Category World News

Israel and Hamas have reached a Gaza ceasefire agreement to release remaining captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, marking a significant step towards ending Israel’s genocidal war that has caused tens of thousands of deaths and created a devastating humanitarian crisis in the besieged enclave.

The deal, following United States President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan announced last month, will be signed on Thursday in Egypt.

The agreement will allow increased humanitarian aid into Gaza after more than two years of war. Israeli forces have begun preparations to withdraw troops from Gaza as part of the arrangement.

Trump’s broader plan envisions Hamas disarmament and a transitional Gaza authority led by the president himself, though these aspects remain unaddressed in the current agreement.

A Hamas source told the AFP news agency the group will exchange 20 living captives simultaneously for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners during the deal’s initial phase, with the exchange occurring within 72 hours of implementation.

The announcement triggered celebrations throughout Gaza, where extensive bombardment has displaced most residents multiple times over two years.

“Honestly, when I heard the news, I couldn’t hold back. Tears of joy flowed. Two years of bombing, terror, destruction, loss, humiliation, and the constant feeling that we could die at any moment,” displaced Palestinian Samer Joudeh told AFP. “Now, we finally feel like we’re getting a moment of respite.”

In southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, young people celebrated with singing and dancing.

Negotiations are taking place indirectly behind closed doors at a conference centre in Egypt’s Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. The low-key nature of these talks may indicate that deeper Israeli-Palestinian conflicts remain unresolved.

Qatar described the deal as the “first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which will lead to ending the war, the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and the entry of aid”.

International pressure to end the conflict has intensified amid a United Nations-declared famine in Gaza and Israeli families’ desperate wait for their captive loved ones’ return.

Afghanistan’s United Nations-sanctioned foreign minister has arrived in India, the first visit by a top Taliban leader since they returned to power in 2021, following the withdrawal of United States-led forces and the fall of Kabul.

Amir Khan Muttaqi’s trip on Thursday was made possible after the UN Security Council granted him a travel waiver and is expected to be closely watched by India’s regional foe Pakistan, as New Delhi deepens its engagement with the Taliban government.

“We look forward to engaging discussions with him on bilateral relations and regional issues,” Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement, offering Muttaqi a “warm welcome”.

Muttaqi, who met with India’s foreign secretary Vikram Misri in January in Dubai, is set to hold talks with its external affairs minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

Neither side has disclosed the agenda, but trade and security are likely to be at the forefront, although India has not extended its formal recognition to the Taliban government yet.

Moscow’s recognition

The trip highlights Taliban efforts to expand engagement with regional powers in a quest for economic ties and eventual diplomatic recognition.

Muttaqi’s visit follows meetings in Russia – the only country so far to have officially recognised the Taliban administration.

India has long hosted tens of thousands of Afghans, many who fled the country after the Taliban returned to power.

Afghanistan’s embassy in New Delhi shut in 2023, although consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad still operate limited services.

India says its mission in Kabul is limited to coordinating humanitarian aid.

On Tuesday, Muttaqi attended a regional meeting in Moscow where Afghanistan’s neighbours, including India, Pakistan, Iran, China and several Central Asian countries, issued a joint statement opposing the deployment of foreign military infrastructure in the region.

Senate Republicans have voted down a bill that would have curtailed President Donald Trump’s use of force against drug cartels after he authorised strikes on boats suspected of engaging in drug trafficking off the coast of Venezuela.

The bill from Democratic Senators Adam Schiff of California and Tim Kaine of Virginia had called for the United States military to withdraw from “hostilities that had not been authorized by Congress” including those against “any non-state organization engaged in the promotion, trafficking, and distribution of illegal drugs and other related activities”.

The bill also noted that the “designation of an entity as a foreign terrorist organization or specially designated global terrorist provides no legal authority for the President to use force” against them.

While Democrats invoked the War Powers Resolution of 1973 to force a vote in the Senate, the bill was rejected with a vote of 48 to 51 on Wednesday.

Under the US Constitution, only Congress has the power to declare war, but Trump has used his authority as president to launch an unofficial war on drug cartels.

Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the “unchecked strikes in the Caribbean risk destabilising the region, provoking confrontation with neighbouring governments and drawing our forces into yet another open-ended conflict … because of one man’s impulsive decision-making”.

Trump earlier this year designated Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, El Salvador’s MS-13, and Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel as “foreign terrorist organizations”.

According to The New York Times, he escalated the campaign in July with a secret directive ordering the US military to increase its presence around the Caribbean.

Since September, US forces have carried out at least four strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats, killing at least 21 people.

The Trump administration has referred to the strikes as a “non-international armed conflict” and some of those killed as “unlawful combatants,” CBS News reported, citing confidential White House notifications to Congress.

“Unlawful combatant” is the same term once used by President George W. Bush to refer to al-Qaeda and other groups when he launched the “Global War on Terrorism” in 2001. The designation meant they did not qualify for protection under the Geneva Convention.

The Senate separately failed to reach a deal to end the US government shutdown, which will enter its ninth day on Thursday.

Neither a Republican nor a Democratic version of a government spending bill reached the 60-vote threshold needed to pass the Senate on Wednesday, as both parties remain at an impasse over healthcare subsidies.