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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.

Swaggering, cocksure and incredibly loud, Oasis burst back on to the live music scene on Friday night with an accomplished – if ever so slightly distanced – debut gig on their reunion world tour.

Playing Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, the six-piece impressed at the start of what is arguably the most anticipated tour of the century, focusing overwhelmingly on songs from their 1990s heyday – only one song, Little By Little, was taken from their final four albums.

For years it looked as if Liam and Noel Gallagher would never patch up their fractious fraternal relationship. A backstage bust-up in 2009 brought Oasis to an end, after a 16-year career in which they became the pre-eminent British rock’n’roll band, and the Gallaghers continued to snipe at each other in the press and social media in the following years – most memorably with Liam dubbing Noel a “potato”. Even when Oasis announced a reunion in August 2024 – “The guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned. The great wait is over” – some fans wondered if another ruction between the brothers would scupper the plans.

But following support slots from Britpop peers Cast and Richard Ashcroft, Oasis did indeed appear. They kicked straight into gear without a word to the crowd, playing Hello, the song that begins (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, their 18-times platinum album which is outsold in the UK only by Queen and Abba’s greatest hits.

“Because we need each other, we believe in one another”, Noel Gallagher sang on the second track, Acquiesce: a statement of unity that inspired delirious mosh pits and crowd-surfing. But the actual relations between the Gallaghers were relatively frosty, with little acknowledgment of each other, and with original guitarist Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs stationed between them.

The Gallaghers were backed by Arthurs, the rhythm guitarist on their era-defining first two albums Definitely Maybe (1994) and (What’s the Story) Morning Glory (1995), plus 1997 follow-up Be Here Now, which was less critically acclaimed but still enormous in terms of sound and commercial success. More recently, Arthurs had played with Liam Gallagher’s solo band.

Arthurs, who was successfully treated for tonsil cancer in 2022, was replaced in Oasis in 1999 by Gem Archer, who also features in the new line-up having played with both Liam and Noel during their solo careers. Andy Bell, the co-founder of Ride – Oasis’s label mates on Creation Records – and another 1999 Oasis appointee, played bass. The American musician Joey Waronker, known for his work with Beck, REM and Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, was on drums, having recently collaborated with Liam Gallagher on his 2024 album with Stone Roses guitarist John Squire.

Noel took the lead on a three-song run of Talk Tonight, Half the World Away and Little By Little – the only post-millennium song, from 2002’s Heathen Chemisty – in the middle of the set, with Liam bringing his trademark sneer and brio back for D’You Know What I Mean, which led into another Be Here Now song, Stand By Me.

Thereafter it was a return to the middle of the mid-1990s, with one-off singles and B-sides such as Whatever and The Masterplan, and a run of the band’s very biggest hits including Live Forever, Rock ’n’ Roll Star, Don’t Look Back in Anger, Wonderwall and Champagne Supernova.

The latter-day Oasis albums aren’t as well loved as the first three, but they certainly contain songs fans might have expected to hear including Stop Crying Your Heart Out, Lyla, Songbird and Go Let it Out. There were no curveballs or deep cuts. Instead, Oasis delivered exactly what most fans were hoping for.

There were tributes to the late Portuguese footballer Diego Jota, who died yesterday in a car crash at the age of 28: he was well known to British fans, having won the Premier League and FA Cup during a spell with Liverpool. Cast dedicated their own football anthem, Walkaway to him, and an image of Jota was displayed during Oasis’s performance of Live Forever.

For a famously gobby band, there was relatively little stage banter, though Liam beseeched the crowd at one point: “I want you to turn around and put your arms around each other … and jump up and fucking down.”

He also made a brazen reference to the pricing scandal that made headlines when tickets went on sale: a “dynamic pricing” mechanism meant that the popularity of the tickets drove up the cost, prompting anger from fans and promises from culture secretary Lisa Nandy to look into the practice. “What’s happening? Everyone having a good time yeah? Is it worth the £4,000 you paid for a ticket?”, Liam told the crowd.

Noel meanwhile thanked the band’s younger fans as he began the encore with a rendition of The Masterplan: “This one is for all the people in their 20s who have never seen us before who have kept us shit hot for the last 20 years.” – Guardian service

CNN
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Hamas announced on Friday that it had “submitted a positive response” to a proposal for a 60-day ceasefire with Israel in Gaza, opening the path toward a deal to halt the conflict after months of failed efforts.

Hamas has “submitted a positive response to the mediators, and the movement is fully prepared to immediately enter into a round of negotiations regarding the mechanism for implementing this framework,” the group said in a statement.

Israel had previously accepted the US-sponsored framework, which means the two sides are now expected to enter final, detailed negotiations before a ceasefire agreement is officially reached.

Bishara Bahbah, a Palestinian-American interlocutor who has been in direct discussions with Hamas, praised the group’s response on Facebook, saying, “We are now much closer to ending this cursed war.”

He said Hamas had introduced “amendments it deemed necessary.”

“In my view, these amendments will not prevent reaching a ceasefire agreement within the coming week, God willing,” he said.

An Israeli source familiar with the matter said earlier Friday that Israel had expected a positive response from Hamas, with the rewording of a few points in the proposal language. The source said these changes were not expected to derail the ceasefire efforts.

Of the 50 Israeli hostages remaining in Gaza, the proposal calls for the release of 10 living hostages and 18 deceased during the ceasefire. On the first day of the ceasefire, Hamas would release eight living hostages in exchange for an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Following the release, Israel would withdraw from parts of northern Gaza, and the two sides would begin negotiations toward a permanent ceasefire.

The release of the hostages is to take place without any Hamas ceremonies or fanfare. The remaining hostages would be released on four more dates specific in the proposal.

Efforts to secure a ceasefire intensified following the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran last month. Qatar, a key negotiator, immediately launched a new round of indirect talks between Israel and Hamas to find a “middle ground” based on previous proposals.

The new proposal includes stronger assurances about the US’s commitment to keeping Israel at the negotiating table to reach a permanent ceasefire deal, during or potentially after the 60-day truce, according to an Israeli official and source familiar with the negotiations.

It also commits Israel to allowing a surge of aid into Gaza through traditional humanitarian channels, rather than through the controversial Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

US President Donald Trump has pushed hard for a ceasefire, saying on Tuesday that Israel had “agreed to the necessary conditions” to finalize a deal for a 60-day cessation of hostilities. In a post on Truth Social, Trump warned Hamas to accept the proposal as well.

“I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,” he said, thanking Qatar and Egypt for their role in advancing the proposal.

Israel accepted the new proposal on Tuesday while Ron Dermer, a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was in Washington, DC, meeting with top Trump administration officials, including US special envoy Steve Witkoff. The next day, Hamas said it was discussing the proposal as part of “national consultations” and that it aimed to reach an agreement that would guarantee “an end to the aggression, the withdrawal (of Israeli forces), and urgent relief for our people in the Gaza Strip.”

According to a source familiar with the negotiations, Israel and Hamas are now expected to enter quickly into proximity talks, during which officials from both sides are in the same building, with negotiators passing messages between them expeditiously to reach a deal. Such talks can take days, or they can be concluded faster. One of the key issues to resolve will be the timeline for the withdrawal of Israeli forces in Gaza during the ceasefire, the source said.

Qatar submitted the new proposal for a 60-day ceasefire, backed by the Trump administration, to both Hamas and Israel this week, following months of behind-the-scenes efforts led by Witkoff.

After a two-month ceasefire collapsed in March – and Israel renewed its bombardment of Gaza – the Trump administration put forward a ceasefire proposal that was rejected by Hamas because it failed to include guarantees about a permanent end to the war. The new version attempted to account for that key Hamas demand, offering stronger US assurances that the ceasefire would continue beyond 60 days even if a comprehensive agreement had not yet been reached.

Israel has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians in Gaza since the war began, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. As negotiators worked to advance the latest ceasefire proposal, Israel intensified its bombardment of Gaza, killing scores across the besieged enclave.

Until now, Israel has refused to agree to a ceasefire deal that includes a comprehensive end to the war, as Netanyahu said the country’s goals included destroying Hamas’ military capability and ability to govern. But after the conflict with Iran, he has signaled a new willingness to compromise.

On Sunday, Netanyahu said that “many opportunities have opened up” following Israel’s military operations in Iran, including the possibility of bringing home the remaining hostages held in Gaza. It marked the first time in months that the long-time Israeli leader has clearly prioritized the return of the hostages over the defeat of Hamas.

Netanyahu is scheduled to travel to Washington this weekend and meet Trump at the White House on Monday. Before he leaves for the trip, he will convene his full cabinet on Saturday night to discuss the proposal. Even though far-right members of Israel’s government have said they will try to torpedo the deal, other political parties have made clear they will throw their support behind a ceasefire.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Tehran is officially halting its collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the wake of the recent US and Israeli air strikes.

“As long as the security of Iranian nuclear facilities is not ensured, Iran will suspend its cooperation with the IAEA,”  parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on state television last week, with President Masoud Pezeshkian signing off on the move this Wednesday.

The specifics of the measure, however, remain unclear.

For example, it is not yet known how it would affect the IAEA inspectors that remained in Iran throughout the 12-day conflict. 

The Vienna-based UN agency hopes to gain more information on the state of the three of Iran’s top nuclear facilities — in Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz — which were targeted by the US-Israeli bombing.

It also unclear if Iran is willing to remain in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the cornerstone of global arms control, after its facilities were hit.

“The fact that these facilities were attacked while under (IAEA) safeguards, while there is no evidence that they were being used for weaponization, is stirring the debate in Iran about whether the NPT still provides security value,” Kelsey Davenport, the Director for Nonproliferation Policy at the Arms Control Association think tank, told DW.

Ahead of the Israeli strikes on Iran, the IAEA warned that Iran was the only nation without nuclear arms that is enriching uranium at nearly weapons-grade levels and that it had enough material for several nuclear bombs. At the same time, however, the IAEA stressed it did not have “any proof of a systematic effort to move into a nuclear weapon.”

US helped Iran launch nuclear program 

Tehran’s nuclear program has a long and complicated history going back to the 1950s and Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

The US-backed monarch decided to join an initiative launched by US President Dwight D. Eisenhower known as “Atoms for Peace,” which aimed to give other nations — especially developing ones — access to civilian nuclear technology. Iran took advantage of the offer to build the foundations of its own nuclear program.

Tehran also joined the IAEA in 1958, just a year after the UN agency was founded in Vienna.

The nuclear program was seen as a prestige project in Iran. The country wanted to boost its production of electricity and eventually produce its own nuclear fuel independently of foreign suppliers while also reducing the consumption of oil and gas.

In 1970, Iran signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which allows for civilian use of nuclear energy under the IAEA supervision.

After the revolution

The Islamist Revolution of 1979 left Iran in chaos.

The US stopped its deliveries of nuclear fuel to the research reactor in Tehran. In 1980, Iraq attacked Iran to take control of its oil fields, sparking an eight-year war. Western companies, including German ones, abandoned their cooperation with the Iran nuclear program.

In the early 1980s, rumors began circulating that Iraq was building a nuclear weapon.

Israel, who regarded the Saddam Hussein regime as more of a threat than the Iranian mullahs, actually used information provided by the Iranian secret services to bomb Iraq’s nuclear reactor Osirak in 1981.

After the Iran-Iraq war ended in 1988, Iran started importing technology from Pakistan, China and Russia to enrich uranium and develop its own nuclear fuel.

The regime hoped to prove that Iran was capable of pursuing high-tech projects, and its nuclear program became a symbol of the nation’s strength.

Iranian officials never denied the fact that Tehran also had the capacity to build a nuclear weapon in case of an emergency.

Akbar Etemad, the man known as the father of Iran’s nuclear program, believed that no country has the right to dictate how other nations pursue its nuclear policy, and he maintained that position even after the Islamist Revolution in 1979.

Fereydoun Abbasi, who led Iran’s atomic agency until he was killed in recent Israeli air strikes, also publicly stated that Iran needed to be able to quickly reach weapons-grade levels of enrichment if the government demands it.

Trump’s vain hope of a ‘better deal’

In 2003, IAEA inspectors and satellite surveillance indicated the possibility of Iran pursuing a secret military nuclear program.

Germany’s foreign minister at the time, Joschka Fischer, convinced his counterparts in the UK and France to start negotiations with Iran, aiming to impose stricter controls of the Iranian nuclear program with the help of the IAEA.

After 12 long years of talks, the US, China, Russia and the three European powers came to a comprehensive nuclear agreement with Iran knowns the JCPOA.

In 2018, however, US President Donald Trump took his country out of the agreement to get a “better deal.” Iran responded by gradually forgoing its commitments and began high-level uranium enrichment in 2019.

Today, Iran has about 400 kilograms (more than 880 pounds) of highly enriched uranium and many advanced centrifuges used to process the radioactive element.

Libya as a lesson to Iran

Despite the US claiming that Iran’s nuclear program has now been “obliterated,” many experts warn that Iran could rebuild its nuclear facilities.

The Iranians “retain a significant capability to restart their nuclear program and make a nuclear weapon if that’s what they want to do,” said Jeffrey Lewis, a non-proliferation expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California.

Lewis told DW that “there are many facilities that were not struck” in the bombing.

And Iran is very unlikely to compromise in the near future, said Iranian-born reporter Mehrdad Farahmand.

“Iran sees backing down in a wartime situation as weakness” and this perception is possibly the biggest obstacle to a revival of diplomacy, he said.

Looking ahead, Iran’s perspective is likely to be shaped by the examples of Libya and North Korea, according to Kelsey Davenport.

“It wouldn’t be surprising if the advisors around the supreme leader are arguing that Iran needs nuclear weapons to defend itself from further attack,” the non-proliferation expert told DW.

“Iran looks at the example of Libya, where Moammar Gadhafi gave up the country’s nuclear weapons program, returned to good standing in NPT, and then later was overthrown by Western-backed forces,” Davenport said.

In turn, North Korean abandoned the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003, developed its nuclear weapons, and the regime — now lead by Kim Jong Un — remains firmly in power.

This article has been translated from German