I also know you feel strongly about events in the Middle East and how those realities connect to the Eurovision Song Contest. No one can fail to be moved by what we have seen in the region in the past few years,
The job of his volunteer team was to hold off any attackers for 20 minutes to allow the Israel Defense Forces time to arrive. The soldiers didn't arrive. Tamir and his friends held them for two hours. At 8.26am, 14 minutes before they were overcome, Tamir sent a text message to his wife: Don't open the door. Even if it's me. Badly injured, Tamir was initially left for dead.
Biden hammered out the first deal toward an armistice on Nov. 23 of that year, just a month and a half after the war began. It called for a four-day ceasefire, the release of 50 Israeli hostages and 50 Palestinian prisoners, and the release of 10 more with each day's extension of the truce. Biden's hope was that the incentive would lead to the freeing of all hostages and a permanent peace.
To Israel, the return of the remains is paramount to the agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had approved slashing the number of aid trucks entering Gaza if more bodies were not returned,but after Hamas returned some of the bodies on Tuesday, Israel decided against it. More bodies are expected to be returned Wednesday. A multinational task force will share information on the possible locations of the deceased hostages and conduct search operations.
Just a day earlier, Ben-Gvir led a group of Jewish worshippers in prayer on the Temple Mount, the flashpoint site in Jerusalem that also houses the Al Aqsa Mosque, and called for "total victory" in Gaza. Now he was sitting with his fellow ministers to discuss how to bring to an end two years of hostilities that had reduced much of Gaza to a charred wasteland-but had left Hamas still standing.
President Donald Trump announced a deal that aims to bring an end to the brutal war between Israel and Hamas. If it holds, brokering the agreement that leads to a lasting cease-fire and the return of all Israeli hostages could be one of the biggest accomplishments of his presidency. On the surface, this certainly sounds like the kind of thing that could win a president the Nobel Peace Prize. And as it happens, the 2025 prize will be announced on Friday.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has praised US President Donald Trump's leadership in the Gaza peace talks, claiming the deal "would not have happened" without him. On Wednesday, Trump announced Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of his 20-point peace plan, in a major step towards a permanent end to their war. It comes two years and two days after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken hostage.
Instead of building a better life for the Palestinians, Hamas diverted resources to build over 400 miles of tunnels and terror infrastructure, rocket production facilities, and hid their military command posts and launch sites in hospitals, schools, and mosques. So if you went after them, you'd be after them, and you wouldn't even realize you ended up knocking out a hospital or school or a mosque. That's a terrible thing. Terrible, terrible way to have to fight. No fight is good, but that's a real bad one.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Friday and chastized some of his fellow world leaders in a defiant speech, vowing to finish the job against Hamas in Gaza. Netanyahu also claimed that Israeli intelligence had managed to hack every cell phone in Gaza to broadcast his address on every device in the Strip, allowing him to speak directly to the people of Gaza as well as the remaining Israeli hostages.
Israel's strike on Hamas leaders in Doha is condemned around the world. Israel's bombing of a residential building in the capital, Doha, that was housing Hamas leaders, has drawn global condemnation. Fighter jets fired missiles into a residential compound in central Doha, where leaders of Hamas were meeting to discuss a US proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Today, Israel attacked Hamas, apparently targeting its lead negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, in Doha, the capital of Qatar. This tactic is not endorsed in Getting to Yes or in any other guide to negotiation or international law. It is, however, consistent with the stated view of Israel's leadership, which is that avowed members of a group engaged in ongoing acts of terror are valid targets wherever they happen to be.
Israel today launched an air strike on Hamas leaders in Doha, the capital of Qatar, where they were discussing a possible peace deal in Gaza-a move that signals three things. First, no ceasefire, much less an enduring peace, is anywhere near, much less on, the table. Second, Hamas is in weaker shape than ever. But third, despite its military advantages, Israel is widening the war at huge political risks.
Israel launched an attack on the leadership of Hamas in Qatar on Tuesday, expanding its military actions that have ranged across the Middle East to include the Gulf Arab state where the Palestinian Islamist group has long had its political base. An Israeli official confirmed to Reuters that Israel had carried out an attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar. Qatar's Al Jazeera television, citing a Hamas source, said the attack targeted Hamas Gaza ceasefire negotiators.
