degrees from Tel Aviv and Harvard universities, Bar has devoted three decades of his working life to the service of the state. His frame is lean, greying hair close shaved, features gaunt, manner reserved and speech moderate.

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Israel launches ‘limited ground operation’ to retake Netzarim corridor in Gaza

UN calls for investigation after staff member among 20 people reportedly killed in renewed airstrikes

Israeli forces have launched a “limited ground operation” to retake the Netzarim corridor, a newly widened road protected by fortified bunkers that divides Gaza and is seen as essential to controlling the devastated Palestinian territory.

The move is a significant escalation of Israel’s new offensive in Gaza and came less than 36 hours after a massive wave of airstrikes that killed more than 400, including 183 children and 94 women, the health ministry there said.

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Israeli protesters say airstrikes are ‘cover’ for Benjamin Netanyahu to keep power

Groups representing Israeli hostages plan protests and issue statements calling for an immediate ceasefire

Protesters in Israel have accused Benjamin Netanyahu of ordering the airstrikes that shattered the ceasefire in Gaza on Tuesday to provide “cover” for a campaign to dismantle Israel’s democratic system and to maintain his own grip on power.

Political tensions in Israel surged after the Israeli prime minister announced on Sunday that he would seek to fire the head of the Shin Bet internal security service, an unprecedented move that legal experts said may be unlawful.

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Netanyahu says he will seek to dismiss head of Israel’s internal security service

Prime minister's move against Shin Bet’s Ronen Bar will prompt further accusations of authoritarianism

Benjamin Netanyahu has announced he will seek to dismiss the director of Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, through a cabinet vote later this week, in a move that will prompt further accusations of authoritarianism.

The Israeli prime minister said in a video statement on Sunday that “ongoing distrust” made it impossible for him to continue to work with Ronen Bar, who has led Shin Bet since 2021.

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Israeli airstrikes ‘kill nine’ as Hamas restates Gaza ceasefire demands

Militant group hardening its negotiating position in ceasefire talks amid new violence in territory

The current fragile pause in hostilities in Gaza has come under further threat with Hamas hardening its negotiating positions amid new Israeli airstrikes in the devastated territory.

The first phase of the ceasefire agreement ended two weeks ago but Israel is refusing to implement the scheduled second phase, which is supposed to end with its withdrawal from Gaza, the freedom of all remaining hostages held by Hamas, and a definitive end to the conflict.

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US rebuts Hamas’s ‘entirely impractical’ ceasefire demands

Apparent rejection of new offer to free US-Israeli hostage dashes hopes of progress but will please Tel Aviv

The Trump administration has accused Hamas of making “entirely impractical” demands and stalling on a deal to release a US-Israeli hostage in exchange for an extension of the Gaza ceasefire.

“Hamas is making a very bad bet that time is on its side. It is not,” the office of Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and the US national security council said in a statement. “Hamas is well aware of the deadline, and should know that we will respond accordingly if that deadline passes,” it said, adding that Trump had already vowed Hamas would “pay a severe price” for not freeing hostages.

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‘Absolute fear’: Israeli hostage describes abuse during 505-day Hamas captivity

Omer Wenkert says he was held mostly in darkness – and his mistreatment was often sparked by events in war

An Israeli hostage freed by Hamas last month has described the distressing conditions and abuse he says he endured during 505 days held in Gaza.

In an interview on Israeli television, Omer Wenkert, 23, said he had hidden in a bomb shelter with a close friend when it became clear the Nova music festival was under attack by Hamas and other militants from Gaza on 7 October 2023.

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US to revoke student visas over ‘pro-Hamas’ social media posts flagged by AI – report

State department launches AI-assisted reviews of accounts to look for what it perceives as Hamas supporters

The US state department will use artificial intelligence to revoke visas of foreign students who it perceives as supporters of Hamas, Axios reported on Thursday, citing senior state department officials.

Donald Trump signed an executive order in January to combat antisemitism and has pledged to deport non-citizen college students and others who took part in pro-Palestinian protests that have been ongoing for months amid Israel’s military assault on Gaza after Hamas’s October 2023 attack.

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Trump posts fresh ultimatum to Hamas as US enters direct talks with group

US president tells group to ‘release all of the Hostages now ... or it is OVER for you’ as White House enters negotiations

Donald Trump has posted a fresh ultimatum to Hamas, telling the group to “release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you”.

“‘Shalom Hamas’ means Hello and Goodbye,” he wrote in a social media post on Wednesday, in an apparent reference to the beginning of direct talks with the group.

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Tuesday briefing: Where Gaza’s fragile ceasefire stands – and what it will take to move it forward

In today’s newsletter: With talks stalled, aid blocked and a truce in question, can the path to peace get back on track?

Good morning. The first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza expired over the weekend – and now, the only thing stopping the resumption of Israel’s assault on the territory is the will of Benjamin Netanyahu. That is the bleak reality for the hostages still alive in Gaza, and the Palestinian civilians there who were subjected to a new aid embargo on Sunday. Last night, the Israeli government was reported to be planning to ratchet the blockade up further – with a programme of measures referred to as the “hell plan”.

When the ceasefire was agreed in January, the theory was that the first phase would provide space for negotiations over a more durable truce. But those talks simply have not happened. Israel is pushing for the release of more hostages in an extension to the first phase – a step that Hamas, fearing the loss of its only source of leverage, refuses to countenance. Both sides are now making preparations for the resumption of violence.

Ukraine | Donald Trump has suspended delivery of all US military aid to Ukraine, blocking billions in crucial shipments as the White House piles pressure on Ukraine to sue for peace with Vladimir Putin. The Trump administration was earlier reported to be drawing up a plan to restore ties with Russia and lift sanctions on the Kremlin.

Education | Labour is preparing major changes to special educational needs provision in English schools, as individual councils raise the alarm over debts running into hundreds of millions of pounds. With councils currently paying to send many children to private schools because of a lack of adequate local options, the government is believed to be considering measures that would prioritise state provision.

Tariffs | China and Canada unveiled retaliatory measures against the US after Donald Trump imposed his sweeping tariffs plan on Tuesday, despite warnings it could spark an escalating trade war. The new US tariffs stand at 25% against goods from Canada and Mexico and 20% against those from China.

Obesity | More than half of adults and a third of children and young people worldwide will be overweight or obese by 2050, posing an “unparalleled threat” of early death and enormous strain on healthcare systems, a report warns. There are now 2.11 billion adults aged 25 or above who are overweight or obese, against 731 million in 1990.

Art | The self-taught Scottish painter Jack Vettriano, who became hugely popular despite being shunned by critics, has been found dead at his apartment in Nice in the south of France, his publicist has said. He was 73.

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Father of hostage still in Gaza accuses Netanyahu of ‘stalling’ Hamas deal

Yehuda Cohen says Israeli prime minister is refusing permanent ceasefire because ‘he wants to stay in power’

The father of an Israeli hostage has said Benjamin Netanyahu is “stalling” the deal with Hamas that could lead to the return of his son from Gaza.

Speaking at the Israeli embassy in central London, Yehuda Cohen, father of 20-year-old Israeli hostage Nimrod Cohen, said: “There is a deal on the table.

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Gaza ceasefire talks have made no progress on second phase, Hamas says

Negotiations on next part of truce have begun in Egypt, but militant group has accused Israel of procrastination

The latest round of talks on the second phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has yet to make any progress and it was unclear whether they would resume on Saturday, a senior Hamas official has said.

The ceasefire took effect on 19 January after more than 15 months of war following Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, the deadliest in the country’s history.

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