Hamas agrees to release 10 captives as Israeli attacks kill 74 in Gaza
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Militants kill 5 Israeli soldiers in Gaza and Israeli strikes kill 51 Palestinians
Hamas and Israel are meeting in Doha for proximity talks. Both sides say they’re open to framework for 60 day ceasefire. Netanyahu is under growing pressure to end the fighting. The Gaza Health Ministry reports scores of people died in Israeli strikes over the weekend. The total recent death toll is in the hundreds, with many dying near US-backed sites for food distribution. I agree to *** 60 day truce, even if it’s 50 days or 40 days just to rest *** little. The hostages need to get out by any means necessary right now. 20 of them presumed to be alive, including my two little brothers. They have limited time. It would entail the release of 10 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of 18 others. Hamas would see Israel’s partial withdrawal from northern Gaza and get back some Palestinian prisoners and detainees. The plan also would allow the to bring aid into Gaza. White House officials are urging both sides to seal an agreement that would bring about a 60-day pause in the fighting, send aid and free hostages.
Advertisement Militants kill 5 Israeli soldiers in Gaza and Israeli strikes kill 51 Palestinians Editorial Standards ⓘ
Five Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack in the northern Gaza Strip, Israel’s military said Tuesday, while health officials in the Palestinian territory said 51 people were killed in Israeli strikes.The bloodshed came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was visiting the White House for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump about a ceasefire plan to pause the Gaza fighting. While there was no announcement of a breakthrough, there were signs of progress toward a deal.The soldiers’ deaths could add to pressure on Netanyahu to strike a deal, as polls in Israel have shown widespread support for ending the 21-month war.A senior Israeli official said 80-90% of the details had been ironed out and a final agreement could be days away. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the sensitive negotiations with the media.Soldiers attacked with explosive devicesThe soldiers were killed roughly two weeks after Israel reported one of its deadliest days in months in Gaza, when seven soldiers were killed after a Palestinian attached a bomb to their armored vehicle.An Israeli security official said explosive devices were detonated against the five soldiers during an operation in the Beit Hanoun area in northern Gaza, an area where Israel has repeatedly fought regrouping militants.Militants also opened fire on the forces who were evacuating the wounded soldiers, the official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the attack with the media.The military said 14 soldiers were wounded in the attack, two of them seriously. It brings the toll of soldiers killed to 888 since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack ignited the war.Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for Hamas’ armed wing, said on social media that the attack was an “additional blow” against what he described as a “weak” army.In a statement, Netanyahu sent condolences, saying the soldiers fell “in a campaign to defeat Hamas and to free all of our hostages.”Children among the dead in Israeli strikesHealth officials at Nasser Hospital, where victims of the Israeli strikes were taken, said one strike targeted tents sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing four people. A separate strike in Khan Younis killed four people, including a mother, father and their two children, officials said.“He sleeps in the tent with his two children, Awda and Misk,” said Nisma al-Baiouk, the sister of one man killed. “My nephew Awda has no face, his face is gone.”Nasser Hospital records showed a total of 41 people killed on Tuesday.In central Gaza, Israeli strikes killed another 10 people and wounded 72, according to Awda Hospital in Nuseirat.Israel’s military had no immediate comment on the strikes, but it blames Hamas for any harm to civilians because the militants operate in populated areas.The fighting has pushed the health care system in Gaza close to collapse. On Tuesday, the Palestine Red Crescent said the Al-Zaytoun Medical Clinic in Gaza City ceased operations after shelling in the surrounding area. It said the closure would force thousands of civilians to walk long distances to get medical care or obtain vaccinations for children.Seeking a 60-day pause in fightingFollowing last month’s 12-day war between Israel and Iran, Trump has said he would like to see the Gaza war end soon.White House officials are urging both sides to quickly seal an agreement that would bring about a 60-day pause in the fighting, send aid flooding into Gaza and free at least some of the remaining 50 hostages held in the territory. Netanyahu has said 20 are alive.A sticking point has been whether the ceasefire will end the war altogether. Hamas has said it is willing to free all the hostages in exchange for an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Netanyahu says the war will end once Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile — something it refuses to do.The initial Hamas attack in 2023 killed some 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage. Most have been released in earlier ceasefires. Israel responded with an offensive that has killed over 57,000 Palestinian people, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.The ministry, which is under Gaza’s Hamas-run government, does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. The U.N. and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties. Khaled reported from Cairo and Shurafa from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip.
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Family of Nepalese hostage held in Gaza for 641 days breaks silence. The individual was among those captured during the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.
Family of Nepalese hostage held in Gaza for 641 days breaks silence
The family of a Nepalese citizen held hostage in Gaza for 641 days has decided to end its silence and publicly advocate for his release, according to a report in Haaretz. The individual was among those captured during the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. After this prolonged period of captivity, the family’s decision to speak out highlights growing frustration with the lack of progress in negotiations to free the estimated 50 hostages who are still believed to be alive in Gaza. The case underscores the international dimension of the crisis, as many of those captured were foreign nationals working in Israel at the time of the attacks.
Hamas agrees to release 10 captives as Israeli attacks kill 74 in Gaza
Hamas says ongoing talks remain ‘tough’ as Trump sees a ‘good chance’ of reaching 10 Israeli captives as part of continuing efforts to reach a “paves the way’ for the “tongue-in-cheek’s’ “I’m not going to tell you how to do it,” he said, “but I’ll tell you what to do.” He added that the ‘paves’ are “on the way for the second of the second” and “the first of the third”. “The third’ is “in the fourth”, and the fourth is ‘in the fifth’, and so on. ‘The sixth’ and ‘the seventh” are ‘on the eighth’. The ‘thirteenth’ has “been” “at least” in the sixth “and the fifth,’ he said. � “this’ was ‘at the seventh’ in the eighth,“at the ninth” was �
Hamas says it has agreed to release 10 Israeli captives as part of continuing efforts to reach a ceasefire in the besieged and bombarded Gaza Strip, but warned that ongoing talks for a truce were “tough” due to Israel’s “intransigence”.
The Palestinian group said on Wednesday that the ceasefire talks, spearheaded by key mediators Qatar and the United States and held in the Qatari capital Doha, have several sticking points, including the flow of desperately needed aid, withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and “genuine guarantees for a permanent ceasefire”.
Hamas official Taher al-Nunu said the group agreed to the latest truce proposal and “offered the necessary flexibility to protect our people, stop the crime of genocide, and allow the free and dignified entry and flow of aid to our people until we reach a complete end to the war”.
He added that the areas Israeli troops should withdraw to as part of the first phase of a ceasefire had to be drawn up in a way that does not affect Palestinian lives and “paves the way for the second phase of negotiations”.
The comments come as Israeli forces continued to pound various parts of the enclave, killing at least 74 people on Wednesday, eight of whom died while waiting for GHF aid.
“Unfortunately, this has become the norm: characterised by the ongoing bombardment and forced starvation and dehydration. People are getting killed trying to get food,” Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said.
The number of Palestinians killed at the US- and Israeli-backed GHF sites has surpassed 770, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
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“From day one of GHF operations there’s been an orgy of killing either by the Israeli military or the documented incident of GHF officers opening fire.”
The killings also come as health officials once again plead for the entry of much-needed fuel as hospitals are on the verge of collapse and patients’ lives are at risk.
Nasser Hospital, the main health facility in southern Gaza, issued a desperate warning as its fuel supplies run dry, saying it has entered “the crucial and final hours”.
“With the fuel counter nearing zero, doctors have entered the battle to save lives in a race against time, death, and darkness,” the hospital said in a statement.
“They work in operating rooms without air conditioning, the boiling heat, their faces are sweating, their bodies are weary of hunger and fatigue. But their eyes are still burning with hope and determination.”
Gaza’s already battered healthcare system has repeatedly come under Israeli attack throughout the assault. Hospitals and clinics have been bombed or damaged, medical staff killed or forced to flee, and vital supplies cut off.
‘Quake bombs’
The World Health Organization (WHO) says there have been more than 600 attacks on health facilities in Gaza since the conflict began in 2023.
The besieged health sector is “on its knees” with severe shortages of fuel and medical supplies, and the constant influx of mass casualties.
Just 18 of Gaza’s 36 general hospitals are partially functioning, according to the UN agency.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump, who has met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House, said there is a “very good chance” of a ceasefire in Gaza this week or next.
Earlier, Israel’s military chief Eyal Zamir said in a televised speech that “conditions have been created” for the advancement of a deal that is set to see the release of 10 captives – and the bodies of nine others.
Despite the prospects of a possible ceasefire, Israel has launched a barrage of missiles targeting densely populated residential areas in Gaza City.
Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud said an estimated 20 bombs were dropped on buildings in the Tuffah neighbourhood.
“These were ‘quake bombs’, they shook the buildings,” he said.
Israeli forces also launched another major assault in battered northern Gaza, specifically Beit Hanoon, after five Israeli soldiers were killed in a surprise Hamas attack on Tuesday.
The army has in recent days issued numerous forced evacuation orders for residents of northern Gaza, an area that has come under repeated ground and aerial assault throughout this deadly war.
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This includes Shati refugee camp, an area in the north of Gaza that was struck overnight in an attack that killed at least 30 people.
A local, Mohamed Jouda, recounted the attack.
“We were sitting at home, around midnight. Suddenly, the house collapsed on everyone inside – children, adults, and elderly people in their 70s and 80s,” Jouda told Al Jazeera as he sat on the rubble of his destroyed home.
Another survivor, Ismail al-Bardawil, said the attack “felt like an earthquake”.
“A whole neighbourhood collapsed,” he said from the densely populated camp west of Gaza City, where structures are built right next to each other.
“Seven little kids died here. Over there, 10 more children. The only adult was an old man, around 70 years old. What was their fault?” al-Bardawil said.
Israel launches airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels, and Houthis launch missile at Israel
Israeli military says it struck Houthi-held ports at Hodeida, Ras Isa and Salif, as well as the Ras Kanatib power plant. The attacks came after an attack Sunday targeting a Liberian-flagged ship in the Red Sea that caught fire and took on water, later forcing its crew to abandon the vessel. The ship attack comes at a sensitive moment in the Middle East, as a possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war hangs in the balance. Iran weighs whether to restart negotiations over its nuclear program following American airstrikes targeting its most sensitive atomic sites during an Israeli war against the Islamic Republic. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also was traveling to Washington to meet with Trump. Israel’s Defense Minister threatened to launch further strikes for Yemen, saying “Anyone who raises a hand against Israel will have it cut against Israel’s hand” The Houthis will continue to pay a heavy price for their actions, Israel’s defense minister said. The Israeli military said it attempted to intercept the two missiles launched by the Houthis, but they appeared to make impact.
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Israel’s military launched airstrikes early Monday targeting ports and facilities held by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, with the rebels responding with missile fire targeting Israel.The attacks came after an attack Sunday targeting a Liberian-flagged ship in the Red Sea that caught fire and took on water, later forcing its crew to abandon the vessel.Suspicion for the attack on the Greek-owned bulk carrier Magic Seas immediately fell on the Houthis, particularly as a security firm said bomb-carrying drone boats appeared to hit the ship after it was targeted by small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. The rebels’ media reported on the attack but did not claim it. It can take them days sometimes before they acknowledge an assault.A renewed Houthi campaign against shipping could again draw in U.S. and Western forces to the area, particularly after President Donald Trump targeted the rebels in a major airstrike campaign.The ship attack comes at a sensitive moment in the Middle East, as a possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war hangs in the balance and as Iran weighs whether to restart negotiations over its nuclear program following American airstrikes targeting its most sensitive atomic sites during an Israeli war against the Islamic Republic. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also was traveling to Washington to meet with Trump.Israeli strikes target Houthi-held portsThe Israeli military said it struck Houthi-held ports at Hodeida, Ras Isa and Salif, as well as the Ras Kanatib power plant. It released footage showing an F-16 launching from Israel for the strike, which came after the Israeli military issued a warning for the area.“These ports are used by the Houthi terrorist regime to transfer weapons from the Iranian regime, which are employed to carry out terrorist operations against the state of Israel and its allies,” the Israeli military said.The Israeli military also said it struck the Galaxy Leader, a vehicle-carrying vessel that the Houthis seized back in November 2023 when they began their attacks in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war.“Houthi forces installed a radar system on the ship and have been using it to track vessels in the international maritime arena to facilitate further terrorist activities,” the Israeli military said.The Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader was affiliated with an Israeli billionaire. It said no Israelis were on board. The ship had been operated by a Japanese firm NYK Line.The Houthis acknowledged the strikes, but offered no damage assessment from the attack. Their military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, claimed its air defense forces “effectively confronted” the Israelis without offering evidence.Israel has repeatedly attacked Houthi areas in Yemen, including a naval strike in June. Both Israel and the United States have struck ports in the area in the past — including an American attack that killed 74 people in April — but Israel is now acting alone in attacking the rebels as they continue to fire missiles at Israel.Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened to launch further strikes.“What’s true for Iran is true for Yemen,” Katz said in a statement. “Anyone who raises a hand against Israel will have it cut off. The Houthis will continue to pay a heavy price for their actions.”The Houthis then responded with an apparent missile attack on Israel. The Israeli military said it attempted to intercept the two missiles launched by the Houthis, but they appeared to make impact, though no injuries have been reported. Sirens sounded in the West Bank and along the Dead Sea.Saree on Monday claimed launching missiles and drones targeting Israel in its attack.“We are fully prepared for a sustained and prolonged confrontation, to confront hostile warplanes and to counter attempts to break the naval blockade imposed by our armed forces on the enemy,” Saree said.Ship attack forces crew to abandon vesselThe attack on the Magic Seas, a bulk carrier heading north to Egypt’s Suez Canal, happened some 60 miles southwest of Hodeida, Yemen, which is held by the Houthis. The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center first said that an armed security team on the vessel had returned fire against an initial attack of gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades, though the vessel later was struck by projectiles.Ambrey, a private maritime security firm, said the Magic Seas also had been attacked by bomb-carrying drone boats, which could be a major escalation. It said two drone boats struck the ship, while another two had been destroyed by the armed guards on board.The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said the ship was taking on water and its crew had abandoned the vessel. They were rescued by a passing ship, it added.Moammar al-Eryani, the information minister for Yemen’s exiled government opposing the Houthis, identified the vessel attacked as the Magic Seas and blamed the rebels. The ship had been broadcasting it had an armed security team on board in the vicinity where the attack took place and had been heading north.“The attack also proves once again that the Houthis are merely a front for an Iranian scheme using Yemen as a platform to undermine regional and global stability, at a time when Tehran continues to arm the militia and provide it with military technology, including missiles, aircraft, drones, and sea mines,” al-Eryani wrote on the social platform X.The Magic Seas’ owners did not respond to a request for comment.Houthi attacks came over the Israel-Hamas warThe Houthi rebels have been launching missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the region in what the group’s leadership has described as an effort to end Israel’s offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.Between November 2023 and January 2025, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors. Their campaign has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it annually. Shipping through the Red Sea, while still lower than normal, has increased in recent weeks.The Houthis paused attacks until the U.S. launched a broad assault against the rebels in mid-March. That ended weeks later and the Houthis haven’t attacked a vessel, though they have continued occasional missile attacks targeting Israel.
Israel-Gaza War: Hamas Ready For Ceasefire Talks ‘Immediately’, Donald Trump Says ‘That’s Good’
Hamas says it is ready to start talks “immediately” on a proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, reported AFP. Hamas ally Islamic Jihad said it supported ceasefire talks, it demanded “guarantees” that Israel “will not resume its aggression” once hostages held in Gaza are freed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to bring home the hostages, after coming under massive domestic pressure over their fate. Israel-Hamas war is nearly 21 months old and have created dire humanitarian conditions for two million people in the Gaza Strip. Israel has recently expanded its military operations.
The announcement by Hamas arrived following it held consultations with other Palestinian factions and before a visit on Monday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington.
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The militant group statement said, as quoted by AFP, “The movement is ready to engage immediately and seriously in a cycle of negotiations on the mechanism to put in place the terms of a draft US-backed truce proposal received from mediators.”
Though Hamas ally Islamic Jihad said it supported ceasefire talks, it demanded “guarantees” that Israel “will not resume its aggression” once hostages held in Gaza are freed.
Earlier on Friday, on being asked about Hamas’s response aboard Air Force One, United States President Donald Trump said, “That’s good. They haven’t briefed me on it. We have to get it over with. We have to do something about Gaza.”
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to bring home the hostages, after coming under massive domestic pressure over their fate.
Previous efforts:
Mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, the region witnessed two ceasefires which resulted in temporary halts in fighting, coupled with the return of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
| Israeli strikes kill 74 at Gaza café; dozens more shot while seeking food
Also, a previous round of talks broke down in May with Hamas and Israel, as the primary point of contention being Israel’s rejection of Hamas’s demand for guarantees that any new ceasefire will be lasting.
Hamas stated it had given a “positive response” to a truce proposal from US special envoy Steve Witkoff, however, its request for a guarantee that hostilities would not resume had been rejected by Israel.
The latest proposal for a truce includes “a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release half of the living Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip in exchange for Israel releasing a number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees”, reported AFP quoting a source.
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As per the details, among the 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the October 2023 attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
The Israel-Hamas war is nearly 21 months old and have created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip. Israel has recently expanded its military operations.
With agency inputs.
More to come…