Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
There can be no move towards peace in Gaza unless Hamas ceases to exist in the Palestinian enclave, the State Department said on Thursday.
In her first briefing since President Donald Trump took office on January 20, spokeswoman Tammy Bruce also said a proposal by Arab countries for postwar Gaza reconstruction was a welcome development, but noted “that it does not fulfil the requirements, the nature, of what President Trump was asking for.”
Mr Trump on Wednesday issued an ultimatum to Hamas, telling the group to release all remaining hostages, including the remains of deceased captives, or “it is over for you”. He has proposed a plan to displace the entire population of the Gaza Strip while the US redevelops it.
Ms Bruce said Hamas must disband and immediately release “everything, everyone”.
“[Secretary of State Marco] Rubio has made clear that as long as Hamas exists in that area, with a gun, without a gun, as long as they are a factor in Gaza and exist, there is no way forward,” Ms Bruce said.
She spoke soon after Mr Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, gave a more positive spin on the Egyptian-led diplomacy, without endorsing the details.
“I just finished reading it. There's a lot of compelling features to it,” Mr Witkoff told journalists at the White House. “We need more discussions about it, but it's a good-faith first step from the Egyptians,” he said, adding that Mr Trump is encouraging leaders in the Middle East to present “proactive” proposals for the US to consider.
Mr Trump later said the US is helping Israel as it negotiates with Hamas.
“We are having discussions with Hamas. We are helping Israel in those discussions, because we're talking about Israeli hostages,” he said.
Israel stopped food deliveries into Gaza at the end of the first phase of the ceasefire deal, instead of moving on to the second phase as was initially stipulated.
“Aid can only be delivered in a safe framework, so as long as it is something that is unsafe or we can’t guarantee the safety of something moving in, that is going to be stopped,” Ms Bruce said.
Jihan Abdalla contributed to this report
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
More on Quran memorisation:
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
6.30pm Meydan Classic Trial US$100,000 (Turf) 1,400m
Winner Bella Fever, Dane O’Neill (jockey), Mike de Kock (trainer).
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Winner Fore Left, William Buick, Doug O’Neill.
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Winner Rusumaat, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi.
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Winner Benbatl, Christophe Soumillon, Saeed bin Suroor.
9.25pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,800m
Winner Art Du Val, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
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Winner Beyond Reason, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
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Goalkeepers Henderson, Johnstone, Pickford, Ramsdale
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Forwards Calvert-Lewin, Foden, Grealish, Greenwood, Kane, Rashford, Saka, Sancho, Sterling, Watkins
Top 10 most polluted cities
- Bhiwadi, India
- Ghaziabad, India
- Hotan, China
- Delhi, India
- Jaunpur, India
- Faisalabad, Pakistan
- Noida, India
- Bahawalpur, Pakistan
- Peshawar, Pakistan
- Bagpat, India
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Company profile
Company: Rent Your Wardrobe
Date started: May 2021
Founder: Mamta Arora
Based: Dubai
Sector: Clothes rental subscription
Stage: Bootstrapped, self-funded
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
The biog
Name: James Mullan
Nationality: Irish
Family: Wife, Pom; and daughters Kate, 18, and Ciara, 13, who attend Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS)
Favourite book or author: “That’s a really difficult question. I’m a big fan of Donna Tartt, The Secret History. I’d recommend that, go and have a read of that.”
Dream: “It would be to continue to have fun and to work with really interesting people, which I have been very fortunate to do for a lot of my life. I just enjoy working with very smart, fun people.”
