World
Middle East
Updated
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
‘I burst into tears’: Emotions high as World Vision worker freed in Gaza ceasefire exchange
Hamas freed three male hostages as Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners in the fourth exchange.
- by Roy Ward, Mohammad Jahjouh and Imad Isseid
Latest
Fears for Israel’s youngest hostage as Hamas releases father
The Bibas family became a potent symbol of Israel’s hostage crisis after video showed Palestinian militants leading away a distraught mother clutching her two small red-haired sons.
- by Erika Solomon
Updated
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Chaotic scenes as Hamas releases eight more hostages following Gaza truce
The latest release was delayed when crowds surrounded the hostages as they made their way to waiting Red Cross vehicles.
Hamas list shows eight hostages to be freed during ceasefire are dead
The news came as Israel began allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to the heavily destroyed northern Gaza Strip.
- by Samy Magdy
‘We’re worthless’: Israel blocks Palestinians going home to northern Gaza, kills 22 in Lebanon
Israeli forces opened fire on protesters demanding their planned withdrawal from Lebanon, while in Gaza, a dispute over a hostage appears settled.
- by Wafaa Shurafa, Samy Magdy and Joseph Krauss
Updated
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Here’s why Trump’s ‘clean out Gaza’ idea is rejected
The US president said resettling most of the strip’s population of 2.3 million in Jordan or Egypt could be “temporary or long term”. He’s already heard a firm “no”.
- by Joseph Krauss
Updated
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
‘You know, it’s over’: Trump floats plan to ‘just clean out’ Gaza
Donald Trump told reporters he wants Jordan, Egypt and other Arab nations to take in “probably a million and a half” Palestinians from the war-torn strip.
- by Will Weissert and Zeke Miller
Opinion
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Second hostage swap is a bitter pill for Netanyahu’s failed ambitions
For Israel’s prime minister, the safe release of four soldiers is only further proof that his ambitions for the Middle East have not been fully realised.
- by Amin Saikal
Updated
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Hamas releases four Israeli soldiers in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners
Live television footage showed the moment four female Israeli soldiers were paraded in front of a crowd in Gaza City before being handed over to the Red Cross.
- by Wafaa Shurafa and Samy Magdy
Hamas names four Israeli female soldier hostages to be freed in second swap
Israeli media said that the latest list was not in line with the original ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
- by Nidal al-Mughrabi and James Mackenzie
US security contractors going to Gaza to police truce, officials say
Israel hopes that the private security contractors will eventually form the nucleus of a larger international force, backed by Gulf states that will run Gaza.
- by Patrick Kingsley, Ronen Bergman and Aaron Boxerman
Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/world/middle-east