Israel orders evacuations in northern Gaza as Trump calls for war to end

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By Nidal Al-Mughrabi Reuters  The Israeli military ordered Palestinians to evacuate areas in northern Gaza on Sunday before intensified fighting against  Hamas , as U.S. President Donald Trump called for an end to the  war  amid renewed efforts to broker a ceasefire. “Make the deal in Gaza, get the hostages back,”  Trump  posted on his Truth Social platform early on Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to hold talks later in the day on the progress of Israel’s offensive. A senior security official said the military will tell him the campaign is close to reaching its objectives, and warn that expanding fighting to new areas in Gaza may endanger the remaining Israeli hostages. But in a statement posted on X and text messages sent to many residents, the military urged people in northern parts of the enclave to head south towards the Al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis, which Israel designated as a humanitarian area. Palestinian and U.N. offi...
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Russia and Ukraine exchange 95 prisoners of war each in latest deal

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Russia and Ukraine conducted a major exchange of prisoners on Wednesday, 190 in all, in their third such swap over the past seven weeks, following negotiations mediated by the United Arab Emirates.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said all 95 Ukrainians who were freed were from the military, and thanked the UAE for its help.

Russia’s defence ministry, in a statement on Telegram, said the returning soldiers would receive medical examinations and physical and psychological rehabilitation. It said the freed troops had faced “mortal danger” in Ukrainian captivity.

The prisoner exchange was the third over the past seven weeks, with the first announced at the end of May.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Russian Defense Ministry reported the exchange.

Kyiv has secured the return of 3,405 people from Russian captivity since the start of Russia’s invasion in February 2022, the Ukrainian Coordinating Committee on Dealing with Prisoners of War said.

It said seven officers and 88 soldiers and sergeants were freed, and most had been in captivity since 2022.

The committee posted a video showing Ukrainian troops boarding buses to be transported home and cheering. It showed one serviceman, wrapped in the blue and yellow national flag, saying into his mobile phone: “I still cannot believe that I am at home.”

Twenty-three people had taken part in the three-month defence of the Sea of Azov port of Mariupol, and were captured by Russian forces in May 2022, the committee said.

“Many returning Ukrainian soldiers suffer from consequences of their wounds and have chronic diseases that require long-term treatment,” the panel said on Telegram.

In the second exchange in June, Russia and Ukraine each handed back 90 prisoners.

Last January, Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war in the biggest single release of captives.

SOURCE: AP AND REUTERS



from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/2duENtb

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