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☆ Middle East Crisis Blinken Will Travel to Mideast Again as Cease-Fire Talks Restart
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( Michael Crowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

Mr. Issa assumed the role after the assassination of another top commander, Ahmed al-Jabari. Mr. Conrad said he met Mr. Issa, Mr. al-Jabari and Mahmoud al-Zahar, another senior Hamas official, about ten times between 2009 and 2011 in Gaza City. “He was the master of the data on the prisoners,” Mr. Conrad said of Mr. Issa. Mr. Awawdeh, the analyst, called Mr. Issa a man who liked to “remain in the shadows” and who seldom granted interviews to the media. Admiral Hagari has said that Mr. Issa helped plan the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack.

Persons: Marwan Issa, Jake Sullivan, Mr, Issa, Daniel Hagari, Mohammed Deif, Ahmed al, Yahya Sinwar, Salah al, Din, Issa’s, ” Maj, Tamir Hayman, Deif, Sinwar, “ There’s, ” Mr, Awawdeh, “, ” Michael Milshtein, Qassam, wasn’t, Milshtein, Gerhard Conrad, Conrad, Mahmoud al, ”, Gilad Shalit, Al Jazeera, Hagari Organizations: U.S, Hamas, Qassam, Palestinian Authority Locations: Israel, Gaza, U.S, Gaza City, Palestine, Bureij, Ashkelon

☆ Middle East Crisis Israel Is Said to Change Strategy in Cease-Fire Talks
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Ronen Bergman | Patrick Kingsley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Families and supporters of Israeli hostages held since the Oct. 7 attacks gathered Saturday in Tel Aviv to call for their return. International efforts to reach a truce had stalled over Israel’s refusal to release Palestinians convicted of murder and to commit to a permanent cease-fire, two of the measures that Hamas is holding out for. They include five female Israeli soldiers and civilians, including sick, wounded and older people. It does not include male Israeli soldiers, whose release will be the subject of a separate negotiation, one of the officials said. For each of the five female Israeli soldiers in captivity, Israel would release three “heavy” prisoners — those believed responsible for major attacks — and 15 others.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Yahya Sinwar, Israel, —, Gilad Shalit, Julian E, Barnes Organizations: Hamas Locations: Tel Aviv, Israel, Gaza, U.S, Egypt, Qatar, United States, Paris, Washington

☆ Israel's Six-Week Drive to Hit Hamas in Rafah and Scale Back War
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +10 min

Gaza's ruling group can keep fighting and is prepared for a long war in Rafah and Gaza, said the official, who requested anonymity. A senior regional security official said Israel believed some Hamas commanders and hostages were in Rafah. UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron also told lawmakers that Britain and its allies "will look at the issue of recognising a Palestinian state, including at the United Nations". Yet for Netanyahu and many other Israeli officials, talk of a two-state solution amounts to a betrayal of the people killed on Oct. 7. "I say clearly to anyone still stuck in October 6: We will never lend a hand to the creation of a Palestinian state," Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar said on social media last month.

Persons: Samia Nakhoul, Jonathan Saul, Humeyra Pamuk, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Avi Melamed, Yoav Gallant, Joe Biden, Netanyahu, Biden, Gaza's, hasn't, Israel . Fighting, Khan Younis, Emad Joudat, Gallant, Israel, Yahya Sinwar, Antony Blinken, Washington, David Cameron, Britain haven't, Miki Zohar, Dan Williams, Nidal Al Mughrabi, Andrew Hay, Jeff Mason, Pravin Char Organizations: Humeyra Pamuk DOHA, Reuters, Military, Israel Defense Forces, Hamas, Israeli, America, . Senior, Palestinian Authority, State Department, Israel, United Nations Locations: Israel, Gaza, Rafah, Washington, Qatar, RAFAH, Hamas, Khan, Gaza City, Egypt, Cairo, U.S, Palestinian, Britain, Palestine, Doha, London, Jerusalem

☆ IDF has CCTV footage of Hamas leader Sinwar in tunnel under Khan Younis, official says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Lauren Izso | Vasco Cotovio | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

CNN —The Israeli military has obtained CCTV footage showing the Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar inside a tunnel below the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, with his wife, children and another unidentified man, an Israeli security official told CNN on Tuesday. Israel has publicly accused Sinwar of being the “mastermind” behind Hamas’ terror attack against Israel on October 7 – though experts say he is likely one of several – making him one of the key targets of its war in Gaza. It was unclear when the video was recorded, when it was obtained, and what condition Sinwar was in. CNN has asked the IDF for comment but has yet to hear back. This is a developing story and will be updated.

Persons: Yahya Sinwar, Khan Younis, Israel, ”, Sinwar Organizations: CNN, Israel Locations: Gaza, Khan

☆ Unimaginable devastation seen inside Khan Younis, the southern Gaza city once a safe haven for the displaced
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( Ivana Kottasová | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Khan Younis CNN —Scattered around a huge crater are the remnants of a life that is gone. Destroyed buildings and roads seen after the Israel Defense Forces withdrew from the areas in Khan Younis on February 02, 2024. PlanetLabs An aerial view of Khan Younis, Gaza, on January 19, 2024. PlanetLabs Aerial views of Khan Younis, Gaza, on November 30, 2023, and January 19, 2024. “I’ve (been) asked many questions about the price that Gaza, Khan Younis pays, the houses… yes, definitely, there is a price that has been paid,” Goldfuss said.

Persons: Khan Younis, Yahya Sinwar, It’s, Abdulqader, Ivana Kottasová, Dan Goldfuss, Goldfuss, “, ” Goldfuss, ”, Israel doesn’t Organizations: Khan Younis CNN, Hamas, Israel Defense Forces, Getty, CNN, IDF, Local, United Nations, Nasser, Al Amal Hospital, Palestine Red Crescent Society, UN, Islamic Jihad, Sunday Locations: Khan, Gaza, Israel, Anadolu, United, Palestine, United States, Brig

☆ Gaza Ceasefire Hopes Alive With More Talks Planned
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

"Continued military pressure is a necessary condition for the release of the hostages," Netanyahu said. Israel began its military offensive after Hamas militants from Gaza killed 1,200 people and took 253 hostages in southern Israel on Oct. 7. Netanyahu rejects a Palestinian state, which Saudi Arabia says is a requirement for the kingdom to normalise relations with Israel. But last week Israel said it would expand its campaign into Rafah, where about half the enclave's 2.3 million people are penned against the border with Egypt. On the ground in southern Gaza, residents said Israel stepped up its assault on Rafah in the early hours of Thursday.

Persons: Nidal, Humeyra Pamuk, Antony Blinken, Khalil Al, Hayya, Benjamin Netanyahu, Blinken, Netanyahu, Yahya Sinwar, Israel, Washington, Khan Younis, Nidal al, Andrew Mills, Bassam Massoud, Cynthia Osterman, Howard Goller Organizations: Reuters, U.S, Israeli, Hamas, NBC News, Israel Democracy Institute, Nakhoul Locations: Humeyra Pamuk DOHA, TEL AVIV, U.S, Qatar, Egypt, Israel, Gaza, Palestinian, Cairo, Tel Aviv, Saudi Arabia, ISRAEL, RAFAH Israel, Gaza's, Rafah, Tel Al, Doha

☆ Khan Younis: Inside the underground compound where Israel says hostages were held
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Ivana Kottasová | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Khan Younis CNN —The stale, damp air inside the tunnel smells of sewage. Inside this maze of tunnels under Khan Younis, there is a narrow room with an arched ceiling, divided in half by a barred metal gate. Any hostages held here would have had limited sense of time or place. The southern city of Khan Younis, which Israel considers one of the “main strongholds” of the group, is the current epicenter of fighting. Israel believes 132 hostages are still being held in Gaza in compounds like the one CNN was escorted to under Khan Younis.

Persons: Khan Younis, CNN Israel, Dan Goldfuss, Goldfuss, “, ”, Israel, Ivana Kottasová, – Sahar Calderon, Yaakov, Sapir Cohen, Nir Oz, ’, Yahya Sinwar, ” Goldfuss Organizations: Khan Younis CNN, CNN, Israel Defense Forces, IDF, Gaza, of Health, Hamas, United Nations Locations: Gaza, Khan, Israel, Israeli, Israel’s, ”

☆ More than a million Palestinians are trapped in Rafah. As Israeli troops approach, there’s nowhere left to run
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Rob Picheta | Paul P. Murphy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

“We hear (drones) very, very loud, and we hear the sounds of bombing at night,” Kareem Dahman, a displaced Palestinian in the city, told CNN. He said conditions in Rafah are “very difficult,” describing a “large number of people, chaos, and high prices.”A satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows Rafah, Gaza, on October 26, 2023. Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies A satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows Rafah, Gaza, on February 3, 2024. Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies Rafah's makeshift tent city Satellite image ©2024 Maxar TechnologiesDahman, like countless others, found himself in the city after a “very arduous” journey through the besieged enclave. Water is available but we need an hour to fill water from a water station,” Dahman told CNN.

Persons: ” Kareem Dahman, Khan Younis, “, ” Dahman, Abed Rahim Khatib, Yahya Sinwar, Yoav Gallant, Gallant, Sinwar, ” Gallant, Raed, Ismail Al, Belal Khaled, OCHA, Dahman, Youssef Abu Kwaik, ”, Jens Laerke Organizations: CNN, Maxar Technologies, Israel Defense Forces, “, Anadolu, Getty, Israeli, Hamas, Palestinian Red Crescent Society, Media Office, United Nations Office, Humanitarian Affairs, UN Office Locations: Rafah, Gaza, Palestinian, Gaza City, Egypt, ”, Israel, Mawasi

☆ Exclusive-One-Month Gaza Truce Focus of Intensive Talks, Sources Say
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +8 min

Asked about the negotiations, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters on Monday the organization was open to discussing ideas but that no deal was yet in place. One offer by Israel is to end the war if Hamas removes six senior leaders from Gaza, said a seventh source, a senior Hamas official. Five of the sources said Israel had refused to discuss any end to the war that did not include Hamas being dismantled. Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy said at a press conference on Tuesday that efforts were ongoing to secure the hostages' release. The official briefed on the talks said Hamas had since softened that demand, which would likely be vehemently opposed by Israel.

Persons: Andrew Mills, Nidal, Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, Dan Williams, Brett McGurk, Sami Abu Zuhri, Abu Zuhri, Yahya Sinwar, Mohamed al, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Netanyahu, NETANYAHU, Israel, Eylon Levy, Antony Blinken, Khan Younis, Mohamed Ahmed Hassan, Michael Georgy, Maayan Lubell, Jonathan Landay, Simon Lewis, Frank Jack Daniel, Daniel Flynn Organizations: Hamas, Tuesday U.S . Middle East, U.S . State Department, White, Service, Reuters, Palestinian Locations: Dan Williams DOHA, CAIRO, JERUSALEM, Israel, Gaza, Qatar, Washington, Egypt, U.S, United States, Khan, Doha, Cairo, Jerusalem

☆ Israel’s spy chief proposed letting Hamas leaders leave Gaza as part of broader ceasefire talks
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Alex Marquardt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Israel has proposed that Hamas senior leaders could leave Gaza as part of a broader ceasefire agreement, two officials familiar with the ongoing international discussions told CNN. Senior Hamas officials are known to live in Doha, Qatar, and the Lebanese capital Beirut, among other places outside the Palestinian territories. That, combined with the “enormous pressure” on Netanyahu and his government to bring hostages home, Miller said, has created a situation where Israel would be willing to propose having Hamas leaders leave Gaza. While it’s unclear whether in private discussions Israel has named which Hamas leaders they would hope to leave Gaza, there is no bigger target than Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ top official in Gaza. Israel vows to hunt Hamas globallyIsrael has made no secret of its intention to continue hunting Hamas leaders long after the war is over.

Persons: CNN —, —, David Barnea, Antony Blinken, Brett McGurk, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, “, ”, Aaron David Miller, Netanyahu, Miller, Jack Guez, Biden, Barnea, Bill Burns, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, Blinken, David Barnea Gil Cohen, al, Yahya Sinwar, ” Netanyahu, Sinwar, Khan Younis, Mohammed Deif, Deif’s, Marwan Issa, Sinwar’s, Mohammed, Yahya Sinwar Mahmud Hams, Ofer Shelah, ” Shelah, we’ve, Shin Bet, ” Bar, Kan, ” Miller, “ Weeks Organizations: CNN, Hamas, US, Carnegie Endowment, International, Getty, Gaza Health Ministry, US CIA, Qatari, Magen, US State Department, CIA, Prime Minister’s, Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies Locations: CNN — Israel, Gaza, Israel, Doha, Qatar, Beirut, Palestinian, Warsaw, Egypt, Israeli, AFP, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani, al Thani, Sinwar, Hamas, Lebanon, Turkey

The Israeli war cabinet member and former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, as he attended the funeral of his son Gal Meir Eisenkot in December. General Eisenkot has also paid a devastating personal price in the war: His 25-year-old son, Master Sgt. In the televised interview, which was prerecorded, General Eisenkot said Mr. Netanyahu carries “sharp and clear” responsibility for the country’s failure to protect its citizens on Oct. 7. Early in the war, Israeli officials weighed whether to launch a pre-emptive strike against Hezbollah — risking a two-front war that deeply concerned U.S. and Israeli military planners. The Israeli public must head to the polls “within months,” General Eisenkot said.

Persons: Gadi Eisenkot, Gal Meir Eisenkot, Israel, Uvda, ”, Eisenkot, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Mr, Netanyahu —, —, “, Israel’s, General Eisenkot, Yahya Sinwar, Netanyahu’s Organizations: Mr, Hamas, ” Locations: Gaza, Israel, Entebbe, —, Uganda, Iran, Lebanon

☆ Mental Strain, Deepening Risks as Israel's War With Hamas Reaches 100 Days
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-14 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +6 min

In a statement marking the 100 days, the Palestinian ministry of foreign affairs accused Israel of creating "a circle of death" in Gaza. Yet that offers little comfort to the tens of thousands who have lost relatives to the bombardment. Israel's main enemy Iran, which backs Hamas, has taunted Israel but has so far refrained from direct action and Hezbollah, its proxy in Lebanon, has taken care to avoid an all-out confrontation. "We are continuing the war until the end - until total victory," he said on Saturday at a news conference to mark the 100 days of the war. (Additional reporting by Ali Sawafta in Ramallah, Nidal al Mughrabi in Doha, Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)

Persons: James Mackenzie JERUSALEM, Rebecca Brindza, Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, Israel, Khaled Abu Aweidah, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Netanyahu, Moran Stella Yanai, Ali Sawafta, Nidal al Mughrabi, Maayan Lubell, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: U.S, International Court of Justice, West Bank, Nova Locations: Gaza, Israel, Washington, Israel's, Africa, United States, Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Red, Ramallah, Doha, Maayan, Jerusalem

☆ ‘Nothing is moving:’ Families’ anger grows in Israel as hostages mark 100 days in Hamas captivity
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-14 | by ( Lianne Kolirin | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

A hostage release deal agreed between Israel and Hamas in late November ended after six days, with more than 100 freed. Others are angry at what they see as a failure by the Red Cross to help them. Cohen accused the Red Cross of failing in its mission to protect civilians. He was also critical of the Red Cross, which he accused of failing in its mission to protect civilians. “The countries that support the Red Cross should turn off the tap and tell them there’s no more money,” he said Monday.

Persons: There’s, It’s, ” Naama Weinberg, Itai Svirsky, Be’eri, ” Weinberg, “, Itai, Orit, Rafi – Itai’s, Aviva Sela, Grace Cabrera, Weinberg, Dror Weinberg Almog, ”, Saleh, Lianne Kolirin, Svirsky’s, Israel’s, Yahya Sinwar, they’ll, Shai Wenkert, Omer, Ilia Yefimovich, Wenkert, Echoing Weinberg, Benjamin Netanyahu, Clodagh Kilcoyne, Reuters Wenkert, Cross, “ Omer, Kfir Bibas, Bresler, Noa Argamani, ” Bresler, ” Moshe Cohen, Cohen, ’, Moshe Cohen, Argamani, She’s Organizations: CNN, Aviva, IDF, Hamas, Nova, Forum, Reuters, International Committee, Hostage, Nvidia, Ministry of Health, ICRC Locations: Israel, Tel Aviv’s, Lebanon, Arouri, Gaza, Tel Aviv's, Bresler, South America, Mexico, Geneva, Switzerland

☆ Who is Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader Israel has called a ‘dead man walking’
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-07 | by ( Ivana Kottasová | David Shortell | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

He was elected to Hamas’ main decision-making body, the Politburo, in 2017 as the political leader of Hamas in Gaza branch. Back in Gaza, Sinwar has risen through the ranks and quickly became a key player within Hamas. As the political leader of Hamas, Sinwar focused on the group’s foreign relationships. The talks involved senior figures from Israel, Hamas, the United States, Qatar and Egypt. In order for Israel to destroy Hamas, it needs to destroy a critical mass of power centers, not just him,” he said.

Persons: Yahya Sinwar, Sinwar, Benjamin Netanyahu, ” Israel, ”, Harel Chorev, Moshe Dayan, “, ” Chorev, Mohammed al, Masri, Mohammed Deif, Al, Marwan Issa, Deif, hasn’t, Ashraf Amra, Khan Younis, Gilad Shalit, Chorev, Gershon Baskin, Shalit, Richard Hecht, Osama bin Laden, Butcher, Israel, it’s Organizations: CNN, Hamas, Israel Defense Forces, Israel, ’, European Council, Foreign Relations, US Department of State, Moshe, Moshe Dayan Center for, African, Tel Aviv University, Brigades, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Al Locations: Gaza, United Kingdom, France, Gaza City, Palestinian, Sinwar, Islam, Iran, Israel, United States, Qatar, Egypt, “

The speech by Hamas' leader in Gaza to thousands of cheering supporters bore the hallmarks of crowd-pleasing hyperbole. In the days after the Oct. 7 attacks, Sinwar was seen by some of the Israeli hostages in the tunnels, freed hostages have said. "DEAD MAN WALKING"Born in the Khan Younis refugee camp, Sinwar, 61, was elected as Hamas' leader in Gaza in 2017. Both Hamas leaders and Israeli officials who know Sinwar agree he is devoted to the militant movement to an extraordinary level. "He told me Hamas is my wife, Hamas is my child.

Persons: Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, Heard, Aqsa, Sinwar, Khan, Yoav Gallant, Michael Koubi, Koubi, Yuval Bitton, Bitton, Stephen Farrell, Jonathan Saul, Samia, Nidal Al, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: Hamas, Deif, Reuters, Shin Bet, Prison, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Israel, Israel's, Hamas, Al, Jerusalem, Qatar, Gaza City, Lebanon, Bitton, London, Samia Nakhoul, Beirut, Mughrabi, Cairo

But the three men topping Israel's hit-list remain at large: Deif, the head of Hamas' military wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades; his second in command, Marwan Issa; and Hamas' leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar. The three leaders are directing Hamas' military operations and led negotiations for a prisoner-hostage swaps, possibly from bunkers beneath Gaza, three Hamas sources say. The objective of the war remains to dismantle Hamas' military and government capabilities, Michael said, which could involve a turbulent period in Gaza after the war. An Israeli military officer, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, said the IDF viewed the elimination of such combat-level commanders as essential to dismantling Hamas' military capabilities. Israel has killed Hamas' leaders in the past, including the group's founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and its former leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantisi, assassinated in a 2004 air strike.

Persons: Ilan Rosenberg, Yoav Gallant, Mohammed Deif, Deen al, Marwan Issa, Yahya Sinwar, Issa, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, Gallant, Sinwar, Michael Eisenstadt, we've, Eisenstadt, Osama Hamdan, Joe Biden's, al, Kobi Michael, Michael said, Michael, Gilad Shalit, Shalit, Gerhard Conrad, Conrad, Al, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Abdel, Aziz, Rantisi, Sheikh Yassin, Hamdan, Dan Williams, Samia Nakhoul, Daniel Flynn Organizations: REUTERS, Israeli, Hamas, Brigades, Qatar, Reuters, Military and Security, Washington Institute for Near East, Israel Defense Forces, Israel, Islamic, Israel's Ministry, Strategic Affairs, IDF, German Intelligence Agency, politburo, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Kibbutz Beeri, Israel, Tel Aviv, Deif, Gaza City, Lebanon, East, U.S, States, al Qaeda, Islamic State, Iran, United States, Iraq, Syria, Palestinian, Israeli, Sinwar, Al Jazeera, Rantissi, Jerusalem

☆ Israeli ex-hostage says she confronted Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar in Gaza tunnel
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, an Israeli grandmother who was held hostage in Gaza looks on after being released by Hamas militants, at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, Israel October 24, 2023. Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, was taken from her Kibbutz Nir Oz home in Israel to Gaza. She told the Israeli newspaper Davar she confronted Sinwar when he visited the hostages in an underground tunnel where Hamas was holding them captive. "Sinwar was with us three to four days after we arrived," Lifshitz told the Hebrew-language Davar newspaper. Speaking with reporters following her release from Hamas captivity last month, Lifshitz said that she "went through hell" during her two weeks as a hostage in the Gaza Strip.

Persons: Yocheved Lifshitz, Janis Laizans, Yahya Sinwar, Nir Oz, Sinwar, Lifshitz, Oded, Howard Goller, William Maclean Organizations: Hamas, Ichilov, REUTERS, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Tel Aviv, Israel

☆ Israel-Hamas War Talks in Qatar Are Focused on Extending Truce Between Hamas and Israel
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Andrés R. Martínez | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

Israel and Hamas have extended their brief truce from four to six days, according to Qatar, which has been mediating their talks. Early in the war, the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of northern Gaza, ahead of a ground invasion. But there appear to be parts of northern Gaza that the Israeli military does not control. Ron Dermer, a member of Israel’s war cabinet, told Sky News on Nov. 7 that the Israeli military had killed “several thousand” Hamas fighters since the war began. More than 70 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ground invasion began, according to the Israeli military.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, —, Ron Dermer, “, Yahya Sinwar Organizations: Hamas, West Bank, Sky News, Palestinian Authority, Qatar Locations: Gaza, Israel, Qatar, Gaza City, Al, Gaza’s, Israel’s, Doha, Egypt, United States

☆ Israeli women and children have been freed by Hamas. But families of other hostages are in limbo
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Tara John | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Each weekend since the Hamas attacks, Sherman has taken part in a rally in Tel Aviv for the hostage families. Under the truce agreement between Israel and Hamas, groups of Israeli citizens and other nationals have been freed from Gaza every day since Friday, while Israel has released Palestinian women and children detainees. All of the Israelis released under this deal have been civilian women and children. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pictured on October 28, has indicated he would be open to extending the country's truce with Hamas. Tsafrir Abayov/APA group of Israelis watch as a helicopter carrying hostages released by Hamas lands in Petah Tikva, in Israel, on November 26.

Persons: Israel CNN — Alex Sherman, Ron, Sherman, Yahya Sinwar, “, Benjamin Netanyahu, Joe Biden, Hamas , Abir, Nadav Eyal, Eyal, Khan Younis, ” Amir Oren, ”, Tsafrir, Leo Correa, Netanyahu, ” Eyal, Lloyd Austin, Yoav Gallant, Oren, Biden Organizations: Israel CNN, Hamas, CNN, Israeli, Reuters, Palestinian, Israel Defense Forces, Israel Democracy Institute, US, United Nations Locations: Tel Aviv, Israel, Gaza, United States, Qatar, Abir Sultan, Khan, Israel’s, Egypt, Petah Tikva, “ Israel, Sinwar

☆ Hamas Says Commander of Its Northern Gaza Brigade Is Dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-26 | by ( Iyad Abuheweila | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Hamas, the armed group that controls Gaza, said on Sunday that one of its top commanders had been killed in its war with Israel there. The announcement from Hamas came on the third day of a four-day truce between Israel and Hamas to facilitate the release of hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. On Sunday morning the military wing of Hamas, the Qassam Brigades, issued a brief statement saying that Abu Anas al-Ghandour, who led the group’s fighters in northern Gaza, and three other commanders had been killed. Mr. al-Ghandour was the most senior commander that Hamas has confirmed dead since the group’s announcement last month that Ayman Nofal, a member of its General Military Council and the commander of the Central Brigade in the Qassam Brigades, had been killed. One of those freed in the deal, Yahya Sinwar, eventually became Hamas’s leader in Gaza and, according to Israeli officials, a mastermind of the Oct. 7 attacks.

Persons: Abu Anas al, Ghandour, Ayman Nofal, ”, Gilad Shalit, Shalit, Yahya Sinwar Organizations: Hamas, Qassam Brigades, The, Military Council, Central Brigade, State Department Locations: Gaza, Israel

Weeks of secret hostage negotiations with Hamas were hanging by a thread when President Biden phoned the emir of Qatar, a key emissary to the militant group, to deliver an urgent message. Yahya Sinwar , the Hamas leader in Gaza, had gone dark after the Israeli military seized control of Al-Shifa hospital, a facility Israel said Hamas used as a command-and-control center. Now that the fighting at the hospital was over, Sinwar had re-emerged from the shadows, and he was ready to negotiate.

Persons: Biden, Yahya Sinwar, Sinwar Locations: Qatar, Gaza, Israel

☆ Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh Leads Group's Diplomacy as Gaza War Rages
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

By Stephen Farrell and Samia Nakhoul(Reuters) - Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader based in Qatar, has been the tough-talking face of the Palestinian group's international diplomacy as war has raged back in Gaza where his family home was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in November. Israel regards the entire Hamas leadership as terrorists, accusing Haniyeh, Meshaal and others of continuing to "pull the strings of the Hamas terror organisation." The plan, drawn up by the Hamas military council in Gaza, was such a closely guarded secret that some Hamas officials seemed shocked by its timing and scale. During the decade in which Haniyeh was Hamas' top leader in Gaza, Israel accused his leadership team of helping to divert humanitarian aid to the group's military wing. Three senior officials told Reuters that Khamenei told the Hamas leader in that meeting, that Iran would not enter the war having not been told about it in advance.

Persons: Stephen Farrell, Samia Nakhoul, Ismail Haniyeh, Haniyeh, Israel, Khaled Meshaal, Yahya Sinwar, Adeeb Ziadeh, Meshaal, Iran's, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Khamenei, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, Yassin, Edmund Blair Organizations: Palestinian, Gaza, Al, Hamas, Qatari, Qatar University, Reuters, Islamic University Locations: Qatar, Gaza, Turkey, Doha, Iran, Israel, Al Jazeera, Meshaal, Muslim Iran, Egypt, Tehran, Iranian, Al, Gaza City, Al Jura, Ashkelon, Dubai

Israel's response has been a fierce military campaign that has killed more than 14,000 people inside Gaza so far. Israel regards the entire Hamas leadership as terrorists, accusing Haniyeh, Meshaal and others of continuing to "pull the strings of the Hamas terror organisation." The plan, drawn up by the Hamas military council in Gaza, was such a closely guarded secret that some Hamas officials seemed shocked by its timing and scale. During the decade in which Haniyeh was Hamas' top leader in Gaza, Israel accused his leadership team of helping to divert humanitarian aid to the group's military wing. Three senior officials told Reuters that Khamenei told the Hamas leader in that meeting, that Iran would not enter the war having not been told about it in advance.

Persons: Ismail Haniyeh, Haniyeh, Israel, Khaled Meshaal, Yahya Sinwar, Adeeb Ziadeh, Meshaal, Iran's, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Khamenei, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, Yassin, Samia Nakhoul, Stephen Farrell, Edmund Blair Organizations: Palestinian, Gaza, Al, Hamas, Qatari, Qatar University, Reuters, Islamic University, Thomson Locations: Qatar, Gaza, Israel, Turkey, Doha, Iran, Al Jazeera, Meshaal, Muslim Iran, Egypt, Tehran, Iranian, Al, Gaza City, Al Jura, Ashkelon, Dubai

☆ Palestinian women and youths to be swapped for Israeli hostages
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Ali Sawafta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Jubilant reunions are expected when Palestinian families greet the prisoners on their return as early as Thursday, most of them to their homes in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem. Arrested for such offences as attempted stabbings, stone throwings at Israeli soldiers or having contacts with hostile organisations, many were held under administrative detention, meaning Israel held them without trial. Israel has agreed to a four-day truce, the entry of aid to Gaza and the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners in return for the hostages, all children or women. Another 150 Palestinian prisoners could be freed in return for another 50 hostages in days to come, a Palestinian official said. "The resistance didn't call this deal a swap deal but it is a deal for truce and ceasefire," he said.

Persons: Shir Torem, Gilad Shalit, Yahya Sinwar, James Mackenzie, Howard Goller Organizations: REUTERS, West Bank, Jerusalem, Qatari, Palestinian, Commission, Prisoners ' Affairs, Palestinian Authority, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Tel Aviv, Israel, RAMALLAH, East Jerusalem

☆ Opinion: The deep moral dilemma at the heart of the hostage deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Frida Ghitis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The deal, however, is hardly the stuff of unalloyed joy – for Palestinians or for Israel. And the deal arguably strengthens Hamas, allowing it to claim credit, catch its breath and regroup. But their voices were drowned by the strength of the hostages’ families. They simultaneously support the government’s aim of fighting Hamas so it can no longer threaten Israel. It’s a sign of a deep moral dilemma that will continue playing out in profound human suffering.

Persons: Frida Ghitis, Israel, –, Cpl, Gilad Shalit, Shalit, Yahya Sinwar, Israel –, It’s, Frida Ghitis It’s, Benjamin Netanyahu, Mohammed Al, Masri, embeds, Iran –, ”, “ Organizations: CNN, Washington Post, Politics, Hamas, Frida Ghitis CNN, Gaza, Israel’s Locations: Israel, Gaza, Sinwar, Egypt, Sinai, Iran, Palestinian

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