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Sha’ban al-Sayed, whose mentally ill civilian son entered Gaza in 2015, says he has found allyship among families of kidnapped IsraelisIn Israel it’s impossible to miss the faces of the 130 or so Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas: they are plastered across walls, hung from balconies, and digital versions are now screensavers on passport reading machines at the airport. “Bring...

More than a million civilians sheltering in Gaza’s last place of relative safety brace for all-out assaultMiddle East crisis: latest news updatesAirstrikes on the Gaza Strip’s southernmost town of Rafah have killed at least 44 people as more than a million civilians sheltering in the area brace for the possibility of a full-scale Israeli ground offensive on the territory’s last place of relative safety.As...

European chief diplomat Josep Borell says 1.4 million Palestinians in southern Gaza city are ‘without safe place to go, facing starvation’Iran’s football federation said on Saturday it had asked world football’s governing body, Fifa, to suspend Israel’s football federation over the country’s war in Gaza, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).In an announcement posted on the Iranian football federation’s website, Iran asked Fifa to “completely suspend”...

Joe Biden says he is working to achieve a sustained pause in fighting in Palestinian territoryIsraeli protesters have gathered in front of the Nitzana crossing with the Egyptian border, blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, reports Al Jazeera citing social media posts by Israeli activists.It also posted the below X update by Almog Booker, a reporter for Channel 13 who shared footage that he...

Exclusive: IDF troops shed light on their experience of fighting in the territory, where Palestinian casualties have passed 27,700Demobilised Israeli reservists have described how they deployed massive fire power in a brutal, complex and often one-sided war of sporadic but intense clashes that has reduced much of Gaza to ruins.They spoke, too, of the challenge of fighting on unfamiliar ground that is well-known to...

Letter sent to UN raises concerns about Alice Wairimu Nderitu’s ability to act with ‘effectiveness and impartiality’Leading Palestinian human rights groups have accused the UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide of failing to fulfil her mandate after she issued only one statement on the war in Gaza – largely supportive of Israel – that has claimed 26,000 Palestinian lives.In a statement issued...

Immigration minister Marc Miller frustrated by impasse over list of about 1,000 people trapped in Palestinian territoryCanada’s immigration minister, Marc Miller, has said he is “pissed off” that extended family members of Canadians are being blocked from leaving war-torn Gaza.Ottawa last month provided a list of about 1,000 people approved to come to Canada to Israeli and Egyptian authorities, who jointly control the only...

Qatar says Hamas ‘generally positive’ about proposals, while pressure grows on Netanyahu government over handling of crisisIsrael has said it has informed the families of 31 people held in the territory since 7 October that their relatives are dead. The news came as the Qatari prime minister said Hamas had given a “generally positive” response to proposals for a deal trading a break in...

Qatar’s prime minister and US secretary of state say Hamas has responded to outlines of proposed dealWhen the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, launched his devastating assault on Israel on 7 October, the militant group’s exiled leadership, like the rest of the world, was apparently caught unawares.From plush penthouses in Beirut, Doha and Istanbul, they watched the carnage that killed 1,200 Israelis...

Iran-backed group says airstrikes ‘will not deter us’ after targets hit following continued Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red SeaRead all our Middle East coverageIran has denounced the latest US and UK strikes on targets in Yemen saying they “contradict” their declared intention of avoiding a wider Middle East conflict, AFP reports.These attacks are “in clear contradiction with the repeated claims of Washington...

Hundreds killed and injured in central Gaza Strip while Palestinians crowd into camps and the city of Rafah• Middle East crisis – live updatesIsraeli forces struck densely populated areas across the middle and southern Gaza Strip in a midnight attack on Friday and early Saturday, killing at least 25 people amid fears of an impending push south by ground troops as pressure builds for...

Some see the US president’s executive order imposing sanctions on settlers who violently attack Palestinians as a bid to win supportWas Joe Biden’s announcement of unprecedented US sanctions against Israeli settlers in occupied Palestine a sign of political weakness at home, or of a newly found willingness to assert American influence over Israel?The president signed the executive order imposing financial and travel sanctions on...

Qatar says Hamas ‘received proposal positively’, while Unicef says 17,000 Gaza children left unaccompaniedUS airstrikes in Iraq and Syria – live updatesIsrael and Hamas appear to be inching closer towards a deal for a ceasefire and a release of some of the hostages still being held by the militant group in Gaza, while the UN children’s agency has warned that 17,000 children have been...

Defence minister Yoav Gallant’s announcement comes despite presence of more than 1 million civilians in citySaudi Arabia would be willing to accept a political commitment from Israel to create a Palestinian state, rather than anything more binding, in a bid to get a defence pact with Washington approved before the US presidential election, three sources have told Reuters. The news agency reports:Months of US-led...

Foreign secretary suggests after a ceasefire, UK would not need to wait for end of what could be years of talks on a two-state solutionThe UK could officially recognise a Palestinian state after a ceasefire in Gaza without waiting for the outcome of what could be years of talks between Israel and the Palestinians on a two-state solution, David Cameron has said.Speaking during a...

Two ministers said to have suggested move as part of efforts to free hostages and weaken Hamas, which they claim hijacks suppliesMiddle East crisis – live updatesMinisters in Israel’s war cabinet are reportedly considering limiting the amount of aid reaching Gaza, as rightwing protesters disrupt the entry of trucks carrying desperately needed humanitarian supplies to the besieged Palestinian territory.Benny Gantz, a retired general who...

Leader of Hamas heads to Cairo talks, with many families of Israeli hostages pressing for a negotiated releaseMiddle East crisis – live updatesHeavy bombardment of Gaza continued on Wednesday as the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was expected to arrive in Cairo to discuss a ceasefire proposal in the Israel-Gaza war that would reportedly involve the staged release of Israeli hostages.A Hamas official said Haniyeh...

Crisis in southern Gaza only set to worsen in coming days as Israeli forces push deeper into Khan YounisMiddle East crisis – live updatesHaneen Harara wakes up each morning in the southern Gazan city of Rafah thinking about the long queues and crowds that stand between her and the survival basics of food, water and medical care.The film-maker and employee at a Dutch charity...

Proposed truce is the most serious peace initiative to be tabled for months; Iran reacts after Biden says he has decided on response to Jordan drone strikeOvernight the US central command reported that Yemen’s Houthis fired one anti-ship cruise missile towards the Red Sea, which was shot down by USS Gravely.The attack was at 11.30pm local time. Continue reading...

Israeli PM also says he will not accept any truce that would require release of thousands of Palestinian prisonersMiddle East crisis – live updatesBenjamin Netanyahu has said he will not accept any ceasefire deal that requires the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners or the departure of Israeli troops from Gaza, as the Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, said he was willing to travel to...

Counter-terrorism officers enter Jenin’s Ibn Sina hospital wearing doctors’ scrubs and women’s clothesMiddle East crisis – live updatesIsraeli forces dressed in doctors’ scrubs and women’s clothes have killed three Palestinian militants in an undercover operation in a hospital in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.A border police counter-terrorism unit and a unit from the internal security forces, known as the Shin Bet, entered...

Israeli forces storm Ibn Sina hospital in Jenin, reports say; UN secretary general to host meeting after countries suspend fundingThe Wafa Palestinian news agency reports that “dozens of Palestinian civilians” have been killed today by Israeli airstrikes, including “intense and fierce airstrikes at the city of Rafah”, which is in the south of the Gaza Strip and is one of the areas Israel’s military...

Satellite imagery and open-source evidence lay bare the destruction to civilian infrastructure by Israel in its war on HamasA Guardian investigation has detailed the mass destruction of buildings and land in three neighbourhoods in Gaza.Using satellite imagery and open-source evidence, the investigation found damage to more than 250 residential buildings, 17 schools and universities, 16 mosques, three hospitals, three cemeteries and 150 agricultural greenhouses....

US, Qatari, Israeli and Egyptian officials met in Paris and will continue to discuss optionsMiddle East crisis – live updatesTalks on Sunday initiated by Qatar, the US and Egypt aimed at brokering a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas were “constructive” but meaningful gaps remain, a statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office has said.The statement said the parties would continue to hold discussions...