JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said he had instructed officials to begin "immediate negotiations" for the release of hostages in Gaza and an end to the war, while also vowing to approve military plans to seize Gaza City.
"I came to approve the IDF's (Israel Defense Forces) plans to take control of Gaza City and to defeat Hamas," Netanyahu said during a visit to a military base near the Palestinian enclave. (Israel-Hamas-Negotiations)
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BEIRUT -- Lebanon on Thursday started transferring weapons from Palestinian camps in the country to the Lebanese army, at the Burj Barajneh camp in Beirut, according to Ramez Dimechkie, head of the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee.
In a statement released by Elnashra news website, Dimechkie said, "Today marks the first step in handing over weapons, which will be placed under the custody of the Lebanese army." He added that additional batches would be collected in the coming weeks from Burj Barajneh and other camps. (Lebanon-Palestinian Camp-Weapons)
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GAZA -- At least 45 Palestinians were killed across the Gaza Strip on Thursday as the Israeli army stepped up military pressure ahead of a possible attack on Gaza City.
Eight people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a residential home in the al-Sabra neighborhood, which has been subjected to intense shelling for several days in southern Gaza City, said Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for Gaza's civil defense authority. (Gaza-Death Toll)
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ALEXANDRIA, Egypt -- The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities on Thursday successfully retrieved three massive artifacts from the Mediterranean Sea off Abu Qir Bay in Alexandria governorate.
The ministry's divers managed to take out three pieces: a colossal quartzite statue of a sphinx bearing the cartouche of King Ramesses II (1279-1213 BC), a broken-necked and broken-kneed granite statue of an unknown person from the late Ptolemaic era (332-30 BC), and a white marble statue of a Roman nobleman. (Egypt-Archaeological Finds) ■
