From office flirtation to bestselling romance novel, the journey of author Patricia Dlamini captures the imagination of readers and aspiring writers alike. Her latest book, ‘The Competitor’s Kiss: When Rivalry Turns to Romance, Who Really Wins?,’ takes inspiration from her own experiences in the corporate world, intertwining personal anecdotes with imaginative storytelling to create a captivating narrative that resonates with many.
CAPE TOWN, ZA / ACCESS Newswire / July 4, 2025 / The story follows two colleagues who develop a romantic relationship amidst the challenges of office politics and career aspirations. As the protagonists navigate their feelings and professional lives, readers are treated to an engaging exploration of love, ambition, and the complexities of workplace dynamics. Dlamini’s ability to blend humor with heartfelt moments allows the narrative to stand out in a crowded genre.
Amazon.com: The Competitor’s Kiss: When Rivalry Turns to Romance, Who Really Wins? Checkout Book Availability On Amazon.com
Dlamini’s background in marketing and her experiences in various corporate environments provided a rich foundation for her writing. The author draws on real-life scenarios to craft relatable characters and situations, making the themes of her book accessible to a wide audience. Readers will find themselves immersed in the ups and downs of office romance, reflecting on their own experiences as they turn the pages.
Prior to the release of ‘The Competitor’s Kiss: When Rivalry Turns to Romance, Who Really Wins?,’ Dlamini self-published several short stories online, gaining a dedicated following through her relatable writing style and authentic voice. The success of these stories paved the way for her transition to a full-length novel, showcasing her growth as an author and her commitment to storytelling. Her journey from a corporate employee to a bestselling author serves as an inspiration for many who dream of writing and publishing their own work.
The launch of ‘The Competitor’s Kiss: When Rivalry Turns to Romance, Who Really Wins?’ marks a significant milestone in Dlamini’s career, with pre-orders already exceeding expectations. The book has garnered interest from both readers and publishers, leading to discussions about potential adaptations for visual media. Dlamini aims to reach an even broader audience, sharing her insights on love and relationships in the modern workplace.
In conjunction with the book launch, Dlamini will engage with her readers through various platforms, including virtual book signings, social media discussions, and writing workshops. These events aim to foster a sense of community among readers and aspiring writers, providing a space for sharing experiences and insights about writing and love in the workplace.
‘The Competitor’s Kiss: When Rivalry Turns to Romance, Who Really Wins?’ is set to be released on July 15, 2025, and promises to offer an engaging read for those who appreciate romance intertwined with relatable workplace scenarios. As Dlamini continues to develop her craft, her debut novel stands as a testament to her journey and the power of storytelling.
Ariana Madix’s glam team shares what it takes to get her ready to host season 7 of Love Island USA
Madix’s hairstylist Carl Bembridge brought 70 pounds of hair to Fiji for shooting
The host’s makeup artist and stylist share the inspiration behind her versatile and sexy looks
Ariana Madix’s fashion and beauty moments on Love Island USA deserve a show of their own.
On the current seventh season of the popular reality dating show, Madix, 40, seriously stepped up her game for her second round as host. Her looks have been more wide-ranging than ever, shocking fans with jaw-dropping hair color transformations and super-sexy ensembles.
Hairstylist Carl Bembridge tells PEOPLE that he knew Madix would be a “chameleon” this season.
“The main goal was to make it completely different from last year. Every episode had to feel fresh,” he says of preparing for filming the series in Fiji.
“We injected a bit of edge, some ‘90s references, girly vibes, high-fashion moments and sexy looks,” Bembridge explains. “One thing I’ve noticed is that we’ve played with a lot more curly and wavy hairstyles this time around, especially that mermaid texture. I actually told Ariana, ‘This is giving Splash, [the 1984 film] with Daryl Hannah,’ so I nicknamed her Mer-Madix.”
In order to achieve the roster of looks he’d dreamed up, the hairstylist packed accordingly. “I brought three suitcases and one of them was completely full of hairpieces: wigs, clip-ins, bangs, different lengths, different shades,” he shares. “So in total, around 70 pounds of hair came with me. My girls have to have options!”
Ariana Madix.
Carl Bembridge Celebrity Hair/Instagram
Aside from Madix’s beachy, mermaid-inspired waves, the star has rocked a dramatic brunette wig, a Rapunzel-like braid and piece-y bangs — and the season is not over yet.
For makeup artist Krystal Dawn, her creations are a collaborative effort between other members of the glam team and Madix herself.
“Most of it came together on the day,” Dawn tells PEOPLE. “We’d see what [Ariana] was wearing, chat about what vibe she felt like. Sometimes she’d have inspo pics, and then we’d match it up with the hair look, too. If her hair was pulled back, we might do a winged eye; if she had a fringe, we’d keep it fresh and focus more on blush and lips.”
Ariana Madix.
Ben Symons/Peacock via Getty
When it comes to preserving Madix’s makeup in the scorching island heat, Dawn says good skin prep and a solid base are crucial.
“I’ve been using the Milk Hydro Grip Primer, sometimes the original and sometimes the illuminating one for extra glow. For foundation, NARS and Haus Labs have been real heroes — they hold up way better on Ariana’s skin than what we used last year. Huda Beauty’s new setting spray is a game-changer too.”
Surprisingly, Dawn doesn’t use a lot of powder to combat sweat and shine.
“We don’t like her skin to look overly matte or cakey, so I keep powder really minimal,” she explains. “Just a light dusting near the end, and then a final mist of setting spray right before she goes on. There’s no heavy baking. Once she’s out there for hours, you sometimes just have to trust the prep — so far, so good!”
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Ariana Madix.
Ben Symons/Peacock
Because stylist Emily Men isn’t on set with Madix in Fiji, she has to be bit more meticulous about her planning (she says she sent the host off with three checked suitcases full of clothes!).
“We have a big fitting in the week before she leaves to try everything on and decide what we like and don’t like,” she explains. “Then, I accessorize everything and pair each outfit with jewelry, shoes, undergarments — all the things! I try to consider every detail and angle for each outfit, even down to her nails.” The stylist has been loving press-ons for their versatility, and so she can switch Madix’s nails with every look.
Men adds that she personally tailors all of Madix’s clothes and ensures everything fits perfectly at a second fitting before she leaves for filming. “If any last-minute adjustments need to be made, we are so lucky to have the on-set wardrobe team of Kim Hurwitz, Emily Abbey and Karissa Loveday, who are amazing and able to sort out any last-minute issues! “
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While she and Madix always prepare mood boards based on what’s inspiring them, Men says that confidence is always an underlying theme.
“Ariana and I work so well together because she is open to trying anything and everything,” says the stylist. “She is so comfortable in her own skin that she can effortlessly pull off so many different looks, and that confidence really shines through.”
“Also, you have to give a lot of credit to her amazing glam team, Carl Bembridge and Krystal Dawn — we all work together on these looks and make sure each component complements the others!”
If he wins the general election in November, Zohran Mamdani could become New York City’s first South Asian mayor and the first of Indian origin.
But the same identity that makes him a trailblazer in United States politics has also exposed him to public outcry in India and within its diaspora.
Ever since Mamdani achieved a thumping win in the Democratic mayoral primary on June 24, his campaign has weathered a flood of vitriol – some of it coming from the Hindu right.
Experts say the attacks are a reflection of the tensions that have arisen between supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and critics of the human rights abuses under his leadership, particularly against religious minorities.
A number of those attacks have fixated on Mamdani’s religion: The 33-year-old is Muslim. Some commenters have accused the mayoral hopeful of being a “jihadi” and “Islamist”. Others have called him anti-Hindu and anti-India.
Kayla Bassett, the director of research at the Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH), a Washington-based think tank, believes the attacks against Mamdani are a vehicle to attack the Muslim community more broadly.
“This isn’t just about one individual,” she said. “It’s about promoting a narrative that casts Muslims as inherently suspect or un-American.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has faced criticism for the treatment of religious minorities in India [Jermaine Cruickshank/AP Photo]
Backlash from Modi’s party
That narrative could potentially have consequences for Mamdani’s campaign, as he works to increase his support among New York voters.
Mamdani will face competition in November from more established names in politics. He is expected to face incumbent mayor Eric Adams in the final vote. His rival in the Democratic primary, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, has also not yet ruled out an independent run.
The mayoral hopeful has vocally denounced human rights abuses, including in places like Gaza and India.
That unabashed stance has not only earned him criticism from his rival candidates but also from overseas.
Members of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), for example, have been among the voices slamming Mamdani’s remarks and questioning his fitness for the mayor’s seat.
BJP Member of Parliament Kangana Ranaut posted on social media, for example, that Mamdani “sounds more Pakistani than Indian”.
“Whatever happened to his Hindu identity or bloodline,” she asked, pointing to the Hindu roots of his mother, director Mira Nair. “Now he is ready to wipe out Hinduism.”
Soon after Mamdani’s primary win, a prominent pro-BJP news channel in India, Aaj Tak, also aired a segment claiming that he had received funding from organisations that promote an “anti-India” agenda.
It also warned of a growing Muslim population in New York City, an assertion it coupled with footage of women wearing hijabs.
But some of the backlash has come from sources closer to home.
A New Jersey-based group named Indian Americans for Cuomo spent $3,570 for a plane to fly a banner over New York City with the message: “Save NYC from Global Intifada. Reject Mamdani.”
Mayoral candidates Andrew Cuomo, Michael Blake, Zohran Mamdani and Whitney Tilson participate in a Democratic mayoral primary debate on June 4 in New York [Yuki Iwamura/AP Photo]
A critic of human rights abuses
Much of the pushback can be linked to Mamdani’s vocal criticism of Hindu nationalism and Modi in particular.
In 2020, Mamdani participated in a Times Square demonstration against a temple built on the site of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya that was destroyed by Hindu extremists in 1992. He called out the BJP’s participation in and normalisation of that violence.
“I am here today to protest against the BJP government in India and the demolition of the Babri masjid,” he said.
Then, in 2023, Mamdani read aloud notes from an imprisoned Indian activist ahead of Modi’s visit to New York City.
That activist, Umar Khalid, has been imprisoned since 2020 without trial on terrorism charges after making speeches criticising Modi’s government.
More recently, during a town hall for mayoral candidates in May, Mamdani was asked if he would meet with Modi if the prime minister were to visit the city again. Mamdani said he wouldn’t.
“This is a war criminal,” he replied.
Mamdani pointed to Modi’s leadership in the Indian state of Gujarat during a period of religious riots in 2002. Modi has been criticised for turning a blind eye to the violence, which killed more than a thousand people, many of them Muslim.
In the aftermath, Modi was denied a US visa for “severe violations of religious freedom”.
“Narendra Modi helped to orchestrate what was a mass slaughter of Muslims in Gujarat, to the extent that we don’t even believe that there are Gujarati Muslims any more,” Mamdani told the town hall. “When I tell someone that I am, it’s a shock to them that that’s even the case.”
Protesters in 2014 gather to mark the anniversary of the violence in the Indian state of Gujarat [File: Ajit Solanki/AP Photo]
Barriers of class and religion
It’s that “fearless” and consistent criticism of Modi that has made Mamdani the target of outrage from the Hindu right, according to Rohit Chopra, a communications professor at Santa Clara University.
“Among the Hindu right, there is a project of the political management of the memory of 2002. There’s this silence around Modi being denied a visa to enter the US,” said Chopra.
The professor also said class fragmentation among Hindu Americans may also fuel scepticism towards Mamdani.
Hindu Americans are a relatively privileged minority in terms of socioeconomic status: The Pew Research Center estimates that 44 percent Asian American Hindus enjoy a family income of more than $150,000, and six in 10 have obtained postgraduate degrees.
That relative prosperity, Chopra said, can translate into social barriers.
“They don’t necessarily even identify with other Hindu Americans who may come from very different kinds of class backgrounds – people who might be working as cab drivers, or dishwashers, or other blue-collar jobs,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Suchitra Vijayan, a New York City-based writer and the founder of the digital magazine Polis Project, has noticed that many lines of attack against Mamdani centre on his identity.
“Mamdani is an elected leader who is unabashedly Muslim,” she said.
She pointed out that other Muslim politicians, including US Congress members Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, have sparked similar backlash for reproaching Modi over the Gujarat violence.
But Mamdani’s family ties to the region make the scrutiny all the more intense.
“In Mamdani’s case, he’s Muslim, he’s African, but also his father is of Gujarati descent and has openly spoken about the pogrom in Gujarat,” Vijayan said.
New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani waves to supporters at an event on July 2 [David ‘Dee’ Delgado/Reuters]
A ‘seismic’ victory
Despite the online backlash, experts and local organisers believe Mamdani’s campaign can mobilise Indian American voters and other members of the South Asian diaspora who traditionally lean Democratic.
The Pew Research Center estimates that there are 710,000 Indians and Indian Americans living in the New York City area, the most of any metropolitan centre in the US.
Preliminary results from June’s mayoral primary show that Mamdani scored big in neighbourhoods with strong Asian populations, like Little Bangladesh, Jackson Heights and Parkchester.
A final tally of the ranked-choice ballots was released earlier this week, on July 1, showing Mamdani trounced his closest rival, Cuomo, 56 percent to 44.
“I’ve heard his win described as ‘seismic’,” said Arvind Rajagopal, a professor of media studies at New York University. “He can speak not only Spanish but Hindi, Urdu, and passable Bangla. A candidate with this level of depth and breadth is rare in recent times.”
Rajagopal added that Mamdani’s decision to own his Muslim identity became an asset for him on the campaign trail, particularly in the current political climate.
With President Donald Trump in office for a second term, many voters are bracing for the anti-Muslim rhetoric and policies that accompanied his first four years in the White House.
Back then, Trump called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States”, saying they represented an “influx of hatred” and “danger”.
“The moment of Trump is something that Mamdani answers perfectly,” Rajagopal said. He called Mamdani’s success “a big reality check for the Hindu right”.
Whatever backlash Mamdani is facing from Hindu groups, Jagpreet Singh is sceptical about its influence over New York City.
“I can assure you – it’s not coming from within the city,” said Singh, the political director of DRUM Beats, a sister organisation to the social justice organisation Desis Rising Up and Moving.
That group was among the first in the city to endorse Mamdani’s candidacy for mayor.
Since early in his campaign, Singh pointed out that Mamdani has reached out to Hindu working-class communities “in an authentic way”.
This included visiting the Durga Temple and Nepalese Cultural Center in Ridgewood and speaking at events in the Guyanese and Trinidadian Hindu communities, Singh pointed out. During his time as a state assembly member, Mamdani also pushed for legislation that would recognise Diwali – the Hindu festival of lights – as a state holiday.
At a Diwali celebration last year, Singh said Mamdani “took part in lighting of the diyas, spoke on stage, and talked about his mother’s background as being somebody who is of Hindu faith”.
To Singh, the message was clear. South Asian groups in New York City, including Hindu Americans, “have adopted him as their own”.
ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada (AP) — Jayden Seales ripped out the opening batters to reduce Australia’s second innings to 12-2 and lead over West Indies to 45 runs on day two of the second test on Friday.
The West Indies’ first innings almost lasted the entire day but it was all out for 253 — 33 runs behind Australia — which left a tricky half-hour in the day.
The hosts made it as hostile as possible and preyed on Australia’s nervous top order.
Seales bowled Sam Konstas for a duck in the first over and almost claimed Cameron Green on the next ball. Green barely fended off Seales and was fortunate the ball dropped in front of second slip.
Seales then got a nip-backer to trap Usman Khawaja plumb on 2. Khawaja’s video review showed it was going to hit middle stump.
Nathan Lyon came in as the nightwatchman and he and Green just made it to stumps. On the penultimate ball, Lyon took an Alzarri Joseph delivery into his left bicep. He needed on-field treatment.
Seales had 2-5 from three overs, including a maiden.
Top-order troubles
For Konstas, it was his third single-digit score in four innings on tour. Opening partner Khawaja has scored 47, 15, 16 and 2. Before that, he had 0 and 6 in the World Test Championship final. No. 3 Green is also still looking for a morale-boosting score.
The West Indies have their own top-order issues.
Kraigg Brathwaite was out for a duck in his first bat in his 100th test, caught and bowled by Josh Hazlewood in the first over.
Keacy Carty went the same way on 6 to Pat Cummins, and John Campbell wasted a good start of 40 when he skewed Beau Webster to mid-on.
It took Brandon King’s maiden test half-century and the tailenders’ 73 invaluable runs for the West Indies to get close to Australia’s 286.
The West Indies was 174-7 after lunch, still more than 100 behind, but the Nos. 8-11 batters — notably Alzarri Joseph and Shamar Joseph, not related — frustrated the Australians for 25 overs and led the West Indies past 200 and 250.
King and captain Roston Chase, who took 18 balls to get off the mark, rebuilt West Indies from 64-3 to a confident 110-3 by lunch.
Chase was out straight after lunch, trapped on 16 by Hazlewood after Australia reviewed.
But King lofted Hazlewood for six over square leg then his seventh boundary brought up his 50 off 77 balls, his first 50 in his second test and West Indies’ first 50 in the series.
King waltzed down the track to hit Lyon for another couple of sixes as his partnership with Shai Hope began to flourish.
But Cummins ended their 58-run stand when he bowled Hope on 21, and King fell in the next over nicking Lyon behind. King labored for 75 off 108 balls with eight boundaries and three sixes.
A third wicket in four overs, Justin Greaves, tumbled West Indies to 174-7.
But the Josephs made it to tea and kept going for 51 runs together. Alzarri scored 27 and Shamar 29. Last pair Anderson Phillip and Seales resisted for another nearly 11 overs for 16 runs.
All six Australia bowlers took wickets; Lyon led with 3-75.
While he’s best known for Nip/Tuck, McMahon’s decades-long career in film and television includes performances opposite everyone from Sandra Bullock to Jessica Alba to Nicolas Cage — and starring roles in two separate Marvel franchises.
Scroll through the photos below to see a selection of moments from his work and life.
England 171-9 (20 overs): Dunkley 75 (53); Sharma 3-27
India 166-5 (20 overs): Mandhana 56 (49); Filer 2-30
England won by five runs; India lead series 2-1
Scorecard
England held their nerve to keep the T20 series alive with a thrilling last-ball victory by five runs against India at The Oval.
Chasing 172 to win, India needed 12 from the last over and six off the final ball, but seamer Lauren Bell had opposing captain Harmanpreet Kaur caught at mid-off for 23 – and the hosts now only trail 2-1 in the series with two matches to play.
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The tourists, eyeing a series win at the earliest opportunity, were in full control, needing 49 from 42 balls with nine wickets in hand before an eye-catching spell of fast bowling from Lauren Filer changed the course of the game.
Filer had Jemimah Rodrigues caught behind for 20 and star batter Smriti Mandhana, who made 56, was also beaten for pace and caught at mid-on as the quick regularly reached speeds of 79mph.
Harmanpreet’s knock kept India in the hunt but England restricted them to 166-5 despite a flurry of dropped chances in a chaotic ending, setting up a tantalising encounter in the fourth of five T20s at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
England’s first innings also provided plenty of drama, as they raced to 137-0 after fine half-centuries from Sophia Dunkley and Danni Wyatt-Hodge, before losing nine wickets for 31 runs in the space of 4.4 overs, and finishing with 171-9.
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Dunkley made 75 from 53 balls and Wyatt-Hodge struck 66 from 42, but Sophie Ecclestone’s 10 was the only other score in double figures in a collapse which included three batters falling first ball.
It is yet to be confirmed whether captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, who was ruled out of the match with a hip injury, will be fit for the rest of the series.
England’s collapse of carnage
England’s top order was under pressure, with opening stands of nine and two in the series so far, but Dunkley and Wyatt-Hodge responded to the pressure in style having been given the freedom to bat first and set a total after stand-in captain Tammy Beaumont won the toss.
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They were initially quite cautious, reaching 44-0 from the six-over powerplay, before Dunkley led the acceleration, targeting the leg side and using her feet effectively to the spinners who were put under pressure for the first time.
Wyatt-Hodge followed suit after a slower start as England were on course for a total close to 200, contrasting with Dunkley by hitting effectively through and over the covers, as India’s bowlers had no answers to their variety.
What followed, however, was baffling.
Dunkley clubbed a full toss back to Sharma for the breakthrough, before the triple wicket over from seamer Arundhati Reddy – Capsey was caught after trying to ramp her third ball, Wyatt-Hodge chipped a slower ball to the India captain and Jones was pinned lbw for a golden duck.
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Beaumont was bowled attempting a sweep at the end of the 18th over, before left-arm spinner Shree Charani – who was expensive with 43 runs conceded from her four overs – had Paige Scholfield stumped and Issy Wong caught behind first ball.
Filer completed the trio of first ballers as she was caught at mid-wicket off Sharma, who finished with respectable figures of 3-27, and though the collapse did not cost England in terms of the result, there is plenty for the batting line-up to ponder if they are going to become the ruthless side that coach Charlotte Edwards has spoken of.
Filer produces England’s X-factor
India will be wondering how they managed to let the game slip as they had England on the ropes.
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That was thanks partly to an opening stand of 85 between Mandhana and Shafali Verma, who made a 25-ball 47 after being dropped by Bell on four in the second over – the first of many shambolic drops which England also got away with.
Bell did respond with a sensational leaping one-handed grab with Verma on 25, also at deep third, but she fell over the rope and unfortunately gave away six in the process.
Verma was bowled by an Ecclestone beauty at the end of the ninth over but the whippet-like Rodrigues raced to 20 and Mandhana looked in the same imperious, form which enabled her to score a century in the first outing at Trent Bridge.
But Filer produced the performance needed when England had their backs to the wall. Both Rodrigues and Mandhana, two of India’s most experienced and talented players, were hopping about in their crease as Filer clocked an average pace of 76mph, the highest of her T20 career so far.
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All five of her fastest T20 deliveries were bowled in that spell, including a top speed of 79.4mph, as Rodrigues needlessly chased a wide delivery having been pushed back by the short ball. Mandhana’s wicket left India with a much more difficult target of 41 from 28 balls.
Harmanpreet fought to take the game deep after being dropped by Capsey, who put down a simple chance with the captain on one, which was the first of four dropped catches in five overs.
England got over the line, and will take confidence from winning despite a performance that was far from perfection.
‘That’s what you live for’ – what they said
Stand-in England captain Tammy Beaumont: “I think that’s what you live for in cricket. As captain, those are the moments you live for.
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“This is a massive moment for this team. We know it wasn’t the perfect game but we’ve been asking for improvement every game and there was some significant improvement.
“Now we believe we can go toe-to-toe with this India team and come out on top.”
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur: “I think we were in the game until the 16th over, but after that we didn’t utilise. We were executing our plans and looking for a few boundaries and we were just short by a boundary in the end.”
England’s Sophia Dunkley, player of the match: “That was absolutely unreal. I don’t think I’ve played in a game like that. The atmosphere, the crowd and the game were amazing.”
Naomi Osaka said she had “nothing positive to say” following her third-round loss to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Friday at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships.
Despite opening the tournament with back-to-back straight-set victories, Osaka offered a candid apology after her early exit, expressing frustration and disappointment in her performance.
“I’m just gonna be a negative human being [Friday],” Osaka told reporters. “I’m so sorry. I have nothing positive to say about myself, which is something I’m working on. It was my daughter’s birthday, so I was happy about that this week. Other than that, today, I’m just constantly replaying the match now.”
The 27-year-old won the opening set 6-3 but faltered in the final two, dropping the last two games of the third set to suffer a disappointing exit.
Osaka, who captured her first title in nearly four years at the L’Open 35 de Saint-Malo in May, couldn’t carry that momentum into Wimbledon, falling short in the Round of 32 on Friday.
Hopes for an end to the bloody fighting in Gaza appeared to brighten Friday when Hamas announced that it had given a thumbs-up to the latest ceasefire proposal, but added that further talks were needed.
“Hamas has completed its internal consultations with Palestinian factions and forces regarding the mediators’ latest proposal to halt the aggression against our people in Gaza,” the Palestinian militant group said in a statement.
“The movement has submitted a positive response to the mediators,” the statement added. “The movement is fully prepared to immediately enter into a round of negotiations on the mechanism for implementing this framework.”
The development came just days after President Donald Trump said Israel has “agreed to the necessary conditions” to finalize a 60-day ceasefire deal in the Israel-Hamas war.
But in his first remarks since Trump’s announcement on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not confirm Trump’s claim and once again called for the elimination of Hamas.
“There will be no Hamas,” Netanyahu said. “There will be no Hamastan. We are not going back to that. It is over. We will release all our hostages.”
Netanyahu is scheduled to visit to the White House on Monday, where he is expected to discuss the situation in Gaza with Trump.
Hamas has been weighing the new ceasefire proposals that it had received from the Egyptian and Qatari mediators for several days.
In a statement Wednesday, Hamas said it would be “conducting national consultations” with the final aim of ending the fighting, ensuring the withdrawal of Israeli forces and delivering “urgent relief” to the people of Gaza.
The war in Gaza erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, after Hamas launched a bloody surprise attack on Israel that left more than 1,200 people dead. Hamas also took 251 people hostage. And of the remaining hostages in captivity, 28 are presumed to be dead.
Meanwhile, Israel’s attacks in Gaza have killed more than 56,000 people and created a humanitarian crisis in the densely populated Palestinian territory, where most of the 2 million residents have been forced from their homes.
