The Palestinian militant movement Hamas released four female Israeli soldier hostages on Saturday, in return for some 200 Palestinian prisoners, in keeping with a ceasefire agreement aimed at ending the 15-month-old war in Gaza. The four were led onto a podium in Gaza City amid a large...

At least one million children in Gaza urgently need mental health and psycho-social support for depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts, the UN relief chief said Thursday. "The ceasefire has provided a vital reprieve from relentless hostilities for Palestinians," Tom Fletcher told a Security...

German Christian Democratic Union candidate Friedrich Merz has announced a tough programme on refugees and migration on his first day as chancellor – if he wins in February. Merz, 69, will reject all migrants without valid entry documents at the German border and stop asylum seekers from...

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar on Thursday sent more relief and aid planes to Syria as part of their efforts to help the Syrian people following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in early December. According to the Syrian state news agency SANA, a Saudi cargo aid aircraft arrived at the...