Middle East

Israeli security forces operating in Gaza have recovered the bodies of two Israeli hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says. He named one of them as Yair (Yaya) Yaakov, a 59-year-old father of three who was killed inside his home at Kibbutz Nir Oz by Palestinian Islamic Jihad gunmen during the …

Dozens of Palestinians have been killed while trying to access aid in Gaza, hospital officials say. Two hospitals said 25 people were killed overnight, near a convoy transporting flour and a food distribution site run by the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the area of the Netzarim corridor, …

Footage shared online shows hundreds of Palestinians climbing over a large mound of dirt – with some seen scaling a metal fence – as they rush to enter an aid site in Gaza run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Palestinians are first seen waiting behind a fence, before a …

A man has been executed in Iran, three years after he was arrested during the nationwide anti-government protests in 2022, the judiciary says. Mojahed Kourkouri, also known as Abbas Kourkouri, was sentenced to death after being convicted of armed attacks and membership of a “rebellion group”, according to the judiciary’s …

The IDF have released new footage that they say shows the underground tunnel network underneath the European hospital in southern Gaza. The Israeli army say they’ve found the body of Mohammed Sinwar – the Hamas leader in Gaza – who they said was the target of Israeli airstrikes on 13 …

Lucy Williamson Middle East correspondent AFP via Getty Images In the 20 months since the war in Gaza began, Amit Hevrony has been spat at, screamed at, and pelted with rocks and eggs in Israel’s streets, all because she was calling for peace. “We would sit in silence, just a …

Palestinians in Gaza say they were fired on once again as they headed to one of the aid distribution centres run by the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation on Monday. Witnesses said that for the first time they were fired on by Palestinian gunmen near the GHF site in …

André Rhoden-Paul BBC News EPA Israel has warned its military will “take whatever measures are necessary” to prevent a boat carrying pro-Palestinian activists and humanitarian aid reaching Gaza. The Madleen yacht is 160 nautical miles from the Gaza Strip and is attempting to challenge Israel’s naval blockade of the territory. …

Reuters Several deadly incidents have taken place near aid distribution centres in Gaza (file photo) At least four Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire as they were heading to an aid distribution centre, health workers in Gaza have said. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said troops had directed warning …

Barbara Plett Usher BBC correspondent Dearbail Jordan BBC correspondent Getty Images Six Palestinians have been killed and several others wounded by Israeli gunfire in the latest deadly incident close to an aid distribution centre in southern Gaza, the Hamas-run Civil Defence agency says. People had gathered to collect food supplies …

Merlyn Thomas & Emma Pengelly BBC Verify BBC The Israeli military has admitted to BBC Verify that it conducted a previously unacknowledged strike on the al-Mawasi area of southern Gaza, which reportedly killed at least one Palestinian and injured 30 others. The strike took place on Sunday – hours after …

Feras Kilani BBC Arabic special correspondent BBC Feras Kilani stands in front of Syrian security forces in Damascus, two days before he was detained by Israeli forces to the south On the morning of 9 May, I was part of a BBC Arabic team which left the Syrian capital, Damascus, …

Israeli forces have recovered the bodies of two Israeli Americans taken back to Gaza as hostages during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, the Israeli military says. Judi Weinstein Haggai, 70, who was also a Canadian citizen, and her husband Gadi Haggai, 72, were murdered by …

The US has vetoed the UN Security Council’s draft resolution calling for an “unconditional and permanent” ceasefire in Gaza. The other 14 members voted in favour of the document, which also demanded the release of all hostages and the lifting of humanitarian aid restrictions. The US Ambassador to the UN, …

Jeremy Bowen International Editor World leaders ‘obligated’ to save lives in Gaza, says head of ICRC Gaza has become worse than hell on earth, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross has told the BBC. In an interview at the ICRC’s headquarters in Geneva, the organisation’s president …

EPA Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave a speech to mark the anniversary of the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Islamic Republic’s founder Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has criticised the US proposal for a new nuclear agreement, reiterating that it will not stop enriching uranium. Iranian negotiators are set …

The BBC has rejected incorrect White House criticism of its Gaza coverage, describing a claim that it had taken down a story as “completely wrong”. At Tuesday’s White House briefing President Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt accused the BBC of taking “the word of Hamas” when reporting on the number …

Israel said it had launched strikes on weapons belonging to Syria, hours after reports that two projectiles had been fired from Syria into Israel on Tuesday. The Israeli strikes on southern Syria caused “significant human and material losses”, Syria’s foreign ministry said, adding that Israel was “trying to destabilise the …

Aid distribution centres in Gaza will be closed for a day on Wednesday, as the Israeli military warned roads leading to the sites will be considered “combat zones”. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a controversial US and Israel-backed aid network which began operating last week, said it was closing its …

The BBC’s Anna Foster hosts a special Today Debate: Israel-Gaza – are we witnessing war crimes? On the panel are Lyse Doucet, the BBC’s chief international correspondent, and Michael Kleiner, president of the Supreme Court of the Israeli Likud party. We also hear from Afif Safieh, who was involved in …