Gaza ceasefire: Israel released 90 Palestinians after Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari, crossed back into the country
Israeli military said Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari had been reunited with their mothers and released a video showing them in apparent good health
Biden also highlighted the diplomatic effort involved, noting the pressure from Israel and US support, as well as a coalition of 20 countries that stood against attacks from the Houthis
Discussions focus on the release of Palestinian prisoners, with Israel seeking to have those serving life sentences deported to countries such as Turkey, Qatar, and Egypt
According to CNN, Israel believes most of the 33 hostages are alive, although some deceased hostages may also be included in the initial release
US President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday warned that all hell will break out if Hamas did not release hostages before January 20, when he will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. All hell will break out. If those hostages aren't back, I don't want to hurt your negotiation, if they're not back by the time I get into office, all hell will break out in the Middle East, Trump told reporters at a news conference in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. He was responding to a question on the status of negotiations with Hamas on the release of American hostages by them. His Special Envoy to the Middle East Steven Charles Witkoff, who has just returned from the region, told reporters that they are on the verge of it. I believe we've been on the verge of it. I don't want to discuss sort of what's delayed it, no point to be negative in any way. But I think it's the president, his stature, what he's said he expects, the red lines he's put out there, that's driving this negotiation, Witkof
Israel and Hamas once again appear to be inching toward a ceasefire that could wind down the 15-month war in Gaza and bring home dozens of Israelis held hostage there. Both Israel and Hamas are under pressure from outgoing US President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump to reach a deal before the January 20 inauguration. But the sides have come close before, only to have talks collapse over various disagreements. The latest round of negotiations has bogged down over the names of hostages to be released in a first phase, according to Israeli, Egyptian and Hamas officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing ongoing negotiations. Israel wants assurances that the hostages are alive, while Hamas says that after months of heavy fighting, it isn't sure who is alive or dead. Other hurdles remain. The first phase, expected to last for six to eight weeks, would also include a halt in fighting, a release of Palestinian prisoners and a surge in aid to the
The statement of Israel's PM office came after it was reported by a UK-based news agency that Hamas had approved a list of 34 hostages that it would release in exchange for a ceasefire agreement
Trump has threatened those holding hostages in the Middle East with 'unprecedented American firepower' if they are not released by the time he enters office on January 20
The US government's top hostage negotiator is in Beirut in hopes of collecting information on the whereabouts of Austin Tice, an American journalist missing in Syria for 12 years, the State Department said on Monday. Roger Carstens, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, is talking to officials in the region following the overthrow of Bashar Assad's government to find out where Tice is and get him home as soon as possible, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Monday. Lebanon has been involved for years in mediating talks about Tice. President Joe Biden said on Sunday that his administration believed Tice was alive and was committed to bringing him home, though he also acknowledged that we have no direct evidence of his status. Tice, who has had his work published by The Washington Post, McClatchy newspapers and others, disappeared at a checkpoint in a contested area west of Damascus as the Syrian civil war intensified. A video released weeks aft
It's the latest twist in Netanyahu's frustrated attempts to deliver on pledges to the families of hostages to bring home those seized when Hamas militants attacked Israel more than a year ago
Over the past two weeks, the political landscape around the negotiations for a cease-fire in Gaza have undergone a dramatic transformation. The American elections, the firing of Israel's popular defense minister, Qatar's decision to suspend its mediation, and the ongoing war in Lebanon all seem to have pushed the possibility for a cease-fire in Gaza further away than it has been in more than a year of conflict. Still, some families of the dozens of hostages who remain captive in Gaza are desperately hoping the changes will reignite momentum to bring their loved ones home though the impact of Donald Trump returning to the White House and a hard-line new defense minister in Israel remains unknown. I think maybe there is new hope, said Varda Ben Baruch, the grandmother of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, 20, a soldier kidnapped from his base on the Gaza border during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. Alexander's parents, Adi and Yael Alexander, who live in New Jersey, met
A delegation of former hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and their relatives met Thursday with Pope Francis and expressed hope that the incoming and outgoing US administrations would work together to bring the remaining hostages home. The freed hostages included Yelena Troufanov, who was released last November but whose son Sasha remains in Gaza and appeared in a video released Wednesday by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group. You see in the picture how my child has changed over the course of this year, Yelena Troufanov told a news conference in Rome after the papal audience. I am very worried about his condition, I see that he is not in a good mental state and not in a good physical state. She and the other former hostages and relatives renewed their calls for a deal to bring the remaining hostages home, especially with winter approaching. They said they hoped the incoming Trump administration would work with the outgoing Biden administration to push the process forward. The war star
Three terrorists were killed in a gunbattle when they attacked a polio vaccinators' team in Pakistan's restive northwestern province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday. In another incident, unknown militants took hostage the entire team of polio vaccinators at a dispensary in the same province, sources said here. The attack on polio vaccinators came a day after Pakistan on Monday started its third nationwide polio campaign to vaccinate 45 million children. In the first incident in Aurakzai tribal district, bordering Afghanistan, a policeman also killed in the shootout while frustrating the attack on the polio vaccinators. At least three terrorists were mowed down by the police in the fierce gunbattle and a fresh team has been rushed to the site, sources added. No group claimed responsibility for the brutal attack. In the second incident in North Waziristan's tehsil Shewa, unidentified militants took hostage the entire team of polio vaccinators at the Mamet Kot dispensary in the restiv
Such memorial events were laced with controversy as the families of victims blamed the Israeli government for failures that enabled Hamas to carry out the attacks. The families also blamed
Two youths who were held hostage by armed men in Manipur's Kangpokpi district were released and handed over to police on Thursday morning, seven days after they were abducted, an officer said. The two Oinam Thoithoi Singh and Th Thoithoiba Singh are being escorted back to Imphal, the police officer said. "The youths were handed over to Kangpokpi Superintendent of police at Gamgiphai naka and and left for Imphal," the police said. The two on September 27 had accompanied another youth N Johnson Singh who was appearing for SSC GD recruitment test at New Keithelmanbi. However, they lost their way in Kangpokpi district. While Johnson was rescued by the army and handed over to the police, the two youths remained in the captivity of armed men. The state government with the assistance of the Centre carried out negotiations to secure the release of the two youths. Meanwhile, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh in a post on social media said, "The two young men abducted in Kangpokpi on ...
The strike was called by the Histadrut labor federation, though a court order ruled Monday that it should end at 2.30 p.m.
Israel's military has rescued its eight hostage from Gaza since the 10-month-old war began. While the rescue Tuesday set off celebrations, it also renewed calls from the families of hostages who are still being held in Gaza for a deal that would bring home their loved ones before it's too late. They say an agreement, not military rescues, is the best hope. International mediators have tried for months to broker a deal that would see scores of hostages still held by Hamas exchanged for Palestinian prisoners and a cease-fire. But Israel and Hamas cannot agree on key portions of the deal. Of some 250 hostages taken by Hamas militants in the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war, around 105 were released in a cease-fire last November. Israel says 108 remain in Gaza, at least 36 of whom are believed dead. After 10 months, the IDF managed just to release a small number of hostages from Hamas and the rest of them must be released by negotiations and by ending this war, said Mazen Abu Siam,
Some protesters held signs demanding early elections, and others held banners calling for an end to the fighting in Gaza
Russian security forces stormed a detention centre in southern Russia, ending a hostage standoff, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported Sunday. The hostages at the facility in Rostov-on-Don were uninjured, said RIA Novosti, citing Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service. It said that the hostage takers had been liquidated, with other local news outlets reporting that at least some of the prisoners had been killed.