US envoy arrives in Beirut, raising hopes for Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal
CNN
Follow for live news updates on Israel’s tensions with Iran, the wars in Gaza and Lebanon, and other developments in the Middle East.
• US envoy Amos Hochstein held meetings in Beirut meeting with Lebanese officials on Tuesday. His trip is seen as a sign of progress in ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hezbollah, but does not mean a deal is imminent. • An Israeli attack has killed at least five people in central Beirut. The strike, which hit just hundreds of meters from the prime minister’s office and parliament, was the third to hit the heart of the Lebanese capital in two days. • In northern Gaza, an Israeli airstrike has killed over a dozen members of a single family. The 17 killed were family members of a cardiologist who was working at a hospital when the strike hit. Among those killed was the doctor’s newborn niece, whom he had delivered. • The US has imposed sanctions on Israel’s largest settlement development organization. President-elect Donald Trump is unlikely to take any punitive actions against Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. Mike Huckabee, Trump’s pick for US ambassador to Israel, has voiced support for Israeli settlers in the Palestinian territory. Live coverage of the conflicts in the Middle East has ended for the day. You can read more here. The United States has warned Turkey against hosting Hamas leaders, saying there “can be no more business as usual” with the Palestinian militant group.
The first hostages freed from Gaza under a long-awaited ceasefire agreement are back in Israel, and desperately needed aid is beginning to flow into the enclave. Follow for live updates.
A long-awaited ceasefire has started in Gaza following a three-hour delay, bringing respite to the besieged enclave after a bloody 15 months. Follow for live updates.
Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire deal, with a pause in fighting in Gaza and the phased release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners expected to begin Sunday. Follow for live updates.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s office confirmed that a deal has been agreed upon with Hamas to release the hostages held in Gaza. Follow for live news updates.
The Israeli cabinet was expected to vote Thursday on whether to ratify a highly anticipated ceasefire and hostage release deal agreed between Hamas and Israel. Follow for live news updates.
Hamas is expected to release 33 hostages during the first phase of an emerging ceasefire agreement being finalized by negotiators in Doha, the first positive sign in months that a truce in the Israel-Hamas war may be in sight. Follow for live news updates.
Hamas is expected to release 33 hostages during the first phase of an emerging ceasefire agreement being finalized by negotiators in Doha, the first positive sign in months that a truce in the Israel-Hamas war may be in sight. Follow for live news updates.
American officials believe a ceasefire and hostages release deal in the Israel-Hamas war is now in sight, in what marks the first real sign of serious optimism inside the Biden administration in months, sources familiar with the issue told CNN.
Israeli negotiators attending ceasefire and hostage release talks in Doha have expressed “cautious optimism,” even as some gaps between both sides persist, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.
It was a last-minute push by Saudi Arabia that decided Lebanon’s fate on Thursday.
The Israeli military said Friday it had identified the body of a hostage recovered from a tunnel in southern Gaza as the son of Yosef Al-Ziyadnah, a hostage whose body was recovered earlier this week.
Lebanon’s parliament has elected its US-backed army chief to be the country’s next president, ending a years-long political stalemate and presidential vacuum.
The Israeli military, in an effort to defend its devastating assaults on Gaza’s hospitals, this week released an edited interrogation video that it said bolstered its case that Hamas uses medical facilities as cover for military activity.
The United Arab Emirates has been in discussions about the possibility of playing a role in postwar efforts to rebuild Gaza, but its conditions for doing so have yet to be met, a UAE official told CNN.
Israel has warned on Sunday that its ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah could collapse if the Iran-backed group does not withdraw beyond the Litani River, one of the key stipulations of the truce.
Israel is considering limiting humanitarian aid to Gaza after Donald Trump comes into office later this month in a bid to deprive Hamas of resources, according to an Israeli official familiar with the matter.
An Israeli human rights group said it has filed a petition with the Israeli High Court of Justice demanding to know the whereabouts of a prominent Palestinian hospital director detained by the military.
An Israeli strike killed at least 11 Palestinians overnight, including the director general of Gaza police and a deputy, in Al-Mawasi, southern Gaza, local officials said Thursday.