bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

Israel on Friday said Hamas must accept a hostage deal in Gaza or “be annihilated”, as US President Donald Trump announced that a ceasefire agreement was “very close”.
It came amid dire conditions on the ground, with the UN warning that Gaza’s entire population was at risk of famine.
Defence Minister Israel Katz said Hamas must agree to a ceasefire proposal presented by US envoy Steve Witkoff or be destroyed, after the Palestinian militant group said the deal failed to satisfy its demands.
“The Hamas murderers will now be forced to choose: accept the terms of the ‘Witkoff Deal’ for the release of the hostages – or be annihilated.”
Israel has repeatedly said that the destruction of Hamas was a key aim of the war.

Negotiations to end nearly 20 months of war in Gaza have so far failed to achieve a breakthrough, with Israel resuming operations in March following a short-lived truce.
In the United States, Trump told reporters on Friday: “They’re very close to an agreement on Gaza … We’ll let you know about it during the day or maybe tomorrow.”
A top Hamas official, Bassem Naim, however, said on Thursday that the US proposal “does not respond to any of our people’s demands, foremost among which is stopping the war and famine”.
Food shortages in Gaza persist, with aid only trickling in after the partial lifting by Israel of a more than two-month blockade.
Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency, called Gaza “the hungriest place on Earth”.
“It’s the only defined area – a country or defined territory within a country – where you have the entire population at risk of famine,” he said.
Later, the UN condemned the “looting of large quantities of medical equipment” and other supplies “intended for malnourished children” from one of its Gaza warehouses by armed individuals.
Aid groups have warned that desperation for food and medicine among Gazans was causing security to deteriorate.


Israel has doubled down on its settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, while defying calls from French President Emmanuel Macron and other world leaders for a two-state solution.
This week Israel announced the creation of 22 new settlements in the Palestinian territory, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
‘Deliberate obstacle’
London said the move was a “deliberate obstacle” to Palestinian statehood while Egypt called it “a provocative and blatant new violation of international law and Palestinian rights”.
The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which includes Egypt, also condemned Israel’s decision.
On Friday, Katz vowed to build a “Jewish Israeli state” in the West Bank.
Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory are considered illegal under international law and seen as a major obstacle to a lasting peace in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Katz framed the move as a direct rebuke to Macron and others pushing for recognition of a Palestinian state.
Macron on Friday said that recognition of a Palestinian state, with some conditions, was “not only a moral duty, but a political necessity”.
Israel’s foreign ministry accused the French president of undertaking a “crusade against the Jewish state”.

Separately, a diplomatic source said that Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan would make the first visit of its kind to the West Bank on Sunday.
The White House announced on Thursday that Israel had “signed off” on a new ceasefire proposal submitted to Hamas.
The Palestinian group said the deal failed to satisfy its demands, but stopped short of rejecting it outright, saying it was “holding consultations” on the proposal.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said that at least 45 people had been killed in Israeli attacks on Friday, including seven in a strike targeting a family home in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.
Palestinians sobbed over the bodies of their loved ones at Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital following the strike.
“These were civilians and were sleeping at their homes,” said Mahmud al-Ghaf, describing “children in pieces”.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but said separately that the air force had hit “dozens of targets” across Gaza over the past day.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Friday that at least 4,058 people had been killed since Israel resumed operations on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 54,321, mostly civilians.
Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, also mostly civilians, according to official figures.
Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas’ attack, 57 remain in Gaza, including 34 whom the Israeli military says are dead.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press


UN says aid cuts causing millions of refugees ‘unnecessary pain’

World leaders express horror at Bondi Beach terror attack as vigils are held for victims

Netanyahu accuses Australia’s PM of inaction in tackling antisemitism

Israel says it killed Hamas weapons chief in Gaza

Israel-Gaza war

Israel to Hamas: accept Gaza hostage deal or be ‘annihilated’

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz. Photo: AP

Palestinians wait in long queues to receive pots of food distributed by charitable organizations in Nuseirat Palestinian refugee camp. Photo: dpa

New buildings stand around the Israeli settlement Migdalim near Nablus, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Friday. Photo: Reuters

US proposes 60-day ceasefire for Gaza; hostage-prisoner swap, plan shows

Palestinians walk with aid supplies received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Al-Bureij on Thursday. Photo: dpa

Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion. Photo: Reuters

Palestinians carry boxes and bags containing food and humanitarian aid packages in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. Photo: AP

A Palestinian man shows blood stains on his palm after he carried casualties among people seeking aid supplies in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Reuters

Humanitarian aid bound for Gaza at the Kerem Shalom crossing on the Gaza-Israel border in southern Israel. Photo: EPA-EFE

Israel orders evacuation of southern Gaza ahead of major attack

Israeli tanks and armored vehicles at a staging area near the border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel. Photo: AP

Israeli tanks inside the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel. Photo: AP

Palestinians wait to receive food in the al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis, Gaza. Photo: APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Palestinians in eastern Khan Younis on May 20 read a leaflet dropped by the Israeli army ordering them to evacuate certain parts of the city. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa

Palestinians shelter in tents near Gaza’s seaport, in Gaza City. Photo: Reuters

A woman sits amid rubble at the Fahmi Al-Jarjawi school in Gaza City, following an Israeli strike. Photo: AFP

Israel authorises more Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank

Tents set up by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian village of Bruqin, outside the walls of an illegal settlement of the same name, in the occupied-West Bank. Photo: AFP

Israeli troops stand guard during a weekly settlers’ tour in Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Photo: Reuters

Palestinian men walk past a burned car reportedly set on fire by Israeli settlers in Rammun village, north east of Ramallah in the occupied-West Bank. Photo: AFP

Macron touts France-Indonesia ties with defence deals, backs Prabowo’s push for Palestine

France’s President Emmanuel Macron (left) laughs with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto  at a joint press conference in Jakarta, Indonesia on Wednesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Indonesia has signed a letter of intent to purchase 42 French Rafale fighter jets. Photo: AFP

Palestinians carry boxes containing food and humanitarian aid packages. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has criticised the West’s double standard, supporting Israel in Gaza while condemning Russia in Ukraine. Photo: AP

Israel says army killed Mohammed Sinwar, Hamas’ presumed chief in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the rubble at the Al Jerjawi school following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Monday. Experts say it is likely that Mohammed Sinwar took over as the head of the armed wing of Hamas after its leader Mohammed Deif was killed. Photo: EPA-EFE

Yahya Sinwar, who was killed in October 2024, was accused by Israel of masterminding Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war in Gaza. Photo: Yousef Masoud

News

World

Middle East

The threat comes amid Trump’s announcement that both sides are ‘very close to an agreement on Gaza’


The threat comes amid Trump’s announcement that both sides are ‘very close to an agreement on Gaza’.


Israel to Hamas: accept Gaza hostage deal or be ‘annihilated’

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The threat comes amid Trump’s announcement that both sides are ‘very close to an agreement on Gaza’

The threat comes amid Trump’s announcement that both sides are ‘very close to an agreement on Gaza’