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Israel to stop engagement with UN human rights council, alleging bias

Jerusalem/Geneva, Switzerland Reuters Israel has told the United Nations Human Rights Council that it is disengaging from the body, alleging it was biased, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Thursday. Council members have frequently raised allegations of Israeli human rights violations in the Gaza war, while a UN inquiry it set up found last year […]

Gaza ceasefire deal takes effect and fighting halts after delay

Updated: 10:15pm (AEDT) Jerusalem/Cairo, Egypt Reuters A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip took effect on Sunday after a nearly three-hour delay, pausing a 15-month-old war that has brought devastation and seismic political change to the Middle East. Residents and a medical worker in Gaza said that they had heard no […]

Israel approves Gaza ceasefire, carries out more attacks

Tel Aviv/Cairo Reuters Israel approved a ceasefire deal with Palestinian militant group Hamas on Saturday that involves releasing hostages in the Gaza Strip, and Israeli forces carried out new attacks in the enclave before the agreement’s scheduled start on Sunday. The three-phased agreement is set to halt a 15-month-old war between Israel and Gaza’s rulers […]

Israeli security cabinet approves ceasefire deal

Jerusalem/Cairo, Egypt Reuters The Israeli security cabinet approved a ceasefire deal on Friday, paving the way for the return of the first hostages from Gaza as early as Sunday and bringing a halt to 15 months of conflict that have devastated the Palestinian coastal strip. The Israeli-Hamas accord is still conditional on the approval of […]

A mother’s anguish: One son to be freed from Gaza, another left behind

Kfar Sava, Israel Reuters News that Israel and Hamas have reached a hostage release deal after 15 months of war in Gaza is bittersweet for Ruth Strum – one of her sons is expected to be freed, but a second will be left behind in captivity for now. “It is not easy for a mother […]

Rome’s chief rabbi criticises Pope Francis over Israel remarks

Rome, Italy Reuters Rome’s chief Jewish rabbi on Thursday sharply criticised Pope Francis over the pontiff’s recent ramping up of criticism against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, in an unusually forceful speech during an annual Catholic-Jewish dialogue event.  Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni speaks with Pope Francis during an inter-religious prayer for peace at the Colosseum […]

US says Gaza ceasefire to start as planned despite “loose end”

Doha, Qatar/Cairo, Egypt/Jerusalem Reuters The Gaza Strip ceasefire should begin on Sunday as planned, despite the need for negotiators to tie up a “loose end” at the last minute, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday. Israel delayed holding a cabinet meeting to ratify the ceasefire with Hamas, blaming the militant group for […]

Gaza deal emerged after intense 96 hours, US officials say

Washington DC, US Reuters A long-sought Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal emerged at the end of an intense 96 hours of negotiations in Doha brokered by US, Egyptian and Qatari diplomats who persuaded Israel and Hamas finally to conclude the agreement. A senior Biden administration official credited the presence of President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy, […]