Hamas accuses Israel of ceasefire violations, says it will delay next hostage release
Hamas accuses Israel of ceasefire violations, says it will delay next hostage release/node/2589710/middle-east
Hamas accuses Israel of ceasefire violations, says it will delay next hostage release
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Palestinians gather as Hamas fighters escort Red Cross vehicles before handing over three Israeli captives in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. (AP)
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Updated 11 February 2025
AP
Hamas accuses Israel of ceasefire violations, says it will delay next hostage release
Next exchange was scheduled for Saturday, releasing three Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners
Spokesperson for Hamas’ military wing accused Israel on Monday of systematically violating the ceasefire agreement over the past three weeks
Updated 11 February 2025
AP
JERSUSALEM: A Hamas spokesman on Monday accused Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement with the group, including targeting Palestinians in Gaza with airstrikes, and said that next Saturday’s hostage release would be delayed.
A Hamas spokesperson said Monday that the group will delay the next hostage release after accusing Israel of violating ceasefire agreement.
Israel and Hamas are in the midst of a six-week ceasefire during which Hamas is releasing dozens of the hostages captured in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
The sides have carried out five swaps since the ceasefire went into effect last month, freeing 21 hostages and over 730 prisoners. The next exchange was scheduled for Saturday, releasing three Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, accused Israel on Monday of systematically violating the ceasefire agreement over the past three weeks, and said Saturday’s release would be delayed.
“The resistance leadership has closely monitored the enemy’s violations and its failure to uphold the terms of the agreement,” Abu Ubaida said.
“This includes delays in allowing displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, targeting them with airstrikes and gunfire across various areas of the Strip, and failing to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid as agreed.”
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters on Tuesday that Trump must remember that the only way to bring home Israeli prisoners is to respect the ceasefire.
“Trump must remember that there is an agreement that must be respected by both parties, and this is the only way to bring back the prisoners. The language of threats has no value and only complicates matters,” he said.
Israel army says over 250,000 residents have left Gaza City
Updated 22 sec ago
AFP
Jerusalem - ZZZ
Jerusalem, Sept 13, 2025 (AFP) - - The Israeli military said Saturday that more than 250,000 people have left Gaza City for other parts of the territory over the past few weeks, since it intensified its assault on Gaza's largest urban centre.
"According to IDF (military) estimates, more than a quarter of a million residents of Gaza City have moved out of the city for their own safety," the military's Arabic-language spokesman Colonel Avichay Adraee said on X.
fa-jd/bha
Summit in Doha to discuss Arab-Islamic response to Israeli attack against Qatar
An extraordinary Arab-Islamic Summit will discuss the Israeli attack on the State of Qatar targeting senior Hamas leaders
Updated 13 September 2025
Arab News
DUBAI: Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said Saturday that an emergency Arab-Islamic Summit set to take place in its capital Doha will discuss a draft resolution on Israel's attack against the Gulf state, according to the Qatar News Agency (QNA).
“The summit will discuss a draft resolution on the Israeli attack on the State of Qatar, submitted by the preparatory meeting of Arab and Islamic foreign ministers, which will be held tomorrow Sunday,” foreign ministry spokesperson Majid bin Mohammed Al Ansari told QNA.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced earlier that Doha will host an extraordinary Arab-Islamic Summit to discuss the Israeli attack on the State of Qatar targeting senior Hamas leaders.
Al Ansari emphasized that “the convening of the Arab-Islamic Summit at this time has its significance, as it reflects the broad Arab and Islamic solidarity with the State of Qatar in confronting the cowardly Israeli aggression.”
The preparatory meeting of foreign ministers will happen on Sunday. The summit will then convene on Monday.
UAE, Indonesian presidents reiterate support for Qatar following Israeli attack
Sheikh Mohamed received President Prabowo on Friday in Abu Dhabi
Updated 13 September 2025
Arab News
DUBAI: UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and his Indonesian counterpart President Prabowo Subianto on Friday have reiterated their countries’ full solidarity with Qatar following Israel’s attack on the state last week.
Sheikh Mohamed received President Prabowo on Friday in Abu Dhabi, who is on an official visit to the United Arab Emirates.
During their meeting, “the two leaders also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual concern, including the Israeli attack on the State of Qatar,” WAM News Agency reported.
Both sides reiterated their countries’ condemnation of the attack and expressed their solidarity with Qatar, it added.
The leaders also discussed opportunities to strengthen bilateral cooperation during their meeting, particularly in the fields of economy, development, investment, and renewable energy, among others.
World should move to carry out measures in New York Declaration, says OIC
The declaration, which calls for a 2-state solution and a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, won the UNGA’s overwhelming support on Friday
Co-sponsored by and France, the resolution passed with 142 countries voting in favor, 10 against and 12 abstaining
Updated 22 min 27 sec ago
Arab News
JEDDAH: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation has said it is incumbent on all states to carry out measures outlined in the New York Declaration, adopted by the UN General Assembly.
The declaration, which calls for a two-state solution and a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, won the UNGA’s overwhelming support on Friday, with 142 countries voting in favor, 10 against and 12 abstentions. It was co-sponsored by and France.
“The widespread endorsement constitutes an international consensus and commitment to work towards the establishment of a Palestinian state, ending the Israeli occupation and achieving a just and comprehensive peace in the region,” the OIC said on Saturday.
The organization called on all states to assume their responsibilities and move immediately to implement the measures contained in the declaration, including full recognition of the State of Palestine and support for its full UN membership.
Smoke and flames rise from an Israeli military strike on a building in Gaza City on Sept. 12, 2025, as the UN General Assembly voted on the New York Declaration. (AP Photo)
The statement also urged countries to put “pressure on Israel, the occupying force, to halt its crimes of occupation, aggression, settlement, displacement, destruction and starvation against the Palestinian people.”
For its part, the 57-nation Muslim organization affirmed its commitment to working and cooperating with all international parties to ensure implementation of the declaration, particularly on the establishment of an independent state on the June 4, 1967, borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The OIC commended the pioneering role played by and France in co-chairing the conference and their joint efforts in mobilizing support for the adoption and drafting of the final document.
UN members that voted ‘no’
Of the UNGA’s 193 member states, the 10 countries that voted against the declaration were Israel, the US, Argentina, Hungary, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay and Tonga.
Those that abstained were Albania, Czech Republic, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Guatemala, Moldova, North Macedonia, Samoa and South Sudan.
The vote comes ahead of a meeting of world leaders on September 22, to be held on the sidelines of the high-level UN General Assembly, where Britain, France, Canada, Australia and Belgium are expected to formally recognize a Palestinian state.
In opposing the resolution, Israel and the US reasoned it would only further embolden the Palestinian Hamas militant movement.
Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, addresses delegates at the UN General Assembly before a vote on the Saudi-French sponsored resolution on September 12, 2025. (REUTERS)
“Make no mistake, this resolution is a gift to Hamas,” US diplomat Morgan Ortagus told the General Assembly. “Far from promoting peace, the conference has already prolonged the war, emboldened Hamas and harmed the prospects of peace in both short and long term.”
Israel, which has long criticized the UN for not condemning Hamas by name for the Oct. 7 attacks, dismissed the declaration as one-sided and described the vote as theater.
“The only beneficiary is Hamas … When terrorists are the ones cheering, you are not advancing peace; you are advancing terror,” said Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon.
The attack by Hamas on southern Israel in 2023 — which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and netted 251 hostages — sparked the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza. Aside from destroying almost every structure in the Palestinian enclave, Israel’s offensive has killed more than 64,000 people, also mostly civilians, according to Gaza health authorities.
Proponents of the resolution, however, argue that the declaration condemns the Hamas attack that triggered the conflict. It also condemns attacks by Israel against civilians and civilian infrastructure in Gaza, and the siege and starvation “which have resulted in a devastating humanitarian catastrophe and protection crisis.”
French Ambassador to the UN Jerome Bonnafont speaks during a General Assembly meeting to vote on two states solution to the Palestinian question on September 12, 2025 in New York City. (AFP)
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the resolution secured the international isolation of Hamas.
“For the first time today, the United Nations adopted a text condemning it for its crimes and calling for its surrender and disarmament,” he said in a post on X.
US, Saudi, UAE, Egypt call for Sudan truce, transition to civilian rule
Transition should “meet the aspirations of the Sudanese people toward smoothly establishing an independent, civilian-led government”, the four countries said in a statement
Since April 2023, Sudan has been torn apart by war between its army — which maintains control over most state institutions — and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces
Updated 13 September 2025
AFP
WASHINGTON : The United States, , the United Arab Emirates and Egypt called on Friday for a three-month humanitarian truce in Sudan, to be followed by a permanent ceasefire and a nine-month transition toward civilian rule.
In a joint statement issued by the US State Department, the four countries said the transition should “meet the aspirations of the Sudanese people toward smoothly establishing an independent, civilian-led government with broad-based legitimacy and accountability.”
Since April 2023, Sudan has been torn apart by war between its army — which maintains control over most state institutions — and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The conflict has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions and created what the United Nations describes as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
“Sudan’s future governance is for the Sudanese people to decide through an inclusive and transparent transition process, not controlled by any warring party,” Friday’s statement said.
The statement appeared to have been released in lieu of a meeting involving the foreign ministers of the four countries that had originally been scheduled for July in Washington but was postponed due to disagreements between Egypt and the UAE.
Egypt, a key ally of Sudan’s regular army, has consistently called for the protection of state institutions.
The UAE, meanwhile, has been widely accused — including in UN reports — of supplying arms to the RSF, a claim it denies.
A satellite image shows long-range 'suicide' drones and launching gear north of the airport in Nyala, Sudan, on May 6, 2025. (Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS )
Diplomatic sources told AFP that Cairo objected to earlier language barring both the army and the RSF from taking part in the transition.
The final language appears to reflect a compromise, avoiding specific mention of either side while insisting Sudan’s next government be decided by the people.
It also explicitly excludes the involvement of “violent extremist groups part of or evidently linked to the Muslim Brotherhood” in the transition process.
The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on Sudan’s army-aligned finance minister, Gebreil Ibrahim, a senior Islamist figure, and on the Baraa Ibn-Malik Brigade, an Islamist militia that has been fighting alongside the army.
Islamists dominated Sudanese politics for three decades under ousted president Omar Al-Bashir and have seen a resurgence during the war, aligning with the army.
“These sanctions aim to limit Islamist influence within Sudan and curtail Iran’s regional activities, which have contributed to regional destabilization, conflict, and civilian suffering,” the US Treasury Department said in a statement.
Despite international efforts to push for peace, it remains unclear whether the warring factions are willing to engage.
In June, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a one-week ceasefire in North Darfur’s besieged capital of El-Fasher. The army agreed to the pause, but the RSF rejected it.
Both sides have repeatedly vowed to continue fighting until securing outright military victory.
The army currently controls Sudan’s east, north and center, while the RSF holds parts of the south and nearly all of the western Darfur region — where it recently declared a parallel government, fueling fears of the country’s fragmentation.
Friday’s joint statement, however, maintained “there is no viable military solution to the conflict, and the status quo creates unacceptable suffering and risks to peace and security.”
