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  • Israeli troops kill Palestinians for crossing a vague ceasefire line

    A dividing line, at times invisible, can mean life or death for Palestinians in Gaza.Those sheltering near the territory’s “yellow line” that the Israeli military withdrew to as part of the October ceasefire say they live in fear as Israeli soldiers direct near-daily fire at anyone who crosses or even lingers near it.Video above: Palestinians struggle for food amid floodingOf the 447 Palestinians killed between the ceasefire taking effect and Tuesday, at least 77 were killed by Israeli gunfire near the line, including 62 who crossed it, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Among them were teenagers and young children, The Associated Press found.And although the military has placed some yellow barrels and concrete barriers delineating the limits of the Palestinian zone, the line is still unmarked in certain places and in others was laid nearly half a kilometer (0.3 miles) deeper than what was agreed to in the ceasefire deal, expanding the part of Gaza that Israel controls, according to Palestinians and mapping experts.“We stay away from the barrels. No one dares to get close” said Gaza City resident Ahmed Abu Jahal, noting that the markers are less than 100 meters (110 yards) from his house — instead of the roughly 500 meters (546 yards) outlined in a map put out by the Israeli military.As of Tuesday, the military had acknowledged killing 57 people around the yellow line, saying most were militants. It said its troops are complying with the rules of engagement in order to counter militant groups, and are informing Palestinians of the line’s location and marking it on the ground to “reduce friction and prevent misunderstandings.”Easy to get lostUnder the ceasefire, Israel withdrew its troops to a buffer zone that is up to 7 kilometers (4 miles) deep and includes most of Gaza’s arable land, its elevated points and all of its border crossings. That hems more than 2 million Palestinians into a strip along the coastline and central Gaza.People of all ages, some already dead, have been showing up almost daily at the emergency room of Gaza City’s Al-Ahli hospital with bullet wounds from straying near the line, said hospital director Fadel Naeem.Amid the vast destruction in Gaza, the demarcation line often isn’t easy to detect, Naeem said. He recounted picking his way through undamaged paths during a recent visit to the southern city of Khan Younis. He didn’t notice he was almost across the line until locals shouted at him to turn back, he said.The Israeli military said most of the people it has killed crossing the line posed a threat to its troops. According to a military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military rules, troops issue audible warnings and then fire warning shots whenever someone crosses the line. Many civilians retreat when warning shots are fired, though some have been killed, the official acknowledged.Killed while playing near the lineZaher Shamia, 17, lived with his grandfather in a tent 300 meters (330 yards) from the line in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya refugee camp. On Dec. 10, he was playing with his cousin and some friends near the line, according to video he took before his death.Suddenly, shots rang out and the video stopped. Soldiers approaching the line with an armored bulldozer had fired on the teens, hitting Zaher, said a witness.A neighbor eventually found Zaher’s body, which had been crushed by the bulldozer, said Zaher’s grandfather, Kamal al-Beih: “We only recognized him from his head.”Two doctors, Mohamed Abu Selmiya and Rami Mhanna, confirmed that the teen had been killed by gunshots and then run over by a bulldozer. The military official said he was aware that Shamia was a civilian and that the military was looking into it.Maram Atta said that on Dec. 7, her 3-year-old daughter, Ahed al-Bayouk, was playing with siblings outside of their tent, which was near the yellow line along Gaza’s southern coast. Atta was preparing lentils when she heard aircraft overhead, then shots.A stray projectile whizzed close to her and struck Ahed, who was dead before they reached the clinic.“I lost my daughter to what they keep calling a ‘ceasefire’” said Atta, crying. “What ceasefire are they talking about?”A military official denied the killing.Deadly ambiguityThe line’s exact location is ambiguous, differing on maps put out by the Israeli military and the White House.Neither matches the line troops appear to be marking on the ground, according to Palestinians and geolocation specialists.Video below: Palestinians react to UN plan for Gaza futureChris Osiek, an open source intelligence analyst and consultant, has geolocated a number of yellow blocks based on social media videos. He found at least four urban areas where troops set the blocks several hundred meters deeper into Gaza than the military map-specified yellow line.“This is basically what you get when you simply let Trump make an image and post it on Truth Social and let the IDF make their own,” he said, using the acronym for the military. “If it’s not a proper system, with coordinates that make it easy for people to navigate where it is, then you leave the ambiguity free for the IDF to interpret the yellow line how they basically want.”The military official dismissed such criticism, saying any deviations from the map amount to just a few meters. But to Palestinians hemmed in by widespread destruction and displacement, every few meters lost is another house that can’t be sheltered in — another they doubt will ever be returned.‘The line is getting very close’Under the ceasefire, Israeli forces are only supposed to remain at the yellow line until a fuller withdrawal, though the agreement doesn’t give a timeline for that. With the next steps in the deal lagging and troops digging into positions on the Israeli side, though, Palestinians wonder if they are witnessing a permanent land takeover.In December, Israel’s defense minister described the yellow line as “a new border line — serving as a forward defensive line for our communities and a line of operational activity.”The military has continued leveling buildings inside the Israeli-held zone, turning already damaged neighborhoods to moonscapes. Almost all of the city of Rafah, on Gaza’s border with Egypt, has been razed over the past year. The army says this is necessary to destroy tunnels and prepare the area for reconstruction.In some places, demolitions since the ceasefire have encroached beyond the official yellow line. Since November, troops have leveled a swath of Gaza City’s Tuffah neighborhood extending some 300 meters (330 yards) outside the Israeli-held zone, according to Oct. 14 and Dec. 18 satellite photos provided by Planet Labs.Video below: Israeli settlers forcibly enter Palestinian home, kill sheep in latest West Bank attackAbu Jahal moved back to his damaged house in Tuffah at the ceasefire’s start. He said he frequently saw new yellow barrels appear and the military forcing out anyone living on its side of the markers.On Jan. 7, Israeli fire hit a house near him, and the residents had to evacuate, he said. Abu Jahal said his family — including his wife, their child, and seven other relatives — may also have to leave soon.“The line is getting very close,” he said.

    CAIRO, Cairo Governorate —

    A dividing line, at times invisible, can mean life or death for Palestinians in Gaza.

    Those sheltering near the territory’s “yellow line” that the Israeli military withdrew to as part of the October ceasefire say they live in fear as Israeli soldiers direct near-daily fire at anyone who crosses or even lingers near it.

    Video above: Palestinians struggle for food amid flooding

    Of the 447 Palestinians killed between the ceasefire taking effect and Tuesday, at least 77 were killed by Israeli gunfire near the line, including 62 who crossed it, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Among them were teenagers and young children, The Associated Press found.

    And although the military has placed some yellow barrels and concrete barriers delineating the limits of the Palestinian zone, the line is still unmarked in certain places and in others was laid nearly half a kilometer (0.3 miles) deeper than what was agreed to in the ceasefire deal, expanding the part of Gaza that Israel controls, according to Palestinians and mapping experts.

    “We stay away from the barrels. No one dares to get close” said Gaza City resident Ahmed Abu Jahal, noting that the markers are less than 100 meters (110 yards) from his house — instead of the roughly 500 meters (546 yards) outlined in a map put out by the Israeli military.

    As of Tuesday, the military had acknowledged killing 57 people around the yellow line, saying most were militants. It said its troops are complying with the rules of engagement in order to counter militant groups, and are informing Palestinians of the line’s location and marking it on the ground to “reduce friction and prevent misunderstandings.”

    Easy to get lost

    Under the ceasefire, Israel withdrew its troops to a buffer zone that is up to 7 kilometers (4 miles) deep and includes most of Gaza’s arable land, its elevated points and all of its border crossings. That hems more than 2 million Palestinians into a strip along the coastline and central Gaza.

    People of all ages, some already dead, have been showing up almost daily at the emergency room of Gaza City’s Al-Ahli hospital with bullet wounds from straying near the line, said hospital director Fadel Naeem.

    Amid the vast destruction in Gaza, the demarcation line often isn’t easy to detect, Naeem said. He recounted picking his way through undamaged paths during a recent visit to the southern city of Khan Younis. He didn’t notice he was almost across the line until locals shouted at him to turn back, he said.

    The Israeli military said most of the people it has killed crossing the line posed a threat to its troops. According to a military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military rules, troops issue audible warnings and then fire warning shots whenever someone crosses the line. Many civilians retreat when warning shots are fired, though some have been killed, the official acknowledged.

    Killed while playing near the line

    Zaher Shamia, 17, lived with his grandfather in a tent 300 meters (330 yards) from the line in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya refugee camp. On Dec. 10, he was playing with his cousin and some friends near the line, according to video he took before his death.

    Suddenly, shots rang out and the video stopped. Soldiers approaching the line with an armored bulldozer had fired on the teens, hitting Zaher, said a witness.

    Jehad Alshrafi

    FILE – The body of 11-year-old Palestinian girl Hamsa Hosou, killed by Israeli fire in Jabalia, is brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026.

    A neighbor eventually found Zaher’s body, which had been crushed by the bulldozer, said Zaher’s grandfather, Kamal al-Beih: “We only recognized him from his head.”

    Two doctors, Mohamed Abu Selmiya and Rami Mhanna, confirmed that the teen had been killed by gunshots and then run over by a bulldozer. The military official said he was aware that Shamia was a civilian and that the military was looking into it.

    Maram Atta said that on Dec. 7, her 3-year-old daughter, Ahed al-Bayouk, was playing with siblings outside of their tent, which was near the yellow line along Gaza’s southern coast. Atta was preparing lentils when she heard aircraft overhead, then shots.

    A stray projectile whizzed close to her and struck Ahed, who was dead before they reached the clinic.

    “I lost my daughter to what they keep calling a ‘ceasefire’” said Atta, crying. “What ceasefire are they talking about?”

    A military official denied the killing.

    Deadly ambiguity

    The line’s exact location is ambiguous, differing on maps put out by the Israeli military and the White House.

    Neither matches the line troops appear to be marking on the ground, according to Palestinians and geolocation specialists.

    Video below: Palestinians react to UN plan for Gaza future

    Chris Osiek, an open source intelligence analyst and consultant, has geolocated a number of yellow blocks based on social media videos. He found at least four urban areas where troops set the blocks several hundred meters deeper into Gaza than the military map-specified yellow line.

    “This is basically what you get when you simply let Trump make an image and post it on Truth Social and let the IDF make their own,” he said, using the acronym for the military. “If it’s not a proper system, with coordinates that make it easy for people to navigate where it is, then you leave the ambiguity free for the IDF to interpret the yellow line how they basically want.”

    The military official dismissed such criticism, saying any deviations from the map amount to just a few meters. But to Palestinians hemmed in by widespread destruction and displacement, every few meters lost is another house that can’t be sheltered in — another they doubt will ever be returned.

    ‘The line is getting very close’

    Under the ceasefire, Israeli forces are only supposed to remain at the yellow line until a fuller withdrawal, though the agreement doesn’t give a timeline for that. With the next steps in the deal lagging and troops digging into positions on the Israeli side, though, Palestinians wonder if they are witnessing a permanent land takeover.

    In December, Israel’s defense minister described the yellow line as “a new border line — serving as a forward defensive line for our communities and a line of operational activity.”

    The military has continued leveling buildings inside the Israeli-held zone, turning already damaged neighborhoods to moonscapes. Almost all of the city of Rafah, on Gaza’s border with Egypt, has been razed over the past year. The army says this is necessary to destroy tunnels and prepare the area for reconstruction.

    In some places, demolitions since the ceasefire have encroached beyond the official yellow line. Since November, troops have leveled a swath of Gaza City’s Tuffah neighborhood extending some 300 meters (330 yards) outside the Israeli-held zone, according to Oct. 14 and Dec. 18 satellite photos provided by Planet Labs.

    Video below: Israeli settlers forcibly enter Palestinian home, kill sheep in latest West Bank attack

    Abu Jahal moved back to his damaged house in Tuffah at the ceasefire’s start. He said he frequently saw new yellow barrels appear and the military forcing out anyone living on its side of the markers.

    On Jan. 7, Israeli fire hit a house near him, and the residents had to evacuate, he said. Abu Jahal said his family — including his wife, their child, and seven other relatives — may also have to leave soon.

    “The line is getting very close,” he said.

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  • Israel strikes car in Gaza City, says it killed senior Hamas commander

    The Israeli military said on Saturday it killed Ra’ad Sa’ad, a senior Hamas commander, by striking a car in Gaza City. Gaza health authorities said the attack on the car killed five people and wounded at least 25 others.

    In a joint statement on X, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said they directed Sa’ad be killed after a Hamas explosive device detonated and wounded Israeli soldiers. Sa’ad, according to Israel, held several senior positions in Hamas and was a central figure in its military leadership.

    Hamas, in its own statement, did not confirm Sa’ad’s death, but called the car strike a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel that was agreed to in October.

    “This crime reaffirms that the [Israeli] occupation is deliberately seeking to undermine and sabotage the ceasefire agreement through its escalating and continuous violations,” Hamas reportedly said.

    The ceasefire agreement was announced on Oct. 10, two years after Hamas militants killed 1,200 and took 251 hostage in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, most of whom were returned in previous negotiations. Since then, Israeli troops have killed more than 70,700 Palestinians in Gaza, many of them women and children, and have displaced most of the enclave’s population.

    Health authorities in Palestine say Israel has violated the ceasefire multiple times, even daily, and at least 386 people have been killed in strikes by its military since Oct. 10. Israel, meanwhile, says three of its soldiers have died since the ceasefire began, and that it is responding to ceasefire violations by Hamas.

    Multiple die after heavy rain hits Gaza

    Nearly 795,000 displaced Palestinians are at “heightened risk” because of rainfall triggered by Storm Byron this week, the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration said. Storm Byron hit Greece and Cyprus before making landfall in Gaza.

    Heavy rain has been falling across “hundreds of displacement sites, overwhelming areas where even moderate rainfall can quickly become dangerous,” the IOM said.

    “Despite the ceasefire, displaced Palestinians continue to live in overcrowded areas with little protection against rising water levels,” according to the organization.

    This comes as much of Gaza’s infrastructure has already been destroyed in Israeli strikes.

    Sana Abu Harad, 38, spoke to NBC News as she and her child, who the outlet said was shivering, sat inside her drenched tent.

    “Everything is underwater,” said said in an interview with NBC. “Why must this little child sleep in floodwater? I struggled so much just to get this tent, and now nothing protects us. Where will I live with my children now?”

    Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, said in a post on X Saturday that WHO is continuing to face challenges in bringing “vital supplies,” including laboratory reagents and diagnostic equipment, into Gaza as being they were classified as “dual-use.” Israel has restricted items it deems can be used for military purposes.

    Aid organizations said, and an Associated Press analysis of data from COGAT showed, that aid deliveries to Gaza are falling far short of the amount ordered by the ceasefire agreement. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of coordinating aid entry, insisted to the AP that it is complying with the agreements call for it to allow 600 aid trucks into Gaza, even though its own figures showed an average of only 459 trucks a day have entering since Oct. 12.

    In Gaza, Tedros said Saturday, at least 10 people died in the last 24 hours because of heavy rains. On Friday, NBC News reported that the Ministry of Interior and National Security in Gaza said fourteen people had died within 24 hours.

    “Thousands of families are sheltering in tents with scant protection from the harsh winter,” Tedros said. “Combined with poor water and sanitation, a surge in acute respiratory infections, such as flu, as well as hepatitis, and diarrhoeal diseases is expected.”

    He called for the “urgent entry” of resources to Gaza “to enable timely detection, response, and treatment of people facing these diseases.”

    The post Israel strikes car in Gaza City, says it killed senior Hamas commander appeared first on Straight Arrow News.

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  • IDF ‘increasing attacks’: UN says 127 civilians killed by Israel in Lebanon since ceasefire

    The UN human rights office said that at least 127 civilians had been killed in Lebanon in strikes by the Israeli military since the ceasefire’s implementation.

    Following a series of Israeli strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, the UN and Lebanese Health Ministry on Tuesday reported casualty estimates for those wounded and killed in the country since the implementation of the ceasefire between Israel and the terror group nearly a year ago.

    The UN human rights office said that at least 127 civilians had been killed in Lebanon in strikes by the Israeli military since the ceasefire’s implementation, and called for an investigation into the matter and for the truce to be respected.

    “Almost a year since the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel was agreed, we continue to witness increasing attacks by the Israeli military, resulting in the killing of civilians and destruction of civilian objects in Lebanon, coupled with alarming threats of a wider, intensified offensive,” Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the UN human rights office, said at a Geneva press briefing.

    He said the number included deaths the UN had verified using its own strict methodology, but that the actual level could be higher.

    Women Hezbollah members mourning during the funeral procession on November 24, 2025 in Beirut, Lebanon. Hezbollah confirmed that its top military commander Haytham Ali Tabatabai was killed yesterday in an Israeli air strike on Lebanon’s capital, Beirut. (credit: Adri Salido/Getty Images)

    Lebanese Health Ministry reports 331 ‘martyrs’ since ceasefire start

    Earlier on Tuesday, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported that 331 “martyrs” had been killed since the start of the ceasefire and that another 945 had been wounded.

    The ministry did not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

    The reports come two days after Israel killed Hezbollah military commander Ali Tabatabai in a strike in Beirut. Four additional Hezbollah terrorists were killed along with him.

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  • Hamas hands over three coffins it says contain bodies of Gaza hostages

    Hamas has handed over three coffins it says contain the bodies of deceased Gaza hostages, according to the Israeli military.

    Israel has received the coffins, via the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip, and transported them to Israel for formal identification.

    If confirmed as deceased hostages, it would mean eight Israeli and foreign deceased hostages remain in Gaza.

    Under the first phase of the US-brokered ceasefire deal with Israel that started last month, Hamas agreed to return the 20 living and 28 dead hostages it was holding.

    Israel has accused Hamas of being too slow to return the deceased hostages, while Hamas has said it is working to recover bodies trapped under rubble in the territory.

    Hamas’s armed wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, said the remains had been found earlier on Sunday “along the route of one of the tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip”.

    Later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official X account said: “All of the hostages’ families have been updated accordingly, and our hearts are with them in this difficult hour. The effort to return our hostages is ongoing and will not cease until the last hostage is returned.”

    The Hostages and Missing Families Forum is pressing Netanyahu to act urgently to recover all remaining deceased hostages from Gaza.

    “The Hostage Families demand that the prime minister act with determination and firmness in order… to return all of the deceased hostages to Israel’s hands,” the campaign group said in a statement.

    Hamas and Israel have accused each other of violating the ceasefire.

    On Sunday, an Israeli air strike killed a man in northern Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

    The Israeli military said it had struck a militant that was posing a threat to its soldiers.

    Under the first phase of the ceasefire, all the living Israeli hostages were released on 13 October in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 detainees from Gaza.

    Israel has handed over the bodies of 225 Palestinians in exchange for the bodies of the 15 Israeli hostages so far returned by Hamas, along with those of two foreign hostages – one of them Thai and the other Nepalese.

    Prior to Sunday, nine of the 11 dead hostages still in Gaza were Israelis, one was Tanzanian, and one was Thai.

    All but one of the dead hostages still in Gaza were among the 251 people abducted during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, during which about 1,200 other people were killed.

    Israel responded by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 68,500 people have been killed, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

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  • ‘I’m 89 and I saw my homeland rebuilt before – but now I don’t believe Gaza has a future’

    “I rode away on a camel with my grandmother, along a sandy road, and I started to cry.” Ayish Younis is describing the worst moment of his life – he still regards it as such, even though it was 77 years ago, and he’s lived through many horrors since.

    It was 1948, the first Arab-Israeli war was raging, and Ayish was 12. He and his whole extended family were fleeing their homes in the village of Barbara – famed for its grapes, wheat, corn and barley – in what had been British-ruled Palestine.

    “We were scared for our lives,” Ayish says. “On our own, we had no means to fight the Jews, so we all started to leave.”

    The camel took Ayish and his grandmother seven miles south from Barbara, to an area held by Egypt that would become known as the Gaza Strip. It was just 25 miles long and a few miles wide, and had just become occupied by Egyptian forces.

    In all an estimated 700,000 Palestinians lost their homes and became refugees as a result of the war of 1948-49; around 200,000 are believed to have crowded into that tiny coastal corridor.

    “We had bits of wood which we propped against the walls of a building to make a shelter,” Ayish says.

    Later, they moved into one of the huge tented camps established by the United Nations.

    Today, aged 89, Ayish is again living in a tent in Al-Mawasi near Khan Younis.

    In May last year, seven months into the two-year war between Israel and Hamas, Ayish was forced to leave his home in the southern Gaza city of Rafah after an evacuation order from the Israeli military.

    The four-storey house, divided into several apartments, that he had shared with his children and their families, was destroyed by what he believes may have been Israeli tank-fire.

    Now, home is a small white canvas tent just a few metres across.

    [BBC]

    Ayish's tent in the background, with a washing line hanging with some clothing in the forefront

    Ayish’s family home was destroyed during the conflict (pictured above). He is once is again living in a tent (pictured) – now in the Al-Mawasi near Khan Yunis [BBC]

    Other members of the family are in neighbouring tents. They have all had to cook on an open fire. With no access to running water they wash using canned water, which is scarce and as a result expensive.

    “We returned to what we started with, we returned back to tents, and we still don’t know how long we will be here,” he says, sitting in a plastic chair on the bare sand outside his tent, with clothes drying on a washing line nearby.

    A walking frame is propped beside him, as he moves with difficulty. But he still speaks in the crystal-clear, melodious Arabic of one who studied literature, and recited the Quran daily as the imam of a local mosque.

    “After we left Barbara and lived in a tent, we eventually succeeded in building a house. But now, the situation is more than a catastrophe. I don’t know what the future holds, and whether we will ever be able to rebuild our house again.”

    “And in the end I just want to go back to Barbara, with my whole extended family, and again taste the fruit that I remember from there.”

    Ayish sitting by a fire

    Ayish’s greatest desire is to return to the village, now in Israel, which he last saw when he was 12 – even though it no longer exists [BBC]

    On 9 October, Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of a ceasefire and hostage release deal. The remaining living 20 Hamas-held hostages were returned to Israel and Israel released nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners.

    Yet despite widespread rejoicing over the ceasefire, Ayish is not optimistic about the long-term prospects for Gaza.

    “I hope the peace will spread and it will be calm,” he says. “But I believe the Israelis will do whatever they like.”

    Under the agreement for the first stage of the ceasefire, Israel will retain control of more than half the Gaza Strip, including Rafah.

    One question Ayish, his family and all Gazans are pondering is whether their homeland will ever be successfully rebuilt.

    My 18 children and 79 grandchildren

    Back in 1948, the Egyptian army had been one of five Arab armies that had invaded the British-controlled territory of Mandate Palestine the day after the establishment of a Jewish state, Israel. But they soon withdrew, defeated, from Barbara, prompting Ayish’s decision to flee.

    Ayish became a teacher when he was 19, and gained a literature degree in Cairo under a scholarship programme.

    The best moment of his life, he says, was when he married his wife Khadija. Together they had 18 children. That, according to a newspaper article that once featured him, is a record – the largest number of children from the same mother and father of any Palestinian family.

    Today, he has 79 grandchildren, two of them born in the last few months.

    The family would move from their first tent to a simple three-room cement house with an asbestos roof in the refugee camp, which they later extended to nine rooms – thanks partly to wages earned in Israel.

    When the border between Israel and Gaza opened, and Ayish’s eldest son Ahmed was one of many Palestinians who took advantage of that, working in an Israeli restaurant during his holidays, while studying medicine in Egypt.

    “During that time, in Israel, people were paid very well. And this is the period of time where the Palestinians made most of their money,” he says.

    All but one of Ayish’s children gained university degrees. They became engineers, nurses, teachers. Several moved abroad. Five are in Gulf countries and Ahmed, a specialist in spinal cord injuries, now lives in London. Many other Gazan families are similarly scattered.

    Ahmed Younis

    Ayish’s son Ahmed Younis is a specialist in spinal cord injuries and now lives in London [BBC]

    The Younis family, like many Gazans, wanted nothing to do with politics. Ayish became an imam at a Rafah mosque – and a local headman (or mukhtar) responsible for settling disputes, just as his uncle had been years earlier in the village of Barbara.

    He was not appointed by the government – but he says that both Hamas and the Fatah political movement, the dominant party in the Palestinian authority, respected him.

    That didn’t save the family from tragedy, though, during the street battles of 2007, when Fatah and Hamas fought for control of the Strip. Ayish’s daughter Fadwa was killed in cross-fire as she sat in a car.

    The rest of the family survived through wars between Hamas and Israel in 2008, 2012, 2014 – as well as the devastating war triggered by the deadly Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.

    Then came that evacuation order by the Israeli military who said they were carrying out operations against Hamas in the area, forcing them to leave their Rafah home and over a year spent living in makeshift tents.

    Ayish’s life has come full circle since 1948. But his greatest desire is to go even further back in time, to return to the village, now in Israel, which he last saw when he was 12 – even though it no longer exists.

    Apart from clothes, cooking pots and a few other essentials, the only possessions he has with him in his tent are the precious title deeds to his ancestral land in Barbara.

    ‘I don’t believe Gaza has any future’

    Thoughts are now turning to the reconstruction of Gaza.

    But Ayish believes the extent of the destruction – of infrastructure, schools and health services – is so great that it cannot be fully repaired, even with the help of the international community.

    “I don’t believe Gaza has any future,” he says.

    He believes that his grandchildren could play a role in the reconstruction of Gaza if the ceasefire is fully implemented, but he does not believe they will be able to find jobs in the territory as good as those they have or could get abroad.

    His son Haritha, a graduate in Arabic language who has four daughters and a son, is also living in a tent. “An entire generation has been destroyed by this war.

    “We are unable to comprehend it,” he says.

    “We used to hear from our fathers and grandfathers about the 1948 war and how difficult the displacement was, but there is no comparison between 1948 and what happened in this war.

    “We hope that our children will have a role in rebuilding, but as Palestinians, do we have the capacity on our own to rebuild the schools? Will donor countries play a role in that?”

    “My daughter has gone through two years of war without schooling, and for two years before that schools were closed because of Covid,” he continues. “I used to work in a clothing store, but it was destroyed.

    “We don’t know how things will unfold or how we will have a source of income. There are so many questions we have no answers for. We simply don’t know what the future holds.”

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    Another of Ayish’s sons, Nizar, a trained nurse, who lives in a tent nearby, agrees. He believes Gaza’s problems are so great that the youngest generation of the family will not be able to play much role, despite their high level of education.

    “The situation is unbearable,” he says. “We hope that life will return to how it was before the war. But the destruction is massive – total destruction of buildings and infrastructure, psychological devastation within the community, and the destruction of universities.”

    People walking through water and carrying luggage in the 1948 Palestinian exodus

    The 1948 Palestinian exodus: ‘We used to hear from our fathers and grandfathers about the 1948 war and how difficult the displacement was, but there is no comparison between [that] and this war’ [Getty Images]

    Ayish’s eldest son Ahmed, in London, meanwhile reflects on how it took the family more than 30 years to build their former home into what it eventually became – as money was saved over the years it was expanded, he explains.

    “Do I have another 30 years to work and try to help and support my family? This is really the situation all the time – every 10 to 15 years, people lose everything and they come back to square one.”

    And yet he still dreams of living in Rafah again when he retires. “My brothers in the Gulf bought land in Rafah to come back and settle as well. My son, and my nephews and nieces – they want to go back.”

    With a pause, he adds: “By nature, I’m very optimistic, because I know how determined our Gaza people are. Trust me, they will go back and start to rebuild their lives again.

    “The hope is always in the new generation to rebuild.”

    Top picture credit: AFP via Getty Images

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  • Israel says one body handed over by Hamas was not a hostage

    People pay their respects outside the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute as the bodies of four hostages,Daniel Peretz, Yossi Sharabi, Guy Iluz, and Nepali citizen Bipin Joshi, arrive from Gaza, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Ilia Yefimovich/dpa

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  • Who are the hostages being released?

    The Israeli military says the first hostages have been handed over by Hamas and have returned to Israel. Until Monday, 48 hostages were still being held in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

    All but one were among the 251 people abducted during the Palestinian group’s attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, during which about 1,200 other people were killed.

    Israel responded by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 67,000 people have been killed, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

    Hostages who Israel says have been released

    Eitan Mor, 25, was working as a security guard at the Nova music festival. His father Mor said he saved dozens of people before being kidnapped by Hamas gunmen. In February 2025, Eitan’s family said they had received a sign of life from him. Three months later, they said a released hostage who spent time with him in a tunnel had told them how he had acted as a “spokesman to the captors” and “lifted everyone’s spirits”.

    Alon Ohel, 24, has Israeli, German and Serbian citizenship. Hamas footage showed him being taken away as a hostage from the Nova festival. Alon was not seen in another video until August 2025, when he was filmed being driven around Gaza City with Guy Gilboa-Dalal. Last month, Alon’s family approved the publication of a still from a new video which they said showed he had gone blind in one eye.

    Gali and Ziv Berman, 28-year-old twin brothers, were abducted from Kibbutz Kfar Aza with their neighbour, Emily Damari. Ziv was held with Emily for 40 days before they were separated. She was released in January 2025 during the last ceasefire. Gali and Ziv’s family said they had been informed by other hostages released in early 2025 that they were still alive.

    Twins Gali and Ziv Berman were taken hostage along with their British-Israeli neighbour Emily Damari, who has since been released [The Hostages and Missing Families Forum]

    Guy Gilboa-Dalal, 24, attended the festival with his brother, Gal, who said the last time they saw each other was just before Hamas launched its first barrage of rockets into Israel at the start of the attack. Gal evaded the gunmen on the ground, but Guy was kidnapped. Last month, Hamas released a video showing Guy and another hostage, Alon Ohel, being driven around Gaza City in late August as the Israeli military prepared to launch an offensive there.

    Matan Angrest, a 22-year-old Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier, was in a tank that was attacked near the Gaza perimeter fence on 7 October. One video showed a crowd pulling him from the tank unconscious and injured. Earlier this year, his family said they had been told by released hostages that he was suffering from chronic asthma, untreated burns and infections.

    Omri Miran, 48, was abducted from his home in Nahal Oz. His wife, Lishay, said she last saw him being driven away in his own car. She and their two young daughters, Roni and Alma, were not taken with him. In April 2025, Hamas released a video showing Omri marking his 48th birthday. In response: Lishay said: “I always said and I always knew, Omri is a survivor.”

    Omri Miran

    Hamas published a video earlier this year purporting to show Omri Miran alive [The Hostages and Missing Families Forum]

    Hostages who are set to be released

    Ariel Cunio, 28, was abducted in the attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz on 7 October. Ariel’s brother Eitan, who escaped the Hamas-led gunmen, said the last message from Ariel said: “We are in a horror movie.” Ariel’s partner, Arbel Yehud, was freed in January 2025 under a deal that saw Hamas hand over 25 living and eight dead hostages during a two-month ceasefire.

    David Cunio, 35, another of Ariel’s brothers, was also kidnapped from Nir Oz. David’s wife Sharon Aloni Cunio and their then-three-year-old twin daughters Ema and Yuly were among the 105 hostages released during a week-long ceasefire in November 2023. Sharon’s sister Danielle Aloni and her daughter Emilia were also freed. In February 2025, David’s family said released hostages had told them that had recently seen him alive.

    Matan Angrest, a 22-year-old Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier, was in a tank that was attacked near the Gaza perimeter fence on 7 October. One video showed a crowd pulling him from the tank unconscious and injured. Earlier this year, his family said they had been told by released hostages that he was suffering from chronic asthma, untreated burns and infections.

    Matan Zangauker, 25, was taken with his partner Ilana Gritzewsky from Nir Oz. Ilana was released during the November 2023 ceasefire. In December 2024, Hamas released a video showing Matan in captivity. He said he and his fellow hostages were suffering from skin ailments, shortages of food, water and medicine.

    Eitan Horn, 38, an Israeli-Argentine dual national, was kidnapped along with his elder brother Yair from Nir Oz. Yair was freed in February 2025 during the last ceasefire. Hamas released a video at the time showing Eitan and Yair hugging and breaking down in tears ahead of the latter’s release. “Every day we imagined what we’d do if we were freed,” Yair recalled recently.

    Nimrod Cohen, 21, was serving as an IDF soldier when his tank was attacked by Hamas at Nahal Oz. In February 2025, his family were told by one of the released hostages that he was still alive in captivity but in poor physical and mental shape. After the new ceasefire was agreed, his mother Viki posted on social media: “My child, you are coming home.”

    Dozens of people were taken hostage during the attack by Hamas gunmen on the Nova music festival. Among those believed to be still alive are:

    Yosef-Chaim Ohana, 25, had been at the festival with a friend, who said they had remained to help people escape the gunfire before running themselves. In May 2025, Hamas published a video showing Yosef and another hostage, Elkana Bohbot. Yosef is seen sitting beside Elkana, who is lying on the ground. An intravenous drip is hooked up to the wall next to Elkana.

    Yosef-Chaim Ohana

    Yosef-Chaim Ohana was captured while trying to help others flee Hamas gunmen [The Hostages and Missing Families Forum]

    Avinatan Or, 32, was kidnapped at the festival along with his girlfriend, Noa Argamani, but they were immediately separated. Noa and three other hostages were rescued in an Israeli military operation in central Gaza in June 2024. In March 2025, Avinatan’s family said they had received a sign that he was still alive. His British-Israeli mother, Ditza, has said she just wants to put her ear to his chest and hear his heartbeat again.

    Maxim Herkin, 37, is an Israel-Russian dual national who was invited to the festival at the last moment. His two friends were among the 378 people killed in the attack. In April 2025, Maxim appeared in a Hamas video along with Bar Kupershtein – the first signs of life from either man since they were taken hostage. The following month, Maxim was seen alone in another video and appeared to be bandaged up. Hamas said was the result of an Israeli air strike.

    Maxim Herkin

    Maxim Herkin is one of two dual nationals believed to still be alive in Hamas captivity [The Hostages and Missing Families Forum]

    Bar Kupershtein, 23, was working at the festival and stayed behind during the attack to help treat casualties. He told his grandmother that he would head home as soon as they were finished. But he was later identified him in a video of hostages. They heard no further information about him until April 2025, when he was seen in a video with Maxim Herkin.

    Segev Kalfon, 27, was running away from the festival with a friend when he was taken hostage by Hamas gunmen. Two months later, the Israeli military found a video of the abduction. In February 2025, released hostage Ohad Ben Ami told Segev’s father, Kobi, that they had been held captive with four other men in a tunnel in “terrible conditions”.

    Evyatar David, 24, was at the festival and on the morning of the attacks. He texted the family to say “they are bombarding the party”. His family say they later received a text from an unknown number, containing video footage of Evyatar handcuffed on the floor of a dark room. In August 2025, Hamas published a video of an emaciated and weak Evyatar in a tunnel. The footage caused outrage in Israel and deep concern among his family. “He’s a human skeleton. He was being starved to the point where he can be dead at any moment,” said his brother Ilay.

    Rom Braslabski, 21, was working on security for the festival. According to an account published by Hostages and Missing Families Forum, he was trying to rescue an injured person in the attack when he was caught in a volley of fire. In August 2025, Palestinian Islamic Jihad published a video of Rom, in which he is seen crying as he says he has run out of food and water. He says he is unable to stand or walk, and “is at death’s door”. Medical experts said he was suffering from “deliberate, prolonged, and systematic starvation”.

    Hostages whose conditions are unknown

    Tamir Nimrodi, 20, was an education officer in the IDF at the Erez Crossing on 7 October. The last time his mother, Herut, saw him was in a video of his abduction posted on social media that day. Since then, she has received no signs of life and his fate is unknown.

    Bipin Joshi, 24, a Nepalese agriculture student, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Alumim. Footage from 7 October 2023 showed him walking inside al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. His family received no signs of life for a year, until the Israeli military shared a video showing him in captivity around November 2023. The family released the footage just before the new ceasefire was announced, describing it as “proof of life”.

    Bipin Joshi

    Bipin Joshi is one of two men whose status is uncertain [The Hostages and Missing Families Forum]

    Hostages who are confirmed dead

    Tamir Adar, 38, was a member of Nir Oz’s community security squad who was killed while fighting Hamas gunmen during the 7 October attack, his kibbutz announced in January 2024. The body of the farmer and father-of-two is being held by Hamas in Gaza.

    Sonthaya Akrasri, 30, was a Thai agricultural worker killed in the attack on Kibbutz Be’eri, Thailand’s foreign ministry said in May 2024, citing the available evidence. His body is being held by Hamas in Gaza.

    Muhammad al-Atarash, 39, was a sergeant-major in the IDF and served as a tracker. In June 2024, the IDF confirmed the father-of-13 from the Bedouin village of Sawa was killed while fighting Hamas gunmen near Nahal Oz on 7 October and that his body was being held in Gaza.

    Sahar Baruch, 24, was kidnapped from Be’eri. In January 2024, the IDF announced that he had been killed during a rescue attempt by Israeli forces in Gaza. It was not clear whether he was killed by Hamas or Israeli gunfire.

    Uriel Baruch, 35, was abducted from the Nova festival. In March 2024, the father-of-two’s family said they had been informed by the IDF that he was killed in captivity in Gaza.

    Inbar Hayman, 27, was kidnapped during the attack on the Nova festival and was killed by Hamas in captivity, her family said. She is the last female hostage being held.

    Inbar Hayman

    Inbar Hayman, believed to be dead, is the last woman being held by Hamas [The Hostages and Missing Families Forum]

    Itay Chen, 19, was an Israeli-American who was serving as a soldier in the IDF on 7 October. The IDF said he was killed during Hamas’s attack on Nahal Oz base and that his body was taken back to Gaza as a hostage.

    Amiram Cooper, 85, was abducted from Nir Oz. The IDF said in June 2024 that he had been killed along with three other hostages – Nadav Popplewell, Chaim Peri and Yoram Metzger – months earlier in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. The IDF said it had been operating in the area at the time but did not confirm how they were killed. Hamas had earlier claimed they were killed by an IDF strike.

    Oz Daniel, 19, was a sergeant in the IDF’s 7th Armoured Brigade and was killed during a battle with Hamas gunmen near the Gaza perimeter fence on 7 October. His body was taken to Gaza as a hostage, according to the IDF.

    Ronen Engel, 54, was kidnapped from Nir Oz on 7 October along with his wife, Karina Engel-Bart, and their daughters, Mika and Yuval. Karina, Mika and Yuval were released during the ceasefire in November 2023. The following month, the IDF confirmed that Ronen has been killed in captivity.

    Meny Godard, 73, was killed during the attack on Be’eri with his wife, Ayelet, and his body was taken to Gaza as a hostage, his family said in February 2024. In March 2025, the IDF said some of Meny’s remains had been found at a Palestinian Islamic Jihad outpost in Rafah, but that the group was believed to be holding the rest.

    Meny Godard

    Meny Godard’s body was taken into Gaza after Hamas killed him alongside his wife [The Hostages and Missing Families Forum]

    Ran Gvili, 24, was a sergeant in the Israel Police who was killed while fighting Hamas-led gunmen in Kibbutz Alumim on 7 October. His body was subsequently taken to Gaza as a hostage, according to the IDF.

    Tal Haimi, 41, was part of Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak’s rapid response team and was killed during the attack there on 7 October. The father-of-four’s body was taken to Gaza, where it is still being held.

    Asaf Hamami, 41, was a colonel in the IDF and commander of the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade. He was killed near Kibbutz Nirim on 7 October and his body is being held in Gaza, according to the IDF.

    Guy Illouz, 26, was shot twice during the attack on the Nova festival and died of his wounds after being taken hostage, his family said. Released hostages are said to have confirmed his death.

    Guy Illouz

    Guy Illouz died in captivity as a result of injuries sustained in the attack on the Nova festival [The Hostages and Missing Families Forum]

    Eitan Levi, 53, was a taxi driver who was killed by Hamas gunmen on a road close to the Gaza perimeter on 7 October. His body was then taken to Gaza, where Palestinians were filmed beating and kicking it.

    Eliyahu Margalit, 75, was killed by Hamas fighters in Nir Oz on 7 October, the IDF confirmed in December 2023. His body is being held in Gaza.

    Joshua Mollel, 21, was a Tanzanian student who was undertaking an agricultural internship at Kibbutz Nahal Oz when it was attacked on 7 October. The Tanzanian government confirmed in December 2023 that he was killed that day and that his body was being held by Hamas.

    Omer Neutra, 21, an Israeli-American and grandson of Holocaust survivors, was serving as an IDF tank commander near Gaza when Hamas attacked on 7 October. The IDF later said he was killed that day and his body taken to Gaza.

    Daniel Peretz, 22, was a captain in the IDF’s 7th Armoured Brigade. Originally from South Africa, he was killed in an attack on his tank near Nahal Oz on 7 October and his body was taken to Gaza, the IDF said.

    Dror Or, 48, and his wife, Yonat, were killed in the attack on Be’eri, the kibbutz confirmed in February 2024. Two of his three children, Noam and Alma, were taken hostage and were released as part of the November 2023 ceasefire deal. Dror’s body is being held in Gaza.

    Dror Or

    Dror Or was killed alongside his wife [The Hostages and Missing Families Forum]

    Suthisak Rintalak, 43, was a Thai agricultural worker killed in the attack on Kibbutz Be’eri, Thailand’s foreign ministry said in May 2024, citing the available evidence. His body is being held by Hamas in Gaza.

    Lior Rudaeff, 61, was killed while attempting to defend Nir Yitzhak from attack on 7 October, the kibbutz said. His body is being held as a hostage.

    Yossi Sharabi, 53, was kidnapped from Be’eri along with his brother, Eli. In January 2024, the kibbutz announced that the father-of-three had been killed in captivity in Gaza. The following month, the IDF said an investigation had found that he was likely to have been killed when a building collapsed following an Israeli strike on another building nearby. His body is being held by Hamas. Eli, who was released in February 2025, told the BBC last week how important it was for the family to have a funeral and closure.

    Arie Zalmanowicz, 85, was abducted from Nir Oz on 7 October. In November 2023, Hamas released a video showing him saying he felt unwell. The following month his kibbutz said he had died in captivity.

    Hadar Goldin, 23, was a lieutenant in the IDF’s Givati Brigade who was killed in combat in Gaza in 2014. His body has been held hostage by Hamas since then.

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  • Israeli military says ceasefire agreement in Gaza has taken effect

    A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas for the Gaza Strip came into effect at noon local time, the Israeli military said Friday, adding that troops were withdrawing to agreed-upon deployment lines. The announcement came hours after Israel’s Cabinet approved President Donald Trump’s plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the release of the remaining hostages and of Palestinian prisoners.Tens of thousands of people who had gathered in Wadi Gaza in central Gaza in the morning started walking north after the military’s announcement at noon local time. Beforehand, Palestinians reported heavy shelling in parts of Gaza throughout Friday morning.The Israeli Cabinet’s approval of Trump’s plan marks a key step toward ending a ruinous two-year war that has destabilized the Middle East.A brief statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office early Friday said the Cabinet approved the “outline” of a deal to release the hostages, without mentioning other aspects of the plan that are more controversial.An Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the withdrawal, said the military would control around 50% of Gaza in their new positions.Shelling continues through early hoursAfter the Cabinet approval, Gaza residents reported intensified shelling well into Friday morning.In central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, Mahmoud Sharkawy, one of the many people sheltering there after being displaced from Gaza City, said artillery shelling intensified in the early hours.“The shelling has significantly increased today,” said Sharkawy, adding that low flying military aircraft had been flying over central Gaza.In northern Gaza, two Gaza City residents told The Associated Press that bombing had been ongoing since the early hours, mostly artillery shelling.The managing director of Shifa hospital, Rami Mhanna, said the shelling in southern and northern Gaza City had not stopped following the Israeli Cabinet’s approval of the ceasefire plan.“It is confusing, we have been hearing shelling all night despite the ceasefire news,” said Heba Garoun, who fled her home in eastern Gaza City to another neighborhood in the city after her house was destroyed.Details of the dealA senior Hamas official and lead negotiator made a speech Thursday laying out what he said were the core elements of the ceasefire deal: Israel releasing around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, opening the border crossing with Egypt, allowing aid to flow and Israeli forces withdrawing.Khalil al-Hayya said all women and children held in Israeli jails will also be freed. He did not offer details on the extent of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.Al-Hayya said the Trump administration and mediators had given assurances that the war is over, and that Hamas and other Palestinian factions will now focus on achieving self-determination and establishing a Palestinian state.“We declare today that we have reached an agreement to end the war and the aggression against our people,” Al-Hayya said in a televised speech Thursday evening.To help support and monitor the ceasefire deal, U.S. officials said they would send about 200 troops to Israel as part of a broader, international team. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not authorized for release.

    TEL AVIV, Israel —

    A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas for the Gaza Strip came into effect at noon local time, the Israeli military said Friday, adding that troops were withdrawing to agreed-upon deployment lines. The announcement came hours after Israel’s Cabinet approved President Donald Trump’s plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the release of the remaining hostages and of Palestinian prisoners.

    Tens of thousands of people who had gathered in Wadi Gaza in central Gaza in the morning started walking north after the military’s announcement at noon local time. Beforehand, Palestinians reported heavy shelling in parts of Gaza throughout Friday morning.

    The Israeli Cabinet’s approval of Trump’s plan marks a key step toward ending a ruinous two-year war that has destabilized the Middle East.

    A brief statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office early Friday said the Cabinet approved the “outline” of a deal to release the hostages, without mentioning other aspects of the plan that are more controversial.

    An Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the withdrawal, said the military would control around 50% of Gaza in their new positions.

    Shelling continues through early hours

    After the Cabinet approval, Gaza residents reported intensified shelling well into Friday morning.

    In central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, Mahmoud Sharkawy, one of the many people sheltering there after being displaced from Gaza City, said artillery shelling intensified in the early hours.

    “The shelling has significantly increased today,” said Sharkawy, adding that low flying military aircraft had been flying over central Gaza.

    In northern Gaza, two Gaza City residents told The Associated Press that bombing had been ongoing since the early hours, mostly artillery shelling.

    The managing director of Shifa hospital, Rami Mhanna, said the shelling in southern and northern Gaza City had not stopped following the Israeli Cabinet’s approval of the ceasefire plan.

    “It is confusing, we have been hearing shelling all night despite the ceasefire news,” said Heba Garoun, who fled her home in eastern Gaza City to another neighborhood in the city after her house was destroyed.

    Details of the deal

    A senior Hamas official and lead negotiator made a speech Thursday laying out what he said were the core elements of the ceasefire deal: Israel releasing around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, opening the border crossing with Egypt, allowing aid to flow and Israeli forces withdrawing.

    Khalil al-Hayya said all women and children held in Israeli jails will also be freed. He did not offer details on the extent of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

    Al-Hayya said the Trump administration and mediators had given assurances that the war is over, and that Hamas and other Palestinian factions will now focus on achieving self-determination and establishing a Palestinian state.

    “We declare today that we have reached an agreement to end the war and the aggression against our people,” Al-Hayya said in a televised speech Thursday evening.

    To help support and monitor the ceasefire deal, U.S. officials said they would send about 200 troops to Israel as part of a broader, international team. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not authorized for release.

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  • Israel foils second Gaza flotilla in a week, activists say vessels were under attack

    The Gaza Freedom Flotilla claimed that the Israeli military was jamming signals and had boarded at least two boats. The IDF has not yet commented on the incident.

    Israel said Wednesday it thwarted another attempt to breach its maritime blockade of Gaza, intercepting a flotilla of nine vessels organized by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. The boats, carrying about 100 activists, had sailed from Italy two weeks ago.

    “Another futile attempt to breach the legal naval blockade and enter a combat zone ended in nothing,” the Foreign Ministry tweeted. “The vessels and the passengers are transferred to an Israeli port. All the passengers are safe and in good health. The passengers are expected to be deported promptly.”

    The passengers detained are “expected to be deported promptly,” the ministry added.

    Earlier on Wednesday, the Gaza Freedom Flotilla said its vessels were under attack by the Israeli military, with several boats intercepted while sailing toward the Gaza Strip.

    The Israeli military was jamming signals with at least two boats being boarded, the flotilla said on Instagram.

    A screengrab from live footage shows an Israeli soldier smashing the CCTV camera of ”Gaza Sunbird”, a Gaza-bound vessel which is part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, with a gun as the boat is intercepted by Israeli security forces, in this screengrab obtained from a video released on October 8, 2025. (credit: Freedom Flotilla Coalition/Handout via REUTERS)

    The IDF has not yet commented on the incident.

    The interception follows a series of similar maritime confrontations in recent weeks. On Thursday, Israel stopped the 42-ship Global Sumud Flotilla, which carried 479 activists, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg. Nearly all of those detained have since been deported.

    Documents found in Gaza and released by Israel’s Foreign Ministry traced direct Hamas involvement in organizing and financing the Sumud flotilla to break the Israeli blockade of the Strip. Israel said the boats carried no aid and accused participants of seeking confrontation rather than delivering humanitarian relief.

    Only seven activists remain in custody, including a Spanish national accused of biting an Israel Prison Service officer.

    Israel and Egypt have maintained restrictions on Gaza to prevent weapons smuggling since Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007. Since then, Palestinian activists have periodically launched flotillas to challenge the blockade. In 2011, an independent UN inquiry into the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident criticized Israeli forces for using excessive force but upheld the blockade’s legality.

    Approximately 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 48 remaining hostages, about 20 are believed to be alive.

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  • How Israel is pitting Palestinian clans in Gaza against Hamas

    JERUSALEM — As Israel seeks to excise Hamas from Gaza, it’s empowering militias led by the Palestinian group’s enemies, assisting and providing them with military support in an attempt to present them as an alternative to Hamas’s rule in the enclave.

    The policy appears to date back to late last year, when Israel targeted local police forces in Gaza, justifying such attacks by saying that any government entity in Gaza is affiliated with Hamas; the result was chaos in parts of the Strip.

    In the ensuing security vacuum, a 32-year-old Palestinian tribesman named Yaser Abu Shabab emerged with some 100 of his clansmen to control aid routes near the Kerem Shalom crossing, a critically important aid conduit at the Gaza-Israel boundary.

    Aid organizations accuse groups like Abu Shabab’s of looting aid convoys, having ties to extremist groups and exacerbating famine in Gaza.

    In May, Jonathan Whitall, then director of the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Territories, said in a news briefing that “criminal gangs, under the watch of Israeli forces,” have been “allowed to operate in proximity to the Kerem Shalom border crossing.”

    A month later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged his government, following the advice of security officials, had “activated” clans in Gaza to work against Hamas.

    “What’s bad about it?” he said in a video statement. “It’s only good and it only saves the lives of Israel Defense Force soldiers.”

    Abu Shabab has since styled his group into the so-called “Popular Forces.” Soon after Netanyahu’s address, Abu Shabab released a statement of his own denying receiving any arms from Israel. But other posts touting the group’s security and aid operations show him working in areas under the full control of the Israeli military, and reports from Israeli media say he has received Kalashnikov rifles from the military.

    Abu Shabab’s group may have been the first to make itself known in Gaza, but other militias have since cropped up, activists say, operating in various parts of the Strip in concert with the Israeli military.

    One of the more prominent examples is led by Hussam Al-Astal, 50, a former officer in the Palestinian Authority’s security service who was accused by colleagues in the Palestinian Authority and Hamas of collaborating with Israel in the 1990s and of assassinating a high-ranking Hamas official in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

    His group, which calls itself “The Strike Force Against Terror,” has cemented its control over Qizan Al-Najjar, a village south of Rafah, which Astal describes as a haven for those opposed to Hamas.

    “Today in my area, we have no war,” Astal said in a phone interview Friday, adding that others are expected to come and that anyone entering the area was vetted for ties to Hamas.

    “If you come here, you’ll see children playing. We have water, electricity, safety.”

    Smoke rises from buildings following heavy Israeli attacks as Palestinians continue to flee northern Gaza toward the south.

    (Khames Alrefi/Anadolu via Getty Images)

    Astal made his comments the same day Hamas announced that it will accept parts of the Trump administration plan to end the war which began when Hamas forces invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas agreed to release hostages and largely give up its governing role in Gaza, which it has controlled since 2007.

    In a video posted in September, Al-Astal promises to pay $50 dollars to anyone who kills a Hamas fighter.

    “Every Hamas member I will personally throw in the trash heap. Hamas’s rule is ending,” he says.

    On Friday, Al-Astal’s group was involved in one of the bloodiest instances of intra-Palestinian fighting in the enclave, when a Hamas unit attacked a neighborhood in Khan Yunis in a bid to arrest members of a prominent clan accused of collaborating with Israel.

    In the ensuing firefight, five clansmen were killed, local sources say. Al-Astal said his forces assisted in fighting Hamas “using our special methods.” He did not elaborate on what those methods were, but the Israeli military released footage later on Friday showing it targeting Hamas militants it said were attacking a neighborhood in Khan Yunis; it said in a later that it killed 20 gunmen.

    Reports on social media said 11 Hamas members were killed, and their bodies were dragged through the streets of Khan Yunis. One video taken by local activists and posted on the messaging app Telegram shows the camera lingering over bloodied corpses lined side-by-side on the ground.

    Palestinians continue to flee to the southern regions with their belongings following Israeli airstrikes and ground assaults

    Palestinians continue to flee to the southern regions with their belongings following Israeli airstrikes and ground assaults in Gaza Strip on Oct. 3.

    (Saeed M. M. T. Jaras/Anadolu via Getty Images)

    It wouldn’t be the first time Israel has tried to create alternative governance structures in Palestinian communities. Between 1978 and 1984, it formed the Villages League, which aimed to dismantle the influence of the Palestine Liberation Organization by relying on prominent Palestinians, giving them incentives in return for their cooperation as a more pliant authority. The initiative failed.

    Around the same time, Israel empowered Palestinian Islamist groups including Hamas, hoping they would serve as a counterweight to the PLO and leftist, secular Palestinian factions that were prominent at the time.

    Being seen as cooperating with Israel remains a black mark in Palestinian society. The families of both Abu Shabab and Al-Astal issued statements disowning them.

    Al-Astal refused being characterized as a traitor, saying family members, including his sister, were killed by Israeli bombs. But he makes no secret of what he called coordination with the Israeli military, from whom he has received water, food and military equipment.

    “Hamas says I’m a traitor because I coordinate with Israel,” he said.

    “What do you think I’m coordinating? How to evacuate someone who is sick; how to provide food, water and services.”

    Not all clans have been receptive to Israel’s overtures.

    Last month, said Nizar Dughmush, the head of a prominent tribe in Gaza City, he was contacted by a militiaman who claimed he was an intermediary from the Israeli military.

    “He said the Israelis wanted us to take charge of a humanitarian zone in Gaza City, that we should recruit as many of our family members as we could, and they would provide logistical support, like arms, food and shelter,” Dughmush said.

    But Dughmush refused their offer, saying his family were civilians, and that though they were not affiliated with Hamas, they had no interest in being “tools of the occupation.”

    Two days later, Dughmush said, Israeli warplanes began pounding the tribe’s neighborhood, killing more than 100 members of his clan. Dughmush claims Israeli forces entered the neighborhood 48 hours later and systematically destroyed every house.

    “All of this is vengeance against us because we refused to cooperate,” he said. Two other clans, Dayri and Bakr, were approached in a similar fashion and had their areas attacked after rejecting Israel’s offer.

    “I’m talking to you now as a displaced person, along with what’s left of my clan, all of us spread out in different parts of Gaza,” Dughmush said.

    Al-Astal, who considers himself a longtime foe of Hamas, is unapologetic in his choices, which he sees as essential in a post-Hamas Gaza.

    “There’s no place for Hamas here,” he said.

    “We’re the new administration, and we’re the future.”

    Nabih Bulos

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  • Israel says Gaza flotilla halted completely as activists hail success

    The Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Thursday it had prevented the Global Sumud Flotilla from breaking through the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, despite contradictory claims from the activists on board.

    The organizers of the aid flotilla, which set sail from Barcelona in late August and aimed to deliver humanitarian aid directly to Gaza’s population, said Israel intercepted around 40 boats in the Mediterranean Sea.

    However, the activists said one boat, the Mikeno, reached within a few kilometres of Gaza’s coast, as shown on their online ship tracking service.

    They described the mission as a success, saying it was the first time a civilian vessel had managed to break through the Israeli naval blockade and enter the territorial waters off the Gaza Strip.

    The Times of Israel newspaper reported, citing military sources, that none of the flotilla’s ships had managed to reach the Israeli-controlled waters off the coast of Gaza, saying the activists’ claim was based on incorrect tracking data.

    The fate of the Mikeno remained unclear due to interrupted communications. There were no reports that the boat had reached dry land and been able to unload any aid supplies.

    The Israeli military and the Foreign Ministry did not initially respond to enquiries about the Mikeno.

    The Israeli navy intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla on Wednesday evening around 80 kilometres off the coast in international waters.

    Activists said the interception was illegal and accused Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip – accusations which Israel has rejected in the past.

    The flotilla members reported that at least one boat was rammed and others blasted with water cannons. Live footage from some of the vessels showed masked, heavily armed soldiers boarding and ordering crews to raise their hands. There were no reports of injuries during the operation.

    According to the organizers, around 500 participants from more than 40 countries, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, were to be brought to Israel and then deported.

    “The passengers are safe and in good health,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry wrote on X, alongside a photo of some of the activists, including Thunberg.

    Two other boats turned north towards Cyprus and escaped military action. One final boat remained at sea, but far from the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Foreign Ministry warned that if it continued to approach, it would also be stopped.

    It was initially unclear what would happen to the intercepted boats and their cargo. The activists had previously rejected offers from Israel to have the flotilla’s supplies brought to the Gaza Strip via an Israeli port.

    “The flotilla refused because they are not interested in aid, but in provocation,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry wrote on X.

    The flotilla issued a statement on Thursday saying: “Our commitment remains clear: to break Israel’s illegal siege and end the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people. Every act of repression against our flotilla, every escalation of violence in Gaza, and every attempt to suppress solidarity actions only strengthen our resolve.”

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  • Report: Dozens killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza

    Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in ongoing Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Sunday.

    The bodies of 41 people have been brought to various hospitals in the embattled coastal strip since Sunday morning, WAFA said.

    The Israeli military stated that it was continuing its operations against terrorist organizations throughout the Gaza Strip. The offensive in Gaza City had also been expanded, it said.

    In one instance, Israeli troops reportedly identified five militants who fired an anti-tank missile at the building where the soldiers were located. There were no injuries among the soldiers, according to the military.

    The Israeli Air Force “eliminated” the attackers, it said. Within 24 hours, around 140 military targets in the coastal strip were attacked, it added.

    New call for evacuation of Gaza neighbourhoods

    Meanwhile, the Israeli army spokesman called on residents of various neighbourhoods in Gaza City to leave immediately. They were advised in Arabic to move to the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone of al-Mawasi in the south-west of the Gaza Strip.

    The spokesman announced an attack on another high-rise building in Gaza City, stating that infrastructure of the Islamist organization Hamas was located there. Shortly afterwards, the military reported that the building had been destroyed.

    According to the Israeli military, around 780,000 civilians have already fled Gaza City, where an estimated 1 million people were present before the ground offensive began two weeks ago.

    Since the beginning of the Gaza war almost two years ago, more than 66,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas-run health authority.

    The trigger for the war was attacks carried out by Hamas and other extremist organizations in Israel, in which around 1,200 people were killed on October 7, 2023, and more than 250 others were abducted as hostages to the Gaza Strip.

    Hamas demands Israel halt attacks, warns hostages’ lives at risk

    Hamas urgently called on the Israeli army to cease its attacks on Gaza City for 24 hours.

    The lives of two Israeli hostages are in real danger, according to a statement from the military wing of Hamas, the al-Qassam Brigades.

    The troops must also immediately withdraw to an area south of Street 8 in Gaza City so that an attempt can be made to “extract” the two hostages. This, they said, is a warning.

    The demand for a halt to the attacks was to take effect from 6 pm (1500 GMT), the statement said.

    The al-Qassam Brigades had earlier stated that contact with the two hostages had been lost in the last 48 hours due to the intense Israeli attacks in the city.

    It was initially unclear whether Israel would comply with the demand.

    The relatives of the 48 remaining hostages – including 20 still alive – have repeatedly warned of the danger a ground offensive in Gaza City poses to their loved ones.

    A firefighter sprays water on a building damaged in an Israeli air strike. Hasan Alzaanin/TASS via ZUMA Press/dpa

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  • Microsoft blocks Israel’s use of its data centers for mass surveillance of Palestinians

    Microsoft has ended access to its data centers for a unit of the Israeli military that helped power a massive surveillance operation against Palestinian civilians, according to a report by The Guardian. The company says that the country’s spy agency has violated its terms of service.

    This surveillance system collected every day in Gaza and the West Bank. The massive trove of data has been stored via Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, but the company just informed Israel’s spy agency that this practice will no longer be acceptable.

    Microsoft’s vice-chair and president, Brad Smith, alerted staff of the move in an email, writing that the company had “ceased and disabled a set of services to a unit within the Israel ministry of defense.” He went to suggest that this included cutting off access to cloud storage and some AI services.

    “We do not provide technology to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians,” he continued. “We have applied this principle in every country around the world, and we have insisted on it repeatedly for more than two decades.”

    Microsoft came to this decision after conducting an external inquiry to review the spy agency’s use of its Azure cloud platform. It also comes amid pressure from both employees and investors for the company to examine its relationship with Israel as it relates to the military offensive in Gaza.

    This reportedly started back in 2021, when Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella allegedly okayed the storage effort personally after meeting with a commander from Israel’s elite military surveillance corps, Unit 8200. Nadella reportedly gave the country a customized and segregated area within the Azure platform to store these phone calls, all without knowledge or consent from Palestinians.

    While conflict has existed between Israel and Palestinian groups for decades, these platforms were built out a full two years before the the most recent escalation in violence, beginning October 7, 2023. The mantra when building out the project was to record “a million calls an hour.”

    Leaked Microsoft files suggested that the lion’s share of this data was being stored in Azure facilities in the Netherlands, but Israel allegedly moved it after Microsoft started its initial investigation. The Guardian has reported that Unit 8200 planned on transferring the data to the Amazon Web Services cloud platform. We have contacted Amazon to ask if it has accepted this gigantic trove of personal data.

    Lawrence Bonk

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  • Israel’s defence minister Katz: ‘Gaza is burning’

    The Israeli military intensified strikes on Gaza City overnight, Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday, adding the assault aims to secure the release of hostages and defeat Palestinian militant organization Hamas.

    “Gaza is burning,” Katz wrote on Telegram, vowing Israel would not relent or back down “until the mission is completed.”

    The US news site Axios cited Israeli officials as saying the operation marked the start of a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip’s largest city.

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    Israeli warplanes carried out near-continuous strikes on Gaza City overnight, accompanied by artillery fire, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

    Palestinian media said tanks later entered the city, where hundreds of thousands of people are believed to remain. The Israeli military has not confirmed this.

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  • Israel hits Gaza City campus as military orders fresh evacuations

    The Israeli military destroyed another building of the Islamic University in Gaza City on Sunday, saying Hamas had used the facility to monitor Israeli soldiers and plan attacks.

    Videos published by both Israeli and Palestinian media showed the building being struck and collapsing, and the military confirmed the attack. The claims could not be independently verified.

    According to Palestinians, displaced Gazans had been sheltering on the grounds of the university, which has been targeted several times during the nearly two-year war.

    The Israeli military had issued a fresh evacuation order for parts of Gaza City’s Rimal neighbourhood and the port area, urging civilians to move immediately to the al-Mawasi “humanitarian zone” further south.

    Israeli forces also hit the al-Kawthar residential tower, saying Hamas militants had installed intelligence-gathering equipment and observation posts there. The allegation could not be independently confirmed. Video footage showed the high-rise collapsing.

    Israel has flattened dozens of high-rises in Gaza City, asserting that the Palestinian militant group Hamas uses residential towers for military purposes.

    Israeli media reported that around 280,000 people have fled Gaza City, once home to roughly 1 million residents. The Hamas-run media office put the figure at about 350,000. Many civilians remain reluctant to relocate to designated safe zones, citing past Israeli attacks on such areas.

    Israeli officials have said the airstrikes are part of preparations for a deeper ground offensive aimed at dismantling Hamas units believed to be based in Gaza City.

    But the conservative daily Israel Hayom reported on Sunday significant resistance within the army’s top ranks to the planned assault. Senior officials warned that, especially after the recent attack in Qatar, Israel could be endangering its national security “in an unprecedented way.”

    Security officials have questioned whether the operation can achieve its stated goal of destroying Hamas, warning it could last for months, jeopardize the lives of remaining hostages, cause heavy Israeli military losses and further isolate Israel internationally because of the images of destruction and civilian casualties emerging from Gaza.

    The Gaza war was triggered by the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 abducted. Israel says 48 hostages remain in Gaza, 20 of them believed to be alive.

    The Hamas-run health authority in Gaza says more than 64,800 Palestinians have been killed since the war began. The tally does not distinguish between civilians and fighters, but the figures are regarded as broadly credible by the United Nations.

    Large parts of the densely populated territory have been devastated by Israeli bombardments. Critics accuse Israel of war crimes and, in some cases – including Spain’s government – of genocide. Israel insists it is acting in self-defence.

    Ambulances and emergency vehicles have been put out of service due to shelling, and destruction by Israeli bulldozers during incursions into several cities. According to an employee of the Palestinian Ministry of Health’s ambulance and emergency services at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, a significant number of ambulance officers have been killed and others injured while performing their duties. Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa

    Ambulances and emergency vehicles have been put out of service due to shelling, and destruction by Israeli bulldozers during incursions into several cities. According to an employee of the Palestinian Ministry of Health's ambulance and emergency services at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, a significant number of ambulance officers have been killed and others injured while performing their duties. Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa

    Ambulances and emergency vehicles have been put out of service due to shelling, and destruction by Israeli bulldozers during incursions into several cities. According to an employee of the Palestinian Ministry of Health’s ambulance and emergency services at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, a significant number of ambulance officers have been killed and others injured while performing their duties. Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa

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  • Israeli military extends regional campaign with strike on Hamas in Qatar

    BEIRUT — Israel announced it conducted “a precise targeted strike” on Hamas’s leadership on Tuesday, without elaborating on the strike’s location even as blasts rang out in the Qatari capital Doha and Qatari authorities condemned the “cowardly Israeli attack.”

    The attack comes as Israel is ramping up for a full invasion of Gaza City, even as stalled negotiations with Hamas officials in Doha appeared to have regained some momentum after the weekend.

    “The members of the leadership who were struck led the terror organization’s activities for years, and are directly responsible for carrying out the Oct. 7 massacre and waging the war against the State of Israel,” said a statement from the Israeli military.

    The statement referred to the date in 2023 when the Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people — two-thirds of them civilians — and kidnapped 251 others to Gaza, according to Israeli figures. More than 64,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, Palestinian authorities say, have been killed in Israel’s subsequent campaign on the enclave.

    Videos and television broadcasts showed black smoke rising from a series of buildings in Doha’s Katara district, a normally quiet residential area where Hamas and several of its top-ranking members have lived for years. One video depicts pedestrians in Katara running and screaming in fear as a pair of explosions echo through the neighborhood.

    Qatari security personnel were seen swarming the area and setting up roadblocks.

    Qatar agreed to host a political office for Hamas at the request of the U.S. government, it says. Hamas is one of several groups it has allowed on its soil as part of its growing reputation as a regional facilitator. It has hosted repeated mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel over the last 23 months of the war.

    An unnamed Hamas source speaking to Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera said the attack targeted negotiators meeting to discuss the latest ceasefire proposal issued by President Trump. There were conflicting reports as to whether anyone survived, but the meeting is thought to have included senior Hamas officials Khalil al-Hayya, Khaled Mishaal, Zaher Jabarin and Muhammad Darwish.

    In its statement, the Israeli military said “measures were taken in order to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and additional intelligence.”

    But Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari, in a furious statement issued on the messaging platform X on Tuesday, described the strike as “a criminal assault [that] constitutes a blatant violation of all international laws and norms, and poses a serious threat to the security and safety of Qataris and residents in Qatar.”

    “While the State of Qatar strongly condemns this assault, it confirms that it will not tolerate this reckless Israeli behavior and the ongoing disruption of regional security, nor any act that targets its security and sovereignty.”

    The strike on Doha adds to a growing list of Arab countries Israel has struck in the last month, emphasizing the Israeli government’s more belligerent post-Oct. 7 strategy against its longtime adversaries in the region. Aside from its expanding campaign in Gaza, the Israeli military has over the last few weeks conducted strikes in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and now Doha.

    The attack coincided with the Israeli military issuing an evacuation order encompassing the entire city of Gaza, the first time it has done so in the run-up to its planned full invasion of the largest urban center in the eponymous enclave’s north.

    An unnamed White House official told the BBC that the Trump administration was informed ahead of time of the strike on Qatar, which is home to Al Udeid, the largest U.S. base in the Middle East and the regional headquarters for U.S. Central Command. Some 10,000 U.S. troops are stationed there.

    An Israeli official, speaking to Israeli broadcaster Channel 12, said President Trump gave the green light for the operation.

    But Netanyahu issued a statement on Tuesday saying “today’s action against the top terrorist chieftains of Hamas was a wholly independent Israeli operation. Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility,” the statement said.

    Nabih Bulos

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  • Explosion heard in Qatar’s capital as Israel says it carries out strike on Hamas leadership

    Israel’s military said Tuesday it carried out an airstrike targeting Hamas leadership, without saying where.The announcement came as an explosion could be heard in Doha, Qatar’s capital.The Qatari-funded news network Al Jazeera has linked an explosion in Doha to an Israeli announcement that it targeted Hamas’ leadership in a strike. The blast Tuesday echoed in Doha, sending black smoke into the air. It wasn’t immediately clear if anyone was injured in the attack.Hamas’ exiled leadership has long been based in Qatar, which has served as a mediator in talks between Hamas and Israel for several years, even before the latest war in the Gaza Strip.A strike on its top leadership could further complicate negotiations over a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack.This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

    DOHA, Qatar —

    Israel’s military said Tuesday it carried out an airstrike targeting Hamas leadership, without saying where.

    The announcement came as an explosion could be heard in Doha, Qatar’s capital.

    The Qatari-funded news network Al Jazeera has linked an explosion in Doha to an Israeli announcement that it targeted Hamas’ leadership in a strike. The blast Tuesday echoed in Doha, sending black smoke into the air. It wasn’t immediately clear if anyone was injured in the attack.

    Hamas’ exiled leadership has long been based in Qatar, which has served as a mediator in talks between Hamas and Israel for several years, even before the latest war in the Gaza Strip.

    A strike on its top leadership could further complicate negotiations over a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

    This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

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  • Five reported dead as Israel strikes Hezbollah in Lebanon’s Bekaa

    The Israeli military said on Monday it had carried out airstrikes on several Hezbollah targets in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, killing five militants according to the Lebanese authorities.

    The sites were used by Hezbollah for training, to prepare attacks against Israeli soldiers and store weapons in violation of agreements between Israel and Lebanon, the Israeli military said.

    According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, the Israeli raids left at least five people dead and five others wounded, based on a preliminary toll.

    Lebanese security sources said all the casualties were members of Hezbollah.

    The Israeli army said it would continue to strike Hezbollah positions to prevent the group from re-establishing its military capabilities and to eliminate threats against Israel.

    The European Union has proscribed Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist organization but not the wider political group.

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  • Israeli military says drone launched from Yemen hits airport arrivals hall

    The Israeli military says it is investigating the crash of a drone  launched from Yemen that has struck the arrivals hall at Ramon Airport near the Red Sea city of Eilat.

    Airspace above the airport was closed, the Israel Airports Authority had said earlier on Sunday, without providing an immediate reason for the closure.

    The Israeli military said the incident was under review, without providing details on the impact. It did not specify whether the drone had fallen after being intercepted or if it had been a direct hit.

    Earlier, the Israeli military said the air force had intercepted three drones launched from Yemen. It said two were “intercepted prior to crossing into Israeli territory” but did not elaborate on the status of the third.

    The Israeli newspaper Haaretz, citing the Israeli rescue services, reported that two people were lightly wounded in the drone strike. A 63-year-old man was injured by shrapnel, and a 52-year-old woman was injured after she fell. It said emergency workers evacuated them to a hospital in Eilat while others who suffered panic attacks received medical care at the scene.

    Israeli Army Radio reported that a preliminary investigation into the damage at the airport indicated the drone had not been spotted by the air force’s detection systems at all.

    A warship in Eilat, Israel [File: Ohad Zwigenberg/AP]

    The airport, located near the resort city of Eilat on the border with Jordan and Egypt, mostly handles domestic flights.

    The Houthis in Yemen have been launching missiles and drones thousands of kilometres north towards Israel in what the group says are acts of solidarity with the Palestinians under relentless Israeli fire. It has also been attacking vessels in the Red Sea since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023.

    There has been no immediate comment from the Houthis on the drone strike on Ramon Airport.

    Israel has bombed Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, including the vital Hodeidah port. Its latest barrage killed senior Houthi officials a week and a half ago, including its prime minister and other cabinet officials. Large numbers of civilians have also been killed in Israeli strikes.

    In May, a Houthi missile hit near Israel’s main airport, Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv, injuring four people lightly and causing many airlines to cancel their flights to Israel for months. Israel later struck and destroyed the main airport in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.

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  • Islamic Jihad fires rockets from Gaza at Israel

    The Palestinian Islamic Jihad militia fired rockets from the embattled Gaza Strip at Israel almost two years after the start of the Gaza War.

    The attack was in “response to the crimes of the Zionist enemy against our people,” the military wing of the terrorist organization, which has fired rockets at Israel before, said in a statement.

    The Israeli military reported on Sunday morning that two projectiles had been launched from the central section of the coastal strip towards Israeli territory.

    They said one rocket was intercepted by air defence, while a second landed in an open area.

    Shortly before, there had been rocket alarms in Israeli border towns as well as the city of Netivot.

    Since the beginning of the Gaza War, Israel has been attacked with thousands of rockets from the Gaza Strip, but these attacks have now become significantly less frequent.

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