Category Archives: Israel-Gaza war

Netanyahu ‘committed’ to Trump’s plan to take over Gaza

Posted on by

Comments suggest Israeli PM will reject Hamas pledge to hand over control of territory to the PA

Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated that he is “committed” to Donald Trump’s plan to take over and develop the Gaza Strip, amid uncertainty over whether Israel will send a delegation to Qatar to discuss the second stage of the fragile ceasefire in the war with Hamas.

In a statement on Monday, the Israeli prime minister said: “Just as I have committed to, on the day after the war in Gaza, there will be neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority. I am committed to US president Trump’s plan for the creation of a different Gaza.”

Continue reading...

‘No safe place’: the BBC documentary showing Gaza through a child’s eyes

Posted on by

BBC Two’s Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone gathers intimate footage of three children surviving in the besieged strip

“Have you ever wondered what you’d do if your world is destroyed?” asks 13-year-old Abdullah, speaking at the beginning of an intimate BBC Two documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, that airs on Monday night. “Most important, could you stay alive? After all this, you could say we’re experts.”

Abdullah, now 14 and heading back to his prewar home in the north of the shattered territory, is the English-speaking narrator – one of three children whose stories of hope and endurance are at the heart of an hour-long film, a distinctive and deliberate choice intended to make the film resonate after 15 months of war.

Continue reading...

Egypt draws up Gaza reconstruction plan that would exclude Hamas

Posted on by

Alternative to Trump plan would involve committee of technocrats but future military status of Hamas unresolved

An alternative to Donald Trump’s plan to turn the Gaza Strip into a US-owned “Riviera of the Middle East” is being prepared by Egypt in conjunction with the World Bank, under which Hamas would be formally excluded from governance and control of the territory’s reconstruction.

The process would be handed over on an interim basis to the control of a social or community support committee. No member of Hamas would sit on the committee. But the future military status of Hamas within Gaza is unresolved, which is likely to be a barrier to Israeli endorsement of the plan.

Continue reading...

Netanyahu says Israel working closely with US on Trump’s plan for Gaza

Posted on by

Israeli PM and US secretary of state express joint support for ‘bold vision’ that would force 2 million people to leave

Benjamin Netanyahu has said his government is working closely with the US to implement Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza, which involves US ownership of the coastal strip, the removal of more than 2 million Palestinians and the redevelopment of the occupied territory as a resort.

The Israeli prime minister was speaking after a meeting in Jerusalem with the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who defended the Trump plan as bold and visionary. Rubio and Netanyahu blamed Iran for the violence in the Middle East and insisted Tehran would be stopped from developing nuclear weapons.

Continue reading...

Rubio expected to push Trump plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza on trip to Israel

Posted on by

US secretary of state is making his first trip to region and is expected to advocate Trump’s plan to create ‘Riviera of the Middle East’

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will discuss the Gaza ceasefire with Israel’s prime minister in Jerusalem, launching a Middle East tour a day after the latest hostage-prisoner exchange.

On his first visit to the region as Washington’s top diplomat, Rubio is expected to push the US president Donald Trump’s widely condemned proposal to take control of the Gaza Strip and relocate its more than 2 million residents – which experts say would amount to ethnic cleansing.

Continue reading...

Middle East crisis live: more Israeli hostages released in Gaza after week of fears over ceasefire

Posted on by

Iair Horn, Alexander Sasha Troufanov and Sagui Dekel Chen handed to the Red Cross in Gaza

Several media are quoting a statement released by Hamas this morning, in which it says Israel will only be able to repatriate the remaining hostages if it implements in full all terms of the ceasefire and hostage release agreement.

Hamas added that the release of hostages is being carried out after it received guarantees from mediating countries that Israel will uphold the agreements, Haaretz reported.

Continue reading...

Three Israeli hostages released in Gaza after week of ceasefire tensions

Posted on by

Release comes after Hamas and Israel had traded accusations over ceasefire violations

•​ Middle East crisis – live updates

Gaza militants have released three Israeli hostages in exchange for 369 Palestinians in Israeli custody, the sixth swap in a truce that came close to collapsing this week.

Israel and Hamas have traded accusations of violating the 19 January ceasefire, with the Palestinian group saying it would pause releases and Israel threatening the resumption of war in the Gaza Strip.

Continue reading...

Latest Israeli hostages to be freed named amid uncertainty over truce

Posted on by

Iair Horn, Sasha Troufanov and Sagui Dekel-Chen due to be exchanged for 369 Palestinian prisoners

Palestinian militant groups have named the three hostages they plan to free on Saturday in return for the release of 369 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, raising hopes that the January ceasefire agreement will survive its latest crisis.

However, the longer-term prospects of the truce remain in doubt and the uncertainty has been deepened by the US president, Donald Trump, who made surprise territorial claims over Gaza.

Continue reading...

‘Time is running out’: frailty of freed hostages raises pressure on Netanyahu

Posted on by

Relatives and supporters anxious for return of remaining hostages urge Israeli PM to maintain ceasefire deal

Still frail less than a week after his release from Hamas captivity, and processing the news that his wife, Eynav, was killed during the militants’ attack on 7 October 2023, Or Levy told a crowd in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square that he had insisted his family and doctors allow him to come.

Israelis had been shocked and angered by the gaunt appearances of Levy, 34, Eli Sharabi, 52, and Ohad Ben Ami, 56, last Saturday as they were trooped on to a stage in Gaza City and forced to read out statements before being handed to the Red Cross. After nearly 500 days in captivity, all three appeared to struggle to see in the daylight, and were so weak that armed fighters had to help them walk.

Continue reading...

Palestinian booksellers decry detention by Israeli police over ‘public disorder’

Posted on by

Mahmoud and Ahmed Muna remain under house arrest until Sunday, despite lack of evidence against them

Two Jerusalem booksellers detained this week on charges their books were causing “public disorder” have said the experience reflected an intensifying campaign by the Israeli government against Palestinian culture and free speech.

Mahmoud Muna and his nephew Ahmed, whose family has owned the Educational Bookshop for more than 40 years, spent two days in detention and will remain under house arrest until Sunday, despite the absence of evidence to support the vague accusations against them.

Continue reading...

Israel says it will stick to agreed hostage demands after Trump causes confusion

Posted on by

Government says it will follow ceasefire agreement as long as Hamas releases three hostages on Saturday

The Israeli government has signalled it intends to stick to the hostage release schedule agreed in the ceasefire deal with Hamas, but warned that if the anticipated three surviving hostages were not released on Saturday, it would go back to war in Gaza.

The statement from the prime minister’s office ends nearly three days of confusion after Donald Trump’s declaration that Israel should demand Hamas release all the remaining hostages, more than 70 people, by Saturday or failing that, end the ceasefire.

Continue reading...

‘No to ethnic cleansing’: over 350 rabbis sign US ad assailing Trump’s Gaza plan

Posted on by

Jewish creatives and activists also sign New York Times ad after US president’s proposal to ‘take over Gaza’

More than 350 rabbis, alongside additional signatories including Jewish creatives and activists, have signed an ad in the New York Times in which they condemn Donald Trump’s proposal for the effective ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza.

The ad, which was signed by rabbis including Sharon Brous, Roly Matalon and Alissa Wise, as well as Jewish creatives and activists including Tony Kushner, Ilana Glazer, Naomi Klein and Joaquin Phoenix, says: “Trump has called for the removal of all Palestinians from Gaza. Jewish people say no to ethnic cleansing!”

Continue reading...

Arab mediators scramble to save Gaza ceasefire as Israel bolsters troop numbers

Posted on by

Both sides accuse other of violating terms of truce, but Hamas says there are ‘positive signals’ hostage exchange will go ahead

Arab mediators are scrambling to save the Gaza ceasefire as the Israeli military bolsters troop and tank deployments to the strip’s periphery in advance of the possibility the truce breaks down this weekend.

A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Wednesday to “discuss ways to end the current crisis”, the Palestinian militant group said. Meanwhile, Egyptian and Qatari mediators were working “intensively” to compel Israel to address Hamas’s new demands before Saturday’s scheduled release of three Israeli hostages, Egypt’s state-run al-Qahera television reported.

Continue reading...

Hamas faces hard choice over next hostage release as ceasefire falters

Posted on by

Delay will probably mean return to fighting, but releasing more hostages could force talks on next stage of ceasefire

Hamas is facing hard choices as the Israeli military bolsters troop numbers in and around the Gaza Strip and the three-week-old ceasefire falters.

The Palestinian militant group unexpectedly announced on Monday that it was postponing the next planned release of three Israeli hostages over the weekend, citing alleged Israeli violations of the truce: delaying the return of Palestinians to northern Gaza, blocking the arrival of aid and attacking civilians. It stressed, however, that it wants the ceasefire to continue, emphasising that mediators had five days before the handover to ensure Israel “complies and compensates for the past weeks”.

Continue reading...

Amid the ceasefire wrangling, how popular is Hamas in Gaza now?

Posted on by

The group still projects a powerful presence but, after all the damage, it will need to divert blame if the truce collapses

Of the many factors that will determine the fate of the fragile ceasefire in Gaza, one of the most difficult to quantify and predict is the level of popular support for Hamas.

On Monday, Hamas threatened to delay the release of further Israeli hostages, accusing Israel of breaches of the ceasefire deal. The uncertainty, just over halfway into the ceasefire’s six-week first phase, complicates talks on the far more difficult second phase. It also jeopardises the pause in the devastating fighting and the increase in humanitarian aid for Gaza that the truce has made possible.

Continue reading...

Most charges against Gaza protesters dismissed but ‘intent is to scare people’

Posted on by

Protesters are facing increasingly draconian charges that get dismissed but could still have a chilling effect

As pro-Palestinian demonstrations broke out across the US during the first year of war in Gaza, thousands of people were arrested, charged, or cited for their involvement. Most of the cases against them did not stick, a new Guardian analysis of prosecution data in a dozen major cities finds.

About 60% of alleged offenses committed by protesters did not result in prosecutions. The Guardian identified about 2,800 charges, summons and citations brought or requested against Gaza protesters. Around 1,600 were dropped, dismissed or otherwise not filed, data shows.

Continue reading...

Hamas suspends release of Israeli hostages over ‘violations’ of ceasefire

Posted on by

Israeli military on alert as mediators fear a breakdown in three-week-old truce as Hamas says ‘door remains open’

Hamas has said it is delaying the release of Israeli hostages indefinitely over “violations” of the ceasefire deal, prompting Israel’s defence minister to put the country’s military on alert with orders to prepare for “any scenario in Gaza”.

Mediators fear a breakdown of the three-week-old ceasefire, Egyptian security sources told Reuters, and have postponed talks until they receive a clear indication of Washington’s intent to continue with the phased deal.

Continue reading...

Trump says Palestinians will have no right of return to Gaza under his plan

Posted on by

People will have ‘no alternative’ but to leave territory after destruction left by Israel, US president said in Fox interview

Donald Trump has said that his plan to “take over Gaza” would not include a right of return for the more than 2 million Palestinians that he has said have “no alternative” but to leave because of the destruction left by Israel’s military campaign.

The remarks are the latest effective endorsement of ethnic cleansing by the US president, who announced his plan last week during a summit with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to the outrage of the Arab world and the surprise of even his closest aides.

Continue reading...

Freed Israeli hostage did not know of wife and daughters’ deaths, British family confirms

Posted on by

An Israeli soldier broke the news to Eli Sharabi on Saturday, after almost 500 days in captivity

The freed Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi did not know his wife and two teenage daughters were killed in the 7 October attack until after his release, his British family have confirmed.

An Israeli soldier broke the news about what had happened to his wife, Lianne, who grew up near Bristol, and their two British-Israeli children Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13, after Sharabi and two other hostages were released by Hamas in exchange for 183 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday.

Continue reading...

Middle East crisis live: Israeli military completes withdrawal from Netzarim Corridor

Posted on by

Forces withdraw from area that bisects the northern and southern halves of the Gaza Strip to the buffer zone, as part of ceasefire agreement with Hamas

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry has rejected Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks about displacing Palestinians from their land, Reuters reports.

Israeli officials have suggested the establishment of a Palestinian state on Saudi territory. Netanyahu appeared to be joking on Thursday when he responded to an interviewer on pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 who mistakenly said “Saudi state” instead of “Palestinian state”, before correcting himself.

Continue reading...