Ukraine peace talks stall as Putin skips Istanbul; Trump visits Gulf amid Iran deal talks
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Arab News
34 minutes ago
- Arab News
Hamas, Israel resume talks as Netanyahu set to meet Trump
DOHA: Hamas and Israel were resuming talks in Qatar on Monday, a Palestinian official said, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Washington to meet President Donald Trump, who has pushed for a 'deal this week' between the foes. The latest round of negotiations on the war in Gaza began on Sunday in Doha, aiming to broker a ceasefire and reach an agreement on the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. 'Indirect negotiations are scheduled to take place before noon today in Doha between the Hamas and Israeli delegations to continue discussions' on the proposal, a Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations said. Ahead of Netanyahu's third visit since Trump's return to office this year, the US president said there was a 'good chance' of reaching an agreement. 'We've gotten a lot of the hostages out, but pertaining to the remaining hostages, quite a few of them will be coming out,' he told journalists. Netanyahu, speaking before heading to Washington, said his meeting with Trump could 'definitely help advance this' deal. The US president is pushing for a truce in the Gaza Strip, plunged into a humanitarian crisis after nearly two years of war. Netanyahu said he dispatched the team to Doha with 'clear instructions' to reach an agreement 'under the conditions that we have agreed to.' He previously said Hamas's response to a draft US-backed ceasefire proposal, conveyed through Qatari and Egyptian mediators, contained 'unacceptable' demands. Two Palestinian sources close to the discussions had earlier said the proposal included a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and several bodies in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel. However, they said, the group was also demanding certain conditions for Israel's withdrawal, guarantees against a resumption of fighting during negotiations, and the return of the UN-led aid distribution system. Netanyahu has an 'important mission' in Washington, 'advancing a deal to bring all our hostages home,' said Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Trump is not scheduled to meet the Israeli premier until 6:30 p.m. (2230 GMT) Monday, the White House said, without the usual presence of journalists. Of the 251 hostages taken by Palestinian militants during the 2023 attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Since Hamas's October 2023 attack sparked the massive Israeli offensive in Gaza, mediators have brokered two temporary halts in the fighting. They have seen hostages freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody. Recent efforts to broker a new truce have repeatedly failed, with the primary point of contention being Israel's rejection of Hamas's demand for a lasting ceasefire. In Gaza, the territory's civil defense agency reported 12 people killed in gunfire or strikes on Monday. AFP has contacted the Israeli military for comment. 'We are losing young people, families and children every day, and this must stop now,' Gaza resident Osama Al-Hanawi said. 'Enough blood has been shed.' Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency. The war has created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip. A US- and Israel-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), took the lead in food distribution in the territory in late May, when Israel partially lifted a more than two-month blockade on aid deliveries. But its operations have had a chaotic rollout, with repeated reports of aid seekers killed near its facilities while awaiting rations. UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives. The UN human rights office said last week that more than 500 people have been killed waiting to access food from GHF distribution points. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza on Sunday placed that toll even higher, at 751 killed. Hamas's October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 57,418 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.
Al Arabiya
42 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
Ukraine army says Russian strikes hit two recruitment centers
The Ukrainian army said Monday that Russian strikes targeted two recruitment centers in separate cities, wounding four people, in the latest announced attack on the military facilities. The army said on social media that a strike on a recruitment center in Kharkiv wounded three people while a separate drone attack on a center in Zaporizhzhia further south left one wounded.
Saudi Gazette
an hour ago
- Saudi Gazette
Netanyahu visits US as Trump puts pressure to agree Gaza ceasefire deal
WASHINGTON — After 21 months of war, there are growing hopes of a new Gaza ceasefire announcement as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets US President Donald Trump in Washington. Trump previously told reporters he had been "very firm" with Netanyahu about ending the conflict and that he thought "we'll have a deal" this week. "We are working to achieve the deal that has been discussed, under the conditions we have agreed," the veteran Israeli PM said before boarding his plane. "I believe that the conversation with President Trump can definitely help advance this outcome, which we all hope for." Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas on a US-sponsored proposal for a 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal resumed in Qatar on Sunday evening. However, it is unclear whether key differences that have consistently held up an agreement can be overcome. Only cautious optimism is being expressed by weary Palestinians living in dire conditions amid continuing daily Israeli bombardment, and the distressed families of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas."I don't wish for a truce but a complete stop to all war. Frankly, I'm afraid that after 60 days the war would restart again," says Nabil Abu Dayah, who fled from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza to Gaza City with his children and grandchildren."We got so tired of displacement, we got tired of thirst and hunger, from living in tents. When it comes to life's necessities, we have zero."On Saturday evening, large rallies took place urging Israel's government to seal a deal to return some 50 hostages from Gaza, up to 20 of whom are believed to be relatives questioned why the framework deal would not free all captives immediately."How does one survive under such conditions? I'm waiting for Evyatar to return and tell me himself," said Ilay David, whose younger brother, a musician, was filmed by Hamas in torment as he watched fellow hostages being released earlier this year during the last, two-month-long ceasefire."This is the time to save lives. This is the time to rescue the bodies from the threat of disappearance," Ilay told a crowd in Jerusalem."In the rapidly changing reality of the Middle East, this is the moment to sign a comprehensive agreement that will lead to the release of all the hostages, every single one, without exception."Netanyahu is visiting the White House for the third time since Trump returned to power nearly six months the leaders will be meeting for the first time since the US joined Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear sites and then brokered a ceasefire between Israel and is a strong sense that the recent 12-day war has created more favourable circumstances to end the Gaza months of low popularity ratings, the Israeli PM has been bolstered by broad public support for the Iran offensive and analysts suggest he now has more leverage to agree to a peace deal over the strong objections of his far-right coalition partners, who want Israel to remain in control of is seen to have been further weakened by the strikes on Iran — a key regional patron — meaning it could also be more amenable to making concessions needed to reach an Trump is keen to move on to other priorities in the Middle include brokering border talks between Israel and Syria, returning to efforts to normalise relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, and completing unfinished business with Iran, involving possible negotiations on a new nuclear months, ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas have been deadlocked over one fundamental has been ready to commit to a temporary truce to return hostages but not an end to the war. Hamas has demanded a permanent cessation of hostilities in Gaza and a full pullout of Israeli latest proposal put to Hamas is said to include guarantees of Washington's commitment to the deal and to continued talks to reach a lasting ceasefire and the release of all the has been officially announced, but according to media reports the framework would see Hamas hand over 28 hostages — 10 alive and 18 dead — in five stages over 60 days without the troubling handover ceremonies it staged in the last would be a large surge in humanitarian aid entering the return of the first eight living hostages on the first day of the agreement, Israeli forces would withdraw from parts of the north. After one week, the army would leave parts of the Day 10, Hamas would outline which hostages remain alive and their condition, while Israel would give details about more than 2,000 Gazans arrested during the war who remain in "administrative detention" — a practice which allows the Israeli authorities to hold them without charge or seen before, large numbers of Palestinians would be released from Israeli jails in exchange for Trump has described this as the "final" truce proposal and said last week that Israel had accepted "the necessary conditions" to finalise Friday, Hamas said it had responded in a "positive spirit" but expressed some reservations.A Palestinian official said sticking points remained over humanitarian aid — with Hamas demanding an immediate end to operations by the controversial Israeli and American-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and a return to the UN and its partners overseeing all relief is also said to be questioning the timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals and operations of the Rafah crossing between southern Gaza and office stated on Saturday that the changes wanted by Hamas were "not acceptable" to prime minister has repeatedly said that Hamas must be disarmed, a demand the Islamist group has so far refused to Israel, there is growing opposition to the war in Gaza, with more than 20 soldiers killed in the past month, according to the Israeli military's chief of staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, said last week that it was nearing the completion of its war goals and signalled that the government must decide whether to move ahead with a deal to bring home hostages or prepare for Israeli forces to re-establish military rule in indicate that two-thirds of Israelis support a ceasefire deal to bring home the Gaza, some residents express fears that the current wave of positivity is being manufactured to ease tensions during Netanyahu's US trip — rationalising that this happened in May as Trump prepared to visit Arab Gulf coming days will be critical politically and in humanitarian situation in Gaza has continued to deteriorate, with medical staff reporting acute malnutrition among UN says that with no fuel having entered in over four months, stockpiles are now virtually gone, threatening vital medical care, water supplies and launched its war in Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and led to 251 others being taken attacks have since killed more than 57,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The ministry's figures are quoted by the UN and others as the most reliable source of statistics available on casualties. — BBC
