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The armed wing of Palestinian militant group Hamas handed over a US-Israeli hostage held in Gaza since October 2023 on Monday, ahead of a regional visit by US President Donald Trump.”The (Ezzedine) Al-Qassam Brigades have just released the Zionist soldier and American citizen Edan Alexander, following contacts with the US administration, as part of the efforts undertaken by mediators to achieve a ceasefire,” Hamas said in a statement.Israel’s military said he was back inside Israel to be “reunited with his family”.Flag-waving crowds gathered to greet the convoy carrying Alexander, and in Tenafly, New Jersey, where he grew up, large crowds celebrated his release.Close friends and family chanted his name and applauded at the news that Alexander had been freed, footage released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum showed.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Alexander’s return, adding: “The Government of Israel is committed to the return of all hostages and missing persons — both the living and the fallen.”He credited “political pressure” from Trump and “our military pressure” for the release.The Forum in a statement urged Netanyahu to say he was “ready to negotiate a comprehensive agreement” to bring home all the hostages.Meirav Etrogbar, 52, a volunteer at the Forum, told AFP: “They should stop the war and bring all the hostages back home in a deal, not military pressure.”Alexander’s release comes a day after Hamas revealed it was engaged in direct talks with Washington towards a Gaza ceasefire.”We affirm that serious and responsible negotiations yield results in the release of prisoners, while the continuation of aggression prolongs their suffering and may kill them,” a Hamas statement said.”We urge President Trump’s administration to continue its efforts to end this brutal war.” Alexander was the last living hostage in Gaza with American citizenship. His release came with Trump heading for Saudi Arabia on the first leg of a regional tour.On Monday, Netanyahu thanked Trump “for his assistance in the release”, and also said he had instructed a negotiating team to head to Qatar on Tuesday to discuss the further release of hostages.Netanyahu earlier said “Israel has not committed to a ceasefire of any kind or the release of terrorists but only to a safe corridor that will allow for the release of Edan”.Negotiations for a possible deal to secure the release of all hostages would continue “under fire, during preparations for an intensification of the fighting”, he added.Meanwhile, the UN- and NGO-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) warned Monday that Gaza was at “critical risk of famine”, with 22 percent of the population facing an imminent humanitarian “catastrophe” after more than two months of a total aid blockade by Israel.- ‘Opportunity to breathe’ -Ahead of Alexander’s release, a Hamas source said that mediators informed the group that Israel would halt military operations for the handover of the 21-year-old soldier.The pause offered a much-needed respite for residents of the war-battered territory.Somaya Abu Al-Kas, 34, who had been displaced to the southern city of Khan Yunis, said that “calm settled over Gaza, there was no shelling, and no nearby aircraft, which is very rare”.But Um Mohammed Zomlot, 50, also displaced in Khan Yunis, said: “Everyone is afraid that the shelling might resume suddenly after the prisoner is released.”Gaza’s civil defence agency earlier reported at least 10 killed in an overnight Israeli strike on a school housing displaced people.- ‘Good faith gesture’ -After Hamas announced Sunday it would release Alexander, Trump hailed the “monumental news” in a post on social media, describing it as a “good faith gesture”.”Hopefully this is the first of those final steps necessary to end this brutal conflict,” he added.Egypt and Qatar, which along with the United States have mediated talks between Hamas and Israel, called it “an encouraging step toward a return to the negotiating table” in a joint statement.Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, 57 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.Israel ended a two-month ceasefire on March 18, ramping up its bombardment of the territory.Earlier this month, Israel’s government approved plans to expand its Gaza offensive, with officials talking of retaining a long-term presence there.Hamas’s 2023 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Monday at least 2,749 people have been killed since Israel resumed its campaign, bringing the overall death toll since the war broke out to 52,862.burs-fec-acc/srm/dcp

The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon said Monday that since a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah it had uncovered more than 225 weapons caches in the south and referred them to the army.Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem urged Lebanon’s government and the international community to act “more effectively” to make Israel comply with the November truce, which largely ended more than a year of hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed group, including two months of all-out war.Under the deal, Hezbollah was to withdraw its fighters north of Lebanon’s Litani River and Israel was to pull all its forces from south Lebanon, however it has kept troops in five areas it deems “strategic”.The Lebanese army has been deploying in the area as Israeli forces have withdrawn and has been dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure there.Since the November 27 truce began, “peacekeepers have found over 225 weapons caches and referred them” to the Lebanese army, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon said in a statement.UNIFIL also has a seat on the ceasefire monitoring committee, alongside truce sponsors France and the United States, and the Israeli and Lebanese governments.”With UNIFIL support”, Lebanon’s army has “redeployed to more than 120 permanent positions south of the Litani”, the peacekeeping force said.”Full (army) deployment is hindered by the presence of Israeli forces in Lebanese territory,” it added.Israel’s military still carries out regular strikes in Lebanon, saying it is targeting Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure.The ceasefire deal was based on a UN Security Council resolution that says Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only forces in south Lebanon, and that calls for the disarmament of all non-state groups.- ‘Playing with fire’ -Hezbollah’s chief said on Monday that Lebanon and Hezbollah had fulfilled their commitments under the ceasefire, and the army has deployed in south Lebanon, “while Israel has not withdrawn, has not stopped its attacks”.In a televised speech, Qassem said that “Israel wants to end the resistance”, referring to Hezbollah.Israel “thinks that continuing its pressure and aggression could lead to the political end of the resistance”, he said, adding: “This will not happen.”After heavy Israeli strikes in the Nabatiyeh area of south Lebanon last week, Qassem said Israel was “playing with fire”.He urged the Lebanese state and ceasefire sponsors Paris and Washington to act “more effectively” and to let Israel and its backers “know that we will not submit to threats and pressure”.He also called for swift efforts towards reconstruction.President Joseph Aoun said last month the Lebanese army was now deployed in more than 85 percent of the south and that the sole obstacle to full control across the frontier area was “Israel’s occupation of five border positions”.Lebanese authorities have vowed to implement a state monopoly on bearing arms, though Aoun has said disarming Hezbollah is a “delicate” matter that requires dialogue.Hezbollah, long a dominant force in Lebanon, was heavily weakened in its latest war with Israel.

US President Donald Trump on Monday left for Saudi Arabia on what he called a “historic” tour of the Middle East that will mix urgent diplomacy on Gaza and Iran with huge business deals.Air Force One took off on a journey that will include visits to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — and possibly talks in Turkey on the Ukraine war.Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza will hang heavy over the first major tour of Trump’s second term — but in one sign of progress, US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander was handed over to the Red Cross just as the president boarded his plane.”It’s big news,” Trump said at the White House shortly before departing. “He’s coming home to his parents, which is really great news. They thought he was dead.”Trump has in recent weeks seemed to cool on his efforts to end the Gaza war — despite boasting before taking office that he would be able to bring the conflict to a swift end.He has also been increasingly at odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Gaza, as well as over strikes on Yemen’s Huthi rebels and on how to handle Iran’s nuclear program.Trump said there were “very good things happening” on talks between Washington and Tehran over Iran’s nuclear ambitions — though he added that Iran “can’t have a nuclear weapon.”- Air Force One ‘gift’ -The US president said that he hoped for more developments on Gaza during his trip to the Gulf, noting that his tour involved “three primary countries” in the region.”I hope that we’re going to have other hostages released too,” he said when asked if he expected further progress towards a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave.Hamas asked Trump to “continue efforts” to end the war after freeing hostage Alexander, while Netanyahu said he would send mediators to Qatar on Tuesday for further negotiations.Qatar has played a key role as a middleman in talks on ending the war — but it also took a major role in a new ethics row erupting before Trump’s departure.The oil-rich state plans to donate a new Air Force One plane to Trump after he complained that replacements for the aging current aircraft — including the one he is traveling on Monday — were taking too long.When he asked if the proposed use of a foreign-donated plane would raise ethical and security questions, Trump said Monday it would be “stupid” not to accept such a gift.He also said he could change his plans and fly to Istanbul on Thursday if talks between Russia and Ukraine happen there and make progress.”I don’t know where I’m going to be at that particular point, I’ll be someplace in the Middle East. But I would, if I thought it would be helpful,” Trump told reporters Monday.Trump added that he thought both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin could attend — raising the prospect of a landmark summit.- ‘Happy place’ -Trump’s Middle East tour will start in Saudi Arabia — the same place he began his debut overseas trip in his first term in 2017, and memorably posed over a glowing orb with the leaders of Egypt and Saudi Arabia.But on that occasion he also visited Israel, whereas this time it is not on the itinerary.His decision to once more bypass traditional Western allies to visit the oil-rich Gulf states underscores their pivotal geopolitical role — as well as his own business ties there.”It’s hard for me to escape the idea that President Trump is going to the Gulf because this is his happy place,” said Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.Riyadh, Doha and Abu Dhabi are expected to pull out all the stops for Trump, who is making his first major overseas trip after briefly attending the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome.The wealthy Arab states will mix pomp and ceremony for the 78-year-old billionaire with deals that could span defense, aviation, energy and artificial intelligence.

Palestinian militant group Hamas said its armed wing handed over a US-Israeli hostage held in Gaza since October 2023 on Monday, ahead of a regional visit by US President Donald Trump.”The (Ezzedine) Al-Qassam Brigades have just released the Zionist soldier and American citizen Edan Alexander, following contacts with the US administration, as part of the efforts undertaken by mediators to achieve a ceasefire,” Hamas said in a statement Monday.A source close to the militant group said Alexander had been handed over to the Red Cross in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis. It comes a day after Hamas revealed it was engaged in direct talks with Washington towards a ceasefire. “We affirm that serious and responsible negotiations yield results in the release of prisoners, while the continuation of aggression prolongs their suffering and may kill them,” Hamas said in a statement.”We urge President Trump’s administration to continue its efforts to end this brutal war,” it added.The liberation of Alexander — the last living hostage in Gaza with American citizenship — comes ahead of a visit to the region by Trump, who is due in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the president “for his assistance in the release” of Alexander, a statement from his office said.Netanyahu also said he had instructed a negotiating team to head to Qatar on Tuesday to discuss the further release of hostages.The Israeli prime minister had earlier said that “Israel has not committed to a ceasefire of any kind or the release of terrorists but only to a safe corridor that will allow for the release of Edan”.Negotiations for a possible deal to secure the release of all hostages would continue “under fire, during preparations for an intensification of the fighting”, Netanyahu added.Meanwhile, on Monday, the UN- and NGO-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC)warned that Gaza was at “critical risk of famine”, with 22 percent of the population facing an imminent humanitarian “catastrophe” after more than two months of a total aid blockade by Israel.- ‘Opportunity to breathe’ -An Israeli official said earlier on Monday that the military was preparing for the return of Alexander, “who will be transferred by a special unit to the initial reception facility in Re’im” near the Gaza border in southern Israel.A Hamas source meanwhile said that mediators informed the group that Israel would halt military operations for the handover of the 21-year-old soldier.The pause offered a much-needed respite for residents of the war-battered territory.Somaya Abu Al-Kas, 34, who had been displaced to the southern city of Khan Yunis, said that “a little while ago, calm settled over Gaza, there was no shelling, and no nearby aircraft, which is very rare”.”We are tired of the shelling, and any ceasefire, even if temporary, we consider it an opportunity to breathe and gather ourselves,” said the 34-year-old But Um Mohammed Zomlot, also displaced in Khan Yunis, said that “despite the calm, we are cautious”. “Everyone is afraid that the shelling might resume suddenly after the prisoner is released,” said Zomlot, 50.Gaza’s civil defence agency had earlier reported at least 10 killed in an overnight Israeli strike on a school housing displaced people.- ‘Good faith gesture’ -The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the largest grouping of hostages’ relatives in Israel, called for a gathering at the plaza dubbed Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, ahead of Alexander’s release.”We must not leave anyone behind!” the group said in a statement.After Hamas announced it would release Alexander on Sunday, Trump hailed the “monumental news” in a post on social media, describing it as a “good faith gesture”.”Hopefully this is the first of those final steps necessary to end this brutal conflict,” he added.Egypt and Qatar, who along with the United States have mediated talks between Hamas and Israel, also welcomed the development, describing it in a joint statement as “a gesture of goodwill and an encouraging step toward a return to the negotiating table”.Earlier, two Hamas officials told AFP that talks were ongoing in Doha with the United States and reported “progress”.Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, 57 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.Israel ended a two-month ceasefire on March 18, ramping up its bombardment of the territory.Earlier this month, the Israeli government approved plans to expand its Gaza offensive, with officials talking of retaining a long-term presence there.Hamas’s 2023 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Monday that at least 2,749 people have been killed since Israel resumed its campaign, bringing the overall death toll since the war broke out to 52,862.burs-fec-acc

Israel has asked the International Criminal Court to dismiss its arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant while ICC judges reconsider complex jurisdictional questions.In a 14-page document dated May 9 but posted on the ICC website on Monday, Israel argued the warrants issued in November were null and void while judges weigh a previous Israeli challenge to the ICC’s jurisdiction in the case.In a ruling that made headlines around the world, the ICC found “reasonable grounds” to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bore “criminal responsibility” for war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the war in Gaza.The court also issued a war crimes warrant against top Hamas commander Mohammed Deif over the October 7 attacks that sparked the conflict. The case against Deif was dropped in February after his death.Israel, not one of the ICC’s 125 members, challenged the court’s jurisdiction but judges on the ICC’s “Pre-Trial Chamber” dismissed the bid and issued the arrest warrants.But last month, the ICC’s Appeals Chamber ruled the Pre-Trial Chamber was wrong to dismiss the challenge and ordered it to look again in detail at Israel’s arguments.Israel says now that the arrest warrants should not stay in place while this complex and lengthy process is ongoing.”Unless and until the Pre-Trial Chamber has ruled on the substance of the jurisdiction challenge… the prerequisite jurisdictional finding does not exist,” Israel argued.”It follows that the arrest warrants issued on 21 November 2024 must be withdrawn or vacated pending the Pre-Trial Chamber’s determination of Israel’s jurisdictional challenge.”Israel and its allies reacted furiously to the warrants issued on November 21, Netanyahu describing it as an “anti-Semitic decision” and then US president Joe Biden slamming it as “outrageous.”Technically, any member of the ICC is required to arrest Netanyahu if he travels there, although the court has no independent power to enforce warrants.Israel argued in its submission that Netanyahu could theoretically be arrested while the court was still weighing whether it had jurisdiction in the case.”Depriving persons of their liberty on the basis of an arrest warrant issued in the absence of the necessary legal pre-conditions is an egregious violation of fundamental human rights and of the rule of law,” Israel argued.Allowing the warrants to stay in place during the deliberations “is unlawful and undermines the legitimacy of the court,” said Israel.

Gaza is at “critical risk of famine”, with 22 percent of the population facing an imminent humanitarian “catastrophe” after more than two months of an aid blockade by Israel, a food security monitor warned Monday.Gaza’s entire population of around 2.4 million people is at risk of a food crisis “or worse” by September, the UN- and NGO-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said in a report.”Nineteen months into the conflict, the Gaza Strip is still confronted with a critical risk of famine,” the IPC said.It said there had been a “major deterioration” in the food security situation since its last assessment in October 2024.”Goods indispensable for people’s survival are either depleted or expected to run out in the coming weeks. The entire population is facing high levels of acute food insecurity, with half a million people — one in five — facing starvation,” it said.The consortium, which has developed a five-level famine warning system, found that from April 1 to May 10, 244,000 people in Gaza were in the most critical food security situation — level five, or “catastrophe/famine”.It classified another 925,000 as level four, or “emergency”.The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization warned that Gaza faced “imminent risk of famine”, saying agriculture was “on the brink of total collapse”.It called for the “immediate” lifting of the blockade, saying aid like animal feed and veterinary supplies was urgently needed to maintain precious production of items such as milk and eggs, often the last remaining food.Israel, which launched its Gaza offensive after the October 7, 2023 attacks led by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, imposed its current aid blockade on March 2.Last week, the Israeli security cabinet approved plans to expand the military operation, including the “conquest” of Gaza and the displacement of its population.”Families in Gaza are starving while the food they need is sitting at the border,” said the UN World Food Programme’s executive director, Cindy McCain.”It’s imperative that the international community acts urgently to get aid flowing into Gaza again. If we wait until after a famine is confirmed, it will already be too late for many people.”