Benjamin Netanyahu

January 20, 2025 12:03 PM

Hamas frees hostages, Israel releases Palestinian prisoners on Day One of ceasefire

Hamas released three Israeli hostages and Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners on Sunday, the first day of a ceasefire suspending a 15-month-old war that has devastated the Gaza Strip and inflamed the Middle East. The truce allowed Palestinians to return to bombed-out neighborhoods to begin rebuilding their lives, while relief trucks delivered much-needed aid. Elsewhere in Gaza, crowds cheered Hamas fighters who emerged from hiding. Fireworks were launched in celebration as buses carryin...

January 17, 2025 4:00 PM

Hamas set to release first hostages under Gaza ceasefire deal, Israel says

Hamas is expected to release the first hostages under a Gaza ceasefire deal on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Friday. If successful, the ceasefire would halt fighting that has razed much of heavily urbanised Gaza, killed over 46,000 people, and displaced most of the tiny enclave's pre-war population of 2.3 million several times over, according to local authorities. The Israeli cabinet will meet to give final approval to the deal with militant group Hamas for a cease...

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators carrying a banner reading 'Gaza' march during a protest against Israeli attacks in Gaza since the announcement of the ceasefire, on January 16, 2025 in Toronto, Ontario. Photo by Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu via Getty Images

January 17, 2025 11:35 AM

Israel set to approve Gaza ceasefire, hostage deal, Netanyahu’s office says

The Israeli cabinet will meet to give final approval to a deal with Palestinian militant group Hamas for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and release of hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Friday. In Gaza itself, Israeli warplanes kept up intense strikes, and Palestinian authorities said late on Thursday that at least 86 people were killed in the day after the truce was unveiled. With longstanding divisions apparent among ministers, Israel delayed meetings expected on ...

January 16, 2025 8:41 AM

Israel, Hamas ceasefire accord followed by airstrikes on Gaza, residents say

Israel intensified strikes on Gaza hours after a ceasefire and hostage release deal was announced, residents and authorities in the Palestinian enclave said, and mediators sought to quell fighting ahead of the truce's start on Sunday. The complex ceasefire accord between Israel and militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, emerged on Wednesday after months of mediation by Qatar, Egypt and the U.S. and 15 months of bloodshed that devastated the coastal territory and inflamed the Middle East. ...

January 13, 2025 9:28 AM

Joe Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu discuss progress on Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal

US President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the progress of ongoing negotiations regarding the ceasefire-hostage deal in relation to the situation in Gaza, the White House said in a statement on Sunday (local time). Currently, negotiation on the Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal is taking place in Doha, Qatar, which involves a high-level Israeli delegation including Mossad Director David Barnea, Director of Israel's Internal Security Agency Ronen Bar, Netany...

January 10, 2025 9:54 AM

US House votes to sanction International Criminal Court over Israel

The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Thursday to sanction the International Criminal Court to protest its issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister over Israel's campaign in Gaza. The vote was 243 to 140 in favor of the "Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act," which would sanction any foreigner who investigates, arrests, detains or prosecutes U.S. citizens or those of an allied country, including Israel, who are not members of ...

November 22, 2024 11:21 AM

US Senate rejects bids to block military sales to Israel

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday (November 20) voted overwhelmingly to block three resolutions that would have halted the transfer of some U.S. weapons to Israel, introduced by progressives concerned about the human rights catastrophe faced by Palestinians in Gaza. All of the votes in favor came from the Democratic caucus, while "no" votes came from both Democrats and Republicans, underscoring the divide within President Biden's Democratic party over policy toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Ne...

November 11, 2024 10:20 AM

Israeli PM Netanyahu admits Israel’s role in Hezbollah pager, walkie-talkie attacks

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time during Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting, admitted that Israel was behind the attacks on Hezbollah's pager and walkie-talkies, which killed at least 39 people and wounded over 3,000, as reported by The Times of Israel. The attacks, carried out on September 17 and 18, targeted thousands of handheld pagers and hundreds of walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members across Lebanon and Syria. "The pager operation and the elimination of Hezboll...

November 6, 2024 6:47 PM

Israeli government celebrates Trump’s election triumph

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters celebrated Donald Trump's election as president, hailing what a leader of the Israeli settler movement called an ally who would support them "unconditionally". Congratulating Republican Trump, Netanyahu said the former president had made "history's greatest comeback". "Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America," he said in a ...

November 6, 2024 9:22 AM

Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu fires defence minister over ‘lack of trust’

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant citing lack of trust, Times of Israel reported. Gallant, who was a longtime rival from within the Likud Party, will be replaced by Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz. Minister without Portfolio Gideon Sa'ar will replace Katz, as per Times of Israel. Times of Israel quoted a statement from the Prime Minister's Office which stated that Netanyahu informed Gallant that his tenure as the Defence Minister would end "4...