Israel-Palestine category
Israel reopening Gaza’s border crossing with Egypt on Sunday after long closure
JERUSALEM — Israel said Friday that it will reopen the pedestrian border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt in both directions over the weekend, marking an important step forward for U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza,...
Rafah crossing is Gaza’s lifeline to the world and could open soon
CAIRO — Palestinians are eagerly awaiting the reopening of the Rafah border crossing, which is Gaza’s lifeline and only gateway to the outside world that wasn’t controlled by Israel before the war. The opening is expected after Israel on Monday announced that the remains of the final hostage in Gaza,...
Israel says the remains of the final hostage in Gaza have been recovered
JERUSALEM — Israel says the remains of the final hostage in Gaza have been recovered, clearing the way for the next phase of the ceasefire that stopped the Israel-Hamas war. Monday’s announcement came a day after Israel’s government said the military was conducting a “large-scale operation” in a cemetery in...
U.S. envoys meet with Netanyahu, urge Israel to move into the 2nd phase of Gaza ceasefire
CAIRO — American officials met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, urging Israel to move into the second phase of the ceasefire that stopped the war in Gaza. Netanyahu met with President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and Middle East adviser, according to the...
Israeli crews target UN facilities for Palestinian refugees in east Jerusalem
JERUSALEM — Israeli forces on Tuesday targeted at least two United Nations facilities, pushing forward with its crackdown against the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees tasked with delivering humanitarian services to millions of people across the region. Crews began bulldozing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency ‘s offices in...
White House names some leaders with roles in next steps in Gaza, while Palestinian committee meets
CAIRO — The White House released the names of some of the leaders who will play a role in overseeing next steps in Gaza after the Palestinian committee set to govern the territory under U.S. supervision met for the first time Friday in Cairo. The committee’s leader, Ali Shaath, an...
Netanyahu says announced start of Gaza ceasefire’s next phase is a ‘declarative move’
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cast the U.S. announcement that the fragile ceasefire in Gaza would advance to its second phase as largely symbolic, raising questions about how its more challenging elements will be carried out. Speaking late Wednesday with the parents of the...
Howling winds send walls crashing down on Gaza tent camps, killing 4
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — At least four people were killed overnight in Gaza after walls collapsed onto their tents from strong winds that lashed the Palestinian coastal territory, hospital authorities said Tuesday. Dangerous living conditions persist in Gaza after more than two years of devastating Israeli bombardment and aid...
Israeli strikes kill at least 13 across Gaza, as Trump is expected to announce Board of Peace
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes across Gaza have killed at least 13 people, according to health officials, as U.S. President Donald Trump was expected to announce his Board of Peace to oversee the fragile ceasefire. Health officials and family members said at least one child was among the...
Israel clears final hurdle to start settlement construction that would cut the West Bank in 2
JERUSALEM — Israel has cleared the final hurdle before starting construction on a controversial settlement project near Jerusalem that would effectively cut the West Bank into two, according to a government tender. The tender, seeking bids from developers, would clear the way to begin construction of the E1 project. The...
Israel says it will halt operations of several humanitarian organizations in Gaza starting in 2026
JERUSALEM — Israel on Tuesday said it will suspend over two dozen humanitarian organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, for failing to meet its new rules to vet international organizations working in Gaza. The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs said the organizations that will be banned on Jan. 1 did not meet...
Trump and Netanyahu are to meet in Florida at a crucial moment for the U.S.-backed Gaza ceasefire
PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, as Washington looks to create fresh momentum for a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza that could be in danger of stalling before a complicated second phase. Trump could use the face-to-face at...
3 Palestinians arrested on suspicion of torching a Christmas tree at a Catholic church in West Bank
Three Palestinians have been arrested on suspicion of setting fire to a Christmas tree and damaging part of a Nativity scene at a Catholic Church in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinian Authority police said. Police said late Wednesday that the arrests were made after reviewing surveillance footage....
Ex-aide says Netanyahu tasked him with making a plan to evade responsibility for Oct. 7 attack
JERUSALEM — A former close aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that immediately following the October 2023 Hamas attack that triggered Israel’s two-year war in Gaza, the Israeli leader instructed him to figure out how the premier could evade responsibility for the security breach. Former Netanyahu spokesperson Eli Feldstein,...
Israel launches intense airstrikes in Lebanon as deadline looms to disarm Hezbollah
BEIRUT — Israel carried out a series of airstrikes on southern and northeastern Lebanon on Thursday as a deadline looms to disarm the militant Hezbollah group along the countries’ tense frontier. The strikes came a day before a meeting of the committee monitoring the enforcement of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that...
Hamas confirms the death of a top commander in Gaza after Israeli strike
JERUSALEM — Hamas on Sunday confirmed the death of a top commander in Gaza, a day after Israel said it had killed Raed Saad in a strike outside Gaza City. The Hamas statement described Saad as the commander of its military manufacturing unit. Israel had described him as an architect...
Netanyahu says Israel and Hamas will enter ceasefire’s 2nd phase soon
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel and Hamas are “very shortly expected to move into the second phase of the ceasefire,” after Hamas returns the remains of the last hostage held in Gaza. Netanyahu spoke during a news conference with visiting German Chancellor...
A single hostage still in Gaza after identification of Thai worker’s remains
JERUSALEM — Remains that militants in Gaza handed to Israel as part of the first phase of the ceasefire deal were those of a Thai agricultural worker, Israeli and Thai officials said Thursday. The return of Sudthisak Rinthalak’s remains leaves just one more hostage to be returned under the agreement....
Israel receives remains of possible hostage and plans to reopen Gaza crossing into Egypt
JERUSALEM — Israel received remains of what could be one of the last hostages in Gaza on Wednesday and said it will begin allowing Palestinians to leave the war-torn territory through a border crossing with Egypt. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said an attack by militants earlier in the day...
Israel says it receives ‘findings’ handed over by Palestinian militants in Gaza
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israel on Tuesday said it had received “findings” handed over by Palestinian militants in Gaza to the Red Cross. They were believed to be remains of one of the two hostages still in the territory: an Israeli and a Thai national. Israel’s government said they...
Israeli forces kill at least 13 in southern Syria raid, officials and residents say
DAMASCUS, Syria — Israeli forces in southern Syria raided a village and opened fire when they were confronted by residents on Friday, killing at least 13, Syrian officials said, as Israel fights on a number of fronts while the shaky ceasefire in Gaza moves forward. Syria’s Foreign Ministry said in...
Israeli forces kill Palestinian men in West Bank after they appear to surrender
JERUSALEM — Israeli forces on Thursday killed a pair of Palestinian men in the occupied West Bank after they appeared to surrender to troops, drawing Palestinian accusations that the men were executed “in cold blood.” The Israeli military said it was investigating. The killings, captured in videos shown on two...
Israel says it has received another set of human remains from militants in Gaza
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israel on Tuesday said it received human remains that Palestinian militants handed over to the Red Cross, but it was not immediately clear if they were one of three hostages remaining in the Gaza Strip. The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the remains...
U.S.-backed aid company in Gaza shutters operations
JERUSALEM — A controversial U.S.- and Israel-backed company that provided aid to Gaza said Monday it would shutter operations. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation had already closed distribution sites after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect six weeks ago in Gaza. It announced Monday that it was permanently shutting down, claiming it...
Israel launches new strikes in Gaza against Hamas in ceasefire’s latest test
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israel’s military on Saturday said it launched airstrikes against Hamas militants in Gaza in the latest test of the ceasefire that began on Oct. 10. Health officials in Gaza reported at least 14 people killed and another 45 wounded, including children. Similar waves of strikes...
