The US forces targeted many positions in Syria and Iraq in retaliation for a drone attack on a base in Jordan that killed three US soldiers. The strikes, which targeted elite Iranian units and pro-Iranian militant groups, have led to fears that the ongoing war in Gaza could spiral into...

French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne was in Egypt and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expected in the region in the coming days to push for a ceasefire and hostage release. The health ministry in the territory, most of which has been left uninhabitable by Israeli bombardments, said at least...

A Hamas source had told AFP the three-stage plan would start with an initial six-week halt to the fighting that would see more aid deliveries into Gaza. Only "women, children and sick men over 60" held by fighters would be freed during that stage in exchange for Palestinian captives in...

As Qatari and Egyptian-led mediation efforts intensified, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was due in Cairo on Thursday to discuss a truce proposal thrashed out in Paris last weekend with CIA chief William Burns. Israel's withering air, land and sea offensive has killed at least 26,900 people in Gaza, most of...

Taher al-Nunu, a senior Hamas official, said his group wanted a "complete and comprehensive ceasefire, and not a temporary truce." Speaking to AFP, he said that once the fighting stopped "the rest of the details can be discussed" including a hostage release. Qatar, Egypt and the US have led mediation...

The Security Council has faced sharp international opprobrium as it has managed to pass only one resolution on Gaza since the start of the war, in which the 15-member body called for "humanitarian pauses" -- after five other resolutions were rejected, including two thanks to American vetoes.

With calls for a ceasefire multiplying, "it is safe to assume that the majority will be greater" this time, Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group told AFP. This may bring the Assembly closer to the 140 or so countries (out of 193 member states) that have repeatedly denounced the...

DOHA, QATAR - Mediation efforts are continuing to secure a new Gaza ceasefire despite ongoing Israeli bombardment that is "narrowing the window" for a successful outcome, Qatar's prime minister said on Sunday."Our efforts as the state of Qatar along with our partners are continuing. We are not going to give up,"...

According to Lynn Hastings, UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, the conditions required to deliver aid to "the people of Gaza do not exist." He said that since the end of truce, Israeli forces have pushed into southern Gaza, "forcing tens of thousands... into compressed spaces, desperate to find...

"There is so much suffering in Gaza," the pontiff said in comments from his private residence, which were read by an aide and broadcast on giant screens in Saint Peter's Square. The 86-year-old is suffering from a lung infection that has caused breathing difficulties, and forced him to cancel a...

Austin told the Reagan National Defense Forum that he had "learned a thing or two about urban warfare" while fighting in Iraq. "The lesson is not that you can win in urban warfare by protecting civilians. The lesson is that you can only win in urban warfare by protecting civilians,"...

Khan Yunis, Palestinian Territories - A middle-aged man with a blank, shattered expression walked slowly down a ramp at the hospital, gently cradling in his arms a tiny body wrapped in a white shroud.After the collapse of a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas, the Nasser hospital's morgue in Khan Yunis,...

So far, 60 Israeli hostages have been freed from Gaza under the terms of the deal, with a Russian-Israeli, 20 Thai and one Filipino freed outside the scope of the agreement. In return, 180 Palestinian civilians -- all women and minors -- have been released. Among them was 14-year-old Ahmad...

Shortly after the arrival of the hostages was confirmed, Israel's prison authority said 33 Palestinian civilians had been released. The freed Israelis are dual nationals of France, Germany and Argentina, according to Qatar, which helped mediate the deal.

The terms of the truce agreement pausing the fighting in the Gaza Strip say it can be extended beyond its initial four-day term as long as 10 hostages are released for each extra day, with three times as many Palestinians freed in return. As such, another 50 hostages would imply...

The move, part of a broader truce agreement mediated by Qatar and Egypt, saw emotional reunions as families welcomed their loved ones back.

Jerusalem -  Plans to release another group of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners suffered a setback on Saturday, the second day of a four-day truce after seven weeks of war.On Friday evening the Palestinian group freed 13 Israelis, along with an unexpected 10 Thais and one Filipino, and...

After tedious days marked by idle chitchat and dreary diets of beans and instant coffee, the men, all Egyptians, took some comfort in news that more fuel and other essentials may soon be allowed in as part of a four-day truce that could begin as soon as Friday. But it...

Qatar's foreign ministry confirmed the deal, saying that "a number of Palestinian women and children detained in Israeli prisons" would be released in exchange for the hostages. "The starting time of the pause will be announced within the next 24 hours and last for four days, subject to extension," the...

Amman, Jordan-- Jordan and Lebanon have called for the speeding up of international efforts to stop the war on Gaza and prevent a spillover of the conflict in the region.The exhortation to halt the destruction of life and property in the besieged enclave of the Gaza Strip came in a...

Describing the entry of a few dozens trucks of humanitarian aid into Gaza from Egypt as "not enough", EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that it was important to send in the basic things that make water and electricity supply being restored. He made the comments ahead of a...

SIDON, LEBANON - Palestinian fighters agreed a new ceasefire on Thursday after more than a week of deadly violence in Lebanon's largest refugee camp, two Palestinian officials told AFP.At least 17 people have been killed and around 100 wounded in the fighting in Ain al-Helweh refugee camp, on the outskirts of...

Fighting raged from Monday night between the influential 444 Brigade and the Al-Radaa, two of the myriad of militias that have vied for power since the 2011 overthrow of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi. In August last year, 32 people were killed in Tripoli in battles between divided Libya's two rival...

"The United States is committed to supporting a resolution to the Yemen conflict as soon as possible. We are working closely with the UN, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, and other partners to build on the UN-mediated truce, which has delivered the longest period of calm since the war began, and...

Although many ceasefires have been broken, yet the twenty-four truce is seen as a chance to give the people of Sudan a brief respite from the ongoing civil war. Saudi and US mediators have warned that failure to observe the ceasefire would force facilitators to consider adjourning talks in Jeddah.

The mediators of the talks in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah have acknowledged repeated violations of the truce by both sides but have so far held off imposing any sanctions in the hope of keeping the warring parties at the negotiating table. The army walked out "because the rebels...

The Egypt-brokered ceasefire began in and around the Gaza Strip on Saturday after five days of violence that has killed at least 34 Palestinians. But just before it came into effect, many rockets were fired from Gaza toward Israel, prompting renewed air strikes. Taking advantage of the ceasefire, hundreds came...

Israeli air strikes battered Gaza and militants fired rockets again as deadly fighting resumed after a night of relative calm, despite efforts to secure a truce. A new ceasefire proposal was circulated by Egypt, which has been mediating between the two sides, after a previous bid fell through, a Palestinian...

Heavy fighting in Sudan has displaced 700,000 people within the country since the middle of April, the United Nations said, adding the figure had doubled in a week. Sudan was thrown into chaos when fighting broke out on April 15 between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Daglo,...

Houthi political leader Mohamed Ali al-Houthi said the talks were conducted in a "positive atmosphere", with plans for another round. On Saturday, before the Saudi visit, a Yemeni government source said the Saudis and Houthis had agreed in principle on a six-month truce to pave the way for three months...

The Saudi ambassador's visit seeks to support the prisoner exchange and also to explore venues of dialogue to reach "a sustainable, comprehensive political solution."

TEHRAN, IRAN - Iran on Wednesday welcomed a US call to help end the long-running conflict in Yemen by backing a peace process, one year after a United Nations-brokered truce dramatically reduced fighting.Diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict have multiplied since the Yemeni government's main foreign backer Saudi Arabia signed a Chinese-brokered...

Despite recent health problems, Ghali, who has held the position since 2016, had been widely expected to get re-elected as he retained the support of the Polisario's main foreign backer Algeria. Ghali developed a serious case of Covid in April 2021, for which he received treatment in Spain, triggering a...

The conflict erupted in 2014 when the Huthis seized the capital Sanaa, prompting the Saudi-led coalition to intervene the following year to prop up the internationally recognised government. Hundreds of thousands of people have died as a direct or indirect result of the conflict, according to the United Nations, which...

The United Nations envoy Hans Grundberg said efforts to extend and expand the ceasefire for a further six months had not been successful. "The UN special envoy regrets that an agreement has not been reached today, as an extended and expanded truce would provide additional critical benefits to the population,"...

A day before the UN-mediated truce is to expire, Houthi rebels have warned that the ceasefire in Yemen is at "a dead end". The temporary ceasefire that took effect in April has allowed for some humanitarian measures as the warring sides have by and large adhered to the truce.

Diplomats at the UN Security Council have expressed concern at the situation in Gaza despite the tenuous truce between Islamic Jihad and Israel after three days of deadly fighting. Russian ambassador stressed the council is "deeply concern by this turn of events, which could lead to the resumption of a...

Yemen has been gripped by conflict since the Iran-backed Houthi rebels took control of the capital Sanaa in 2014, triggering a Saudi-led military intervention in support of the beleaguered government the following year. But a truce came into effect on April 2 and was renewed from June 4, providing a...

The pan-Arab legislature expressed its hope that the humanitarian truce would contribute to ending the war.

The United Nations special envoy to Yemen called on rebel Houthis on Tuesday to agree to reopen roads into the besieged city of Taez in the southwest of the war-torn country, during a meeting of the UN Security Council.

Aid agencies and Western governments had urged the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels to extend the truce, which went into effect in April and significantly reduced the intensity of fighting in a conflict the UN says has triggered the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

The United States warned Tuesday that talks on Yemen's two-month truce were in "trouble" as it pushed for an extension to help support millions at risk. Talks to extend the pause in fighting "haven't ended yet but seem to be in a bit of trouble," said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US...

The first commercial flight in nearly six years took off from Yemen's rebel-held capital on Monday, a major step forward in a peace process that has provided rare relief from conflict. The Yemenia plane carrying 126 passengers, including hospital patients needing treatment abroad and their relatives, took off from Sanaa...

Two fuel ships have entered war-torn Yemen's port of Hodeida, the first shipment in months, the rebels who control the city said Monday, after a UN-brokered truce went into effect.

A UN-brokered two-month truce took effect in Yemen Saturday, the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and analysts hope for a rare respite in the impoverished country's seven-year war.

The UAE has expressed its "support" for the UN ceasefire, which was also welcomed by the US, UN chief Antonio Guterres, the European Union, and the leaders of Britain, France, and Iraq.

Clashes between the two sides since late July have marked the biggest challenge yet to the Russian-brokered deal that returned the southern province to government control