Share<\/a><\/p>\n The Trump<\/strong> plan calls for Israel<\/strong> to maintain an open-ended military presence inside Gaza<\/strong>, along its border with Israel. An international force, comprised largely of troops from Arab and Muslim countries<\/strong>, would be responsible for security inside Gaza. The US<\/strong> would lead a large internationally funded reconstruction effort, reports the Associated Press (AP).<\/p>\n The plan envisions an eventual role for the Palestinian Authority<\/strong> \u2013 something Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/strong> has long opposed. But it requires the authority, which administers parts of the West Bank<\/strong>, to undergo a sweeping reform programme that could take years.<\/p>\n According to the AP, the Trump<\/strong> plan is even more vague about a future Palestinian state<\/strong>, which Netanyahu firmly rejects.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Israel<\/strong> is expected to release about 2,000 Palestinian<\/strong> prisoners in exchange for the remaining hostages in Gaza<\/strong>.<\/p>\n A list Israel published on Friday did not include high-profile prisoner Marwan Barghouti<\/strong>, the most popular Palestinian leader and a potentially unifying figure, reports the Associated Press (AP). Israel views him and other high-profile prisoners as terrorists and has refused to release them in past exchanges. The hostage and prisoner releases are expected to begin on Monday, two Egyptian<\/strong> officials briefed on the talks and a Hamas official said, though another official said they could occur as early as Sunday night. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to be publicly named speaking about the negotiations, reports the AP.<\/p>\n A relative of one of the Israeli hostages believed to have died in captivity says the family hopes that his body will be returned for burial.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a measured sense of hope in all hostage families,\u2019\u2019 said Stephen Brisley,<\/strong> whose sister, Lianne Sharabi<\/strong>, and her two teenage daughters were killed in the 7 October 2023 attack. <\/p>\n Lianne\u2019s husband, Eli Sharabi<\/strong>, was eventually released, but his brother, Yossi<\/strong>, is believed to have died in an airstrike in January 2024. The family hopes to give him a dignified burial. \u201cWe hold our hope lightly because we\u2019ve had our hopes dashed before,\u201d Brisley told the AP from his home in south Wales<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Relatives and acquaintances hold pictures of missing persons or held hostage, Yossi Sharabi, Ofir Tamir, Noa Argamani, Avinathan Or and Itzik Elgarat during a press conference at the office of CIDI (Israel Information and Documentation Center) in The Hague, on 31 October 2023. Photograph: Phil Nijhuis\/ANP\/AFP\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.43 EDT<\/p>\n International journalists urge Israel to allow reporters into Gaza after ceasefire deal<\/p>\n Joseph Gedeon<\/p>\n International journalists in Israel<\/a><\/strong> have called for reporters to be granted immediate access to Gaza<\/strong> after the rapidly negotiated ceasefire came into effect, joining a long list of international media organisations demanding press freedom in the devastated territory.<\/p>\n In a statement released<\/a> on Friday, the Foreign Press Association (FPA)<\/strong> urged Israel to \u201cimmediately open the borders and allow international media free and independent access to the Gaza Strip\u201d now that hostilities have ceased. The organisation also noted that the supreme court is expected to hear arguments on 23 October, \u201cafter more than a year in which the state has been allowed to delay its response\u201d.<\/p>\n Since 7 October 2023, Israel has prevented international journalists from entering Gaza<\/a> and reporting on the war, with the few allowed in under strict military supervision on guided tours arranged by the Israel Defense Forces<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The international media has relied on Palestinian<\/strong> journalists and media workers in Gaza, and contact with individual Palestinian civilians, aid agency staff and medical workers. But Palestinian journalists and media workers are the most at risk in the world, with 197 killed by Israeli attacks in the past two years, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Among those most recently killed were Mariam Dagga<\/strong>, who worked for the Associated Press and Independent Arabia and was killed in an Israeli strike on <\/a>Nasser hospital<\/a><\/strong> in <\/a>Khan Younis<\/a><\/strong> on 25 August<\/a>, and Reuters journalist Hussam al-Masri<\/a><\/strong>, who was killed in the same attack.<\/p>\n Journalist Mariam Dagga, 33, who had been working with the Associated Press and other outlets during the Gaza war, poses for a portrait in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on 14 June 2024. Photograph: Jehad Alshrafi\/AP<\/p>\n Israel carried out 25 targeted killings of journalists in that period, the CPJ said, describing them as murders.<\/p>\n Israel has consistently denied that it deliberately targeted journalists in its strikes, but its military has also acknowledged killing reporters, including Al Jazeera\u2019s Anas al-Sharif<\/strong>, who the IDF described, without evidence as \u201cthe head of a terrorist cell\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> After more than 700 days in captivity<\/a>, the 20 hostages believed to be still alive in Gaza<\/strong> are set to be freed in the coming days, after the Israeli<\/strong> government\u2019s ratification of a ceasefire deal with Hamas<\/strong>.<\/p>\n They were among the 251 people kidnapped during the 7 October attacks<\/a> on southern Israel, in which Hamas<\/strong>-led militants killed about 1,200 people.<\/p>\n Hamas is expected to release the living hostages within 72 hours, after which Israel<\/a> will free 250 Palestinians<\/strong> serving long terms in Israeli prisons, and 1,700 others detained in Gaza during the war.<\/p>\n People hug next to a banner with photos of hostages in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, after Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas had agreed on the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire. Photograph: Ronen Zvulun\/Reuters<\/p>\n A further 26 hostages held are presumed dead and the fate of two is unknown. Hamas has indicated that recovering the bodies of the dead may take longer than releasing those who are alive.<\/p>\n Here are details of those who are expected to return home:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.02 EDT<\/p>\n Scaled-up Gaza aid shipments to begin on Sunday – report<\/p>\n The United Nations (UN)<\/strong> was given the green light by Israel<\/strong> to begin delivering scaled-up aid into Gaza<\/strong> starting on Sunday, a UN official said. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet made public, reports the Associated Press.<\/p>\n The aid shipments are meant to address severe malnutrition and famine conditions triggered by Israeli offensives and restrictions on humanitarian help. The international criminal court<\/strong> is seeking the arrest of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/strong> and his former defence minister for allegedly using starvation as a method of war. Israeli officials deny the accusations.<\/p>\n Accoding to the AP, the aid will include 170,000 metric tons that have already been positioned in neighboring countries such as Jordan<\/strong> and Egypt<\/strong> as humanitarian officials awaited permission from Israeli forces to restart their work.<\/p>\n UN officials and Israeli authorities have engaged in a series of discussions in Jerusalem<\/strong> over the last 24 hours about the volume of aid humanitarian organisations can bring in and through which entry points.<\/p>\n UN spokesperson St\u00e9phane Dujarric<\/strong> told reporters on Friday that fuel, medical supplies and other critical materials have started flowing through the Kerem Shalom crossing<\/strong>. UN officials want Israel<\/a> to open more border crossings and provide safe movement for aid workers and civilians who are returning to parts of Gaza that were under heavy fire until only recently.<\/p>\n Palestinians receive aid supplies after trucks sent by the United Nations reached warehouses in the north of Gaza City, in June. Photograph: Anadolu\/Getty Images<\/p>\n In the last several months, the UN and its partners have been able to deliver only 20% of the aid needed in the Gaza Strip<\/strong>, according to the UN\u2019s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, Tom Fletcher<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a004.51 EDT<\/p>\n The Israeli<\/strong> military confirmed the start of the Gaza<\/strong> ceasefire on Friday, and the remaining 48 hostages, about 20 of them believed to be alive, are to be released by Monday.<\/p>\n Palestinians<\/strong> said heavy shelling in parts of Gaza<\/strong> earlier on Friday had mostly stopped after the military\u2019s announcement, reports the Associated Press (AP).<\/p>\n Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/strong> said in a televised statement on Friday that the next stages would see Hamas<\/strong> disarm and Gaza demilitarised. Netanyahu said:<\/p>\n If this is achieved the easy way \u2013 so be it. If not \u2013 it will be achieved the hard way.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The Israeli military has said it will continue to operate defensively from the roughly 50% of Gaza<\/a> it still controls after pulling back to agreed-upon lines.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Seham Tantesh<\/p>\n As Abdel Fattah al-Kurdi<\/strong> made the long journey back to Gaza<\/a> City<\/strong>, he found himself getting lost. Though he left the city just a few weeks ago, he could no longer recognise its streets. The buildings he had grown up in between had collapsed, their contents carpeting the roads in a mixture of torn furniture and broken concrete.<\/p>\n Al-Kurdi could only recognise the Netzarim checkpoint<\/strong> marking his entry into north Gaza by the bodies lying at its feet \u2013 those who had tried to return home too early, their faces obscured by dust after being cut down by Israeli fire.<\/p>\n \u201cThe city looks completely different, as if it is no longer the Gaza<\/a> we once knew. In just a short time, massive destruction has spread everywhere. Almost all of the houses are destroyed, the streets blocked,\u201d said al-Kurdi, a 40-year-old resident of Gaza City, as he returned to his home in the Sheikh Radwan<\/strong> neighbourhood.<\/p>\n Palestinians, carrying their belongings, return to the north of Gaza\u2019s Sheikh Radwan as the ceasefire took effect in the Gaza Strip. Photograph: Anadolu\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Al-Kurdi was one of the thousands of people of Gaza<\/strong> who took advantage of the ceasefire announced on Friday<\/a> to travel back to their homes in northern Gaza. Videos showed a coastal highway clogged with crowds, many on foot, making their way northwards.<\/p>\n For the first time since a previous ceasefire had collapsed in mid-March, fighting had stopped in Gaza. Hamas<\/strong> and Israel<\/strong> had agreed to stop fighting to prepare for the release of 48 Israeli hostages held in Gaza and nearly 2,000 Palestinian<\/strong> prisoners in an agreement<\/a> that is meant to lead to a complete end to the two-year war.<\/p>\n Like most people of north Gaza, al-Kurdi was filled with anxiety as he walked north. In the days leading up to the ceasefire, Israel had been intensely bombing Gaza City as part of its campaign to occupy the city.<\/p>\n Al-Kurdi had no idea if his home was among the lucky few that was still standing.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Lebanon condemns overnight Israeli strikes that killed one<\/p>\n Lebanese<\/strong> president Joseph Aoun<\/strong> condemned Israel<\/strong> on Saturday for carrying out overnight strikes on civilian facilities that the health ministry said killed at least one person, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.<\/p>\n Aoun said:<\/p>\n Once again, southern Lebanon has been the target of a heinous Israeli aggression against civilian installations \u2013 without justification or pretext.<\/p>\n The seriousness of this latest attack lies in the fact that it comes after the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The Lebanese health ministry<\/strong> said an Israeli strike on the al-Msayleh<\/strong> area left one person dead and seven others injured.<\/p>\n Lebanon\u2019s official National News Agency said Israeli warplanes conducted 10 raids targeting bulldozer and excavator yards.<\/p>\n Firefighters douse the flames at the site of an overnight Israeli strike in the al-Msayleh area in southern Lebanon. Photograph: Mahmoud Zayyat\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n The Israeli army confirmed it conducted strikes in Lebanon. In a statement, it said it had \u201cstruck and dismantled Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in the area of southern Lebanon, where engineering machinery used to re-establish terrorist infrastructure in the area\u201d was located.<\/p>\n Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite a November ceasefire, which followed more than a year of hostilities with the Iran<\/strong>-backed militant group that culminated in two months of open war.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Trump says ‘for the most part, there is consensus’ on next stages of Gaza ceasefire plan<\/p>\n US<\/strong> president Donald Trump<\/strong> has said that \u201cfor the most part, there is consensus\u201d on how the next stages of how the Gaza ceasefire plan<\/strong> will work, but admitted that \u201csome of the details \u2026 will be worked out\u201d.<\/p>\n In comments made on Friday, and reported by various news outlets, Trump spoke about the remaining hostages in Gaza<\/strong>, adding that Hamas<\/strong> were gathering them \u201cnow\u201d. He said: \u201cthey\u2019re in some pretty rough places\u201d.<\/p>\n In comments made on Friday, Trump said \u201c\u2018for the most part, there is consensus\u2019 on next stages of Gaza ceasefire plan. Photograph: Shawn Thew\/EPA<\/p>\n The US president, who has been praised by Hamas and many in Israel<\/strong> for his role in securing a ceasefire deal, said he believes the agreement will \u201chold\u201d because \u201cthey\u2019re [Hamas and Israel] all tired of the fighting\u201d.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Trump plans to convene world leaders for a summit on Gaza during his visit to Egypt<\/strong> next week, Axios reported. Among those expected to participate are representatives from Germany<\/strong>, France<\/strong>, the United Kingdom<\/strong>, Italy<\/strong>, Qatar<\/strong>, the United Arab Emirates<\/strong>, Jordan<\/strong>, Turkey<\/strong>, Saudi Arabia<\/strong>, Pakistan<\/strong> and Indonesia<\/strong>. According to a US official, Benjamin Netanyahu<\/strong> will not be present.<\/p>\n Trump confirmed that he would meet a \u201clot of leaders\u201d in Cairo<\/strong> on Monday to discuss the future of Gaza and it has been reported that he will also travel to Israel<\/strong>, where he will adress the Knesset<\/strong>.<\/p>\n More on this story in a moment, but first here are some other key developments:<\/p>\n Tens of thousands of Palestinians headed back to the heavily destroyed northern Gaza Strip on Friday as a US-brokered ceasefire came into effect in a deal that raised hopes for ending the Israel-Hamas war.<\/strong> The remaining 48 hostages, about 20 of them believed to be alive, are to be released by Monday.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Questions remain over who will govern Gaza as Israeli troops gradually pull back and whether Hamas will disarm, as called for in Trump\u2019s ceasefire plan.<\/strong> Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who unilaterally ended a ceasefire in March, hinted that Israel might renew its offensive if Hamas does not give up its weapons.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The United Nations was given the green light by Israel to begin delivering scaled-up aid into Gaza starting on Sunday, a UN official said.<\/strong> The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet made public, reports the Associated Press. The aid will include 170,000 metric tons that have already been positioned in neighboring countries such as Jordan and Egypt as humanitarian officials awaited permission from Israeli forces to restart their work.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n UN spokesperson St\u00e9phane Dujarric told reporters ON Friday that fuel, medical supplies and other critical materials have started flowing through the Kerem Shalom crossing.<\/strong> UN officials want Israel to open more border crossings and provide safe movement for aid workers and civilians who are returning to parts of Gaza that were under heavy fire until only recently.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned Israel on Saturday for carrying out overnight strikes on civilian facilities that the health ministry said killed at least one person. <\/strong>\u201cOnce again, southern Lebanon has been the target of a heinous Israeli aggression against civilian installations \u2013 without justification or pretext,\u201d Aoun said.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Israel shared a list of the Palestinian detainees that it plans to release as part of the ceasefire agreement made with Hamas.<\/strong> Of the 250 Palestinian prisoners, 15 will be released in East Jerusalem, 100 to the West Bank, and 135 will be deported. Initially, when Hamas officials submitted a list of proposed prisoners to be released to mediators in Egypt, they called for the release of high-profile Palestinian political figures such as Marwan Barghouti. But Netanyahu\u2019s office confirmed<\/a> it refuses to release Barghouti.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Khalil al-Hayya<\/strong>, a senior Hamas<\/strong> official and lead negotiator, said on Thursday evening that all women and children held in Israeli jails will be freed.<\/p>\n![\"Ashifa](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760178734_166_Ashifa_Kassam.png\")
Ashifa Kassam<\/p>\n\n
\n
\n