U.S. President Donald J. Trump issued a stark warning to Hamas on Monday, saying any violation of the Gaza ceasefire “would be taken care of quickly,” as the U.S. continues efforts to stabilize the fragile truce.
Hamas has refused to commit to disarming under U.S. and Israeli ceasefire terms, even as reports and footage emerge of the terrorist group executing dozens of Palestinians in Gaza accused of opposing its rule.
All 20 living Israeli hostages freed by Hamas on Monday have been transferred to hospitals in central Israel aboard Israeli Air Force helicopters, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed. The final helicopters departed from the Re’im base near Gaza carrying released captives including Matan Zangauker, Maxim Herkin, Segev Kalfon, Avinatan Or, Evyatar David, Eitan Horn, and brothers David and Ariel Cunio.
Hamas has launched a bloody campaign to reassert control over the Gaza Strip, killing more than 30 people in recent days as the group seeks to stamp out rival factions and reestablish dominance following a fragile ceasefire.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged U.S. President Donald J. Trump to maintain pressure on Russia to reach a ceasefire deal, similar to the one Trump helped broker between Israel and Hamas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet early Friday approved a U.S.-brokered ceasefire framework that aims to end active hostilities in Gaza and secure the release of all remaining Israeli hostages, despite unified opposition from far-right coalition partners.
U.S. President Donald J. Trump confirmed Thursday that he will visit Israel to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and deliver a major address to the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, amid rising hopes that his proposed ceasefire plan could end the devastating war with Hamas and bring peace to the Jewish nation and the region.
Hamas declared the end of more than two years of war between Israel and the Islamist group after both sides signed a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal aimed at establishing a permanent halt to hostilities in Gaza.
A tense ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began in the Gaza Strip early Friday ahead of a long-anticipated release of hostages.
On Thursday, Hezbollah unleashed a substantial rocket barrage on northern Israel, marking one of the most extensive attacks from Lebanon since October 7, just hours before a ceasefire was to go into effect.
The United States and Saudi Arabia on Sunday issued a joint statement calling for the brokered week-long ceasefire in Sudan to be extended beyond its expiry at 9.45pm local time on Monday, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports.
The US-based Genocide Watch organization has warned that just two years after their war over Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan appear to be heading toward a new round of fighting. In a report published on January 1, Genocide Watch placed Armenia and Azerbaijan on a list of 10 conflicts to watch in 2023.
Church services have begun in Ukraine to mark the first Orthodox Christmas since Russia invaded the country last year. Believers gathered despite violations of an Orthodox Christmas truce announced by Moscow.
Air raid alerts were heard across Ukraine hours after Russia declared a temporary ceasefire along the Ukrainian frontline to mark Orthodox Christmas.
Ukraine on Thursday rejected Russian calls for an Orthodox Christmas cease-fire, the first such truce since war broke out in January.
Turkish police have arrested 47 people over the explosion in central Istanbul that left at least eight people dead and 81 others wounded, police said Monday.
Leaders of the Bishops’ Conferences from Central and Eastern Europe gathered in Hungary’s capital Budapest to discuss a roadmap for peace as war rages in neighboring Ukraine.
Egypt’s ambassador to the United Nations tore into Israel during a Monday speech before the UN Security Council hours after Jerusalem heaped praise on Cairo for mediating a ceasefire with Palestinian Islamic Jihad that ended a three-day escalation in the Gaza Strip.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky was to address the Group of Seven (G7) wealthy nations on Monday after Russian missile strikes on the capital Kyiv and other areas killed at least one person and injured many more.
Hungary’s Parliament approved the new government’s structure Tuesday after re-elected Prime Minister Viktor Orbán warned of “a decade of war” in which the European Union tries to obliterate Christianity.