Author: Gulf News Week
There have been conflicting reports on whether Israel would free the prominent Gaza medic as part of the truce agreement.As Israeli and Palestinian captives return to their families as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the status of many prominent Palestinian detainees remains uncertain.Among them is Palestinian doctor Hussam Abu Safia, a hospital director in Gaza who was abducted by Israeli forces in December 2024 and has stayed in detention despite growing calls for his release and reports by his lawyer that he has been tortured in Israeli prison.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Hamas…
Analysts say US may be comfortable with the status quo, and many in Iran are wary of negotiations after the 12-day war.During a trip to the Middle East marking the end of Israel’s war on Gaza, United States President Donald Trump turned to another source of strife in the region: the tensions between Tehran and Washington.In remarks to the Israeli Knesset on Monday, Trump, who took the unprecedented step of bombing Iranian nuclear facilities earlier this year amid a 12-day war between Israel and Iran, offered a “hand of friendship”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3How the US…
Trump takes credit for ceasefire agreement and promotes ‘a new Middle East’ without addressing the rights of Palestinians.Despite the carnage in Gaza, United States President Donald Trump has received a hero’s welcome across the Middle East as he visited Israel and Egypt to celebrate the ceasefire deal.Trump spoke at the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, on Monday before heading to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, where he participated in a signing ceremony for the ceasefire agreement along with regional and international leaders.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Palestinian journalist Saleh Aljafarawi shot dead in Gaza City clasheslist 2 of 3Hamas…
Will the fragile ceasefire hold as US President Trump arrives in the Middle East?After two years of genocide and only days into a new ceasefire, Palestinians are returning to Gaza City to find devastation: no homes, power, or family. Now, days after US President Donald Trump announced a plan to end the war, he is set to arrive in the region. There is optimism, but questions remain. Namely, will this deal hold?The Take is nominated for the Signal Awards in the Best Daily Podcast category. While we wait for the judges’ decisions, you can help us win the listeners’ vote. Vote…
US President Trump praises ‘new beautiful day’ as Gaza war comes to an end, but questions about the future remain.Political leaders from around the world have convened in Egypt for a ceremony to sign a ceasefire deal in Gaza, led by United States President Donald Trump and mediating partners such as Egypt, Qatar, and Turkiye.Speaking in the Egyptian seaside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday, Trump envisioned a glimmering future for Gaza as a hub of development and investment, even as the Gaza Strip lies in ruins following Israel’s devastating, two-year assault.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3‘You…
Two families stood waiting in Ramallah, one to welcome their loved one, one to mourn that they may never see theirs.Ramallah, occupied West Bank – The morning dawned full of anticipation as thousands of Palestinian families prepared to welcome their imprisoned relatives, who were scheduled to be released as part of a prisoner exchange deal with Israel.Some had spent decades in prison, some were serving consecutive life sentences, and most had been rounded up wholesale by Israel in Gaza during its two-year war on the besieged enclave.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Who are the Palestinian captives Israel…
Trump says the mega-donor, who spent more than $100m to help him win the 2024 US presidential election, ‘loves Israel’.As United States President Donald Trump addressed the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, to celebrate the Gaza ceasefire deal, he saluted American diplomats, generals and regional states involved in the agreement.Miriam Adelson, a pro-Israel mega-donor, also received a shout-out from the US president on Monday. Trump noted that she has “$60bn in her account” and that “she loves Israel”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Hamas and Israel exchange captives, detainees before Gaza summitlist 2 of 3‘Inhumane’: 154 freed Palestinian prisoners…
Israel is releasing nearly 2,000 Palestinians, political prisoners and detainees. Here’s a look at who they are.Thousands of Palestinians gathered in Ramallah on Monday to await the release of some 2,000 political prisoners and forcibly disappeared people who were taken by Israel from the West Bank, which it occupies, and Gaza, which it has waged war on for two years.Palestinians welcomed back 96 political prisoners, as well as the vast majority of people Israel detained from Gaza during the war.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Attacks by Israeli army, illegal settlers injure 36 in occupied West Banklist 2…
The US president talked about everything, except the genocide.United States President Donald Trump had the time of his life on Monday at the Israeli Knesset, where he was welcomed as “the president of peace”. His captive audience showered him with applause, laughs and too many standing ovations to count. A single protester undertook a brief outburst but was swiftly bundled out, earning the president more laughs and applause for his remark: “That was very efficient.”It was a typical stream-of-consciousness Trump speech although he mercifully refrained from rambling about escalators and teleprompters this time.I had initially hoped the fact that the…
The Doghmush clan reportedly fought against Hamas in a clash that killed at least 27 people.Israeli air strikes on Gaza may have halted, and a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas is ongoing, but tucked behind the headlines, tensions are brewing in Gaza between Hamas and armed groups.On Sunday, clashes erupted between an armed clan and Hamas security forces, killing at least 27 people, including eight members of Hamas, according to the Ministry of Interior in Gaza.Caught in the crossfire was 28-year-old Palestinian journalist Saleh Aljafarawi, who was covering clashes in Gaza City’s Sabra neighbourhood between what security sources told…