Israel's prime minister has met with top security officials to assess a rising tide of Israeli settler violence in the West Bank. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces increasing U.S. pressure to halt the flare-up that could undermine Washington's peace plan for Gaza. An Israeli official said Friday Netanyahu convened his security cabinet to discuss the recent spike in violence. The meeting took place as fresh allegations surface of Israeli settlers hurling rocks from an overpass at Palestinian vehicles passing below while a scrapyard was set ablaze in the West Bank village of Huwara. Washington is hoping Israel can contain the rising settler violence to avoid jeopardizing the U.N. Security Council-approved U.S. plan for Gaza.
President Donald Trump has urged Israel to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a corruption case. Trump called the case a "political, unjustified prosecution" in a letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday. Herzog acknowledged the letter but said a formal request is needed for a pardon. Trump also mentioned the pardon during a speech last month at Israel's Knesset, receiving a standing ovation. Concerns about American influence in Israeli politics are growing. Netanyahu is the only sitting Israeli prime minister to be indicted, facing charges of fraud, breach of trust, and accepting bribes.
By WAFAA SHURAFA and JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press
Updated
Israel has returned the bodies of 45 Palestinians, according to the Red Cross. It comes a day after militants returned the remains of three Israeli soldiers killed in a Hamas-led attack in October 2023. The exchange is part of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire aimed at ending the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Since the truce began in October, Palestinian militants have released the remains of 20 hostages, with eight still in Gaza. For each Israeli hostage returned, Israel has been releasing the remains of 15 Palestinians, totaling 270 since the ceasefire started.
Israel's military says the ceasefire is back on in Gaza after it carried out heavy airstrikes overnight across the Palestinian territory. Local health officials in Gaza said on Wednesday that the strikes killed 104 people, including 66 women and children. They were the deadliest since the ceasefire began on Oct. 10 and marked the most serious challenge to the tenuous truce to date. Israel said its overnight strikes were in retaliation for the shooting and killing of an Israeli soldier in Rafah. Israel also accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire when the militant group this week handed over body parts that Israel said were partial remains of a hostage recovered earlier in the war.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has toured a U.S.-led coordination center in southern Israel. The Trump administration is pushing plans for an international security force in Gaza to support a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Rubio's visit follows other high-level U.S. officials, including Vice President JD Vance. Around 200 U.S. troops are working with the Israeli military and other countries at the center. The U.S. seeks support from allies to create a stabilization force in Gaza. Meanwhile, Palestinians in Gaza are struggling to rebuild their lives amid the destruction.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance has criticized Israel's parliament vote on West Bank annexation. Vance says that the move was an "insult." He said that if the vote was a "political stunt, then it is a very stupid political stunt" and that he takes "some insult to it." He also said the Trump administration's policy is that "the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel." Vance's harsh words at the end of his trip to Israel on Thursday came a day after the Israeli parliament passed a symbolic preliminary vote in support of annexation. The bill is unlikely to pass the final vote but was an embarrassment to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while Vance was still in Israel.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance is seeking to ease concerns in Israel that the Trump administration is dictating terms to its closest ally in the Middle East. He and other top U.S. envoys are visiting Israel this week to support the Gaza ceasefire agreement. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Friday. Both Vance and Netanyahu affirmed that the countries are allies and partners. Vance also acknowledged that the road to long-term peace is difficult. The ceasefire that began on Oct. 10 continues to hold.
By RENATA BRITO, MELANIE LIDMAN and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press
Updated
U.S. Vice President JD Vance and other envoys projected optimism about Gaza's fragile ceasefire agreement during a visit to Israel even as they acknowledged significant challenges remain. They visited a new center in Israel for civilian and military cooperation as questions linger over the long-term plan for peace, including whether Hamas will disarm and who will govern the territory after the war. Vance noted flareups of violence in recent days but said the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that began on Oct. 10 is going "better than I expected." Late Tuesday, Israel said the remains of two hostages had been handed over to the military in Gaza.
By SAM MEDNICK, SAMY MAGDY and WAFAA SHURAFA Associated Press
Israel's military says Palestinian militants in Gaza have handed over another body of a hostage. The remains of 13 hostages have been handed over since the ceasefire began. Two of U.S. President Donald Trump's envoys traveled to Israel on Monday to shore up the ceasefire. Deadly violence gave the fragile deal its first major test on Sunday. Israel had threatened to halt aid transfers and its forces killed dozens of Palestinians in strikes after accusing Hamas militants of killing two soldiers. The United Nations said delivery of aid into the territory has resumed but did not say how much.
By SAMY MAGDY, MELANIE LIDMAN and WAFAA SHURAFA Associated Press
Top Israeli officials are debating a tentative deal to pause the devastating two-year war with Hamas while their military forces carries out more strikes in Gaza, including one that reportedly left more than three dozen people trapped beneath rubble. The new strikes hit as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Cabinet met to weigh the terms of the breakthrough proposal that emerged late Wednesday and could free the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The broader ceasefire plan advanced by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump included many unanswered questions, such as whether and how Hamas will disarm and who will govern Gaza.
