Israel-Hamas (Gaza) War

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Gaza ceasefire tested as Israel and Hamas exchange fire and blame

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Israeli army launched a barrage of attacks in Gaza on Tuesday as tensions with Hamas grew two weeks into a fragile ceasefire, and the militant group responded by saying it would delay handing over the body of a hostage. At least seven Palestinians were killed, health officials said.

https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-west-bank-hamas-gaza-82b5b46cdbddd690dd28b7a8674d40d4?

Israel’s military says ceasefire is back on as death toll from Gaza strikes reaches 104

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel’s military said Wednesday that the ceasefire was back on in Gaza after it carried out heavy airstrikes overnight across the Palestinian territory that killed 104 people, including 66 women and children, according to local health officials.

https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-west-bank-hamas-gaza-445eea84db9c19600b9ab92786b7fb7c?

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Peace deal in jeopardy

Palestinians try to clear the remains of buildings destroyed by Israeli attacks in Khan Yunis, Gaza, today. Photo: Mohammed Eslayeh/Anadolu via Getty Images The deal to end the war in Gaza was easily the biggest diplomatic achievement of President Trump's second term. It's now looking incredibly fragile, Axios' Barak Ravid writes. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today ordered "powerful strikes in the Gaza Strip immediately," in retaliation for what Israeli officials say was a Hamas attack on Israeli forces in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza. ⚡️ Between the lines: Before the Rafah incident, Netanyahu had already consulted with Israel's military leaders about taking new military action in Gaza, citing delays in the return of deceased hostages. The Trump administration has been focusing over the last several weeks on stabilizing the ceasefire and pressing both parties to avoid steps that could detonate it. As part of that mission, the White House sent several top officials to Israel and established a U.S. command center there to monitor the situation on the ground. But a deepening dispute over the return of deceased hostages by Hamas, and today's firefight in Rafah, intensified calls in Israel for military action. ? The strikes Netanyahu ordered could rupture the ceasefire altogether. Go deeper.

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Middle East

Less than three weeks after the Gaza ceasefire took effect, Israel unleashed a barrage of strikes on the enclave after accusing Hamas of violating the truce. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the military to carry out "powerful strikes" on Tuesday, saying Hamas had killed an Israeli soldier and staged the discovery of a deceased hostage. The strikes killed at least 104 people, hospital officials in Gaza said, marking the deadliest day since the beginning of the ceasefire championed by President Trump. Under the deal, Hamas was required to release all Israeli hostages — both living and dead — but has returned only 15 of the 28 bodies that remained in Gaza.   Israel’s military says ceasefire is back on as death toll from overnight strikes in Gaza reaches 104 Israel’s military said Wednesday that the ceasefire was back on in Gaza after it carried out heavy airstrikes overnight across the Palestinian territory that killed 104 people, including 46 children, according to local health officials. Read more. What to know: The strikes — the deadliest since the ceasefire was enacted on Oct. 10 — marked the most serious challenge to the tenuous truce to date. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to conduct “powerful strikes” over Gaza after accusing Hamas of violating the ceasefire. Hamas said in response that it would delay handing over the body of another hostage.   U.S. President Donald Trump, currently on a trip to Asia, defended the strikes, saying Israel was justified in carrying them out after what he said was an incident in which Hamas killed an Israeli soldier during an exchange of gunfire in Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza. Hamas denied any involvement in that deadly shooting and in turn accused Israel of violating the ceasefire deal. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Slow release of hostage bodies threatens Gaza ceasefire and deepens families’ heartbreak   WATCH: Egyptian teams and machinery keep working in Gaza searching for remains of hostages   WATCH: Israel has erected nearly 1,000 barriers in the occupied West Bank, AP explains

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⚡ Scoop: U.S. pushes to finalize Gaza force

Hamas fighters during the exchange of hostage remains in Gaza City earlier this month. Photo: Saeed M. M. T. Jaras/Anadolu via Getty U.S. officials have been holding sensitive conversations with a range of countries about establishing an international force to deploy to Gaza and intend to present a plan in the next few weeks, three sources intimately involved in that process tell Axios' Barak Ravid. Why it matters: The breakdown in the ceasefire on Tuesday underscored just how fragile the peace is. But the International Stabilization Force (ISF) envisioned in President Trump's plan raises politically explosive questions for Israel, Hamas and the countries considering sending troops. U.S. Central Command is taking the lead in drafting a plan for the force, a U.S. official said. It involves a new Palestinian police force — to be trained and vetted by the U.S., Egypt, and Jordan — alongside troops from Arab and Muslim countries. "If we don't have reliable security and governance in Gaza that the Israelis agree to, we will get stuck in a situation where Israel is attacking all the time," a source involved in planning said. U.S. officials are desperate to avoid a resumption of the war, and see the ISF as a key part of the puzzle — but not one that can be rushed. "It is better to move slow and get it right because we are not gonna have a second chance," a senior U.S. official told Axios. ? Friction point: Few countries are prepared to send their troops to fight Hamas or get caught in the crossfire between Hamas and rival groups, not to mention Hamas and Israel. Keep reading.

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Palestinian militants hand over 2 sets of remains of hostages to Red Cross in Gaza

Israel’s military said Thursday that Palestinian militants handed over remains of two hostages, in the latest indication that the fragile ceasefire agreement is moving forward despite Israeli strikes on Gaza this week. Read more.

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Israel has erected nearly 1,000 barriers in the West Bank during the war in Gaza, group says Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews protest military draft in Jerusalem Israeli raid in southern Lebanon kills municipal employee, sparking protests

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Unidentified remains of 3 people transferred to Israel, Red Cross says

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Red Cross said it transferred the unidentified remains of three people to Israel late Friday but they were still being examined and may not be those of missing hostages, an Israeli military official said.

https://apnews.com/article/gaza-hostages-palestinians-mideast-wars-israel-97f237aef3e6d6ce327838d5eab130bc?

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We Asked People in Gaza What They Think of the Ceasefire: “Just a Declaration, Not Reality”

Even though Israeli airstrikes killed at least 109 people in Gaza on Tuesday — most of them civilians, 46 of them children — U.S. President Donald Trump, the self-proclaimed deliverer of “Peace in the Middle East,” maintains that the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas still holds.

https://theintercept.com/2025/10/30/gaza-ceasefire-israel-bombing-airstrike/?

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Israel hands over bodies of 45 Palestinians after Hamas returns the remains of 3 soldiers

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel handed over the bodies of 45 Palestinians on Monday, the Red Cross said, a day after militants returned the remains of three hostages. Israeli officials identified the three as soldiers who were killed in the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that triggered the war in Gaza.

https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-hostages-gaza-5b6743d9791fcc271eb65b39e192726f?

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Israel says Hamas hands over additional remains believed to be of a hostage

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Israeli military said Wednesday that Hamas has handed over remains believed to be of a deceased hostage to the Red Cross in Gaza, the latest step forward under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire.

https://apnews.com/article/mideast-wars-gaza-israel-3c7c6fb8649b5a4dfce91114d209b09d?

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Gaza death toll tops 69,000 as Israel and militants again exchange remains

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — More than 69,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war so far, Gaza health officials said Saturday, as both sides completed the latest exchange of bodies under the terms of the tenuous ceasefire.

https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-gaza-netanyahu-ceasefire-hostage-d262329a0122ab65dc27787c4b43159c?

Israel confirms receiving the remains of a soldier killed in Gaza in 2014

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel on Sunday confirmed it had received the remains of Hadar Goldin, a soldier killed in the Gaza Strip in 2014, closing a painful chapter for the country.

https://apnews.com/article/mideast-wars-israel-hamas-gaza-news-11-09-2025-54a4f07644bb15621950a23187a8c758?

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Israel’s longest war is leaving a trail of traumatized soldiers, with suicides also on the rise

Israel’s longest war is leaving a trail of traumatized soldiers in its wake. Psychologists, soldiers and their families say there are a growing number of fighters suffering from mental illness after two years of conflict with Hamas, with reports of post-traumatic stress disorder and suicides among soldiers increasing. They say the unprecedented nature of this war, its length and intensity, haven’t allowed soldiers to properly heal, which could have long-term consequences for the country. Read more.

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Dozens of Gaza Medical Workers Are Still Disappeared in Israeli Detention

“I felt genuinely happy for a few hours, from the depths of my heart, for the first time in two whole years,” said Maha Wafi.

https://theintercept.com/2025/11/10/gaza-doctors-disappeared-israeli-prison/?

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US military planning for divided Gaza with ‘green zone’ secured by international and Israeli troops

The US is planning for the long-term division of Gaza into a “green zone” under Israeli and international military control, where reconstruction would start, and a “red zone” to be left in ruins.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/14/us-military-plan-divided-gaza-green-zone?

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Gazans Reflect on Surviving to See a Ceasefire: “Sometimes We Envy the Martyrs”

For Gaza’s 2 million survivors, the word “ceasefire” no longer sounds like peace; it sounds like a trick of language, another fragile pause between massacres. After two years of genocide that erased entire families, neighborhoods, and futures, many in Gaza met this fragile truce not with celebration but disbelief, exhaustion, and fear. One Palestinian described the current moment as a “pause between two pains”: the horror they lived through and the uncertainty that has followed.

https://theintercept.com/2025/11/14/gaza-ceasefire-survivors-israeli-prison/?

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Palestinian deaths in Israeli custody have surged. A prison guard describes rampant abuse

The number of Palestinians dying in Israeli custody surged to nearly 100 people since the start of the war in Gaza, according to a report published Monday by a human rights group that says systematic violence and denial of medical care at prisons and detention centers contributed to many of the deaths it examined. Israel’s Prison Service said it operates in accordance with the law. It declined to comment on the death count and directed any inquiries to Israel’s army. Read more.

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Death toll reaches 33 in some of the deadliest Israeli strikes in Gaza since the ceasefire’s start

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza (AP) — Israeli strikes in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis early Thursday killed five people, hospital officials said, bringing the death toll from airstrikes in the Palestinian territory over a roughly 12-hour period to 33, mostly women and children. The strikes have been some of the deadliest since Oct. 10 when a U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect.

https://apnews.com/article/mideast-wars-gaza-07ff40fa5efeed4a944050fec55b279b?

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At least 24 killed, 54 injured in Israeli strikes in Gaza, testing ceasefire, officials say

Israel’s military on Saturday launched airstrikes in the Gaza Strip that killed at least 24 people and wounded 54, including children, health officials there say, in the latest test of the six-week-old ceasefire.

https://www.newsbreak.com/news/4361764673039-at-least-24-killed-54-injured-in-israeli-strikes-in-gaza-testing-ceasefire-officials-say?

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Gaza ceasefire

Concerns are growing over the stability of the Gaza ceasefire as a new surge in violence threatens to unravel the US-brokered agreement. Qatar, one of the countries that helped mediate the truce, has accused Israel of violating the deal, saying its attacks are making the enclave "unliveable." Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 32 Palestinians from Wednesday into Thursday, with more than 80 others wounded, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Israeli forces said they carried out the strikes on Hamas targets after "several terrorists" fired on Israeli soldiers operating in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. It marked the third major escalation since the ceasefire took effect in October, each triggered by an attack on Israeli forces.

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Israel launches strikes in Gaza ceasefire’s latest test as hospitals say 24 killed

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel’s military on Saturday launched airstrikes against Hamas militants in Gaza in the latest test of the ceasefire that began on Oct. 10, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said five senior Hamas members were killed. Health officials in Gaza reported at least 24 people killed and another 54 wounded, including children.

https://apnews.com/article/gaza-israel-palestinians-hamas-war-news-535e21d36eea41fb9bba645ee7db014c?

ps:What ceasefire? It seems like this has been going on for at least a couple weeks??

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Israel says it has received another set of human remains from militants in Gaza

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel on Tuesday said it received human remains turned over by Palestinian militants and forensic experts were trying to determine if they belonged to one of the three remaining hostages held in Gaza.

https://apnews.com/article/gaza-israel-hostage-body-ceasefire-rains-f97bdf2d6212b766e1aa3359f3a33004?

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Israel to reopen a key border crossing to Gaza While announcing its plans to reopen the Rafah border crossing, Israel said the partial remains returned by Hamas militants did not match those of the Israeli hostages remaining in Gaza. Read more.

What to know: The missing remains of two hostages threaten to stall a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in its first phase. But by promising to open the Rafah crossing, Israel showed it was moving ahead with parts of the U.S.-backed plan.   The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said forensic testing showed the remains returned Tuesday did not match either of the bodies of the two hostages, Israeli Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak.   The statement about opening Rafah said Israel would coordinate with Egypt on the exit of Palestinians, under the supervision of a mission from the European Union. Those wishing to leave Gaza will require “Israeli security approval,” the statement said.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ What to know about the 2 hostages whose remains are still in Gaza   Mass wedding in Gaza celebrates new life after years of war and tragedy

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ID of Thai hostage’s remains leaves 1 hostage in Gaza Remains that militants in Gaza handed to Israel as part of the first phase of the ceasefire deal were those of a Thai agricultural worker, Israeli and Thai officials said Thursday. The return of Sudthisak Rinthalak’s remains leaves just one more hostage to be returned under the agreement. Read more.

What to know: Sudthisak was an agricultural worker who had been employed at Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the hardest-hit communities in the attack. Israeli officials said the 42-year-old Thai was killed on Oct. 7, 2023 during the Hamas-led attack in Israel that triggered the Israel-Hamas war.   Israeli Ran Gvili is now the last hostage whose remains have yet to be returned. Gvili was an Israeli police officer who helped people escape from the Nova music festival during the Oct. 7 attack and was killed fighting at another location.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Israel launches airstrike in southern Gaza after earlier attack by militants wounded 5 soldiers   Lebanon ‘far from’ diplomatic normalization or economic relations with Israel, prime minister says

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A single hostage's remains in Gaza after identification of Thai worker's remains Israeli and Thai officials say remains that militants in Gaza handed to Israel were those of a Thai agricultural worker killed during the 2023 attack that started the war. The return of Sudthisak Rinthalak’s remains leaves remains of a single hostage, Israeli Ran Gvili, to be returned in the first phase of the ceasefire deal. Read more.

Key points: The subsequent phases under a U.S.-drafted, U.N.-backed plan for Gaza remain deeply uncertain. There has been no word on how provisions for Hamas’ disarmament will be carried out, or how a planned international security force will be established.   Sudthisak had been employed at Kibbutz Be’eri in southern Israel. Thais make up a large part of Israel’s agricultural workforce. They were the largest group of foreigners taken captive by militants in the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack.   Israeli Ran Gvili is now the last hostage whose remains have yet to be returned. Gvili was an Israeli police officer killed at Kibbutz Alumim as he fought to protect residents and save Israelis fleeing gunmen at the nearby Nova music festival.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ The last hostage in Gaza was captured while fighting to save a kibbutz  At least 4 countries pull out of 2026 Eurovision contest as Israel’s participation sows discord What Israel’s plan to reopen the Rafah border crossing means for Palestinians in Gaza

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Israeli army takes journalists into a tunnel in a Gaza city it seized and largely flattened

On Monday, Israel’s military took journalists into Rafah — the city at Gaza’s southernmost point that troops seized last year and largely flattened — as the 2-month-old Israel-Hamas ceasefire reaches a critical point. Israel has banned international journalists from entering Gaza since the war began more than two years ago, except for rare, brief visits supervised by the military, such as this one. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

WATCH: AP journalist reports during Israel military tour of Rafah Hamas calls for more international pressure on Israel before ceasefire’s next phase

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Israel says it has killed a top Hamas commander in Gaza

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel on Saturday said it killed a top Hamas commander in Gaza after an explosive device detonated and wounded two soldiers in the territory’s south.

https://apnews.com/article/gaza-israel-palestinians-hamas-war-618c7499c626af446d23788d237a85bf?