Middle East

Some 180 prisoners are being freed in exchange for three Israeli hostages.

A visual guide to how much has changed in the Gaza Strip since Israel began its military response to Hamas’s attacks on 7 October.

A total of 73 hostages taken during 7 October attacks are still believed to be in Gaza.

Is the truce finished after Israeli air strikes across Gaza?

Trump’s Gaza plan will be seen as flying in face of international law5 February 2025Tom BatemanBBC State Department Correspondent, WashingtonWhen US President Donald Trump began speaking 10 days ago of Gaza as a demolition site, calling to “clean out that whole thing”, it wasn’t clear how far these were off-the-cuff remarks.
But in the lead up to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit, in his Oval Office comments before the meeting, and in the press conference itself, it’s now clear he is profoundly serious about his proposals.
They amount to the most radical upending in the established US position on Israel and the Palestinians in the recent history of the conflict; and will be seen as flying in the face of international law.
As well as how the announcement will be absorbed by ordinary people on the ground, it could also have a significant impact on the more immediate phased ceasefire and hostage release process, at a critical juncture.
Trump and his officials are framin..

Trump faces showdown with Jordan over Gaza plan11 February 2025Lucy WilliamsonMiddle East correspondentReporting fromJordanImad Abdallah sits with other day labourers in a square in central Amman hoping to pick up temporary workDonald Trump is expected to face fierce resistance from Jordan’s King Abdullah at the White House today, in their first meeting since the US president proposed moving Gaza’s population to Jordan.
Jordan, a key US ally, has been treading a tightrope between its military and diplomatic ties, and popular support for the Palestinians at home.
Those fault lines, already tested by the Gaza War, are being pushed to breaking point by Trump’s plans for Gaza’s peace.
He has expanded on his demand that Gazans be moved to Jordan and Egypt, telling a Fox News anchor that they would not have the right to return home – a vision that, if enforced, would contravene international law.
On Monday he said he might withhold aid to Jordan and Egypt if they did not take in Palestinian ..

Israel troops withdraw from corridor that split Gaza in two3 days agoJoe InwoodBBC NewsReporting fromJerusalemPaulin KolaBBC NewsReporting fromLondonIsraeli troops have withdrawn from the Netzarim Corridor – a military zone cutting off the north of the Gaza Strip from the south.
Hundreds of Palestinians in cars and on carts laden with mattresses and other goods began returning to northern Gaza following the pull-out – often to scenes of utter destruction.
The Israeli withdrawal is in line with the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement of 19 January under which 16 Israeli hostages and 566 Palestinian prisoners have so far been freed.
By the end of the first stage of the ceasefire in three weeks’ time, 33 hostages and 1,900 prisoners are expected to have been freed. Israel says eight of the 33 are dead.
Rebuilding my home in Gaza as Trump wants me to leaveWhat does the ceasefire deal contain?How 15 months of war has devastated GazaHamas seized 251 hostages and killed about 1,200 people when ..

Mother on hunger strike asks PM for help to free her son3 days agoAdam Hale & Jamie McConkeyBBC NewsLaila Soueif (centre) hasn’t eaten for 134 days as she campaigns for her son’s release from jail in Egypt.A mother who has been on hunger strike for 134 days to campaign for her son to be freed from an Egyptian prison has asked Sir Keir Starmer to continue to press for his release if she dies “in the coming days”.
Pro-democracy activist Alaa Abdel Fattah – a British and Egyptian citizen – was due to be freed in September 2024 but remains in jail.
His UK-born mother Laila Soueif has consumed nothing but herbal tea, black coffee and rehydration salts since.
Speaking outside Downing Street, the visibly frail 68-year-old said she feared she is running out of time to secure his release and called on the prime minister to act.
A government spokesperson said ministers are “working intensively on his case”.
In 2019, Alaa Abdel Fattah was arrested on suspicion of spreading false news – a charge h..

Saudi PhD student freed after being jailed over posts, activists say3 days agoDavid GrittenBBC NewsSaudi authorities have cracked down on peaceful online dissent in recent yearsA Saudi PhD student at the University of Leeds has been released from prison in Saudi Arabia after her sentence over critical social media activity was reduced, activists have said.
Salma al-Shehab, a 36-year-old mother of two, was arrested in 2021 while on holiday in the Gulf kingdom.
She was later jailed by a terrorism tribunal for six years over allegedly “disturbing public order” and “destabilising the social fabric” over posts calling for reforms and activists’ release.
The sentence was increased to 34 years before being reduced twice on appeal – first to 27 years and then to four years with an additional four years suspended. There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities.
Shehab’s release was first reported by ALQST, a UK-based Saudi rights group, which said she had been subjected to “four y..