Latest news with #IsraeliHostages
Washington Post
15-07-2025
- Washington Post
Colorado prosecutors to lay out evidence in firebomb attack on demonstration for Israeli hostages
DENVER — Colorado prosecutors are set to lay out their evidence Tuesday against a man charged with murder , attempted murder and other crimes in a firebomb attack on demonstrators showing their support for Israeli hostages in Gaza. Investigators say Mohamed Sabry Soliman told them he intended to kill the roughly 20 participants at the weekly demonstration on Boulder's Pearl Street pedestrian mall on June 1. But he threw just two of more than two dozen Molotov cocktails he had with him while yelling, 'Free Palestine!' Police said he told them he got scared because he had never hurt anyone before.
BreakingNews.ie
13-07-2025
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Six children among 10 people killed at water collection point by Israeli strike
Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip killed at least 19 people on Sunday, including six children at a water collection point, local health officials said, despite attempts by mediators to bring about a ceasefire. Israel and Hamas appeared no closer to a breakthrough in talks meant to pause the 21-month war and free some Israeli hostages. Advertisement Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington last week to discuss the deal with the Trump administration, but a new sticking point has emerged over the deployment of Israeli troops during the truce, raising questions over the feasibility of a new deal. Israel wants to keep forces in what it says is an important land corridor in southern Gaza. Hamas views the insistence on troops in that strip of land as an indication that Israel intends to continue the war once a temporary ceasefire expires. Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip attend a rally demanding their release from Hamas captivity in Tel Aviv, Israel (Oded Balilty/AP) Israel says it will only end the war once Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile, something it refuses to do. Hamas says it is willing to free all the remaining 50 hostages, less than half said to be alive, in exchange for an end to the war and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces. Advertisement Throughout the war in Gaza, violence has also surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where funerals were held Sunday for two Palestinians, including Palestinian-American Sayfollah Musallet, 20, who was killed in an attack by Israeli settlers, according to the Palestinian health ministry. In Gaza, officials at Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza said it received 10 bodies after an Israeli strike on a water collection point in Nuseirat, also in central Gaza. Among the dead were six children, the hospital said. The Israeli military said it struck more than 150 targets over the past day, without commenting directly on the specific strikes. Israel blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the militant group operates out of populated areas. Advertisement In the October 7 2023 attack that sparked the war, Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people and abducted 251. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 57,800 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's health ministry. The ministry, under Gaza's Hamas-run government, does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.
France 24
04-07-2025
- Politics
- France 24
Hamas says holding consultations on Gaza truce proposal
The statement came ahead of a visit on Monday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington, where President Donald Trump is pushing for an end to the war. The conflict in Gaza began with Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked a massive Israeli offensive aimed at destroying Hamas and bringing home all the hostages seized by militants. Two previous ceasefires mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States have seen temporary halts in fighting, coupled with the return of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. "The movement is conducting consultations with leaders of Palestinian forces and factions regarding the proposal received... from the mediators," Hamas said in a statement early Friday. Hours earlier, Netanyahu vowed to bring home all the hostages held by militants in Gaza, after coming under massive domestic pressure over their fate. "I feel a deep commitment, first and foremost, to ensure the return of all our abductees, all of them," Netanyahu said. Trump said on Thursday he wanted "safety for the people of Gaza". "They've gone through hell," he said. 60-day truce proposal A Palestinian source familiar with the negotiations told AFP earlier this week there were no fundamental changes in the latest proposal compared to previous terms presented by the United States. The source said the proposal "includes a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release half of the living Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip -- thought to number 22 -- in exchange for Israel releasing a number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees". Out of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the October 7 attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. The military said in a statement it had been striking suspected Hamas targets across the territory, including around Gaza City in the north and Khan Yunis and Rafah in the south. Nearly 21 months of war have created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has recently expanded its military operations against Hamas militants. Deadly Israeli fire Gaza civil defence official Mohammad al-Mughayyir said Israeli fire killed at least 40 people on Friday, updating an earlier toll of 15. The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports, except two incidents for which it requested coordinates and timeframes. 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 defence agency. Mughayyir said those killed included five who were shot while waiting for humanitarian aid near a US-run site near Rafah in southern Gaza and one who was waiting for aid near the Wadi Gaza Bridge in the centre of the territory. They were the latest in a spate of deadly shootings near aid distribution centres in the devastated territory, which UN agencies have warned is on the brink of famine. At Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis, crowds mourned people killed on Thursday by what the civil defence agency said was shooting close to a nearby aid centre. "I lost my brother in the American distribution centre that they set up to feed people," cried one mourner, Narmin Abu Muammar. "They are killing people, not feeding them." Bereaved mother Nidaa al-Farra said her 19-year-old son Eyad too had been killed while waiting for food. "My son went to get flour and they say: 'Here is the aid, come here.' And when they go, they shoot them." The US- and Israeli-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has distanced itself from reports of deadly incidents near its sites. Strikes reported on displacement camps The civil defence official told AFP that eight people, including a child, were killed in an Israeli air strike on the tents of displaced civilians near Khan Yunis. Mughayyir said eight more people were killed in two other strikes on camps on the coast, including one that killed two children early Friday. Contacted by AFP on the earlier toll, the Israeli military said it could not comment on specific attacks without precise coordinates, but noted it was "operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities". The Hamas attack of October 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 57,130 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.
The National
04-07-2025
- Politics
- The National
Sheikh Abdullah meets Israeli opposition leader to discuss Gaza ceasefire
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, has had a meeting with Yair Lapid, Israel's opposition leader, in Abu Dhabi. They discussed the potential for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and releasing Israeli hostages, as well as ways to prevent the further escalation of violence in the region, state news agency Wam reported on Friday. The urgent need to provide more aid to those suffering in Gaza was also discussed. Sheikh Abdullah stressed the need to resume negotiations for a two-state solution. Such efforts, he said, were essential to reinforcing regional security and stability and ending the cycle of extremism, tension and escalating violence.
Sky News
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Gaza ceasefire proposal a significant moment - but there are still many unanswered questions
In the long Gaza war, this is a significant moment. For the people of Gaza, for the Israeli hostages and their families - this could be the moment it ends. But we have been here before, so many times. The key question - will Hamas accept what Israel has agreed to: a 60-day ceasefire? At the weekend, a source at the heart of the negotiations told me: "Both Hamas and Israel are refusing to budge from their position - Hamas wants the ceasefire to last until a permanent agreement is reached. "Israel is opposed to this. At this point, only President Trump can break this deadlock." The source added: "Unless Trump pushes, we are in a stalemate." Israel-Gaza - live updates 1:58 The problem is that the announcement made now by Donald Trump - which is his social-media-summarised version of whatever Israel has actually agreed to - may just amount to Israel's already-established position. We don't know the details and conditions attached to Israel's proposals. Would Israeli troops withdraw from Gaza? Totally? Or partially? How many Palestinian prisoners would they agree to release from Israel's jails? And why only 60 days? Why not a total ceasefire? What are they asking of Hamas in return? We just don't know the answers to any of these questions, except one. 2:17 We do know why Israel wants a 60-day ceasefire, not a permanent one. It's all about domestic politics. If Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were to agree now to a permanent ceasefire, the extreme right-wingers in his coalition would collapse his government. Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have both been clear about their desire for the war to continue. They hold the balance of power in Mr Netanyahu's coalition. If Mr Netanyahu instead agrees to just 60 days - which domestically he can sell as just a pause - then that may placate the extreme right-wingers for a few weeks until the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, is adjourned for the summer. It is also no coincidence that the US president has called for Mr Netanyahu's corruption trial to be scrapped. Without the prospect of jail, Mr Netanyahu might be more willing to quit the war, safe in the knowledge that focus will not shift immediately to his own political and legal vulnerability.
