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Qatar says ‘we will need time’ for Gaza ceasefire

Update Qatar says ‘we will need time’ for Gaza ceasefire
A Palestinian woman mourns next to the body of a child, killed in an Israeli strike according to medics, at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. (Reuters)
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Updated 08 July 2025

Qatar says ‘we will need time’ for Gaza ceasefire

Qatar says ‘we will need time’ for Gaza ceasefire
  • Qatar says the meetings in Doha are focused on a framework for the talks
  • US President Donald Trump earlier voiced optimism about a possible breakthrough

DOHA: Qatar said Tuesday more time was needed for negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, after US President Donald Trump voiced optimism about a possible breakthrough.

“I don’t think that I can give any timeline at the moment, but I can say right now that we will need time for this,” Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said as indirect negotiations continued into a third day in Doha.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington, meanwhile, on his third visit to the White House since Trump returned to power.

Trump, who is pushing for a ceasefire, expressed confidence a deal could be reached, saying: “I don’t think there is a hold-up. I think things are going along very well.”

Qatar, a mediator along with the United States and Egypt, said the meetings in Doha were focused on a framework for the talks, while a Palestinian official close to the negotiations said no breakthrough had been achieved so far.

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff was set to join the talks in Doha this week.

On the ground, five Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in northern Gaza — one of the deadliest days this year for Israeli forces in the Palestinian territory.

Gaza’s civil defense meanwhile reported 29 killed in Israeli strikes on Tuesday.

Israel and Hamas began the latest round of negotiations on Sunday, with representatives seated in separate rooms within the same building.

At the White House, sitting across from Netanyahu, Trump said Hamas was willing to end the Gaza conflict, now in its 22nd month.

“They want to meet and they want to have that ceasefire,” Trump said when asked if ongoing clashes would derail talks.

An Israeli official accompanying Netanyahu to Washington said the proposal under discussion was “80-90 percent of what Israel wanted.”

“I believe that with military and political pressure, all the hostages can be returned,” the official told Israeli media.

According to Ariel Kahana of Israel Hayom daily, “President Trump and his advisers are currently exerting considerable effort to reach an agreement that would lead to the release of the hostages and could even end the war in Gaza.”

However, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir opposed negotiations with Hamas, saying that “there is no need to negotiate with those who murder our fighters; they must be torn to shreds.”

Netanyahu described the loss of five soldiers in Gaza as a “difficult morning” and mourned “our heroic soldiers who risked their lives in the battle to defeat Hamas and free all our hostages.”

Israeli military correspondents reported the deaths occurred due to improvised explosive devices near Beit Hanun in northern Gaza.

According to the Israeli military, 450 soldiers have been killed in the Gaza military campaign since the start of the ground offensive on October 27, 2023.

Gaza’s civil defense agency reported 29 people killed in Israeli strikes across the territory, including three children.

Mahmud Bassal, a spokesman for the agency, said nine of those were killed in a drone strike on a camp for displaced people in southern Gaza.

“I was in front of my tent preparing breakfast for my four children – beans and a bit of dry bread. Suddenly, there was an explosion,” said Shaimaa Al-Shaer, 30, who lives in the camp.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military when contacted by AFP.

The war has created dire humanitarian conditions for Gaza’s more than two million people.

While Israel has the full backing of the Trump administration, the US leader has increasingly pushed for an end to what he called the “hell” in Gaza and said on Sunday he believed there was a “good chance” of an agreement this coming week.

“The utmost priority for the president right now in the Middle East is to end the war in Gaza and to return all of the hostages,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

The US proposal included a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and several bodies in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel, two Palestinian sources close to the discussions had earlier said.

Hamas was also demanding certain conditions for Israel’s withdrawal, guarantees against a resumption of fighting during negotiations, and the return of the UN-led aid distribution system, they said.

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

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

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 57,575 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The UN considers the figures reliable.


Germany urges Israel to show ‘restraint’ in Gaza

Updated 14 sec ago

Germany urges Israel to show ‘restraint’ in Gaza

Germany urges Israel to show ‘restraint’ in Gaza
“We appeal to Israel to exercise military restraint in order to prevent further suffering,” Wadephul said
Wadephul also called on Hamas to “fulfil its part of the agreement”

BERLIN: German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Wednesday expressed “deep concern” after the deadliest night of bombing in Gaza since a US-brokered truce went into effect earlier this month.
Gaza’s civil defense agency said the strikes had killed more than 100 people, including at least 35 children, a toll confirmed by an AFP tally of medical sources at five hospitals in Gaza.
“We appeal to Israel to exercise military restraint in order to prevent further suffering,” Wadephul said in a ministry statement released ahead of a planned trip to the region.
Israel carried out strikes on dozens of Hamas targets overnight to Wednesday following the death of a soldier.
After the strikes, the Israeli military said it had begun “renewed enforcement of the ceasefire,” though explosions could still be seen on an AFP live video feed of the Gaza skyline after the statement was issued.
US President Donald Trump, who helped to broker the nearly three-week-old truce, had earlier said that nothing would be allowed to jeopardize it. But he also endorsed Israel’s right to “hit back” if attacked.
Wadephul also called on Hamas to “fulfil its part of the agreement... to lay down its arms and finally hand over all the remains of the deceased hostages.
“Following the agreement between Israel and Hamas on a ceasefire, there is hope for lasting peace, which we must continue to work toward,” he added.
Wadephul will first visit Jordan before heading to Lebanon and Bahrain, according to his ministry.
“During my trip to the Middle East, I intend to discuss with our partners where and how Germany can specifically accompany and support the next steps,” he said.

Israel defense minister warns Hamas leadership will have no immunity

Israel defense minister warns Hamas leadership will have no immunity
Updated 29 October 2025

Israel defense minister warns Hamas leadership will have no immunity

Israel defense minister warns Hamas leadership will have no immunity

JERUSALEM: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Hamas leaders on Wednesday that they would have no immunity after a wave of Israeli air strikes on Gaza that followed an attack on its troops.
“There will be no immunity for anyone in the leadership of the terrorist organization Hamas — neither for those in suits nor for those hiding in tunnels,” Katz said, referring to several Hamas political leaders residing in Doha.
“Whoever raises a hand against an (Israeli) soldier, his hand will be severed. The (Israeli military) has been instructed to act decisively against every Hamas target and will continue to do so.”
Qatar has played a key mediating role in indirect talks between Israel and Hamas since the outbreak of the war in October 2023, and is among the guarantors of the fragile peace deal, along with Egypt, the United States and Turkiye.
On September 9, Israel attacked Hamas negotiators in Doha, triggering widespread condemnation and drawing a rebuke from US President Donald Trump.
Weeks later, Israel and Hamas accepted a 20-point peace plan presented by Trump that called for the release of Gaza hostages and Palestinian prisoners, as well as a ceasefire after two years of war.


WFP says two top staff to be expelled from Sudan

WFP says two top staff to be expelled from Sudan
Updated 29 October 2025

WFP says two top staff to be expelled from Sudan

WFP says two top staff to be expelled from Sudan
  • The expulsions were announced days after paramilitaries seized the key city of El Fasher in the western region of Darfur

ROME: The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) said Wednesday that its two top staff in Sudan had been ordered to leave the war-torn country by the foreign ministry.
The country director and emergency coordinator “have been designated as persona non grata, and asked to leave the country within 72 hours, without any explanation,” the Rome-based agency said in a statement.
WFP and senior UN officials were engaging with Sudanese authorities to protest the decision, which came “at a pivotal time,” it said.
“Humanitarian needs in Sudan have never been greater with more than 24 million people facing acute food insecurity and communities impacted by famine,” it said.
“At a moment when WFP and its partners need to be expanding their reach, this decision forces WFP to implement unplanned leadership changes, jeopardizing operations that support millions of vulnerable Sudanese facing extreme hunger, malnutrition, and even starvation,” it said.
The expulsions were announced days after paramilitaries seized the key city of El-Fasher in the western region of Darfur.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), locked in a brutal war with the army since April 2023, had launched a final assault on the city in recent days, seizing the army’s last positions.
The capture of El-Fasher has sparked fears of mass killings reminiscent of the region’s darkest days.
Analysts say Sudan is now effectively partitioned along an east-west axis, with the RSF running a parallel government across Darfur while the army is entrenched along the Nile and Red Sea in the north, east and center.


Israeli strikes kill 104 people, bringing grief to Gazans trying to rebuild

Israeli strikes kill 104 people, bringing grief to Gazans trying to rebuild
Updated 10 min 37 sec ago

Israeli strikes kill 104 people, bringing grief to Gazans trying to rebuild

Israeli strikes kill 104 people, bringing grief to Gazans trying to rebuild
  • The Gaza health ministry said that 46 children and 20 women were among the 104 people killed in Israeli strikes since Tuesday

CAIRO/JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said on Wednesday that it will abide by a ceasefire accord in Gaza, as health officials in the enclave said airstrikes had killed 104 people, with both sides trading blame for violations of the deal.
Israel launched airstrikes in Gaza late on Tuesday, saying it acted after an attack by Palestinian militants killed one soldier, in the latest challenge to an already fragile ceasefire.
The Israeli military said in a statement that it would continue to uphold the ceasefire agreement and would respond firmly to “any violation.”

Ceasefire not at risk, Trump says
US President Donald Trump said that the US-backed ceasefire was not at risk, even as Israeli planes struck across Gaza, with Israel and militant group Hamas blaming each other for breaches of the truce.
The Gaza health ministry said that 46 children and 20 women were among the 104 people killed in Israeli strikes since Tuesday. Reuters couldn’t immediately verify the numbers, but Reuters video showed several bodies of women and children inside a hospital during funeral processions.
“As I understand it, they took out an Israeli soldier,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “So the Israelis hit back and they should hit back. When that happens, they should hit back,” he added.
The Israeli military confirmed the soldier’s death on Wednesday.
“Nothing is going to jeopardize” the ceasefire, Trump said. “You have to understand Hamas is a very small part of peace in the Middle East, and they have to behave.”

Israel says Hamas attacked soldiers within “yellow line”
Some displaced Palestinians feared the truce was falling apart. Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three children, recalled the sounds of explosions throughout the night, a reminder of a war that has killed tens of thousands.
“It was one of the worst nights since the ceasefire was signed. The sounds of explosions and planes made us feel as if war had started again,” Zayda, who lives in tents in western Gaza City with his 25-member family, told Reuters via a chat app.
An Israeli military official said Hamas had violated the ceasefire by carrying out an attack against Israeli forces who were stationed within the so-called “yellow line,” the deployment line agreed upon in the ceasefire.
Hamas denied responsibility for the attack on Israeli forces in Rafah, in southern Gaza, and said in a statement that it remained committed to the ceasefire deal.
The agreement went into effect on October 10, halting two years of war triggered by deadly Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Accord involves return of hostage remains
Under the accord, Hamas released all living hostages in return for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and wartime detainees, while Israel pulled back its troops and halted its offensive.
Hamas also agreed to hand over the remains of all dead hostages yet to be recovered, but has said that it will take time to locate and retrieve all of the bodies. Israel says the militant group can access the remains of most of the hostages.
The issue has become one of the main sticking points in the ceasefire, which Trump says he is watching closely.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said human remains handed over on Monday night belonged to an Israeli killed during Hamas’ October 7 attack, whose body was recovered by Israeli forces in the early weeks of fighting.
The Israeli military said that Hamas had planted the remains at an excavation site before calling in a Red Cross team and pretending it had found a missing hostage, to create a “false impression of efforts to locate bodies.”
A 14-minute video published by the military showed three men placing a white bag at an excavation site and then covering it with earth and rocks.
Reuters was able to independently confirm the location of the video, but was unable to verify the date of the video or Israel’s account of what the video showed.
Hamas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The ICRC said its team was unaware that the remains had been planted at the site before their arrival.
“It is unacceptable that a fake recovery was staged, when so much depends on this agreement being upheld and when so many families are still anxiously awaiting news of their loved ones,” the ICRC said in a statement.


Over 1,850 Sudanese civilians killed in North Darfur this year, UN says, calls for El-Fasher siege to end

Over 1,850 Sudanese civilians killed in North Darfur this year, UN says, calls for El-Fasher siege to end
Updated 29 October 2025

Over 1,850 Sudanese civilians killed in North Darfur this year, UN says, calls for El-Fasher siege to end

Over 1,850 Sudanese civilians killed in North Darfur this year, UN says, calls for El-Fasher siege to end
  • True toll likely to be higher because access to area is restricted and there are communications challenges amid the civil war
  • UN secretary-general condemns violations in El-Fasher including indiscriminate attacks, targeting of civilians, gender-based violence, and ethnically motivated violence

NEW YORK CITY: More than 1,850 Sudanese civilians have been killed in North Darfur since January, including an estimated 1,350 in the besieged city of El-Fasher, the UN said on Monday.

However, the true toll is likely to be higher because access to the area is restricted and there are communications challenges amid the civil war in Sudan.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said people in El-Fasher and the surrounding areas have endured severe suffering under a lengthy, tightening siege by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, one of the warring military factions in the country. Malnutrition, disease and violence continue to claim lives daily.

“The secretary-general strongly condemns reports of violations of international humanitarian law and abuses of human rights in El-Fasher, including indiscriminate attacks, targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure, gender-based violence, and ethnically motivated attacks,” Dujarric said.

He repeated calls for an immediate end to the siege and for safe, unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in need.

Dujarric also expressed alarm at the continuing influx of weapons and fighters into Sudan, which is worsening an already desperate situation.

Humanitarian organizations have reported that many civilians are fleeing toward Tawila, and they often arrive malnourished, sick and traumatized after dangerous journeys.

Despite the dangers, UN agencies and their partner organizations are attempting to provide essential aid, including shelter and medical services.

The UN urged both of the warring factions, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF, to engage fully with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ envoy for Sudan, and to take swift steps toward reaching a negotiated settlement of the conflict, which began in April 2023.

Fighting has also intensified in North Kordofan state, forcing thousands more people to flee their homes.

“The international community must urgently act to protect civilians and ensure safe humanitarian access, while scaling up support for operations across Darfur and other affected areas in Sudan,” Dujarric said.