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More than 60 service members were injured as a part of former President Joe Biden's floating aid pier in Gaza, a Pentagon Inspector General report published on Tuesday said, a number significantly higher than had been previously disclosed.
The pier, announced by Biden during a televised address to Congress in March 2024, was a massive endeavor that took about 1,000 U.S. forces to execute.

But bad weather and distribution challenges inside Gaza limited the effectiveness of what the U.S. military says was its biggest aid delivery effort ever in the Middle East. The pier was only operational for about 20 days and cost about $230 million.

While there were no deaths or known direct attacks on the pier, the Pentagon had said three U.S. troops suffered non-combat injuries in support of the pier in May, with one medically evacuated in critical condition.
But the new report by the Pentagon Inspector General said that the number was actually 62.

"Based on the information provided, we were not able to determine which of these 62 injuries occurred during the performance of duties or resulted off duty or from pre-existing medical conditions," the report said.

While it brought in sorely needed aid to a marshalling area on Gaza's shore, the 1,200-foot-long (370-metre-long) floating pier had to be removed multiple times because of bad weather.

The Inspector General said that the U.S. military did not meet the standards for the equipment.
"Nor did they organize, train, and equip their forces to meet common joint standards," the report said.

Some 12 percent of reserve soldiers who took part in the current Gaza war report suffering from severe symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder that effectively render them unfit for service. The finding is part of a new Tel Aviv University study on the emotional impact of the war on young reserve soldiers and their mental readiness for renewed combat.

The study was released on Wednesday as Israel was preparing for an expansion of fighting in Gaza and a renewed call-up of reserve soldiers, many of whom have already served for long periods since the beginning of the war in October, 2023.

A team of researchers led by Prof. Yair Bar-Haim, head of the National Center for Traumatic Stress and Resilience at Tel Aviv University, studied the frequency of post-traumatic stress disorder among infantry soldiers who enlisted for regular service in March 2019. The team followed these soldiers over five years and concluded that the current Gaza war, which began after Hamas' attack in October, 2023, has deepened their mental anguish.

In addition to the 12 percent of soldiers who reported severe symptoms rendering them unfit for service, a similar ratio of soldiers reported hardships, anguish and psychological symptoms that don't meet the clinical definition for PTSD, but nonetheless affect the soldiers' ability and motivation to resume military service, according to the study.

After over a year and a half of warfare and in light of the chasm in Israeli society, the current reserve call-up is viewed differently by the public than the call-up immediately after October 7. There is a significant deterioration in the mental resilience of reserve soldiers, some of whom have served several tours for long periods. While at the beginning of the war, there was a 100 percent response rate to military call-ups among reserve soldiers, that percentage has now dropped to 75-80 percent, according to various reports.

The reasons include the financial and occupational burden, strain on family life, loss of confidence in the leadership and anger at the inequality of the burden of military service, alongside a general decrease in motivation in light of the war dragging on and questions about its goals.

Another significant reason for the drop in turnout is an erosion in the mental resilience of soldiers who have been exposed to traumatic incidents during combat, some of whom have developed multiple PTSD symptoms.

The study, conducted with the support of the Kadar Foundation, found a significant increase in the number of soldiers suffering from multiple PTSD symptoms. Researchers followed 579 soldiers who enlisted in one of the IDF's infantry brigades in March, 2019. These soldiers, support personnel and commanders, whose average age upon enlistment was 19, are now reserve soldiers aged about 25.

Participants were asked to fill in a questionnaire for a diagnosis of PTSD symptoms at five points during the study period: upon enlistment, after 15 months of service, after 27 months of service, six months after discharge and a year and a half after discharge – that is, during the Gaza war. The findings indicate that the longer the period served, the higher the number of soldiers who reported multiple PTSD symptoms as defined by the DSM-5 (the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition).

The results of the questionnaire are no substitute for an official diagnosis based on a clinical interview, but they provide a broad assessment of the existence of PTSD. However, many studies from Israel and abroad indicate a strong link between the results of the personal questionnaire and the results of a clinical interview

An additional limitation of the study is its focus on a particularly narrow age group (mid-twentysomethings), leaving out older reserve soldiers, often family men in a different occupational and financial situation, who may have greater mental resilience and a more mature worldview.

According to the study's findings, upon enlistment, less than 0.5 percent of enlisted soldiers were suffering from PTSD. After a year and a half of conscript service (including six months' combat training and nine more months of operational activity), 2.6 percent of soldiers were suffering from post-traumatic symptoms. Toward the end of their military service, after several more operational tours of duty, this rose to 4.4 percent.

Despite the expectation that discharge from duty would alleviate the soldiers' mental hardship, half a year after their discharge, almost 8 percent of combat soldiers reported multiple post-traumatic symptoms. It should be noted that the sampling at this point was prior to October 7, and the data reflect service without any war or military operation.

Data was collected for the fifth time a couple of months after the Gaza war began, with 85 percent of participants having been called up for active reserve duty. The number of soldiers reporting significant post-traumatic symptoms rose to 12 percent.

"The data from the study reflects one draft for one infantry brigade – such as the paratroopers, Golani or Givati – that enlisted in 2019 and was discharged in 2022," explains Prof. Bar-Haim, who headed the study, which was presented at Tel Aviv University's annual conference. "During the conscript service of these soldiers, Israel did not go to war or on any special military operation, so this data reflects post-trauma symptoms among Israel Defense Forces combat soldiers in regular activity."

Most of the soldiers in the study did much of their regular military service in the West Bank. While the increase in post-trauma symptoms during regular service was relatively mild, the study indicates a sharp rise in significant post-trauma symptoms following the soldiers' discharge. "The reason for this is unknown, but perhaps the military environment during conscript service provides support and a sense of belonging that wane after discharge," says Bar-Haim.

The study's findings should not come as a surprise to mental health professionals, he adds. "These are the numbers we see in studies around the world. Ten to 20 percent of people exposed to the battlefield suffer from multiple post-trauma symptoms – whether they are combat soldiers or support personnel. This is true for the Vietnam War, the Yom Kippur War, the first Lebanon war and also for people who took part in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan." He says the study's findings also correspond with the large number of discharged soldiers who request help from and recognition by the Ministry of Defense's rehabilitation division.

NATAL, the Israel trauma and resiliency center, has treated some 6,000 reserve soldiers since the start of the war and is currently treating some 2,500. On the week of Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers there was an increase of several hundred percent in the number of calls seeking emotional help from the organization's hotline, with 60 percent of those calls by discharged conscript and reserve soldiers.

Irit Aloni, head of NATAL's clinical unit, says that the current reserve call-up also triggered a wave of calls to the organization's hotline.

"There is tremendous rage among those who are being called up these days – and caregivers are also frustrated," she says. "One patient told me: 'Ever since October 7, we have been on a crazy ride. I now feel like the ride has gone off the rails and I am crashing.' When I asked him why is he going back to reserve duty, he replied, 'Not to save anybody and not for the country. I am going back for my team and my friends. I do not believe in this war.' We have been hearing this a lot these days."

Aloni says that many soldiers undergoing psychological treatment don't have enough time to recuperate from the previous stint of reserve duty before they are called up for a new one. "One patient was called up on Memorial Day, while he was at the cemetery, next to the graves of two of his friends," she says.

"Reserve soldiers are only just beginning to process what they have been through in service, and are already required to go back," she continues. "When you go back, you cannot process the experiences, the hard images, the loss, the danger to life. Now everything comes up and everything becomes a trigger. People report recurring symptoms such as hyper-alertness. Our hotline has been getting a lot of calls from people with anxiety attacks. Some call, report that they are heading off for reserve duty and ask us to save a place for them."

No single word is being used in a more negative way among supporters of President Donald Trump these days than "neocons," short for neoconservatives. This word, which originally described a specific school of interventionist thought in American foreign policy, is often associated with the presidency of George W. Bush, and specifically with the push to overthrow Saddam Hussein's regime, take over Iraq and install a different government there.

After the Iraq War turned out to be a total disaster, blaming the neoconservative thinkers and strategists who had supported it became a bipartisan sport in Washington. Barack Obama ran against their foreign policy in 2008 and 2012, and Donald Trump took over the Republican Party by promising to sideline them in 2016. But once he entered the White House, Trump chose many of the supposedly infamous neocons for top policy positions, including former National Security Advisor John Bolton and veteran State Department official Elliott Abrams.

But the Republican Party has changed since Trump's first term, and its isolationist, war-skeptic wing has grown stronger, now counting among it some of the most influential voices in Trump's MAGA universe, from Vice President JD Vance to podcast host Tucker Carlson. It's this wing of the GOP that has recently brought the word neocon back into fashion, using it as a slur against any Republican who seems to disagree with their foreign policy prescriptions.

The word has mostly been used regarding the Trump administration's attempts to reach a new nuclear agreement with Iran, as well as an end to the war in Ukraine. In both cases, it should be noted, the real, original neocons – or whatever's left of them – indeed oppose the administration's actions. But most of the criticism from within MAGA has been directed at people closer to Trump, such as his recently-fired National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, for allegedly working against the president's agenda.

The biggest irony of this debate, however, is that the one place in the world where an Iraq-style neoconservative experiment is about to take place, with potentially devastating effects, is the one Trump seems least interested about these days: Gaza.

It's over there, not in Iran or in Ukraine, where his administration is being dragged into an adventure drawn up directly from the Iraq War textbook. Yet Trump and the neocon-bashers around him don't seem to get it, or worse, don't have the courage to make it stop.

The experiment referred to in the prior paragraph is the Netanyahu government's plan to take over aid distribution in Gaza, first published by Barak Ravid over the weekend and later corroborated by senior Israeli officials in briefings to the Israeli press. It goes something like this:

American companies will begin operating in southern Gaza, under the supervision of the Israeli military, in a "humanitarian compound" surrounded by barbed wire. Two million Gazan citizens will be concentrated in this compound to get food and aid, while Israel will take over the rest of Gaza and use the pressure put on Gaza's population in order to topple the Hamas regime.

What will that regime be replaced with? That's a great question, but the Israeli government can't agree on an answer, except saying "no" to every suggested alternative – no to a different Palestinian government, no to temporary control by Arab governments, no to the return of the Palestinian Authority. So, no answer.

If all this sounds familiar to you, that means you've probably lived through the Iraq War and the "happy" days of American contractors operating under military guidance in an attempt to "separate the local population from the terrorists" and replace the regime, but it's unclear with what exactly.

It's plans like this ultimately lead to what President Trump described as "forever wars," with no clear exit strategy and a constantly delayed deadline. American contractors in Iraq were also responsible for egregious human rights abuses during the insurgency there, including the killings of civilians. Whether or not this will eventually happen in Gaza is an open question, but it will surely be asked once the Netanyahu-Dermer plan becomes operational, bringing direct U.S. involvement in the Gaza war to a new level of intensity.

The fact is that Israel's Gaza strategy these days is effectively being planned by only two men, both of whom were strong advocates of the Iraq War. Benjamin Netanyahu flew especially into Washington in 2002 to convince members of Congress that toppling Saddam's regime would have "enormous positive reverberations on the region." Ron Dermer – always his right-hand man, and the most influential minister in his government today – was sitting right behind him.

Two decades later, they are promoting their Gaza plan in similar fashion – and so far, despite all the rage about the "neocons disrupting his agenda," the president seems to buy it.

84% of Israelis believe that a victory in the Gaza Strip is impossible without the return of the remaining 59 hostages still held captive, according to a new survey released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

Meanwhile, 12.7% said that victory against Hamas is possible without the return of the hostages.

The survey was based on the answers of 500 Israeli Jewish participants and was conducted by the Midgam Institute last month.

57% believe, however, that the Hamas terrorist organization cannot be defeated without bringing the abductees back to Israel. 28% of participants disagreed with that assessment and said that it is possible to defeat Hamas without releasing the captives. Just over 14% of participants said that they weren't sure.

Poll decides that hostages take priority over fighting Hamas
Of the participants, over 6 of 10 Israelis believe that returning all those hostages should be of the utmost priority, even if it means ceasing all combat operations in the Palestinian enclave. Only just over a quarter of Israelis (26.3%) answered that defeating Hamas takes priority, even if it means the hostages are not brought back home. 11.4% of participants said that they are unsure of what the most important objective in the war is.

A ceasefire deal between Yemen's Houthis and the U.S. does not include sparing Israel, the group said on Wednesday, suggesting its shipping attacks that have disrupted global trade and challenged world powers will not come to a complete halt.

President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday the U.S. would stop bombing the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen, saying that the group had agreed to stop attacking U.S. ships.

After Trump made the announcement, Oman said it had mediated the ceasefire deal to halt attacks on U.S. vessels.

There have been no reports of Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea area since January.
"The agreement does not include Israel in any way, shape or form," Mohammed Abdulsalam, the chief Houthi negotiator, told Reuters.

"As long as they announced the cessation (of U.S. strikes) and they are actually committed to that, our position was self-defence so we will stop."

He reiterated they would also carry out strikes against the U.S. if Washington resumes its attacks on Yemen.

When President Donald Trump took office in January, he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were closely aligned on how to approach the most pressing issues in their relationship: the war in Gaza and aggression from Iran.

Trump lifted a hold the Biden administration had put on sending large bombs to Israel. He encouraged Israeli military operations “to finish the job” against Hamas in Gaza. He agreed with Netanyahu on confronting Iran and its proxy groups in the region.

But in recent weeks, the relationship between Trump and Netanyahu has become strained as the two leaders are increasingly at odds over a strategy for tackling these challenges now that Hamas has been significantly degraded and Iran weakened, according to two U.S. officials, two Middle Eastern diplomats and two other people with knowledge of the tensions.

Where Netanyahu sees an opportunity to finally take out Iran’s nuclear facilities, Trump sees an opportunity to remove the threat of Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon by making a deal. As Israel hits Gaza with a new military offensive, Trump is pushing for a ceasefire and looking to implement his postwar plan for rebuilding the area into a “Riviera of the Middle East.” And after Trump halted the U.S. military campaign against the Iranian-backed Houthi militant group, a shocked Netanyahu said Israel would then defend itself.

The recent differences between the two leaders on key strategies and positions has put Trump’s relationship with one of America’s closest allies at a bit of a crossroads. How they navigate their disagreements going forward will shape the outcome of some of the core components of the president’s foreign policy agenda.

Twice in just this past week alone, Trump made public comments that rankled Netanyahu, the two U.S. officials, the two Middle Eastern diplomats and two other people with knowledge of the tensions said.

Netanyahu was particularly upset when Trump said Wednesday that he had yet to decide whether Iran would be allowed to enrich uranium under a new nuclear deal his administration is negotiating, the two U.S. officials said. A top adviser to Netanyahu, Ron Dermer, conveyed that message to Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, during a meeting at the White House on Thursday, according to one of the U.S. officials.

For his part, Trump has been frustrated with Netanyahu’s decision to begin a new military offensive in Gaza, which the president sees as at odds with his plan for rebuilding there, according to one of the U.S. officials and one of the people familiar with the tensions between the two leaders.

Privately, Trump has said the new Israeli offensive in Gaza is a wasted effort because it will make it harder to rebuild, according to those two sources.

The U.S. is currently pushing Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza, which Dermer was set to discuss with Witkoff during his White House visit this week, according to the Middle Eastern diplomats and a senior Trump administration official.

But Trump’s approach to Iran has been the biggest point of contention for Netanyahu.

The Israeli leader has been frustrated for weeks with Trump’s refusal to support military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and his decision to instead try to reach a deal aimed at blocking Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, according to the two U.S. officials, the two Middle Eastern diplomats and two other people with knowledge of the tensions.

“They’re worried about any deal,” one of the U.S. officials said of the Israelis.

Israel has made clear to the U.S. that it does not want Trump to cut a nuclear deal that leaves Iran with any uranium enrichment capabilities, the U.S. officials and Middle Eastern diplomats said. Trump has expressed an openness to Iran maintaining a civilian nuclear program.

“We haven’t made that decision yet,” Trump said Wednesday when asked if the U.S. position is that Iran can have a uranium enrichment program for civilian nuclear purposes.

“Israel has had no better friend in its history than President Trump,” James Hewitt, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said in a statement responding to this story. “We continue to work closely with our ally Israel to ensure remaining hostages in Gaza are freed, Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon, and to strengthen regional security in the Middle East. As he has repeatedly stated in his first and second terms, the president is committed to ensuring Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon.”

A third U.S. official said the president’s team has communicated with Israeli officials regularly about the status of negotiations with Iran, providing updates and coordinating on elements of a potential deal.

Netanyahu's office did not respond to a request for comment.

’Trump has his own agenda’
Netanyahu was blindsided — and infuriated — this past week by Trump’s announcement that the U.S. was halting its military campaign against the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen after the Houthis agreed to stop firing on U.S. ships in the Red Sea, according to one of the U.S. officials and the two Middle East diplomats.

The Houthis had just attacked Israel with a missile that hit close to Ben Gurion, Israel’s main airport.

When Netanyahu visited the White House last month, for the second time since Trump took office, he hoped the president would pledge U.S. air support for a possible Israeli operation against Iran’s nuclear facilities, according to the two Middle Eastern diplomats. The Israeli leader was taken aback when the president instead announced he would agree to direct talks with Tehran, the diplomats said.

Netanyahu has privately said he thinks Trump’s negotiations with Iran are a waste of time because Tehran will never hold up its end of any deal, according to the two U.S. officials. Israel has argued that Iran is so weakened by economic sanctions and the degradation of its proxies in the region that now is an ideal moment to take out its nuclear facilities, and it is concerned the window for doing so is closing while the U.S. negotiates, the officials said.

Adding to that concern about timing, Israeli military strikes crippled Iranian strategic air defenses in October, meaning manned aircraft conducting new strikes now would not be as susceptible to being shot down. But the Iranians are rebuilding their air defenses.

Republican Sens. Tom Cotton and Lindsey Graham said this week that the only acceptable Iran deal is one that completely stops Tehran from any uranium enrichment. They also urged Trump to submit any Iran nuclear deal to the Senate for ratification, which requires a two-thirds majority vote.

Asked about Cotton and Graham’s comments, a fourth U.S. official said Witkoff is in “constant contact” with Graham about Iran negotiations and briefed Cotton on them this past week.

The 2015 Iran nuclear deal reached by President Barack Obama was not ratified by the Senate, which allowed Trump to simply withdraw the U.S. from the agreement during his first term.

“I think what you’re seeing is the Israelis recognizing that as much as they welcomed the election of President Trump and thought that would really give them a blank check to pursue whatever agenda they wanted, Trump has his own agenda,” Frank Lowenstein, a former Middle East envoy under the Obama administration, said during a virtual briefing organized by J Street, an advocacy organization that describes itself as pro-Israel and pro-peace.

Although Trump’s diplomacy with Iran and the U.S. deal with the Houthis are “anathema” to Netanyahu, the prime minister does not have the political leverage in Washington or Israel to enter into a direct confrontation with Trump, who is popular with Netanyahu’s base in Israel, said Ilan Goldenberg, who worked on Middle East policy as a senior official during the Biden and Obama administrations.

Netanyahu’s “whole political strategy and survival strategy is based on holding his coalition and holding his political base together,” Goldenberg said in the briefing organized by J Street. “And those folks love Trump, so for him to go very publicly against Trump is something he really can’t do.”

The strain in the relationship between Trump and Netanyahu comes as the president is set to travel to the Middle East next week, with stops scheduled in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Trump is not currently scheduled to visit Israel on this trip, though he did during his first term.

It cost a fortune, she said, but Asmaa Fayez managed to buy a few zucchinis in a Gaza market. She cooked them with rice and brought it to her 4-year-old son, who has been in the hospital for the past week. The soup was his only meal of the day, and he asked for more.

“It’s all finished, darling,” Fayez replied softly. Still, it was an improvement from the canned beans and tuna she brings on other days, she said.

Hospital patients are among the most vulnerable as Palestinians across Gaza struggle to feed themselves, with Israel’s blockade on food and other supplies entering the territory now in its third month.

With hospitals unable to provide food, families must bring whatever they can find for loved ones.

Most, if not all, wounded patients have lost weight, especially in the past two months,” Dr. Khaled Alserr, a general surgeon at Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, told The Associated Press. Nutritional supplements for intensive care unit patients are lacking, he said.

“Our hands are tied when it comes to making the best choice for patients. Choices are limited,” he said.

Malnutrition is on the rise across Gaza, aid groups say. Thousands of children have been found with acute malnutrition in the past month, but adults as well are not getting proper nutrients, according to the U.N. It estimates that 16,000 pregnant women and new mothers this year face acute malnutrition.

Since Israel’s blockade began on March 2, food sources have been drying up. Aid groups have stopped food distribution. Bakeries have closed. Charity kitchens handing out bowls of pasta or lentils remain the last lifeline for most of the population, but they are rapidly closing for lack of supplies, the U.N. says.

Markets are empty of almost everything but canned goods and small amounts of vegetables, and prices have been rising. Local production of vegetables has plummeted because Israeli forces have damaged 80% of Gaza’s farmlands, the U.N. says, and much of the rest is inaccessible inside newly declared military zones.

Fayez’s son, Ali al-Dbary, was admitted to Nasser Hospital because of a blocked intestine, suffering from severe cramps and unable to use the bathroom. Fayez believes it’s because he has been eating little but canned goods. She splurged on the zucchini, which now costs around $10 a kilogram (2.2 pounds). Before the war it was less than a dollar.

Doctors said the hospital doesn’t have a functioning scanner to diagnose her son and decide whether he needs surgery.

Israel says it imposed the blockade and resumed its military campaign in March to pressure Hamas to release its remaining hostages and disarm.

Israeli officials have asserted that enough food entered Gaza during a two-month ceasefire earlier this year. Rights groups have disputed that and called the blockade a “starvation tactic” and a potential war crime.

Now Israeli plans to control aid distribution in Gaza, using private contractors to distribute supplies. The U.N. and aid groups have rejected the idea, saying it could restrict who is eligible to give and receive aid and could force large numbers of Palestinians to move — which would violate international law.

Those under care at hospitals, and their families who scrounge to feed them, would face further challenges under Israel’s proposal. Moving to reach aid could be out of the question.

Another patient at Nasser Hospital, 19-year-old Asmaa Faraj, had shrapnel in her chest from an airstrike that hit close to her tent and a nearby charity kitchen in camps for displaced people outside Khan Younis.

When the AP visited, the only food she had was a small bag of dates, a date cookie and some water bottles. Her sister brought her some pickles.

“People used to bring fruits as a gift when they visited sick people in hospitals,” said the sister, Salwa Faraj. “Today, we have bottles of water.”

She said her sister needs protein, fruits and vegetables but none are available.

Mohammed al-Bursh managed to find a few cans of tuna and beans to bring for his 30-year-old son, Sobhi, who was wounded in an airstrike three months ago. Sobhi’s left foot was amputated, and he has two shattered vertebrae in his neck.

Al-Bursh gently gave his son spoonfuls of beans as he lay still in the hospital bed, a brace on his neck.

“Everything is expensive,” Sobhi al-Bursh said, gritting with pain that he says is constant. He said he limits what he eats to help save his father money.

He believes that his body needs meat to heal. “It has been three months, and nothing heals,” he said.

The Israel Air Force reportedly began conducting airstrikes at the Houthi-controlled Yemen ports Ras Isa, Hodeidah, and Salif on Sunday following a warning from the IDF’s Arabic spokesperson, Col. Avichay Adraee that locals should evacuate until further notice.

An Iranian facility has been struck at an unspecified location, the Saudi state-owned news outlet Al Arabiya reported.

According to the Saudi news channel Al Hadath, the Ras Isa fuel port has allegedly been hit. It added that at least 10 airstrikes have occurred at the fuel port by press time.

The Houthi Interior Ministry claimed that airstrikes have hit the port in Hodeidah as well

Hamas has released U.S.-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, according to a statement by Hamas and an Israeli official who spoke to NPR on condition of anonymity because the official was unauthorized to speak publicly.

On Sunday, Hamas said his release would be a step toward reaching a ceasefire agreement with Israel after it had been holding talks with the U.S. for the last several days.

Alexander, a 21-year-old Israeli soldier raised in New Jersey, is believed to be the last living U.S. citizen who had been held in Gaza by Hamas since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. The bodies of four other Americans are still held in Gaza, according to the U.S.

President Trump posted on his social media platform that the release is a "step taken in good faith" to put an end to the war.

Hamas said the release was part of a ceasefire effort to open Gaza's border crossings and bring aid to Gaza. Israel has blocked all aid including food and medical supplies for more than 10 weeks to pressure Hamas to release more hostages. Humanitarian groups say it is driving rampant hunger in the territory.

A Hamas official says the U.S. has made promises in return for hostage release
A Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, told NPR that the release was in return for unspecified gestures the U.S. promised.

The official hinted Hamas anticipated Israel would release some Palestinian prisoners and ensure some aid into Gaza, and expected the U.S. to negotiate a broader deal with Israel that guarantees the end of the war.

"The ball is now in the American and Israeli court. We gave the Americans what they asked for. They need to get the other side to give things too," the Hamas official said.

Israel denies it must offer concessions in exchange for hostage release
A statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Monday said that Alexander's release "without anything in return" is thanks to President Trump's diplomacy and the Israeli military's pressure in Gaza.

The statement said Israel has not agreed to a ceasefire in exchange for Alexander's release.

Supporters of the hostages expressed frustration that the Israeli leadership has not achieved their freedom while the U.S. struck its own deal with Hamas for the release of a U.S. citizen.

"Trump is doing a great job in maintaining and continuing to get these hostages back, and I am not sure what our government is doing to ensure the release of the hostages," said Maya Weinrich, a 27-year-old medical student and dual U.S.-Israeli citizen.

Palestinians in Gaza praised President Trump
In Gaza City, Palestinian resident Awni Abu Kumail said he understands why Hamas agreed to release Alexander.

"Hamas wants to prove to the U.S. that it isn't the one holding up the ceasefire talks," Abu Kumail said.

"Trump has shown Israel that the United States is stronger," said resident Ahmed Abu Hadid in Gaza City. "Without the U.S. there would never be any solutions."

Scores of other hostages remain in Hamas captivity as Israel wages war
There are 59 hostages remaining in Gaza, including Alexander, more than half of whom are believed to be dead, according to Israel. Hamas had released 38 hostages in exchange for thousands of Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel under a ceasefire deal that began on Jan. 19. But Israel's military broke that ceasefire in March, after negotiations between the two parties failed to produce an extension of the truce.

Israel has since gained control of about a third of Gaza's territory, and has imposed a complete blockade on all aid including food and fuel, while continuing a deadly and destructive air campaign. Earlier this month it said it planned to expand its offensive there.

Israel has targeted Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar in a strike on a hospital in southern Gaza on Tuesday evening, according to a senior Israeli official and two sources familiar with the matter.

He became the militant group’s de facto leader after the Israeli military killed his brother, Yahya Sinwar, last October.

Tuesday’s strike killed six Palestinians and wounded at least 40 more, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it carried out a strike on the European hospital in Khan Younis, targeting “Hamas terrorists in a command and control center” in underground infrastructure beneath the hospital. The IDF did not identify the target of the strike.

Multiple airstrikes hit the yard of the hospital, according to Dr. Saleh Al Hams, the head of nursing. Some people are buried under the rubble, he said, calling it “a catastrophe.” Medical teams tried to move patients to safe units inside the hospital.

Video from the scene showed towering pillars of smoke and dust from what appeared to be some of the largest strikes in Gaza in recent weeks.

Hamas rejected any Israeli claims about Sinwar, saying in a statement, “The Palestinian resistance alone, through its official platforms, is the authority authorized to confirm or deny what is published.”

The targeting of Sinwar comes one day after Hamas released Israeli American Edan Alexander in what was a goodwill gesture to the United States. The deal for a single hostage’s release sidelined Israel, as Hamas communicated with the Trump administration.

The US expressed some optimism about negotiations set to take place in Qatar with President Donald Trump and his envoy Steve Witkoff in the Middle East. Before leaving Israel, Witkoff promised the families of the hostages that he “will be relentless on that pursuit.”

But with negotiations about to start in Doha – and with an Israeli team en route – the targeting of Sinwar means Israel has just attempted to kill Hamas’ key decision maker needed to seal any potential agreement.

sraeli officials considered Mohammed Sinwar just as hardline as his brother, Yahya, but much more experienced militarily. According to the IDF, he commanded the Khan Younis Brigade until 2016. Like Yahya, he is believed to be one of the main planners of the October 7 terror attack on Israel.

Since the start of the war, he has remained hidden, along with many of Hamas’ senior leaders in Gaza. In December 2023, the IDF released video of what they said was Mohammed Sinwar driving through a tunnel in Gaza. In February 2024, the IDF said they had located his office in western Khan Younis.

Former US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro said Sinwar was likely an obstacle in negotiations. “There is little chance the war can end before he dies,” Shapiro, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, told CNN. “His removal could open the door for the release of all hostages and beginning to move toward a post-war future for Gaza without Hamas.”

But even if Sinwar is dead, it could take some time before Israel says officially that it has killed him, and even longer for Hamas to acknowledge his death. In mid-July, Israel said it had targeted Mohammed Deif in a strike on a designated humanitarian zone in southern Gaza. It took until August, more than two weeks later, for the IDF to declare it had indeed killed Deif. Hamas did not confirm his death until the end of January, nearly six months later.

Some IDF officials have "privately concluded that Palestinians in Gaza face widespread starvation unless aid deliveries are restored within weeks," the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

The US news outlet's report was based on communicating with three Israeli defense officials "familiar with conditions in the enclave," who spoke on condition of anonymity.

IDF officers monitoring humanitarian conditions in Gaza warned their commanders that many areas in the enclave will run out of enough food to "meet minimum daily nutritional needs," the New York Times claimed.

The officers reportedly said that "immediate steps were needed to ensure that the system to supply aid could be reinstated fast enough to prevent starvation" as it "takes time to scale up humanitarian deliveries."

"The military leadership has acknowledged the severity of the situation and is exploring ways to restart aid deliveries while circumventing Hamas," the New York Times reported, according to the three defense officials.

'Urgency of the humanitarian situation in Gaza'
This report exposes a "gulf between Israel’s public stance on the aid blockade and its private deliberations," the New York Times wrote, adding that "It reveals that parts of the Israeli security establishment have reached the same conclusions as leading aid groups. They have warned for months of the dangers posed by the blockade."

It also "highlights the urgency of the humanitarian situation in Gaza," the report continued.

"Most bakeries have shut, charity kitchens are closing, and the United Nations’s World Food Program, which distributes aid and coordinates shipments, says it has run out of food stocks," it alleged.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a UN-backed initiative that monitors malnutrition, warned of an imminent famine in Gaza, the New York Times cited in their report.

The IDF and Defense Ministry declined to respond to the comments, the New York Times said.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein told the New York Times that he was "unable to share details from internal discussions, but that the ministry was in contact with “all the relevant agencies on an ongoing daily basis” and closely monitors the situation in Gaza."

Since hostage talks between Israel and Hamas resumed in Doha on Wednesday, US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff has told other mediators that Washington doesn’t plan to force Israel to end the war in Gaza amid Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s staunch refusal to do so, two Arab officials told The Times of Israel on Thursday.

Qatari and Egyptian mediators had hoped the US would move in this direction, given comments from President Donald Trump and other top aides about their desire to end the war following Hamas’s Monday release of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander.

Netanyahu has insisted on only agreeing to a temporary ceasefire of roughly 45 days, which would begin with Hamas releasing about 10 hostages. During that time, he told Witkoff that Israel is prepared to hold talks on a permanent end to the war, without committing to such a result up front, the first Arab official said.

Hamas has flatly rejected this framework, arguing that it had already agreed to release hostages during a January truce deal that was supposed to see Israel hold talks regarding a permanent end to the war, however, Netanyahu then refused to enter such negotiations and ended up resuming the IDF’s offensive in Gaza on March 18.

Accordingly, Hamas has insisted on an up-front Israeli commitment to end the war before it releases additional hostages. It also issued a statement on Thursday, warning of harm to the talks if Israel doesn’t end its nearly two-and-a-half-month-long blockade on aid entering Gaza. Israel has accused Hamas of stealing much of the aid that was previously brought in.

Due to both sides’ intransigence, Witkoff has offered a proposal that tries to meet the sides halfway — one that would see the release of a smaller number of hostages in exchange for a weekslong truce, the two Arab officials said. The Trump envoy has also tried to assure Hamas through mediators that the US will make sure that this time Israel does enter talks regarding the terms of a permanent ceasefire.

The Arab officials said the sides remain far apart, but that the American, Qatari and Egyptian mediators were still looking to push them toward a compromise over the coming days.

Israel has pledged to launch a major military operation to reoccupy and hold onto the entire Strip if Hamas doesn’t accept its proposal for a temporary ceasefire by the time Trump wraps up his Mideast trip on Friday.

But Arab mediators hope that the US will convince Israel to at least hold off on the operation for several more days, as they wait to determine the results of a Tuesday IDF strike targeting Hamas’s Gaza leader, Muhammad Sinwar. Scores of civilians were also reportedly killed, according to Hamas-linked health officials in Gaza.

Israeli officials have characterized Sinwar as a major obstacle in previous negotiations and hope that his elimination will lead Hamas to compromise. But Israeli optimism that Sinwar was indeed killed has begun to wane, according to the second Arab official who was briefed on the matter.

Arab leaders were also slated to gather for a summit in Baghdad on Saturday that will focus on Gaza, and were hoping that the Israeli offensive wouldn’t be launched during that confab, the second Arab official added.

While they continue to follow Witkoff’s lead in the negotiations, Qatar and Egypt believe the strategy should be to push the sides toward a permanent end to the war, the first Arab official said.

Hamas has already agreed to forgo governing control over the Strip, and at least five Arab countries are still prepared to take part in the post-war management of Gaza in what they argue would lead to the gradual disarmament of Hamas, the Arab official said, acknowledging that it would require an invitation from the Palestinian Authority, which Netanyahu has refused to accommodate.

If the creation of a political horizon for the Palestinians is absent, demands for permanent Hamas disarmament would not be met, the Arab official asserted.

Witkoff largely agrees with the Arab approach and told hostages’ families last week that the Netanyahu government’s plan to massively expand the war will not be effective, according to a source present for the discussion.

When he was pressed during another meeting with families on Tuesday on why the US was not then willing to force Netanyahu to end the war, Witkoff responded, “We’re not the Israeli government…The Israeli government is a sovereign government. They can’t tell us what to do, and we can’t tell them what to do,” according to a recording of the meeting obtained by Haaretz.

Witkoff’s office did not respond to a request for comment on this story.

Hamas has proposed releasing all of the hostages at once in exchange for an end to the war, but Netanyahu has rejected this trade, arguing that it would leave Hamas in power.

Successive polls have indicated that the premier is out of step with the majority of Israelis, who back such a framework. But Netanyahu is also facing pressure from his far-right coalition partners, who have threatened to collapse the government if he were to end the war in exchange for the remaining 58 hostages, between 20 and 23 of whom are believed to still be alive.

President Donald Trump said people are “starving” in Gaza and the United States will help “get that taken care of” as he wrapped up his trip to the Middle East.

Later, when asked whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can free the remaining hostages held captive by Hamas, Trump said, “I don’t know. We’re going to find out pretty soon. We’re going to know pretty soon. They’re not in good shape.”

Trump’s statement on starvation in Gaza comes as aid groups have warned of a dire crisis and encroaching famine in the war-torn enclave, where Israel has blocked the entry of humanitarian assistance since it resumed its war against Hamas two months ago. Now, Israel and the United States are embarking on a new plan to deliver aid that they say will avoid supplying Hamas. Aid groups have criticized the pan as insufficient to meet the enclave’s needs.

Speaking at an event in the United Arab Emirates, Trump said the United States would help solve the crisis.

“We’re going to handle a couple of situations that you have here, we have some very serious situations,” he said. “And we’re looking at Gaza and we’ve got to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving. There’s a lot of bad things going on.”

His comments come days after The New York Times reported that Israeli military officers who oversee Gaza’s humanitarian situation said the territory is close to running out of food.

Upon news of Hamas’ release of Edan Alexander, the last living American-Israeli hostage it held captive, Trump expressed a desire for the war to end with a deal that releases all the hostages.

That release came days after Israel adopted a plan to conquer and occupy Gaza, and on Friday, the Israeli military said it had bombed more than 150 targets over the past 24 hours. Palestinian officials in the Hamas-run territory said more than 75 people were killed.

As President Donald Trump hopscotched around the Middle East this week, he was the star of elaborate ceremonies, announced new U.S. policies and unveiled billions of dollars in new economic partnerships.

He even visited a mosque, remarking on the pride for he felt for “my friends” as he took in its beauty. “This is an incredible culture,” Trump said.

But one omission on the trip became more glaring with each stop: Israel.

Tensions between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were already bubbling up before the president spent the week visiting three of America’s key Arab allies: Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

By the end of the trip on Friday, Trump seemed to put further strain on the relationship. He had spent the past few days meeting with Syria’s new leader — a former al Qaeda leader the U.S. had put a $10 million bounty on — and announced he was lifting sanctions on the country in a move Israel opposed but one that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia had urged the president to take.

Trump told reporters he had discussed the sanctions decision with Netanyahu, framing it as widely supported by others.

“I think it’s been very popular, certainly in the Middle East,” Trump said. He also cited conversations with bin Salman and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan who, he claimed, saw the move as critical to its chance of survival as a country.

A day after promising to lift the sanctions, Trump praised Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa as a “young, attractive guy — tough guy,” and urged the former rebel fighter to join the Abraham Accords — the president’s signature foreign policy achievement from his first term that normalized ties between Israel and several Arab states.

During the trip, Trump also leaned into the notion of a deal with Iran being within striking distance, without putting forward any details to assuage some of Israel’s concerns. And on the eve of the president’s trip, his administration announced it had cut a unilateral deal with Hamas, the U.S.-designated terrorist organization that attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, to secure the release of the last living American hostage in Gaza.

“Hopefully this is the first of those final steps necessary to end this brutal conflict,” Trump said of the release of Edan Alexander. He added on Friday that “we’re going to find out pretty soon” if Israel is able to free the nearly two dozen hostages believed to be alive in Gaza.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, bombed Gaza during Trump’s trip to the region, killing more than 100 people in the last 24 hours, according to local health authorities.

Asked about Israel’s plans for expanding the war in Gaza, as he pushes for a ceasefire, Trump struck a measured tone.

“I think a lot of good things are going to happen over the next month, and we’re going to see. We have to help also out the Palestinians,” Trump said. “You know, a lot of people are starving on Gaza, so we have to look at both sides.”

Even so, Israel is increasingly anxious about Trump striking a quick nuclear deal with Iran and Arab leaders shaping the president’s thinking, one person familiar with the dynamic between Trump and Netanyahu said.

“The trip hasn’t so much put distance between Trump and Netanyahu as it has exposed it,” this person said.

Trump, speaking to reporters, dismissed the notion that his trip marginalized America’s closest ally in the region. He said on Wednesday that the U.S. having a strong relationship with Arab leaders is “very good for Israel.”

Across four breakneck days of deal-making, Arab leaders showed their ability to provide Trump with tangible economic wins he can showcase overseas as benefiting Americans back home, as well as the kind of warm welcome that resonates with the president.

“The job they’ve done in a fairly short period of time is just outstanding. They’re great people. Great leaders. Three great leaders,” Trump told reporters Friday as he headed back to Washington, D.C. “And the respect shown to our country was incredible. Because nobody is treated like that.”

Trump’s relationship with Netanyahu, by contrast, is largely focused on national security concerns, from Iran to the war in Gaza to the shifting dynamics in Syria.

So far, Israel has largely kept those concerns behind the scenes — which has not been the case with previous presidents, specifically Barack Obama and Joe Biden, even as they vowed to protect America’s “unbreakable bond” with Israel. And the U.S. continues to strongly support Israel, with Trump sending military equipment the Biden administration had paused.

In a statement, National Security Council spokesman James Hewitt described Trump as Israel’s staunchest ally in its history.

“Israel has had no better friend in its history than President Trump,” Hewitt said. “We continue to work closely with our ally Israel to ensure remaining hostages in Gaza are freed, Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon, and to strengthen regional security in the Middle East.”

Hewitt added, “As he has repeatedly stated in his first and second terms, the President is committed to ensuring Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon.”

As for where the dynamic between Trump and Netanyahu goes next, one ally of the president made the case that deepening ties with Arab leaders will ultimately protect Israel because of its close relationship with the U.S. At the same time, the ally noted Trump’s characteristic unpredictability, saying, “Trump does what Trump does.”

Hamas has proposed releasing more hostages under a new Gaza ceasefire deal, after new negotiations were held on Saturday. The talks began hours after Israel's military launched a major new offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas has agreed to release nine hostages in exchange for a 60-day truce and Israel releasing Palestinian prisoners, a Palestinian official told the BBC.

The official said the new proposed deal would also allow the entry of 400 aid trucks a day, and the evacuation of medical patients from Gaza. Israel, in turn, has demanded proof of life and detailed information about all remaining hostages.

The new round of ceasefire talks is being held through Qatari and US mediators in Doha, and began on Saturday afternoon local time.

Israel is yet to respond publicly to the proposed deal, but said prior to the talks that it would not withdraw troops from Gaza or commit to an end to the war.

The proposal would not include these elements, the BBC understands.

Israel's military announced the launch of a new offensive named "Operation Gideon's Chariots" earlier on Saturday, amid the deadliest wave of strikes in Gaza in months.

At least 300 people have been killed since Thursday, rescuers say, including at hospitals and refugee camps in the north and south of the Strip.

Speaking from inside Gaza, journalist Ghada Al Qurd told the BBC's Newshour programme there had been lots of "airstrikes, shellings, drones, shooting and even exploding, in the north and east."

"It's terrifying and horrible," she said.

She said her family had only been having one meal a day, due to the scarcity and spiralling cost, and accused Israel of "using food as a weapon" - an allegation UN officials have also made in recent weeks.

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that "a lot of people were starving" in Gaza. The Israeli government has repeatedly rejected claims there is a food shortage in Gaza.

Victoria Rose, a British reconstructive surgeon working at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that her team were "exhausted" and staff had lost a "considerable amount of weight".

"The children are really thin," she said. "We've got a lot of youngsters whose teeth have fallen out.

"A lot of them have quite significant burn injuries and with this level of malnutrition they're so much more prone to infection and they've got so much less capacity to heal."

The IDF said on Saturday it wouldn't stop operating "until Hamas is no longer a threat and all our hostages are home" and that it had "struck over 150 terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip" in the preceding 24 hours.

Strikes on Saturday hit towns in the north of Gaza, including Beit Lahiya and the Jabalia refugee camp, as well as in the southern city of Khan Younis, the Hamas-run health ministry and civil defence forces said.

Thousands of Israeli troops, including soldiers and reservists, could enter Gaza as the operation ramps up in the coming days. Israeli tanks have also been seen at the border, Reuters news agency reported.

The intensified offensive has been condemned by the UN and some European leaders.

Commissioner-General of the UN's Palestinian refugee agency (Unrwa) Philippe Lazzarini expressed shock at Israel's military operation, saying: "How many more Palestinian lives will be wiped off from their homeland by bombardments, hunger or lack of medical care?"

"Atrocities are becoming a new norm, under our watch, making the unbearable bearable with indifference," he said.

Following the new strikes, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, and Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani all called for a permanent ceasefire, while Germany's Foreign Ministry said the new offensive risked "worsening the catastrophic humanitarian situation for Gaza's population and the remaining hostages".

Israel launched a new devastating ground offensive in Gaza over the weekend just as US President Donald Trump departed the region without sealing a ceasefire and hostage deal.

The Israeli military said its forces moved into northern and southern Gaza over the past day as part of the “Gideon’s Chariots” operation, which Israel warned would take place if Hamas doesn’t agree to a new hostage deal on its terms.

The ground operation came after days of heavy airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, which according to health authorities there have wiped out entire families.

Israel says it will allow a “basic amount of food” into the besieged enclave, a move which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted was due to intense pressure from Israel’s allies. Hamas and Israel also began indirect talks in the Qatari capital Doha on Saturday.

What is Israel’s new operation in Gaza?
Israel has for weeks been warning about operation “Gideon’s Chariot” – a reference to a biblical warrior – saying it is aimed at achieving “all the goals of the war in Gaza,” including defeating Hamas and securing the release of remaining hostages in the territory. The operation was approved by the country’s Security Cabinet on May 5, a senior security official told CNN previously, adding that unlike in the past, the military will remain in areas it captures.

On Monday, Netanyahu said that Israel plans to take control of all of Gaza.

The official said earlier in May that the plan would be implemented after Trump’s trip to the Middle East to “provide a window of opportunity” to reach a hostage deal.

The warring parties failed to reach a deal during Trump’s visit last week, and Israel pressed on with its operation over the weekend. This began with a series of intense airstrikes last week and was followed by an expanded ground offensive on Sunday.

The Israeli military said Sunday that over the past week, it struck more than 670 “Hamas targets” in a wave of preliminary airstrikes across the enclave.

Health officials in Gaza said on Sunday that the operation killed over 100 people overnight, and shuttered the last functioning hospital in the enclave’s north. Entire families were killed while sleeping, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

More than 300 people have been killed and over 1,000 others injured since Thursday, according to a CNN count of health ministry data.

What’s happening with Gaza aid?
On Sunday, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said that due to the “operational need,” Israel will allow a “basic amount of food” to enter Gaza to prevent famine in the enclave, which Israel says would jeopardize its military operation.

Netanyahu has also hinted that his country could lose the support of its closest allies, including the United States, if it doesn’t lift its 11-week blockade on the territory, which has further exacerbated a humanitarian crisis on the ground that aid agencies, including the United Nations, have said could lead to widespread famine.

The UN had warned that Gaza’s entire population of over 2.1 million people is facing a risk of famine following 19 months of conflict and mass displacement.

If “a situation of famine” arose in Gaza, Israel “simply won’t receive international support,” Netanyahu said Monday.

Even our closest allies in the world – US senators I know personally and who have been staunch, unconditional supporters of Israel for decades – are coming to me and saying: ‘We are giving you all the support to achieve victory – weapons, support for your efforts to eliminate Hamas, protection at the UN Security Council – but there’s one thing we cannot accept: images of mass starvation… If that happens, we won’t be able to support you anymore,’” Netanyahu said in an address posted to Telegram.

“We are approaching a dangerous point we don’t want to reach,” he said, adding that the military would find a “solution to this problem” to achieve its war aims.

Netanyahu’s explanations were largely aimed at mollifying his right-wing supporters who adamantly oppose the entry of any humanitarian aid to Gaza, including to civilians.

Asked when aid will start entering into the enclave, Netanyahu’s office said on Monday that “it will happen in the near future.”

A controversial American-backed organization, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), tasked with delivering aid to the territory, welcomed the Israeli announcement about allowing food aid as a “bridging mechanism” until the group is fully operational.

Where does this leave talks?
Israeli Defense Minister Katz said Saturday that the new military operation in Gaza is what pressured Hamas to return to negotiations in Qatar last week. But analysts and officials say it’s more likely that the militant group agreed to restart the talks following Trump’s Middle East visit.

Senior Hamas official Taher Al-Nunu confirmed Saturday that “negotiations without preconditions” had started in Doha, according to Hamas-run al Aqsa TV.

It is unclear how well the discussions are progressing in Doha. Israel on Sunday indicated its openness to ending the war in Gaza if Hamas surrenders, a proposition the group is unlikely to accept as long as Israel continues to insist on Hamas disarming.

Meanwhile, Hamas officials have given conflicting comments about the talks.

Earlier on Sunday, a senior Hamas leader told CNN that the group had agreed to release between seven and nine Israeli hostages in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire and the release of 300 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Hours later, another senior Hamas leader, Sami Abu Zuhri, denied and contradicted that proposal, posting a statement on Al-Aqsa TV’s Telegram: “There is no truth to the rumors regarding the movement’s agreement to release nine Israeli prisoners in exchange for a two-month ceasefire.”

Zuhri went on to say: “We are ready to release the prisoners all at once, provided the occupation commits to a cessation of hostilities under international guarantees, and we will not hand over the occupation’s prisoners as long as it insists on continuing its aggression against Gaza indefinitely.”

David Hearst, editor-in-chief of Middle East Eye, argues that—as with the Vietnam War—two key factors will bring an end to the slaughter in Gaza: the determination of Palestinians to remain on their land, and growing public outrage in the West, which is rapidly turning against Israel.

“It is both in Palestine and in the hearts and minds of the West — from which the Zionist project grew, and on which it is so dependent — that this war is being fought,” says Hearst.

He believes these two factors will lead the Palestinians people to their own state and while Israel may win each battle, as the Americans did in Vietnam, but it will lose the war.

With any luck.