GENEVA — U.N.-backed human rights experts said Friday they have gathered new evidence of “horrific” torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war by their Russian jailers, saying such practices could amount to war crimes. The Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine said human rights violations have been widespread since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to … Read more
TEL AVIV, Israel — Mediators are making progress on an agreement for a weekslong cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and the release of dozens of hostages held in Gaza as well as Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, Israeli media reported Sunday. Israel’s War Cabinet met to discuss the proposal late Saturday, but there was no official … Read more
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli forces stormed the main hospital in southern Gaza on Thursday, hours after Israeli fire killed a patient and wounded six others inside the complex. The Israeli army said it was a limited operation seeking the remains of hostages taken by Hamas. The raid came a day after the army sought … Read more
JERUSALEM — Chants of “Now! Now! Now!” ring out at nearly every protest in Israel imploring the government to do everything possible to win the immediate release of dozens of hostages held by Hamas. But a small group of hostages’ families is pushing a different message: Let the army first finish the job of defeating … Read more
LONDON — Eighty years ago in one of the most ingenious and audacious acts of defiance of World War II, 76 prisoners of war tunneled out of a German POW camp into a snowy forest. For most of the escapees, it ended tragically. Three made it to safety, but the others were recaptured and 50 … Read more
JERUSALEM — He’s viewed by some Palestinians as their Nelson Mandela, and he’s a prime candidate to become their president in the future. He’s also the highest-profile prisoner held by Israel. Now Marwan Barghouti’s freedom is at stake in cease-fire negotiations between Hamas and Israel. Hamas leaders demanded Friday that Israel release Barghouti, a leader … Read more
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia has refused Ukrainian requests to hand over the bodies of scores of prisoners of war whom the Kremlin claims were killed in the downing of a Russian military transport plane by Kyiv’s forces, a Ukrainian intelligence official said. Andrii Yusov, the spokesperson for Ukraine’s military intelligence, in televised remarks late Thursday … Read more
U.S. and Mideast mediators appeared optimistic in recent days that they were closing in on a deal for a two-month cease-fire in Gaza and the release of over 100 hostages held by Hamas. But on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the militant group’s two main demands — that Israel withdraw its forces from … Read more
KYIV, Ukraine — Officials in Ukraine said Russia has provided no credible evidence to back its claims that Ukrainian forces shot down a military transport plane that Moscow says was carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war who were to be swapped for Russian POWs. The Ukrainian agency that deals with prisoner exchanges said late Friday that … Read more
Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged Friday to make public the findings of Moscow’s investigation into the crash of a transport plane that he alleged Kyiv’s forces shot down despite having been informed that Ukrainian prisoners of war were on board. In his first public remarks on Wednesday’s crash, Putin repeated previous comments by Russian officials … Read more