Deal to get medicine to Hamas hostages includes aid for Gaza

Medicine for hostages was en route to Gaza on Wednesday after Qatar and France mediated a deal between Israel and Hamas the first agreement between the two since a week long cease-fire broke down in November.

The deal came more than 100 days into a conflict that shows no sign of ending and has sparked tensions across the Middle East, with a dizzying array of strikes and counter strikes in recent days from northern Iraq to the Red Sea and from southern Lebanon to Pakistan.

The United States launched the third strike in recent days against the Houthi rebel group in Yemen, according to a US official. The Houthis have attacked shipping in the crucial Red Sea corridor, saying they seek to halt Israel’s war in Gaza against Hamas.

In northern Gaza, Palestinian militants battled Israeli forces and launched a barrage of rockets from farther south. The Palestinian death toll rose to 24,285 people, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Tuesday. In Israel, around 1,200 people were killed during Hamas’ October 7 attack that sparked the war and saw some 250 people taken hostage by the militants. A freed Israeli hostage relives the horrors of captivity. She fears for her husband, still held in Gaza.

US Senators reject Bernie Sanders’ effort to curb Israel-Hamas war. The vote signals rising unease.

Iran attacks alleged militant bases in Pakistan. Islamabad says unprovoked strikes kill 2 children.

A chaotic wave of attacks and reprisals in the Middle East fuel worries of a broader regional war.

An Israeli airstrike killed four Palestinians during a Wednesday raid in the occupied West Bank.

The military says it targeted a group of militants who had opened fire and were throwing explosives at Israeli soldiers in the Tulkarem refugee camp, a built-up residential area in the northern West Bank.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said four people were killed.