When three Israeli hostages were released from Gaza on Sunday, Meytal Ofer, an Israeli kindergarten teacher, felt two competing emotions. First and foremost, Ms. Ofer felt joy — three of her compatriots, all women, were being released after more than 470 days of captivity. Yet somewhere in the back of her mind was also a […]

At the end of a war in Gaza in 2021, Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, was photographed sitting in an armchair in his ruined home, a symbol of continuing resistance to Israel. Mr. Sinwar was killed in this latest Gaza war, in which Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, vowed to dismantle and […]

The mediating country Qatar on Saturday announced a time for the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas to take effect the next day, setting off final preparations for a truce that much of the world hopes will end 15 months of destruction in Gaza. The deal should go into effect at 8:30 a.m. local time […]

For his first three years as the head of the C.I.A., William J. Burns was relentlessly focused on tripling the agency’s resources devoted to understanding China, and on countering Russia and its mysterious partnerships with Iran and North Korea. But in the last 16 months of his tenure, the diplomat-turned-spy was plunged back into his […]

The Israeli government approved a cease-fire deal with Hamas early Saturday that calls for the release of dozens of hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners after hours of deliberations, setting up the first reprieve in a 15-month, devastating war in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli prime minister’s office, which announced the agreement after the full […]

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a meeting of Israel’s political security cabinet on Friday to approve the Gaza cease-fire deal after Israeli and Hamas negotiators worked out their remaining differences. Mr. Netanyahu’s office said in a statement early Friday that he had ordered the meeting to approve the deal for later in the day. Lawmakers […]

Negotiators raced on Thursday to resolve last-minute disputes in a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas that would free hostages and halt the violence that has devastated Gaza over the past 15 months. The disputes helped delay by at least one day a critical Israeli vote to approve the deal. Even though negotiators for Israel […]

The Gaza cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas had yet to be ratified by Israel’s government on Thursday, but the battle over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political future has already begun. Hours after the deal was announced, Mr. Netanyahu was facing a potential internal rebellion from far-right partners in his governing coalition on whose support […]

The provisional cease-fire deal announced on Wednesday between Israel and Hamas would begin with an initial phase lasting six weeks, involve the release of 33 hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and allow the entry of 600 trucks carrying humanitarian relief daily, according to a copy of the agreement obtained by The New York Times. […]

Mediators rushed on Wednesday to clinch a deal between Israel and Hamas on a cease-fire that would release hostages held in Gaza, after more than a year of devastating war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and destroyed much of the enclave. Neither Israel nor Hamas has publicly endorsed the agreement, and Israeli […]