A cease-fire in Gaza would likely calm tensions across the region and may persuade Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah to refrain from retaliatory strikes on Israel after the killing of a top Hezbollah commander in an Israeli airstrike and of Hamas’ top political leader in an explosion in Iran’s capital.

The mediators have spent months trying to hammer out a three-phase plan in which Hamas would release scores of hostages captured in the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war in exchange for a lasting cease-fire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Poll

What does Independence Day mean to you?

A day of pride and patriotism 36.58%

A reminder of the freedom struggle 34.14%

Just another holiday 29.28%

Submit

View All In Poll

11 kids with cancer evacuated for treatment

The World Health Organization says 11 children with cancer have been evacuated from the Gaza Strip for medical treatment. Nermine Abu Shaaban, the patient evacuation coordinator for the WHO, says the children were transferred through the Kerem Shalom crossing into Israel and were headed to neighboring Jordan for treatment. Seven of the children were transferred by ambulance and the remainder on a bus.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever