- Biden threatens to stop arm shipments if Israel invades Rafah
- Nuggets' Jokic scoops third NBA Most Valuable Player award
- Alleged killer of Australian, US surfers to be prosecuted
- Biden says will stop some arm shipments if Israel invades Rafah
- Men or bears? Women's safety debate pops on social media
- Bayern's Neuer laments 'brutal, bitter' Champions League howler
- 'Absolute disaster': Bayern boss Tuchel slams late offside call
- Three things about Real Madrid match-winner Joselu
- N. Macedonia set for rocky ties with EU neighbours as opposition wins vote
- Joselu earns Madrid incredible Bayern comeback to reach Champions League final
- Israel destroys dozens of Bedouin homes in Negev desert
- Brazil flooding death toll surpasses 100
- European stocks rise while Wall Street has another mixed session
- Ohtani interpreter to plead guilty over $17 mn fraud: US Justice Dept
- Fiorentina reach Europa Conference League final
- Halting bomb delivery, Biden sends sternest sign yet to Israel
- US Open champion Clark defends breakthrough title at Quail Hollow
- Rangers to unveil Walter Smith statue on day of Scottish Cup final
- After Serbia, China's Xi arrives in Hungary to tighten bonds
- Iran jails film director Rasoulof for 'security' offences: lawyer
- South Gaza hospitals have only three days' fuel left: WHO
- Pro-Palestinian campus protests spread to UK universities
- Olympic flame arrives on French soil for Paris Games
- 2023 'year of record climatic hazards' in Latin America: UN
- UK says to expel Russia defence attache for intel role
- Korda seeks LPGA record sixth win in a row at Founders Cup
- Head, Abhishek star as 'unreal' Hyderabad crush Lucknow by 10 wickets
- McIlroy won't return to PGA Policy Board, Simpson to stay
- Brazil flooding death toll reaches 100
- Kenya inks deal to end doctors' strike
- EU eyes first ever sanctions on Russia's LNG sector
- RFK Jr says doctor told him a worm ate part of his brain: US media
- Track cycling star Benjamin Thomas escapes to win Giro 5th stage
- Osaka wins in Rome after three-year absence
- F1 champions celebrate life of motorsport great Stirling Moss
- US revokes some licenses for exports to China's Huawei
- Ukraine lawmakers back bill allowing prisoners to join army
- Kenya health ministry says deal signed to end doctors' strike
- Suspect held in latest attack on German politicians
- Ex-England cricketer Panesar quits as UK parliamentary candidate
- EU queries X over cut to content moderation resources
- Chad opposition candidate's party condemns 'threats and violence'
- Remastered Beatles movie 'Let It Be' gets long-awaited re-release
- Dortmund, Bayern runs put Leverkusen title in perspective: Alonso
- Flood-hit Kenya reports dozens of cholera cases
- Nadal welcomes unusual role of underdog
- Hong Kong demands online platforms remove banned protest song
- Prince Harry in London, but not meeting King Charles
- Spain prosecutors seek to close Shakira tax fraud case
- Hope dwindles in S.Africa 48 hours after deadly building collapse
BCC | 1.91% | 133.21 | $ | |
SCS | 0.86% | 12.81 | $ | |
RELX | 0.12% | 42.94 | $ | |
RBGPF | -1.1% | 56.25 | $ | |
NGG | 0.32% | 69.84 | $ | |
RYCEF | 2.07% | 5.32 | $ | |
CMSC | -1.53% | 24.14 | $ | |
RIO | -1.48% | 69.02 | $ | |
BCE | 0.48% | 33.62 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.78% | 24.43 | $ | |
JRI | -0.26% | 11.565 | $ | |
VOD | -0.35% | 8.46 | $ | |
BTI | 0.63% | 30.16 | $ | |
AZN | 0.84% | 76.97 | $ | |
GSK | -0.02% | 44.14 | $ | |
BP | -0.13% | 37.53 | $ |
Team from Gaza mediator Egypt arrives in Israel for truce talks
A delegation from Gaza war mediator Egypt arrived in Israel on Friday for a bid to reignite stalled ceasefire and hostage-release negotiations between Israel and Hamas, Israeli and Egyptian media reported.
The signs of fresh truce talks come alongside Israeli preparations for a military push in Gaza's southern city of Rafah, and with spillover from the war leading to stepped-up exchanges of fire over Israel's northern border with Lebanon.
There has been "noticeable progress in bringing the views of the Egyptian and Israeli delegations closer", said Al-Qahera News, which is linked to Egyptian state intelligence services.
Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to find a ceasefire for the war in Gaza without success since a one-week halt to the fighting in November. That truce saw the exchange of 80 Israeli captives in return for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Since then, global criticism of the toll on Palestinian civilians in Gaza has escalated, as have calls for Hamas militants to release the remaining hostages being held since their October 7 attack triggered the war.
Several Israeli media outlets, citing unnamed officials, said on Friday that Israel's war cabinet discussed a new plan for a truce and hostage release ahead of the Egyptian delegation's visit.
The war also ground on, with missiles fired from an Israeli jet striking Gaza City on Friday, killing at least three people in the Rimal neighbourhood, an AFP reporter said.
"I was sitting selling cigarettes and suddenly a missile fell, shaking the whole area," a witness who did not give his name told AFP, adding that the bodies of a man, a woman and a little girl were pulled out of the rubble.
- 'Miracle' baby dies -
The war began with the unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7 that resulted in the deaths of about 1,170 people in Israel, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,356 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
During their attack, Hamas seized hostages, 129 of whom Israel estimates remain in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.
Top Arab and European officials are expected to hold talks about Gaza, including about a potential truce, in Saudi Arabia's capital on Monday.
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock are expected to attend the Riyadh meeting, which is also set to feature newly appointed Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa.
Israel's government has vowed to send troops into Rafah, where most of Gaza's population is sheltering, but aid groups warn that an invasion would add to already catastrophic conditions in Gaza.
Senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad, speaking by phone from Qatar, told AFP that an invasion "will undoubtedly threaten the negotiations" and show "that Israel is interested in continuing the war".
A baby delivered from her dying mother's womb in Rafah on the weekend has died, the girl's uncle said. When she was born, doctors hailed her as a "miracle".
However Rami al-Sheikh told AFP that his niece Ruh has "joined her family in the gardens of eternity", after her mother was fatally wounded in an Israeli strike.
- 'Hands off Rafah!' -
Opposition to a military operation in Rafah extended to protesting university students in the United States.
"Stop the invasion! Hands off Rafah!" said a sign at a pro-Palestinian encampment at George Washington University in the US capital.
The campus is one of many across the country -- Israel's biggest military supplier -- where protests over Israel's war with Hamas have spread.
Leaders of the United States, Britain, France and more than a dozen other countries said on Thursday they "strongly support the ongoing mediation efforts" and called for Hamas to release the remaining captives who "include our own citizens".
The European Union said on Friday it was giving an extra $73 million in aid to Palestinians in Gaza "in light of the continued deterioration of the severe humanitarian crisis" there.
The World Food Programme has warned that famine is "a real and dangerous threat" in Gaza.
- An appeal to Hamas -
In a separate appeal to Hamas, Dani Miran, the father of Hungarian-Israeli hostage Omri Miran, said: "Please confirm the deal to prevent the killing of Israelis, Gazans, Israeli children, Gazan children. Let's be human beings."
Israeli demonstrators have intensified protests, including on Thursday in Tel Aviv, for their government to reach a deal that would free the captives, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of prolonging the war.
The Gaza war has led to increased violence between Israel and Iran's proxies and allies, driving up regional tensions.
Israel has struck increasingly deeper into Lebanon, while the Hezbollah movement, based in Lebanon and backed by Iran, has stepped up attacks on Israeli positions across the border.
On Friday the Israeli army said an Israeli civilian was killed by anti-tank missiles fired towards "the area of Har Dov", which refers to the disputed Shebaa Farms district.
Hezbollah said it had destroyed two Israeli vehicles in the Kfarshuba hills overnight in a "complex ambush" on a convoy using missiles and artillery.
The Israeli military said its fighter jets struck Hezbollah targets around Shebaa village in southern Lebanon, as well as in Kfarshuba and other areas.
An 18-year-old woman was seriously wounded in a stabbing attack in the Israeli city of Ramle, Israeli emergency response service Magen David Adom said, adding that the "terrorist was neutralised".
burs-dl/srm
W.Lapointe--BTB