Biden, Netanyahu discuss latest in effort to reach an Israel-Hamas war ceasefire

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Joe Biden spoke Sunday about efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Israel-Hamas war, a sign of the intensifying push to reach a deal before Donald Trump’s inauguration next week....

Israel's Netanyahu sends Mossad director to Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar in sign of progress

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sending the director of the Mossad foreign intelligence agency to ceasefire negotiations in Qatar, his office said Saturday, in a sign of progress in talks on the war in Gaza. It was not immediately clear...

More than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, officials say

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — More than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, Gaza's Health Ministry said Thursday, with no end in sight to the 15-month conflict. The ministry said a total of 46,006 Palestinians have been killed and 109,378 wounded. It...

Israel rallies global support to win release of a woman believed kidnapped in Iraq

JERUSALEM (AP) — A senior Israeli official says the government is working with allies in a renewed push to win the freedom of an Israeli-Russian researcher who is believed to have been kidnapped in Iraq nearly two years ago. The official said Thursday that the matter was raised in...

Iran says Swiss national held on espionage charges kills himself in prison

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A Swiss national detained in Iran on espionage charges killed himself Thursday at a prison in rural Semnan province, state media reported. The report by the Iranian judiciary's Mizan news agency did not identify the man, only saying the man had asked his...

Body of an Israeli hostage is found in Gaza, possibly alongside his son's remains, army says

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli soldiers recovered the body of a 53-year-old hostage in an underground tunnel in southern Gaza, the military said Wednesday, and the army was determining if another set of remains belongs to the man's son. The discovery of Yosef AlZayadni's body comes as...

Middle East latest: Israeli hostage found dead in Gaza, military says

Israeli forces have recovered the body of a hostage held in Gaza, the military said Wednesday, adding that it was identifying additional remains that could belong to another captive. The recovery of Yosef AlZayadni, 53, from an underground tunnel comes as Israel and Hamas are considering a...

Israel’s defense minister says troops recover the bodies of two hostages from Gaza

Hostages in Gaza endure another winter as their families plead for a ceasefire

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — When Luis Har was kidnapped by Hamas-led militants on the warm morning of Oct. 7, 2023, he was forced into Gaza wearing shorts and a T-shirt. As his captivity stretched into weeks and then months, the cold, wet winter set in, bringing along with it a dread he had never...

Takeaways from Trump's Mar-a-Lago press conference

PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) — Less than two weeks before taking office, President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday took some of his most audacious claims and promises of the transition period and amped them up to new levels. Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, Trump...