The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that Donald Trump championed has mostly held, but progress has slowed recently.
Middle East Peace
The vote was a crucial next step for the fragile ceasefire and efforts to outline Gaza’s future following two years of war between Israel and Hamas.
The remains of four hostages are still in Gaza after Palestinian militants released the remains of another on Sunday.
With Monday’s return, the bodies of 270 Palestinians have been handed back since the start of the ceasefire.
Since the ceasefire in Gaza took effect on Oct. 10, Palestinian militants had released the remains of 17 hostages, with 11 remaining in Gaza.
Had President Donald Trump not been re-elected, terrorist entities would try to “wipe out” the State of Israel, Sen. Rick Scott told a packed crowd in Las Vegas.
The seriousness of the attacks has led multiple shipping companies to order their ships to hold in place and not enter the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Israeli leaders to discuss scaling back major combat operations in Gaza but said Washington was not imposing a timetable.
“What helped me survive there was that my daughters were with me,” Doron Katz Asher said. “I had something to fight for.”
Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem are major boons for the city, where tourism accounts for 70 percent of its yearly income. But the streets are empty this season.
The entryway to the tunnel is just a few hundred yards from the heavily fortified Erez crossing and a nearby Israeli military base.
The foreign ministers of the United Kingdom and Germany called for a “sustainable” cease-fire, saying too many civilians had been killed.
A U.S. warship shot down 14 suspected attack drones over the Red Sea on Saturday, and a Royal Navy destroyer downed another drone, the British and American militaries said.
Two U.S. military leaders are traveling to Tel Aviv to advise the Israeli government on how to transition to a more limited campaign against Hamas and prevent a wider regional war.
3 hostages mistakenly killed by Israeli troops had been holding a white flag, military official says
Three Israeli hostages mistakenly shot by Israeli troops in Gaza had been waving a white flag when they were killed, a military official said.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier and one other warship to remain in the Mediterranean Sea for several more weeks.
A ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels slammed into a cargo ship Friday in the Red Sea near the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait, authorities said.
A Dutch court rejected a request by a group of human rights and humanitarian organizations to order a halt to the transfer to Israel of parts for F-35 fighter jets.
“This is the true face of Poland,” the country’s U.S.-born chief rabbi, Michael Schudrich, said. “We are all together.”
The EU is the world’s biggest provider of aid to the Palestinians and has been trying to use its diplomatic leverage as a 27-nation bloc to encourage peace moves.
Jake Sullivan said that Washington won’t tolerate threats by Lebanon’s Hezbollah terrorist group.