Israel struck Lebanon on Saturday in retaliation for rockets targeting Israel, killing two, including a child, in the heaviest exchange of fire since the ceasefire with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Earlier, rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel, for the second time since December, sparking concern about whether the fragile ceasefire would hold. In … Read more
Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate and pro-Palestinian activist who was detained by U.S. immigration authorities 11 days ago, is speaking out from a detention centre in Jena, Louisiana for the first time since his arrest. In a statement to the Guardian, Khalil said he was “a political prisoner … bearing witness to the … Read more
Israel launched airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, killing at least 404 Palestinians, including women and children, according to hospital officials. The surprise bombardment shattered a ceasefire in place since January and threatened to fully reignite the 17-month-old war. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the strikes after Hamas refused Israeli demands to change the … Read more
An AI-generated video was shared on U.S. President Donald Trump’s Truth Social account, showcasing a depiction of an imagined future of Gaza — featuring an enormous golden statue of Trump, bearded belly dancers, a shirtless Trump sunbathing on a beach and Elon Musk eating hummus. The 30-second clip begins with children running through rubble and … Read more
Hamas on Thursday released the bodies of four Israeli hostages, said to include a mother and her two children who have long been feared dead and had come to embody the nation’s agony following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack. The remains were presumed to be of Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir, as well as Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted. Kfir, who was 9 months old when he was taken, was the youngest captive. Hamas has said all four were killed along with … Read more
A top Hamas leader says the militant group will release six living Israeli hostages on Saturday and the bodies of four others on Thursday, a surprise increase that apparently comes in return for Israel allowing mobile homes and construction equipment into the devastated Gaza Strip. The six are the last living hostages set to be freed under the ceasefire’s first phase. The warring sides have yet to negotiate the second and more difficult phase, in which Hamas says it will release dozens more hostages in exchange for a … Read more
Hamas-led militants released three male Israeli hostages Saturday and Israeli forces freed hundreds of prisoners in return, in the latest indication that a fragile ceasefire that had teetered in recent days is holding. Militants in the southern Gaza Strip paraded the three hostages — Iair Horn, 46, a dual citizen of Israel and Argentina; American-Israeli … Read more
Hamas said Thursday it would release three more Israeli hostages as planned, paving the way toward resolving a major dispute over the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Hamas had threatened to delay the next release of captives, accusing Israel of failing to meet its obligations to allow in tents and shelters, among other alleged violations … Read more
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday threatened to withdraw from the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and resume its fight against Hamas if the militant group does not go ahead with the next scheduled release of hostages on Saturday. Hamas said Monday — and reiterated Tuesday — that it planned to delay the release … Read more
Four female Israeli soldiers who had been held hostage by Hamas returned safely to Israel Saturday after the militants paraded them in front of a crowd of thousands in Gaza City and then handed them over to the Red Cross. In exchange, Israel released 200 Palestinian prisoners as part of the fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The four … Read more