Hamas

March 20, 2025 9:18 AM

After airstrikes, Israel says it has launched new ground operation in Gaza

The Israeli military said on Wednesday its forces resumed ground operations in the central and southern Gaza Strip, as a second day of airstrikes killed at least 48 Palestinians, according to local health workers. The renewed ground operations came a day after more than 400 Palestinians were killed in airstrikes in one of the deadliest episodes since the beginning of the conflict in October 2023, shattering a ceasefire that has largely held since January. The Israeli military said its operati...

March 10, 2025 1:34 PM

Hamas says talks with US focused on release of American hostage in Gaza

Meetings between Hamas leaders and U.S. hostage negotiator Adam Boehler in recent days focused on the release of an American-Israeli dual national being held by the militant group in Gaza, a senior Hamas official told Reuters on Sunday. Taher Al-Nono, political adviser to the leader of the Palestinian group, confirmed the unprecedented, direct talks with Washington in the Qatari capital over the past week. "Several meetings have already taken place in Doha, focusing on releasing one of the dua...

March 6, 2025 9:04 AM

Trump warns Hamas as US holds unprecedented talks for Gaza hostages

The United States broke a longstanding diplomatic taboo by holding secret talks with Hamas on securing the release of U.S. hostages held in Gaza, Reuters reported on Wednesday, while President Donald Trump warned of "hell to pay" should the Palestinian militant group not comply. U.S. hostage affairs envoy Adam Boehler has the authority to talk directly with Hamas, the White House said when asked about the discussions, which broke with a decades-old policy against negotiating with groups that th...

February 27, 2025 3:42 PM

Hamas says it’s ready for more ceasefire talks after prisoner exchange

Militant group Hamas said on Thursday it was ready to begin talks on the second phase of a ceasefire in Gaza after several hundred Palestinians were released from Israeli jails overnight in return for the bodies of four Israeli hostages. It was the final exchange of the six-week first phase of a ceasefire that came into effect on January 19 in the war in Gaza. Talks have yet to begin on a second phase, meant to lead ultimately to a permanent end to the war that began in October, 2023 when Hama...

February 21, 2025 12:55 PM

Israeli military says body released by Hamas is not of a hostage

The Israeli military said on Friday that one of the bodies released by Hamas did not belong to any of the hostages held in Gaza, accusing Hamas of violating an already shaking ceasefire. Two of the bodies were identified as infant Kfir Bibas and his four-year-old brother Ariel, while a third body that was supposed to be their mother, Shiri, was found not to match with any hostage and remained unidentified, the military said. "This is a violation of utmost severity by the Hamas terrorist organi...

February 20, 2025 1:51 PM

Hamas hands over bodies of youngest Gaza hostages taken from Israel

Hamas handed over the bodies on Thursday of Israeli infant Kfir Bibas and his four-year-old brother Ariel, the two youngest captives taken by Hamas in their October 7, 2023 attack and among the most potent symbols of the trauma inflicted that day. Red Cross vehicles drove away from the handover site in the Gaza Strip with four black coffins that had been placed on a stage. Each of the caskets had a small picture of the hostages. Hamas handed over the bodies of the two ...

February 17, 2025 9:04 PM

Israeli military says it killed Hamas official in southern Lebanon

The Israeli military on Monday killed a Hamas leader in southern Lebanon's Sidon area, it said in a statement. The army said Muhammad Shaheen was the head of the operations department of Hamas in Lebanon and that he had recently been involved in promoting "terrorist plots" with Iranian direction and funding from Lebanese territory against Israeli citizens. An Israeli strike on a car in Lebanon's southern port city of Sidon targeted an official in the Palestinian militant group, two Lebanese se...

February 13, 2025 3:15 PM

Hamas says it does not want Gaza ceasefire to collapse

Hamas does not want the Gaza ceasefire agreement to collapse, the Palestinian militant group said on Thursday, ahead of a Saturday deadline for it to release more Israeli hostages. Hamas agreed under the deal to free three more hostages on Saturday but said this week that it was suspending the handover over what it said were Israeli violations of the terms. U.S. President Donald Trump responded by saying all hostages must be freed by noon on Saturday or he would "let hell break out". Israeli P...

February 12, 2025 1:05 AM

Netanyahu says Israel will end Gaza ceasefire if hostages not returned on Saturday

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that if Hamas did not release Israeli hostages by noon on Saturday a fragile ceasefire in Gaza would end and the Israeli army would resume its offensive in the Palestinian enclave until the militant group is defeated. "In light of Hamas' announcement of its decision to violate the agreement and not release our hostages, last night I ordered the IDF to gather forces inside and around the Gaza Strip," Netanyahu said, speaking after a meeti...

February 11, 2025 8:51 AM

Trump says Hamas should free all hostages by midday Saturday or ‘let hell break out’

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that Hamas should release all hostages held by the militant group in Gaza by midday Saturday or he would propose canceling the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and "let hell break out." Trump cautioned that Israel might want to override him on the issue and said he might speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But in a wide-ranging session with reporters in the Oval Office, Trump expressed frustration with the condition of the last group of host...