/ Mar 14, 2025
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The families of the first hostages released under the long-awaited Israel–Hamas ceasefire are set to speak in a press conference for the first time since they returned to Israel.
British-Israeli Emily Damari, 28, was freed on Sunday alongside Romi Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, after what the family described as nearly 500 “tortuous days” in captivity.
Moving footage showed Ms Damari joyfully reuniting with her family as she held up her bandaged hand on a video call to other relatives.
Ms Damari’s family, as well as Ms Gonen and Ms Steinbrecher’s, will speak outside the South Building of Safra Children’s Hospital at Sheba Medical Center, Israel, at around 6.15pm GMT.
It comes as Gazans have expressed their shock at the “total devastation” wrought on Gaza by 15 months of devastating war that has left more than 47,000 Palestinians dead.
“The amount of people feeling shocked is countless because of what happened to their homes – it’s destruction, total destruction,” displaced Gazan Mohamed Gomaa, who returned to Rafah on Monday, said.
The families of the first hostages released under the long-awaited Israel-Hamas ceasefire are set to speak in a press conference for the first time since they returned to Israel.
British-Israeli Emily Damari, 28, was freed on Sunday alongside Romi Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, after what the family described as nearly 500 “tortuous days” in captivity.
Moving footage showed Ms Damari joyfully reuniting with her family as she held up her bandaged hand on a video call to other relatives.
Ms Damari’s family, as well as Ms Gonen and Ms Steinbrecher’s, will speak outside the South Building of Safra Children’s Hospital at Sheba Medical Center, Israel, at around 6.15pm GMT.
Alexander Butler20 January 2025 18:19
Alexander Butler20 January 2025 18:17
Alexander Butler20 January 2025 17:30
Qatar hasannounced plans to supply post-ceasefire Gaza with resources via a “land bridge” at Kerem Shalom, on the border between Egypt, Israel and the coastal Palestinian enclave.
After sending 25 fuel trucks to Gaza on Monday, Qatar plans to supply Gaza with 3.3 million gallons (12.5 million liters) of fuel over the next 10 days, its Foreign Ministry said on Monday. The fuel is intended to provide basic services and power hospitals and shelters.
Over the course of the 16-month war, the majority of aid has crossed into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing, although it has intermittently closed amid disagreements over what kind of aid can be allowed into the strip. Israel previously restricted entry of some equipment, arguing it could be used for military purposes by Hamas.
Allowing more aid into Gaza is a central tenet of the ceasefire deal’s first phase and will be key to later reconstruction efforts. The deal allows for hundreds of trucks – more than Israel has previously allowed – to deliver aid to Gaza.
Egypt’s state-run press center said Monday that at least 300 aid trucks entered Kerem Shalom and and the Nitzana crossing to the south since the ceasefire took effect, as well as 12 diesel trucks and four gas trucks.
However, some of those trucks have carried food aid labeled for UNRWA, the UN agency that Israel has vowed to ban from operating even as it remains the primary distributor of aid in Gaza.
Truck drivers told The Associated Press that throughout the war, vehicles have been turned back for minor bureaucratic infractions or not having aid properly packaged or wrapped.
“If items are approved, we unload them and head back to Egypt – Some trucks have to drive all the way back with packages they left with that contain expired food aid or that the driver’s or truck information is not listed correctly,” driver Hamdy Emad said.
Tara Cobham20 January 2025 17:15
Palestinians returning to their homes in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah after the ceasefire found homes and neighborhoods flattened after eight months of Israel’s military offensive.
“We found destruction, destruction,” said Mohamed Abu al-Kheir, a Palestinian man who shelters in a tent in the city of Khan Younis. “There is nothing to live in. There is no furniture or anything.”
Associated Press footage showed large swaths of Rafah turned into rubble. People were seen searching the remains of their homes. Others searched two military vehicles that Israeli forces left behind when they withdrew from the area.
“Who wants to live in such destruction? No one will come to live here,” said Mahmoud Khamis, another Rafah resident whose house was destroyed.
Tara Cobham20 January 2025 17:00
The Israeli military has said a soldier has been killed and another seriously wounded in the West Bank.
The military declined to provide further details. Israeli media reported Monday that the soldiers’ vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in the northern West Bank overnight.
Tara Cobham20 January 2025 16:45
The militant Hezbollah movement has praised the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as a victory for the Palestinian people.
Hezbollah said in a statement issued on Monday that it was a partner in the Palestinian “victory,” adding that the Lebanese group opened a front with Israel in which it paid a high price on top of losing its top commanders, including leader Hassan Nasrallah, and thousands of supporters.
Tara Cobham20 January 2025 16:33
UK foreign secretary David Lammy has said it was “deeply moving” to see pictures of British-Israeli Emily Damari being reunited with her mother after she was released from Hamas’ captivity.
Speaking ahead of making a Commons statement on Ukraine, Mr Lammy told MPs: “I want to begin by welcoming the release of Emily Damari.
“After 471 days of captivity, she has been brought home. It was deeply moving to see those pictures of Emily and her mother Mandy reunited. I pay tribute once again to all those who campaigned so tirelessly for this moment.
“The Government will continue to work closely with our partners to secure the release of all the hostages, to get aid into Gaza, and to see this deal implemented in full.”
Tara Cobham20 January 2025 16:15
The longest-serving Palestinian inmate in Israeli jail, revered by militants as the “dean” of their prisoners, is among more than 200 Palestinians set to be deported under the Gaza ceasefire and hostages-for-prisoners swap.
Nael Barghouti, 67, has spent 44 years incarcerated by Israel, more than any other Palestinian. Jailed in 1978 for killing an Israeli bus driver, he was freed in 2011 in a previous swap but re-arrested three years later and held ever since.
Israel has said that Palestinians who have been convicted of killing Israelis must be permanently deported if they are freed under the Gaza ceasefire agreement, and will not be allowed to return to homes in the occupied West Bank.
Barghouti is one of 217 prisoners on a list from the Israeli justice ministry, cited by the Palestinian prisoners’ association, of those to be sent abroad.
His wife Eman Nafe, herself a former prisoner who spent 10 years in Israeli jail accused of plotting a suicide attack, said she thought he might reject release if it meant being sent abroad: “I am sure he will refuse this,” she told Reuters.
Tara Cobham20 January 2025 15:50
More than 630 humanitarian aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip on Sunday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council, with at least 300 of those trucks going to the enclave’s north, where the UN says famine looms.
The trucks entered on the first day of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas.
Tara Cobham20 January 2025 15:33
The families of the first hostages released under the long-awaited Israel–Hamas ceasefire are set to speak in a press conference for the first time since they returned to Israel.
British-Israeli Emily Damari, 28, was freed on Sunday alongside Romi Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, after what the family described as nearly 500 “tortuous days” in captivity.
Moving footage showed Ms Damari joyfully reuniting with her family as she held up her bandaged hand on a video call to other relatives.
Ms Damari’s family, as well as Ms Gonen and Ms Steinbrecher’s, will speak outside the South Building of Safra Children’s Hospital at Sheba Medical Center, Israel, at around 6.15pm GMT.
It comes as Gazans have expressed their shock at the “total devastation” wrought on Gaza by 15 months of devastating war that has left more than 47,000 Palestinians dead.
“The amount of people feeling shocked is countless because of what happened to their homes – it’s destruction, total destruction,” displaced Gazan Mohamed Gomaa, who returned to Rafah on Monday, said.
The families of the first hostages released under the long-awaited Israel-Hamas ceasefire are set to speak in a press conference for the first time since they returned to Israel.
British-Israeli Emily Damari, 28, was freed on Sunday alongside Romi Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, after what the family described as nearly 500 “tortuous days” in captivity.
Moving footage showed Ms Damari joyfully reuniting with her family as she held up her bandaged hand on a video call to other relatives.
Ms Damari’s family, as well as Ms Gonen and Ms Steinbrecher’s, will speak outside the South Building of Safra Children’s Hospital at Sheba Medical Center, Israel, at around 6.15pm GMT.
Alexander Butler20 January 2025 18:19
Alexander Butler20 January 2025 18:17
Alexander Butler20 January 2025 17:30
Qatar hasannounced plans to supply post-ceasefire Gaza with resources via a “land bridge” at Kerem Shalom, on the border between Egypt, Israel and the coastal Palestinian enclave.
After sending 25 fuel trucks to Gaza on Monday, Qatar plans to supply Gaza with 3.3 million gallons (12.5 million liters) of fuel over the next 10 days, its Foreign Ministry said on Monday. The fuel is intended to provide basic services and power hospitals and shelters.
Over the course of the 16-month war, the majority of aid has crossed into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing, although it has intermittently closed amid disagreements over what kind of aid can be allowed into the strip. Israel previously restricted entry of some equipment, arguing it could be used for military purposes by Hamas.
Allowing more aid into Gaza is a central tenet of the ceasefire deal’s first phase and will be key to later reconstruction efforts. The deal allows for hundreds of trucks – more than Israel has previously allowed – to deliver aid to Gaza.
Egypt’s state-run press center said Monday that at least 300 aid trucks entered Kerem Shalom and and the Nitzana crossing to the south since the ceasefire took effect, as well as 12 diesel trucks and four gas trucks.
However, some of those trucks have carried food aid labeled for UNRWA, the UN agency that Israel has vowed to ban from operating even as it remains the primary distributor of aid in Gaza.
Truck drivers told The Associated Press that throughout the war, vehicles have been turned back for minor bureaucratic infractions or not having aid properly packaged or wrapped.
“If items are approved, we unload them and head back to Egypt – Some trucks have to drive all the way back with packages they left with that contain expired food aid or that the driver’s or truck information is not listed correctly,” driver Hamdy Emad said.
Tara Cobham20 January 2025 17:15
Palestinians returning to their homes in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah after the ceasefire found homes and neighborhoods flattened after eight months of Israel’s military offensive.
“We found destruction, destruction,” said Mohamed Abu al-Kheir, a Palestinian man who shelters in a tent in the city of Khan Younis. “There is nothing to live in. There is no furniture or anything.”
Associated Press footage showed large swaths of Rafah turned into rubble. People were seen searching the remains of their homes. Others searched two military vehicles that Israeli forces left behind when they withdrew from the area.
“Who wants to live in such destruction? No one will come to live here,” said Mahmoud Khamis, another Rafah resident whose house was destroyed.
Tara Cobham20 January 2025 17:00
The Israeli military has said a soldier has been killed and another seriously wounded in the West Bank.
The military declined to provide further details. Israeli media reported Monday that the soldiers’ vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in the northern West Bank overnight.
Tara Cobham20 January 2025 16:45
The militant Hezbollah movement has praised the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as a victory for the Palestinian people.
Hezbollah said in a statement issued on Monday that it was a partner in the Palestinian “victory,” adding that the Lebanese group opened a front with Israel in which it paid a high price on top of losing its top commanders, including leader Hassan Nasrallah, and thousands of supporters.
Tara Cobham20 January 2025 16:33
UK foreign secretary David Lammy has said it was “deeply moving” to see pictures of British-Israeli Emily Damari being reunited with her mother after she was released from Hamas’ captivity.
Speaking ahead of making a Commons statement on Ukraine, Mr Lammy told MPs: “I want to begin by welcoming the release of Emily Damari.
“After 471 days of captivity, she has been brought home. It was deeply moving to see those pictures of Emily and her mother Mandy reunited. I pay tribute once again to all those who campaigned so tirelessly for this moment.
“The Government will continue to work closely with our partners to secure the release of all the hostages, to get aid into Gaza, and to see this deal implemented in full.”
Tara Cobham20 January 2025 16:15
The longest-serving Palestinian inmate in Israeli jail, revered by militants as the “dean” of their prisoners, is among more than 200 Palestinians set to be deported under the Gaza ceasefire and hostages-for-prisoners swap.
Nael Barghouti, 67, has spent 44 years incarcerated by Israel, more than any other Palestinian. Jailed in 1978 for killing an Israeli bus driver, he was freed in 2011 in a previous swap but re-arrested three years later and held ever since.
Israel has said that Palestinians who have been convicted of killing Israelis must be permanently deported if they are freed under the Gaza ceasefire agreement, and will not be allowed to return to homes in the occupied West Bank.
Barghouti is one of 217 prisoners on a list from the Israeli justice ministry, cited by the Palestinian prisoners’ association, of those to be sent abroad.
His wife Eman Nafe, herself a former prisoner who spent 10 years in Israeli jail accused of plotting a suicide attack, said she thought he might reject release if it meant being sent abroad: “I am sure he will refuse this,” she told Reuters.
Tara Cobham20 January 2025 15:50
More than 630 humanitarian aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip on Sunday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council, with at least 300 of those trucks going to the enclave’s north, where the UN says famine looms.
The trucks entered on the first day of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas.
Tara Cobham20 January 2025 15:33
It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution
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