World leaders demand ceasefire move to next phase while Israel strikes Gaza

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The United States, Israel and Qatar held a trilateral meeting in New York Sunday, sources told US news outlet Axios, months after Israeli jets conducted an airstrike in Doha, unsuccessfully targeting Hamas leadership.

Two sources told Axios it was "the highest level meeting between the countries since the deal to end the war in Gaza, for which Qatar served as a key mediator."

Axios reported White House envoy Steve Witkoff hosted the meeting, with Mossad spy chief David Barnea representing Israel and an unnamed senior Qatari official in attendance.

Axios added that the main focus of Sunday's meeting was largely "on the implementation of the Gaza peace agreement."

The White House did not immediately confirm the meeting to AFP.

The Palestinian Association of Restaurants, Hotels, and Tourist Services said on Sunday that the Israeli assault on Gaza has resulted in the complete destruction of more than 97% of tourism establishments, with direct losses estimated at over $3.9 billion.

The announcement came during a press conference held by the association in western Gaza to reveal the scale of damage sustained by the tourism sector from the outbreak of the war through early 2025. The findings, it said, reflect a sector that has been almost entirely devastated.

The head of UNIFIL Diodato Abagnara said that Israel's ongoing attacks on Lebanon constitute a "permanent and blatant violation" of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

According to the Israeli Channel 12, Abagnara added that Israel’s daily airstrikes on Lebanese territory amount to a "consistent breach" of the ceasefire agreement reached last year to end the Israel-Hezbollah war. That agreement is based on Resolution 1701.

He stressed that the UN force is obligated "to document these violations and report on them," warning that the situation in southern Lebanon is "extremely fragile" and that even a "small mistake could lead to major escalation."

"Our mission is to create the best possible conditions for stability and to prevent any escalation, through monitoring, reporting, and supporting the Lebanese Armed Forces," he told Channel 12.

He noted that UNIFIL has recorded "clear violations by both sides," including Israeli airstrikes as well as the discovery of Hezbollah weapons depots and rocket-launching platforms, which the Lebanese army is confiscating.

Hamas is ready to discuss "freezing or storing" its arsenal of weapons as part of its ceasefire with Israel, a senior official said Sunday, offering a possible formula to resolve one of the thorniest issues in the U.S.-brokered agreement.

Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas' decision-making political bureau, spoke as the sides prepare to move into the second and more complicated phase of the agreement.

"We are open to have a comprehensive approach in order to avoid further escalations or in order to avoid any further clashes or explosions," Naim told The Associated Press in Qatar’s capital, Doha, where much of the group’s leadership is located.

Israeli forces detained an ambulance crew after stopping their vehicle for hours at the northern entrance to al-Bireh, Wafa reports.

After holding the crew for almost two hours, paramedics Ahed Smeirat and Mujahid Abu Aliya were detained.

Israel's army chief, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, said Sunday the demarcation line where Israeli troops have withdrawn behind in Gaza is a "new border", known as the so-called "yellow line", according to a military statement.

"We have operational control over extensive parts of the Gaza Strip, and we will remain on those defence lines. The Yellow Line is a new border line, serving as a forward defensive line for our communities and a line of operational activity," the army quoted Zamir as saying to reserve soldiers in Gaza.

Under the US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Israeli forces have withdrawn to positions behind the so-called Yellow Line.

Israeli forces released five Palestinians who were detained in Gaza, with the transfer facilitated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The Palestinians were released via the Karm Abu Salem crossing to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah and were helped in finding and reuniting them with their family members.

The Israeli army revealed it had destroyed inactive structures in southern Lebanon in its latest raids.

"The shaft and the weapons depot that were destroyed were once part of Hezbollah's entrenchment infrastructure in southern Lebanon," the statement claimed.

"These are old infrastructures that are currently inactive, but their destruction was carried out with the aim of preventing the possibility of future exploitation," it added.

US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, and EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, were both visiting Jordan on Sunday to discuss humanitarian aid for Gaza.

Waltz said on X that he was in the Jordanian capital, Amman, to discuss speeding up the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza and "to see the vital work Jordanian and UN partners are doing".

"We're ready to move forward with the rebuilding of Gaza... So we're here to knock down those bureaucratic barriers and get things moving," he added.

Kallas was also in Amman on Sunday, where she met with King Abdullah II to discuss the Gaza ceasefire and regional developments, the royal palace said in a statement.

Abdullah notably reiterated "the need to adhere to the terms of the agreement to end the war on Gaza and ensure the flow of relief aid", the palace said.

Kallas and the king discussed "the need to achieve comprehensive calm in the region and preserve the sovereignty of states", it added.

Israeli forces detained five Palestinians from the same family in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank.

Four brothers, Obada, Mohyi, Sanad, and Thabet Rajaa, and their cousin Alaa were detained, activist Ahmad Shalaldeh told Wafa.

A Palestinian child was killed by Israeli fire in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip. The forces opened fire outside their deployment areas in the al-Mawasi area, killing a child.

Israeli soldier, Nahorai Rafael Barzani, has died by suicide after suffering from PTSD after taking part in the Gaza war, Israel's Maariv reports.

Reports show that at least 279 Israeli soldiers have attempted suicide amid the war on Gaza.

Despite the Gaza ceasefire being in effect since 10 October, Israeli attacks have killed at least 373 Palestinians and injured a further 970, as Israel's genocidal war continues.

At least 624 bodies have been recovered.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he would meet US President Donald Trump "later on this month" to discuss peace in the Middle East.

Netanyahu did not say where the meeting would take place but his office said he was invited to the White House after a phone call with Trump on Monday.

Syria's transition is fragile, one year on from the overthrow of ruler Bashar al-Assad, and the country's cycles of vengeance and reprisal need to end, United Nations investigators said Sunday.

Syrians have been marking the first anniversary since Islamist-led forces pressed a lightning offensive to topple Assad on December 8, 2024 after nearly 14 years of war.

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria investigates and records all international human rights law violations since March 2011 in the country.

The panel congratulated Syria on the steps it has taken so far to address the crimes and abuses inflicted during previous decades.

But it said violent events since Assad's downfall had caused renewed displacement and polarisation, "raising worries about the future direction of the country".

The commission said the "horrific catalogue" of abuse inflicted by Assad's regime "amounted to industrial criminal violence" against Syria's people.

"The cycles of vengeance and reprisal must be brought to an end, so that Syria can continue to move toward a future as a state that guarantees full respect for the human rights of all its people, with equality, the rule of law, peace and security for all in name and in deed," the commission said.

"Syria's transition is fragile. While many across the country will celebrate this anniversary, others are fearing for their present security, and many will sleep in tents again this winter. The unknown fate of many thousands who were forcibly disappeared remains an open wound."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that he expected to move into the second phase of the US-sponsored ceasefire plan for Gaza "very shortly".

Speaking during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz after a meeting between the two leaders, Netanyahu said: "We discussed how to bring an end to the Hamas rule in Gaza... We finished the first part... And then we very shortly expect to move into the second phase, which is more difficult."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the political annexation of the West Bank remained a subject of discussion, with the status quo expected to remain for the foreseeable future.

He made the remarks during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he will meet with US President Donald Trump later this month.

More to come.

Israel's genocidal war on Gaza has killed at least 70,360 Palestinians since October 2023, with a further 171,047 being wounded by Israeli attacks, the Gaza Health Ministry revealed.

Six deaths and 17 injuries were recorded over the past 24 hours.

The toll does not include the thousands missing or trapped under the rubble presumed dead.

Israeli forces and settlers have killed 1,091 Palestinians since October 2023, including 225 children. A further 10,883 have been wounded, and almost 21,000 have been arrested.

This comes as Israeli forces killed two in Hebron in Bab az-Zawiya.

Qatar's PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said that Palestinians in Gaza should not be forced to leave their homeland.

"They have all the right to stay and live there," Al Thani said speaking at the Doha Forum.

"As a region, you have the responsibility to do so," and Qatar "will continue supporting the Palestinian people…we will do whatever to alleviate their suffering".

Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian teenager who was driving a car as well as a Palestinian bystander in the West Bank on Saturday.

Palestinian state news agency Wafa reported that 55-year-old Ziad Naim Abu Dawood, a municipal street cleaner, was killed while working. It said another Palestinian was killed.

The Palestinian health ministry identified the second Palestinian as 17-year-old Ahmed Khalil Al-Rajabi.

The Israeli military claimed that an "uninvolved person" was hit in addition to the driver of the car, who had "accelerated" towards soldiers at a checkpoint in the West Bank city of Hebron.

In an earlier statement, the military said two "terrorists" were killed, without providing any evidence, before later clarifying that only one person was involved.

Israeli bulldozers levelled land and uprooted dozens of olive trees in Qaryut, south of Nablus, affecting the livelihoods of Palestinian farmers, Wafa reports.

The uprooting took place in areas classified under Palestinian administrative control and close to Palestinian homes, sources told the agency.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz flew into Israel Saturday, marking his first visit since taking office, and reaffirmed Berlin's support after traditionally solid ties between the countries were shaken by the war on Gaza.

Merz landed at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport just before 8:00 pm (1800 GMT) and was met by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, who called him "a friend of Israel". Germany, he added, was "an important partner".

Merz met Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem later Saturday.

"I consider it a great honour and a truly great distinction to be here and to reaffirm that standing by this country is and will remain the unchanging core principle of the Federal Republic of Germany's policy," said Merz.

A Palestinian child was wounded after the Israeli army fired at Palestinians outside the so-called "yellow line" in the al-Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City, sources told Al Jazeera.

At the same time, reports of gunfire were heard from vehicles stationed east of Khan Younis, south of the enclave.