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Egypt Seeks to Broker Gaza Ceasefire as Hamas, Israel Assert Demands
An Israeli soldier aims a weapon as they operate in the Gaza Strip, after a temporary truce between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas expired, in this handout picture released on Dec. 1, 2023. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS
The US said “very serious” negotiations were taking place on a new Gaza ceasefire and release of more Israeli hostages, but prospects for a deal remained uncertain as Hamas insisted it would not discuss anything less than a complete end to Israel‘s offensive in the Palestinian enclave.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh visited Egypt on Wednesday for the first time in more than a month for discussions with Egyptian officials who are seeking to mediate another truce.
A source briefed on the negotiations said envoys were intensively discussing which of the hostages still held by Palestinian Islamist terrorists in Gaza could be freed in a new truce and which Palestinian prisoners Israel might release in return.
Islamic Jihad, a smaller Palestinian terrorist group that is also holding hostages in Gaza, said its leader would visit Egypt in the coming days as well to discuss a possible end to the conflict.
“These are very serious discussions and negotiations, and we hope that they lead somewhere,” White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters aboard Air Force One on Wednesday.
But Taher Al-Nono, Haniyeh’s media adviser, told Reuters that Hamas was not willing to discuss releasing more Israeli hostages until Israel ends its military campaign in Gaza and the volume of humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians increases.
“The issue of prisoners can be negotiated after these two matters are achieved. We cannot talk about negotiations while Israel continues its aggression. Discussing any proposal related to prisoners must occur after the cessation of aggression,” Nono said in an interview in Cairo.
Hamas rejects any further temporary pause in Israel‘s military campaign and says it will discuss only a permanent ceasefire. “We have talked with our brothers in Egypt, outlining our stance on this aggression and the urgent need to stop it as a top priority,” Nono said.
Israel has insisted all remaining women and infirm men among the hostages be released, the source briefed on the negotiations said, declining to be identified. Palestinians convicted of serious offenses could be on the list of prisoners to be freed by Israel.
BIDEN SAYS ‘PUSHING’ HOSTAGE DEAL
Now more than 10 weeks old, Israel launched its campaign in the Gaza Strip with the aim of annihilating Hamas after its fighters raided Israel on Oct. 7. They took some 240 hostages and killed 1,200 people, according to Israel.
Since then, Israel has waged a massive ground and air assault on the seaside enclave.
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday said he did not expect a second Israel-Hamas hostage release deal to be struck soon, though he added in remarks to reporters: “We’re pushing.”
Haniyeh’s visit to Egypt was a rare personal intervention in diplomacy, something he has done in the past only when progress seemed likely. He last traveled to Egypt in early November before the announcement of the only ceasefire in the Gaza war so far, a week-long pause that saw the release of about 110 of Hamas’ hostages.
Israel has not commented publicly on the talks in Egypt. But it has ruled out a permanent ceasefire and says it will only agree to limited humanitarian pauses until Hamas is defeated.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated on Wednesday that the war would end only with Hamas eradicated, all hostages freed, and Gaza posing no more threat to Israel.
“Whoever thinks we will stop is detached from reality … All Hamas terrorists, from the first to the last, are dead men walking,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.
The US, Israel‘s closest ally, has stepped up calls in the past week for it to scale down its all-out war into a focused campaign against Hamas leaders and end what Biden has called “indiscriminate bombing” causing civilian casualties.
In a serious spillover from the war, Yemen’s Houthi forces have been firing missiles and drones at commercial shipping in the Red Sea to underline support from Iran’s Arab militia proxies for the Palestinians against Israel, and the US this week set up a multinational force to ward off the attacks.
On Wednesday, the Houthis’ leader warned they would strike US warships if their forces were targeted by Washington.
The United Nations Security Council was due to vote on Thursday on a bid to boost aid to the Gaza Strip after a delay at the request of the US, diplomats said.
Aid into Gaza has gradually increased in recent days after the opening of a second crossing into the enclave. On Wednesday, Cyprus and Israel said they were exploring opening a sea route to bring more aid in, though no final agreement was reached.
The post Egypt Seeks to Broker Gaza Ceasefire as Hamas, Israel Assert Demands first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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North London Synagogue, Nursery Targeted in Eighth Local Antisemitic Incident in Just Over a Week
Demonstrators against antisemitism in London on Sept. 8, 2025. Photo: Campaign Against Antisemitism
A synagogue and its nursery school in the Golders Green area of north London were targeted in an antisemitic attack on Thursday morning — the eighth such incident locally in just over a week amid a shocking surge of anti-Jewish hate crimes in the area.
The synagogue and Jewish nursery were smeared with excrement in an antisemitic outrage echoing a series of recent incidents targeting the local Jewish community.
“The desecration of another local synagogue and a children’s nursery with excrement is a vile, deliberate, and premeditated act of antisemitism,” Shomrim North West London, a Jewish organization that monitors antisemitism and also serves as a neighborhood watch group, said in a statement.
“This marks the eighth antisemitic incident locally in just over a week, to directly target the local Jewish community,” the statement read. “These repeated attacks have left our community anxious, hurt, and increasingly worried.”
Local law enforcement confirmed they are reviewing CCTV footage and collecting evidence to identify the suspect and bring them to justice.
This latest anti-Jewish hate crime came just days after tens of thousands of people marched through London in a demonstration against antisemitism, amid rising levels of antisemitic incidents across the United Kingdom since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
In just over a week, seven Jewish premises in Barnet, the borough in which Golders Green is located, have been targeted in separate antisemitic incidents.
According to the Metropolitan Police, an investigation has been launched into the targeted attacks, all of which involved the use of bodily fluids.
During the incidents, a substance was smeared on four synagogues and a private residence, while a liquid was thrown at a school and over a car in two other attacks.
As the investigation continues, local police said they believe the same suspect is likely responsible for all seven offenses, which are being treated as religiously motivated criminal damage.
No arrests have been made so far, but law enforcement said it is actively engaging with the local Jewish community to provide reassurance and support.
The Community Security Trust (CST), a nonprofit charity that advises Britain’s Jewish community on security matters, condemned the recent wave of attacks and called on authorities to take immediate action.
“The extreme defilement of several Jewish locations in and around Golders Green is utterly abhorrent and deeply distressing,” CST said in a statement.
“CST is working closely with police and communal partners to support victims and help identify and apprehend the perpetrator,” it continued.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) also denounced the attacks, calling for urgent measures to protect the Jewish community.
“These repeated incidents are leaving British Jews anxious and vulnerable in their own neighborhoods, not to mention disgusted,” CAA said in a statement.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, the United Kingdom has experienced a surge in antisemitic crimes and anti-Israel sentiment.
Last month, CST published a report showing there were 1,521 antisemitic incidents in the UK from January to June of this year. It marks the second-highest total of incidents ever recorded by CST in the first six months of any year, following the first half of 2024 in which 2,019 antisemitic incidents were recorded.
In total last year, CST recorded 3,528 antisemitic incidents for 2024, the country’s second worst year for antisemitism despite being an 18 percent drop from 2023’s record of 4,296.
In previous years, the numbers were significantly lower, with 1,662 incidents in 2022 and 2,261 hate crimes in 2021.
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Germany to Hold Off on Recognizing Palestinian State but Will Back UN Resolution for Two-State Solution
German national flag flutters on top of the Reichstag building, that seats the Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, March 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Germany will support a United Nations resolution for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but does not believe the time has come to recognize a Palestinian state, a government spokesman told Reuters on Thursday.
“Germany will support such a resolution which simply describes the status quo in international law,” the spokesman said, adding that Berlin “has always advocated a two-state solution and is asking for that all the time.”
“The chancellor just mentioned two days ago again that Germany does not see that the time has come for the recognition of the Palestinian state,” the spokesman added.
Britain, France, Canada, Australia, and Belgium have all said they will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly later this month, although London said it could hold back if Israel were to take steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and commit to a long-term peace process.
The United States strongly opposes any move by its European allies to recognize Palestinian independence.
Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US has told other countries that recognition of a Palestinian state will cause more problems.
Those who see recognition as a largely symbolic gesture point to the negligible presence on the ground and limited influence in the conflict of countries such as China, India, Russia, and many Arab states that have recognized Palestinian independence for decades.
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UN Security Council, With US Support, Condemns Strikes on Qatar
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
The United Nations Security Council on Thursday condemned recent strikes on Qatar’s capital Doha, but did not mention Israel in the statement agreed to by all 15 members, including Israel‘s ally the United States.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with the attack on Tuesday, escalating its military action in what the United States described as a unilateral attack that does not advance US and Israeli interests.
The United States traditionally shields its ally Israel at the United Nations. US backing for the Security Council statement, which could only be approved by consensus, reflects President Donald Trump’s unhappiness with the attack ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Council members underscored the importance of de-escalation and expressed their solidarity with Qatar. They underlined their support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar,” read the statement, drafted by Britain and France.
The Doha operation was especially sensitive because Qatar has been hosting and mediating negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
“Council members underscored that releasing the hostages, including those killed by Hamas, and ending the war and suffering in Gaza must remain our top priority,” the Security Council statement read.
The Security Council will meet later on Thursday to discuss the Israeli attack at a meeting due to be attended by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.