Middle East

World News

Israel and Hamas consider a deal to release hostages

6:27pm November 21, 2023

by Greg Myre

Israeli leaders meet to consider a deal that would see the release of dozens of hostages seized by Hamas in its Oct. 7 attack in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

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Former Israeli prime minister reflects on the 2005 withdrawal from Gaza

6:27pm November 21, 2023

Unilateral disengagement was Ehud Olmert's brainchild. NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with the former Israeli prime minister about how he views that plan now.

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Remembering Gazan Dr. Hammam Alloh, killed by an Israeli airstrike

5:01pm November 21, 2023

by Vanessa Romo

Dr. Hammam Alloh, a 36-year-old nephrologist who practiced at Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital, was killed by an Israeli airstrike in November.

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Netanyahu wants to 'deradicalize' Gaza through war. Is that even possible?

4:35pm November 21, 2023

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Brookings Institution's Natan Sachs about whether demilitarizing and deradicalizing Gaza is possible.

Palestinian medics listen to a man as the wounded are brought to the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia in Gaza following Israeli bombardment on Tuesday. The hospital is situated just a few miles south of the Indonesian hospital, which was hit Monday by Israeli shelling, according to Palestinian officials.

World News

Israeli Cabinet discusses possible deal for Hamas to free some hostages

3:50pm November 21, 2023

by Scott Neuman

The Cabinet of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was meeting late Tuesday to decide whether to approve a cease-fire deal with Hamas to facilitate the release of some hostages.

The owner of Bawadi Mediterranean Grill, Khalid Mekki, recently lost family members in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza.

Neighbors rally behind Palestinian restaurant owner who lost family in Gaza

2:52pm November 21, 2023

by Nina Kravinsky

At Bawadi Mediterranean Grill in Falls Church, Virginia, Khalid Mekki says the increased support for his business has come from people of all backgrounds.

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Haneen Zoabi, a former member of Israel's parliament, was arrested at a peaceful protest and released this month.

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Palestinians in Israel cite threats, firings and discrimination after Oct. 7

12:54pm November 21, 2023

At least 20% of Israelis identify as Arab or Palestinian. Many say they have long felt like second-class citizens. The current war has worsened their position in the country, they say.

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Genocide is the word hanging over the unfolding humanitarian disaster in Gaza

8:13am November 21, 2023

NPR's Leila Fadel asks David M. Crane, founding prosecutor for the U.N. special court for Sierra Leone, to define genocide in legal terms.

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Israeli citizens who identify as Arab or Palestinian struggle with Israel-Hamas war

5:07am November 21, 2023

by Lauren Frayer

Discrimination against Palestinian citizens of Israel has spiked since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Many have been fired from jobs for social media posts.

A Gaza mother reunites with her infant twins

5:14pm November 20, 2023

by Ruth Sherlock

After weeks apart, a mother in Gaza is reunited with her infant twins and they are evacuated for care in Egypt.

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