Donald Trump has not been shy about his desire for an end to the war in Gaza.

After the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran concluded with a ceasefire, the US president has been pushing hard for a truce between Israel and Hamas, saying he was “looking for it to happen next week,” when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to visit the White House.

Trump announced Tuesday that Israel had “agreed to the necessary conditions” to finalize a 60-day ceasefire. Netanyahu will convene his full cabinet on Saturday night to discuss it. Hamas, meanwhile, said it was considering the latest proposal, without indicating whether it would accept it.

The two sides have long had conflicting demands that negotiators have been unable to bridge, but there are renewed hopes of a deal as the war enters its 21st month. Here’s what to know.

Why now?

Netanyahu’s government has faced mounting international criticism for the suffering its war is inflicting on Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel imposed a total blockade on humanitarian deliveries to the enclave in March. It somewhat eased the blockade in May, after a chorus of global experts warned that hundreds of thousands of people could soon starve.

Hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by Israeli strikes in recent days. And aid distribution has been marred by violence, with hundreds killed on their way to try to obtain food from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the controversial US-backed aid initiative.

Pressure is also growing on Netanyahu from within Israel. Opposition leader Yair Lapid said Wednesday that he would join the coalition government to make a hostage deal possible.

Trump predicted Tuesday that Netanyahu wanted to end the war. “He wants to. I can tell you he wants to. I think we’ll have a deal next week,” Trump told reporters.

What’s in the proposed deal?

The precise details of the new proposal for a 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal remain murky.

The Qatari prime minister previously said Qatar and Egypt had been working to find a “middle ground” to move forward from the US-conceived truce proposed months ago. That proposal outlined a 60-day ceasefire during which Hamas would release 10 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of a further 18 hostages taken by Hamas during its attacks on October 7, 2023.

Of the 50 hostages still in Gaza, at least 20 of them are believed to be alive, according to the Israeli government.

As part of the latest proposal, Israel has also agreed to allow a surge of humanitarian aid through traditional UN-run humanitarian channels rather than through the controversial US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the Israeli official said.

What are Israel’s demands?

In addition to the aim of bringing the hostages home, Netanyahu has not wavered from his more maximalist aims: disarmament of Gaza and the destruction of Hamas’ military capabilities and governance abilities.

“I’m telling you — there will be no Hamas. No ‘Hamastan.’ We are not going back to that. It’s over,” Netanyahu said Wednesday. “We will bring back all our hostages.”

But over the weekend, the prime minister made a rhetorical shift in laying out Israel’s goals – for the first time prioritizing the return of hostages ahead of what he once called the “supreme objective” of defeating Hamas.

Netanyahu said “many opportunities have opened up” following Israel’s military operations in Iran, including the possibility of bringing home everyone still held captive by Hamas. “Firstly, to rescue the hostages,” he said. “Of course, we will also need to solve the Gaza issue, defeat Hamas, but I believe we will accomplish both missions.”

It comes as the Israeli military this week recommended pursuing a diplomatic path in Gaza after nearly two years of fighting and the elimination of much of Hamas’ senior leadership.

What about Hamas?

Hamas has three main demands: a permanent end to the fighting, for humanitarian assistance to be carried out by the United Nations, and for Israel to retreat to the positions it held on March 2 this year, before it renewed its offensive and occupied the northern part of the Strip.

In response to the earlier Trump administration-backed ceasefire proposal in May, Hamas requested US assurances that permanent ceasefire negotiations will continue and that fighting will not resume after the 60-day pause.

Whether the ceasefire will be temporary or a pathway to a permanent truce is the biggest sticking point between the warring parties.

Hamas has also shown no willingness to relinquish its political and military power in Gaza.

When were the previous ceasefires?

In the 21 months of war between Israel and Hamas, ceasefires have been in place for a total of only nine weeks.

More than 57,000 people, of which more than 17,000 are children, have been killed in Gaza during the fighting, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

The first ceasefire came into effect in November 2023, but lasted only a week. In that time, 105 hostages were released from Gaza, in exchange for scores of Palestinian prisoners.

A second ceasefire was not struck until January 2025, shortly before Trump’s return to the White House. In just over 8 weeks – the first “phase” of the ceasefire – Hamas freed 33 hostages, with Israel releasing around 50 Palestinian prisoners for every Israeli freed.

Under the planned second stage, Israel was supposed to agree to a permanent ceasefire. But Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, shattering the ceasefire and derailing the talks, saying it did so to put pressure on Hamas to release the remaining hostages.

A teenage pilot, who is attempting to fly all seven continents solo, hit a patch of rough air this weekend when Chilean authorities detained him for changing his flight plan without their permission and landing in Antarctica.

Chilean prosecutors say American influencer Ethan Guo, 19, broke “multiple national and international regulations” by changing his flight plans without prior notice, landing on a part of Antarctica where the South American country maintains a territorial claim.

Guo, whose website states he is trying to raise $1 million for cancer research by becoming “the first person ever to fly to all seven continents solo,” has broadcast his continent-hopping journey since last September to more than a million Instagram followers.

His last post, on June 23, documents a flight over the Philippines.

Chilean authorities say that on Saturday, Guo submitted a false flight plan and took off from Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Airport in the southern Chilean city of Punta Arenas as the sole passenger and crew member aboard a Cessna 182Q aircraft, registered as N182WT. At one point during that flight, authorities say he turned off course toward Antarctica.

“The accused provided false information to the aeronautical authority. He submitted a flight plan indicating that he was going to fly over the city of Punta Arenas,” said Cristian Crisosto Rifo, the Regional Prosecutor of Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica.

“However, he continued toward Antarctica without informing anyone and without any authorization, landing at the airfield of Lieutenant Rodolfo Marsh Base in Chilean Antarctic territory. With this behavior, the accused seriously endangered the safety of air traffic to Antarctica and the Magallanes region,” the prosecutor added.

Cristoso explained that as soon as Guo landed in Antarctica, he was detained and formally charged. “The accused not only violated the Aeronautical Code but also multiple national and international regulations regarding routes to Antarctica and access to the white continent,” emphasized Crisosto.

On Sunday, his lawyer told reporters at a press conference after Guo was charged that the young pilot experienced “complications” while flying. “While already in the air, he began to experience a series of complications,” Karina Ulloa said, adding that Guo claims “that he was conducting an exploratory flight to see if he could follow this route or not.”

The Magallanes and Chilean Antarctic Prosecutor’s Office determined on Sunday that the teen must remain in the Chilean sector of the frozen continent until authorities give him permission to return to the city of Punta Arenas.

The Chilean court decreed a 90-day investigation period for this case, during which time Guo must remain in Chile.

UK lawmakers voted Wednesday to ban Palestine Action, a UK-based group that aims to disrupt the operations of weapons manufacturers supplying the Israeli government.

Members of Parliament voted 382 to 26 in favor of the measure against the group after two Palestine Action activists broke into Britain’s largest air base in central England, damaging two military aircraft.

The draft proscription order will reach the House of Lords on Thursday. If approved by the upper house, the ban would go into effect in the following days.

A full ban would mean that it would be illegal under UK law to be a member of – or invite support for – Palestine Action. It would put the group on par with terrorist organizations such as Hamas, al Qaeda and ISIS – sparking condemnation from United Nations experts, human rights groups, and politicians.

British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper confirmed the government’s intention to proscribe the group on June 23, after two Palestine Action activists sprayed red paint into the turbine engines of two Airbus Voyagers.

Video from the scene showed activists spraying red paint into the turbine engines of two Airbus Voyagers, which the group said were targeted for their alleged role in carrying military cargo and for their use in refueling Israeli, American and British military aircraft.

Palestine Action announced on Monday that it had started legal proceedings against the government’s decision. The group’s co-founder Huda Ammori said the clampdown mirrored “many authoritarian regimes around the world who have used counter-terrorism to crush dissent.”

If the ban goes into effect, it would likely be the first time in UK history that a direct action protest group has been proscribed under anti-terror legislation, according to several human rights advocates.

Those who defy the ban could face up to 14 years in prison, according to UK counter-terrorism police and the government. Even wearing items of clothing which “arouse reasonable suspicion” that an individual is a member or supporter of the group could result in six months in prison or a fine, police say.

‘Grave misuse of anti-terrorism powers’

Human rights organisations have vehemently criticised the government’s move, saying it is the latest in a series of draconian measures taken by the state to clamp down on legitimate protest in the country.

Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK chief executive, said on June 23 that proscribing Palestine Action could risk an “unlawful interference” with the fundamental rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.

She wrote to parliamentarians on Tuesday to warn that outlawing the group would be a “grave misuse of anti-terrorism powers.”

“Proscribing Palestine Action will mean that by the weekend, millions of people living in the UK will have limitations on their freedom of speech,” she said.

Experts from the United Nations also added to the growing chorus of criticism on Tuesday, saying they were worried about the “unjustified labelling of a political protest movement as ‘terrorist’.”

Others have previously shared messages of solidarity with the group: “We are all Palestine Action,” Labour MP Zarah Sultana posted June 24 on X. Former Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the government’s proscription plan was “not what the counter terrorism laws were introduced for.”

Palestine Action called the government’s reaction to its air base action “unhinged.”

“The real crime here is not red paint being sprayed on these war planes, but the war crimes that have been enabled with those planes because of the UK Government’s complicity in Israel’s genocide,” the group said in a statement on June 24.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Rescuers were searching Thursday for 38 people missing in rough seas overnight after a ferry sank near Indonesia’s resort island of Bali.

Another four people died and 23 have been rescued, according to the Surabaya Search and Rescue Agency.

The KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya sank almost half an hour after leaving East Java’s Ketapang port late Wednesday, the National Search and Rescue Agency said in a statement. It was bound for Bali’s Gilimanuk port, a 50-kilometer (30-mile) trip.

The ferry carried 53 passengers, 12 crew members and 22 vehicles, including 14 trucks, it said.

Many of those rescued were initially unconscious after drifting in choppy waters for hours, said Banyuwangi police chief Rama Samtama Putra.

Nine boats, including two tug boats and two inflatable boats, have been searching for the missing people, battling waves up to 2 meters (6.5 feet) high in the overnight darkness.

Ferry tragedies are common in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, where ferries are often used as transport and safety regulations can lapse.

Bangladesh’s ousted and self-exiled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to six months in prison by the country’s International Crimes Tribunal on Wednesday in a contempt of court case, a top prosecutor said.

Hasina has been facing multiple cases since she fled to India after deadly student-led protests in August, but it was the first time the former leader was sentenced in one of them.

Shakil Akand Bulbul, a leader of the Awami League party’s banned student wing Chhatra League, was also sentenced to two months in prison in the same case, Chief Prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam told reporters. The party had been led by Hasina for years.

A three-member ICT tribunal, led by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder, delivered the verdict in their absence, noting that the sentences will take effect upon arrest or surrender, the prosecutor added.

The contempt charges stem from a leaked phone recording where Hasina was allegedly heard saying, “there are 227 cases against me, so I now have a licence to kill 227 people.”

A forensic report by a government investigative agency later confirmed the audio’s authenticity.

The ICT was originally set up in 2010 by Hasina’s own government to try 1971 war crimes.

Bangladesh’s interim administration, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, pledged to hold leaders, including Hasina, accountable for rights abuses and corruption, including the crackdown on the student-led uprising last July that toppled Hasina’s regime.

The tribunal has so far issued three arrest warrants for Hasina, including charges of crimes against humanity linked to the July violence. Hasina’s Awami League party remains banned while trials continue against the party and its former leaders.

Supporters of Hasina dismiss the charges as politically motivated, but the interim government insists the trials are crucial for restoring accountability and rebuilding trust in Bangladesh’s democratic institutions.