Manchester synagogue terrorist was on bail for alleged rape
 
The Manchester synagogue terrorist was on police bail for an alleged rape when he carried out the attack, the Guardian can reveal.
 
Jihad al-Shamie, 35, was being investigated over the alleged sexual attack which is understood to have taken place earlier this year.
 
The Syrian-born attacker is also believed to have other criminal convictions, although he was not on the radar of counter-terrorism officers.
 
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Police are examining whether Shamie was responsible for a death threat sent to a former Conservative MP in 2012.
 
The email to John Howell came from someone calling themselves “Jihad Alshamie”, and said: “It is people like you who deserve to die.”
 
Howell, who stood down as MP for Henley in 2024, said he did not know if it was the same person and did not feel the police had taken the death threat seriously enough at the time.

Al Jazeera reports that Hamas has submitted its response to the US proposal for ending the Gaza war.
 
Hamas has yet to issue a public statement confirming the development.

Switzerland will file a diplomatic protest to Israel after Israeli security forces cut short a visit by Swiss diplomats to imprisoned detainees from the Gaza aid flotilla, the Swiss foreign ministry says.
 
“Due to various incidents, the Israeli security authorities interrupted the visit, preventing the Swiss embassy representatives from talking at length with the group of Swiss nationals,” the ministry says in a statement.

Press Statement Issued by Hamas as pertains the #GlobalSumudFlotilla:
 
We in the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) welcome Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s decision to expel the remainder of the Zionist diplomatic mission in his country and to cancel the Free Trade Agreement with the occupation, in response to the crime of intercepting the Sumud flotilla heading to the Gaza Strip to break the unjust siege imposed by the fascist occupation army.
 
We salute the positions of the Colombian government and President Gustavo Petro and their steps opposing the criminal Zionist policy and supporting the rights of our Palestinian people, especially in light of the brutal genocidal war, and we call on our Arab and Islamic countries and all countries of the world to take the necessary measures to punish and isolate the occupation, and to pressure for an end to its ongoing crimes against our people, our land, and our holy sites.

Hamas says ready to release all Israeli captives, discuss details of Trump plan
 
The Palestinian group says that, in order to end Israel’s war on Gaza and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the enclave, it is ready to release all Israeli captives – both those who are living and dead – according to the exchange plan outlined in Trump’s proposal.
 
“In this context, the movement affirms its readiness to immediately enter into negotiations through the mediators to discuss the details of this agreement,” Hamas said in a statement shared on Telegram.
 
It also said it agrees to hand over the administration of Gaza to an independent body of Palestinian technocrats, “based on Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support”.
 
“Other issues mentioned in President Trump’s proposal regarding the future of the Gaza Strip and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people are connected to a unified national position and relevant international laws and resolutions,” Hamas said.
 
They “will be addressed through a comprehensive Palestinian national framework, in which Hamas will participate and contribute responsibly”.

Hamas says ‘yes, but’ in response to Trump’s plan
 
The statement by Hamas mentions that there are questions with respect to some points.
 
They’ve accepted mainly the idea of exchange [of captives], and the idea of a Palestinian technocrat administration of Gaza.
 
However, they have questions on other points, mainly when it comes to the issues such as the international administration of Gaza.
 
Hamas’s statement says that the future of Gaza – the future of the whole struggle – will be left to Palestinian consensus. They want a broader Palestinian consensus to reach a final answer.
 
So, what’s clear is that Hamas said, “Yes – but …”
 
There are big gaps with respect to disarming Hamas, and there are also big gaps with respect to the international body that will govern Gaza, which President Trump has called the “peace council”.
 
Hamas has a lot of reservations on this, because it isolates Gaza from the core Palestinian cause, and this is probably something Hamas is taking into consideration.

Italy urged an international flotilla to hand over its aid supplies for Gaza on Wednesday and allow them to be distributed by the local Catholic Church, as a way to ward off further risks after the flotilla was attacked by drones overnight.
 
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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Rome's proposal was to hand over the aid in Cyprus to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which would then deliver it.
"It is a proposal that seems to have the support of the Cypriot government, the Israeli government and, of course, the Italian government. We are awaiting a response from the flotilla," Meloni told reporters in New York where she is attending the U.N. General Assembly.
 
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On Wednesday, the Israeli foreign ministry repeated an invitation for the flotilla to drop humanitarian aid in an Israeli port, leaving it to Israeli authorities to take it to Gaza, or else face consequences.

Senior Hamas official to Al Jazeera: Handing over hostages held in Gaza within 72 hours is 'unrealistic, theoretical'

Trump says he believes Hamas ‘ready for peace,’ demands Israel ‘immediately stop bombing of Gaza’
 
US President Donald Trump says that after reviewing Hamas’s response to his proposal for ending the Gaza war, he now believes that the terror group is “ready for lasting peace” and that therefore “Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza so that we can get the hostages out safely and quickly.”
 
“Right now, it’s far too dangerous to do that,” Trump writes in a shocking Truth Social post.
 
This is the first time since returning to office that Trump has called on Israel to halt its military offensive in Gaza.
 
“We are already in discussions on details to be worked out,” he adds.
 
“This is not about Gaza alone, this is about long sought PEACE in the Middle East,” Trump says, reiterating his belief that an end to the war in Gaza will pave way for the expansion of the Abraham Accords.

Netanyahu was surprised by Trump’s response.

In consultations held after Hamas’s reply and before Trump’s statement, Netanyahu stressed he viewed Hamas’s response as a rejection of Trump’s plan.

Source: Axios, citing an Israeli official

Expressing support for Trump, Hostages Forum says halt to Israeli strikes will prevent harm to captives

The Hostages Families Forum also releases a statement declaring it “stands firmly with President Trump in his commitment to bring home all the hostages and end the war.”
 
“President Trump’s demand to stop the war immediately is essential to prevent serious and irreversible harm to the hostages,” it says. “We call on Prime Minister Netanyahu to immediately begin efficient and swift negotiations to bring all our hostages home.”