Latest news with #Israe
The Hill
12-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Hamas says it released American-Israeli hostage in goodwill gesture toward Trump administration
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli-American soldier held hostage for more than 19 months in the Gaza Strip was released Monday, Hamas said, in a goodwill gesture toward the Trump administration that could lay the groundwork for a new ceasefire with Israel. The Israeli military confirmed that Edan Alexander had been turned over to the Red Cross and was being brought to Israeli forces. Alexander was taken from his military base in southern Israel during Hamas' cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which set off the war in Gaza. His release would be the first since Israel shattered an eight-week ceasefire with Hamas in March, unleashing fierce strikes on Gaza that have killed hundreds. Israel has promised to intensify its offensive, including by seizing the territory and displacing much of its population again. Days before the ceasefire ended, Israel blocked all imports from entering the Palestinian enclave, deepening a humanitarian crisis and sparking warnings about the risk of famine if the blockade isn't lifted. Israel says the steps are meant to pressure Hamas to accept a ceasefire agreement on Israel's terms. Israel says 59 hostages including Alexander remain in captivity, with about 24 of them said to be alive. Many of the 250 hostages taken by Hamas-led militants in the 2023 attack were freed in ceasefire deals. Television footage showed Alexander's mother, Yael Alexander, arriving at the Reim military base in southern Israel, where her son was expected to be taken first. Alexander's grandmother, Varda Ben Baruch, said she had barely been able to sleep and had baked Edan's favorite foods, some of which she sent to the military base. Hamas on Sunday announced its intention to release Alexander, shortly before U.S. President Donald Trump is set to arrive Tuesday in the Middle East on the first official foreign trip of his second term. Trump on Sunday called the planned release 'a step taken in good faith towards the United States and the efforts of the mediators — Qatar and Egypt — to put an end to this very brutal war and return ALL living hostages and remains to their loved ones.' 'Hopefully this is the first of those final steps necessary to end this brutal conflict. I look very much forward to that day of celebration!' Trump said on social media. Trump, who is traveling to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, is not scheduled to stop in Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Monday with the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff and the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, and discussed efforts to release the remaining hostages, his office said. 'To this end, Prime Minister Netanyahu directed that a negotiations team leave for Doha tomorrow,' the prime minister's office said, adding that Netanyahu had 'made it clear that the negotiations would only take place under fire.' The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group representing relatives of hostages, welcomed the news that an Israeli delegation was headed to Doha for talks. 'While Edan Alexander's release gives us hope, all 58 of our loved ones must come home. Time is running out. These negotiations must bring everyone back,' the group said in a statement. 'Trump's plan offers a real path to freeing all hostages immediately. Every passing day puts their lives at greater risk. We cannot wait any longer.' On Monday, a statement from Netanyahu's office said Israel was not granting any concessions for Alexander's release. The statement said Israel did not commit to a ceasefire or the freeing of Palestinian prisoners as part of the release and that it had only agreed to create a 'safe corridor' to allow for Alexander to be returned. The statement said Israel would carry on with plans to ramp up its offensive in Gaza. Israel says it won't launch that plan until after Trump's visit to the Middle East, to allow for a potential new ceasefire deal to emerge. A statement by the office on Sunday said the U.S. had told Israel that Alexander's release could lead to a new deal with Hamas to free more hostages. Israel's involvement in Alexander's expected release wasn't immediately clear. But it created a backlash against Netanyahu, with critics accusing him of having to rely on a foreign leader to help free the remaining hostages. At the opening of his trial for alleged corruption, where he is giving testimony, a woman in the courtroom asked whether he was 'ashamed that the president of the United States is saving his citizens, and he is leaving them to die there in captivity.' Critics assert that Netanyahu's insistence on keeping up the war in Gaza is politically motivated. Netanyahu says he aims to achieve Israel's goals of freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas. Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people in the 2023 attack. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 52,800 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants or civilians. Israel's offensive has obliterated vast swaths of Gaza's urban landscape and displaced 90% of the population, often multiple times. ___ Magdy reported from Cairo and Goldenberg from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP's war coverage at
CNA
22-04-2025
- Politics
- CNA
Hamas team heads to Cairo for Gaza talks as Israel strikes kill 26
CAIRO: A Hamas delegation left for Cairo to discuss "new ideas" aimed at securing a ceasefire in Gaza, an official from the group said, as rescuers reported 26 dead in Israeli air strikes on Tuesday (Apr 22). The renewed diplomatic effort follows Hamas's rejection last week of Israel's latest proposal to secure the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip. Talks have so far failed to produce any breakthrough since Israel resumed its air and ground assault from Mar 18, ending a two-month ceasefire. The Hamas delegation, led by the group's chief negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya, "will meet with Egyptian officials to discuss new ideas aimed at reaching a ceasefire", said the official. The discussions come a day after new US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee urged Hamas to accept a deal that would secure the release of hostages in exchange for humanitarian aid entering Gaza. "When that happens, and hostages are released which is an urgent matter for all of us, then we hope that the humanitarian aid will flow and flow freely knowing it will be done without Hamas being able to confiscate and abuse their own people", Huckabee said in a video statement. Israel has accused Hamas of diverting aid, which Palestinian militant group denies. Israel blocked all aid to Gaza on Mar 2, days before its renewed offensive began. "Gaza has become a land of desperation," Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, said on X on Tuesday. "Hunger is spreading and deepening, deliberate and manmade.... Humanitarian aid is being used as a bargaining chip and a weapon of war." Qatar, with the United States and Egypt, brokered a truce in Gaza between Israel and Hamas which began on January 19 and enabled a surge in aid, alongside exchanges of hostages and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody. But the truce collapsed after disagreements over the terms of the next stage. Hamas had insisted that negotiations be held on a second phase of the truce, leading to a permanent end to the war, as outlined in the January framework announced by former US president Joe Biden. Israel, however, sought to extend the first phase. Following the impasse, Israel blocked aid and resumed its military campaign. On Tuesday, Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes killed at least 26 people across the Hamas-run territory. Nine people died when a house was struck in Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza, civil defence official Mohammad Mughayyir told AFP, adding that others were trapped. "We found people torn apart," said Ahmad Shourab who witnessed the strike. "They were all women and children. What do they want from us?" Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said air strikes also destroyed bulldozers and other equipment belonging to the Jabalia municipality in northern Gaza. "We relied on them for rescue operations to clear debris and recover the bodies of martyrs from beneath the rubble", as well as to "save lives, pull people from the rubble", Bassal said. The Israeli military said it struck some "40 engineering vehicles used for terror purposes, including during the October 7 massacre", referring to Hamas's 2023 attack that sparked the war. "Hamas has used these vehicles for planting explosives, digging underground routes, breaching fences and clearing rubble to locate weapons and military equipment hidden by the terrorist organisation beneath the rubble". At least 1,890 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel resumed its offensive, bringing the total death toll since the war erupted to at least 51,266, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Militants also abducted 251 people, 58 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel-Hamas war
MTV Lebanon
07-02-2025
- Politics
- MTV Lebanon
Ortagus from Baabda: Hezbollah Will Not Be Part of the Government
US envoy Morgan Ortagus confirmed that Hezbollah will not be part of the Lebanese government. After meeting with President Joseph Aoun at Baabda Palace, Ortagus stated: "This is my first visit outside the United States, and I am grateful to President Aoun and the government; there is a large Lebanese community in America." She added, "I conveyed to President Aoun that I have never seen such enthusiasm about Lebanon's future, and this is important because Hezbollah was defeated by Israe." She emphasized that Hezbollah had been defeated militarily, saying, "The era of its intimidation in Lebanon and the world has ended." Ortagus continued, "We will ensure that Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons and does not cause instability in Lebanon and the region."
