hostages

Smoke billows following an Israeli strike in Gaza City, on Oct 2, 2025, as pictured from Nuseirat in central Gaza.

Hamas says ready for peace talks, Trump urges Israel to halt Gaza bombing

HAMAS said on Friday it was ready to start immediate talks on freeing the Israeli hostages it holds and ending the Gaza war, welcoming US President Donald Trump’s call for Israel to stop bombing the P...

Protesters gather outside the United States embassay to protest against the arrest of South African MP Mandla Mandela and other activists onboard various boats off Gaza, in Johannesburg, South Africa, Oct 3 2025. Hamas said that it had agreed to release all of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza as well as the bodies of those who had died, in response to the peace proposal introduced by President Donald Trump earlier this week.

International

Hamas agrees to release Israeli hostages but sets conditions

HAMAS agreed to release the last of the hostages from its 2023 attack on Israel, but said the rest of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan would be subject to negotiation.

The fragile ceasefire’s 42-day first phase hinges on the release of a total of 33 hostages in exchange for around 1,900 people, mostly Palestinians, in Israeli jails.

International

Hamas to free three Israeli hostages in next ceasefire swap

Hamas and Israel will conduct their next swap of the Gaza ceasefire on Saturday (Feb 1), with three Israelis, including the father of the youngest hostages, to be freed in return for 183 people held i...

Released hostage Romi Gonen embraces loved ones at Sheba Medical Centre in Ramat Gan, Israel, after being held in Gaza since the deadly Oct 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, Jan 19, 2025.

International

First Israeli hostages freed as Gaza truce begins

THREE Israeli hostages released on Sunday from Gaza were reunited with their families, on the first day of a long-awaited truce aimed at ending more than 15 months of war that has ravaged the Palestin...

US President Joe Biden, alongside Vice-President Kamala Harris (left) and Secretary of State Antony Blinken (right), speaks about the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage release deal at the White House, Washington D.C.. Jan 15, 2025.

International

Qatar, US announce Gaza truce, hostage release deal

QATAR and the United States announced on Wednesday a ceasefire and hostage-release deal between Israel and Hamas, adding that they hoped it would pave the way for a permanent end to the war in Gaza.

Jonathan Polin (R) and Rachel Goldberg (2nd-R), parents of US-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin whose body was recovered with five other hostages in Gaza, attend the funeral in Jerusalem on Monday Sep 2, 2024.

International

Biden says Netanyahu not doing enough on hostage deal

Asked by reporters at the White House if he thought the Israeli leader was doing enough on the issue, the president responded: “No”

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis demonstrated across the country on Sunday, the largest protests since the deadly invasion by Hamas militants that triggered the ongoing war nearly 11 months ago.

International

Israelis go on day-long strike as anger over hostages builds

Despite the public pressure, there is no sign Prime Minister Netanyahu is prepared to shift course

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