Latest news with #Taheral-Nounou
Roya News
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Roya News
Hamas official: We stand firm on demands to end Gaza assault
A senior Hamas official, Taher al-Nounou, announced Wednesday that the movement has presented a new offer as part of the ongoing negotiations in Doha, expressing Hamas' willingness to cooperate with mediators and engage flexibly. Al-Nounou said that Hamas agreed to release 10 of the captives held in Gaza, on the condition that humanitarian aid is allowed to flow fully and consistently into the territory, and that 'Israeli' aggression comes to a complete halt. He noted that the current round of talks is facing significant challenges but emphasized that Hamas remains firm on its core demands for any final agreement. Al-Nounou reiterated that these demands include the full withdrawal of 'Israeli' forces from all areas of the Gaza Strip and a comprehensive, lasting ceasefire. He also stressed the need for international guarantees to ensure the implementation of any potential deal, adding, 'The United States holds the real leverage over Tel Aviv to end the war, if it has the political will to do so.'
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hamas, Israel confirm talks have resumed to end war in Gaza, release hostages
May 17 (UPI) -- Hamas and Israel have confirmed that talks to end the war in Gaza and release hostages on both sides resumed Saturday. Hamas adviser Taher al-Nounou told the BBC that peace negotiations have begun anew in Doha, while Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Hamas negotiators are also in Qatar, engaged in indirect talks specifically regarding the hostages. The news broke after Israel's military surged into Gaza as part of its Operation Gideon's Chariots to take control of more territory and free the hostages Hamas has been holding since the war began after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed nearly 1,200 people, most of them civilians. "The heroism of IDF soldiers, the unity of the people and the determination of the political echelon increase the chance of the return of the hostages -- as it was then and as it is now," Katz said, according to CBS News. Britain's The Guardian newspaper quoted United Nations Human Rights Chief Volker Turk as saying Friday that Israel's ramped-up ground offensive "and the denial of humanitarian assistance underline that there appears to be a push for a permanent demographic shift in Gaza that is defiance of international law and that is tantamount to ethnic cleansing." About 1.9 million Palestinians have been displaced amid the war and the death toll in Gaza, as of Friday, was more than 53,000.
UPI
17-05-2025
- Politics
- UPI
Hamas, Israel confirm talks have resumed to end war in Gaza, release hostages
Charitable organizations distribute hot meals to Palestinians in Al-Mawasi area of Khan Yunis, Gaza, on Monday on May 12, 2025. Hamas and Israeli officials confirmed on Saturday that peace talks have been restarted. Photo by Anas Deeb/UPI | License Photo May 17 (UPI) -- Hamas and Israel have confirmed that talks to end the war in Gaza and release hostages on both sides resumed Saturday. Hamas adviser Taher al-Nounou told the BBC that peace negotiations have begun anew in Doha, while Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Hamas negotiators are also in Qatar, engaged in indirect talks specifically regarding the hostages. The news broke after Israel's military surged into Gaza as part of its Operation Gideon's Chariots to take control of more territory and free the hostages Hamas has been holding since the war began after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed nearly 1,200 people, most of them civilians. "The heroism of IDF soldiers, the unity of the people and the determination of the political echelon increase the chance of the return of the hostages -- as it was then and as it is now," Katz said, according to CBS News. Britain's The Guardian newspaper quoted United Nations Human Rights Chief Volker Turk as saying Friday that Israel's ramped-up ground offensive "and the denial of humanitarian assistance underline that there appears to be a push for a permanent demographic shift in Gaza that is defiance of international law and that is tantamount to ethnic cleansing." About 1.9 million Palestinians have been displaced amid the war and the death toll in Gaza, as of Friday, was more than 53,000. In Gaza, Palestinians seek food relief amid rising hunger crisis Charitable organizations distribute hot meals to Palestinians in the Al-Mawasi area of Khan Yunis, Gaza, on May 12, 2025. Photo by Anas Deeb/UPI | License Photo
Nahar Net
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Nahar Net
Hamas says open to talks as Israel keeps up Gaza strikes
by Naharnet Newsdesk 19 March 2025, 15:06 Hamas said it remained open to negotiations while calling for pressure on Israel Wednesday to implement a Gaza truce after its deadliest bombing since the fragile ceasefire began in January. Israel carried out fresh air strikes on Gaza on Wednesday, killing 13 people according to the territory's civil defense agency, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday's raids were "only the beginning". The United Nations and countries around the world condemned the high civilian death toll in the renewed strikes, which have killed more than 400 people, according to Hamas-run territory's health ministry. Hamas is open to talks on getting the ceasefire back on track but will not renegotiate the agreement that took effect on January 19, an official from the militant group said. "Hamas has not closed the door on negotiations but we insist there is no need for new agreements," Taher al-Nounou told AFP. "We have no conditions, but we demand that the occupation be compelled to immediately halt its aggression and war of extermination, and begin the second phase of negotiations." Negotiations have stalled over how to proceed with a ceasefire whose first phase expired in early March, with Israel and Hamas disagreeing on whether to move to a new phase intended to bring the war to an end. Instead, Israel and the United States have sought to change the terms of the deal by extending stage one. That would delay the start of phase two, which was meant to establish a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and was swiftly rejected by Hamas, which demanded full implementation of the original deal. "There is no need for new agreements in light of the existing agreement signed by all parties," Nunu said. - 'Only the beginning' - Israel and the United States have portrayed Hamas's rejection of an extended stage one as a refusal to release more Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Netanyahu's office said he ordered the renewed strikes on Gaza after "Hamas's repeated refusal to release our hostages". In a televised address late Tuesday, the premier said: "From now on, negotiations will take place only under fire... Military pressure is essential for the release of additional hostages. "Hamas has already felt the strength of our arm in the past 24 hours. And I want to promise you –- and them –- this is only the beginning." The White House said Israel consulted US President Donald Trump's administration before launching the strikes, while Israel said the return to fighting was "fully coordinated" with Washington. The intense Israeli bombardment sent a stream of new casualties to the few hospitals still functioning in Gaza and triggered fears of a return to full-blown war after two months of relative calm. The roads were once again filled with Palestinian civilians on the move as families responded to evacuation warnings from the Israeli army. "Today I felt that Gaza is a real hell," said Jihan Nahhal, a 43-year-old from Gaza City, adding some of her relatives were wounded or killed in the strikes. "Suddenly there were huge explosions, as if it were the first day of the war." The Gaza health ministry said the bodies of 413 people had been received by hospitals, adding people were still under the rubble. A spokeswoman for the UN children's agency UNICEF said medical facilities that "have already been decimated" by the war were now "overwhelmed". - 'Shattering' hopes - Governments in the Middle East, Europe and beyond called for the renewed hostilities to end. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Israel's raids on Gaza "are shattering the tangible hopes of so many Israelis and Palestinians of an end to suffering on all sides". European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she told her Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar that the new strikes on Gaza were "unacceptable". Both Egypt and Qatar, which brokered the Gaza ceasefire alongside the United States, condemned Israel's resort to military action. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said the strikes were part of "deliberate efforts to make the Gaza Strip uninhabitable and force the Palestinians into displacement". Trump has floated a proposal to move Palestinians out of Gaza, an idea rejected by Palestinians and governments in the region and beyond, but embraced by some Israeli politicians. Israel's resumption of military operations in Gaza, after it already halted all humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza this month, drew an immediate political dividend for Netanyahu. The far-right Otzma Yehudit party, which quit his ruling coalition in January in protest at the Gaza ceasefire, rejoined its ranks with its firebrand leader Itamar Ben Gvir again becoming national security minister. The war began with Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in 1,218 deaths, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures. Israel's retaliation in Gaza has killed at least 48,577 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the territory's health ministry. Of the 251 hostages seized during the attack, 58 are still in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Nahar Net
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Nahar Net
Hamas says ready to free all hostages at once in Gaza truce phase two
by Naharnet Newsdesk 19 February 2025, 16:57 Hamas signaled on Wednesday that it was willing to free all remaining hostages held in Gaza in a single swap during the next phase of the ongoing ceasefire agreement. Israel and Hamas are currently in the process of implementing phase one of the fragile Gaza truce, which has held since taking effect on January 19 despite accusations of violations on both sides. Israel's foreign minister said on Tuesday that talks would begin "this week" on the second phase, which is expected to lay out a more permanent end to the war. "We have informed the mediators that Hamas is ready to release all hostages in one batch during the second phase of the agreement, rather than in stages, as in the current first phase," senior Hamas official Taher al-Nounou told AFP. He did not clarify how many hostages were currently being held by Hamas or other militant groups. Nounou said this step was meant "to confirm our seriousness and complete readiness to move forward in resolving this issue, as well as to continue steps towards cementing the ceasefire and achieving a sustainable truce". Under the ceasefire's first phase, 19 Israeli hostages have been released by militants so far in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails in a series of Red Cross-mediated swaps. Wednesday's offer came after Israel and Hamas announced a deal for the return of all six remaining living hostages eligible for release under phase one in a single swap this weekend. After the completion of the first phase, 58 hostages will remain in Gaza. - 'Held onto hope' - Hamas also agreed on Tuesday to return the bodies of eight dead hostages in two groups this week and next, including the remains of Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, Kfir and Ariel, who have become national symbols in Israel of the hostages' ordeal. The boys' father Yarden Bibas was taken hostage separately on October 7, 2023, and was released alive during an earlier hostage-prisoner swap. While Hamas said Shiri Bibas and her boys were killed in an Israeli air strike early in the war, Israel has never confirmed this, and many supporters remain unconvinced of their deaths, including members of the Bibas family. "I ask that no one eulogize my family just yet. We have held onto hope for 16 months, and we are not giving up now," the boys' aunt, Ofri Bibas, wrote on Facebook on Tuesday night following Hamas's announcement. Israeli authorities have confirmed that the remains of four hostages are due to be returned on Thursday, although they have not officially named them. The national forensic institute in Tel Aviv has mobilized 10 doctors to expedite the identification process, public broadcaster Kan reported on Wednesday. Hamas and its allies took 251 people hostage during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, of whom 70 remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. The October attack resulted in the deaths of 1,211 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 48,297 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.
