US President Joe Biden thanked the leaders of Qatar and Egypt for their "critical leadership" in reaching the deal. "I am extraordinarily gratified that some of these brave souls… will be reunited with their families once this deal is fully implemented," Biden said, referring to the hostages.

When Khulud Jarboueh and her children fled their home in the northern Gaza Strip under Israeli bombardment in early October, the young ones were wearing just shorts and T-shirts. The heat of late summer still lingered then. But now she rummages through piles of clothing looking for something to keep...

MOSCOW, RUSSIA – The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Indonesia, Palestine and the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have arrived here to discuss the Gaza Strip with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, a diplomatic source told TASS. "They have arrived, the meeting will start...

Around 160 children are killed every day in Gaza and UNICEF has warned that the number could skyrocket. More than 900,000 displaced Gazans are staying in overcrowded shelters run by UNRWA.

The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported "the deaths of three citizens -- two journalists and another civilian -- in enemy bombing" of the Tair Harfa area

"The collective punishment of Palestinian civilians through the unlawful use of force by Israel is a war crime. The deliberate denial of medicine, fuel, food and water to the residents of Gaza is tantamount to genocide," said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Qatar's prime minister said that a deal to free some of the hostages in return for a temporary ceasefire hinged on "minor" practical issues. Under the tentative deal, between 50 and 100 Israeli civilian and foreign hostages would be released, but no military personnel. In exchange, about 300 Palestinians would...

Johannesburg, South Africa--South Africa will Tuesday host a virtual summit of the BRICS group of nations, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, to discuss the Israel-Hamas war, Pretoria and Moscow said Monday. The BRICS --  Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- are a group of major emerging economies seeking to...

Moscow, Russia - President Vladimir Putin will take part in an online BRICS summit on the escalation of the situation in the Middle East, the Kremlin press service said on Monday. "On November 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin will take part in an extraordinary BRICS summit (in the videoconference format)...

The UN chief said it was "important to be able to transform this tragedy into an opportunity" -- which, for him, meant moving "in a determined and irreversible way to a two-state solution." This means, after the current conflict ends, "a strengthened Palestinian Authority, assuming responsibilities in Gaza," he said.

Dubai, UAE--The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said Monday 12 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a hospital in the north of the Palestinian territory. The 12, including wounded patients and their companions, "were killed and dozens wounded as a result of the Israeli occupation targeting...

Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas and to free around 240 people taken hostage by the fighters during the worst attack in its history, most of them Israeli citizens but also dozens of foreigners. On Sunday, Qatari mediators said they were inching closer to a deal to free some of...

Speaking at an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps aerospace force centre in the capital Tehran, Khamenei said "the defeat of the Zionist regime in Gaza is a fact." Israel has relentlessly been pounding the Gaza Strip since Hamas's attack, killing more than 12,300 people in the narrow Palestinian territory, including more...

DUBAI - An investigation carried out by Israeli police has concluded that Hamas, involved in the October 7 attack, had no prior knowledge of the Nova music festival held near the border of Gaza, the Israeli media said. According to a report by Haaretz on Saturday, Hamas had no prior...

"The killing of so many people at schools turned shelters, hundreds fleeing for their lives from Al-Shifa Hospital, amid continuing displacement of hundreds of thousands in southern Gaza, are actions which fly in the face of the basic protections civilians must be afforded under international law," United Nations High Commissioner...

Officials will include the foreign ministers of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and Indonesia, as well as the secretary-general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. "During the visit, China will have in-depth communication and coordination with the joint delegation of foreign ministers of Arab...

The Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, said all parties would halt combat operations for at least five days while some hostages were released in batches. But the White House quickly responded on Saturday evening with its message on X to deny any major breakthrough.

Israel's top ally Washington has given its full backing to the country's response to the October 7 shock attack by Hamas, which left 1,200 dead, mostly civilians. But as the death toll from Israel's military campaign in Gaza continues to climb, US has voiced concerns over the manner of the...

The White House said Biden and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani discussed "the urgent need for all hostages held by Hamas to be released without further delay". French President Emmanuel Macron also discussed the hostages with al-Thani and Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday, his office said.

The UN health agency said that it led an assessment mission to the hospital and determined it was a "death zone", calling for a full evacuation. It said that the agency is developing plans for the immediate evacuation of the remaining patients, staff and their families, adding that 291 patients...

Cairo, Egypt - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday said she was opposed to the "forced displacement of Palestinians" during a meeting in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Von der Leyen "thanked Egypt for its key role in providing and facilitating humanitarian aid to vulnerable Palestinians",...

Beirut, Lebanon - In a ramshackle Palestinian refugee camp here, Hayat Shehadeh wrings her hands as she watches the Israel-Hamas war. Her daughter is in Gaza, and she has not spoken to her for a week. "I can't sleep. I get up at 3:00 am... I go to watch the television,"...

Hundreds of people fled after Israel's army ordered the evacuation of Gaza's main hospital where over 2,000 people were trapped by the war between Israel and Hamas. An AFP journalist witnessed the movement but health officials in the Hamas-ruled territory said 450 patients remained at Al-Shifa hospital. Israel's army denied...

Dubai, UAE-- At least 15 patients from Gaza arrived in the UAE to receive medical treatment in the UAE's hospitals. The arrival of patients from Gaza is part of the initiative directed by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE President, to provide medical treatment for 1,000 children. The UAE...

As UN warns of an increasingly desperate situation for 2.4m Palestinians and pleaded for a ceasefire, the first delivery of fuel arrived from Egypt on late Friday. At the same time, Israel carried on its offensive, combing Gaza's largest hospital. It has vowed to "crush" Hamas in response to the...

BERLIN, GERMANY - Germany and Turkey's leaders traded barbs on Friday over Israel's war on Hamas, with Frank-Walter Steinmeier stressing the country's right to exist while Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded an end to Israel's military operation. Turkey’s President Erdogan is on a highly controversial visit to staunch Israel defender Germany, made...

Israeli settler violence has increased significantly since the outbreak of the ongoing Israeli genocide campaign in Gaza, rising from an average of three incidents to seven per day, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OHCA).

KHAN YUNIS, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES - One of the last grain warehouses in the Gaza Strip has been damaged by Israeli strikes and a key flour mill in Khan Yunis -- where hundreds of thousands have fled -- has stopped working for lack of fuel. The store, also in Khan Yunis in...

The announcement came shortly after Israel agreed to a US request to allow two fuel trucks a day into Gaza, following a UN warning that the shortages had halted aid deliveries and put people at risk of starvation. The situation was dire at the Al-Shifa hospital, the largest in Gaza,...

Washington, which provides significant military aid to Israel, has given unwavering support to its top Middle East ally since the October 7 attack by Hamas, saying Israel has the right to defend itself. However, the US side has started voicing concerns over the methods of Israel's military operations. and civilian...

Abu Dhabi, UAE - The UAE is building three desalination plants in Rafah to supply Gaza with water as part of its 'Gallant Knight 3' humanitarian operation. The production capacity of each plant is 200,000 gallons per day with a total of 600,000 gallons, benefiting 300,000 people per day. 'Gallant...

Geneva, Switzerland - The heads of numerous United Nations agencies and other humanitarian organizations said on Thursday they would not take part in Gaza "safe zones" declared by only one side in the conflict. "As humanitarian leaders, our position is clear: We will not participate in the establishment of any 'safe...

Kibbutz Beeri, Israel - EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Thursday called for Gaza hostages to be immediately freed, but asked Israel "not to be consumed by rage" in its battle with Hamas. "I ask for their immediate and unconditional release," Borrell said on a visit to a kibbutz community targeted...

Geneva, Switzerland - The UN human rights chief on Thursday decried serious allegations of international law violations in the Israel-Hamas war and suggested an international investigation was needed. Volker Turk said "extremely serious allegations of multiple and profound breaches of international humanitarian law, whoever commits them, demand rigorous investigation and full...

The resolution, prepared by Malta and adopted with 12 votes in favor, "calls for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip for a sufficient number of days" to allow aid to reach civilians in the besieged territory. The text raises the question of how many days...

Israeli forces raided and then combed through Al-Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital, before withdrawing and redeploying around its outskirts, a journalist trapped inside the facility told AFP. Israel accuses Palestinian militants of using the compound for military purposes, which Hamas has denied.

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said 27 patients had been flown to Turkey from Egypt, along with 13 companions, without specifying whether these were doctors or family members. He also said that Turkey was waiting for Egypt's permission to open its first field hospital at the Rafah crossing.

"The amount of humanitarian aid sent to Gaza is very small and almost zero, and it is necessary for the United Nations to take immediate and serious action in this regard," Amir-Abdollahian said in a meeting in Geneva with UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths.

ANKARA, TURKEY - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called Israel a "terror state", stepping up his condemnation of the spiralling civilian toll of its war against Hamas in Gaza. Erdogan's latest -- and one of the most heated -- verbal attacks against Israel came two days before he plans...

"Once we've reached about 120 million (passengers a year), which is what we think our total capacity at DXB (Dubai International) is at the absolute maximum with everything optimized, we are going to need a new airport," Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said.

UNICEF's executive director Catherine Russell, on a rare visit to the Palestinian territory by a top UN official, said she witnessed devastating scenes and urged Israel and Hamas to "stop this horror".

Washington, United States - United States wants to see the war between Israel and Hamas contained to Gaza and not expanded to other areas of the region, US Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said on Tuesday. As of today, "we have not seen this war spill over into other...

Israel has repeatedly claimed that Hamas uses the hospital as cover for a command post and weapons stores, a claim Hamas denies. That use "jeopardizes" the hospital's "protected status under international law", the military said, a claim that many international human rights lawyers refute.

The Israeli army said its forces conducted "counterterrorism activities" in the city, during which "engineering vehicles uncovered explosive devices planted on routes to attack the forces". "In addition, soldiers questioned and apprehended wanted suspects, and during exchanges of fire with armed assailants, a number of the assailants were killed," the...

A journalist inside the hospital who is collaborating with AFP said the stench of decomposing bodies was everywhere in the facility. The situation in Gaza's other hospitals is also dire, with the UN saying 22 of 36 are not functional due to lack of generator fuel, damage and combat.

Military units "took over the Hamas parliament, the government building, the Hamas police headquarters and an engineering faculty that served as an institute for the production and development of weapons," the army said in a statement.

Doha, Qatar -- Qatar has strongly condemned the Israeli shelling of the Qatar Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza's headquarters, denouncing it as a blatant violation of international law. The incident, viewed as an extension of the occupation's pattern of targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, has sparked international outrage, QNA...

Washington, United States - Israel and the Hamas are close to reaching agreements that will make possible to free the majority of Israeli women and children captured on October 7, a columnist of The Washington Post (WP) David Ignatius wrote in his op-ed, citing sources in the Israeli government. The agreement can...

Falsely accusing people of faking their suffering has become "one of the most predictable" disinformation tactics in a crisis scenario, said Mike Caulfield, who researches online falsehoods at the University of Washington's Center for an Informed Public. Similar "crisis actor" claims have followed US mass shootings and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking to the reporters in the Oval Office, US president said he hoped and expected "that there will be less intrusive action relative to the hospital," adding that he was in touch with the Israelis on the matter. According to MSF, hundreds of people are stranded in the hospital complex...