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Violence has exploded in the Middle East since Oct. 7, 2023, when the Gaza-based militant group Hamas breached the southern Israeli border , leaving around 1,200 Israelis dead, and hundreds taken hostage. Israel responded with air strikes and a ground campaign in the Gaza Strip, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.

Hezbollah declared support for Hamas after the Oct. 7 attack, firing rockets into Israel and prompting both sides to evacuate vast areas around the Israeli-Lebanon border. In Sept. 2024, after thousands of pagers injured Hezbollah commanders, Israel launched a ground invasion into Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah's command structure.

Both militant groups receive funding, intelligence and armaments from Iran, which calls the relationship the Axis of Resistance.

Israel confirms four dead hostages who will be returned from Gaza include young family
This undated photo provided by Hostages Family Forum shows Shiri Bibas, who was abducted and brought to Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023. (Hostages Family Forum via AP)
Iranian authorities accuse detained British couple of spying, report says
Undated family handout photo of Craig, right, and Lindsay Foreman, two British nationals who have been detained in Iran. (British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Family Handout via AP)
Villagers in southern Lebanon prepare to return home as Israeli army withdraws
A destroyed mosque, caused by the Israeli air and ground offensive, is seen in the town of Khiam, southern Lebanon, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Hamas says hostage release will include bodies of Bibas family, six living Israelis
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - FEBRUARY 08: A woman holds a cage with teddy bears representing hostages in them near after the first images of the three hostages are seen in Gaza near a poster for the Bibas family still being held hostage in Hostage square on February 08, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel. On Friday, Hamas informed the Israeli government that it intended to release Or Levy, Eli Sharabi, and Ohad Ben Ami as part of the latest wave of returned hostages, who were taken on Oct. 7, 2023. (Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
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Latest on Iran

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Iranian authorities accuse detained British couple of spying, report says
Undated family handout photo of Craig, right, and Lindsay Foreman, two British nationals who have been detained in Iran. (British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Family Handout via AP)
Israel seen as likely to attack Iran by midyear
FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
Two more ministers, Virani and Ng, announce they will not run in next election
Cabinet ministers Arif Virani and Mary Ng say they will not be running for re-election, making them the latest in a string of senior Liberal MPs who will be sitting out the next race.
Iranians mark the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution
Iranian demonstrators burn a representation of the U.S. flag during a rally commemorating anniversary of 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the late pro-U.S. Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and brought Islamic clerics to power, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Latest on the Israel-Hamas War

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Israel confirms four dead hostages who will be returned from Gaza include young family
This undated photo provided by Hostages Family Forum shows Shiri Bibas, who was abducted and brought to Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023. (Hostages Family Forum via AP)
Villagers in southern Lebanon prepare to return home as Israeli army withdraws
A destroyed mosque, caused by the Israeli air and ground offensive, is seen in the town of Khiam, southern Lebanon, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Hamas says hostage release will include bodies of Bibas family, six living Israelis
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - FEBRUARY 08: A woman holds a cage with teddy bears representing hostages in them near after the first images of the three hostages are seen in Gaza near a poster for the Bibas family still being held hostage in Hostage square on February 08, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel. On Friday, Hamas informed the Israeli government that it intended to release Or Levy, Eli Sharabi, and Ohad Ben Ami as part of the latest wave of returned hostages, who were taken on Oct. 7, 2023. (Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
Israeli military says it killed a Hamas leader in southern Lebanon
A Lebanese soldier stands next the remains of a burned car that was hit by an Israeli drone strike, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025.(AP Photo)

More news and updates about the Middle East

world
Israel confirms four dead hostages who will be returned from Gaza include young family
This undated photo provided by Hostages Family Forum shows Shiri Bibas, who was abducted and brought to Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023. (Hostages Family Forum via AP)
world
Villagers in southern Lebanon prepare to return home as Israeli army withdraws
A destroyed mosque, caused by the Israeli air and ground offensive, is seen in the town of Khiam, southern Lebanon, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
world
Hamas says hostage release will include bodies of Bibas family, six living Israelis
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - FEBRUARY 08: A woman holds a cage with teddy bears representing hostages in them near after the first images of the three hostages are seen in Gaza near a poster for the Bibas family still being held hostage in Hostage square on February 08, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel. On Friday, Hamas informed the Israeli government that it intended to release Or Levy, Eli Sharabi, and Ohad Ben Ami as part of the latest wave of returned hostages, who were taken on Oct. 7, 2023. (Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
world
Freed Israeli hostages bring signs of life from depths of Gaza tunnels
People take part in a rally to mark the 500 days since October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel and took hostages, outside Kibbutz Be'eri, near the border between Israel and Gaza, February 17, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
world
Israeli military says it killed a Hamas leader in southern Lebanon
A Lebanese soldier stands next the remains of a burned car that was hit by an Israeli drone strike, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025.(AP Photo)
world
Israel’s Netanyahu signals he’s moving ahead with Trump’s idea to transfer Palestinians from Gaza
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a press conference in Jerusalem on Feb. 16.
world
Israel, Hamas complete hostage and prisoner exchange as ceasefire negotiation deadline approaches
Israeli hostages Iair Horn, 46, left, Sagui Dekel Chen, 36, center left, and Alexander Troufanov, 29, right, are escorted by Hamas and islamic Jihad fighters as they are handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
world
Hamas names three more Israeli hostages to be released on Saturday
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Itai Ron
world
Hamas says it will free three more hostages. That could resolve its ceasefire dispute with Israel
Palestinians walk past a pile of burning garbage, as there is no refuse collection in the city and people are disposing of their rubbish in the streets, in Gaza City, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
world
Israel calls up military reservists as fears for fragile Gaza ceasefire rise
FILE - Cars and pedestrians move along a road amid widespread destruction caused by the Israeli military's ground and air offensive against Hamas in Gaza City's Jabaliya refugee camp, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi, file)
world
The UN’s main agency in Gaza is getting crunched as the Hamas-Israel ceasefire comes under strain
Trucks of humanitarian aid bound for the Gaza Strip wait at the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, in Rafah, Egypt, 01 February 2025, after announcement of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
world
Israel’s Netanyahu threatens to resume fighting in Gaza if hostages aren’t released Saturday
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press at the US Capitol following his closed-door meeting with US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Republican from Louisiana, in Washington, DC, on February 7, 2025. (Photo by oliver contreras / AFP) (Photo by OLIVER CONTRERAS/AFP via Getty Images)
world
Hamas to delay further release of hostages, claims Israel violated ceasefire
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - FEBRUARY 08: Protestors chant and call for the ceasefire deal to continue while holding a banner that reads "relocation for the hostages" during an anti-government demonstration outside the Kirya on February 08, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Earlier today hostages Or Levy, Eli Sharabi, and Ohad Ben Ami were released, and appeared highly malnourished causing many to draw parallels to images from the Holocaust, which was a motif of tonight's protest. Protesters called on U.S. President Donald Trump to push Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who most no longer believe is doing what is best for the hostages, to continue the current Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement into its second phase. (Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
world
Israeli ceasefire talks delegation returns from Qatar, Netanyahu’s office says
FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to reporters next to the U.S. house speaker at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., February 7, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo
world
Thai nationals held captive by Hamas for 15 months return home
Thailand's Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa, left, talks to reporters in front of Thai hostage who was freed from Hamas(black shirt ) Bannawat Saethao, Watchara Sriaoun, Surasak Rumnao, Sathian Suwannakham, Surasak Rumnao arrival at Suvarnabhumi International Airport, in Samut Prakarn Province, Thailand, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
world
Pressure mounts on extending Gaza ceasefire as details on emaciated hostages emerge
Palestinians are seen near destroyed buildings by Israeli bombardments inside the northern Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
world
Hamas releases 3 more Israeli hostages for 183 Palestinian prisoners under Gaza ceasefire
Israeli captives, from left to right, Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy, who have been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, 2023, are escorted by Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammad Abu Samra)
world
Hamas names three hostages to be freed after accusing Israel of breaching ceasefire
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - FEBRUARY 4: Family members of hostages held in the Gaza Strip and supporters hold a smoke torch and photos of hostages during a march calling for the release of the remaining hostages on February 4, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Demonstrators from groups campaigning for the release of the remaining hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza are gathering to march to the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet with US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)
canada
Police investigating after windows smashed and ‘Free Palestine’ graffitied at McGill
Students walk past vandalism sprayed on the Roddick Gates of McGill University in Montreal on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. Police are investigating after they allege a group smashed windows and graffitied the message "free Palestine" at the entrance to McGill University. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi
world
In the West Bank, Trump’s words embolden far-right Israeli settlers to increase attacks on Palestinians
Nael Saedah at his farmhouse that was torched by settlers on January 19th, the night the ceasefire agreement came into force. His farmhouse is on the outskirts of Turmosayya. Photo taken on January 26, 2025.