Pope Leo XIV spoke directly about Gaza in his first Sunday address since being elected on Thursday, marking his first public comments as pope about the 19-month-old war between Israel and Hamas there.

The U.S. confirms that Hamas plans to free Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage in Gaza, in hopes of advancing prospects for an enduring ceasefire.

New Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand accused Israel on Wednesday of using a lack of food as a political tool in its Gaza operation and urged further work on a ceasefire with Hamas, the militant group that controls the Palestinian enclave.

Israel has banned any food, shelter, medicine or other goods from entering the Palestinian territory for the past 10 weeks.

Since Israel’s blockade began on March 2, food sources have been drying up. Aid groups have stopped food distribution. Bakeries have closed. Charity kitchens handing out bowls of pasta or lentils remain the last lifeline for most of the population, but they are rapidly closing for lack of supplies, the U.N. says.

A U.S.-backed mechanism for getting aid into Gaza should take effect soon, Washington's envoy to Israel said on Friday.

A ceasefire deal between Yemen’s Houthi rebels and the U.S., mediated by Oman, has secured a tentative end to attacks on American ships in the Red Sea, but details are slim on the concessions made

A senior Hamas official tells Newsweek that the Palestinian militant group saw "positive" potential in signs of a growing rift between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after offering the U.S. leader a political win in the form of an American hostage release ahead of his Middle East trip.

Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of UNRWA, the UN agency, which supports Palestinian refugees, told Metro that hunger is being used as a weapon of war in the Palestinian territory.

JERUSALEM - Hamas on Monday released Israeli American Edan Alexander after more than 19 months in captivity in the Gaza Strip, the result of direct talks between U.S. and Hamas