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

[Saif]

Netanyahu says he wants Israel to take control of all of Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday Israel intends to take military control of all of Gaza, despite intensifying criticism at home and abroad over the devastating almost two-year-old war in the Palestinian enclave. “We intend to,” Netanyahu said in an interview w

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Netanyahu says he wants Israel to take control of all of Gaza

REUTERS
Published :
Aug 07, 2025 21:52
Updated :
Aug 07, 2025 21:52

A Palestinian woman inspects the site of an overnight Israeli strike on a house, in Gaza City August 7, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas/Files

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday Israel intends to take military control of all of Gaza, despite intensifying criticism at home and abroad over the devastating almost two-year-old war in the Palestinian enclave.

“We intend to,” Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News when asked if Israel would take over the entire coastal territory. “We don’t want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter. We don’t want to govern it. We don’t want to be there as a governing body.”

He said that Israel wanted to hand over the territory to Arab forces that would govern it.

Netanyahu made his comments to Fox News before the outcome of a meeting he was due to have on Thursday with a small group of senior ministers to discuss plans for the military to take control of more territory in Gaza.

The security cabinet session follows a meeting this week with the head of the military, which Israeli officials have described as tense, saying the military chief had pushed back on expanding the campaign.

Opinion polls show that most Israelis want the war to end in a deal that would see the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas-led Palestinian militants.

Netanyahu’s government has insisted on total victory over Hamas, which ignited the war with its deadly October 2023 attack on Israel from Gaza.

The idea, pushed especially by far-right ministers in Netanyahu’s coalition, of Israeli forces thrusting into areas they do not already hold in the enclave has generated alarm in Israel.

The mother of one hostage urged people on Thursday to take to the streets to voice their opposition to expanding the campaign.

The Hostages Families Forum, which represents captives held in Gaza, urged military Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir to oppose widening the war and the government to accept a deal that would bring the war to an end and free the remaining hostages.

Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that the military would carry out the government’s decisions until all war objectives were achieved.

Israeli leaders have long insisted that Hamas be disarmed and have no future role in a demilitarised Gaza and that the hostages be freed.

The U.N. has called reports about a possible expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza “deeply alarming” if true.

There are 50 hostages still held in Gaza, of whom Israeli officials believe 20 are alive. Most of those freed so far emerged as a result of diplomatic negotiations. Talks toward a ceasefire that could have seen some more hostages released collapsed in July.

A senior Palestinian official said Hamas had told Arab mediators that an increase in humanitarian aid entering Gaza would lead to a resumption in ceasefire negotiations.

Israeli officials accuse Hamas of seizing aid to hand out to its fighters and to sell in Gazan markets to finance its operations, accusations that the militant group denies.

Videos released last week of two living hostages showed them emaciated and frail, stirring international condemnation.

Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades but now controls only fragmented parts, insists any deal must lead to a permanent end to the war. Israel says the group has no intention of going through with promises to give up power afterwards.

MULTIPLE DISPLACEMENTS

The Israeli military says it controls about 75% of Gaza. Most of Gaza’s population of about 2 million has been displaced multiple times over the past 22 months and aid groups are warning that the enclave’s residents are on the verge of famine.

“Where should we go? We have been displaced and humiliated enough,” said Aya Mohammad, 30, who, after repeated displacement, has returned with her family to their community in Gaza City.

“You know what displacement is? Does the world know? It means your dignity is wiped out, you become a homeless beggar, searching for food, water and medicine,” she told Reuters.

Close to 200 Palestinians have died of starvation in Gaza since the war began, nearly half of them have been children, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Rabeeha Jamal, 65, a mother of six, has remained in her house in Gaza despite warnings in the past from the Israeli military to leave. For now, she said she intends to stay.

“Not until they force us, if the tanks roll in, otherwise, I will not go running in the street to be killed later,” she said, calling for an end to the war. “We don’t have anywhere to go.”

Netanyahu is under intense international pressure to reach a ceasefire agreement, but he also faces internal pressure from within his coalition to continue the war.

Some far-right allies in his government have advocated a full occupation of Gaza and for Israel to re-establish settlements there, two decades after it withdrew.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told reporters Wednesday that he hoped the government would approve the military taking control over the rest of Gaza.

About 1,200 people were killed and 251 hostages taken to Gaza in the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on southern Israeli communities.

More than 61,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s assault on Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry, which said 98 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire across the enclave in the past 24 hours.​

 

[Lulldapull]

Ager ye drama bund kara Iran nay doc........Pitting de hapless Colludz (which Iran backs as human beings worthy of being kept alive) vs the Zionists.........Main Khamenei ko nahi bakhshon ga phir........

This is a beautiful epic Biblical failure of the powerful vs da dalit colludz which Iran is casting out there as a struggle.

Lund lugga diye hain Iranio ne saaray global order k........

Aaaaaaaahahahahhahahahahaaaaaaaaaaa..........

There's a few thousand Sassanid priests still very active within da IRGC........otherwise dis is impossible no?

Muzlim mofo pimps out his daddy at the slightest pretext no?

Actually, he'd play cuck baby watchin his daddy get ass fukked like in porno filumms.

How can anyone trust muzz-Lims?

 

[Saif]

US and UK differ on Gaza but share goal to end crisis, Vance says

Britain and the United States may disagree about how to address the crisis in Gaza but they share a common goal in resolving it, Vice President JD Vance said as he met British Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Friday in southern England. Vance, who has previously criticised Britain and its governin

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

US and UK differ on Gaza but share goal to end crisis, Vance says

REUTERS
Published :
Aug 08, 2025 22:58
Updated :
Aug 08, 2025 22:58

US Vice President JD Vance and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy react as they meet at Chevening House in Sevenoaks, Britain, Aug 8, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/Pool

Britain and the United States may disagree about how to address the crisis in Gaza but they share a common goal in resolving it, Vice President JD Vance said as he met British Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Friday in southern England.

Vance, who has previously criticised Britain and its governing Labour Party, landed with his wife Usha and their three children in London before heading to Chevening, the large country residence used by the British foreign minister in Kent.

The visit comes amid increased attention on Vance's foreign policy views as he emerges as a key figure in President Donald Trump's administration and his possible pick as successor.

Asked about Britain's plan to recognise a Palestinian state, Vance said the US and Britain had a common objective to resolve the crisis in the Middle East, adding: "We may have some disagreements about how exactly to accomplish that goal, and we'll talk about that today."

Vance reiterated that the US had no plans to recognise a Palestinian state, saying he did not know what recognition actually meant, "given the lack of a functional government there".

Britain, by contrast, has taken a harder stance against Israel, declaring its intention to recognise a Palestinian state along with France and Canada to put pressure on Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu over the continuing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Close to Chevening House, a small group of protesters had gathered, some waving Palestinian flags and one holding up a sign showing a meme of Vance. Other protests are also planned during the visit.

Asked by a reporter about Trump's suggestion this week that Vance was his likely heir apparent for the 2028 presidential election, the vice president said his current focus was to do a "good job" for Americans.

"I'm not really focused even on the election in 2026, much less one, two years after that," he said, referring to the midterm election next year.

FISHING TRIP

Earlier on Friday, Vance and Lammy went fishing in the lake behind Chevening House, appearing relaxed in blue button-down shirts and sharing a laugh.

Vance joked to reporters that the "one strain on the special relationship" between Britain and the US was that all his children had caught fish but that the British foreign minister had not.

"Before beginning our bilateral, the Vice President gave me fishing tips, Kentucky style," Lammy said in a post on X.

The pair have developed a warm friendship, bonding over their difficult childhoods and shared Christian faith, according to two officials familiar with the relationship.

"I have to say that I really have become a good friend, and David has become a good friend of mine," Vance told reporters, sitting beside Lammy.

After spending two nights in Chevening with Lammy, the Vances will travel to the Cotswolds, a picturesque area that is a popular retreat for wealthy and influential figures, from footballers and film stars to media and political figures.

Vance has championed an America First foreign policy and once said last year's election victory for Lammy's centre-left Labour Party meant Britain was "maybe" the first "truly Islamist” country with a nuclear weapon.

Lammy once called Trump a "far right extremist" and a "neo-Nazi" but since coming to power has brushed off his remarks as "old news".

Vance's trip will include several official engagements, meetings and visits to cultural sites and a likely meeting with US troops, a source familiar with the planning said.

Trump, who travelled to Scotland for a private visit, is also scheduled for a historic second state visit to Britain next month.​

 

[Saif]

Israeli strike kills 18 in Gaza

Gaza’s civil defence agency said at least 18 people were killed across the Palestinian territory on Saturday, including civilians who were waiting to collect aid.

www.newagebd.net

Israeli strike kills 18 in Gaza
Agence France-Presse . Palestinian Territories 10 August, 2025, 00:01

Palestinians hustle around a humanitarian parcel dropped by a military aircraft in Jabalia in the northern Gaza on Saturday. | AFP photo

Gaza’s civil defence agency said at least 18 people were killed across the Palestinian territory on Saturday, including civilians who were waiting to collect aid.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that at least six people were killed and 30 wounded after Israeli troops targeted civilians assembling near an aid point in central Gaza.

The spokesman said strikes hit areas elsewhere in central Gaza, resulting in multiple casualties.

He later added that a drone attack near the southern city of Khan Yunis killed at least three people and injured several others.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing swathes of the territory mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence and the Israeli military.

Thousands of Palestinians congregate daily near food distribution points in Gaza, including four managed by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Since launching in late May, its operations have been marred by almost-daily reports of Israeli forces firing on those waiting to collect aid.

Israeli restrictions on the entry of supplies into Gaza since the start of the war nearly two years ago have led to shortages of food and essential supplies, including medicine and fuel, which hospitals require to power their generators.

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces mounting pressure to secure a ceasefire to bring the territory’s more than two million people back from the brink of famine and free the hostages held by Palestinian militants.

But early Friday, the Israeli security cabinet approved plans to launch major operations to seize Gaza City, triggering a wave of outrage across the globe.

Despite the backlash and rumours of dissent from Israeli military top brass, Netanyahu has remained defiant over the decision.

In a post on social media late Friday, he said “we are not going to occupy Gaza—we are going to free Gaza from Hamas”.

The Palestinian militant group, whose October 7, 2023 attack triggered the war, has slammed the plan to expand the fighting as a “new war crime”.

Israel’s offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to Hamas-run Gaza’s health ministry, figures the UN says are reliable.

Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.​

 

[Saif]

Netanyahu says new Gaza offensive will start soon

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he expected to complete a new Gaza offensive "fairly quickly", as the UN Security Council heard new demands for an end to suffering in the Palestinian enclave. Netanyahu, speaking after his security cabinet on Friday approved a much-criticis

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Netanyahu says new Gaza offensive will start soon

REUTERS
Published :
Aug 10, 2025 23:43
Updated :
Aug 10, 2025 23:43

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during ‘Christian Conference’ in Jerusalem Jul 27, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he expected to complete a new Gaza offensive "fairly quickly", as the UN Security Council heard new demands for an end to suffering in the Palestinian enclave.

Netanyahu, speaking after his security cabinet on Friday approved a much-criticised plan to take control of Gaza City said he had no choice but to "complete the job" and defeat Hamas to free hostages seized from Israel.

He said the new Gaza offensive aimed to tackle two remaining Hamas strongholds in what he said was his only option because of the Palestinian group's refusal to lay down its arms. Hamas says it will not disarm unless an independent Palestinian state is established.

It was not clear when the offensive, which would be the latest in successive attempts by the Israeli military to clear the militants from Gaza City, would begin.

"The timeline that we set for the action is fairly quickly. We want, first of all, to enable safe zones to be established so the civilian population of Gaza City can move out," he added.

The city, home to a million people before the two-year-old war, would be moved into "safe zones", he said. Palestinians say these have not protected them from Israeli fire in the past.

Israel's military chief has voiced opposition to occupying the entire Gaza Strip and has warned that expanding the offensive could endanger the lives of hostages Hamas is still holding and draw its troops into protracted and deadly guerrilla warfare.

Netanyahu said his goal was not to occupy Gaza. "We want a security belt right next to our border, but we don't want to stay in Gaza. That's not our purpose," he said.

European representatives at the United Nations said famine was unfolding in Gaza and Israel's plan would only make things worse.

"Expanding military operations will only endanger the lives of all civilians in Gaza, including the remaining hostages, and result in further unnecessary suffering," Denmark, France, Greece, Slovenia and the United Kingdom said in a joint statement.

"This is a manmade crisis, and therefore urgent action is needed to halt starvation and to surge aid into Gaza," they said.

Malnutrition is widespread in the enclave due to what international aid agencies say is a deliberate plan by Israel to restrict aid. Israel rejects that allegation, blaming Hamas for the hunger among Palestinians and saying a lot of aid has been distributed.

The US representative at the Security Council defended Netanhayu and said Washington was committed to addressing humanitarian needs, freeing the hostages and achieving peace.

Netanyahu said Israel was working with Washington on creating a surge of aid into Gaza, including by land.

STARVATION

Five more people, including two children, died of malnutrition and starvation in Gaza in the past 24 hours, Gaza's health ministry said, taking the number of deaths from such causes to 217, including 100 children.

The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said a further 23 people had been killed so far in the war by airdrops of aid which countries have resorted to due to the difficulties of getting aid in by road.

In the latest case, a parachuted aid box killed a 14-year-old boy awaiting food with other desperate Palestinians at a tent encampment in central Gaza, according to medics and video verified by Reuters.

"We have repeatedly warned of the dangers of these inhumane methods and have consistently called for the safe and sufficient delivery of aid through land crossings, especially food, infant formula, medicines, and medical supplies," it said.

Italy said Israel should heed its own army's warnings before sending more troops into Gaza, where the Israeli military already holds large parts of the territory.

"The invasion of Gaza risks turning into a Vietnam for Israeli soldiers," Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in an interview with daily Il Messaggero.

The war began on Oct 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel and killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. Israeli authorities say 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in Gaza are alive.

Israel's offensive since then has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to health officials, and left much of the territory in ruins.​

 

[Saif]

https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/world/asia/israel-faces-growing-calls-to-scrap-new-gaza-offensive-plans

Israel faces growing calls to scrap new Gaza offensive plans

REUTERS
Published :
Aug 10, 2025 18:30
Updated :
Aug 10, 2025 18:30

Palestinians carry aid supplies they collected from trucks that entered Gaza through Israel, in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip August 10, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Israel's far-right finance minister has demanded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scrap his plan to seize Gaza City in favour of a tougher one, while Italy said on Sunday the plan could result in a "Vietnam" for Israel's army.

Netanyahu's security cabinet, of which the minister, Bezalel Smotrich, is a member, approved the plan by majority on Friday to expand military operations in the shattered Palestinian enclave to try to defeat militant group Hamas.

The move drew a chorus of condemnation within Israel, where thousands of people protested in Tel Aviv on Saturday calling for an immediate ceasefire and release of hostages held by militant group Hamas, as well as abroad.

The United Nations Security Council was expected to meet later on Sunday to discuss the plan, with many countries expressing concern it could worsen already acute hunger among Palestinians.

Netanyahu was expected to give a news conference for international media in Israel and make a televised announcement later in the day. It was not clear what he would say.

Smotrich said he has lost faith in Netanyahu's ability and desire to lead to a victory over Hamas. The new plan, he said in a video on X late on Saturday, was intended to get Hamas back to ceasefire negotiations.

The prime minister and the cabinet have decided to do "more of the same" he said, referring to the fact that Israeli troops have entered the city before and failed to defeat Hamas.

He and other far-right members of Netanyahu's coalition argue that the plan does not go far enough while the army, which opposes military rule in Gaza, has warned it would endanger remaining hostages held by Hamas as well as Israeli troops.

Smotrich stopped short of delivering a clear ultimatum to Netanyahu.

Other far-right coalition allies of Netanyahu have also pushed for total military occupation of Gaza, the annexation of large swaths of the territory and the removal of much of its Palestinian population.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has made similar calls, told Army Radio on Sunday that the plan to take over Gaza City was a good one, as long as it was a first step.

The Israeli military has warned that expanding the offensive could endanger the lives of hostages Hamas is still holding in Gaza, believed to number around 20, and draw its troops into protracted and deadly guerilla warfare.

Italy said Israel should heed its army's warnings.

"The invasion of Gaza risks turning into a Vietnam for Israeli soldiers," Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in an interview with daily Il Messaggero.

He reiterated calls for a United Nations mission led by Arab countries to "reunify the Palestinian state" and said Italy was ready to participate.

The Security Council is likely to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the prospect of its worsening if the Israeli plan goes ahead but there has so far been little appetite among Arab states to send their troops in.

BOY KILLED BY AIRDROP

Israel has already come under mounting pressure over widespread hunger and thirst in the enclave, prompting it to announce a series of new measures to ease aid distribution.

The Israeli military said on Sunday that the contents of nearly 1,900 aid trucks were distributed last week from the Gaza sides of the Kerem Shalom and Zikim border crossings. A spokesperson was not immediately available to comment on the reported figure but the United Nations has said Gaza needs far more aid to come in.

On Saturday, medics said that a 14-year-old boy was killed by an aid airdrop that fell on a tent encampment in central Gaza. A video, verified by Reuters, that went viral on social media, showed the parachuted aid box falling on the teenager who, among many other desperate Palestinians, was awaiting food.

The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said the new death raised the number of people killed during the airdrops to 23 since the war began, almost two years ago.

"We have repeatedly warned of the dangers of these inhumane methods and have consistently called for the safe and sufficient delivery of aid through land crossings, especially food, infant formula, medicines, and medical supplies," it said.

Five more people, including two children, died of malnutrition and starvation in Gaza in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said, taking the number of deaths from such causes to 217, including 100 children.

The war began on October 7 2023 when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel and killed 1,200 people, and took 251 hostages. Israeli authorities say 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in Gaza are alive.

Israel's offensive in Gaza has since killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to health officials, and left much of the territory in ruins.

Gaza medics said Israeli fire killed at least six Palestinians on Sunday, four of them in an airstrike in Khan Younis and two more people among crowds seeking aid in central Gaza. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the report.​

 

[Saif]

Thousands protest in Tel Aviv against Israeli govt move to expand Gaza war

Authorities did not provide an official estimate for the size of the crowd, though it dwarfed other recent anti-war rallies.

en.prothomalo.com

Thousands protest in Tel Aviv against Israeli govt move to expand Gaza war
AFP Tel Aviv
Published: 10 Aug 2025, 10: 04

A protester confronts a mounted Israeli policeman attempting to disperse people gathered for a demonstration organised by the families of the Israeli hostages taken captive in the Gaza Strip since the October 2023 calling for action to secure their release, by Azrieli Centre outside the Defence Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv on 9 August, 2025 AFP

Thousands took to the streets in Tel Aviv on Saturday to call for an end to the war in Gaza, a day after the Israeli government vowed to expand the conflict and capture Gaza City.

Demonstrators waved signs and held up pictures of hostages still being held in the Palestinian territory as they called on the government to secure their release.

AFP journalists at the rally estimated the number of attendees to be in the tens of thousands, while a group representing the families of hostages said as many as 100,000 people participated.

Authorities did not provide an official estimate for the size of the crowd, though it dwarfed other recent anti-war rallies.

“We will end with a direct message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: if you invade parts of Gaza and the hostages are murdered, we will pursue you in the town squares, in election campaigns and at every time and place,” Shahar Mor Zahiro, the relative of a slain hostage, told AFP.

On Friday, Netanyahu’s security cabinet greenlighted plans for a major operation to seize Gaza City, triggering a wave of domestic and international criticism.

Foreign powers, including some of Israel’s allies, have been pushing for a negotiated ceasefire to secure the hostages’ return and help alleviate a humanitarian crisis in the Strip.

Despite the backlash and rumours of dissent from Israeli military top brass, Netanyahu has remained defiant over the decision.

In a post on social media late Friday, Netanyahu said “we are not going to occupy Gaza—we are going to free Gaza from Hamas”.

The premier has faced regular protests over the course of 22 months of war, with many rallies calling for the government to strike a deal after past truces saw hostages exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody.

Out of 251 hostages captured during Hamas’s 2023 attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the military says are dead.

‘A new crime’

The Palestinian Authority (PA) on Saturday lambasted Israel’s plan to expand its operations in Gaza.

According to a statement carried by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, PA president Mahmud Abbas said the plan “constitutes a new crime”, and stressed “the urgent need to take action to stop it immediately”.

He also emphasised “the importance of enabling the State of Palestine to assume its full responsibilities in the Gaza Strip”.

In the same meeting that approved the Gaza City plan, the security cabinet adopted a set of principles for ending the war in Gaza that included establishing a new “administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority”.

The PA, conceived as a first step towards a Palestinian state, exercises limited administration over parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, but does not have a presence in Hamas-run Gaza.

A statement issued Saturday by the foreign ministers of Italy, Australia, Germany, New Zealand and the United Kingdom again criticised the decision to occupy Gaza City.

“This will exacerbate the catastrophic humanitarian situation, endanger the lives of hostages, and increase the risk of a mass exodus of civilians,” they said.

Russia also condemned the Israeli plan to take control of Gaza City in a statement Saturday.

Implementing such plans “risks worsening the already dramatic situation in the Palestinian enclave, which shows all the signs of a humanitarian disaster”, said a foreign ministry statement.

Gaza’s civil defence agency said at least 37 people were killed by Israeli fire across the territory on Saturday, including 30 civilians who were waiting to collect aid.

Israel’s offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, figures the United Nations says are reliable.

Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel—which triggered the war—resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.​

 

[Saif]

Australia will recognise Palestinian state: PM

Australia will recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Monday.

en.prothomalo.com

Australia will recognise Palestinian state: PM
AFP Sydney
Published: 11 Aug 2025, 09: 58

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks during a press conference in Canberra on 11 August, 2025. Australia will recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on 11 August. AFP

Australia will recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Monday.

"Until Israeli and Palestinian statehood is permanent, peace can only be temporary," he told reporters.

"Australia will recognise the right of the Palestinian people to a state of their own."

Several countries, including France, Britian and Canada, have announced plans to recognise statehood for Palestinians since Israel launched a bombardment of Gaza nearly two years ago in response to the Hamas attacks.

Albanese added that he had received assurances from the Palestinian Authority that there would be "no role for the terrorists of Hamas in any future Palestinian state".

"There is a moment of opportunity here, and Australia will work with the international community to seize it," he said.​

 

[Saif]

Gazans mourn Al Jazeera staff killed by Israel

Gazans gathered on Monday for the funeral of five Al Jazeera staff members and a sixth reporter killed in an Israeli strike, with Israel calling one of them a ‘terrorist’ affiliated with Hamas.

www.newagebd.net

Gazans mourn Al Jazeera staff killed by Israel
Agence France-Presse . Gaza City 12 August, 2025, 00:35

Al Jazeera staff members observe a moment of silence to honour their five colleagues, killed in an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza City, at the networks’ headquarters in Doha on Monday. | AFP photo

Gazans gathered on Monday for the funeral of five Al Jazeera staff members and a sixth reporter killed in an Israeli strike, with Israel calling one of them a ‘terrorist’ affiliated with Hamas.

Dozens stood amid bombed-out buildings in the courtyard of Al-Shifa hospital to pay their respects to Anas al-Sharif, a prominent Al Jazeera correspondent aged 28, and four of his colleagues, killed on Sunday.

A sixth journalist, Mohammed Al-Khaldi who worked as a freelance reporter, was also killed in the strike that targeted the Al Jazeera team, according to the director of Al-Shifa Hospital, Dr Mohammed Abu Salmiya.

Their bodies, wrapped in white shrouds with their faces exposed, were carried through narrow alleys to their graves by mourners including men wearing blue journalists’ flak jackets.

Israel confirmed it had targeted Sharif, whom it labelled a ‘terrorist’ affiliated with Hamas, saying he ‘posed as a journalist’.

Al Jazeera said its employees were hit in a tent set up for journalists outside the main gate of a hospital in Gaza City.

The four other staff members killed were Mohammed Qreiqeh, also a correspondent, and cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa.

‘Anas Al-Sharif served as the head of a terrorist cell in the Hamas terrorist organisation and was responsible for advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF Israeli troops,’ the military said in a statement.

‘The IDF had previously disclosed intelligence information and many documents found in the Gaza Strip, confirming his military affiliation to Hamas,’ it said.

It published a graphic showing what it said was a list of Hamas operatives in northern Gaza, including Sharif’s name, as well as an image of him emblazoned with the word: ‘Eliminated’.

It also published a list it said showed Sharif had been paid $200 by Hamas after an injury, as well as a list it said was a Hamas battalion’s phone directory that included Sharif’s number.

Sharif was one of the channel’s most recognisable faces working on the ground in Gaza, providing daily reports on the now 22-month-old war.

A posthumous message, written in April in case of his death, was published on his account on Monday morning saying he had been silenced and urging people ‘not to forget Gaza’.

According to local journalists who knew him, Sharif had worked at the start of his career with a Hamas communication office, where his role was to publicise events organised by the militant group that has exercised total control over Gaza since 2006.

Following online posts by Israel’s Arabic-language military spokesman Avichay Adraee on Sharif, the Committee to Protect Journalists called in July for his protection, accusing Israel of a ‘pattern’ of labelling journalists militants ‘without providing credible evidence’.

It said the Israeli military had levelled similar accusations against other journalists in Gaza earlier in the war, including other Al Jazeera staff.

‘International law is clear that active combatants are the only justified targets in a war setting, so unless the IDF can demonstrate that Anas al-Sharif was still an active combatant, then there is no justification for his killing,’ Jodie Ginsberg, CPJ’s chief executive, said.

AFP has contacted the Israeli military for comment.

Al Jazeera called the attack that killed Sharif ‘a desperate attempt to silence voices exposing the Israeli occupation’, as it described Sharif as ‘one of Gaza’s bravest journalists’.

It also said it followed ‘repeated incitement and calls by multiple Israeli officials and spokespersons to target the fearless journalist Anas Al Sharif and his colleagues’.

Reporters Without Borders says nearly 200 journalists have been killed in the war so far.

International reporters are prevented from travelling to Gaza by Israel, except on occasional tightly controlled trips with the military.

The strike on the journalists came with criticism mounting over prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to expand the war in the Gaza Strip.

The security cabinet voted last week to conquer the remaining quarter or so of the territory not yet controlled by Israeli troops, including much of Gaza City and Al-Mawasi, the area designated a safe zone by Israel where huge numbers of Palestinians have sought refuge.

The plan, which Israeli media reported had triggered bitter disagreement between the government and military leadership, drew condemnation from protesters in Israel and numerous countries, including Israeli allies.

Notably, the plans caused Germany, a major weapons supplier and staunch ally, to suspend shipments to Israel of any arms that could be used in Gaza.

Australia said it would join a growing list of Western nations in recognising a Palestinian state.

Despite the diplomatic reversals, Netanyahu remained defiant.

‘We will win the war, with or without the support of others,’ he told journalists on Sunday.

The United Nations and humanitarian agencies have condemned the planned expansion.

‘If these plans are implemented, they will likely trigger another calamity in Gaza,’ UN assistant secretary general Miroslav Jenca told the Security Council on Sunday.

UN agencies warned last month that famine was unfolding in the territory, with Israel severely restricting the entry of aid.

Israel’s offensive has killed at least 61,430 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, figures the United Nations says are reliable.

Hamas’s October, 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the war, resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.​

 

[Saif]

Let us in: The world needs uncensored reporting from Gaza now

Despite unbearable conditions, danger, hunger, exhaustion, and grief, Palestinian journalists continue to report with extraordinary courage and professionalism.

www.thedailystar.net

Let us in: The world needs uncensored reporting from Gaza now

The Israeli government has enforced a near-total media blackout, barring independent access to Gaza. FILE PHOTO: REUTERS

This week, over 1,000 journalists, media professionals, and press freedom advocates from more than 60 countries have signed a petition demanding immediate, unrestricted access for foreign journalists to the Gaza Strip. The initiative, titled "Freedom to Report," should not need to exist. In a functioning democracy, access to cover a conflict of this magnitude would be a given. Instead, for 22 months, Gaza has remained closed to international media—a closure without precedent in modern warfare.

Among the signatories are some of the most respected and experienced war correspondents in the world, including Christiane Amanpour (CNN), Jeremy Bowen (BBC), Alex Crawford (Sky News), Lyse Doucet (BBC), and Lindsey Hilsum (Channel 4 News). They represent global news organisations and national outlets from every continent, including many from Belgium, and reflect a growing and urgent consensus: journalists are being systematically blocked from doing their jobs.

The Israeli government has enforced a near-total media blackout, barring independent access to Gaza. Since the war began, over 1,139 people have been killed in Israel, including at least 695 civilians during the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023. By August 2025, more than 61,000 Palestinians have been killed, most of them civilians: children, doctors, humanitarian workers, UN staff. Entire neighbourhoods have been destroyed. Millions displaced. There is credible evidence that famine is being weaponised. Allegations of war crimes continue to mount.

The world cannot rely on press releases, government briefings, or second-hand reports. This demands direct, on-the-ground verification by independent international journalists. Foreign media were eventually granted access to cover the October 7 attacks. Yet Gaza remains sealed. The Israeli government has made its position clear: foreign journalists will not be allowed to report freely from inside the territory.

This has become the deadliest war for journalists ever recorded, with nearly 200 killed, overwhelmingly Palestinian. Despite unbearable conditions, danger, hunger, exhaustion, and grief, Palestinian journalists continue to report with extraordinary courage and professionalism. They are making history. But they should not be alone. Our demand is not to replace them, but to stand with them and to help ensure a diverse, independent, and verifiable record of events.

This is not just a humanitarian blackout. It is an information blackout, one that violates the public's right to know and weakens journalism's core role: to hold power accountable. If this blockade on truth persists, it sends a dangerous signal to governments everywhere: that press freedom can be suspended during war, that censorship and narrative control are acceptable tools of state policy.

We are already witnessing this erosion beyond Gaza, a growing wave of global censorship and repression of the press. Gaza is the most urgent case, but it is not the only one. It represents the sharpest edge of a broader threat: the silencing of journalists, the criminalisation of truth, and the creeping normalisation of secrecy over scrutiny.

If the democratic world is serious about defending press freedom, it cannot look away from Gaza. To defend access in Gaza is to defend access everywhere.

We who have covered wars, who have buried friends and colleagues killed while seeking the truth, do not make this demand lightly. We understand the risks. But war zones are where journalism matters most.

This is not a political act. It is not activism. It is journalism. And it is urgent. Let us in. Now.

André Liohn is a photojournalist and coordinator of Freedom to Report initiative.​

 

[Sharma Ji]

Gretard Bhundberg planning a new publicity stunt, chewtia laundi.

'Global Sumud Flotilla': Greta Thunberg plans second Gaza aid voyage; mission to sail on Aug 31 with 44 countries involved - Times of India

Middle East News: Greta Thunberg announced a second, larger flotilla mission to deliver aid to Gaza, launching from Spain on August 31st with activists from 44 countrie

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

 

[Saif]

Israeli air strikes on Gaza intensifying

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes on Gaza City have intensified in recent days, following prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet approving plans to expand the war there.

www.newagebd.net

Israeli air strikes on Gaza intensifying
Agence France-Presse . Palestinian Territories 13 August, 2025, 01:31

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes on Gaza City have intensified in recent days, following prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet approving plans to expand the war there.

The Israeli government has not provided an exact timetable on when its forces would enter the area, but according to the civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal, air strikes on Gaza City have been increasing for the past three days.

Bassal said the residential neighbourhoods of Zeitoun and Sabra have been hit ‘with very heavy airstrikes targeting civilian homes, possibly including high-rise buildings’.

‘For the third consecutive day, the Israeli occupation is intensifying its bombardment,’ said the spokesman.

‘The Israeli occupation is using all types of weapons in that area — bombs, drones, and also highly explosive munitions that cause massive destruction to civilian homes,’ he added.

Bassal said that at least 24 people had been killed across Gaza on Tuesday, including several casualties caused by strikes on Gaza City.

‘The bombardment has been extremely intense for the past two days. With every strike, the ground shakes. There are martyrs under the rubble that no one can reach because the shelling hasn’t stopped,’ said Majed al-Hosary, a resident in Zeitoun.

Israel has faced mounting criticism over the 22-month-long war with Hamas, with United Nations-backed experts warning of widespread famine unfolding in besieged Gaza.

Netanyahu is under mounting pressure to secure the release of the remaining hostages, as well as over his plans to expand the war, which he has vowed to do with or without the backing of Israel’s allies.

Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the war, resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s offensive has killed at least 61,499 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, whose toll the United Nations considers reliable.

Meanwhile, a senior Hamas delegation was due in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials on efforts by mediators to secure an elusive ceasefire in Gaza, two Palestinian sources said on Tuesday.

Together with Qatar and the United States, Egypt has been involved in mediation between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas that has failed to secure a breakthrough since a short-lived truce earlier this year.

Upon Egypt’s invitation, the Hamas delegation led by the group’s chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya ‘is expected to arrive in Cairo Tuesday or tomorrow morning’, the source said.

The source said the delegation was scheduled to meet Egyptian officials on Wednesday to ‘discuss the latest developments’ in ‘ceasefire negotiations and prisoner exchange’ that would include the release of hostages held in Gaza.

Another Palestinian source familiar with the negotiations confirmed the Cairo meeting was planned, and told AFP that ’mediators are working to formulate a new comprehensive ceasefire agreement proposal.’

Such a proposal could include ‘a 60-day truce followed by negotiations for a long-term ceasefire, and a deal for the exchange of all Israeli captives — both living and deceased — in one batch’, said the source.

Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

Both Israel and Hamas have accused the other side of failing to compromise, and the source said that ‘so far, there is nothing new to be optimistic about, especially as the occupation Israel has repeatedly worked to obstruct any agreement.’​

 

[Saif]

The Elders’ leaders term Gaza situation ‘genocide’

The Elders group of international stateswomen and statesmen for the first time on Tuesday called the situation in Gaza an ‘unfolding genocide’, saying that Israel’s obstruction of aid was causing a ‘famine’.

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The Elders’ leaders term Gaza situation ‘genocide’
Agence France-Presse . London 12 August, 2025, 22:18

A Palestinian man helps a wounded woman flee the site of an Israeli strike west of Gaza City on Tuesday. | AFP photo

The Elders group of international stateswomen and statesmen for the first time on Tuesday called the situation in Gaza an ‘unfolding genocide’, saying that Israel’s obstruction of aid was causing a ‘famine’.

‘Today we express our shock and outrage at Israel’s deliberate obstruction of the entry of life-saving humanitarian aid into Gaza,’ the non-governmental group of public figures, founded by former South Africa president Nelson Mandela in 2007, said in a statement after delegates visited border crossings in Egypt.

‘What we saw and heard underlines our personal conviction that there is not only an unfolding, human-caused famine in Gaza. There is an unfolding genocide,’ it added.

Helen Clark, former prime minister of New Zealand, called on Israel to open the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza so aid could be delivered, after visiting the site.

‘Many new mothers are unable to feed themselves or their newborn babies adequately, and the health system is collapsing,’ she said.

‘All of this threatens the very survival of an entire generation.’

Clark was joined by Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on the visit.

She said that international leaders ‘have the power and the legal obligation to apply measures to pressure this Israeli government to end its atrocity crimes’.

The delegation ‘saw evidence of food and medical aid denied entry, and heard witness accounts of the killing of Palestinian civilians, including children, while trying to access aid inside Gaza,’ said the statement.

They urged Israel and Hamas to agree a ceasefire and for the immediate release of remaining Israeli hostages being held in Gaza.

The London-based group also called for the ‘recognition of the State of Palestine’, but added ‘this will not halt the unfolding genocide and famine in Gaza’.

‘Transfers of arms and weapons components to Israel must be suspended immediately,’ it added, saying prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be sanctioned.

Israel has faced mounting criticism over the 22-month-long war with Hamas, with United Nations-backed experts warning of widespread famine unfolding in besieged Gaza.

Netanyahu is under mounting pressure to secure the release of the remaining hostages, as well as over his plans to expand the war, which he has vowed to do with or without the backing of Israel’s allies.

Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the war, resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s offensive has killed at least 61,499 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, whose toll the UN considers reliable.​

 

[Saif]

Israel pounds Gaza City, 123 dead in last 24 hours

Israel’s military pounded Gaza City on Wednesday prior to a planned takeover, with another 123 people killed in the last day according to the Gaza health ministry, while militant group Hamas held further talks with Egyptian mediators. The 24-hour death toll was the worst in a week and added

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Israel pounds Gaza City, 123 dead in last 24 hours

REUTERS
Published :
Aug 13, 2025 16:53
Updated :
Aug 13, 2025 16:53

Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike in north Gaza, as seen from Israel's border with Gaza, Israel August 12, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Israel’s military pounded Gaza City on Wednesday prior to a planned takeover, with another 123 people killed in the last day according to the Gaza health ministry, while militant group Hamas held further talks with Egyptian mediators.

The 24-hour death toll was the worst in a week and added to the massive fatalities from the nearly two-year war that has shattered the enclave housing more than 2 million Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated an idea - also enthusiastically floated by U.S. President Donald Trump - that Palestinians should simply leave.

“They’re not being pushed out, they’ll be allowed to exit,” he told Israeli television channel i24NEWS. “All those who are concerned for the Palestinians and say they want to help the Palestinians should open their gates and stop lecturing us.”

Arabs and many world leaders are aghast at the idea of displacing the Gaza population, which Palestinians say would be like another “Nakba” (catastrophe) when hundreds of thousands fled or were forced out during a 1948 war.

Israel’s planned re-seizure of Gaza City - which it took in the early days of the war before withdrawing - is probably weeks away, officials say. That means a ceasefire is still possible though talks have been floundering and conflict still rages.

Israeli planes and tanks bombed eastern areas of Gaza City heavily, residents said, with many homes destroyed in the Zeitoun and Shejaia neighbourhoods overnight. Al-Ahli hospital said 12 people were killed in an airstrike on a home in Zeitoun.

Tanks also destroyed several houses in the east of Khan Younis in south Gaza too, while in the centre Israeli gunfire killed nine aid-seekers in two separate incidents, Palestinian medics said. Israel’s military did not comment.

Eight more people, including three children, have died of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza in the past 24 hours, the territory’s health ministry said. That took the total to 235, including 106 children, since the war began.

Israel disputes those malnutrition and hunger figures reported by the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave.

Hamas chief negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya’s meetings with Egyptian officials in Cairo on Wednesday were to focus on stopping the war, delivering aid and “ending the suffering of our people in Gaza,” Hamas official Taher al-Nono said in a statement.

CEASEFIRE POSSIBILITIES

Egyptian security sources said the talks would also discuss the possibility of a comprehensive ceasefire that would see Hamas relinquish governance in Gaza and concede its weapons.

A Hamas official told Reuters the group was open to all ideas if Israel ends the war and pulls out. However, “Laying down arms before the occupation is dismissed is impossible,” the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.

Netanyahu’s plan to expand military control over Gaza, which Israeli sources said could be launched in October, has heightened global outcry over the widespread devastation, displacement and hunger in the enclave.

About half of Gaza’s residents live in the Gaza City area.

Foreign ministers of 24 countries, including Britain, Canada, Australia, France and Japan, said this week the humanitarian crisis in Gaza had reached “unimaginable levels” and urged Israel to allow unrestricted aid.

Israel denies responsibility for hunger, accusing Hamas of stealing aid. It says it has taken steps to increase deliveries, including daily combat pauses in some areas and protected routes for aid convoys.

The Israeli military on Wednesday said that nearly 320 trucks entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings and that a further nearly 320 trucks were collected and distributed by the U.N. and international organizations in the past 24 hours along with three tankers of fuel and 97 pallets of air-dropped aid.

The United Nations and Palestinians say aid entering Gaza remains far from sufficient.

The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza since then has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials.​

 

[Saif]

Some Palestinians already leaving Gaza City ahead of Israeli offensive

Fearing an Israeli onslaught could come soon, some Palestinian families began leaving eastern areas of Gaza City, now under constant Israeli bombardment, for points to the west and some explored evacuating further south. Israel's plan to seize control of Gaza City has stirred alarm abroad and at h

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Some Palestinians already leaving Gaza City ahead of Israeli offensive

REUTERS
Published :
Aug 18, 2025 17:24
Updated :
Aug 18, 2025 17:28

Palestinians, displaced by the Israeli offensive, shelter in a tent camp as the Israeli military prepares to relocate residents to southern Gaza, in Gaza City August 17, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas/Files

Fearing an Israeli onslaught could come soon, some Palestinian families began leaving eastern areas of Gaza City, now under constant Israeli bombardment, for points to the west and some explored evacuating further south.

Israel's plan to seize control of Gaza City has stirred alarm abroad and at home where tens of thousands of Israelis held some of the largest protests seen since the war began, urging a deal to end the fighting and free the remaining 50 hostages held by Palestinian militants in Gaza.

The planned offensive has spurred Egyptian and Qatari ceasefire mediators to step up efforts in what a source familiar with the talks with Hamas militants in Cairo said could be "the last-ditch attempt."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described Gaza City as Hamas' last bastion. But, with Israel already holding 75 per cent of Gaza, the military has warned that expanding the offensive could endanger hostages still alive and draw troops into protracted and deadly guerrilla warfare.

In Gaza City, many Palestinians have also been calling for protests soon to demand an end to a war that has demolished much of the territory and wrought a humanitarian disaster, and for Hamas to intensify talks to avert the Israeli ground offensive.

An Israeli armoured incursion into Gaza City could see the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom have been uprooted multiple times earlier in the war.

"The people of Gaza City are like someone who received a death sentence and is awaiting execution," said Tamer Burai, a Gaza City businessman.

"I am moving my parents and my family to the south today or tomorrow. I can't risk losing any of them should there be a surprising invasion," he told Reuters via a chat app.

A protest is scheduled for Thursday in Gaza City by different unions, and people took to social media platforms vowing to participate, which will raise pressure on Hamas.

The last round of indirect ceasefire talks ended in late July in deadlock with the sides trading blame for its collapse.

Sources close to the Cairo talks said Egyptian and Qatari mediators had met with leaders of Hamas, allied militant group Islamic Jihad and other factions with little progress reported. Talks will continue on Monday, the sources added.

Hamas told mediators it was ready to resume talks about a US-proposed 60-day truce and release of half the hostages, one official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters, but also for a wider deal that would end the war.

DIPLOMATIC DEADLOCK

Israel says it will agree to cease hostilities if all the hostages are released and Hamas lays down its arms - the latter demand publicly rejected by the Islamist group until a Palestinian state is established.

Gaps also appear to linger regarding the extent of an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and how humanitarian aid will be delivered around the enclave, where malnutrition is rife and aid groups warn of unfolding famine.

On Saturday, the Israeli military said it was preparing to help equip Gazans with tents and other shelter equipment ahead of relocating them from combat zones to the south of the enclave. It did not provide further details on quantities or how long it would take to get the equipment into the enclave.

Palestinian economist Mohammad Abu Jayyab said at least 100,000 new tents would be needed to house those heading to central and southern areas of the coastal strip should Israel begin its offensive or the army orders Gaza City's entire population to evacuate.

"The existing tents where people are living have worn out, and they wouldn't protect people against rainwater. There are no new tents in Gaza because of the (Israeli) restrictions on aid at the (border) crossings," Abu Jayyab told Reuters.

He said some families from Gaza City had begun renting property and shelters in the south and moved in their belongings.

"Some people learned from previous experience, and they don't want to be taken by surprise. Also, some think it is better to move earlier to find a space," Abu Jayyab added.

The UN humanitarian office said last week 1.35 million people were already in need of emergency shelter items in Gaza.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed across the border into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 61,000 Palestinians have since been killed in Israel's ensuing air and ground war in Gaza, according to local health officials, with most of the 2.2 million population internally displaced.

Five more Palestinians have died of malnutrition and starvation in the past 24 hours, the Gaza health ministry said on Monday, raising the number of people who died of those causes to 263, including 112 children, since the war started.

Israel disputed the figures provided by the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.​

 

[Saif]

Hamas agrees to new Gaza ceasefire proposal

A Hamas source said on Monday that the Palestinian militants had agreed to a new proposal from mediators for a ceasefire in Gaza, devastated by more than 22 months of war between the Islamist group and Israel...

www.newagebd.net

Hamas agrees to new Gaza ceasefire proposal
Agence France-Presse . Gaza City 19 August, 2025, 01:07

Palestinians gather to receive cooked meals from a food distribution centre in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on Monday. | AFP photo

A Hamas source said on Monday that the Palestinian militants had agreed to a new proposal from mediators for a ceasefire in Gaza, devastated by more than 22 months of war between the Islamist group and Israel.

‘Hamas has delivered its response to the mediators, confirming that Hamas and the factions agreed to the new ceasefire proposal without requesting any amendments,’ the Hamas source said.

A Palestinian source familiar with the negotiations said that mediators were ‘expected to announce that an agreement has been reached and set a date for the resumption of talks.’

The source added that ‘mediators provided Hamas and the factions with guarantees for the implementation of the agreement, along with a commitment to resume talks to seek a permanent solution.’

There has been no immediate response from the Israeli government side to the development.

Efforts by mediators Egypt and Qatar, along with the United States, have so far failed to secure a lasting ceasefire in the war, now in its 23rd month, which has created a dire humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

A separate Palestinian official earlier on Monday said that mediators had proposed an initial 60-day truce and hostage release in two batches.

A source from Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian militant faction that has fought alongside Hamas in Gaza, said that the plan involved a 60-day ceasefire ‘during which 10 Israeli hostages would be released alive, along with a number of bodies’.

According to the same source, ‘the remaining captives would be released in a second phase, with immediate negotiations to follow for a broader deal’ for a permanent end to the war ‘with international guarantees’, the source added.

Out of 251 hostages taken during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war, 49 are still held in Gaza including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

Hamas’s attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 62,004 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza which the United Nations considers reliable.​

 

[Saif]

Israel demands release of all hostages after Hamas backs new truce offer

A senior Israeli official on Tuesday said the government stood firm on its call for the release of all hostages in any future Gaza deal, after Hamas accepted a new truce proposal.

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Israel demands release of all hostages after Hamas backs new truce offer
Agence France-Presse . Jerusalem 20 August, 2025, 00:33

Palestinians salvage items from the rubble of homes destroyed in Israeli strikes on the southern al-Zeitoun neighbourhood in Gaza City on Tuesday. | AFP photo

A senior Israeli official on Tuesday said the government stood firm on its call for the release of all hostages in any future Gaza deal, after Hamas accepted a new truce proposal.

Mediators are awaiting an official Israeli response to the plan, a day after Hamas signalled its readiness for a fresh round of talks aimed at ending nearly two years of war.

Mediator Qatar expressed guarded optimism for the new proposal, noting that it was ‘almost identical’ to an earlier version agreed to by Israel.

A senior Israeli official said the government’s stance had not changed and demanded the release of all hostages in any deal.

The two foes have held on-and-off indirect negotiations throughout the war, resulting in two short truces during which Israeli hostages were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, but they have ultimately failed to broker a lasting ceasefire.

Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have mediated the frequent rounds of shuttle diplomacy.

Egypt said Monday that it and Qatar had sent the new proposal to Israel, adding ‘the ball is now in its court’.

Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said on Tuesday that Hamas had given a ‘very positive response, and it truly was almost identical to what the Israeli side had previously agreed to’.

‘We cannot make any claims that a breakthrough has been made. But we do believe it is a positive point,’ he added.

According to a report in Egyptian state-linked outlet Al-Qahera News, the latest deal proposes an initial 60-day truce, a partial hostage release, the freeing of some Palestinian prisoners and provisions allowing for the entry of aid.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to publicly comment on the plan, but said last week that his country would accept ‘an agreement in which all the hostages are released at once and according to our conditions for ending the war’.

Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi said on social media that his group had ‘opened the door wide to the possibility of reaching an agreement, but the question remains whether Netanyahu will once again close it, as he has done in the past’.

Hamas’s acceptance of the proposal comes as Netanyahu faces increasing pressure at home and abroad to end the war.

On Sunday, tens of thousands took to the streets in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv to call for the end of the war and a deal to free the remaining hostages still being held captive.

Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas’s October 2023 attack that triggered the war, 49 are still in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

The new proposal also comes after Israel’s security cabinet approved plans to conquer Gaza City, fanning fears the new offensive will worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the devastated territory.

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir — who has staunchly opposed ending the war — slammed the plan, warning of a ‘tragedy’ if Netanyahu ‘gives in to Hamas’.

Gaza’s civil defence agency reported that 31 people were killed Tuesday by Israeli strikes and fire across the territory.

Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the situation was ‘very dangerous and unbearable’ in the Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods of Gaza City, where he said ‘artillery shelling continues intermittently’.

The Israeli military declined to comment on specific troop movements, saying only that it was ‘operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities’ and took ‘feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm’.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing swaths of the Palestinian territory mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

Sabra resident Hussein al-Dairi, 44, said ‘tanks are firing shells and mortars, and drones are firing bullets and missiles’ in the neighbourhood.

‘We heard on the news that Hamas had agreed to a truce, but the occupation is escalating the war against us, the civilians,’ he added.

Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s offensive has killed at least 62,064 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, which the United Nations considers reliable.​