Middle East latest: Israelis and Palestinians mark 500 days of war in Gaza with more uncertainty
Middle East latest: Israelis and Palestinians mark 500 days of war in Gaza with more uncertainty
Israelis have marked 500 days of war in Gaza with protests demanding further progress on a ceasefire so all remaining hostages can be returned.
People demonstrated in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as less than two weeks remain in the ceasefire's current phase. Talks on the more difficult second phase are yet to start. Over 70 hostages remain in Gaza, around half thought to be dead. Families worry time is running out for the rest in grim conditions.
Over 2 million Palestinians in Gaza face their own uncertainty as Israel's government appears to embrace U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal to relocate them from the war-ravaged territory. Trump has said they would not return.
That has created an outcry in the region, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to hear about it during his Middle East visit with stops in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. He met on Sunday with Israel's prime minister.
Egypt is working on a counter-plan to redevelop Gaza with the Palestinians still in it. But first, there's the question of whether the war will resume in early March when the ceasefire's initial phase ends.
Here's the latest:
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s Defense Ministry says it will establish a government body to advance what it calls the “voluntary departure of Gaza residents.”
The announcement is the latest sign that Israel is embracing a plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump to transfer Palestinians out of Gaza. The plan has sparked outrage among Palestinians and across the Middle East. Within Israel, it has helped legitimize an idea that had been relegated to the far-right.
Trump says the U.S. would oversee years of cleanup and reconstruction in Gaza, but Palestinians would not be allowed to return. Trump and Israeli officials have described the proposed relocation as voluntary, but international legal experts say the plan, if implemented, could amount to a war crime.
Defense Minister Israel Katz’s office says the plan includes “extensive assistance that will allow any Gaza resident who wishes to voluntarily emigrate to a third country to receive a package that includes, among other things, special departure arrangements by sea, air, and land.”
JERUSALEM — The wife of an Israeli hostage says she has received the first “sign of life” of her husband in over a year.
Sharon Alony Cunio told Israel’s Channel 13 TV that hostages released in the current ceasefire told her that David Cunio is still alive. She said the news has given her “lots of air to breathe.”
Cunio herself was taken hostage with her husband in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that sparked the war in Gaza. She was released in a November 2023 ceasefire and said she has not received news about him since then.
David Cunio is not among the 33 Israeli hostages scheduled for release during the current phase of the ceasefire. The release of remaining hostages is to be negotiated as part of the second phase, but substantive talks have not begun.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has met Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss the importance of reaching agreement on a post-conflict plan for Gaza.
Rubio is on his first trip to the Middle East since taking office. He has said he planned to press regional leaders to develop alternatives if they object to President Donald Trump’s proposal for the U.S. to take over Gaza and relocate its Palestinian residents elsewhere. But statements by the countries after the Monday's meeting made no specific reference to Trump’s plan or any alternatives.
The State Department says both sides “reaffirmed their commitment to implementing the ceasefire in Gaza and ensuring that Hamas releases all hostages, including American citizens.”
The Saudi statement was even more vague, saying the men discussed “the latest regional and international developments, exchanged views on these issues, and explored efforts aimed at achieving security and stability.”
Israelis have held protests marking 500 days of war in Gaza and urging progress on the next phase of a ceasefire deal to allow the return of all hostages held there.
One of the three hostages released on Saturday addressed a rally in Tel Aviv with a video message: “Hello everyone, my name is Iair Horn. I was released from Hamas captivity two days ago after 498 days. I was there, I was in Hamas’ tunnels, I experienced it firsthand. And I’m telling you: The hostages don’t have time, we don’t have time. They must be brought back now.”
His brother Eitan is among them.
Others gathered for a demonstration in Jerusalem and expressed frustration and fear over the conditions of the remaining dozens of hostages. “It’s just not within the realm of possibility that they’re still there. And there’s not much we can do,” protester Eleanor Satlow said.
TEL AVIV, Israel — An Israeli court has accepted another request by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel a scheduled day of testimony in his criminal trial for “security reasons.” Netanyahu is the first sitting Israeli leader to take the stand as a criminal defendant. He is on trial on charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases.
His testimony was set to take place six hours a day, three days a week. It has been cancelled multiple times since he first took the stand in December, for health reasons and to free him up to handle state affairs. Israel is navigating fragile ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon and broader regional tensions.
On Monday, Netanyahu’s lawyers also asked the Jerusalem District Court to permanently reduce his weekly days of testimony from three to two, citing “the requirements of his role as prime minister against the backdrop of the complex security and diplomatic situation.” The court has not ruled on that request.
BEIRUT — Lebanon extended the suspension of flights to and from Iran and directed security agencies to ensure access to the country’s only airport.
Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem said Sunday that Israel threatened to strike if an Iranian plane landed at Beirut airport and criticized the Lebanese government for banning last week's Iranian commercial flight from Beirut. The Israeli military has accused Iran of smuggling cash to Hezbollah via commercial flights.
Travelers stuck in Tehran are still unable to return, and Lebanon's foreign minister has been tasked to ensure the safe return of Lebanese nationals, according to a statement following a Cabinet meeting with President Joseph Aoun.
Hezbollah supporters have protested and blocked roads outside the Beirut airport in recent days. The outgoing deputy commander of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon was injured Friday when protesters attacked a convoy taking peacekeepers to the airport.
Hezbollah has attempted to distance itself from the incident. Kassem said Hezbollah was “against the attack on UNIFIL” but also criticized the Lebanese army for tear gassing protesters who gathered “peacefully” on Saturday.
JERUSALEM — An Israeli military spokesman says the five locations where Israeli troops will remain in southern Lebanon provide vantage points or are located across from communities in northern Israel.
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said the “temporary measure” was approved by a U.S.-led body monitoring the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah.
Israel is committed to carrying out the withdrawal in “the right way, in a gradual way, and in a way that the security of our civilians is kept,” he told reporters.
Under the agreement, Israeli forces are to withdraw from a buffer zone in southern Lebanon, which would then be patrolled by the Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers. The ceasefire has held since it took effect in late November, even as Israel and Lebanon have accused each other of violating it.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun told reporters Monday that the ceasefire agreement “must be respected,” saying “the Israeli enemy cannot be trusted.”
He said Lebanese officials “are working diplomatically to achieve the complete Israeli withdrawal, and I will not accept that a single Israeli remains on Lebanese territory.”
JERUSALEM — An Israeli official says forces will remain in five strategic locations in southern Lebanon near the border after Tuesday’s deadline for their full withdrawal.
The official spoke Monday on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Lebanon’s government has opposed any further delay in the Israeli pullout under the ceasefire agreement that ended fighting with the Hezbollah militant group.
— By Melanie Lidman
Israel’s army says its drone strike in southern Lebanon on Monday killed the head of Hamas’ military operations in the country.
The military said the strike killed Mohammad Shaheen. It accused Shaheen of “recently planning terror attacks, directed and funded by Iran, from Lebanese territory against the citizens of the state of Israel.”
Hamas confirmed Shaheen’s death but described him as a military commander.
Follow ’s war coverage at /hub/israel-hamas-war
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