Gaza

Gaza: International Force Could Deploy Next Month

International troops could be deployed in the Gaza Strip as early as next month to form a U.N.-authorized stabilization force, part of the second phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan, two U.S. officials told Reuters. According to the sources, the International Stabilization Force (ISF) will not be tasked with fighting Hamas. A U.S. ...

Hamas Proposes Weapons 'Freeze' in Return for Long-Term Truce

A top Hamas leader told Qatari news channel Al Jazeera on Wednesday that the militant group is open to a weapons "freeze" but rejects the demand for disarmament put forward in the US-sponsored peace plan for Gaza. "The idea of total disarmament is unacceptable to the resistance (Hamas). What is being proposed is a freeze, or ...

Israel’s Power Vacuum Dilemma

On December 2 Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israel Defense Forces soldiers wounded in recent fighting in southern Syria. Their injuries followed a November 26 IDF raid on the village of Beit Jinn in southern Syria, an operation that left several Syrians dead and wounded a number of Israeli soldiers. Netanyahu had a ...

Netanyahu Says Expects to Move to Second Phase of Gaza Truce 'Shortly'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he expected to move into the second phase of the US-sponsored ceasefire plan for Gaza "very shortly." Speaking during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz after a meeting between the two leaders, Netanyahu said, "We discussed how to bring an end ...

Mediators Qatar and Egypt Call for Next Steps in Gaza Truce

Qatar and Egypt, guarantors of the Gaza ceasefire, called on Saturday for the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the deployment of an international stabilization force as the necessary next steps in fully implementing the fragile agreement. The measures were spelt out in the US- and UN-backed peace plan that has largely halted fighting, though the ...

Mediators Egypt, Qatar, Others 'Concerned' About Israel Opening One-Way Gaza Exit

Gaza mediators Egypt and Qatar and six other Muslim-majority countries said on Friday they were concerned about Israel stating it would open a one-way crossing for Palestinians to exit the Strip. The foreign ministers of Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates "expressed their deep concern ...

Key Hamas Rival, Yasser Abu Shabab, Killed in Gaza

Yasser Abu Shabab, leader of the Popular Forces and one of Hamas’s main rivals in Gaza, was killed on Thursday under unclear circumstances. Israeli media provided conflicting accounts: some reported the killing was carried out by Hamas members, while others claimed he died in family clashes in Gaza or from fire by members of his own group, ...

Israel Says Received Presumed Remains of Gaza Hostage

Israel announced Wednesday it had received hostage remains found in Gaza from the Red Cross, which were being transported to the morgue for identification. It comes as the US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas remains fragile, with both sides accusing each other of violating the terms. Under the first phase of the deal, which came into ...

Israel Says to Allow Gazans to Exit to Egypt 'in Coming Days'

Israel said on Wednesday it would open the Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt to allow residents to exit the Palestinian territory "in the coming days," but Egypt denied such a deal with Israel. "In accordance with the ceasefire agreement... the Rafah Crossing will open in the coming days exclusively for the exit of residents from ...

Israel Says Killed 40 Fighters over Past Week in Gaza Tunnels Operation

The Israeli army said Sunday that it had killed more than 40 Palestinian militants over the past week in operations targeting tunnels near Rafah in the Gaza Strip. Earlier in the day, the army announced it had killed four militants emerging from underground in the territory's southernmost city overnight. Dozens of Hamas fighters are holed up in ...

Israel Finds Nine Bodies in Rafah Tunnels as Mediators Discuss Safe Passage for Hamas Fighters

The Israeli army announced on Friday that it had recovered the bodies of nine Palestinian fighters recently killed during its operations to dismantle the tunnel network in the southern Gaza Strip. During operations in the eastern sector of Rafah, soldiers “located nine additional terrorists who had been eliminated in the underground terrorist ...

Israeli Army Launches New Operation in West Bank

Israel's military on Wednesday launched a new operation against Palestinian armed groups in the occupied West Bank, where a local governor told AFP that Israeli forces had raided several towns. The Israeli military, police and internal security service said in a joint statement that they had begun "a broad counter-terrorism operation" in the ...