Latest news with #Hostages
LBCI
13 hours ago
- General
- LBCI
Israel's defense chief tells army to push ahead 'regardless of any negotiations'
Israel's defense minister said Sunday that he had ordered the army to push ahead with its fight against Hamas "regardless of any negotiations" after a U.S. envoy called the group's latest response to a Gaza truce proposal unacceptable. "I have instructed the military to continue forward in Gaza against all targets, regardless of any negotiations," Israel Katz said in a statement. "Either Hamas releases the hostages, or it will be destroyed." AFP
Asharq Al-Awsat
3 days ago
- General
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Hamas Receives Israeli Response to US Gaza Proposal and is Reviewing It
Hamas has received Israel's response to a US proposal for a Gaza ceasefire deal and is thoroughly reviewing it, even though the response fails to meet any of the Palestinian "just and legitimate demands", group's official Basem Naim told Reuters on Friday. Hamas official Basem Naim said the Israeli response "fundamentally seeks to entrench the occupation and perpetuate policies of killing and starvation, even during what is supposed to be a period of temporary de-escalation". However, he said Hamas' leadership was carrying out a "thorough and responsible review of the new proposal". The US plan provides for Hamas to release the last 30 of the 58 remaining Israeli hostages once a permanent ceasefire is in place. Israel will also cease all military operations in Gaza as soon as the truce takes effect, it shows. The Israeli army will also redeploy its troops in stages. Deep differences between Hamas and Israel have stymied previous attempts to restore a ceasefire that broke down in March. Israel has insisted that Hamas disarm completely, be dismantled as a military and governing force and return all 58 hostages still held in Gaza before it will agree to end the war. Hamas has rejected the demand to give up its weapons and says Israel must pull its troops out of Gaza and commit to ending the war. Israel launched its campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas attack in its south on October 7, 2023, that killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 Israelis taken hostage into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. The subsequent Israeli military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, Gaza health officials say, and has left the enclave in ruins.
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Hamas 'agrees to U.S. proposal for ceasefire' that would see 10 living hostages released and 70 days of truce with Israel in beleaguered Gaza Strip
Hamas has agreed to an American proposal for a Gaza ceasefire, a Palestinian official close to the group told Reuters today. The proposal by US special envoy Steve Witkoff would reportedly see the release of ten living hostages, 70 days of truce and a partial Israeli withdrawal from the strip. It would also see the release of a number of Palestinian prisoners by Israel, including hundreds of those serving lengthy prison terms. Mediators continue to work to avert the deepening of a major humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with Israel pursuing a renewed offensive in the strip after a fragile ceasefire broke down in March. The military claims to be 'increasing the pressure' on Hamas to help return some 58 hostages still in Gaza, a third of whom are still believed to be alive. But the offensive remains controversial, with some two-thirds of Israelis opposing expanding the war and putting the hostages at greater risk. Witkoff's new proposals could pave the way for a possible way out, though Israel will also need to agree to the terms. There was no immediate comment from Israel. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously ruled out proposals that would end the war entirely after the ceasefire broke down in March. Hamas subsequently conceded that there was 'no sense' in pursuing truce talks if Israel was ruling out such proposals. Since then, mediators have been holding 'urgent meetings' in Qatar to avoid the major offensive. Israel's current plan includes measures to flatten 'all infrastructure' above and below ground and move virtually 2.3m people to what it has termed a 'humanitarian area'. And a blockade on essentials has pushed the decimated civilian population to the brink of famine, with some 53,000 people since 2023 killed, per local authorities. The proposals have been met with almost unanimous condemnation, and warnings from allies that Israel is 'in violation of humanitarian law'. Last week, Britain, France and Canada threatened Israel with sanctions, denouncing the 'disproportionate' escalation. Witkoff was reported to have offered Israel and Hamas an updated proposal in recent days, but the US had stopped short of urging Israel to wind down its operations in the same tone as the Europeans. Officials said previously that Witkoff has told other mediators that Washington does not plan to force Israel to end the war. Israel has vowed to seize control of Gaza and keep fighting until Hamas is destroyed or disarmed and exiled. Israeli strikes continued to pound the Gaza Strip early on Monday, killing dozens, including people sleeping in a school-turned-shelter, local health officials said. The Israeli military said it targeted militants operating from the school. The expanded campaign, which Netanyahu has said will end with Israel in complete control of Gaza, has squeezed the population into an ever-narrowing zone in coastal areas and around the southern city of Khan Younis. But the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for parts of the city on Monday, following what it said were rocket launches from the area. 'Terrorist organisations continue to launch rocket fire from your areas. The Khan Yunis area is considered a dangerous combat zone and has been warned multiple times,' the Arabic warning said. 'Evacuate immediately to the west, to the Mawasi area.' At a particularly precarious moment, groups of young Israelis marched through Muslim neighbourhoods of Jerusalem's Old City today chanting 'Death to Arabs' and singing 'May your village burn' ahead of an annual march marking Israel's conquest of the eastern part of the city. Palestinian shopkeepers had closed up early and police lined the narrow alleys ahead of the march that often becomes a rowdy and sometimes violent procession of ultranationalist Jews. A policeman raised his arms in celebration at one point, recognising a marcher and going in for a hug. A small group of protesters, including an Israeli member of parliament, meanwhile, stormed a compound in east Jerusalem belonging to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA. The march commemorates Jerusalem Day - which marks Israel's capture of east Jerusalem, including the Old City and its holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 Mideast war. The event, set to begin later in the day, threatens to inflame tensions that are already rife in the restive city amid nearly 600 days of war in Gaza.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Every time, I was sure this was the end': Former IDF hostage in Gaza says one of her biggest fears was Israeli strikes
An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier released during a ceasefire-hostage deal has said one of her biggest fears during captivity were strikes carried out by Israel. Na'ama Levy, one of five IDF female soldiers released in January, made the comments during a weekly rally at Tel Aviv's Hostage Square on Sunday demanding the return of hostages. 'They (strikes) come unexpectedly. At first you hear the whistles, you pray that it won't fall on us, and then – the explosions, a noise so loud that it paralyzes the body, and the ground shakes,' Levy told a crowd of thousands. 'Every time, I was sure that this was the end of me. It was one of the scariest things I experienced there and that's also what endangered me more than anything,' she continued, describing an incident where a strike caused the house she was in to partially collapse. 'That was my reality. It's their reality now,' she said, referring to those still in captivity. 'Even now, at this very moment, there are hostages who hear those whistles and explosions, they're there trembling with fear. They have nowhere to run, only to pray and cling to the walls with a terrible feeling of helplessness.' The comments from Levy come as the families of Israeli captives held in Gaza intensify their criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and as Israel comes under growing pressure to end the war in Gaza. Earlier this month, Netanyahu said that defeating Israel's enemies is the 'supreme objective' and more important than securing the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza – drawing backlash from representatives of hostage families. Levy urged for the return of all Israeli hostages, saying there will be 'no victory' otherwise. 'There's no way in (Israel) they really understand what we're going through and are still leaving us in Gaza.' In the early months of the war, another Israeli hostage expressed similar fears of being killed by Israeli strikes, Israeli media outlet Ynet reported, based on audio it said was leaked from a meeting between released hostages, their families, and Netanyahu. The fear was that 'it would not be Hamas, but Israel, that would kill us, and then they would say Hamas killed you,' said the hostage, who was released in one of the first deals. Levy's comments on Sunday also came after Netanyahu appointed a new chief for the country's Shin Bet security agency on Friday, Maj. Gen David Zini, who has reportedly voiced opposition to hostage deals. The families of hostages have blasted the choice. According to Israel's Channel 12 News, Zini said in meetings of IDF general staff: 'I oppose hostage deals. This is a forever war.' The report does not provide a specific date for Zini's comments. Channel 12 says it was a position he repeated often over the past year. 'If the report is accurate, these are shocking statements, worthy of unequivocal condemnation, especially coming from someone who is expected to hold the fate of the hostages in his hands,' the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement at the time. In his previous position as the head of the Training Command and General Staff Corps in the IDF, Zini had little influence on hostage negotiations. But as head of the Shin Bet, he could have a significant role considering the agency's participation in previous rounds of indirect negotiations with Hamas. 'Appointing a Shin Bet chief who prioritizes (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu's war over the return of the hostages is a sin upon a crime and an injustice to the entire people of Israel - a blow to the value of solidarity and the sacred duty to leave no one behind,' the forum said. In recent weeks, Israel has come under growing pressure to end the war in Gaza as the enclave faces widespread starvation amid a severe shortage of humanitarian aid. The United Kingdom has paused trade talks and sanctioned extremist settlers in the West Bank. Canada and France have threatened sanctions. And the European Union – Israel's biggest trade partner – is reviewing its landmark Association Agreement with the country. In the words of one Israeli minister, their patience has worn thin over Israel's decision to expand the war. The kidnapping of Levy emerged as one of the first to make headlines as the Hamas-led October 7 attack unfolded. Video released by Hamas showed Levy, who was aged 19 at the time, being dragged by her hair at gunpoint with her hands bound.
Associated Press
7 days ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Live updates: Israeli strikes pound Gaza as a US-backed group plans to start aid operations
Israeli strikes pounded the Gaza Strip early on Monday, killing dozens, including people sleeping in a school-turned-shelter, local health officials said. The Israeli military said it targeted militants operating from the school. Israel has vowed to seize control of Gaza and keep fighting until Hamas is destroyed or disarmed and exiled, and until the militant group returns the remaining 58 hostages, a third of them believed to be alive, from the Oct. 7, 2023 attack that ignited the war. Israel had blocked all food, medicine and fuel from entering Gaza for 2 1/2 months before letting a trickle of aid enter last week, after experts' warnings of famine and pressure from some of Israel's top allies. A new aid system, with a group called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation that's supported by Israel and the United States but rejected by U.N. agencies and aid groups, is expected to begin operations as early as Monday, despite the resignation of the American leading the effort, who said it would not be able to operate independently. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in the October 2023 attack. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed around 54,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. Here's the latest: The Israeli military says 3 projectiles have been fired from Gaza The military says the projectiles were fired toward southern Israel. Two landed inside Gaza and one was intercepted by Israel's missile defense system. Militants in Gaza still occasionally fire rockets toward Israel, a sign of their tenacity even after more than 19 months of grueling war in the territory and an intensifying Israeli offensive. A US-backed group still plans to begin aid distribution in Gaza after its director resigns The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says it's still going ahead with its launch on Monday despite the unexpected resignation of its American executive director over the weekend. Jake Wood said he was resigning because the organization would not be allowed to operate independently. The foundation — made up of former humanitarian, government and military officials — is the linchpin of a new aid system for Gaza that would wrest aid distribution away from aid groups who have traditionally carried out the task. 'We will not be deterred. Our trucks are loaded and ready to go,' GHF said in a statement. The group said it planned to reach more than 1 million Palestinians by the end of the week. The U.N. has rejected the new aid mechanism, saying it allows Israel to use food as a weapon, violates human humanitarian principles and won't be effective. Australia's prime minister calls Israel's blockade of Gaza aid 'outrageous' It was the strongest language to date from Anthony Albanese on the Gaza humanitarian crisis. 'It is outrageous that there be a blockade of food and supplies to people who are in need in Gaza,' Albanese told reporters in the Australian capital Canberra on Monday. Israel has blocked all food, medicine and fuel from entering Gaza for 2 1/2 months before letting a trickle of aid enter last week. It says the militant Hamas group has been siphoning off aid. U.N. aid groups say there is no significant divergence of aid. Albanese said he had recently told Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Rome that Australia finds 'Israel's excuses and explanations completely untenable and without credibility.' 'People are starving, and the idea that a democratic state withholds supply is an outrage,' he added. More on a Gaza tragedy: A mother and doctor loses 9 of her 10 children Pediatrician Alaa al-Najjar lost nine of her 10 children in an Israeli strike on Friday at their home near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, according to her colleagues and the enclave's Health Ministry. Only one child, an 11-year-old, and al-Najjar's husband, also a doctor, survived but were badly hurt. Al-Najjar, a pediatrician at Nasser Hospital, was on duty at the time and ran home to find her family's house on fire, said Ahmad al-Farra, head of the hospital's pediatric department. The dead children ranged in age from 7 months to 12 years old. Israel has said 'the claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review.' It blames Hamas for civilian deaths because it operates in densely populated areas.
