By Mai Yaghi with Chloe Rouveyrolles-Bazire in Jerusalem GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Dec 11, 2023 (AFP) – Israel bombed southern Gaza’s main city on Monday after Hamas warned no Israeli hostages would leave the territory alive unless its demands for prisoner releases were met. Hamas triggered the conflict when the group carried out the deadliest-ever attack on Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures, and taking about 240 hostages back to […]
Tag: HOSTAGES
Hamas warns hostages doomed unless demands met
By Mai Yaghi with Chloe Rouveyrolles-Bazire in Jerusalem GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Dec 10, 2023 (AFP) – Hamas warned Sunday that no hostages would leave Gaza alive unless its demands for prisoner releases are met, while the World Health Organization said the territory’s health system was collapsing after more than two months of war. Hamas triggered the conflict with the deadliest-ever attack on Israel on October 7 in which it killed some 1,200 people, according […]
Qatar says efforts to renew Israel-Hamas truce ‘continuing’
DOHA, Dec 10, 2023 (AFP) – Mediation efforts are continuing to secure a new Gaza ceasefire despite ongoing Israeli bombardment that is “narrowing the window” for a successful outcome, Qatar’s prime minister said Sunday. “Our efforts as the state of Qatar along with our partners are continuing. We are not going to give up,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told the Doha Forum more than two months into the Israel-Hamas war. Qatar was a […]
Israeli forces push into southern Gaza
By Adel Zaanoun with Jonah Mandel in Jerusalem GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories, Dec 10, 2023 (AFP) – Israeli forces pushed Sunday into southern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled in search of shelter from bombardments and intense fighting with Hamas militants. Aid groups have sounded the alarm on the “apocalyptic” humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, warning it is on the brink of being overwhelmed by disease and starvation. Hamas, which runs […]
Israeli forces encircle main southern Gaza city
By Adel Zaanoun GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Dec 6, 2023 (AFP) – Israeli forces were encircling southern Gaza’s main city on Wednesday, battling Hamas militants through streets and buildings in some of the most intense combat of the two-month war. The focus of the conflict has shifted into the besieged territory’s south following fierce fighting and bombardment that reduced much of the north to rubble and forced nearly two million people to flee their homes. […]
Israeli troops battle Hamas militants in southern Gaza
By Adel Zaanoun with Sebastien Berger in Jerusalem GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Dec 5, 2023 (AFP) – Israeli troops battled Hamas militants in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday after expanding their offensive deeper into the besieged territory, with warnings that an “even more hellish scenario” was unfolding for trapped civilians. Israel had initially focused its offensive on the north of the territory, but the army is now also dropping leaflets on parts of the […]
Israel strikes Gaza as pressure mounts to protect civilians
By Adel Zaanoun with Sebastien Berger in Jerusalem GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Dec 3, 2023 (AFP) – Israel carried out deadly bombardments in Gaza on Sunday as international calls mounted for greater protection of civilians and the renewal of an expired truce with Palestinian militant group Hamas. The Israeli army said it had conducted more than 400 strikes in Gaza since a ceasefire collapsed on Friday, with the Hamas government saying at least 240 people […]
US ‘intensely focused’ on hostages despite end of Gaza truce: Blinken
DUBAI, Dec 1, 2023 (AFP) – The United States remains “intensely focused” on freeing hostages held in Gaza despite the resumption of the Israel-Hamas war after a week-long truce, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday. “We remained intensely focused on getting everyone home, getting hostages back, something that I also worked on today,” he said, after meeting Arab foreign ministers in Dubai. Blinken met with the top diplomats of the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, […]
‘Hard blow’ for Israeli hostage families as truce ends
TEL AVIV, Dec 1, 2023 (AFP) – The families of hostages still being held in Gaza on Friday said the end of a truce that saw 80 kidnapped Israelis freed was a “very hard blow” to bear. Under an agreement between Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel, the hostages were being released at a rate of 10 each day, forcing the families to endure an agonising waiting game. But as the pause in the conflict […]
The eight hostages released by Hamas on Thursday
PARIS, Dec 1, 2023 (AFP) – Eight Israeli hostages, including six women aged between 21 and 41, were released by Hamas on Thursday, according to accounts given by their relatives to AFP, information from the Israeli press and the Hostage Families Forum. The truce agreement between Israel and Hamas stipulates that a minimum of 10 Israeli hostages should be released alive each day. The release of two Russian-Israeli women in addition to 10 others a […]
Hamas open to truce extension as US urges Gaza ‘safe’ zones
By Adel Zaanoun with Leon Bruneau in Tel Aviv GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Nov 30, 2023 (AFP) – Hamas is willing to further extend a truce for hostage and prisoner exchanges, a source close to the militant group said Thursday, and the United States urged Israel to set up safe zones for Gaza civilians as a pause in their deadly war neared expiry. International pressure has risen for a lasting halt to the war, sparked […]
Israel says it received new list of hostages to be released
JERUSALEM, Nov 30, 2023 (AFP) – The Israeli government said it received a new list of women and children hostages in the Gaza Strip to be released by Hamas on Thursday in exchange for a one-day extension of the truce. “A short time ago, Israel was given a list of women and children in accordance with the terms of the agreement, and therefore the truce will continue,” said the statement from the Israeli Prime Minister’s […]





