Israel minister tells US ‘currently a chance’ for Gaza hostage deal
Israel minister tells US ‘currently a chance’ for Gaza hostage deal/node/2582712/middle-east
Israel minister tells US ‘currently a chance’ for Gaza hostage deal
Relatives of victims of the Oct. 7 attacks visit an installation bearing the photos of their loved ones who were killed or kidnapped during the attacks, at the site of the Nova festival, in Re’im, southern Israel on Apr. 2, 2024. (AFP/File)
Israel minister tells US ‘currently a chance’ for Gaza hostage deal
“We are hoping for the release of all the hostages, including US citizens,” he said.
The US, along with Egypt and Qatar, has been unsuccessfully attempting to mediate a ceasefire and hostage release
Updated 11 December 2024
AFP
JERUSALEM: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told his US counterpart Lloyd Austin on Wednesday that there was “currently a chance” for a deal to release the remaining hostages held in Gaza for more than 14 months.
“There is currently a chance for a new deal,” Katz told Austin in a phone call, according to a readout from his office.
“We are hoping for the release of all the hostages, including US citizens,” he said.
The US, along with Egypt and Qatar, has been unsuccessfully attempting to mediate a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas for more than a year.
Palestinian militants took 251 people hostage during Hamas’s surprise attack on October 7, 2023. A total of 96 remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military has confirmed are dead.
In recent days, there have been signs that months of failed negotiations might be revived and a breakthrough achieved.
On Monday, a source close to Hamas told AFP that the group had told Egypt’s spy chief of “efforts to collect information about the living Israeli prisoners.”
The source said that Hamas had prepared a list of hostages who were still alive, including several prisoners with dual Israeli and US citizenship.
“If Israel agrees to the Egyptian proposal, I think the exchange deal will be ready for implementation,” the source said.
Another upbeat assessment came from Qatar, which said on Saturday the election of Donald Trump as the next US president had created new “momentum” for negotiations.
At the same time, a source close to the Hamas delegation said that Turkiye, as well as Egypt and Qatar, had been “making commendable efforts to stop the war,” and a new round of talks could begin soon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also hinted at potential progress, telling the families of hostages that Israel’s military successes against Hezbollah and Hamas would facilitate negotiations for their release.
Protesters, including relatives of the hostages, have repeatedly called for a deal to free the captives and accuse Netanyahu of prolonging the war for political purposes.
The unprecedented October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 44,805 people, a majority civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry which the UN considers reliable.
Seven individuals with US citizenship remain in Gaza, with four confirmed dead. Last week, the Israeli military notified the family of US-Israeli soldier Omer Neutra that he was killed on October 7 and his body held in Gaza.
Tunisia opposition figures go on trial on state security charges
The defendants include politicians Jawhar Ben Mbarek, Abdelhamid Jelassi and Issam Chebbi, founder of the opposition National Salvation Front coalition — all staunch critics of Saied
Updated 04 March 2025
AFP
TUNIS: The trial of several prominent Tunisian opposition figures accused of national security offenses is set to begin Tuesday, with rights groups denouncing the case as politically motivated.
The around 40 high-profile defendants include former diplomats, politicians, lawyers and media figures, some of whom have been outspoken critics of President Kais Saied.
The charges against them are “plotting against the state security” and “belonging to a terrorist group,” which could entail hefty sentences and even capital punishment, according to lawyers.
Saied was elected in 2019 after Tunisia emerged as the only democracy following the Arab Spring. But in 2021 he staged a sweeping power grab, and rights groups have since warned of a rollback on freedoms.
The defendants include politicians Jawhar Ben Mbarek, Abdelhamid Jelassi and Issam Chebbi, founder of the opposition National Salvation Front coalition — all staunch critics of Saied.
In a letter from his cell, Ben Mbarek called the trial a form of “judicial harassment” aimed at “the methodical elimination of critical voices,” claiming the accusations were baseless.
Activists Khayam Turki and Chaima Issa, businessman Kamel Eltaief, and Bochra BelHajj Hmida, a former member of parliament and human rights activist now living in France, have also been charged in the case.
Some of the defendants have been detained since a flurry of arrests in February 2023, after Saied dubbed them “terrorists.”
Others remain free pending trial, as some have fled abroad, according to the defense committee.
On Sunday, during a visit to the streets of the capital Tunis, Saied told a woman who asked him to intervene for her imprisoned sons — unrelated to the trial — that he “never intervenes” in judicial matters.
“Let this be clear to everyone,” he was heard telling her in a video posted on the presidency’s official Facebook page.
Other critics of Saied have been detained and charged in different cases, including under a law to combat “false news.”
In early February, the leader of Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party Rached Ghannouchi, 83, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for plotting against state security, though in a separate case.
The United Nations urged Tunisian authorities last month to bring “an end to the pattern of arrests, arbitrary detentions and imprisonment of dozens of human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, activists and politicians.”
Tunisia’s foreign ministry dismissed the UN statement with “astonishment” and denounced its “inaccuracies.”
“Tunisia can give lessons to those who think they are in a position to make statements,” it said.
Egypt’s alternative to Trump’s ‘Gaza Riviera’ aims to sideline Hamas
The draft said the board would comprise key Arab countries, members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the United States, Britain, the European Union and its member states, and others
The Egyptian draft does not tackle the issue of what actions could be taken if Hamas refuses to disarm or step aside from politics
Updated 04 March 2025
Reuters
DOHA: A plan for Gaza drawn up by Egypt as a counter to US President Donald Trump’s ambition for a Middle East Riviera would sideline Hamas and replace it with interim bodies controlled by Arab, Muslim and Western states, according to a draft seen by Reuters.
The Egyptian vision for Gaza, which is due to be presented at an Arab League summit on Tuesday, does not specify whether the proposal would be implemented before or after any permanent peace deal to end the war triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.
Trump’s plan, which envisioned clearing Gaza of its Palestinian inhabitants, appeared to back away from long-standing US Middle East policy focused on a two-state solution and sparked anger among Palestinians and Arab nations.
Palestinian children gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, March 3, 2025. (REUTERS)
Who will run Gaza after the conflict remains the great unanswered question in negotiations over the future of the enclave. Hamas has so far rejected the idea of any proposal being imposed on Palestinians by other states.
Cairo’s plan does not tackle critical issues such as who will foot the bill for Gaza’s reconstruction or outline any specific details around how Gaza would be governed, nor how an armed group as powerful as Hamas would be pushed aside.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Egypt's draft Gaza plan has no role for Hamas - draft proposal
• Arab states seek to counter Trump's Gaza vision
• Governance Assistance Mission would replace Hamas-run government International Stabilisation Force would provide security
Under the Egyptian plan, a Governance Assistance Mission would replace the Hamas-run government in Gaza for an unspecified interim period and would be responsible for humanitarian aid and for kick-starting reconstruction of the enclave, which has been devastated by the war.
“There will be no major international funding for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Gaza if Hamas remains the dominant and armed political element on the ground controlling local governance,” a preamble outlining the draft Egyptian plan’s objectives said.
A Palestinian Hamas militant shakes hands with a child as they stand guard as people gather on the day of the handover of hostages. (REUTERS)
Details of Egypt’s proposed framework for Gaza’s future have not been previously reported.
Egypt, Jordan and Gulf Arab states have for almost a month been scrambling to formulate a diplomatic offensive to counter Trump’s plan. A number of ideas have been proposed, with Egypt’s considered the frontrunner.
Reuters was unable to determine whether Arab leaders would support the plan presented by Egypt.
The plan does not specify who would run the governance mission. It said it would, “draw on the expertise of Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere to help Gaza recover as quickly as possible.”
The draft proposal was shared with Reuters by an official involved in Gaza negotiations who wished to remain anonymous because the draft has not yet been made public.
The plan firmly rejects the US proposal for mass displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, which Arab states such as Egypt and Jordan see as a security threat.
“President Trump has been clear that Hamas cannot continue to govern Gaza,” White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said when asked about Egypt’s Gaza plan and whether the US would support it.
“While the President stands by his bold vision for a post-war Gaza, he welcomes input from our Arab partners in the region. It’s clear his proposals have driven the region to come to the table rather than allow this issue to devolve into further crisis,” Hughes said.
STABILISATION FORCE
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters the group knows of no such proposal by Egypt.
“The day after in Gaza must only be decided by the Palestinians,” he said. “Hamas rejects any attempt to impose projects or any form of non-Palestinian administration, or the presence of any foreign forces on the land of the Gaza Strip.”
The Egyptian draft does not mention future elections.
Egypt’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the office of Israel’s prime minister, whose support for any plan is seen as vital to secure a commitment that any future reconstruction will not be destroyed again.
Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has ruled the coastal enclave since 2007. It launched the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and started the Gaza war.
A January 19 ceasefire brought a temporary end to the fighting but the first phase of the deal expired on Saturday with no sign of an agreement to move to the second phase.
The Egyptian draft does not tackle the issue of what actions could be taken if Hamas refuses to disarm or step aside from politics.
The proposal envisions an International Stabilization Force drawn primarily from Arab states that would take over the role of providing security from the militant group, with the eventual establishment of a new local police force.
Both security and governance bodies would be “arranged, guided and supervised” by a steering board. The draft said the board would comprise key Arab countries, members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the United States, Britain, the European Union and its member states, and others.
The plan does not detail a central governing role for the Palestinian Authority (PA), which opinion polls show has little support among Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
A Palestinian official told Reuters that, like the West Bank, Gaza falls under the PA’s jurisdiction — and it must be run by Palestinians.
“We agreed with the Egyptians on a committee made of Palestinian experts that will help the Palestinian Authority in running the Gaza Strip for six months. The committee is made of Palestinian experts and coordinates with the PA, and doesn’t answer to non-Palestinian bodies,” said the official, who asked not to be named for sensitivity.
RECONSTRUCTION BILL
Since Hamas drove the Palestinian Authority out of Gaza after a brief civil war in 2007, it has crushed all opposition there. Supported by Iran, it built an extensive security apparatus and military organization based around a vast network of tunnels — much of which Israel says it has now destroyed.
The plan does not say who would pay to rebuild Gaza, a bill estimated by the UN at more than $53 billion. Two sources have told Reuters that Gulf and Arab states would need to commit at least $20 billion in the initial phase of reconstruction.
Egypt’s proposal envisions that states on the steering board could establish a fund to support the interim governing body and arrange donor conferences to seek contributions for a longer-term reconstruction and development plan for Gaza.
The plan does not contain any specific financial pledges.
Oil- and gas-producing Gulf Arab states such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates could be vital sources of funding from the region.
The United Arab Emirates, for instance, sees Hamas and other militant groups as an existential threat and is unlikely to offer any funding until Hamas has been sidelined.
The foreign ministries in Qatar and the UAE and Saudi Arabia’s international media office did not immediately respond to requests for comment about Egypt’s plan, or to questions about their willingness to commit funds to rebuild Gaza.
The draft plan also calls on the steering board to coordinate with a Civil Society Advisory Board, consisting of academics, NGO leaders and other notable figures.
Gaza aid stockpiles limited after Israel cuts flows, aid groups warn
Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres warned that the suspension of aid will add significant pressure on the two million Palestinians in the enclave who are still suffering from shortages of essential goods following 16 months of war
The subsequent Israeli campaign has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, displaced almost all of its 2.3 million population and left Gaza a wasteland
Updated 04 March 2025
Reuters
GENEVA: Food, medicine and shelter stockpiles in Gaza are limited and aid intended for Palestinians in desperate need may spoil following Israel’s suspension of deliveries to the enclave, humanitarian agencies said on Monday.
Israel blocked the entry of aid trucks into Gaza on Sunday as a standoff over the truce that has halted fighting for the past six weeks escalated.
“Much of what has come in over the past few weeks has already been distributed...Now, already we are seeing price increases,” a UN official in Gaza told Reuters.
Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres warned that the suspension of aid will add significant pressure on the two million Palestinians in the enclave who are still suffering from shortages of essential goods following 16 months of war. Israel has previously accused Hamas of hijacking aid, which the group denied.
“Any further challenges to access to food and access to clean water could have devastating consequences. The spike in food and good prices is creating fear and uncertainty,” Caroline Seguin, MSF emergency coordinator, in Gaza told Reuters.
Salama Marouf, head of the Gaza government media office, said enough food was in markets for at least two weeks and urged Gazans not to panic.
LOGISTICAL IMPACT
More than 300 trucks loaded with aid were stopped from crossing the border from Egypt on Sunday, according to the International Federation of the Red Cross.
Its five warehouses in Egypt that stock food, water and medicines are currently at 50 percent capacity and expiry dates are being checked.
“We have warehouse capacity for now, but we cannot be sure how long that will continue,” operations coordinator for the IFRC in Egypt, Jurgen Hogl, told Reuters.
Medecins Sans Frontieres has 14 trucks of aid shipments in Egypt and Jordan, mainly medical supplies, waiting to be shipped into Gaza.
“We are concerned that if drug supplies would be maintained in trucks for months at end, and exposed to the sun, it could shorten the lifespan of medicines and decrease the efficiency of the drugs,” said Seguin.
The Norwegian Refugee Council warned it could reach a point that agencies halt shipments of aid altogether, as was the case when aid was restricted at the beginning of the war.
“It’s costly for us to keep aid in warehouses or packed up on trucks, waiting in queues,” NRC spokesperson Shaina Low told Reuters.
Phase two talks to negotiate a final end to the war have barely begun. Israel, while announcing the halt to aid entry, said it will not allow a ceasefire without the release of all remaining hostages. Hamas has denounced Israel’s move as “blackmail” and a “blatant coup against the agreement.”
Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killed 1,200 people, and 251 people were taken into Gaza as hostages. The subsequent Israeli campaign has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, displaced almost all of its 2.3 million population and left Gaza a wasteland.
Morocco activist gets six-month sentence for online post: lawyer
In his Facebook post last year, Abdelmoumni echoed accusations of Moroccan espionage against France
Updated 04 March 2025
AFP
RABAT: A Moroccan court on Monday sentenced activist Fouad Abdelmoumni to six months in prison for “spreading false allegations” and other charges related to a post he had shared on Facebook, said his lawyer.
Abdelmoumni, a human rights advocate, was taken into custody in late October after alleging online that Morocco had spied against France, but released after a two-day detention.
His lawyer, Mohamed Nouini, told AFP that Abdelmoumni will only be imprisoned if a higher court upholds Monday’s verdict issued in Casablanca.
“He should have been prosecuted under the Press Code, which does not provide for prison sentences, rather than the Penal Code,” Nouini said.
The charges against Abdelmoumni include “spreading false allegations,” “defamation” and “insulting public bodies.”
In his Facebook post last year, Abdelmoumni echoed accusations of Moroccan espionage against France.
“France, which sees its position decline among all nations, would not want to give in to the blackmail of a weak state which uses all the means of pressure at its disposal... including espionage,” Abdelmoumni wrote at the time.
Prosecutors argued that his statements constituted “allegations harmful to the kingdom’s interests” and went “beyond the limits of freedom of expression, amounting to criminal offenses punishable by law.”
Abdelmoumni shared the post during a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, which had marked a thawing of diplomatic ties between Rabat and Paris after three years of strained relations, partially over the espionage allegations.
In 2021, Morocco was accused of deploying Israeli-made Pegasus spyware to monitor prominent figures including Macron.
The allegations were based on a report by investigative outlet Forbidden Stories and rights group Amnesty International, which Morocco called “baseless and false.”
The spyware, developed by Israeli firm NSO Group, can infiltrate mobile phones, extracting data and activating cameras.
Tunisia rescues 64 migrants off eastern Mediterranean coast
Updated 04 March 2025
AP
TUNIS: Authorities in Tunisia say 64 migrants were rescued from a boat that capsized off the country’s eastern Mediterranean coast after running out of fuel.
The country’s national customs agency said in a statement that maritime patrols sent to the capsized vessel rescued 64 people of various nationalities off the coast of Mahdia on Friday evening. No deaths were reported.
“The rescued migrants were trying to cross by boat toward the European space illegally,” the customs agency said.
Initial findings of the investigation suggest that the migrants had set off from an unnamed neighboring country, likely to be Libya.
The migrants were taken to the port of Chebba, 60 km north of Sfax, for further investigation.
More than 30,000 migrants set sail from Libya and arrived in Italy in 2024, according to UNHCR.
The UN refugee agency said 61 percent of those arriving in Italy by sea came from Libya, followed by 32 percent from Tunisia.
The UN’s International Organization for Migration estimates that more than 100 migrants have died or gone missing in the central Mediterranean off the coast of Tunisia and Libya since the beginning of 2025.
There is no official data about the actual number of migrants living in Libya.
