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    Where the Gaza Cease-Fire Deal Goes Now Is Uncertain. Here’s What to Know.

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    As negotiators are holding discussions on multiple tracks, Palestinians and Israelis are in limbo.Nearly a week after the first stage of Israel and Hamas’s cease-fire expired, both Palestinians and Israelis are in limbo, uncertain how long the truce will hold.The Trump administration, the Arab world, Israel, Hamas and others are now wrangling over the future of the Gaza Strip in a complex series of negotiations — some of which are unfolding along different channels, adding to the confusion.Here’s a look at the state of the cease-fire talks and who is involved.Israel and Hamas are negotiating through mediators.In mid-January, after 15 months of devastating war, Israel and Hamas agreed to a truce that would free hostages held in Gaza since the Hamas-led October 2023 attack on southern Israel, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.But the agreement did not end the war. Instead, the two sides committed to a complex, multiphase plan meant to build momentum toward a comprehensive cease-fire. They were supposed to negotiate terms for the full truce during the first stage, which lasted six weeks.Last weekend, the six weeks elapsed with little apparent success toward that goal, despite efforts by Qatar and Egypt, who have been mediating the talks. (Israel and Hamas do not negotiate directly.)Released Palestinian prisoners celebrating as they arrived in the Gaza Strip in February.Saher Alghorra for The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Israel and Hamas Agree Another Hostage Release and Prisoner Exchange

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      The remains of four Israeli hostages will be turned over in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners whose release had been delayed.Hamas has agreed to release the remains of four Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, Israeli officials and the group said, resolving a dayslong impasse between the two sides.The agreement comes as the first phase of a fragile cease-fire deal draws to a close. Negotiators have yet to reach terms to extend the deal into a more comprehensive truce, raising concerns that the fighting in Gaza could resume.During the first phase, Hamas had agreed to free 25 Israeli hostages and hand over the bodies of eight more in exchange for more than 1,500 Palestinians jailed by Israel. On Saturday, Hamas released the last living captives set to be freed in the first phase, and Israel was supposed to release 620 Palestinian prisoners in return.But Israel delayed the release of the prisoners, saying they would not be freed until Hamas committed not to subject hostages to “humiliating ceremonies” during future exchanges. That raised more questions about any next steps for the cease-fire.Late on Tuesday night, Hamas announced that a deal had been reached for the simultaneous release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the remains of the four hostages. Omer Dostri, the spokesman for Israel’s prime minister, confirmed that an agreement had been reached, saying in a text message that the swap would take place on Wednesday night or Thursday.Three hostages who were released on Saturday at a ceremony in Nuseirat, Gaza.Saher Alghorra for The New York TimesSome of the Palestinian prisoners slated for release were convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis, while others — including minors — were held without charge.The impending exchange could be the last in the first phase of cease-fire, leaving both Israelis and Palestinians in limbo. Around 27 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others are still in Gaza, according to the Israeli government.It is unclear whether serious negotiations on the second phase of the agreement have even begun, let alone borne fruit.Mediators have pressed both sides to agree to a second stage. Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s Middle East envoy, was expected to visit the Middle East on Wednesday in an attempt to move the talks forward. But Mr. Witkoff’s travel to the region has now been delayed, according to a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss his schedule. More

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      Bondi Worked as Lobbyist in Recent Years, With Clients Including Amazon, G.M., Uber and Qatar

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      President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick to be attorney general, Pam Bondi, is a lobbyist for a powerhouse Republican firm, for which she represented major corporations and foreign governments with interests before the U.S. government.Ms. Bondi joined the lobbying firm of the Republican fund-raiser Brian Ballard after finishing her second term as Florida attorney general in January 2019.Among the clients for which she was registered to lobby were major companies, including Amazon, General Motors and Uber, as well as the Qatari government and various financial firms.Those registrations are no longer active, but Ms. Bondi is currently registered as a lobbyist for law enforcement-related clients, including an association representing some of the country’s largest sheriff’s offices and another group representing sheriffs in Florida, as well as the Florida sheriffs’ self-insurance program.A person familiar with the firm confirmed that Ms. Bondi was still affiliated with it and those clients as of Thursday.The firm’s website indicates that she is the chairwoman of its corporate regulatory compliance practice, focusing on helping Fortune 500 companies implement policies to fight human trafficking, opioid abuse and data breaches.Another veteran of Mr. Ballard’s firm, Susie Wiles, was tapped by Mr. Trump to be the White House chief of staff. Ms. Wiles will be the first woman to hold that job. Mr. Ballard helped to bring in more than $50 million for committees supporting Mr. Trump’s campaign. More

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      Despite Sinwar’s Death, Mideast Peace May Still Be Elusive

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      The killing of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader whose decision to attack Israel more than a year ago set off the ever-widening war tearing up the Middle East, could be the key to ending the bloodshed. Now that Israel has decapitated Hamas in Gaza, the thinking goes, it might be ready to declare victory and move on, while a demoralized Hamas might show greater flexibility in cease-fire talks.Or, at least, that outcome would most likely be welcomed by most of the countries. Despite their pledges to keep on fighting, Hezbollah, Hamas and other Iranian proxies may also be looking for offramps, analysts say, even if Israel seems not to be displaying much appetite for taking the win.“All of them are super eager for offramps. They have been from the start,” said Michael Wahid Hanna, a Middle East expert at the International Crisis Group, speaking of the Arab nations. “It’s a difficult situation for the entire region. And there are many ways in which this could get much worse.”Egypt and Jordan, just next door to the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, have called repeatedly for a cease-fire. Beyond their people’s anguish over civilian suffering in Gaza and Lebanon, they are anxious to end the instability rocking the region and halt the damage to their economies.Egypt’s prime minister, Mostafa Madbouly, recently warned that Egypt would have to transition to what he called a “war economy” if increasing regional instability threatens critical sources of Egyptian revenue, including tourism and shipping through the Suez Canal. Traffic through the canal has dropped by about half over the past year as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia has attacked shipping in the Red Sea in what it says is retaliation for Israel’s assault on Gaza.The Gulf Arab monarchies have also pushed for calm. Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, as well as Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, all discussed working toward an end to the conflict in calls on Thursday with Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken. Not only is a safe environment good for business, but the Gulf States also recognize that their ambitious national development plans cannot succeed in a region embroiled in constant conflict, especially one involving their neighbor, Iran.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      U.S., Egypt and Qatar Say Gaza Cease-Fire Talks Will Resume Next Week

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      Top officials from the U.S., Israel, Egypt and Qatar ended two days of talks in Doha aimed at trying to resolve remaining disagreements between Israel and Hamas.High-level talks to halt the war in Gaza ended without an immediate breakthrough on Friday, but the United States, Egypt and Qatar said the negotiations would continue next week as mediators raced to secure a truce that they hope will avert a wider regional conflagration.The announcement came after top American, Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari officials ended two days of talks in Doha, the Qatari capital, aimed at trying to resolve remaining disagreements between Israel and Hamas. U.S. and regional officials hope that movement in the negotiations will blunt or stop a widely anticipated Iranian-led retaliation for the killing of senior leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, militant groups backed by Iran.U.S., Iranian and Israeli officials said on Friday said that Iran had decided to delay its reprisal against Israel to allow the mediators to continue working toward a cease-fire in Gaza.After the first day of talks ended on Thursday night, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the Qatari prime minister, called the acting Iranian foreign minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, to encourage Iran to refrain from any escalation given the cease-fire talks in Doha, according to two Iranian officials and three other officials familiar with the call who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.Mr. Al Thani spoke with Mr. Bagheri Kani again on Friday, and both officials “stressed the need for calm and de-escalation in the region,” according to the Qatari Foreign Ministry. Mr. Bagheri Kani said in a statement that the Qatari prime minister had described the cease-fire negotiations on Thursday as being at a “sensitive” phase.On Friday, Egypt, Qatar and the United States said in a joint statement that the mediators had presented Israel and Hamas with “a bridging proposal” consistent with the terms laid out by President Biden on May 31 and later endorsed by the U.N. Security Council.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Gaza Cease-Fire Talks: What Has Happened and Where Things Stand

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      Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip has lasted more than 10 months, with only one weeklong pause in fighting, in late November. That temporary cease-fire led to the return of 50 Israeli hostages captured during the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners — and raised hopes among mediators and the international community that another deal would follow.Those hopes were dashed repeatedly over many months of unsuccessful efforts by mediators. In the interim, tensions in the Middle East have risen, particularly in recent weeks after the assassinations of a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and a Hamas leader in Iran, prompting vows from Iran and Hezbollah to retaliate against Israel.World leaders eager to avert a wider full-scale war believe that an agreement between Israel and Hamas could prevent an escalation. Still, even the most vocal champions of a cease-fire admit that closing a deal will be tough. President Biden on Tuesday told reporters he was “not giving up” on an agreement but that it was “getting harder” to remain optimistic.On Thursday, negotiators are meeting in Doha, Qatar, to try to reach an agreement. Here’s a timeline of recent talks:May: President Biden calls for an end to the war.Declaring Hamas no longer capable of carrying out a major terrorist attack on Israel, Mr. Biden on May 31 pressed for hostilities in Gaza to end and endorsed a new cease-fire plan that he said Israel had offered to win the release of hostages.“It’s time for this war to end, for the day after to begin,” Mr. Biden said that day. Calling it “a decisive moment,” Mr. Biden put the onus on Hamas to reach an agreement, saying, “Israel has made their proposal. Hamas says it wants a cease-fire. This deal is an opportunity to prove whether they really mean it.”June: U.N. Security Council passes a cease-fire resolution.The United Nations Security Council on June 10 adopted a cease-fire plan backed by the United States, with 14 nations in favor and Russia abstaining. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the American ambassador to the United Nations, said that the United States would work to make sure that Israel agreed to the deal and that Qatar and Egypt would work to bring Hamas to the negotiating table.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Israel Criticized After Strike Kills Scores in Gaza

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      Israeli officials defended the attack on a former school compound, saying Hamas was using it as a base for military operations in Gaza City.An Israeli airstrike early Saturday hit a school compound in northern Gaza where displaced Palestinians were sheltering, killing dozens of people, according to Gazan officials.The Israeli military acknowledged the attack, but said Hamas and another armed Palestinian group were using the facility for military operations and attacks on Israel.The strike in Gaza City, the latest in a string of attacks on schools turned into shelters, drew strong condemnation from the European Union and the United Nations, with Josep Borrell Fontelles, the top E.U. diplomat, saying, “There’s no justification for these massacres.”The strikes have taken place alongside mounting international pressure on Israel to conclude a deal for a cease-fire and an exchange of hostages held in Gaza and Palestinian detainees, with President Biden and the leaders of Egypt and Qatar saying this week that “the time has come.”The Gaza Civil Defense emergency service said more than 90 people were killed. But that number could not be confirmed, and two doctors at a hospital in the area gave slightly lower totals. Gaza health officials do not distinguish between civilians and combatants when reporting casualties.The Israeli military did not provide a death toll. But it questioned the Gaza authorities’ statements, saying that its own assessment of the incident was at odds with the reported death toll, and that more than a dozen militants were killed in the strike.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Charges Against Cuellar Lay Bare Azerbaijan’s Influence Attempts

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      Federal prosecutors say Representative Henry Cuellar tried to shape policy for Azerbaijan in exchange for bribes. The country has spent millions in the past decade lobbying Washington.As tensions flared over disputed territory in the Caucasus region in the summer of 2020, Azerbaijan’s squadron of high-priced Washington lobbyists scrambled to pin the blame on neighboring Armenia and highlight its connections to Russia.Unbeknown to members of Congress, Azerbaijan had an inside man who was working closely with the Azerbaijani ambassador to Washington at the time on a parallel line of attack, according to text messages released by federal prosecutors.Representative Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat now charged with accepting bribes and acting as a foreign agent in a yearslong scheme, indicated in a text that he planned a legislative maneuver to try to strip funding from Armenia because it hosted Russian military bases.Azerbaijan’s ambassador responded enthusiastically.“Your amendment is more timely than ever,” the ambassador, Elin Suleymanov, wrote to Mr. Cuellar. “It is all about Russian presence there,” added Mr. Suleymanov, who referred to the congressman as “Boss.” Mr. Cuellar’s legislative gambit did not go far. But by the time of the text exchange, his family had accepted at least $360,000 from Azerbaijani government-controlled companies since December 2014, according to a federal indictment unsealed in Houston on Friday.The 54-page indictment highlights the importance of U.S. policymaking to foreign interests, and the lengths to which they go to try to shape it to their advantage, notwithstanding high risks and sometimes questionable results.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Qatar Says It Is Reviewing Its Mediator Role as Israel-Hamas Talks Stall

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      Qatar’s prime minister has said that his government is reviewing its role as a key mediator between Israel and Hamas after criticism by U.S. and Israeli officials, who have urged it to exert more pressure on the Palestinian armed group to reach a deal.“We have seen insults against our mediation, and its exploitation for the sake of narrow political interests,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, the Qatari premier, said at a news conference this week. “This has caused Qatar to comprehensively review that role.”In late March, a flurry of shuttle diplomacy involving Israel, Hamas and mediators including the United States had raised hopes for a new cease-fire deal in the war in Gaza. But those efforts appear to have reached a dead end for now, according to Israeli and Hamas officials.It was not immediately clear that the Qatari prime minister’s comments would mean any change in the country’s role. Qatari mediators have remained in contact with Israeli representatives and have not changed their approach in recent days, said an Israeli official familiar with the talks, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive deliberations.Qatar, a small Persian Gulf nation, has carved out an influential position as a mediator that can shuttle between Western countries and armed groups like Hamas and the Taliban. It hosts much of Hamas’s political leadership and has helped broker cease-fires during previous escalations in Gaza, including last November.Since the war broke out in October, Qatari mediators, alongside officials from Egypt and the United States, have sought to broker a deal for a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of hostages held there. Over 100 hostages were released in a weeklong truce that began in late November.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More