Bishara Bahbah was as mystified as anyone else about becoming the main backchannel between the United States government and Hamas.

Mughrabi, Alexander Cornwell, Maayan Lubell CAIRO/RAMALLAH/ISRAEL-GAZA BORDER (Reuters) -For more than a year, Israeli authorities prevented Ayed Ayoub from escaping Gaza's hunger and war with his family for an academic fellowship in France.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Democratic senators sparred Tuesday over the Trump administration’s foreign policies, ranging from Ukraine and Russia to the Middle East, Latin America, the slashing of the U.S. foreign assistance budget and refugee admissions.

President Trump is visiting Qatar and the U.A.E. after inking big weapons and tech deals in Saudi Arabia. So far, his trip hasn't seemed to push forward chances for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Humanitarian support has collapsed in the enclave, which has been under total Israeli blockade for over two months. Aid groups say the territory is on the brink of famine.

When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House in February, Trump once again shared his vision for the war-torn location. “The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip. We’ll do a job with it. We will own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous bombs and other weapons,” he said.

Special envoy Steve Witkoff on Sunday said the Trump administration vowed to avert a humanitarian disaster in Gaza but offered a caveat: "It is a very complicated situation there." Speaking Sunday on ABC's "This Week,

The announcement of the first hostage release since Israel shattered a ceasefire in March comes shortly before Trump visits the Middle East this week.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Friday it had launched attacks and mobilized forces to seize areas in the Gaza Strip, as part of Operation Gideon's Chariots and

President Donald Trump on Thursday reiterated his desire to take over the Gaza Strip, telling a business roundtable in Qatar that the U.S. would "make it a freedom zone" and arguing there was nothing left to save in the Palestinian territory.

Two of northern Gaza’s last functioning hospitals have been encircled by Israeli troops, preventing anyone from leaving or entering the facilities, hospital staff and aid groups said this week, as Israel pursued its renewed offensive into the devastated Palestinian territory.