Israeli legislation taking effect on Thursday will threaten the operations of a major United Nations agency that provides critical humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip after more than a year of war has left the territory in ruins. The laws ban the agency, UNRWA, from any activities in Israel, effectively cutting off its ability to … Read more
After more than a year of Israeli bombardment in Gaza, there were few blessings left for Talal and Samar al-Najjar to count by the time a cease-fire deal was agreed to this month. Their home was in ruins, they and their children were displaced, and they were staving off hunger. Yet they counted themselves lucky: … Read more
President Trump’s Middle East envoy is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Tuesday, according to a spokesman for Mr. Netanyahu. The visit by the envoy, Steven Witkoff, was set to take place as Israeli and Hamas officials prepared for a new round of negotiations aimed at cementing the current cease-fire in … Read more
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad on Monday released a video of the Israeli hostage Arbel Yehud, whose delayed release had been at the center of one of the most significant disputes between Israel and Hamas since a cease-fire took effect a week ago. Ms. Yehud is believed to be one of the last remaining female civilians … Read more
The cease-fires in Gaza and Lebanon will most likely hold for now, despite being tested to their limits over the weekend, because all sides want to avoid full-scale fighting at least for a few weeks, analysts said. In southern Lebanon, Israeli troops remained in position past the deadline on Sunday for their withdrawal, amid Israeli … Read more
The cease-fires in Lebanon and Gaza appeared increasingly fragile on Sunday after Israeli forces killed scores of people in southern Lebanon, Lebanese officials said, while in Gaza, Israel prevented Palestinians from moving back to their homes, saying Hamas had violated the terms of the truce. In Lebanon, negotiators had hoped that the cease-fire, which was … Read more
Israeli troops were preventing Palestinians from returning to their homes in the north of the Gaza Strip on Sunday after Israel accused Hamas of violating the terms of the cease-fire agreement. Under the terms of the initial phase of the deal agreed earlier this month, Israel had been expected to withdraw some of its forces … Read more
Who are the hostages being released? When the cease-fire deal was reached this month after more than a year of negotiations, about 100 hostages, some dead, were thought to be held captive in Gaza. Three hostages — Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher — were released on the first day of the cease-fire on … Read more
American security contractors have been enlisted to help handle the return of displaced Palestinians to the Gaza Strip’s devastated north, the next step in the cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas, according to four officials familiar with the matter. The contractors are poised to help secure a key zone that splits Gaza in two and … Read more
Minutes after the fighting stopped in Gaza on Sunday, Islam Dahliz and his father and brother set out for the neighborhood where they had lived until Israeli forces ordered them to leave. They were looking for the family home, but the landscape around them scrambled the senses. Familiar landmarks, streets, neighbors’ houses — everything was … Read more