Hamas is unlikely to reject a Gaza ceasefire proposal it received from mediators this week but will not sign it without assurances that Israel has committed to ending the war, sources say.

Seven workers seized at a Proctor & Gamble (P&G) plant in northwestern Turkey were freed after a nine-hour standoff with a gunman protesting against Israel’s war in Gaza, Turkish officials confirmed.

The Biden Administration is considering a ‘new doctrine’ to unilaterally recognize a demilitarized Palestinian State despite strong opposition to statehood within Israel.

Israel’s defense minister has urged his nation to prepare for an imminent war with the massive Iran-backed Hezbollah militia based in neighboring Lebanon and a broader armed conflict in the Middle East.

Israel confirmed Tuesday it has begun pumping large volumes of seawater into “Hamas terrorist tunnels,” defying U.S. and experts’ warnings that it may endanger hostages while threatening clean water supplies in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, during his visit to the southern border on Monday, announced that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have killed or injured approximately half of the estimated 30,000 members of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on the reported agreements regarding hostages, prisoner exchanges, and a ceasefire. He asserted Israel would not release thousands of terrorists and that the conflict would not conclude until Israel achieved a complete victory, fulfilling all its objectives, including the elimination of Hamas from the Gaza Strip.

For the first time in over a month, Hamas launched a barrage of rockets into Central Israel on Monday while rejecting a hostage deal and would only accept a deal that included a full withdrawal of Israel Defense Forces from Gaza.

Archaeologists in Israel have discovered two Byzantine-era coin weights that may be evidence of a Christian presence on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount before the Islamic conquest of the city between 636–637 AD, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports. The weights are believed to be official imperial weights required by 6th-century Byzantine law to be present in major churches and may even indicate a church on the Temple Mount before the Al Aqsa Mosque was built there in the 7th-8th centuries.

Worldwide, people observed Holocaust Remembrance Day on Saturday to remember the 6 million Jews as well as Sinti, Roma, and millions of others killed by the German Nazis and their collaborators during World War Two at a time of growing concerns about the future of Israel. Saturday’s ceremonies came amid mounting concerns about rising antisemitism after the October 7 attack by Hamas in Israel that killed more than 1,200 Israelis and others.

The European Union said Friday it demands “full openness” about the possible involvement of United Nations aid workers “in Hamas’ terrorist attacks” on Israel.

The United Nations’ top court ruled Friday that Israel must take all measures “to prevent genocidal acts” in Gaza but stopped short of ordering an immediate halt to operations or condemning Israel for genocide.

Israel says it expects the Netherlands-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) to throw out “spurious” genocide allegations on Friday.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) battled Hamas in all parts of the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing dozens of suspected terrorists linked to the group over 24 hours, officials and witnesses said.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated during a high-level meeting of the UN Security Council Tuesday that Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians has become “a major threat to global peace and security” and that an Israeli rejection of a two-state solution is “unacceptable.”