[🇧🇩] Israel and Hamas war in Gaza-----Can Bangladesh be a peace broker?

[Saif]

Israeli strike kills eight in Khan Yunis

Gaza’s civil defence on Sunday reported eight deaths, including four young children, in an Israeli air strike on tents housing displaced people in the southern city of Khan Yunis...

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Israeli strike kills eight in Khan Yunis
Agence France-Presse . Gaza City 12 May, 2025, 00:00

Gaza’s civil defence on Sunday reported eight deaths, including four young children, in an Israeli air strike on tents housing displaced people in the southern city of Khan Yunis.

Israeli fighter jets targeted three tents housing dozens of displaced people overnight, killing ‘eight people, including four children aged two to five and two women’, civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said.

The Israeli military, which resumed its offensive in Gaza on March 18 after a two-month truce, did not immediately comment on the strike.

Video filmed by AFP shows rescuers in the dark evacuating bodies by ambulance, one of them in a white plastic body bag while the other was wrapped in a blanket, as well as a wounded baby.

Bassal said the Israeli military also destroyed five houses with explosives in the east of Gaza City, in the territory’s north, and fired artillery at the Abassa area east of Khan Yunis, without reporting any casualties.

The war erupted after Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

The Gaza health ministry said on Saturday that at least 2,701 people have been killed since Israel resumed its campaign in Gaza, bringing the overall death toll since the war broke out to 52,810.

Meanwhile, Hamas’s armed wing released a video on Saturday showing two Israeli hostages alive in the Gaza Strip, with one of the two men calling to end the 19-month-long war.

The pair were identified by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group as Elkana Bohbot and Yosef Haim Ohana, who were kidnapped during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war.

The undated three-minute video footage released by Hamas’s Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades shows one of the hostages, 36-year-old Bohbot, visibly weak and lying on the floor wrapped in a blanket.

The second hostage, Ohana, 24, speaks in Hebrew urging the Israeli government to end the war in Gaza and secure the release of all remaining captives — a similar message to statements made by other hostages, likely under duress, in previous videos released by Hamas.

In a statement, Bohbot’s family said that ‘Elkana and Yosef are crying out to be saved. While all the people of Israel hear their calls, a handful of decision-makers refuse to listen,’ echoing criticism of the Israeli government for failing to bring back the hostages.

‘How much more can we bear? How much more can they endure? The fact that they are still there is a disgrace,’ the family said.

Late Saturday, Israeli demonstrators calling for the release of the hostages and an end of the war gathered outside the defence ministry headquarters in the coastal city of Tel Aviv.

AFP images showed some protesters holding pictures of the hostages and placards that read ‘we can save the rest’ and ‘all of them now’.​

 

[Saif]

Gaza war cannot be solved by military means, says German foreign minister in Jerusalem

The conflict in Gaza cannot be solved by military means and a political solution must be found to end the war permanently, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said in Jerusalem on Sunday. "I do not believe that this conflict can be permanently resolved by military means," Wadephul said. "Never

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Gaza war cannot be solved by military means, says German foreign minister in Jerusalem
REUTERS
Published :
May 11, 2025 19:54
Updated :
May 11, 2025 19:54

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul visits the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center, in Jerusalem, May 11, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

The conflict in Gaza cannot be solved by military means and a political solution must be found to end the war permanently, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said in Jerusalem on Sunday.

"I do not believe that this conflict can be permanently resolved by military means," Wadephul said. "Nevertheless, it is urgently necessary that Hamas is disarmed and that it can no longer have military control over Gaza."

He said that Germany would do whatever it takes to guarantee Israel's security, but this does not mean that his country cannot criticise Israel's course of action, adding that this "must not lead to antisemitism."

Hamas' attacks on October 7, 2023 killed 1,200 people and 251 were taken hostage back to Gaza, according to Israel. Israel's campaign has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to Hamas-run health authorities.

"I am not sure whether all of Israel's strategic goals can be achieved in this way (through a military campaign) and whether this will serve Israel's security in the long term," Wadephul said. "That is why we are appealing for a return to serious negotiations on a ceasefire."

Wadephul repeated that the return of hostages is the German government's priority. He also said it was clear that Gaza is part of the Palestinian territory.

"We need a political solution for the reconstruction of Gaza without Hamas," Wadephul said.​

 

[Saif]

Hamas frees US-Israeli hostage

Palestinian group Hamas said its armed wing handed over a US-Israeli hostage held in Gaza since October 2023 on Monday, ahead of a regional visit by US president Donald Trump.

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Hamas frees US-Israeli hostage
Agence France-Presse . Gaza City 12 May, 2025, 22:18

Israelis react after the release of Edan Alexander, an Israeli-US captive in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on May 12, 2025. | AFP photo

Palestinian group Hamas said its armed wing handed over a US-Israeli hostage held in Gaza since October 2023 on Monday, ahead of a regional visit by US president Donald Trump.

‘The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades have just released the Zionist soldier and American citizen Edan Alexander, following contacts with the US administration, as part of the efforts undertaken by mediators to achieve a ceasefire,’ Hamas said in a statement Monday.

A source close to the militant group said Alexander had been handed over to the Red Cross in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis.

It comes a day after Hamas revealed it was engaged in direct talks with Washington towards a ceasefire.

‘We affirm that serious and responsible negotiations yield results in the release of prisoners, while the continuation of aggression prolongs their suffering and may kill them,’ Hamas said in a statement.

‘We urge president Trump’s administration to continue its efforts to end this brutal war,’ it added.

The liberation of Alexander — the last living hostage in Gaza with American citizenship — comes ahead of a visit to the region by Trump, who is due in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

On Monday, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the president ‘for his assistance in the release’ of Alexander, a statement from his office said.

Netanyahu also said he had instructed a negotiating team to head to Qatar on Tuesday to discuss the further release of hostages.

The Israeli prime minister had earlier said that ‘Israel has not committed to a ceasefire of any kind or the release of terrorists but only to a safe corridor that will allow for the release of Edan’.

Negotiations for a possible deal to secure the release of all hostages would continue ‘under fire, during preparations for an intensification of the fighting’, Netanyahu added.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the UN- and NGO-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification warned that Gaza was at ‘critical risk of famine’, with 22 per cent of the population facing an imminent humanitarian ‘catastrophe’ after more than two months of a total aid blockade by Israel.

An Israeli official said earlier on Monday that the military was preparing for the return of Alexander, ‘who will be transferred by a special unit to the initial reception facility in Re’im’ near the Gaza border in southern Israel.

A Hamas source meanwhile said that mediators informed the group that Israel would halt military operations for the handover of the 21-year-old soldier.

The pause offered a much-needed respite for residents of the war-battered territory.

Gaza’s civil defence agency had earlier reported at least 10 killed in an overnight Israeli strike on a school housing displaced people.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the largest grouping of hostages’ relatives in Israel, called for a gathering at the plaza dubbed Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, ahead of Alexander’s release.

‘We must not leave anyone behind!’ the group said in a statement.

After Hamas announced it would release Alexander on Sunday, Trump hailed the ‘monumental news’ in a post on social media, describing it as a ‘good faith gesture’.

‘Hopefully this is the first of those final steps necessary to end this brutal conflict,’ he added.

Egypt and Qatar, who along with the United States have mediated talks between Hamas and Israel, also welcomed the development, describing it in a joint statement as ‘a gesture of goodwill and an encouraging step toward a return to the negotiating table’.

Earlier, two Hamas officials said that talks were on-going in Doha with the United States and reported ‘progress’.

Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, 57 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel ended a two-month ceasefire on March 18, ramping up its bombardment of the territory.

Earlier this month, the Israeli government approved plans to expand its Gaza offensive, with officials talking of retaining a long-term presence there.

Hamas’s 2023 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Monday that at least 2,749 people have been killed since Israel resumed its campaign, bringing the overall death toll since the war broke out to 52,862.​

 

[Saif]

Gaza faces critical risk of famine

A global hunger monitor said yesterday that Gaza’s entire population continues to face a critical risk of famine, while half a million people face starvation.

www.thedailystar.net

Gaza faces critical risk of famine
Says hunger monitor; Israeli strikes kill 15 Palestinians sheltering in a school

Palestinian Red Crescent crews hold a rally yesterday in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, to mark World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day and call for the protection of medical personnel and humanitarian workers in Gaza. Photo: AFP
​

• Half a million people face starvation in Gaza: monitor​
• Hamas will release US-Israeli hostage​
• Israel preparing to step up fighting while talks continue​

A global hunger monitor said yesterday that Gaza's entire population continues to face a critical risk of famine, while half a million people face starvation.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification described the findings as major deterioration since its last assessment in October.

The latest report analysed a period from April 1 to May 10 this year and gave projections of the situation until the end of September, according to a summary of its key findings, reports Al Jazeera online.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian group Hamas said yesterday it will release Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander from Gaza, although Israel's prime minister said there would be no ceasefire and plans for an intensified military campaign would continue.

Fighting will pause to allow for Alexander's safe passage, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, and three Palestinians in Gaza told Reuters early yesterday afternoon that there had been calm since midday, with no sound of drones or warplanes.

Israel was told on Sunday of Hamas' decision to free the last surviving US hostage in Gaza as a goodwill gesture to President Donald Trump.

The release, after four-way talks between Hamas, the United States, Egypt and Qatar, could open the way to freeing the remaining 59 hostages held in the Gaza Strip.

But Netanyahu said Israel had agreed only to allow safe passage for Alexander, and its forces would continue recently announced preparations to step up operations there.

"Israel has not committed to a ceasefire of any kind," his office said, adding that military pressure had forced Hamas into the release. "The negotiations will continue under fire, during preparations for an intensification of the fighting."

Palestinians children push to receive a ration of hot food from a charity kitchen set up at the Islamic University campus in Gaza City yesterday. Photo: AFP

Israeli jets continued to pound Gaza before the expected release, killing at least 15 people sheltering in a school housing displaced families in Jabalia in the north of the enclave, local health authorities said.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the report.

On Sunday, Hamas said it had been talking to the US and had agreed to release Alexander. Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt called it an encouraging step towards a return to ceasefire talks.

Trump is due to visit Gulf states on a trip that does not include a stop in Israel but special envoy Steve Witkoff, who helped arrange the release, was expected in Israel yesterday, two Israeli officials said.

Alexander's family thanked Trump and Witkoff, saying in a statement that they hoped the decision would open the way for the release of the other remaining hostages.​

 

[Saif]

undefined | The Financial Express

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Israel intensifies Gaza bombardment as Trump visits Gulf
REUTERS
Published :
May 14, 2025 17:51
Updated :
May 14, 2025 17:51

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, May 14, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, May 14, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Israeli military strikes killed at least 70 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, local health authorities said, in an intensification of the bombardment as US President Donald Trump visits the Middle East.

Medics said most of the dead, including women and children, were killed in a barrage of Israeli airstrikes that targeted houses in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza.

"Some victims are still on the road and under the rubble where rescue and civil emergency teams can't reach (them)," the health ministry statement said.

Israel's military had no immediate comment. It said it was trying to verify the reports.

Israeli press reports on Wednesday cited security officials as saying they believed Hamas military leader Mohammad Sinwar and other senior officials had been killed in a strike on Tuesday on what the Israeli military described as a command and control bunker under the European Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

There was no confirmation by the Israeli military or Hamas. On Wednesday, witnesses and medics said an Israeli airstrike hit a bulldozer that approached the area of the strike at the European Hospital, wounding several people.

Late on Tuesday, Islamic Jihad, an Iranian-backed militant group allied with Hamas, fired rockets from Gaza towards Israel. Shortly before the Israeli retaliatory strikes, Israel's military issued evacuation orders to residents in the area of Jabalia and nearby Beit Lahiya.

TRUMP VISIT

Palestinians hope Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will provide pressure for a reduction of violence. Hamas on Monday released Edan Alexander, the last known living American hostage it had been holding.

Trump said in Riyadh on Tuesday that more hostages would follow Alexander and that the people of Gaza deserved a better future. He is not visiting Israel during his Middle East trip.

Ceasefire efforts have faltered, with Hamas and Israel trading blame. Hamas talked to the United States and Egyptian and Qatari mediators to arrange Alexander's release, and Israel has sent a team to Doha to begin a new round of talks.

On Tuesday, Trump's special envoys Steve Witkoff and Adam Boehler met hostage families in Tel Aviv and said they could now see a better chance of an agreement for the hostages' release following the deal over Alexander.

The US has also presented a plan to reopen humanitarian aid deliveries in Gaza using private contractors. Israel, which imposed a total blockade of supplies going into Gaza from March 2, has endorsed the plan. It has been rejected by the United Nations and international aid agencies, and details, including funding and donors, remain unclear.

Israel invaded Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack on southern Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken as hostages to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's military campaign has killed more than 52,900 Palestinians, according to local health officials. It has left the small coastal enclave on the brink of famine, according to aid groups and international agencies.​