Hamas returns bodies of two more captives, says Israel violating ceasefire
Hamas has turned over the remains of two more deceased Israeli captives from Gaza, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced, as the Palestinian group accused Israel of continuing to commit ceasefire violations and repudiating the commitments made to peace mediators. “Israel has received, via the Red Cross, the bodies of two hostages”, which were returned to Israeli security forces in Gaza, Netanyahu’s office said in a post on the X social media platform early on Sunday. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list The prime minister’s office said the families of the Israeli captives have been updated on the return of the remains, although no names have been released so far. The office said the two bodies have been transferred to the Israeli National Centre of Forensic Medicine, and “upon completion of the identification process, formal notification will be delivered to the families”. “The effort to return our hostages is ongoing and will not cease until the last hostage is returned,” the prime minister’s office added. With the handover late on Saturday, Hamas has now returned the remains of 12 of the 28 captives who died in Gaza, a key demand by Israel in the week-old ceasefire deal to end the two-year war. According to the deal, Hamas was to return all of the Israeli captives – both the living and the dead – within 72 hours of its signing. In exchange, Israel was to release 360 bodies of deceased Palestinians and some 2,000 prisoners. Hamas has said the widespread devastation in the Palestinian territory and the Israeli military’s continuing control of certain parts of Gaza have slowed the recovery of the bodies of deceased captives. Advertisement Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said Palestinian authorities do not have adequate equipment to help with the search for captives’ bodies beneath the rubble of destroyed buildings. “It’s very difficult, with recovery teams on the ground facing extraordinary challenges. [They have] no bulldozers, no trucks, no cranes and no heavy equipment… to speed up the process and help with the recovery and return of bodies,” Mahmoud said. Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut, who is reporting from Amman, Jordan, because Al Jazeera is banned from Israel and the occupied West Bank, said that Netanyahu’s government has known “for some time” that the recovery of bodies of captives would be “an incredibly difficult and daunting task”. Netanyahu, however, has accused Hamas of not doing enough to return the remains of the 28 and that all of the bodies need to be returned immediately, Salhut said. “Until that happens, that’s when Israel is going to honour more of the commitments of the ceasefire, like letting in more humanitarian assistance, talking about opening the Rafah border crossing,” she said. Hospital workers transport the remains of a Palestinian prisoner released by Israel under a Gaza ceasefire and captives exchange deal to the morgue of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Saturday [Omar al-Qattaa/AFP] For days, Hamas and Israel have traded blame over violations of the US-mediated ceasefire. On Saturday, Hamas accused the Netanyahu government of “fabricating flimsy pretexts” to not follow through on its commitments to the peace deal, as well as denouncing Israel’s refusal to open the Rafah crossing with Egypt as “a blatant violation” of the agreement. On Friday, Israeli forces killed 11 members of a single family, including seven children, in an attack east of Gaza City. The Palestinian Embassy in Egypt announced earlier on Saturday that the Rafah crossing, the main gateway for people in Gaza to leave and enter the enclave, would reopen on Monday. But Netanyahu said the border crossing would remain closed until Hamas hands over the bodies of all the deceased Israeli captives. The delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza also remains slow despite the ceasefire deal. On Saturday, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said it had enough humanitarian food supplies to feed Gaza for three months, but trucks carrying the life-saving cargo are unable to enter Gaza and are stuck in warehouses in Jordan and Egypt. “We must be allowed to get all this aid into Gaza without delay,” UNRWA said, adding that it also has equipment to provide shelter to as many as 1.3 million people. Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,333
Here are the key events from day 1,333 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Published On 19 Oct 202519 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Here is how things stand on Sunday, October 19, 2025: Fighting Russia’s Ministry of Defence claimed that its forces captured the village of Pleshchiivka in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine. There was no immediate reaction from Ukraine on the latest claim of territorial gain by Moscow. The Russian Defence Ministry had earlier announced the capture of one village in the Dnipropetrovsk region and two in the northeastern Kharkiv region, closer to the Russian border. Two internally-displaced people were killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian-occupied part of the Kherson region in southern Ukraine, the Russian-installed regional governor, Vladimir Saldo, said on the Telegram messaging platform. Three people were killed and five others injured following an explosion at an industrial plant related to weapons production in the southwest Russian city of Sterlitamak, Radiy Khabirov, the governor of Bashkortostan, said in a statement on Telegram. The chief of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, announced on X that repairs have begun on damaged power lines at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Authorities had warned that a four-week outage of power at the plant was endangering the safety of the Russian-controlled facility, which needs power to ensure that reactors are kept cool to avoid a dangerous meltdown. Politics and diplomacy Austria’s Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs announced that it is supporting the European Union’s decision to impose new sanctions against Russia, which require a unanimous vote and have been stymied due to Vienna’s earlier opposition to the plan. Ukrainians said they were disappointed that the United States may not provide Kyiv with long-range Tomahawk missiles, the Associated Press news agency reported, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, on Friday. Advertisement Regional security Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on Saturday urged Trump to step up efforts to support democracy in her country, arguing that a free Belarus was in Washington’s interests. Adblock test (Why?)
Afghanistan, Pakistan agree to immediate ceasefire after talks in Doha
South Asian neighbours also agreed to hold follow-up meetings in coming days to ensure peace deal’s implementation. Published On 19 Oct 202519 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire after talks mediated by Qatar and Turkiye following a week of fierce and deadly clashes along their disputed border. Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said early on Sunday that Afghanistan and Pakistan had agreed to the ceasefire “and the establishment of mechanisms to consolidate lasting peace and stability between the two countries”. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Doha said the two countries also agreed to hold follow-up meetings in the coming days “to ensure the sustainability of the ceasefire and verify its implementation in a reliable and sustainable manner”. Earlier, both sides said they were holding peace talks in Doha on Saturday as they sought a way forward, after clashes killed dozens and wounded hundreds in the worst violence between the two South Asian neighbours since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021. Statement | Pakistan and Afghanistan Agree to an Immediate Ceasefire During a Round of Negotiations in Doha#MOFAQatar pic.twitter.com/fPXvn6GaU6 — Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) October 18, 2025 “As promised, negotiations with the Pakistani side will take place today in Doha,” Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid had said, adding that Kabul’s negotiating team, led by Defence Minister Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob, had arrived in the Qatari capital. Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said earlier that the country’s defence minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, had led discussions with representatives of Afghanistan’s Taliban leadership. Advertisement “The talks will focus on immediate measures to end cross-border terrorism against Pakistan emanating from Afghanistan and restore peace and stability along the Pak-Afghan border,” the Foreign Office said. Cross-border fighting between the one-time allies and Pakistani air strikes along their contested 2,600km (1,600-mile) frontier were triggered after Islamabad demanded that Kabul rein in rebels who had stepped up cross-border attacks in Pakistan, saying the fighters were operating from safe havens in Afghanistan. The Taliban has denied giving haven to armed groups to attack Pakistan, and accuses the Pakistani military of spreading misinformation about Afghanistan and sheltering ISIL (ISIS)-linked fighters who have undermined the country’s stability and sovereignty. Islamabad has denied Kabul’s accusations. Pakistan has accused Kabul of allowing armed groups to reside inside Afghanistan and wage war for years against the Pakistani state in a bid to overthrow the government and replace it with their strict brand of Islamic governance system. On Friday, a suicide attack near the border killed seven Pakistani soldiers and wounded 13, security officials said. “The Afghan regime must rein in the proxies who have sanctuaries in Afghanistan and are using Afghan soil to perpetrate heinous attacks inside Pakistan,” Pakistani Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir said on Saturday, addressing a graduation ceremony of cadets. Adblock test (Why?)
LIVE: Fulham vs Arsenal – Premier League
blinking-dotLive MatchLive Match, Follow our live build-up with team news ahead of our comprehensive text commentary stream at the Premier League match. Published On 18 Oct 202518 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
Gaza ceasefire: Peace deal or political theatre?
The spectacle of the Gaza deal and double standards in the coverage of the captives’ release in Israel and Gaza. As Donald Trump tries to take credit for a ceasefire in Gaza, Israel continues to kill Palestinians. And as both Israeli and Palestinian captives are released, the glaring double standards in coverage lay bare how this genocide was allowed to go on for so long. Contributors: Tahani Mustafa – Visiting Fellow, European Council on Foreign RelationsMouin Rabbani – Co-editor, JadaliyyaKenneth Roth – Former Executive Director, Human Rights WatchOren Ziv – Journalist, +972 Magazine On our radar This year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, Maria Corina Machado, chose to dedicate her award to Donald Trump. Meenakshi Ravi reports on what motivated the Venezuelan opposition leader to pander to the United States president. All the president’s women: the rise of the ‘womanosphere’ For years, the right-wing media space has been dominated by men. But the 2024 election shone a light on a rising parallel force within Donald Trump’s MAGA movement: the so-called “womanosphere”. Across YouTube channels, social media and podcasts, conservative women are rebranding right-wing politics for a female audience. Featuring: Annie Kelly – UK Correspondent, QAA PodcastNicole Kiprilov – Republican Party strategistEviane Leidig – Author, The Women of the Far Right Published On 18 Oct 202518 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
In the occupied West Bank, the war continues
It has been a week since the ceasefire was announced in Gaza. When we heard the news in the occupied West Bank, we celebrated. We felt relief and hope that the genocide is finally over. But we also realised that there is no ceasefire for us. The daily violence we have been subjected to for decades is showing no signs of abating. Since October 7, 2023, the brutality of our occupier has only intensified. Today, life in the West Bank has become almost impossible. Violence, dispossession and paralysis After the ceasefire deal was announced, a friend’s little daughter cheered; she then asked to go with her grandparents to pick olives. He told her that it would be difficult to do, to which she responded, “Why? Isn’t the war over?” How do you explain to a child that the war ending in Gaza does not mean Palestinian families in the West Bank still can access their land to harvest olives? People still cannot reach their groves because of barriers set up by the Israeli military or they fear attacks by Israeli soldiers and settlers, or both. There are daily violent assaults on Palestinian farmers and their land. Since October 7, 2023, there have been 7,154 attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestian people and property – some of them deadly. Almost 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army and settler mobs, including 212 children; more than 10,000 Palestinians have been displaced. Settlers and soldiers have destroyed 37,237 olive trees since October 7, 2023. Even life in urban areas has become unbearable. Advertisement As a resident of Rawabi, a city north of Ramallah, I, too, feel the suffocation of the occupation every day. If I need to travel outside my city to run errands, shop, obtain official paperwork, or anything else, I could get stuck at a checkpoint for hours and never make it to my destination. There are four iron gates, a military tower, and a barrier between Rawabi and Ramallah; they can make the 10-minute trip between Rawabi and Ramallah last an eternity. Throughout the West Bank, there are 916 Israeli barriers, barriers and iron gates, 243 of which were constructed after October 7, 2023. These open and close at the Israeli army’s whim, meaning a Palestinian can get stuck at one barrier for hours. This disrupts every aspect of life – from family visits to urgent medical care to school attendance and transportation of goods. We have also been denied access to Jerusalem and thus our freedom of worship at Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Few Palestinians are given the special permits needed to enter the city. We last had access to Jerusalem more than 20 years ago. This means an entire generation of young people know nothing about the city except from the pictures and stories told by their parents and grandparents. Even at night, the Palestinians are not left alone by the occupation. Any Palestinian home may be subject to a raid by the Israeli army, with soldiers breaking the front door, terrorising the family inside and detaining without charge some of its members. Neighbours would, too, be terrorised with Israeli soldiers firing tear gas canisters for no reason, just to cause more suffering. The right to a normal life—to worship, to spend quality time with friends and family, to move freely, to access regular medical care and education —are all denied to the Palestinians in the West Bank. The spectre of annexation Over the decades since the occupation of 1967, Israel has managed to control almost half of the land of the West Bank. It has done so by constructing settlements and confiscating land from its Palestinian owners by declaring it either “state land” or “military zone”. The theft of Palestinian land accelerated after October 7; at least 12,300 acres (4,9787 hectares) were seized in two years. In many cases, confiscated land is used to establish new settlement outposts or to expand existing settlements. Settlement construction in the West Bank is not random. Rather, land is selected in a way that encircles Palestinian villages and towns, creating a settlement belt around them that prevents any form of geographical continuity between Palestinian territories, thus thwarting the dream of a future state. Advertisement To maintain these illegal settlements, Israel has also laid its hands on the West Bank’s natural resources. It has seized almost all water resources. This has ensured a massive water reservoir in the West Bank to serve the settlement expansion. For the Palestinians, this has been disastrous. They are now almost completely dependent on Israeli water company “Mekorot”, which gives very small quotas of water to densely populated Palestinian areas, while settlers receive several times the Palestinian share per capita. Every summer, when drought settles in, Palestinians are forced to buy extra water at exorbitant prices from Mekorot. Meanwhile, Palestinian wells and rain water tanks are often attacked and destroyed. Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli government has accelerated its efforts to carry out annexation. We feel that the seizure of Area C – an area established by the Oslo Accords where Israel has full civilian and security control – is imminent. This would mean razing Palestinian villages and communities and expelling people towards Area A, which constitutes just 18 percent of the West Bank. Area B will follow. The process of forced expulsion has already started with Bedouin communities in the two areas. This is our reality here in the West Bank. While peace conferences and meetings were held and peace in the Middle East is declared, we know nothing of it. Every day, every hour, every minute, we are harassed, intimidated, dispossessed and killed. For decades, Israel has rejected political solutions and pursued a policy of controlling land, people, and resources. It has continued to wage war on us even when its bombardment has stopped. The only way to achieve true peace is to acknowledge the occupation and end it. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance. Adblock test (Why?)
Lebanon court orders son of late Libyan leader Gaddafi freed on $11m bail
Hannibal Gaddafi, youngest son of Muammar Gaddafi, has been held for nearly a decade without trial in Lebanon. Published On 18 Oct 202518 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share A judge in Lebanon has ordered the release on bail and imposed a travel ban on Hannibal Gaddafi, the youngest son of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who has been held for nearly a decade in pre-trial detention. Lebanon’s National News Agency confirmed Gaddafi’s bail ruling on Friday in a case related to the kidnapping and disappearance of revered Lebanese Shia leader Musa al-Sadr in Libya. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The court’s decision was greeted with ridicule by Gaddafi’s lawyer Laurent Bayon. The “release on bail is totally unacceptable in a case of arbitrary detention. We will challenge the bail,” Bayon told the AFP news agency. Bayon also said his client “is under international sanctions” and could not pay the large bail fee. “Where do you want him to find $11m?” Bayon asked. Lebanese authorities arrested Gaddafi in 2015 and accused him of withholding information about the disappearance of al-Sadr in Libya in 1978 – a case which still grips public attention in Lebanon. Al-Sadr was an iconic figure in Lebanon when he travelled to meet with then-Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Founder of the Amal Movement, which is now an ally of Hezbollah, al-Sadr went missing on the visit along with an aide and a journalist, and none have been heard from since. Al-Sadr’s disappearance has sparked decades of theories and accusations of official involvement by Gaddafi – who was overthrown and killed in a 2011 uprising – and ties between the two countries have been strained since the disappearance. Lebanon’s parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, who succeeded al-Sadr at the head of the Amal Movement, has accused Libya’s new authorities of not cooperating on the issue of al-Sadr’s disappearance, an accusation Libya denies. In what many see as a means of extracting answers as to al-Sadr’s fate in Libya, Hannibal Gaddafi has been held in prison in Lebanon since 2015 without trial. Advertisement His lawyer, Bayon, has noted that his client is now 49, meaning that he was around two years old at the time that al-Sadr disappeared. After the judge’s decision on Friday, the al-Sadr family published a statement protesting the proposed release of Gaddafi and expressing their “surprise” at the bail ruling. The family also said they would “not interfere today in [the judge’s] decision to release him”. “The arrest or release of Hannibal Gaddafi is not our goal, but rather a mere legal procedure. Our primary issue is the disappearance of the imam [al-Sadr],” the family added. In August, Human Rights Watch urged Lebanon to immediately release Gaddafi, saying he had been wrongly imprisoned on “apparently unsubstantiated allegations that he was withholding information” about al-Sadr. Last week, an alarm was raised about the health of Gaddafi – who already suffers from depression – after he was hospitalised for abdominal pain. Libyan authorities in 2023 formally asked Lebanon to release Gaddafi because of his deteriorating health after he went on a hunger strike to protest his detention without trial. Libyan Prosecutor General Al-Sediq al-Sour sent the request to his Lebanese counterpart, Ghassan Oueidat, according to reports, and al-Sour reportedly said in his request that Lebanon’s cooperation in freeing Gaddafi could help reveal the truth regarding al-Sadr. Adblock test (Why?)
India: How is the ethnic conflict in Manipur affecting ordinary citizens?
101 East travels to northeast India, where a brutal civil war has killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands. For more than two years, India’s northeastern state of Manipur has been beset by violence between two ethnic groups, the Meitei and the Kuki-Zo. With nearly 260 people killed and about 60,000 displaced, the Indian government has taken control of the state in a bid to restore order. In what has been described as a civil war, both sides accuse the other of committing atrocities. New Delhi has pledged to disarm the warring factions and restore peace to the region. 101 East examines how the ethnic conflict in Manipur is affecting the lives of common citizens on both sides of the divide. Published On 18 Oct 202518 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
Kremlin envoy proposes ‘Putin-Trump tunnel’ to link Russia, US
Siberia-Alaska link could ‘unlock’ resources and be built with Elon Musk’s The Boring Company, says Kirill Dmitriev. A Kremlin envoy has proposed building an undersea tunnel linking the United States and Russia, suggesting it could be built with the help of US billionaire Elon Musk’s The Boring Company. Kremlin investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev said that the 112-kilometre (70-mile) “railroad and cargo link” between Siberia and Alaska would “unlock joint resource exploration” between the two countries. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list US President Donald Trump, who has promised to “drill, baby drill” during his second term, told reporters on Friday that he thought the proposal was “interesting” during a White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. During their meeting, Trump turned to Zelenskyy, asking for his thoughts on the tunnel. The Ukrainian leader responded that he was “not happy with this idea”. Dmitriev, who is also the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, has also suggested that the US could join Russia and China in joint “hydrocarbon projects in the Arctic”, referring to expanded drilling for oil. “Certainly, Russia is eyeing the opportunity of joint Russia-China-US projects, including in the Arctic region, specifically in the energy sector,” Dmitriev said last month, according to Russia’s TASS news agency. Russia and other Arctic countries are reportedly planning to expand mining operations in the region as climate change sees polar ice receding. Dmitriev also proposed that Musk’s The Boring Company could become involved in the project, tagging Musk in a post on X, a social media platform owned by the South Africa-born billionaire. Advertisement “Let’s build a future together,” Dmitriev wrote to Musk on X, in a post also touting the project as “symbolising unity”. “Imagine connecting the US and Russia, the Americas and the Afro-Eurasia with the Putin-Trump Tunnel,” Dmitriev wrote. Musk had not publicly responded to Dmitriev’s post as of Friday evening, US time. Dmitriev’s posts promoting the tunnel project came as Trump and Putin held a two-hour call on Thursday night in advance of a planned meeting in Hungary’s capital, Budapest, which Trump says will take place within two weeks. The Kremlin has also confirmed the meeting. The Bering Strait, 82km (51 miles) wide at its narrowest point, separates Russia’s vast and sparsely populated Chukotka region from Alaska. Proposals to link them have been around for at least 150 years. The small Diomede Islands, one Russian and one belonging to the US, sit in the middle of the strait, only 4km (2.4 miles) apart. Dmitriev said a plan for a “Kennedy-Khrushchev World Peace Bridge” over the strait had been floated during the Cold War. He posted a sketch from that era of the route it might have taken, with a graphic showing the route the new tunnel could take. “The time has come to do more and connect the continents for the first time in human history,” Dmitriev said. From the Soviet JFK docs released by @RepLuna: Kennedy–Khrushchev World Peace Bridge “could and should be built between Alaska and Russia at once.” With modern @boringcompany technology this can become a Putin-Trump tunnel connecting the Eurasia and Americas for < $8 billion pic.twitter.com/c84VK75rh5 — Kirill Dmitriev (@kadmitriev) October 16, 2025 Adblock test (Why?)
Maria Corina Machado: Venezuela’s Nobel Peace laureate in hiding
Venezuela’s opposition leader on life in hiding, and her movement’s fight for transition and change. Maria Corina Machado, Venezuela’s opposition leader and now Nobel Peace Prize laureate, speaks from hiding about the cost of resistance and the hope driving millions demanding democracy. Barred from elections and under threat of arrest, she discusses the country’s deepening crisis, where nearly eight million Venezuelans have fled, and the challenge of confronting a system that has survived sanctions, protests, and global isolation. In this in-depth interview, Machado reflects on her fight for democracy. Published On 17 Oct 202517 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)