Tag: gaza ceasefire

Trump makes the case for his foreign policy approach at State of the Union

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President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address tilted heavily on domestic issues, but he also made the case for his foreign policy efforts to Americans who are increasingly uneasy about his priorities.The president cheered brokering a fragile ceasefire deal in Gaza and his team’s bringing home hostages taken by Hamas militants, capturing autocratic leader Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela and pressing fellow NATO members to increase defense spending among his biggest wins. He also warned Iran anew as he builds up U.S. forces in the region and weighs whether to carry out new military action against Tehran.At a moment when polls show the American public increasingly concerned about the economy, Trump’s assignment Tuesday evening also was to cut through thickening skepticism that he’s staying true to his “America First” philosophy after a year in which his focus was often far from home. It’s a wariness shared by some who once counted themselves among Trump’s closest allies.But Trump attempted to make the case that he’s taking the right approach balancing domestic policy concerns while using America’s military might when needed.”As president, I will make peace wherever I can, but I will never hesitate to confront threats to America wherever we must,” Trump said.Sixty-one percent of U.S. adults said they disapprove of how Trump is handling foreign policy, while 56% say Trump has “gone too far” in using the U.S. military to intervene in other countries, according to surveys from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research conducted earlier this month and in January.Here are a few moments where Trump sought to explain his foreign policy approach 13 months into his second term:Why he is talking about attacking Iran againTrump explained to Americans why he’s pondering military action, just eight months after he claimed that U.S. strikes had “obliterated” three critical Iranian nuclear facilities and left “the bully of the Middle East” with no choice but to make peace.”We wiped it out and they want to start all over again. And they’re at this moment again pursuing their sinister ambitions,” Trump said. “We are in negotiations with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words: We will never have a nuclear weapon.”Earlier Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X: “Our fundamental convictions are crystal clear: Iran will under no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon.”Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are scheduled to meet again Thursday in Geneva with Iranian officials.But the pathway to a deal seems murky as the authoritarian clerics who rule Iran say they will only discuss the nuclear issue. The U.S. and Israel also want to address Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for regional armed proxies, including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis.Trump struggles to end the war in UkraineTuesday also marked the four-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.On the campaign trail, Trump boasted that he would be able to end the war in one day, but he has struggled to fulfill his pledge.He made scant mention of the war in his record-setting 108-minute speech.”The killing and slaughter between Russia and Ukraine, where 25,000 soldiers are dying each and every month,” Trump said, reiterating that he’s working to end the war.Russian and Ukrainian officials are negotiating in U.S.-mediated talks but are at loggerheads over key issues, including Russian demands that Kyiv concede Ukrainian territory still in its control and who will get the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe.Trump appears eager for a peace deal before the U.S. midterm elections despite the challenges. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the White House has set a June deadline for the war’s end and will likely pressure both sides to meet it.Video below: Catch up on the State of the Union address in 60 secondsAnother victory lap on Maduro and focus on Western HemisphereTrump again celebrated last month’s capture of the Venezuelan leader in an audacious military operation, saying the U.S. “just received from our new friend and partner, Venezuela, more than 80 million barrels of oil.” The Trump administration had previously said it was orchestrating the effort to sell a total of about 30 to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil that had been stranded by a partial blockade imposed by the administration.Trump paid tribute to a helicopter pilot who was wounded in the operation but still managed to carry out the mission and paused to award him the Congressional Medal of Honor.He also introduced a former political prisoner, Enrique Márquez, who was freed by the Venezuelan government last month following the U.S. operation. He was a presidential candidate in the 2024 election and a former member of the National Electoral Council.”This was an absolutely colossal victory for the security of the United States,” Trump boasted.Trump’s action against Maduro, coupled with an increasingly aggressive posture in the Western Hemisphere aimed at eliminating drug trafficking and illegal migration, are a concern for many in the region — although they also have won support from some smaller countries.Trump has likened the strategy to the Monroe Doctrine, with its rejection of outside influences and assertion of U.S. primacy throughout what the administration considers to be “America’s backyard.”U.S. forces, under Trump’s orders, have carried out dozens of military strikes on alleged drug-running vessels in the Caribbean, seized sanctioned oil tankers and tightened the embargo of Cuba as part of what the president is referring to as the “Donroe Doctrine.””We’re also restoring American security and dominance in the Western Hemisphere, acting to secure our national interests and defend our country from violence, drugs, terrorism and foreign interference,” Trump said.Tariff strategy following Supreme Court rulingThe president ahead of the address ridiculed the six justices, including two conservatives he appointed in his first term, who last week struck down his use of a 1977 legal authority he had cited for most of the tariff hikes he imposed over the past year on friends and foes alike.In his speech, he took a more measured tone, calling the decision “an unfortunate ruling from the United States Supreme Court.”Trump on Monday threatened countries around the world to abide by any tariff deals they have already agreed to.Any country that wants to “play games” with the Supreme Court decision, Trump posted on social media, will be met with “a much higher Tariff, and worse, than that which they just recently agreed to.””The good news is almost all countries and corporations want to keep the deal that they already made,” Trump said Tuesday. He added, “The legal power that I, as president, have to make a new deal could be far worse for them and therefore they will continue to work along the same successful path we had negotiated before the Supreme Court’s unfortunate involvement.”___Associated Press writers Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, and Colin Binkley, Jonathan J. Cooper and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed reporting

WASHINGTON —

President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address tilted heavily on domestic issues, but he also made the case for his foreign policy efforts to Americans who are increasingly uneasy about his priorities.

The president cheered brokering a fragile ceasefire deal in Gaza and his team’s bringing home hostages taken by Hamas militants, capturing autocratic leader Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela and pressing fellow NATO members to increase defense spending among his biggest wins. He also warned Iran anew as he builds up U.S. forces in the region and weighs whether to carry out new military action against Tehran.

At a moment when polls show the American public increasingly concerned about the economy, Trump’s assignment Tuesday evening also was to cut through thickening skepticism that he’s staying true to his “America First” philosophy after a year in which his focus was often far from home. It’s a wariness shared by some who once counted themselves among Trump’s closest allies.

But Trump attempted to make the case that he’s taking the right approach balancing domestic policy concerns while using America’s military might when needed.

“As president, I will make peace wherever I can, but I will never hesitate to confront threats to America wherever we must,” Trump said.

Sixty-one percent of U.S. adults said they disapprove of how Trump is handling foreign policy, while 56% say Trump has “gone too far” in using the U.S. military to intervene in other countries, according to surveys from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research conducted earlier this month and in January.

Here are a few moments where Trump sought to explain his foreign policy approach 13 months into his second term:

Why he is talking about attacking Iran again

Trump explained to Americans why he’s pondering military action, just eight months after he claimed that U.S. strikes had “obliterated” three critical Iranian nuclear facilities and left “the bully of the Middle East” with no choice but to make peace.

“We wiped it out and they want to start all over again. And they’re at this moment again pursuing their sinister ambitions,” Trump said. “We are in negotiations with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words: We will never have a nuclear weapon.”

Earlier Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X: “Our fundamental convictions are crystal clear: Iran will under no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon.”

Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are scheduled to meet again Thursday in Geneva with Iranian officials.

But the pathway to a deal seems murky as the authoritarian clerics who rule Iran say they will only discuss the nuclear issue. The U.S. and Israel also want to address Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for regional armed proxies, including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis.

Trump struggles to end the war in Ukraine

Tuesday also marked the four-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

On the campaign trail, Trump boasted that he would be able to end the war in one day, but he has struggled to fulfill his pledge.

He made scant mention of the war in his record-setting 108-minute speech.

“The killing and slaughter between Russia and Ukraine, where 25,000 soldiers are dying each and every month,” Trump said, reiterating that he’s working to end the war.

Russian and Ukrainian officials are negotiating in U.S.-mediated talks but are at loggerheads over key issues, including Russian demands that Kyiv concede Ukrainian territory still in its control and who will get the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe.

Trump appears eager for a peace deal before the U.S. midterm elections despite the challenges. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the White House has set a June deadline for the war’s end and will likely pressure both sides to meet it.

Video below: Catch up on the State of the Union address in 60 seconds

Another victory lap on Maduro and focus on Western Hemisphere

Trump again celebrated last month’s capture of the Venezuelan leader in an audacious military operation, saying the U.S. “just received from our new friend and partner, Venezuela, more than 80 million barrels of oil.” The Trump administration had previously said it was orchestrating the effort to sell a total of about 30 to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil that had been stranded by a partial blockade imposed by the administration.

Trump paid tribute to a helicopter pilot who was wounded in the operation but still managed to carry out the mission and paused to award him the Congressional Medal of Honor.

He also introduced a former political prisoner, Enrique Márquez, who was freed by the Venezuelan government last month following the U.S. operation. He was a presidential candidate in the 2024 election and a former member of the National Electoral Council.

“This was an absolutely colossal victory for the security of the United States,” Trump boasted.

Trump’s action against Maduro, coupled with an increasingly aggressive posture in the Western Hemisphere aimed at eliminating drug trafficking and illegal migration, are a concern for many in the region — although they also have won support from some smaller countries.

Trump has likened the strategy to the Monroe Doctrine, with its rejection of outside influences and assertion of U.S. primacy throughout what the administration considers to be “America’s backyard.”

U.S. forces, under Trump’s orders, have carried out dozens of military strikes on alleged drug-running vessels in the Caribbean, seized sanctioned oil tankers and tightened the embargo of Cuba as part of what the president is referring to as the “Donroe Doctrine.”

“We’re also restoring American security and dominance in the Western Hemisphere, acting to secure our national interests and defend our country from violence, drugs, terrorism and foreign interference,” Trump said.

Tariff strategy following Supreme Court ruling

The president ahead of the address ridiculed the six justices, including two conservatives he appointed in his first term, who last week struck down his use of a 1977 legal authority he had cited for most of the tariff hikes he imposed over the past year on friends and foes alike.

In his speech, he took a more measured tone, calling the decision “an unfortunate ruling from the United States Supreme Court.”

Trump on Monday threatened countries around the world to abide by any tariff deals they have already agreed to.

Any country that wants to “play games” with the Supreme Court decision, Trump posted on social media, will be met with “a much higher Tariff, and worse, than that which they just recently agreed to.”

“The good news is almost all countries and corporations want to keep the deal that they already made,” Trump said Tuesday. He added, “The legal power that I, as president, have to make a new deal could be far worse for them and therefore they will continue to work along the same successful path we had negotiated before the Supreme Court’s unfortunate involvement.”

___

Associated Press writers Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, and Colin Binkley, Jonathan J. Cooper and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed reporting

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February 25, 2026
Israeli strikes kill 29 Palestinians, including children, one of highest tolls since ceasefire

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Hospitals in Gaza said Israeli strikes killed at least 29 Palestinians Saturday, one of the highest tolls since the October ceasefire aimed at stopping the war.Israeli strikes hit locations throughout Gaza, including lethal ones on an apartment building in Gaza City and a tent camp in Khan Younis, officials at hospitals that received the bodies said. The casualties included two women and six children from two different families. An airstrike also hit a police station in Gaza City, killing at least 14 and wounding others, Shifa Hospital director Mohamed Abu Selmiya said.Related video above: The last family in a West Bank Bedouin community is forced out after years of Israeli settler intimidationThe series of strikes came a day before the Rafah crossing along the border with Egypt is set to open in Gaza’s southernmost city. All of the territory’s border crossings have been closed throughout almost the entire war. Palestinians see Rafah as a lifeline for the tens of thousands who need treatment outside the territory, where the majority of medical infrastructure has been destroyed.The crossing’s opening, limited at first, marks the first major step in the second phase of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire. Reopening borders is among the challenging issues on the agenda for the phase now underway, which also include demilitarizing the strip after nearly two decades of Hamas rule and installing a new government to oversee reconstruction. Still, Saturday’s strikes are a reminder that the death toll in Gaza is still rising even as the ceasefire agreement inches forward. Nasser Hospital said the strike on the tent camp caused a fire to break out, killing seven, including a father, his three children and three grandchildren. Meanwhile, Shifa Hospital said the Gaza City apartment building strike killed three children, their aunt and grandmother on Saturday morning, while the strike on the police station killed at least 14 — officers, including four policewomen, and inmates held at the station. The Gazan Interior Ministry said Palestinian civilians were also killed in the strike.Hamas called Saturday’s strikes “a renewed flagrant violation” and urged the United States and other mediating countries to push Israel to stop strikes.Israel’s military, which has struck targets on both sides of the ceasefire’s dividing line, said its attacks since October have been responses to violations of the agreement. It said in a statement that Saturday’s strikes followed what it described as ceasefire violations a day earlier, when the army killed at least four militants emerging from a tunnel in an Israeli-controlled area of Rafah.Gaza’s Health Ministry has recorded 509 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire since the start of the ceasefire on Oct. 10. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.___Magdy reported from Cairo and Metz from Jerusalem.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip —

Hospitals in Gaza said Israeli strikes killed at least 29 Palestinians Saturday, one of the highest tolls since the October ceasefire aimed at stopping the war.

Israeli strikes hit locations throughout Gaza, including lethal ones on an apartment building in Gaza City and a tent camp in Khan Younis, officials at hospitals that received the bodies said. The casualties included two women and six children from two different families. An airstrike also hit a police station in Gaza City, killing at least 14 and wounding others, Shifa Hospital director Mohamed Abu Selmiya said.

Related video above: The last family in a West Bank Bedouin community is forced out after years of Israeli settler intimidation

The series of strikes came a day before the Rafah crossing along the border with Egypt is set to open in Gaza’s southernmost city. All of the territory’s border crossings have been closed throughout almost the entire war. Palestinians see Rafah as a lifeline for the tens of thousands who need treatment outside the territory, where the majority of medical infrastructure has been destroyed.

Anadolu
Smoke rises after an airstrike hit a building in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Yunis, Gaza, despite the ceasefire on January 31, 2026. The Israeli army has carried out intense attacks on various areas of the Gaza Strip since the morning.

The crossing’s opening, limited at first, marks the first major step in the second phase of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire. Reopening borders is among the challenging issues on the agenda for the phase now underway, which also include demilitarizing the strip after nearly two decades of Hamas rule and installing a new government to oversee reconstruction.

Still, Saturday’s strikes are a reminder that the death toll in Gaza is still rising even as the ceasefire agreement inches forward.

Nasser Hospital said the strike on the tent camp caused a fire to break out, killing seven, including a father, his three children and three grandchildren. Meanwhile, Shifa Hospital said the Gaza City apartment building strike killed three children, their aunt and grandmother on Saturday morning, while the strike on the police station killed at least 14 — officers, including four policewomen, and inmates held at the station. The Gazan Interior Ministry said Palestinian civilians were also killed in the strike.

Hamas called Saturday’s strikes “a renewed flagrant violation” and urged the United States and other mediating countries to push Israel to stop strikes.

Israel’s military, which has struck targets on both sides of the ceasefire’s dividing line, said its attacks since October have been responses to violations of the agreement. It said in a statement that Saturday’s strikes followed what it described as ceasefire violations a day earlier, when the army killed at least four militants emerging from a tunnel in an Israeli-controlled area of Rafah.

Gaza’s Health Ministry has recorded 509 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire since the start of the ceasefire on Oct. 10. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.

___

Magdy reported from Cairo and Metz from Jerusalem.

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January 31, 2026
Renewed fighting tests Gaza ceasefire and Israel briefly halts aid

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TEL AVIV, Israel — Gaza’s fragile ceasefire faced its first major test Sunday as Israeli forces launched a wave of deadly strikes, saying Hamas militants had killed two soldiers, and an Israeli security official said the transfer of aid into the territory was halted.

The military later said it resumed enforcing the ceasefire, and the official confirmed that aid deliveries would resume Monday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he’s not authorized to discuss the issue with the media.

A little over a week has passed since the start of the U.S.-proposed ceasefire aimed at ending two years of war. There was no immediate U.S. comment.

Health officials said at least 36 Palestinians were killed across Gaza, including children. Israel’s military said it struck dozens of Hamas targets after its troops came under fire.

A senior Egyptian official involved in the ceasefire negotiations said “round-the-clock” contacts were underway to de-escalate the situation. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to reporters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed the military to take “strong action” against any ceasefire violations but didn’t threaten to return to war.

Israel’s military said militants had fired at troops in areas of Rafah city that are Israeli-controlled according to agreed-upon ceasefire lines.

Hamas, which continued to accuse Israel of multiple ceasefire violations, said communication with its remaining units in Rafah had been cut off for months and “we are not responsible for any incidents occurring in those areas.”

Strikes in Gaza

Palestinians feared war would return to the famine-stricken territory where Israel cut off aid for over two months earlier this year after ending the previous ceasefire.

“It will be a nightmare,” said Mahmoud Hashim, a father of five from Gaza City, who appealed to U.S. President Donald Trump and other mediators to act.

Al-Awda hospital said it received 24 bodies from several Israeli strikes in the Nuseirat and Bureij camps in central Gaza.

An airstrike on a makeshift coffeehouse in Zawaida town in central Gaza killed at least six Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government. A strike in Beit Lahiya in the north killed two men, according to Shifa hospital.

Another strike hit a tent in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis in the south, killing at least four people, including a woman and two children, according to Nasser Hospital.

“Where is peace?” said Khadijeh abu-Nofal in Khan Younis, as hospital workers treated wounded children. She accompanied a young woman hurt by shrapnel.

More bodies of hostages identified

Israel identified the remains of two hostages released by Hamas overnight: Ronen Engel, a father from Kibbutz Nir Oz, and Sonthaya Oakkharasri, a Thai agricultural worker from Kibbutz Be’eri.

Both were believed to have been killed during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which sparked the war. Engel’s wife, Karina, and two of his three children were kidnapped and released in a November 2023 ceasefire.

Hamas in the past week has handed over the remains of 12 hostages.

Its armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said it found the body of another hostage and would return it Sunday “if circumstances in the field” allowed. It warned that any escalation by Israel would hamper search efforts.

Israel on Saturday pressed Hamas to fulfill its ceasefire role of returning the remains of all 28 deceased hostages, saying the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt would stay closed “until further notice.” It was the only crossing not controlled by Israel before the war.

Hamas says the war’s devastation and Israeli military control of certain areas have slowed the handover. Israel believes Hamas has access to more bodies than it has returned.

Israel has released 150 bodies of Palestinians back to Gaza, including 15 on Sunday, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Israel has neither identified the bodies nor said how they died. The ministry posts photos of bodies on its website to help families attempting to locate loved ones. Some are decomposed and blackened. Some are missing limbs and teeth.

Only 25 bodies have been identified, the Health Ministry said.

Israel and Hamas earlier exchanged 20 living hostages for more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Ceasefire’s second phase

A Hamas delegation led by chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya arrived in Cairo to follow up the implementation of the ceasefire deal with mediators and other Palestinian groups.

The next stages are expected to focus on disarming Hamas, Israeli withdrawal from additional areas it controls in Gaza, and future governance of the devastated territory. The U.S. plan proposes the establishment of an internationally backed authority.

Hamas spokesman Hazem Kassem said late Saturday that the group has begun discussions to “solidify its positions.” He reiterated that Hamas won’t be part of the ruling authority in a postwar Gaza, and called for the prompt establishment of a body of Palestinian technocrats to run day-to-day affairs.

For now, “government agencies in Gaza continue to perform their duties, as the (power) vacuum is very dangerous,” he said.

The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. Israel has disputed them without providing its own toll.

Thousands more people are missing, according to the Red Cross.

Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in the attack that sparked the war.

___

Magdy reported from Cairo.

Copyright © 2025 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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October 19, 2025
Israel says transfer of aid into Gaza is halted ‘until further notice’ as ceasefire faces major test

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The fragile ceasefire in Gaza faced its first major test Sunday as an Israeli security official said the transfer of aid into the territory is halted “until further notice” after a Hamas ceasefire violation, and Israeli forces launched a wave of strikes.The official spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement on the halt in aid, which is occurring a little over a week since the start of the U.S.-proposed ceasefire aimed at ending two years of war.Israel’s military earlier Sunday said its troops came under fire from Hamas militants in southern Gaza. Health officials said at least 19 Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes in central and southern Gaza.Israel’s military said it had struck dozens of what it called Hamas targets.A senior Egyptian official involved in the ceasefire negotiations said “round-the-clock” contacts were underway to de-escalate the situation. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to reporters.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed the military to take “strong action” against any ceasefire violations but didn’t threaten to return to war.Israel’s military said militants fired at troops in areas of Rafah city that are Israeli-controlled according to the agreed-upon ceasefire lines. No injuries were reported. The military said Israel responded with airstrikes and artillery.Hamas, which continued to accuse Israel of multiple ceasefire violations, said communication with its remaining units in Rafah had been cut off for months and “we are not responsible for any incidents occurring in those areas.”Shortly before sunset, Israel’s military said it had begun a series of airstrikes in southern Gaza against what it called Hamas targets. It also said its forces struck “terrorists” approaching troops in Beit Lahiya in the north.Strikes in GazaAn Israeli airstrike killed at least six Palestinians in central Gaza, health officials said. The strike hit a makeshift coffeehouse on the coastal side of the town of Zawaida, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government.Another Israeli strike killed at least two people close to the Al-Ahly soccer club in the Nuseirat refugee camp, the ministry said. The strike hit a tent and wounded eight others, said Awda hospital, which received the casualties.A third strike hit a tent in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis in the south, killing at least one person, according to Nasser hospital.An Israeli military official told journalists there had been three incidents Sunday, two in southern Gaza and one in the north, and noted that the update was partial for now.More bodies of hostages identifiedIsrael identified the remains of two hostages released by Hamas overnight.Netanyahu’s office said the bodies belonged to Ronen Engel, a father of three from Kibbutz Nir Oz, and Sonthaya Oakkharasri, a Thai agricultural worker from Kibbutz Be’eri.Both were believed to have been killed during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which sparked the war. Engel’s wife, Karina, and two of his three children were kidnapped and released in a ceasefire in November 2023.Hamas in the past week has handed over the remains of 12 hostages.Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said that it had found the body of a hostage and would return it on Sunday “if circumstances in the field” allowed. It warned that any escalation by Israel would hamper search efforts.Israel on Saturday said the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt would stay closed “until further notice” and its reopening would depend on how Hamas fulfills its ceasefire role of returning the remains of all 28 deceased hostages.Hamas says the devastation and Israeli military control of certain areas of Gaza have slowed the handover. Israel believes Hamas has access to more bodies than it has returned.Israel has released 150 bodies of Palestinians back to Gaza, including 15 on Sunday, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Israel has neither identified the bodies nor said how they died. The ministry has posted photos of bodies on its website to help families attempting to locate loved ones. The bodies were decomposed and blackened. and some were missing limbs and teeth.Only 25 bodies have been identified, the Health Ministry said.After Israel and Hamas exchanged 20 living hostages for more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, the handover of remains is a major issue in the first stage of the ceasefire. A major scale-up of humanitarian aid, including the opening of the Rafah crossing, for people entering or leaving Gaza, is the other central issue.Ceasefire’s second phaseHamas said talks with mediators to start the ceasefire’s second phase have begun.The next stages of the ceasefire are expected to focus on disarming Hamas, Israeli withdrawal from additional areas it controls in Gaza, and future governance of the devastated territory.Hazem Kassem, a Hamas spokesman, said late Saturday that the second phase of negotiations “requires national consensus.” He said Hamas has begun discussions to “solidify its positions,” without giving details.According to the U.S. plan, the negotiations will include disarming Hamas and the establishment of an internationally backed authority to run Gaza.Kassem reiterated that the group won’t be part of the ruling authority in a postwar Gaza. He called for the prompt establishment of a body of Palestinian technocrats to run day-to-day affairs.For now, “government agencies in Gaza continue to perform their duties, as the vacuum is very dangerous, and this will continue until an administrative committee is formed and agreed upon by all Palestinian factions,” he said.Rafah border crossingThe Rafah crossing was the only one not controlled by Israel before the war. It has been closed since May 2024, when Israel took control of the Gaza side. A fully reopened crossing would make it easier for Palestinians to seek medical treatment, travel or visit family in Egypt, home to tens of thousands of Palestinians.On Sunday, the Palestinian Authority’s Interior Ministry in Ramallah announced procedures for Palestinians wishing to leave or enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing. For those who want to leave Gaza, Palestinian Embassy staff from Cairo will be at the crossing to issue temporary travel documents that allow entry into Egypt. Palestinians who wish to enter Gaza will need to apply at the embassy.The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. Israel has disputed them without providing its own toll.Thousands more people are missing, according to the Red Cross.Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in the attack that sparked the war.___Samy Magdy reported from Cairo.

TEL AVIV, Israel —

The fragile ceasefire in Gaza faced its first major test Sunday as an Israeli security official said the transfer of aid into the territory is halted “until further notice” after a Hamas ceasefire violation, and Israeli forces launched a wave of strikes.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement on the halt in aid, which is occurring a little over a week since the start of the U.S.-proposed ceasefire aimed at ending two years of war.

Israel’s military earlier Sunday said its troops came under fire from Hamas militants in southern Gaza. Health officials said at least 19 Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes in central and southern Gaza.

Israel’s military said it had struck dozens of what it called Hamas targets.

A senior Egyptian official involved in the ceasefire negotiations said “round-the-clock” contacts were underway to de-escalate the situation. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to reporters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed the military to take “strong action” against any ceasefire violations but didn’t threaten to return to war.

Israel’s military said militants fired at troops in areas of Rafah city that are Israeli-controlled according to the agreed-upon ceasefire lines. No injuries were reported. The military said Israel responded with airstrikes and artillery.

Hamas, which continued to accuse Israel of multiple ceasefire violations, said communication with its remaining units in Rafah had been cut off for months and “we are not responsible for any incidents occurring in those areas.”

Shortly before sunset, Israel’s military said it had begun a series of airstrikes in southern Gaza against what it called Hamas targets. It also said its forces struck “terrorists” approaching troops in Beit Lahiya in the north.

Strikes in Gaza

An Israeli airstrike killed at least six Palestinians in central Gaza, health officials said. The strike hit a makeshift coffeehouse on the coastal side of the town of Zawaida, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government.

Another Israeli strike killed at least two people close to the Al-Ahly soccer club in the Nuseirat refugee camp, the ministry said. The strike hit a tent and wounded eight others, said Awda hospital, which received the casualties.

A third strike hit a tent in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis in the south, killing at least one person, according to Nasser hospital.

An Israeli military official told journalists there had been three incidents Sunday, two in southern Gaza and one in the north, and noted that the update was partial for now.

More bodies of hostages identified

Israel identified the remains of two hostages released by Hamas overnight.

Netanyahu’s office said the bodies belonged to Ronen Engel, a father of three from Kibbutz Nir Oz, and Sonthaya Oakkharasri, a Thai agricultural worker from Kibbutz Be’eri.

Both were believed to have been killed during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which sparked the war. Engel’s wife, Karina, and two of his three children were kidnapped and released in a ceasefire in November 2023.

Hamas in the past week has handed over the remains of 12 hostages.

Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said that it had found the body of a hostage and would return it on Sunday “if circumstances in the field” allowed. It warned that any escalation by Israel would hamper search efforts.

Israel on Saturday said the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt would stay closed “until further notice” and its reopening would depend on how Hamas fulfills its ceasefire role of returning the remains of all 28 deceased hostages.

Hamas says the devastation and Israeli military control of certain areas of Gaza have slowed the handover. Israel believes Hamas has access to more bodies than it has returned.

Israel has released 150 bodies of Palestinians back to Gaza, including 15 on Sunday, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Israel has neither identified the bodies nor said how they died. The ministry has posted photos of bodies on its website to help families attempting to locate loved ones. The bodies were decomposed and blackened. and some were missing limbs and teeth.

Only 25 bodies have been identified, the Health Ministry said.

After Israel and Hamas exchanged 20 living hostages for more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, the handover of remains is a major issue in the first stage of the ceasefire. A major scale-up of humanitarian aid, including the opening of the Rafah crossing, for people entering or leaving Gaza, is the other central issue.

Ceasefire’s second phase

Hamas said talks with mediators to start the ceasefire’s second phase have begun.

The next stages of the ceasefire are expected to focus on disarming Hamas, Israeli withdrawal from additional areas it controls in Gaza, and future governance of the devastated territory.

Hazem Kassem, a Hamas spokesman, said late Saturday that the second phase of negotiations “requires national consensus.” He said Hamas has begun discussions to “solidify its positions,” without giving details.

According to the U.S. plan, the negotiations will include disarming Hamas and the establishment of an internationally backed authority to run Gaza.

Kassem reiterated that the group won’t be part of the ruling authority in a postwar Gaza. He called for the prompt establishment of a body of Palestinian technocrats to run day-to-day affairs.

For now, “government agencies in Gaza continue to perform their duties, as the vacuum is very dangerous, and this will continue until an administrative committee is formed and agreed upon by all Palestinian factions,” he said.

Rafah border crossing

The Rafah crossing was the only one not controlled by Israel before the war. It has been closed since May 2024, when Israel took control of the Gaza side. A fully reopened crossing would make it easier for Palestinians to seek medical treatment, travel or visit family in Egypt, home to tens of thousands of Palestinians.

On Sunday, the Palestinian Authority’s Interior Ministry in Ramallah announced procedures for Palestinians wishing to leave or enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing. For those who want to leave Gaza, Palestinian Embassy staff from Cairo will be at the crossing to issue temporary travel documents that allow entry into Egypt. Palestinians who wish to enter Gaza will need to apply at the embassy.

The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. Israel has disputed them without providing its own toll.

Thousands more people are missing, according to the Red Cross.

Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in the attack that sparked the war.

___

Samy Magdy reported from Cairo.

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October 19, 2025
Hostages freed, prisoners released, as Trump hails ‘golden age’ in Mideast

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REIM, Israel — Israelis and Palestinians cried, cheered and gave thanks Monday as Hamas militants released their last 20 living hostages in exchange for more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

It was the first phase of a ceasefire deal put in place last month even as President Trump — the driving force behind the agreement — gave what amounted to a victory speech in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, before departing for a peace summit in Egypt.

Greeted with a standing ovation before he said a word, Trump heralded the deal as ushering in “a golden age” for Israel and the Middle East.

“After so many years of unceasing war and endless danger, today, the skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still, and the sun rises on a Holy Land that is finally at peace,” he said.

Palestinians in the West Bank city of Ramallah celebrate the release of prisoners by Israel on Oct. 13, 2025.

(Issam H.S. Alasmar / Anadolu / Getty Images)

His words belied the many complications facing an agreement that remains far from a comprehensive road map that could definitively end a war that killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and pulverized much of the Gaza Strip, even as it scarred Israeli society with the deaths of 1,200 people and brought unprecedented international condemnation of the country’s leadership.

The night before the scheduled morning handover, tens of thousands Israelis streamed into Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, as well as to the roadside near southern Israel’s Reim military base, where the hostages were to be brought after their release.

A party atmosphere prevailed on the road to Reim, as Sikorsky Super Stallion helicopters landed in a dusty field to the cheers of a nearby crowd, which raised Israeli and American flags and swayed to a song whose lyrics promised, “I’m coming home, tell the world I’m coming home.”

Passing cars honked in salute, with one passenger rolling down her window and shouting, “The kidnapped are returning!”

“Since Thursday my smile has been stuck, my jaw hurts from it, after two years of not doing it at all,” said Sarit Kenny, 65, a resident of a kibbutz nearby who said she had attended a rally every week since the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, to call for the hostages’ return.

She pointed to the American flag in her hand, saying she wanted it to be an expression of her appreciation of Trump.

Matan Zangauker is reunited with his mother at the initial reception point after his release by the militant group Hamas.

(Israel Defense Forces / Associated Press)

“He’s the one who actually did this. He did what our prime minister didn’t do,” she said.

Jonathan Kaneh, 46, who owned a polymer factory in the kibbutz of Orim, saw in the release a more somber moment. On Oct. 7, Hamas militants on a truck shot at him as he was riding his bicycle; the bullet grazed his arm but he was otherwise unhurt. At the same time, the war precipitated by the attack had forced him to shutter his business.

He had arrived early at the site to mark the start of the attack two years ago, which began at 6:29 a.m.

“It was important to me to come here, to close this circle. A lot of people, their lives stopped in this place,” he said, his voice turning deep with emotion.

For many others, the day represented a moment combining religion and the sense of history, with the hostages’ release falling on the religious holiday of Simchat Torah, just as their kidnapping had been on Simchat Torah two years earlier.

“It’s my luck to be here now, and most of the people are feeling same, that we had to be here,” said 70-year-old Uzi Bar-On, as he sat on a lawn chair and made coffee on a portable stove, with Jimmy, his dog, by his side.

At a gathering at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, people react in anticipation of the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

(Oded Balilty / Associated Press)

Bar-On said that the last two years had seen him consumed with thoughts of revenge against Hamas and the people of Gaza, but that the hostage release could help Israelis to move on.

“First I want to see the hostages. When I see them with my own eyes, not through the press, then maybe I can start to think differently,” he said.

When the convoy of vans and military vehicles bearing the first group passed by, the crowd erupted in a flurry of cheers.

It seemed timed to coincide with the moment Air Force One was about to land at Ben Gurion International Airport, before Trump would be whisked away to Jerusalem to meet hostage families before his Knesset address.

Aside from touting the achievements of his administration (and impugning former Presidents Obama and Biden), Trump gave a full-throated endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a deeply unpopular figure with many Israelis, who blame their leader for embroiling the country in the war in the first place and accuse him of prolonging it for his own political purposes.

But Trump insisted that Netanyahu did “a great job,” and diving into Israel’s domestic affairs, urged the president to pardon Netanyahu of corruption charges he’s facing. Trump also heaped praise on envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner for their efforts in brokering the deal, while musing about the idea of Israel making peace with Iran.

Later he flew to Egypt for a summit in Sharm el Sheikh, where he met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi and a raft of Arab and Islamic leaders to discuss the next steps for Gaza.

“We have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to put the old feuds and bitter hatreds behind us,” Trump said at the summit, which saw Sisi award Egypt’s highest civilian honor to Trump.

Netanyahu did not attend, with his office saying that the timing conflicted with the Jewish holiday.

President Trump addresses the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in Jerusalem on Oct. 13, 2025.

(Evelyn Hockstein / Associated Press)

The Trump-brokered deal stipulates Hamas will release the bodies of 28 hostages who died in captivity, with each one returned in exchange for 15 bodies of Palestinians killed during Oct. 7.

Four bodies were released Monday. In recent days, Hamas said it was facing difficulties retrieving corpses from the rubble of Gaza’s war-ravaged buildings.

A few hours after the release of the second batch of hostages, buses carrying about 1,700 Gaza residents detained in Israel without charge over the last two years left for the Palestinian enclave, along with 250 prisoners serving life sentences for convictions in attacks on Israelis.

Two busloads of 88 people were released in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where families assembled at the Ramallah Cultural Palace — a place normally reserved for performances — to greet relatives, some they hadn’t seen in decades.

When the buses arrived, Palestinian security forces tried to maintain order but were soon overwhelmed by the crowd. The prisoners and detainees emerged with their heads shaved, looking gaunt and pale in the afternoon sun — a measure, many said, of the harsh treatment they received.

Despite their joy at the release, few were willing to be interviewed, saying Israeli authorities had warned them to not celebrate or speak to the media under threat of rearrest.

“When I saw all the people here, we forgot all of our pain. But our brothers detained inside are still suffering,” said one released prisoner who had spent 20 years in an Israeli jail. One hand held a cigarette, while the other carried a phone he was using to talk to his niece for the first time.

“I’m tired, but thank God for everything,” said Yahya Nimr Ahmad Ibrahim, a Fatah member arrested in 2003 and sentenced to 23 years. Wrapped in a Palestinian black-and-white kaffiyeh, he looked frail as family members carried him on their shoulders in celebration.

The list of Palestinian detainees to be released was a point of contention up to the very last minute, according to Palestinian rights groups, which count at least 100 additional prisoners with lifetime sentences who would not be released.

The head of the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs, Raed Abu Al-Hummus, said the commission had received hundreds of phone calls from people enraged that their loved ones weren’t being released.

Palestinians rejoice over their release from Israeli prisons.

(Ayman Nobani / DPA / Picture Alliance / AP Images)

For others, the prisoner release was bittersweet: 154 of the 250 prisoners were to be exiled to Gaza, Egypt, Malaysia or Turkey, and with their family members subject to travel restrictions, it was unlikely they would see them anytime soon.

Elsewhere in the crowd, bewilderment laced with anger when families who had been informed that their loved ones would be released discovered they weren’t on the buses after all.

“We don’t know what happened. The Israeli army called me last night, told me my brother was coming here. They even came and smashed up our house so we wouldn’t celebrate. Then we heard he’s to be exiled, but no one knows where he is,” said Raed Imran, the brother of Mohammad Imran, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad member who was serving 13 life sentences.

Beside him was his sister, Ibtisam, crying.

“We prepared all his favorite foods, all of them,” she said, barely able to keep her voice steady from crying. “We’ve been working since two days for this moment. We even have the dishes in the car, ready for him when he came out.”

Imran began to tear up as well.

“We just don’t know. No one has told us anything,” he said.

As the afternoon sun waned, the crowd began to thin out, save for a few families asking anyone who seemed in authority to give them information about their missing loved ones. But soon enough, they too walked away.

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Nabih Bulos

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October 12, 2025
Israel finally receives last remaining hostages from Gaza

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A woman takes a picture of messages displayed at “Hostages Square”, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 12, 2025. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

After two years and six days, the last of the remaining Israeli hostages taken captive during the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks are coming home.

Israel was due to begin receiving the remaining hostages released from Hamas custody early Monday morning Israeli time, hours before a Gaza peace plan was due to expire — and world leaders, including President Donald Trump, were set to meet in Egypt for an international summit charting the path forward for war-torn Gaza.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that his country was ready to bring back the remaining hostages, living and dead, who had been held by Hamas terrorists for more than 730 days. His office said Netanyahu had discussed the matter with the government’s hostage affairs coordinator, Gal Hirsch.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Hamas had informed Israel through Arab mediators that it had gathered 20 living hostages and was ready to release them. This was said to be the first confirmation from Hamas that 20 of the hostages abducted during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks were still alive.

Israeli authorities say 48 hostages, living and dead, were still in Gaza Sunday.

The return was said to be coordinated by the International Committee of the Red Cross without a public ceremony or media presence. After meeting relatives and undergoing initial medical checks at the Re’im military camp near the Gaza Strip, the released hostages are expected to be flown to hospitals for further care.

Yehuda Avidan, the head of Israel’s Ministry of Religious Services, said in an interview with public broadcaster Kan radio that there were concerns that Hamas might not be able to hand over all of the remains.

Media reports have cited the massive destruction in the Gaza Strip as a factor that could prevent the bodies from being found.

In exchange for the hostages, Israel is set to release nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees.

Summit over Gaza’s future

World leaders from more than 20 countries are expected to attend a summit in Egypt’s resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday aimed at formally ending the war in Gaza.

Trump and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi will co-chair the meeting, officially titled the “Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit.”

The event and signing ceremony aim to consolidate the ceasefire and advance long-term peace and stability in the Middle East, according to the Egyptian presidency.

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and UN Secretary General António Guterres have confirmed their attendance.

Media reports have suggested additional attendees could include the Turkish president, the prime ministers of Spain and Pakistan, and the king of Bahrain.

The ceasefire, which took effect Friday, is the first step in a broader US-brokered peace plan to end two years of devastating conflict between Israel and Hamas. The deal includes the release of all remaining hostages in Gaza and the withdrawal of Israeli forces to an agreed line within the territory.

Despite the ceasefire, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday that Israel would move forward with the destruction of all remaining underground tunnels used by Hamas fighters in Gaza.

He said the operation would be carried out directly by the Israeli military as well as “through the international mechanism to be established under the leadership and supervision of the United States.”

Katz said he had instructed troops “to prepare for carrying out the mission,” adding that Israel’s goal remained the demilitarization of Gaza and the disarmament of Hamas.

Following an initial troop withdrawal, Israeli forces still control just over half of the Gaza Strip, according to media reports. Any further pullback is contingent on Hamas agreeing to lay down its weapons.

During the two-year Gaza war, the Israeli military repeatedly reported destroying Hamas tunnels, though the extent of the remaining underground network is unclear. Before the Israeli onslaught, officials said the tunnels stretched for several hundred kilometres, including beneath urban areas.

Since the start of the ceasefire, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have returned to the largely destroyed northern Gaza Strip, where they have been met with scenes of utter devastation.

Many said they were shocked by the scale of the destruction, with entire neighbourhoods reduced to rubble and countless families left homeless.

According to the civil defence service controlled by the Islamist Hamas movement, more than 300,000 people have returned to the north of the coastal enclave since Friday.

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October 12, 2025
News Analysis: Why the Gaza ceasefire puts both Netanyahu and Hamas at political risk

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JERUSALEM — Thursday’s ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas delivered a jubilant moment in one of the darkest periods of the decades-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. But for both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas, the deal could be the poison pill that spells their downfall.

Netanyahu, who with a combined total of 17 years in office is the longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s history, now must contend with a day-after in Gaza that looks very different from the vision he used to woo allies and keep his opponents at bay.

Hamas, on the other hand, faces a war-ravaged populace that was weary of its rule even before the Oct. 7, 2023, attack; two years later, with more than 67,000 killed, many more wounded and most of the Palestinian enclave in ruins, most Gaza residents are enraged at what they view as the militant group’s reckless gamble.

Daily life continues in war-torn Gaza as Palestinians in Deir al Balah wait on Oct. 9, 2025, for the Israel-Hamas ceasefire to take effect.

(Ali Jadallah / Anadolu / Getty Images)

The deal, which President Trump produced after weeks of consultations with — not to mention intense pressure on — Israel and a raft of Arab and Muslim nations, brings about some measure of victory that both sides can claim, namely the swap that will see all remaining Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity exchanged for thousands of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Netanyahu and Hamas both trumpeted it as an achievement.

“This is a diplomatic success and a national and moral victory for the State of Israel,” Netanyahu wrote Thursday on X, crediting the breakthrough to “steadfast resolve, powerful military action,” along with Trump’s efforts.

Hamas, meanwhile, said in a statement that the deal was a result of the “steadfastness of the Palestinian people” and its “Resistance,” a reference to the Palestinian factions.

Yet those victories could hardly be called complete.

Netanyahu had promised Hamas would not only be defeated but also vanquished, with its arsenal removed. He has also made it his long-running mission to ensure no Palestinian state arises — something he hoped to achieve by conquering Gaza and annexing the West Bank.

Students and supporters of the Jamaat-e-Islami political party gather to express their solidarity with Palestinians during an anti-Israel protest in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Oct. 9, 2025.

(Aamir Qureshi / AFP/Getty Images)

Instead, the Israeli military has stopped its offensive with the fate of Hamas’ weapons still unclear, and Trump recently said he will “not allow” Israel to annex the West Bank.

Also, Trump’s 20-point plan not only put the kibosh on the notion of deporting Gaza residents but also encouraged them to stay. And Netanyahu was forced to accept the prospect of a Palestinian state only a few days after a fire-and-brimstone speech at the United Nations rejecting any such thing.

Already, the coalition he relies on to remain in power is showing fractures, with extremist figures representing settler interests expressing their anger that Netanyahu didn’t stay the course and continue fighting.

His opponents, meanwhile, see the conflict’s end as their chance to oust him. And his critics among Israeli voters — elections are slated for October 2026 — are not only set to reject him at the ballot box, but also excise anyone associated with his leadership.

At the so-called Hostage Square in Tel Aviv on Thursday, Israelis demonstrated some of that rage. When Benny Gantz, an Israeli opposition leader who served in Netanyahu’s Cabinet until last year walked through the crowd, hecklers shouted at him “to go home,” accusing him of claiming a success he had not earned.

“When the war began, Gantz joined Bibi and saved him instead of bringing down his government,” said Einat Mastbaum, a 50-year-old Hebrew teacher, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname. Those actions, she said, kept Netanyahu’s government in place and prolonged the hostages’ ordeal.

Udi Goren, 44, whose cousin Tal Haimi was killed Oct. 7, 2023, said Israel needed new faces to effect change many Israelis demand after this war.

“Now is the time for us — Israelis and Palestinians — to support a better future, to draft a new narrative for ourselves,” he said. “After what we’ve been through these past two years, we don’t want this to happen again.”

Einav Zangauker, in a blue shirt, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, celebrates as people react to news of the Israel-Hamas peace deal at the so-called Hostage Square in Tel Aviv on Oct. 9, 2025.

(Chris McGrath / Getty Images)

Yet it would be foolish to discount Netanyahu, a consummate politician in Israel’s political landscape who has proved time and again his ability to gauge the national mood and rebound from setbacks, including a prolonged corruption trial he has successfully postponed throughout the war, and an warrant from the International Criminal Court.

Though his claim of totally defeating Hamas falls short, he can still rightly point to having left Israel the indisputable hegemon in the region, whether by decimating the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah or by dealing a crippling blow to Iran. If the deal’s implementation continues smoothly, he may also manage to extend normalization agreements to other Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia. Polls, meanwhile, show he’s recovered his popularity after taking a hit in the days after the Oct. 7 attack.

And the deal “will boost him,” said Dahlia Scheindlin, a public opinion researcher in Israel.
“It will make him look like he’s the only one in the country who could work so well with Trump.”

“He’s much more popular today than he was five days ago,” Trump said at the White House.

Hamas’ situation appears more complicated. It has said it will play no role in Gaza’s future governance — a key Israeli and American demand. But its main rival in the Palestinian Authority, which governed Gaza until Hamas prevailed in elections in 2006, is viewed by many Palestinians as hopelessly corrupt, not to mention downright traitorous because of its security coordination with Israel, which has seen authority forces attack anti-Israel Palestinian resistance groups and activists.

At the same time, the notion of Hamas having any power seems untenable.

“They dragged all of Gaza into the fire. Our homes, our jobs, our futures were all destroyed because of reckless decisions,” said Nidal Laqqan, 37, a former merchant from Khan Yunis who has been displaced for the last two years.

He said that many people he knows feel the same way.

“People are angry. This was an uncalculated adventure,” he said. “We need a new Palestinian leadership that puts our interests first. No more military steps taken without thinking of the people who will pay the price.”

Special correspondent Bilal Shbeir in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, contributed to this report.

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Nabih Bulos

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October 10, 2025
Uncommitted National Movement refuses to endorse Harris

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After a historic sit-in at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August, leaders of the Uncommitted National Movement urged Vice President Kamala Harris to respond by Sept. 15 to their request for a meeting with Palestinian American families in Michigan. These families, having lost loved ones to U.S.-supplied bombs in Gaza, hoped to discuss their demands for halting U.S. arms shipments to Israel and establishing a permanent ceasefire.

However, the Harris campaign has remained silent, prompting the Uncommitted Movement to issue a firm statement refusing to endorse her in the upcoming 2024 election.

The movement, which originated in Michigan, initially organized 1.5 million voter contacts and secured over 101,000 anti-war votes ahead of the February presidential primary. It has since grown into a national force, amassing 740,000 pro-peace voters and winning 30 delegates at the DNC.

According to the group’s leaders, their efforts are not about endorsing political candidates, but advocating for life-saving policies and peace.

“We came together, first in Michigan, and then in state after state, insisting that even through our pain and grief, we must organize to save lives, advance policies that build rather than destroy, and create a future where not another bomb from our country drops on a civilian anywhere in our world,” the statement said. “We are proud of the movement’s growth, even as our government continues sending bombs that tear apart families.”

Polling data supports the Uncommitted Movement’s efforts, with over 80% of Democrats and 50% of Republicans in favor of a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. The group believes that the Biden-Harris administration’s failure to adopt this popular stance is a significant misstep.

Although the movement has declined to endorse Harris, it has also made clear that it strongly opposes her rival Donald Trump’s re-election, describing his policies as a direct threat to Palestinians and anti-war activists.

“Trump himself has bragged about accelerating the genocide against Palestinians and promised to intensify the suppression of pro-Palestinian activism in the U.S. We must block Donald Trump,” the group stated. “Our movement’s best hope for change lies in expanding anti-war organizing power, which would be severely undermined by a Trump administration.”

In addition to its anti-Trump stance, the movement cautioned against voting for third-party candidates, particularly in swing states, arguing that it could unintentionally help Trump win re-election.

“Pro-war forces like AIPAC [the American Israel Public Affairs Committee] may want to drive us out of the Democratic Party, but we’re here to stay,” the group continued. “Movements have long worked to rid the Democratic Party of hateful forces… and we will work in that legacy to rid our party of AIPAC’s pro-war extremism.”

The group’s “Not Another Bomb” campaign has mobilized over 100,000 people across 35 states, uniting progressives, civil rights advocates, and other Democratic Party members to advocate for peace. Now, the movement is inviting more groups to join them in their ongoing effort to push Democratic leadership to support a ceasefire and halt weapons transfers.

The statement concluded: “Building on the work of ‘Uncommitted,’ we invite stakeholders in the Democratic Party coalition — progressives, civil rights, labor, racial justice, reproductive rights, climate, immigrant rights, disability justice, people of faith, young people and more — to join us in our campaign to push our Democratic Party leadership to align with the majority of Democratic voters who support the urgent call for a stop to illegal and morally reprehensible weapons transfers through our campaign, ‘Not Another Bomb’ both now and in the next administration.”

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Layla McMurtrie

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September 19, 2024
Will Maryland’s ‘uncommitted’ primary voters sway Biden administration on Gaza cease-fire? – WTOP News

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A coalition of progressive voters is celebrating the “historic impact” of its efforts to pressure President Biden to call for a cease-fire in Gaza, by getting 10% of Democrats to buck the president and vote “uncommitted” in Tuesday’s primary.

This article was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partners at Maryland Matters. Sign up for Maryland Matters’ free email subscription today.

A coalition of progressive voters is celebrating the “historic impact” of its efforts to pressure President Biden to call for a cease-fire in Gaza, by getting 10% of Democrats to buck the president and vote “uncommitted” in Tuesday’s primary.

But analysts said that the 47,587 “uncommitted” votes cast Tuesday are likely “not fatal” to Biden’s general election campaign.

“Neither of these candidates can take any voter for granted. And both of them have to pay attention to any defections,” Todd Eberly, a political science professor at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, said of Biden and likely Republican nominee Donald Trump.

“But the question is: are the defections outside of the norm of history. And at least when it comes to Biden and the uncommitted vote, the answer is no, it does not,” he said.

But members of Listen to Maryland, a coalition of frustrated voters are declaring a “resounding expression of protest” against the Biden administration.

Listen to Maryland representative Anna Evans-Goldstein, a 36-year-old Baltimore resident, said the protest vote is “to push for the Biden administration to actually listen to the voters who voted him into office.” She said she was pleased with Tuesday’s results.

“Electoral politics is one of the tools at our disposal in this democracy to register dissent,” she said. “In primary elections, since we have an uncommitted option in Maryland, it is a way for voters to signal to the leader of the party and the party itself that they disagree with a particular stance, the policies and what’s going on.”

She noted that there were 23,725 uncommitted Democratic votes in 2020, about 2.3% of the Democratic primary vote that year. The number nearly doubled this year, when there were fewer overall voters, accounting for just over 10% of the vote, according to unofficial results.

But Eberly says that comparing Tuesday’s results to the 2020 primaries is an “apples to oranges” comparison, because there were more than a dozen Democratic candidates on the ballot then, including relatively popular alternatives to Biden such as Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Eberly says the more apt comparison is the 2012 Democratic primary, when incumbent President Barack Obama was seeking reelection. That year, 37,704 Democrats voted uncommitted, or about 11.5% of 288,766 total votes the primary.

“Joe Biden did better than Barack Obama did when he was seeking reelection,” Eberly said. “So it’s hard to view that as any kind of victory, moral or otherwise, for the folks who were organizing the uncommitted vote.”

Maryland is the latest in a string of states with an uncommitted voter campaign, and Listen to Maryland supporters say the primary results add to a coalition of voters who are frustrated with the options at hand.

In March, 13% of Michigan’s Democratic primary voters cast uncommitted ballots, followed by 19% of Democrats in Minnesota, among other states.

It’s not clear how the uncommitted primary voters will act in the general presidential election come November — whether they’ll abstain from the election altogether, ultimately vote for Biden or seek a third option.

Patrick Oray, a 56-year-old Baltimore high school teacher, said this was the first year he voted uncommitted in the primary.

“We’ve been disgusted with what’s going on in Gaza and our supports, military and financial, of Israel in Gaza,” Oray said. “And we have to say something.”

That said, he will “probably” vote for Biden in November, even if the president does not call for a cease-fire.

But Daljit Soni, 43, an attorney and the daughter of immigrants from northern India, said she is not sure how she’ll vote if Biden doesn’t pause aid to Israel.

“We’ll have to wait and see,” she said. “I’m not sure what I am going to do if he doesn’t change course.”

Evans-Goldstein said the Listen to Maryland campaign is over and it not will provide directions for what its voter bloc should do in the general election.

“I can’t speak to what anybody is going to do from now on,” she said. “This was exclusively a campaign focused on the primaries.”

Maryland’s Republican Party took note of the 47,000 uncommitted Democratic voters, who they see as potential targets to recruit in the general election.

“My initial assessment is that President Biden has lost some of his voter base … he needs to be able to win them back,” said Maryland GOP Chairwoman Nicole Beus Harris. “It also tells me that those Democrat voters are perhaps even questioning bigger overall things, the presidential policies or even Democrat policy in general, that they might agree with Republicans on policy standpoints and our plans for America.”

The Biden campaign responded to the uncommitted vote, saying the president “believes making your voice heard and participating in our democracy is fundamental to who we are as Americans.” But those voters and the president have the same goals, the officials said.

“He shares the goal for an end to the violence and a just, lasting peace in the Middle East. He’s working tirelessly to that end,” said Lauren Hitt, a campaign spokesperson.

Eberly also noted that 20.55% of Maryland Republicans bucked Trump on Tuesday and cast their votes for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who dropped out of the GOP race in March. That indicates that the Republican Party has a similar “enthusiasm problem” that will need to be addressed, Eberly said.

Given the choice, Eberly said he “would rather the 10% uncommitted than the 20% who voted for Nikki Haley on the Republican side.”

“I think that the Biden campaign is going to be more interested in trying to attract the 20% of Haley voters than they are going to worry about the 10% uncommitted,” he said.

“Both of these candidates have flaws. I think it’s safe to say that voters aren’t excited that either of them are the nominee of their party, and I think that is something that they both have to overcome in November,” Eberly said.

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Dana Sukontarak

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May 18, 2024
Chicago unions call for Israel-Hamas cease-fire ahead of possible City Council vote on resolution

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CHICAGO (WLS) — Leaders from some of the biggest unions in Chicago are calling for a cease-fire in the Middle East Monday.

It comes as Chicago’s City Council could take action on its ceasefire resolution this week.

There is growing pressure on City Council members to sign on to the resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, and it comes just two days before the resolution is expected to come up for a vote.

Many unions are now getting behind the effort.

RELATED: Ald. asks city council to delay Israel-Hamas ceasefire resolution to after Holocaust Remembrance Day

“This is the biggest expression for peace by the labor movement in a full generation,” said Carl Rosen, general president of United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America.

In a show of solidarity at the United Electrical Workers Union Hall on Ashland Avenue, supporters of a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza are banding together Monday.

They want to put pressure on the City Council to support a resolution on Wednesday to call for an end to hostilities.

The issue was hotly debated last Wednesday in Council, even though the vote was delayed in deference to a Holocaust remembrance resolution.

Alderwoman Rosanna Rodriquez is changing the wording in the cease-fire resolution in an effort to gain support from her colleagues.

One of unions involved Monday was the Chicago Teachers Union.

Planned walkouts from nearly a dozen Chicago Public Schools are possible Tuesday in support of the cease-fire.

Alderwoman Rodriguez said she is still counting votes, but regardless she will bring the issue up for a vote on Wednesday.

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Craig Wall

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January 29, 2024