SHARM El SHEIKH: Israel and Hamas on Thursday agreed a ceasefire deal to free the living hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Here is what we know so far about the agreement that was reached in indirect talks in Egypt:&nbsp;Hostage, prisoner releases&nbsp;Hamas will release 20 living hostages in one go as part of the first phase of the deal, according to a source close to the Hamas negotiating team. Israel will release nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners: 250 among those serving life sentences, and 1,700 others detained since the start of the war, a top Hamas official within Hamas told AFP, also on condition of anonymity. There has been no indication that Israel will disclose the names of those set for release. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the agreement to secure the release of hostages would only take effect after receiving cabinet approval. &quot;Contrary to Arab media reports, the 72-hour countdown will begin only after the agreement is approved in the cabinet meeting, which is expected in the evening hours,&quot; Netanyahu&#39;s office said. Of the 251 people, Hamas still hold 47 in Gaza, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.&nbsp;Prisoner lists&nbsp;A key point in the negotiations was a list of Palestinian prisoners submitted by Hamas which it wants released from Israeli jails in the truce&#39;s first phase. High-profile inmate Marwan Barghouti -- from Hamas&#39;s rival, the Fatah movement -- is among those the group wanted to see released, according to Egyptian state-linked media.&nbsp;400 trucks of aid&nbsp;A daily minimum of 400 trucks of aid will enter the Gaza Strip for the first five days of the ceasefire, to be increased in following days, the Hamas source said. It also provides for the &quot;return of displaced persons from the south of the Gaza Strip to Gaza (City) and the north immediately,&quot; the source added. The World Health Organization chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said his agency was prepared to &quot;scale up its work to meet the dire health needs of patients across Gaza, and to support rehabilitation of the destroyed health system&quot;. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees welcomed the deal as a &quot;huge relief&quot;, and said it was ready to flood Gaza with desperately-needed food.&quot;We have enough to provide food for the entire population for the coming three months,&quot; the agency&#39;s chief Philippe Lazzarini said on X.&nbsp;&#39;Scheduled withdrawals&#39;&nbsp;The deal stipulates &quot;scheduled withdrawals&quot; of Israeli troops, the Hamas top official said, and includes &quot;guarantees from President Trump and the mediators&quot;. The Israeli military said on Thursday it was preparing to pull back troops in Gaza as part of the deal.&nbsp;Key questions remain&nbsp;Trump&#39;s 20-point peace plan, on which the indirect negotiations were based, calls for the disarmament of Hamas and for post-war Gaza to be ruled by a transitional authority headed by Trump himself. But these points are yet to be addressed. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said he hoped the Gaza deal could lead to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. But Netanyahu and members of his cabinet have repeatedly vowed to prevent this from happening.&nbsp;What next?&nbsp;The deal will be formally signed later on Thursday in Egypt, a source with knowledge of the agreement told AFP on condition of anonymity. Israel&#39;s cabinet will meet Thursday at 1500 GMT to discuss a plan to secure the release of all hostages held in Gaza, a government statement said. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says he will not vote in favour. A Hamas official said negotiations for the second phase of the ceasefire would begin &quot;immediately&quot;. Negotiations in Egypt&#39;s resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh are taking place under lock and key in a conference center. Al-Qahera News, linked to Egypt&#39;s state, broadcast footage showing negotiators from Hamas, Turkey, Qatar, Egypt and the United States embracing and walking in high spirits. But Hamas and Israeli delegates were positioned in two different rooms, with mediators shuttling between them, and with no indication the foes would ever meet.

Middle East

Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire involving the release of 20 hostages and nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. The deal includes aid delivery, troop withdrawals, and indirect talks in Egypt, with key political questions unresolved.

What we know about the new Gaza deal

Web Desk

US president says all hostages will be released very soon, Israel will withdraw their troops to an agreed-upon line; adds that all parties will be treated fairly.

Israel and Hamas have agreed to first phase of peace plan: Trump 

CAIRO: Hamas said Wednesday that &quot;optimism&quot; was prevailing in indirect talks with Israel aimed at ending the Gaza war, with the Palestinian group submitting a list of prisoners it wants released in exchange for freeing Israeli hostages as part of an agreement. The talks aim to thrash out a plan to implement a 20-point peace proposal put forward by US President Donald Trump last month, and which both Israel and Hamas have responded positively to. The plan calls for a ceasefire, the release of all the hostages, Hamas&#39;s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. On Wednesday, Qatar&#39;s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Turkey&#39;s intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, Trump&#39;s special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and the president&#39;s son-in-law Jared Kushner were all due in Sharm El-Sheikh. &quot;The mediators are making great efforts to remove any obstacles to the implementation of the ceasefire, and a spirit of optimism prevails among all parties,&quot; senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP from Sharm El-Sheikh. List of prisoners&nbsp;The Palestinian group submitted a list of prisoners it wants to be released in the first phase of the truce &quot;in accordance with the agreed-upon criteria and numbers&quot;, Nunu added. In exchange, Hamas is set to release 47 hostages, both alive and dead.&nbsp;&quot;There&#39;s a real chance that we could do something,&quot; Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday. &quot;I think there&#39;s a possibility that we could have peace in the Middle East. It&#39;s something even beyond the Gaza situation. We want a release of the hostages immediately.&quot; &lsquo;Everything possible&rsquo;&nbsp;Trump said the United States would do &quot;everything possible to make sure everyone adheres to the deal&quot; if Hamas and Israel did agree on a ceasefire. Israel&#39;s military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 67,160 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in Gaza, figures the United Nations considers credible. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">Global pressure &nbsp;</h2>Global pressure to end the war has escalated, with much of Gaza flattened, a UN-declared famine unfolding and Israeli hostage families still longing for their loved ones&#39; return. A UN probe last month accused Israel of genocide in Gaza.&nbsp;Hundreds of thousands of protesters joined pro-Palestinian mass demonstrations in cities across the world last weekend calling for an immediate end to the war, including in Italy, Spain, Ireland and Britain. In Gaza, people were desperate for an end to a war that has upended their lives, interrupted their children&#39;s education, and left many families scarred by loss and grief. &quot;My dream is for the war to end now, not tomorrow,&quot; said Abeer Abu Said, a 21-year-old in Gaza who has lost seven family members in the war. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">&#39;Guarantees from President Trump&#39;</h2>Key to the negotiations will be the names of the Palestinian prisoners Hamas will push for. According to Egyptian state-linked media, high-profile inmate Marwan Barghouti -- from the Fatah movement -- is among those the group wants to see released. He has been imprisoned since 2002, and was sentenced to life behind bars in 2004 on murder charges. More broadly, Hamas&#39;s top negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, said the group wants &quot;guarantees from President Trump and the sponsor countries that the war will end once and for all&quot;. Minister&#39;s visit condemned A Palestinian source close to the Hamas negotiating team said Tuesday&#39;s session included Hamas discussing &quot;the initial maps presented by the Israeli side regarding the withdrawal of troops as well as the mechanism and timetable for the hostage-prisoner exchange&quot;. Meanwhile, Hamas has condemned a visit by Israel&#39;s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir at the Al-Aqsa compound on Wednesday morning.

The Palestinian group has expressed optimism in ongoing Gaza ceasefire talks with Israel, involving a proposed US-backed plan including prisoner exchanges, hostage releases, and Israeli withdrawal; Hamas also condemned visit by Israel's far-right minister Itamar Ben Gvir at the Al-Aqsa compound.

'Optimism prevails' in Gaza talks with Israel: Hamas 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan&rsquo;s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar announced on Tuesday that a former senator of the country, Mushtaq Ahmed Khan, has been released from Israeli custody and is now safely in Jordan. Former senator Khan was among the activists and humanitarian workers detained by Israel after its raids on Sumud flotilla. &nbsp; &ldquo;I am pleased to confirm that former Senator Mushtaq has been released and is now safely with Pakistan Embassy in Amman,&rdquo; Dar announced in a post on social media X.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1975480789014831586&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fmedia-library%2F&sessionId=29ec884f4e99fd027fdfa45f88042cebcf603b2d&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 873px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;"></iframe></div></div>The Pakistani foreign minister confirmed that the former senator was in good health.&nbsp; &ldquo;He is in good health and high spirits. The Embassy stands ready to facilitate his return to Pakistan, in accordance with his wishes and convenience,&rdquo; Dar added in his post. The foreign minister extended his gratitude to Pakistan&rsquo;s &lsquo;friendly countries&rsquo; in this respect. &ldquo;Am pleased to extend our gratitude to all our friendly countries who actively engaged and assisted in this behalf to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan,&rdquo; Dar said.

Foreign Affairs

Mushtaq was released from Israeli custody and is now safe in Jordan, confirmed Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. The former senator, detained after Israel’s Sumud flotilla raids, is healthy and in high spirits.

Former Pakistani senator freed from Israeli custody, says FM Dar

CAIRO: Delegations from Hamas and Israel on Monday began indirect talks in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh on ending the nearly two-year war in Gaza, Egyptian state-linked media reported. Al-Qahera News, which is linked to state intelligence, said the delegations &quot;are discussing preparing ground conditions for the release of detainees and prisoners&quot;, in line with a proposal from US President Donald Trump to halt hostilities. &quot;Egyptian and Qatari mediators are working with both sides to establish a mechanism&quot; for the exchange of hostages held in Gaza for the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, they added. Behind closed doors and under tight security, negotiators will speak through mediators shuttling back and forth, only weeks after Israel tried to kill Hamas&#39;s lead negotiators in a strike on Qatar. The Hamas delegation, led by top negotiator Khalil al-Hayya who survived the attack in Doha, held a meeting with Egyptian intelligence officials ahead of the talks, according to an Egyptian security source. This round of negotiations, launched on the eve of the second anniversary of Hamas&#39;s October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war, &quot;may last for several days&quot;, said a Palestinian source close to Hamas&#39;s leadership. &quot;We expect the negotiations to be difficult and complex, given the occupation&#39;s intentions to continue its war of extermination,&quot; he told AFP. Trump, whose envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected in Egypt, has urged negotiators to &quot;move fast&quot; to end the war in Gaza, where Israeli strikes continued on Monday. At least seven Palestinians were killed in the latest Israeli air strikes, according to Mahmud Basal, spokesman for Gaza&#39;s civil defence agency. AFP footage showed explosions in the Gaza Strip, with plumes of smoke rising over the skyline, even after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Israel must stop bombing the territory. &#39;Require several days&#39;Both Hamas and Israel have responded positively to Trump&#39;s proposal, but reaching an agreement on the details is set to be a herculean task. The plan envisages the disarmament of Hamas, which the militant group is unlikely to accept. It also provides for the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, but Israel&#39;s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to redeploy troops &quot;deep inside&quot; the territory while securing the release of hostages. According to the Palestinian source, the initial hostage-prisoner exchange will &quot;require several days, depending on field conditions related to Israeli withdrawals, the cessation of bombardment and the suspension of all types of air operations&quot;. Previous rounds of negotiations have also stalled over the names of Palestinian prisoners the Islamist group proposed for release. Negotiations will look to &quot;determine the date of a temporary truce&quot;, a Hamas official said, as well as create conditions for a first phase of the plan, in which 47 hostages held in Gaza are to be released in return for hundreds of Palestinian detainees. Mirjana Spoljaric, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, which has coordinated previous exchanges, said its teams were standing at the ready &quot;to help bring hostages and detainees back to their families&quot;. The ICRC said it was ready to facilitate aid access, which must resume &quot;at full capacity&quot; and be distributed safely across the territory, where the UN has declared a famine. &#39;MOVE FAST&#39;Posting on his Truth Social platform on Sunday, Trump praised &quot;positive discussions with Hamas&quot; and allies around the world including Arab and Muslim nations. &quot;I am told that the first phase should be completed this week, and I am asking everyone to MOVE FAST,&quot; he wrote. On Monday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi praised Trump&#39;s plan saying it offered &quot;the right path to lasting peace and stability&quot;. A Palestinian source close to Hamas said it would halt its military operations in parallel with Israel stopping its bombardment and withdrawing its troops from Gaza City. Israeli military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir warned if the negotiations failed, then the military would &quot;return to fighting&quot; in Gaza. Militants seized 251 hostages during their October 7, 2023 attack, 47 of whom are still in Gaza. Of those, the Israeli military says 25 are dead. According to Trump&#39;s plan, in return for the hostages, Israel is expected to release 250 Palestinian prisoners with life sentences and more than 1,700 detainees from Gaza taken during the war. Hamas has insisted it should have a say in the territory&#39;s future, though Trump&#39;s roadmap stipulates that it and other factions &quot;not have any role in the governance of Gaza&quot;. Under the proposal, administration of the territory would be taken up by a technocratic body overseen by a transitional authority headed by Trump himself. &quot;We hope Trump will pressure Netanyahu and force him to stop the war,&quot; said Ahmad Barbakh, from the Al-Mawasi area. &quot;We want the prisoner exchange deal to be completed quickly so that Israel has no excuse to continue the war.&quot; Hamas&#39;s October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. Israel&#39;s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 67,160 Palestinians, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.

Europe

Hamas and Israel began indirect ceasefire and hostage-exchange talks in Egypt, mediated by Cairo and Qatar under Trump’s peace proposal. The Red Cross confirmed readiness to assist, as strikes in Gaza continued despite ongoing negotiations

Indirect talks on ending Gaza war begin in Sharm El-Sheikh: Egypt media

CAIRO: Israeli and Hamas officials are set to hold indirect talks at an Egyptian resort on Monday on a US-drafted peace plan to end the ruinous war in Gaza on the eve of its second anniversary.&nbsp;Many uncertainties remain about the plan presented by U.S. President Donald Trump last week, including the disarmament of the militant group &mdash; a key Israeli demand &mdash; and the future governance of Gaza. Trump has indicated an agreement on Gaza could pave the way for a Middle East peace process that could reshape the region.&nbsp;Despite Trump ordering Israel to stop the bombing, Israel continued to pound Gaza with airstrikes, killing at least 19 people in the last 24 hours, Gaza&#39;s Health Ministry said.&nbsp;The indirect negotiations will take place in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where the Israeli delegation, headed by top negotiator Ron Dermer, is scheduled to arrive on Monday, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu&rsquo;s office. Hamas&rsquo; delegation, headed by Khalil al-Hayyah, arrived Sunday in Egypt, the group said.&nbsp;It said negotiations will focus on the first stage of a ceasefire, including the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces as well as the release of hostages held by the militants in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention.&nbsp;US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump&rsquo;s son-in-law Jared Kushner are also expected to join the talks, Egypt&rsquo;s state-run al-Ahram reported.&nbsp;This latest push for peace comes after Hamas accepted some elements of the US plan that Israel also said it supported. Under the plan, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages &mdash; about 20 believed to be alive &mdash; within three days. It would give up power and disarm.&nbsp;The talks in Egypt are expected to move quickly. Netanyahu said they would be &ldquo;confined to a few days maximum,&rdquo; though some Hamas officials have warned more time may be needed to locate the bodies of hostages buried under rubble.&nbsp;Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi hailed Trump&rsquo;s efforts. &ldquo;A ceasefire, the return of hostages and detainees, the reconstruction of Gaza, and the start of a peaceful political process leading to the establishment and recognition of a Palestinian state mean that we are on the right path toward lasting peace and solid stability,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;He underscored the importance of preserving the US-crafted &ldquo;peace system&rdquo; in the Middle East since the 1970s, which he said &ldquo;served as a strategic framework for regional stability.&rdquo;&nbsp;El-Sisi spoke in a televised address commemorating the anniversary of the Oct. 6, 1973, war with Israel that led to Egypt reclaiming the Sinai Peninsula, where Sharm el-Sheikh is located. US wants Israeli bombing to stopThe US has said Israel&#39;s heavy bombardment of Gaza would need to stop for the hostages to be released. Israel says it&#39;s largely heeding Trump&#39;s call.&nbsp;Israel&#39;s military said it is mostly carrying out defensive strikes to protect troops, though dozens of Palestinians have been killed since the military&#39;s statement Saturday night.&nbsp;Gaza&#39;s Health Ministry said Monday the bodies of 19 people, including two aid-seekers killed by Israeli strikes and gunfire, had been brought to hospitals over the past 24 hours. Another 96 were wounded. The deaths brought the Palestinian toll to 67,160 since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, triggered the war, with nearly 170,000 wounded, the ministry said.&nbsp;The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but says more than half of the deaths were women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the UN and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.&nbsp;Hamas-led abducted 251 people and killed around 1,200, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack. Most of the Israeli hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals.&nbsp;Meanwhile, families of Israeli hostages petitioned the Nobel Prize Committee to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Trump for what they called his unprecedented contributions to global peace.&nbsp;&ldquo;At this very moment, President Trump&rsquo;s comprehensive plan to release all remaining hostages and finally end this terrible war is on the table,&rdquo; the families wrote. &ldquo;For the first time in months, we are hopeful that our nightmare will finally be over.&rdquo;&nbsp;In a commemoration ceremony for Israelis killed at the Nir Oz Kibbutz on Oct. 7, Daniel Lifshitz said the primary focus of talks should be the swift release of all remaining hostages.&nbsp;&ldquo;Israel will pay painful concessions by releasing mass murderers and terrorists that killed many among our friends and families here in Israel, but we cherish life and in Trump we trust to make it happen, and that we will have good news in 24 to 36 hours,&quot; said Lifshitz, grandson of slain hostage Oded and released hostage Yocheved Lifshitz. &#39;Living in fear, war and displacement&#39;In Gaza, families of Palestinian babies born on the day the war began hoped to celebrate their second birthday to the sound of laughter and cheers instead of the cacophony of bombing and bullets.&nbsp;Mothers&#39; hope for a normal life has long worn thin amid repeated displacements, a constant fear for their safety and a lack of access to proper healthcare.&nbsp;Rola Saqer said the two years since giving birth to her daughter Masa have been full of suffering.&nbsp;&ldquo;I was hoping (Masa) would grow up with a strong personality, but she is weak. She has suffered malnutrition. The girl has weighed eight kilos (17 pounds) for five months now,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp;Laundry, a plastic chair, and a carpet make up the bulk of the family&#39;s possessions in their tent in the Nuseirat refugee camp.&nbsp;Amal al-Taweel and her husband, Mostafa, had their son, Ali, after three years of trying to conceive a child. They now live in a tent without proper sanitation, food, vaccination,s and even toys.&nbsp;&ldquo;I was envisioning a different life for him &hellip; He couldn&rsquo;t experience what a safe family life feels like,&quot; al-Taweel said.&nbsp;

Israeli and Hamas officials are set to hold indirect talks at an Egyptian resort on a US-drafted peace plan to end the ruinous war in Gaza

Israel, Hamas prepare for Egypt talks before Gaza war anniversary

ISLAMABAD: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Monday that it was ready to act as a neutral humanitarian intermediary to help bring Israeli and Palestinian hostages back to their families, Reuters reported. &quot;We are also prepared to bring aid into Gaza and distribute it safely to civilians in desperate need,&quot; ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric said in a statement. Israel and Hamas prepared for indirect negotiations in Egypt on Monday, as hopes for a possible ceasefire in Gaza grew after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a hostage release could be announced this week, the Associated Press reported. US President Donald Trump has welcomed the Hamas statement accepting some elements of the US peace plan. <div class="fr-embed responsive-video"><div class="video-wrapper aspect-video" style="line-height: 2;"><iframe src="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115312181572421839/embed" class="truthsocial-embed" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" style="width: 100%; height: 100%; min-height: 0px;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>Israel has stated that it supports the new US effort. The delegation, led by top Israeli negotiator Ron Dermer, will leave on Monday for the talks in Sharm el-Sheikh, Netanyahu&#39;s office said. &lsquo;Closest we&rsquo;ve come&rsquo;An Egyptian official said the Hamas delegation had arrived.&nbsp; The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters, said US envoy Steve Witkoff is joining the talks. Discussions will focus on the proposed exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, Egypt&rsquo;s foreign ministry said. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the situation &ldquo;the closest we&rsquo;ve come to getting all of the hostages released.&rdquo; Egyptian president praises Trump&#39;s plan&nbsp; Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi praised US President Donald Trump&#39;s Gaza plan on Monday, as negotiators from Hamas, Israel and the United States converged on Egypt to discuss a hostage-prisoner exchange and ceasefire, the AFP reported. &quot;I can only extend my praise and appreciation for US President Donald Trump,&quot; he said in an address, adding: &quot;A ceasefire, the return of prisoners and detainees, the reconstruction of Gaza and the launch of a peaceful political process that leads to the establishment and recognition of the Palestinian state means we are on the right path to lasting peace and stability.&quot; Back to the &lsquo;yellow line&rsquo;Speaking on ABC&rsquo;s &ldquo;This Week,&rsquo;&rsquo; he described two phases after Hamas accepts Trump&rsquo;s framework: The hostages are released and Israel pulls back in Gaza to the &ldquo;yellow line,&rdquo; where it was in August. Rubio told CBS that Hamas should release hostages as they are ready, and that bombardment needs to end so they can be released. The US plan also addresses Gaza&#39;s future, the Associated Press reported. In a text exchange with CNN&rsquo;s Jake Tapper, Trump said there would be &ldquo;complete obliteration&rdquo; if Hamas stayed in power there.&nbsp; Trump also texted that Netanyahu was on board for ending the bombing and peace in Gaza, but added, &ldquo;soon on the rest.&rdquo; Support for a ceasefire growsIsraeli government spokeswoman Shosh Badrosian told journalists that Netanyahu is in &ldquo;regular contact&rdquo; with Trump and that the prime minister has stressed that the talks in Egypt &ldquo;will be confined to a few days maximum.&rdquo; &ldquo;I hope that we are closest to a hostage deal since the (ceasefire) deal in January,&rdquo; Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa&rsquo;ar said in a speech. Anxious relatives of hostages gathered near Netanyahu&#39;s residence in Jerusalem, with some urging Trump to continue to apply pressure.&nbsp; Israel&#39;s recent military offensive in Gaza City led many to fear for the hostages&#39; lives. &ldquo;We cannot allow such a historic agreement to be sacrificed again,&rdquo; said Michel Ilouz, father of Guy Ilouz. &lsquo;Full Israeli withdrawal&rsquo;As hundreds of thousands of people marched across several European cities and elsewhere in support of Palestinians, the foreign ministers of eight Muslim-majority countries issued a joint statement welcoming steps toward a possible ceasefire. They also underlined their commitment to the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza, unifying Gaza and the West Bank, and reaching an agreement leading to a &ldquo;full Israeli withdrawal&rdquo; from Gaza. Rubio told ABC that decisions regarding a governing structure or an international group to manage Gaza can be made simultaneously with the first step of the ceasefire. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the part that I think is going to be a little tougher to work through, but that&rsquo;s what&rsquo;s going to provide permanency to the end of the conflict,&rdquo; he said. Iran supports moves towards Palestinian &#39;self-determination&#39;Iran said Sunday it supports &quot;any initiative&quot; aiming to secure &quot;self-determination&quot; for the Palestinian people, on the eve of negotiations in Egypt on ending the war between the Palestinian group and Israel, AFP reported. Iran &quot;has always supported any initiative aimed at ending ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, and paving the way for the realisation of the Palestinian people&#39;s right to self-determination,&quot; the Iranian foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that Tehran was ready to help deliver aid to the coastal strip. Strikes continue&nbsp;Trump has ordered Israel to stop bombing Gaza, but residents and local hospitals said strikes continued across the territory, according to AP. The Israeli government spokeswoman, Badrosian, said &ldquo;certain bombings have actually stopped inside the Gaza Strip.&rdquo; But Israel&rsquo;s military chief of staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, said that &ldquo;if the political effort does not succeed, we will return to fight.&rdquo; 24 Palestinians killed&nbsp;Despite a call from Trump for Israel to pause its Gaza offensive, the Israeli army has continued its bombing campaign. Israeli troops killed at least 24 Palestinians on Sunday, Al Jazeera reported. Among the victims were four asylum seekers who were shot near an aid distribution centre north of Rafah, the Nasser Medical Complex said. Doctors Without Borders confirmed the death of colleague Abed El Hameed Qaradaya, who was wounded in an attack on Thursday that killed another colleague in Gaza, AP reported. Gaza&rsquo;s health ministry said the Palestinian death toll in the war reached 67,139 on Sunday, with nearly 170,000 injured. The UN and many independent experts consider the ministry&rsquo;s figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties. Israel&#39;s military has warned residents not to return to northern Gaza. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re on the brink, and we don&rsquo;t know whether one will die of a strike or starvation,&rdquo; said Mahmoud Hashem, a Palestinian father sheltering in a tent in Gaza City.

Hamas and Israel are preparing for indirect negotiations in Egypt amid rising hopes for a Gaza ceasefire; talks center on a US-backed plan involving hostage release, Hamas disarmament, and steps toward long-term peace in Gaza

Red Cross offers to mediate hostage, detainee swap

JERUSALEM: Israel&#39;s military chief warned on Sunday that if negotiations to secure the release of hostages fail to achieve their aims, the military will return to fighting in Gaza. &quot;There is no ceasefire (at the moment), but the operational situation has changed, with the political level converting the tools and achievements you have gained through military action into political gains,&quot; Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir told a group of soldiers deployed in Gaza. &quot;If the political effort fails, we will return to fighting,&quot; he added, according to a statement issued by the military.

 Israeli soldiers take position along the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP)

Israel’s military chief warned that fighting in Gaza will resume if hostage negotiations fail, emphasizing that current political efforts aim to convert military achievements into diplomatic gains amid an uneasy halt in combat operations.

Israel army chief warns fighting in Gaza will resume if talks fail

ROME: Huge numbers turned out at pro-Palestinian rallies in Europe on Saturday, calling for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and the release of activists on board a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to the territory.&nbsp;Organizers of the protest in Rome said hundreds of thousands of people had turned out for a fourth day running, after Israel intercepted the 45-strong flotilla seeking to reach Gaza earlier this week.&nbsp;Some 70,000 people, according to police, took to the streets in Barcelona, in one of several pro-Palestinian protests to take place across Spain.&nbsp;Elsewhere, several thousand people marched through the centre of the Irish capital, Dublin, to mark what organizers said was &quot;two years of genocide&quot; in Gaza.&nbsp;With Ireland, Spain is one of the fiercest European critics of Israel&#39;s military offensive in Gaza, which was sparked by Hamas &nbsp;October 7, 2023, attack on Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip.&nbsp;But in Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni&#39;s hard-right government has been criticized for its inaction on the siege of the Palestinian territory.&nbsp;On Saturday, Meloni accused demonstrators of defacing a statue of Pope John Paul II with graffiti in front of Rome&#39;s main train station, calling it a &quot;shameful act&quot;.&nbsp;&quot;They claim to take to the streets for peace, but they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace,&quot; she said in a statement.&nbsp;Protesters in the Italian capital, including families with children, shouted, &quot;We are all Palestinians&quot;, &quot;Free Palestine&quot; and &quot;Stop the genocide&quot;, with many carrying Palestinian flags and wearing black-and-white chequered keffiyehs.&nbsp;&quot;Usually, I don&#39;t appreciate large-scale demonstrations, but today, I couldn&#39;t bring myself to stay home,&quot; Donato Colucci, a 44-year-old scout leader accompanying 150 youths from a secular association, told AFP.&nbsp;&quot;I think countries like Italy, France, and Spain have developed a culture of resistance and democratic values more than others because they experienced dictatorship and violence.&quot;&nbsp;In Barcelona, Marta Carranza, a 65-year-old pensioner demonstrating with a Palestinian flag on her back, said Israel&#39;s policy &quot;has been wrong for many years and we have to take to the streets&quot;.&nbsp;&nbsp;SolidarityThe Global Sumud flotilla, which was intercepted on Wednesday, left Barcelona in early September and had been seeking to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza, where the United Nations says famine has taken hold.&nbsp;Around 50 Spaniards on the flotilla have been detained by Israel, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told public television in an interview aired on Saturday.&nbsp;The flotilla organisers say Israel&#39;s actions were &quot;illegal&quot; since they intercepted the vessels while they were traversing international waters.&nbsp;In Paris, where some 10,000 people gathered, a spokesperson for the French contingent of Global Sumud, Helene Coron, told the crowd: &quot;We&#39;ll never stop.&nbsp;&quot;This flotilla didn&#39;t get to Gaza. But we&#39;ll send another, then another until Palestine and Gaza are free.&quot;&nbsp;Jordi Bas, a 40-year-old primary school teacher waving a Palestinian flag in Barcelona, said he was not surprised by the huge turn-out.

Huge numbers turned out at pro-Palestinian rallies in Europe on Saturday, calling for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and the release of activists on board a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to the territory

Hundreds of thousands turn out at pro-Palestinian marches in Europe

JERUSALEM: Israel said on Saturday that it had deported 137 more activists who were detained while taking part in an aid flotilla bound for Gaza. The Israeli foreign ministry said those deported were citizens of the United States, Italy, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Jordan and several other countries. The ministry said in a post on X that &quot;137 more provocateurs of the Hamas&ndash;Sumud flotilla were deported today to Turkey&quot;. &quot;Israel seeks to expedite the deportation of all provocateurs,&quot; it added. On Friday, Israel deported four Italian activists, the first of hundreds detained from the flotilla. The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail last month, ferrying politicians and activists including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg towards Gaza, where the United Nations says famine is taking hold. The Israeli navy began intercepting the boats on Wednesday, and an Israeli official said the following day that boats with more than 400 people on board had been prevented from reaching the Palestinian territory.

Israel deported 137 more activists from the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla, including citizens from the US, UK, Italy, and others, after detaining them earlier this week. The flotilla aimed to deliver aid amid Gaza’s worsening crisis.

Israel confirms 137 more activists from Gaza-bound flotilla deported to Turkey

DOHA: Israel&rsquo;s military said Tuesday it carried out an airstrike targeting Hamas leadership. The announcement came after multiple explosions were heard in Doha, Qatar&rsquo;s capital. The Qatari-funded news network Al Jazeera linked the explosions to an Israeli announcement that it targeted top Hamas leaders in a strike. The loud blasts sent black smoke into the air. It wasn&rsquo;t immediately clear if anyone was injured in the attack. Qatar condemnsQatar condemned the &ldquo;cowardly Israeli attack&rdquo; on Hamas headquarters in Doha and called it a violation of international law. &quot;This criminal assault 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,&quot; said a <a href="https://twitter.com/majedalansari/status/1965407402607677474">post on X&nbsp;</a>from Dr. Majed Al Ansari, advisor to the prime minister and official spokesperson for the ministry of foreign affairs. He said that Qatar will not tolerate any disruption of regional security. Investigations are being carried out and further details will be announced soon, he said. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also condemns attackIn <a href="https://twitter.com/CMShehbaz/status/1965434239933125086">a post on X</a>, Pakistan&rsquo;s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif wrote, &ldquo;Our deepest sympathies and solidarity are with the Amir, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Qatari Royal Family, as well as the people of Qatar at this difficult time.&rdquo;&nbsp; &ldquo;This act of aggression by Israel is totally unjustified, a brazen violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar, and constitutes a most dangerous provocation that could imperil regional peace and stability. Pakistan stands firmly with the State of Qatar, as well as with the people of Palestine against Israel&rsquo;s aggression.&rdquo; Qatar&#39;s role as mediatorHamas&rsquo; 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&rsquo; October 7, 2023 attack. With additional inputs from AP

Qatar condemned the “cowardly Israeli attack” on Hamas headquarters in Doha, and called it a violation of international law


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