Author: Nabih-Bulos—Los-Angeles-Times-TNS

REIM, Israel — Israelis and Palestinians cried, cheered and gave thanks Monday as Hamas militants released the last 20 Israeli hostages in exchange for more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. It was the first phase of a ceasefire deal put in place last month even as President Donald Trump — the driving force behind the…

JERUSALEM — Thursday’s ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas delivered a jubilant moment in one of the darkest periods of the decades-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. But for both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas, the deal could be the poison pill that spells their downfall. Netanyahu, who with a combined total of 17…

TEL AVIV, Israel — After two years of devastating war that killed tens of thousands of people, left millions displaced and pulverized much of Gaza into an apocalyptic moonscape, Israelis and Palestinians celebrated a deal to end to the conflict, even though the Israeli government had yet to formally ratify the pact. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu…

BEERI, Israel — Little has changed in the house of Miri Gad Messika’s parents from two years ago, when Hamas-led militants blitzed into this tiny community less than three miles from Gaza’s eastern edge, killing more than 100 people and kidnapping 32 others. The scorch marks from the fighting that day still mar the walls,…

The ad was straightforward: Sign up for one year to fight on Russia’s side in “the special military operation zone” — i.e. the war in Ukraine — and get citizenship, free health care, money and land. It was one of many promotions cropping up on the messaging platform Telegram beginning in 2024, shortly after Russian…

As Israel seeks to excise Hamas from Gaza, it’s empowering militias led by the Palestinian group’s enemies, assisting and providing them with military support in an attempt to present them as an alternative to Hamas’s rule in the enclave. The policy appears to date back to late last year, when Israel targeted local police forces…

TEL AVIV, Israel — With a heart-shaped balloon in her hand, Gili Coheb-Taguri, a 49-year-old material scientist wearing a Trump mask and a suit matching the president’s sartorial tastes, posed for the array of cameras and smartphones. “This? It’s an origami mask,” she said to an inquiring passerby. “And yes, I made it myself.” Coheb-Taguri…

BEIRUT — When President Donald Trump presented his 20-point peace plan for the Gaza Strip, he deployed his trademark hyperbolic speaking style to trumpet it as a “big, big day, a beautiful day, potentially one of the great days ever in civilization,” which would end the war and deliver “eternal peace in the Middle East.”…