Gaza

Israel to Release 602 Prisoners in Exchange for 6 Israeli Hostages Under Gaza Truce Deal

Israel will free 602 inmates from jails on Saturday as part of a hostage-prisoner swap with Hamas under an ongoing Gaza ceasefire deal, according to the Palestinian Prisoners' Club advocacy group. Among those released, 445 are people from Gaza who were arrested after Hamas' October 7 attack that sparked the war, 60 are serving long ...

What Should America Do About Syria?

While Lebanese are focused intently on developments in Syria, the topic is absent in Washington. Yet what is happening there is one of the landmark geo-strategic developments of the Middle East of our times, the demise of a long-standing problematic regime for America and its friends and part and parcel of the reversal of fortunes of a major ...

UAE President tells Rubio Rejects Displacement of Palestinians

United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan told visiting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday that Abu Dhabi opposes the displacement of Palestinians, official media reported. Sheikh Mohammed "affirmed the UAE's firm position rejecting any attempts aimed at displacing the Palestinian people from their land", the Gulf ...

Hamas to Free 6 Israeli Hostages, Hand Over 4 Bodies this Week

Hamas said Tuesday that it would hand over all six living Israeli hostages due for release under the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire this week, as well as the bodies of four dead captives. The fragile Gaza truce took effect on January 19 after more than 15 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas, sparked by the Palestinian militant group's ...

Arab League Summit on Gaza Postponed to March 4

An extraordinary Arab League meeting on Gaza, initially set for next week, has been postponed to March 4, host Egypt said on Tuesday. The Egyptian foreign ministry said the new date was agreed with Arab League members as part of "substantive and logistical preparations" for the summit. The meeting was called in response to US President Donald ...

Shipment of 'Heavy' US Bombs Arrives in Israel

Israel's defense ministry said Sunday that a shipment of "heavy" US-made bombs arrived overnight in Israel, as Marco Rubio began his first visit to the country as Washington's top diplomat. "A shipment of heavy aerial bombs recently released by the US government was received and unloaded overnight in Israel," the ministry said in a statement, ...

Marco Rubio in Israel on First Leg of Mideast Tour

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Israel's prime minister in Jerusalem on Sunday for talks on the Gaza ceasefire, launching a Middle East tour a day after the latest hostage-prisoner exchange. On his first visit to the region as Washington's top diplomat, Rubio is expected to push US President Donald Trump's widely condemned ...

Hamas and Israel Exchange Hostages for Prisoners in Latest Gaza Swap

Palestinian militants handed three Israeli hostages over to the Red Cross on Saturday, while buses carrying freed Palestinian prisoners rolled out of two Israeli jails in the latest exchange under an ongoing Gaza truce deal. An AFP journalist saw masked Hamas militants parade the hostages onto a stage in Gaza's southern city of Khan Yunis, where ...

Hamas Calls for 'Solidarity Marches' Worldwide Against Plans to Displace Gazans

Hamas on Wednesday called for worldwide "solidarity marches" over the weekend to protest a US plan endorsed by Israel to displace Palestinians from the war-ravaged Gaza Strip. "We... call on the masses of our people, our Arab and Islamic nation, and the free people of the world to go out in massive solidarity marches" from ...

Egypt's Sisi, Jordan King Stress 'Unity' of Positions on Gaza

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan's King Abdullah II stressed Wednesday the "unity" of their countries' positions on Gaza, a day after US President Donald Trump held talks with the Jordanian monarch in Washington. "The two leaders affirmed the unity of the Egyptian and Jordanian positions," on the reconstruction of the ...