ceasefire

Israel transferred the bodies of 15 Palestinians to Gaza in what officials said was the final exchange under the first phase of a U.S.-brokered cease-fire with Hamas, days after the country recovered the remains of its last Israeli hostage. The Gaza Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, said the bodies were received and taken to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. The International Committee of the Red Cross said it helped facilitate the handover. Under the terms of the cease-fire struck in October, Israel agreed to…

Syria’s government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have extended their truce by 15 days to support a U.S.-led effort to transfer Islamic State group detainees from northeastern Syria to Iraq, both sides said Saturday. “The extension of the cease-fire comes in support of the American operation to transfer Islamic State detainees from SDF prisons to Iraq,” the Syrian defense ministry said in a statement. The SDF confirmed the extension, saying it was reached through international mediation and that dialogue with…

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Russia, Ukraine and the United States reconvened in Abu Dhabi for a second day of talks on a plan backed by President Donald Trump to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine, as fresh Russian strikes left thousands of Kyiv residents without heat in sub-zero temperatures. The meeting marks the first known direct contact between Ukrainian and Russian officials on the Trump proposal. Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said discussions focused “on the parameters for ending Russia’s war…

Israel struck targets across Gaza in what it called a response to a “blatant violation” of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire, as Washington moved to stand up a new “board of peace” to steer the next phase of a fragile plan for the war-battered territory. The Israeli military said it hit “several terrorists, including commanders from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organisations across the Gaza Strip,” saying the operation answered an incident in western Rafah earlier this week in which “armed terrorists fired at IDF troops.”…

UNICEF says more than 100 children have been killed in Gaza since the start of a fragile ceasefire three months ago, underscoring the continuing toll on civilians despite a slowdown in bombardments. At least 60 boys and 40 girls have died in Israeli airstrikes and ground operations during the truce period, the UN children’s agency said. “More than 100 children have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire,” UNICEF spokesman James Elder told reporters from Gaza City. “That’s roughly a girl or a boy killed here every day during…

Thailand accused Cambodia of violating a 10-day-old truce with cross-border mortar fire that wounded a Thai soldier, while Phnom Penh said a separate blast from a “pile of garbage” injured two of its own troops along their contested frontier. The Thai army said Cambodian forces fired mortar rounds into Thailand’s Ubon Ratchathani province this morning, breaching the ceasefire agreed on December 27 to halt weeks of border clashes. In a later statement, Thai officials said Cambodian counterparts contacted a Thai unit to insist…

Hamas says Israel’s assassination of a senior commander has imperiled Gaza’s fragile ceasefire, urging U.S. President Donald Trump to pressure Israel to abide by the truce terms as rival factions maneuver over the enclave’s future security architecture. The group identified the slain commander as Raed Saed, killed alongside three associates. Thousands of supporters massed in central Gaza City for Saed’s funeral, chanting “Martyrs are dear to God” as coffins draped in green Hamas flags moved through one of the largest public…

Hamas said Tuesday that the Gaza ceasefire plan cannot move to its second phase while it accuses Israel of ongoing violations, even as an Israeli official announced the Allenby crossing would reopen to allow aid trucks bound for Gaza for the first time since late September. The U.S.-sponsored truce, in effect since Oct. 10, has halted large-scale fighting but remains fragile amid near-daily allegations of breaches by both sides. Hamas political bureau member Hossam Badran accused Israel of failing to meet commitments under…

Negotiations to consolidate the US-backed truce in Gaza are at a "critical" moment, Qatar's prime minister said Friday, as mediators press to move the cease-fire to its next phase while violence continues to flare. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told a Doha Forum panel that mediators were working to "force the next phase" of the cease-fire forward, calling the current halt in fighting a pause rather than a resolution. "We are at a critical moment. It's not yet there," he said. The truce took effect Oct. 10 and…

Thailand Suspends Enhanced Ceasefire With Cambodia After New Blast, Halts Return of POWs Thailand announced on Thursday that it would pause implementation of an enhanced ceasefire agreement with Cambodia and delay the return of 18 Cambodian prisoners of war after a landmine blast injured four Thai soldiers, in a fresh sign that a fragile truce between the neighbours is fraying. Defence Minister Natthaphon Narkphanit told reporters the government in Bangkok would not proceed with elements of the October accord — signed last…