Middle East
Latest stories
Israel spy chief to discuss Gaza truce with Qatar PM

Israel's intelligence chief, Qatar's prime minister and Egyptian officials are expected to hold talks in Doha Monday on a potential Gaza truce and hostage exchange deal, a source with knowledge of the talks told AFP.

The meeting between Mossad chief David Barnea, Qatar PM Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and Egyptian officials "is expected to take place today", the source said on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of talks.

W140 Full Story
Israel launches another raid on Gaza's Shifa Hospital

Israeli forces launched another raid on the Gaza Strip's largest hospital early Monday, saying Hamas militants had regrouped there and had fired on them from inside the compound, where Palestinian officials say tens of thousands of people were sheltering.

The army last raided Shifa Hospital in November after claiming that Hamas maintained an elaborate command center within and beneath the facility. The military revealed a tunnel leading to a bunker, as well as weapons it said were found inside the hospital, but the evidence fell short of the earlier claims, and critics accused the army of recklessly endangering the lives of civilians.

W140 Full Story
Deadly strikes hit Gaza as Israel mulls truce talks position

At least 61 Palestinians were killed in overnight Israeli bombardment, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Sunday, as Israel was preparing to send negotiators to new truce talks in Qatar.

Israel's security cabinet and the smaller war cabinet were to meet to "decide on the mandate of the delegation in charge of the negotiations before its departure for Doha," the prime minister's office said.

W140 Full Story
Israel strikes several sites in Syria

Israeli airstrikes hit several sites in southern Syria early Sunday wounding a soldier, Syrian state media reported.

State news agency SANA, citing an unnamed military official, said air defenses shot down some of the missiles, which came from the direction of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights at around 12:42 a.m. local time. The strikes led to "material losses" and the wounding of a soldier, the statement said.

W140 Full Story
First aid boat unloads in Gaza as Hamas proposes new truce

A first aid ship plying a new maritime corridor from Cyprus began unloading its cargo of desperately needed food in Gaza on Friday as Hamas proposed a new six-week truce in the war.

W140 Full Story
All cargo offloaded from first aid ship to reach Gaza

A U.S. charity said Saturday its team in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip had finished unloading the first maritime aid shipment to reach the besieged territory.

"All cargo was offloaded and is being readied for distribution in Gaza," World Central Kitchen said in a statement, noting that the aid was "almost 200 tons of food."

W140 Full Story
Biden backs Schumer after senator calls for new elections in Israel

President Joe Biden expressed support Friday for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer after the senator called for new elections in Israel, the latest sign that the U.S. relationship with its closest Middle East ally is careening toward fracture over the war in Gaza.

Schumer, a Jewish Democrat from New York, sent tremors through both countries this week when he said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has "lost his way" and warned that "Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah" as the Palestinian death toll continues to grow.

W140 Full Story
Hamas proposes new six-week Gaza truce, hostage-prisoner exchange

Hamas has proposed a new six-week truce in Gaza and an exchange of several dozen Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, an official from the militant group told AFP on Friday.

"The agreement is for a six-week ceasefire and a prisoner exchange," the official said after weeks of so far fruitless mediation efforts, adding that the group would want this to lead to "a complete (Israeli) withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and a permanent ceasefire".

W140 Full Story
Spanish aid vessel visible off Gaza coast

A ship carrying 200 tons of aid approached the coast of Gaza on Friday in a mission to inaugurate a sea route from Cyprus that was intended to bring more assistance to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the enclave five months into the war between Israel and Hamas.

The ship, manned by the Spanish aid group Open Arms, left Cyprus on Tuesday towing a barge laden with food sent by World Central Kitchen, the charity founded by celebrity chef José Andrés. It could be seen off Gaza's coast Friday morning.

W140 Full Story
Missile hits ship off Yemen as rebels threaten wider campaign

A suspected attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels struck a ship in the Red Sea early Friday, causing damage to the vessel, authorities said.

The attack off the port city of Hodeida comes as part of the rebels' campaign against shipping over Israel's ongoing war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

W140 Full Story