The US government has said it will stand with the people of Israel after Iran revealed plans to launch a retaliatory attack.

The European Union on Friday imposed sanctions on the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad for “widespread” sexual violence during the October 7 attacks on Israel.

Hamas has proposed a new six-week truce in Gaza and an exchange of several dozen Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, an official from the militant group told AFP on Friday.

Turkish President Recep Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday Ankara “firmly backs” Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Hamas on Tuesday rejected a UN report claiming Palestinian militants committed “sexual violence” during their attack on Israel on October 7, saying the findings were simply “false claims”.

Hamas said on Friday that seven more hostages seized during its unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7 had died because of Israeli military operations in Gaza.

Dozens of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been killed in the latest Israeli strikes, the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry said Saturday, after Israel’s spy chief joined talks in Paris seeking to unblock negotiations on a truce.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected Hamas’s proposed ceasefire terms – saying “total victory” in Gaza is possible within months.

Hamas has laid out a series of demands, including exchanging hostages for Palestinian prisoners and rebuilding Gaza, in response to an Israel-backed ceasefire proposal.

Israeli soldiers detained two sisters of Saleh al-Aruri, a top leader of Hamas who was killed in Lebanon this month, Palestinian sources and the Israeli army said on Sunday.

The war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7 when Palestinian militants rampaged through southern Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted peace can only be achieved in Gaza if Hamas is destroyed, the territory demilitarised and Palestinian society “deradicalised”, after warning the war is set to intensify.

Israeli strikes in Gaza killed more than 200 people in 24 hours, Hamas-controlled authorities said Saturday, as the United States again pressed its ally to do more to protect civilians.

By Fortune Eromosele Christian United for Israel in Nigeria, CUFI, has called on authorities and people of good conscience across the globe to unite in pressuring Hamas to release the remaining hostages immediately before Christmas. The interim National Coordinator of CUFI, Evangelist Mati Acka, made the call when she led a delegation on a solidarity […]

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said a ceasefire “would prevent the collapse” of Hamas “which is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity”