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Tag: israel-hamas war

  • Palestinian death toll has surpassed 70,000 since the Israel-Hamas war began, Gaza ministry says

    The Palestinian death toll has surpassed 70,000 since the Israel-Hamas war began, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Saturday, while a hospital said that Israeli fire killed two Palestinian children in the territory’s south.The toll has continued to rise after the latest ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10. Israel still carries out strikes in response to what it has called violations of the truce, and bodies from earlier in the war are being recovered from the rubble.The Health Ministry says the Palestinian toll is now 70,100. The ministry operates under the Hamas-run government. It is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.The war began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and militants taking more than 250 hostages. Almost all of the hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals.Staff at Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies of the children in southern Gaza, said the brothers, ages 8 and 11, died when an Israeli drone struck close to a school sheltering displaced people in the town of Beni Suhaila.Israel’s military said it killed two people who crossed into an Israeli-controlled area, “conducted suspicious activities” and approached troops. The statement didn’t mention children. The military said it also killed another person in a separate but similar incident in the south.At least 352 Palestinians have been killed across the territory since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect on Oct. 10, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.Israel says its strikes are aimed at militants violating the truce. Both Israel and Hamas have accused the other of violating the deal. Hamas again urged mediators on Saturday to pressure Israel to stop what it called ceasefire violations in Gaza.A U.S. blueprint outlining the future of Gaza, which has been devastated by more than two years of war, is still in the early stages. The plan to secure and govern the territory authorizes an international stabilization force to provide security, approves a transitional authority to be overseen by U.S. President Donald Trump and envisions a possible future path to an independent Palestinian state.Israeli forces have pushed forward on a number of other fronts in the region in recent weeks.Syrian officials said that Israeli forces raided a Syrian village on Friday and opened fire when they were confronted by residents, killing at least 13 people. Israel said it conducted the operation to apprehend suspects of a militant group planning attacks in Israel, and that the militants opened fire at troops, wounding six.Israel also has escalated strikes in Lebanon, saying it’s targeting Hezbollah sites and asserting that the militant group is attempting to rearm.Hezbollah called on Pope Leo XIV to “reject injustice and aggression,” in reference to the near-daily Israeli strikes, despite a ceasefire that ended the 14-month war between the two sides a year ago. The pope is visiting the region on his first foreign trip.In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers were accused by Palestinians of executing two men on Thursday after footage aired by two Arab television stations showed troops shooting the men after they appeared to surrender. The Israeli military said that it was investigating.Israeli settler violence has continued to rise in the West Bank. On Saturday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said that 10 Palestinians were injured by beatings and live ammunition during settler attacks in Khallet al-Louza village close to Bethlehem.

    DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip —

    The Palestinian death toll has surpassed 70,000 since the Israel-Hamas war began, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Saturday, while a hospital said that Israeli fire killed two Palestinian children in the territory’s south.

    The toll has continued to rise after the latest ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10. Israel still carries out strikes in response to what it has called violations of the truce, and bodies from earlier in the war are being recovered from the rubble.

    The Health Ministry says the Palestinian toll is now 70,100. The ministry operates under the Hamas-run government. It is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.

    The war began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and militants taking more than 250 hostages. Almost all of the hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals.

    Staff at Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies of the children in southern Gaza, said the brothers, ages 8 and 11, died when an Israeli drone struck close to a school sheltering displaced people in the town of Beni Suhaila.

    Israel’s military said it killed two people who crossed into an Israeli-controlled area, “conducted suspicious activities” and approached troops. The statement didn’t mention children. The military said it also killed another person in a separate but similar incident in the south.

    At least 352 Palestinians have been killed across the territory since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect on Oct. 10, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.

    Israel says its strikes are aimed at militants violating the truce. Both Israel and Hamas have accused the other of violating the deal. Hamas again urged mediators on Saturday to pressure Israel to stop what it called ceasefire violations in Gaza.

    A U.S. blueprint outlining the future of Gaza, which has been devastated by more than two years of war, is still in the early stages. The plan to secure and govern the territory authorizes an international stabilization force to provide security, approves a transitional authority to be overseen by U.S. President Donald Trump and envisions a possible future path to an independent Palestinian state.

    Israeli forces have pushed forward on a number of other fronts in the region in recent weeks.

    Syrian officials said that Israeli forces raided a Syrian village on Friday and opened fire when they were confronted by residents, killing at least 13 people. Israel said it conducted the operation to apprehend suspects of a militant group planning attacks in Israel, and that the militants opened fire at troops, wounding six.

    Israel also has escalated strikes in Lebanon, saying it’s targeting Hezbollah sites and asserting that the militant group is attempting to rearm.

    Hezbollah called on Pope Leo XIV to “reject injustice and aggression,” in reference to the near-daily Israeli strikes, despite a ceasefire that ended the 14-month war between the two sides a year ago. The pope is visiting the region on his first foreign trip.

    In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers were accused by Palestinians of executing two men on Thursday after footage aired by two Arab television stations showed troops shooting the men after they appeared to surrender. The Israeli military said that it was investigating.

    Israeli settler violence has continued to rise in the West Bank. On Saturday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said that 10 Palestinians were injured by beatings and live ammunition during settler attacks in Khallet al-Louza village close to Bethlehem.

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  • Former AP photographer’s vintage images of Ireland capture a world before it disappeared

    BERLIN (AP) — Rare photographs of Ireland from 1963 show a world about to disappear, a country before it took its first steps toward modernity.

    Black and white images captured by a young German photographer, Diether Endlicher — who later spent four decades covering the Olympics and major global events for The Associated Press — are being shown at the Irish embassy in Berlin, where Endlicher, now 85, was honored last weekend for his role in documenting moments of Irish life from another era.

    The photos feature boatmen, fishermen, workmen, herders taking their animals to markets, women transporting milk by donkey cart, a funeral, devout worshippers praying to relics in stone-walled fields, ruined abbeys, dramatic landscapes, children looking at TVs through a shop window, an evocation of a time before modern conveniences arrived to convert all.

    The pictures lay unseen and forgotten in Endlicher’s attic until recently, when he rediscovered them after deciding to go through his archive. He scanned the now 62-year-old negatives and contacted the embassy to see if there was any interest. There was.

    Maeve Collins, the Irish ambassador to Germany, praised the photographs’ “beautiful detail” and historical importance.

    “They bring a vivid expression to the lived experience of people on the west coast of Ireland in the early 1960s,” she said.

    Photos are record of a road trip

    Endlicher was 22 when he traveled with a friend from Germany to the west coast of Ireland in a tiny Fiat 500, a two-door bubble car known as the “Bambino” that was not designed for road trips. He carried a Leica M2 and three lenses to places where few had seen cameras before.

    Once they got to Ireland’s west coast, they found a man transporting turf to Inishmaan, one of the Aran Islands in Galway Bay, in a large sailing vessel with no motor. They decided to go with him and Endlicher took photos as they went.

    “I thought we’d never arrive there because the wind was not so strong. The boat traveled very slow,” Endlicher told the AP. “It was an interesting trip there and then when we landed on Inishmaan, that was a different world.”

    He saw fishermen at work, and peasants threshing barley by beating stalks on stones. Their clothes were home-spun from tweed. Electricity hadn’t reached the island. Turf from the mainland was used for heating and cooking.

    Many of the locals made clear they didn’t want their photos taken. The Aran Islands are still part of the Gaeltacht, the Irish-speaking area, and on Inishmaan at the time, most did not speak any English.

    “Inishmaan was a different world, even from the mainland,” Endlicher said. “Europe was very different then and so the difference between Ireland and Europe, mainland European countries was not so big. The agriculture was about the same. Farmers worked with horses. The only thing that was different in Ireland was donkeys. There were many donkeys at the time.”

    Return to work for the AP

    Endlicher returned to Ireland in 1984 to cover U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s visit for the AP. He worked for the news agency from 1965 to 2007.

    “I covered 29 Olympics altogether, Winter and Summer Olympics. I covered many Winter Olympics. As a Bavarian, I almost grew up on skis,” said Endlicher, who would ski the slopes before big races to find the best positions for photos.

    Endlicher was at the 1972 Olympics in Munich where 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were killed after being targeted by the Palestinian group Black September.

    He traveled to Israel for news assignments in the 1980s and 90s and did several stints in Gaza, where he saw the first intifada, a Palestinian uprising against Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

    He remembers Israeli soldiers forcing him to hand over his film after he took photos of them beating a child who had been running with a Palestinian flag in Khan Younis, in Gaza.

    “I had no chance, I had to give them the film,” he said.

    Endlicher covered the changes unleashed by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the breakup of the Soviet Union, as well as uprisings in Georgia and Armenia.

    “I remember in Moscow, there was this uprising when the communists tried to occupy the parliament, that was after (former Russian President Boris) Yeltsin, there were a lot of shootings in Moscow,” he said. “I was undercover, under a truck, and next to me was a TV cameraman in a telephone cell, and they shot at the telephone cell and he was wounded.”

    Endlicher was also embedded with American troops during the Gulf War in 1991, and had been in Prague, Czechoslovakia for the Soviet invasion in 1968, when he relied on a taxi driver driving to and from Vienna, Austria to get his films out to be processed and transmitted.

    “He must have had some deal with the border police or the Russian army,” he said.

    Job presents dangers

    Reflecting on the dangers he faced over a 42-year career with the AP — Endlicher also previously worked for German news agency DPA – he said he believes there is a necessity to take pictures, to bear witness.

    “It’s necessary that some people are willing to take the risk. Like Anja Niedringhaus, she paid with her life,” he said of his former AP colleague who was killed in Afghanistan in 2014. “The thing is you have to be independent, I think. If you’re married and have kids, it’s a different story. If you are single and have no obligations … It’s also difficult to keep up friendships. I had also a time when the job was the most important thing to me. And I neglected some of my family life. It’s a conflict.”

    Endlicher’s son, Matthias, accompanied him to the embassy’s tribute on Saturday, and they were joined by his wife, Andrea, at the ambassador’s residence for dinner that evening.

    “I’m very happy that they saw the value of these pictures,” he said.

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  • Letters: Walnut Creek bike path plan doesn’t enhance safety

    Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.

    Bike-path gambit
    doesn’t enhance safety

    Re: “Safety debate at crossroads” (Page A1, Oct. 30).

    In a recent meeting held behind closed doors, Contra Costa County and the city of Walnut Creek agreed to use over $6 million in funds from programs designed to promote highway safety and improvements to carve out a three-block-long bicycle path on Treat Boulevard.

    The affected area runs from North Main St. to Jones Road, a stretch that currently handles over 40,000 vehicles a day. The proposed path duplicates the existing Canal Trail, which is dedicated to bikers and pedestrians, is located two blocks south of Treat Boulevard and connects directly to the Iron Horse Trail for access to the Pleasant Hill BART station.

    The city acknowledged both the high risk to bikers using the proposed paths and the negative impacts on traffic in this highly congested area. So, why is this project going forward?

    Larry McEwen
    Walnut Creek

    Opposing investment
    policy is out of step

    Re: “Ethical investment policy approved” (Page B1, Oct. 10).

    The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) came out in opposition to an Alameda County Ethical Investment Policy at the Oct. 3 Board of Supervisors meeting. The supervisors passed the policy but delayed implementation.

    The majority of Jews present at that meeting were mobilized by Jewish Voice for Peace and supported the policy.

    A September Washington Post poll found that the majority of U.S. Jews do not support current Israeli policies. The JCRC’s position of opposing a pro-human rights policy is not a mainstream position, and it is not aligned with Jewish values.

    The JCRC accused Israel’s critics of antisemitism and expressed concern about Jewish safety. Associating Jews with the acts of a murderous regime makes Jews less safe. Jews are safer in a world that works for all, including Palestinians.

    We urge the supervisors to implement the Ethical Investment Policy as soon as possible.

    Cynthia Kaufman
    Oakland

    California must go its
    own way on health care

    Re: “Policyholders brace for price increases” (Page A1, Nov. 22).

    The recent story harkens back to a pre-ACA time when people went without insurance because of the high costs of insurance premiums. What we need for California is a Cal-Care for all solution. However, this year, a Cal-Care bill was sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom, and he vetoed it. The main reason is that the federal government is not willing to give money that is due to us, which messes with the state budget.

    Staying in the United States is not beneficial to California. In 2022, we gave $83 billion to the federal government, which ends up getting redistributed to other states. The California National Party is the only party that recognizes this and has universal health care (Cal-Care, or Medi-Cal for all) as part of its platform.

    Maya Ram
    Union City

    Constitution will halt
    third term for Trump

    Re: “Don’t think Trump won’t try for third term” (Page A6, Nov. 18).

    A letter writer opined that President Trump could seek a third term as president by being vice president on a ticket headed by JD Vance, and, after Vance won the presidency, Vance could, by prearrangement, resign, and Trump would become president.

    However, the 12th Amendment of the Constitution stipulates that one who is constitutionally ineligible to be president is also ineligible to be vice president, which would presumably prevent Trump from becoming president under this subterfuge.

    Trump could argue that the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution prohibits him only from being “elected” — but not actually serving — as president for a third term. But the Supreme Court would likely reject this subterfuge on grounds that it conflicts with the plain intent of the 22nd amendment to prevent a person from serving a third term as president through the electoral process, as Franklin Roosevelt did in the 1930s.

    Roderick Walston
    Orinda

    Don’t cancel comic;
    just move it

    Re: “Don’t cancel comic for having an opinion” (Page A8, Nov. 23).

    I am one of the people who have written to request that “Mallard Fillmore” be moved to the Opinion Page, since it is clearly political in nature. I’m not asking that it be censored or removed from the paper, just that it be recognized as political opinion.

    In the past few days, “Mallard Fillmore” has implied that the media only looks for bad things about Donald Trump and twists the truth, that liberals are stealing our tax dollars to support their own political party, and only care about disease in an election year, and the media is hypocritically misleading us about the destruction of the White House East Wing. Meanwhile, “Pickles” taught Nelson to say I love you to his grandma, and “Luann” adopted a puppy. Which of these is not like the other?

    Incidentally, “Doonesbury” is offering more-than-20-year-old strips. That’s not a fair balance.

    Sampson Van Zandt
    Walnut Creek

    Letters To The Editor

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  • Israel launches strikes in Gaza ceasefire’s latest test

    DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israel’s military on Saturday launched airstrikes against Hamas militants in Gaza in the latest test of the ceasefire that began on Oct. 10. Health officials in Gaza reported at least 24 people killed and another 54 wounded, including children.

    What You Need To Know

    • Israel’s military says it has launched new airstrikes against Hamas militants in Gaza, testing the ceasefire that began on October 10

    • Health officials in Gaza report at least 24 people killed and at least 54 wounded, including children

    • Strikes have occurred during the ceasefire after reported attacks against Israeli forces

    • Israel says it launched the latest attacks after an “armed terrorist” crossed into an Israeli-held area and shot at troops in southern Gaza

    The Israeli strikes came as international momentum was building on Gaza, with the U.N. Security Council on Monday approving the U.S. blueprint to secure and govern the territory. It authorizes an international stabilization force to provide security, approves a transitional authority to be overseen by President Donald Trump and envisions a possible future path to an independent Palestinian state.

    Israel has previously carried out similar waves of strikes after reported attacks on its forces. At least 33 Palestinians were killed over a 12-hour period Wednesday and Thursday, mostly women and children, health officials said.

    One of Saturday’s strikes targeted a vehicle, killing 11 and wounding over 20 Palestinians in Gaza City’s Rimal neighborhood, said Rami Mhanna, managing director of Shifa Hospital, where the casualties were taken. The majority of the wounded were children, director Mohamed Abu Selmiya said. Associated Press video showed children and others inspecting the blackened vehicle, whose top was blown off.

    Another strike targeting a house near Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza killed at least three people and wounded 11 others, according to the hospital. It said a strike on a house in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza killed at least seven people including a child and wounded 16 others.

    And a strike targeting a house in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza killed three people, including a woman, according to Al-Aqsa Hospital.

    “Suddenly, I heard a powerful explosion. I looked outside and saw smoke covering the entire area. I couldn’t see a thing. I covered my ears and started shouting to the others in the tent to run,” said Khalil Abu Hatab in Deir al-Balah. “When I looked again, I realized the upper floor of my neighbor’s house was gone.”

    He added: “It’s a fragile ceasefire. This is not a life we can live. There’s no safe place.”

    Israel’s military in a statement said it launched attacks against Hamas after an “armed terrorist” crossed into an Israeli-held area and shot at troops in southern Gaza. It said no soldiers were hurt. The military said the person had used a road on which humanitarian aid enters the territory, and called it an “extreme violation” of the ceasefire.

    In separate statements, the military said soldiers killed five “terrorists” in the Rafah area, and two others after firing at four people who crossed into Israeli-held areas in northern Gaza and advanced toward soldiers in two separate incidents.

    The war began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed some 1,200 people and took over 250 hostage. Almost all of the hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals.

    Gaza’s Health Ministry says 69,733 Palestinians have been killed and 170,863 injured in Israel’s retaliatory offensive. The toll has gone up during the ceasefire both from new Israeli strikes and from the recovery and identification of bodies of people killed earlier in the war.

    The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures but has said women and children make up a majority of those killed. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by independent experts.

    Associated Press

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  • Eurovision plans changes to voting, security after allegations of Israeli government ‘interference’

    GENEVA (AP) — Organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest announced plans to change the voting system of the popular musical extravaganza to ensure fairness, a move that follows allegations of “interference” by Israel’s government.

    The European Broadcasting Union, a Geneva-based union of public broadcasters that runs the event, said Friday that the changes were “designed to strengthen trust, transparency and audience engagement.”

    Israel has competed in Eurovision for more than 50 years and won four times. But calls for Israel to be kicked out swelled over the conduct of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza.

    The allegations of Israeli government interference have added a new twist to the debate.

    In September, Dutch public broadcaster AVROTROS — citing human suffering in the Gaza war — said that it could no longer justify Israel’s participation in the contest. Several other countries took a similar stance.

    The Dutch broadcaster went on to say there had been “proven interference by the Israeli government during the last edition of the Song Contest, with the event being used as a political instrument.” The statement didn’t elaborate.

    That same month, the CEO of Israeli public broadcaster Kan, Golan Yochpaz, said that there was “no reason why we should not continue to be a significant part of this cultural event, which must not become political.”

    Kan also said then that it was “convinced” that the EBU “will continue to maintain the apolitical, professional and cultural character of the competition, especially on the eve of the 70th anniversary of Eurovision” next year.

    As part of the new Eurovision measures, in next year’s contest — scheduled to take place in May in Vienna — the number of votes per payment method will be reduced by half to 10, the EBU said.

    In addition, “professional juries” will return to the semifinals for the first time since 2022 — a move that will give roughly 50-50 percentage weight between audience and jury votes, it said.

    Organizers will also enhance safeguards to thwart “suspicious or coordinated voting activity” and strengthen security systems that “monitor, detect and prevent fraudulent patterns,” EBU said.

    Contest director Martin Green said that the neutrality and integrity of the competition is of “paramount importance” to the EBU, its members, and audiences, adding that the event “should remain a neutral space and must not be instrumentalized.”

    The EBU’s general assembly on Dec. 4-5 is poised to consider whether Israel can participate next year. A vote on that participation will only take place if member broadcasters decide the new steps are “not sufficient,” Green said.

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  • Eurovision plans voting, security changes after allegations of Israel ‘interference’

    GENEVA — Organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest announced plans to change the voting system of the popular musical extravaganza to ensure fairness, a move that follows allegations of “interference” by Israel’s government.

    The European Broadcasting Union, a Geneva-based union of public broadcasters that runs the event, said Friday that the changes were “designed to strengthen trust, transparency and audience engagement.”

    Israel has competed in Eurovision for more than 50 years and won four times. But calls for Israel to be kicked out swelled over the conduct of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza.

    The allegations of Israeli government interference have added a new twist to the debate.

    In September, Dutch public broadcaster AVROTROS — citing human suffering in the Gaza war — said that it could no longer justify Israel’s participation in the contest. Several other countries took a similar stance.

    The Dutch broadcaster went on to say there had been “proven interference by the Israeli government during the last edition of the Song Contest, with the event being used as a political instrument.” The statement didn’t elaborate.

    That same month, the CEO of Israeli public broadcaster Kan, Golan Yochpaz, said that there was “no reason why we should not continue to be a significant part of this cultural event, which must not become political.”

    Kan also said then that it was “convinced” that the EBU “will continue to maintain the apolitical, professional and cultural character of the competition, especially on the eve of the 70th anniversary of Eurovision” next year.

    As part of the new Eurovision measures, in next year’s contest — scheduled to take place in May in Vienna — the number of votes per payment method will be reduced by half to 10, the EBU said.

    In addition, “professional juries” will return to the semifinals for the first time since 2022 — a move that will give roughly 50-50 percentage weight between audience and jury votes, it said.

    Organizers will also enhance safeguards to thwart “suspicious or coordinated voting activity” and strengthen security systems that “monitor, detect and prevent fraudulent patterns,” EBU said.

    Contest director Martin Green said that the neutrality and integrity of the competition is of “paramount importance” to the EBU, its members, and audiences, adding that the event “should remain a neutral space and must not be instrumentalized.”

    The EBU’s general assembly on Dec. 4-5 is poised to consider whether Israel can participate next year. A vote on that participation will only take place if member broadcasters decide the new steps are “not sufficient,” Green said.

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  • Dubai Air Show opens as local airlines likely seek more jets, defense remains a worry

    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The biennial Dubai Air Show opened Monday as hometown airlines Emirates and FlyDubai likely look to increase their fleets off record earnings and unending demand for flights through this East-West travel hub.

    The air show will also see renewed interest in flying taxis, something the sheikhdom long has promised and now hopes to deliver on next year. Military sales as well remain a focus, with Russia again taking part despite facing Western sanctions over its grinding, yearslong war on Ukraine. Meanwhile, Israeli firms won’t be attending over lingering anger from the devastating Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

    Emirates, the state-owned flagship airline of Dubai, earned annual profits of $5.2 billion in the last fiscal year and passenger numbers remain record-breaking at Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel. The airline made a $52 billion purchase of Boeing Co. aircraft at the 2023 edition of the air show, which takes place at Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central.

    FlyDubai, the lower-cost sister to Emirates, also has seen record-breaking earnings, and likely wants to expand its fleet of single-aisle aircraft. The airline currently flies 95 Boeing 737 variants, with Airbus wanting to break into the carrier’s fleet. FlyDubai ordered $11 billion worth of 30 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners at the last air show, which when delivered will be the airline’s first wide-body aircraft.

    Al Maktoum airport itself is on the agenda for Dubai’s government. It plans a $35 billion project to expand to five parallel runways and 400 aircraft gates, to be completed within the next decade. The airport now has just two runways, like Dubai International Airport. Those additional slots coming online will help Emirates and FlyDubai grow their network, and require more aircraft to fly those routes.

    Meanwhile, Rosoboronexport, Russia’s main arms exporter, plans to display its aircraft and weapons systems at a massive pavilion at the air show. The UAE has maintained economic ties and flights to Moscow despite the war on Ukraine.

    Rosoboronexport said in a statement it planned to showcase a full-scale Pantzir-SMD-E surface-to-air missile system as well. Air defense systems have taken on a new importance in the Mideast after Qatar came under attack by both Israel and Iran this year. Iran also saw its systems devastated by Israel in a 12-day war between the countries in June.

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  • Gal Gadot win’s Israel’s Genesis Prize for her wartime support

    Israeli actor Gal Gadot has been awarded Israel’s Genesis Prize in recognition of her strong support for the country at a time when many in the entertainment industry have criticized it over the war in Gaza.

    Describing herself as a “proud Jew and a proud Israeli,” the “Wonder Woman” star, who at times has paid a personal price for her advocacy, said she would donate the $1 million prize to organizations committed to helping Israel recover from the trauma of its two-year war against Hamas.

    “Israel has endured unimaginable pain,” she said in a statement released by the prize on Tuesday. “Now we must begin to heal — to rebuild hearts, families and communities.”

    The Genesis Prize, nicknamed “the Jewish Nobel” by Time magazine, is granted each year to a person for their professional achievements, contributions to humanity and commitment to Jewish values. Winners have donated the award to promote causes close to their hearts, such as battling antisemitism, advancing women’s rights or fighting for economic justice.

    The war in Gaza erupted with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, in which militants killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel and took over 250 others hostage.

    While Israel received some international sympathy in the early days of the war, global opinion quickly turned against it as its retaliatory offensive intensified. Health officials in Gaza say over 69,000 Palestinians have been killed, and the territory has suffered widespread destruction. Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire last month.

    The negative sentiment toward Israel has reverberated in Hollywood, where hundreds of industry workers, including some leading directors and actors, recently pledged to boycott the Israeli film industry.

    Throughout the war, Gadot, who served in the Israeli military after high school, remained a fervent advocate for Israel. She campaigned for the release of hostages held by Hamas, met with hostage families and released hostages and helped promote the screening in Los Angeles of a graphic film documenting the Hamas attack.

    At times, she has faced pressure and criticism for this support.

    Gadot, who played the wicked stepmother in “Snow White,” has said she believes anti-Israel sentiment was a factor in the poor performance of the film early this year. When she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last March, supporters of Israel and of Palestinians clashed nearby. And in August, hundreds of people from the film industry signed a letter calling on the Venice Film Festival to withdraw an invitation to Gadot. The festival’s director rejected the call, though Gadot did not attend.

    Stan Polovets, the co-founder and chair of the Genesis Prize Foundation, praised Gadot’s “moral clarity and unwavering love for Israel,” saying it had come at great personal and professional risk.

    A date for the awards ceremony next year was not immediately announced. The most recent winner, Argentine President Javier Milei, came to Jerusalem in June to receive the 2025 award.

    Previous winners include former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg; actor Michael Douglas; violinist Itzhak Perlman; sculptor Anish Kapoor; filmmaker Steven Spielberg; New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft,; former Soviet political prisoner Natan Sharansky; Pfizer chair and chief executive Albert Bourla and entertainer Barbra Streisand.

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  • Zohran Mamdani and London’s Muslim mayor, Sadiq Khan, have much in common, but also key differences

    LONDON (AP) — He’s the left-leaning Muslim mayor of the country’s biggest city, and U.S. President Donald Trump is one of his biggest critics.

    London’s Sadiq Khan has a lot in common with New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani — but also many differences.

    Khan, who has been mayor of Britain’s capital since 2016, welcomed Mamdani’s victory, saying New Yorkers had “chosen hope over fear, unity over division.”

    Khan’s experience holds positive and negative lessons for Mamdani, the 34-year-old Democrat who beat former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa in Tuesday’s election.

    Khan has won three consecutive elections but routinely receives abuse for his faith and race, as well as criticism from conservative and far-right commentators who depict London as a crime-plagued dystopia.

    Trump has been among his harshest critics for years, calling Khan a “stone cold loser,” a “nasty person” and a “terrible mayor,” and claiming the mayor wants to bring Sharia, or Islamic law, to London.

    Khan, a keen amateur boxer, has hit back, saying in September that Trump is “racist, he is sexist, he is misogynistic and he is Islamophobic.”

    Khan told The Associated Press during a global mayors’ summit in Brazil on Wednesday that it’s “heartbreaking” but not surprising to see Mamdani receiving the same sort of abuse he gets.

    “London is liberal, progressive, multicultural, but also successful — as indeed is New York,” he said. “If you’re a nativist, populist politician, we are the antithesis of all you stand for. ”

    Attacked for their religion

    Mamdani and Khan regularly receive abuse and threats because of their Muslim faith, and London’s mayor has significantly tighter security protection than his predecessors.

    Both have tried to build bridges with the Jewish community after being criticized by opponents for their pro-Palestinian stances during the Israel-Hamas war.

    Both say their political opponents have leaned into Islamophobia. In 2016, Khan’s Conservative opponent, Zac Goldsmith, was accused of anti-Muslim prejudice for suggesting that Khan had links to Islamic extremists.

    Cuomo laughed along with a radio host who suggested Mamdani would “be cheering” another 9/11 attack. Mamdani’s Republican critics frequently, falsely call him a “jihadist” and a Hamas supporter.

    Mamdani vowed during the campaign that he would “not change who I am, how I eat, or the faith that I’m proud to call my own.”

    Khan has said he feels a responsibility to dispel myths about Muslims, and answers questions about his faith with weary good grace. He calls himself “a proud Brit, a proud Englishman, a proud Londoner and a proud Muslim.”

    Very different politicians

    Mamdani is an outsider on the left of his party, a democratic socialist whose buzzy, digital-savvy campaign energized young New Yorkers and drove the city’s biggest election turnout in a mayoral election in decades.

    Khan, 55, is a more of an establishment politician who sits in the broad middle of the center-left Labour Party.

    The son of a bus driver and a seamstress from Pakistan, Khan grew up with seven siblings in a three-bedroom public housing apartment in south London.

    He studied law, became a human rights attorney and spent a decade as a Labour Party lawmaker in the House of Commons, representing the area where he grew up, before being elected in 2016 as the first Muslim leader of a major Western capital city.

    Mamdani comes from a more privileged background as the son of an India-born Ugandan anthropologist, Mahmood Mamdani, and award-winning Indian filmmaker Mira Nair. Born in Uganda and raised from the age of 7 in New York, he worked as an adviser for tenants facing eviction before being elected to the New York State Assembly in 2020.

    Similar big-city problems

    Khan and Mamdani govern huge cities with vastly diverse populations of more than 8 million. Voters in both places have similar worries about crime and the high cost of living – big issues that many mayors struggle to address.

    Khan was won three straight elections, but he’s not an overwhelmingly popular mayor. As Mamdani may also find, the mayor gets blamed for a lot of problems, from high rents to violent crime, regardless of whether they are in his control, though Mamdani made freezing rents a pillar of his campaign.

    Mamdani campaigned on ambitious promises, including free child care, free buses, new affordable housing and city-run grocery stores.

    “Winning an election is one thing, delivering on promises is another,” said Darren Reid, an expert on U.S. politics at Coventry University. “The mayor of New York definitely does not have unlimited power, and he is going to have a very powerful enemy in the current president.”

    The mayor of London controls public transit and the police, but doesn’t have the authority of New York’s leader because power is shared with the city’s 32 boroughs, which are responsible for schools, social services and public housing in their areas.

    Khan can point to relatively modest achievements, including free school meals for all primary school pupils and a freeze on transit fares. But he has failed to meet other goals, such as ambitious house-building targets.

    Tony Travers, a professor at the London School of Economics who specializes in local government, said one lesson Mamdani might take from Khan is to pick “a limited number of fights that you can win.”

    Khan, who is asthmatic, has made it one of his main missions to clean up London’s air — once so filthy the city was nicknamed the Big Smoke. He expanded London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone, which charges the drivers of older, more polluting vehicles a daily fee to drive in the city.

    The measure became a lightning rod for criticism of Khan, spurring noisy protests and vandalism of enforcement cameras. Khan staunchly defended the zone, which research suggests has made London’s air cleaner. His big victory in last year’s mayoral election appeared to vindicate Khan’s stance on the issue.

    Travers said that beyond their shared religion and being the targets of racism, both mayors face the conundrum of leading dynamic, diverse metropolises that are “surprisingly peaceful and almost embarrassingly successful” — and resented by the rest of their countries for their wealth and the attention they receive.

    He said London is “locked in this strange alternative universe where it is simultaneously described by a number of commentators as sort of a hellhole … and yet on the other hand it’s so embarrassingly rich that British governments spend their lives trying to level up the rest of the country to it. You can’t win.”

    ___

    Associated Press writer Eléonore Hughes in Rio de Janeiro contributed to this story.

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  • Israel says the Red Cross has received the remains of 3 hostages in Gaza

    JERUSALEM —  Israel said the Red Cross has received the remains of three hostages in Gaza and they will be handed over to Israel’s military.

    A Hamas statement earlier said the remains were found Sunday in a tunnel in southern Gaza.

    Since the ceasefire in Gaza took effect on Oct. 10, Palestinian militants had released the remains of 17 hostages, with 11 remaining in Gaza.

    What You Need To Know

    • Israel says the Red Cross has received the remains of three hostages in Gaza and they will be handed over to Israel’s military
    • A Hamas statement earlier said the remains were found Sunday in a tunnel in southern Gaza
    • Since the ceasefire in Gaza took effect on Oct. 10, Palestinian militants had released the remains of 17 hostages, with 11 remaining in Gaza
    • Militants have released one or two bodies every few days. Israel has urged faster progress, and in certain cases it has said the remains aren’t of any hostage
    • Hamas has said the work is complicated by widespread devastation

    Militants have released one or two bodies every few days. Israel has urged faster progress, and in certain cases it has said the remains aren’t of any hostage. Hamas has said the work is complicated by widespread devastation.

    Israel’s military said official identification of these remains would be provided to families first.

    Israel in turn has been releasing the remains of 15 Palestinians for the return of the remains of an Israeli hostage.

    Health officials in Gaza have struggled to identify bodies without access to DNA kits. Only 75 of the 225 Palestinian bodies returned since the ceasefire began have been identified, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which has posted photos of remains in the hope that families will recognize them.

    It is unclear if the Palestinians returned were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that sparked the war, died in Israeli custody as detainees or were recovered from Gaza by troops during the war.

    The exchange has been the central part of the initial phase of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire. The 20-point plan includes the formation of an international stabilization force of Arab and other partners that would work with Egypt and Jordan on securing Gaza’s borders and ensure the ceasefire is respected.

    Multiple nations have shown interest in taking part in a peacekeeping force but called for a clear U.N. Security Council mandate before committing troops.

    Other difficult questions include Hamas’ disarmament and the governance of a postwar Gaza, as well as when and how humanitarian aid will be increased.

    The deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and Hamas began with the Hamas-led 2023 attack that killed about 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage.

    Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 68,600 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by independent experts.

    Israel, which has denied accusations by a U.N. commission of inquiry and others of committing genocide in Gaza, has disputed the ministry’s figures without providing a contradicting toll.

    Associated Press

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  • Miguel’s ‘CAOS,’ fueled by anger and angst, is his first studio album in nearly a decade

    NEW YORK (AP) — If you wondered why Miguel didn’t release a studio album for nearly a decade, his response is simple: life.

    This cover image released by ByStorm Entertainment/RCA Record shows “CAOS” by Miguel. (ByStorm Entertainment/RCA Records via AP)

    “I needed to do some growing. I had to get my (expletive) together.”

    Since 2017’s “War & Leisure,” the world has experienced a variety of globally-impactful events: a second Donald Trump presidency, a coronavirus pandemic, an American social justice movement, an ongoing three-year war between Russia and Ukraine, and a two-year Israel-Hamas war that recently entered a ceasefire.

    “We’re just seeing, I think, a big question mark of humanity being asked in real time every day,” Miguel said. “I needed to go away and recalibrate and just get in touch with my anger and figure out how best to move forward with that in a productive way … I’m really glad that I did because it’s what informed this album.”

    “CAOS” is a sharp departure from the superstar’s vibey, sensual sound that made him a hit-making staple in R&B. The singer-songwriter’s fifth studio project, morphed from his 2023-scrapped “Viscera” LP, dropped Thursday, coinciding with his 40th birthday. He wrote on all 12 tracks and handled the bulk of production with Ray Brady. The lone feature belongs to the legendary George Clinton of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame honorees Parliament-Funkadelic.


    Led by the singles “RIP,” “New Martyrs (Ride 4 U),” “El Pleito,” and “Angel’s Song,” the album radiates his trendsetting fusion of alternative rock, R&B and electronic sounds, but in unfamiliar, darker tones. The music evokes feelings of urgency, protest and rebellion.

    “ This album is the most angsty, angry album I’ve ever made. But I think underlying and underwriting the message and the themes is this core need to express discontentment in a healthy way that creates the feeling and the future that I want.”

    The thief of joy

    Miguel poses for a portrait in New York on Oct. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Gary Gerard Hamilton)

    Miguel poses for a portrait in New York on Oct. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Gary Gerard Hamilton)

    Miguel also faced internal plights: divorce, family death and industry disillusionment.

    “The value of my work became about outside appreciation as opposed to internal gratitude,” said the artist who’s earned four top 20 tracks on the Billboard 100. The admission comes from a Grammy winner who’s created new-day classics such as “Adorn,” and “Sure Thing” and fan favorite mood-setters like “All I Want is You” and “Skywalker.”

    “When you see something in culture be really successful … you can start comparing … and it’s such a slippery slope,” said Miguel, who released bits of music during his hiatus, like the EPs “Te Lo Dije” and “Art Dealer Chic 4,” and songs “Don’t Forget My Love” with Diplo in 2022 and “Sweet Dreams” with BTS’s J-Hope earlier this year. “It’s about connecting more deeply and having a deeper conversation with my audience, as opposed to wanting to make the big song.”

    Not a sure thing

    During his hiatus, Miguel and Nazanin Mandi divorced. The singer began dating Mandi at 19 years old before marrying in 2018. They divorced four years later.


    “It was a painful thing to go through” said Miguel, who wrote “Always Time” to address the breakup. “Some things you do have to let go, if you really, really love it, and I think that was a good indication that I needed to take some time for myself.”

    Last month, in celebration of his son’s first birthday, Miguel publicly revealed he was a first-time father with filmmaker and former Vogue China editor Margaret Zhang. “Angel’s Song” is dedicated to his child.

    Spanish-language songs

    “CAOS,” Spanish for chaos, also features another turn from the genre-bending artist: Spanish-language songs. While 2019’s “Te Lo Dije” featured Spanish recordings of previous songs, this project contains original tracks like “El Pleito” and “Perderme.”

    “It was always floated as ‘You should lean into Latin as a marketing (tactic).’ … It just didn’t feel natural,” said Miguel, whose mother is African American and father is Mexican American. “Here I am now, and it’s more about my identity and who I am and who am proud to be.”


    Back to the future

    Miguel, serving as this year’s scholar-in-residence at NYU’s Steinhardt School, is also focusing on his S1C venture geared toward providing Black, Mexican and Latino creators with development and financial support. He also appreciates the futuristic-R&B sound that swelled during his absence, which he’s largely credited with helping to introduce.

    “I love that I can hear my influence in some of the music today,” said Miguel, who gained younger fans in 2023 after “Sure Thing” went viral on TikTok and Instagram more than a decade after its release. “You’re like, OK, we were in the right place.”


    Despite grappling with staying true to yourself and your music, not being captive to the charts, Miguel feels appreciated by his fans, and centers himself in gratitude.

    “I’m so lucky to have found a core audience who really rides with me through all of my evolutions,” he said. “I do think that I’ve been appreciated. And I think that there’s opportunity for it to be more, and more importantly, deeper.”

    ___

    Follow Associated Press entertainment journalist Gary Gerard Hamilton at @GaryGHamilton on all his social media platforms.

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  • What Israel and Hamas Actually Want from the Gaza Ceasefire

    Earlier this month, Israel and Hamas announced a ceasefire to the two-year war in Gaza. The agreement was brokered in part by the United States, but American officials are concerned, according to the New York Times, that the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, may be trying to end it. And indeed, since the ceasefire began, nearly a hundred Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers have been killed. (Per the first stage of the deal, Israel remains in control of approximately fifty-three per cent of Gaza.)

    I recently spoke by phone with Michael Milshtein, the head of the Palestinian Studies Forum at Tel Aviv University. Milshtein served as senior adviser to the commander of COGAT, which supervises civilian policy in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and as the head of the Department for Palestinian Affairs in the I.D.F.’s military-intelligence wing. During our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we discussed what Netanyahu wants for Gaza, Hamas’s strategic aim to take over the Palestinian national movement, and why a lasting ceasefire in Gaza will be so difficult.

    If this ceasefire is going to work, what would it look like over the next few months? What is the best-case scenario?

    Most or maybe all of the scenarios are going to be bad, so we’re not speaking about the best case, but the least worst case. And that would be the beginning of a new regime, the establishment of a new Palestinian regime in Gaza, which does not include Hamas. There would be a symbolic deployment of international forces, and a kind of coördination system between Israel, the United States, and other international forces about any violations of the ceasefire. And then Israel would be able to act immediately against any challenge or threat that is being developed in Gaza, and get warnings about a plan to launch rockets or to smuggle weapons or things like that. That would be the best case.

    At the same time, I must say in a very frank manner, this best case would also mean that Israel would not control most of the territory in Gaza, with the exception maybe of several areas near the border. This is the only part that would be kept by Israel. And, in this scenario, Hamas would commit to hold only defensive weapons, such as rifles and grenades and pistols. They would not be able to have offensive weapons, mainly rockets.

    So there would be some sort of disarmament of Hamas, and Israel wouldn’t launch strikes, and an international force would help secure Gaza, which is what the ceasefire agreement lays out. I assume that when you said that you wanted to be “very frank” you meant that a solution like this could also prevent Israeli expansionist fantasies in Gaza, correct?

    Yes. There are still many people here in Israel who say that our goal is not only to defeat Hamas but actually to make Palestinians vanish from Gaza or maybe even to deport them. And this fantasy will not happen. And, more than that, I assess that Hamas cannot be convinced to give up its weapons totally. But I think that if Hamas does not have the same power that it had two years ago, and it will not be able to commit once again October 7th, and it will be limited always by Israel and by the international forces, I think that this is not a bad situation for Israel.

    You’re saying that there’s no great solution here, but you’ve laid out what you think might be the best one or the least bad one.

    That’s right.

    But does either side want that? How do you understand at this point what both Hamas and the Netanyahu government want? Let’s start with Netanyahu.

    I think that he doesn’t want the current ceasefire. He was forced to accept it, because it was imposed on him. And, of course, there is a very broad gap between his demands for a ceasefire and what actually happened. For example, he demanded that there would be a very clear commitment by Hamas for full disarmament. And, of course, we do not see that right now. I’m quite sure that Netanyahu’s government will not be glad with the scenario that I described above. I think that maybe another government in Israel, when there are elections, will be more satisfied with such a scenario. And I think that other players, such as Turkey and Qatar, will be very satisfied with such a scenario, because they will be able to preserve Hamas as a player in Gaza. But, at the same time, they can say that there is a kind of a change, even if it’s a cosmetic change.

    And, regarding the United States, I’m quite sure that there will not be any way to implement all the goals they have laid out, for example, to get the total disarmament of Hamas or to convince Hamas to accept all the international forces that Vice-President J. D. Vance spoke about on his recent trip to Israel. He spoke about forces from Indonesia and the Gulf that could deploy in Gaza. But a large international force is something that I think Hamas does have some reservations about.

    Netanyahu resisted a ceasefire for a long time. You said the ceasefire was forced on him. But what does he want? When we talked several months ago, you thought that Netanyahu was flirting with the expansionist views about resettling Gaza expressed by his right-wing ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir. What do you think that he actually wants now?

    What he really wants is to be able to announce that Hamas was defeated, even if it means to occupy most or maybe all of Gaza, and even to stay there. Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are eager to occupy Gaza, of course, and even to encourage the Palestinians to emigrate from Gaza. Regarding Netanyahu, I think he understands that he cannot really convince a lot of people in Israel today that he defeated Hamas. And I think he’s very embarrassed of the fact that Hamas still exists, that Hamas is still the dominant player in Gaza. If he could choose, he would prefer to continue the war. It seems that President Trump was the one who decided to end the war.

    What I find so strange about it from Netanyahu’s perspective is the following: you’re saying that he doesn’t want Hamas to remain in charge of Gaza.

    That’s right.

    But my understanding is that he also doesn’t want the Palestinian Authority [P.A.] coming into Gaza, and he certainly doesn’t want conditions in Gaza making it so a Palestinian state is more likely.

    Isaac Chotiner

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  • There is No Peace in Gaza

    I was particularly shocked by one detail. During one interrogation, Khaled was accused of being a member of Islamic Jihad, which he again denied. “I’m only a farmer,” he replied. Khaled’s greatest fear was that his wife and children, one of whom had been waiting for a surgery, would be killed in an air strike. He told me that an Israeli intelligence officer showed Khaled a photo of them. “It was a photo from our family insurance card,” Khaled told me. He had no idea how the officer had gotten it. “Detention was a hardship in itself, but the threat to my family was a torment of another kind—just as heavy, if not worse,” he said.

    After four days, the questioning stopped, and Khaled understood that his file was being closed. He was not released, however. He spent about a month in a different section of Sde Teiman. Eventually, he was moved to Al-Naqab (Negev) prison, where detainees slept in tents. “Soldiers would storm our tents and fire rubber bullets at our legs and knees,” he said. “Those who were injured were left to bleed.” He said that some of their wounds became infested with maggots.

    Khaled learned of the ceasefire deal from some guards. On October 10th, the guards at Al-Naqab ordered him and several others to line up. Khaled assumed he was being moved to yet another prison, until he was taken to a place called Ward A. “That’s the ward for those scheduled for release,” Khaled said. “We all started to feel hopeful.” Two hours later, they were handcuffed and taken for fingerprinting, and their hope grew stronger.

    Then the guards came and took away their blankets and mattresses. “We spent the next three nights sleeping on the cold floor,” Khaled said. They were given less food than before. “Fear crept back in,” he told me. “Still, we thought maybe they were lashing out because we were being set free.” He said that an intelligence officer eventually signalled that he was getting out, telling him, “If you do anything wrong, there won’t be any warnings. We’ll send a missile your way. Got it?”

    After Khaled was finally released, he walked eight miles through devastated neighborhoods, from southern Gaza to a small town near Deir al-Balah. He was exhausted, but the closer he got to his wife and children the more excited he felt. At last, he reached a group of tents where his extended family was living. His young daughter was the first to spot him, and he lifted her into the air with joy. Then his other relatives rushed in, wrapping him in hugs.

    He entered his immediate family’s tent, where his wife embraced him. He was afraid to ask where his three-year-old son was.

    It turned out that the boy was only sleeping, lying on a thin blanket on the ground. Khaled knelt, called his son’s name, and leaned in for a kiss. His son stirred, half asleep, and blinked up at Khaled’s unfamiliar face. In the moments before he drifted off again, he did not seem to recognize his father.

    When The New Yorker asked the Israeli military, or I.D.F., about the conditions that Khaled described, a spokesperson called them “baseless allegations.” The Israeli Prison Service, which operates Ofer and Al-Naqab prisons, has told the Washington Post that it maintains proper living conditions. But experiences similar to what Khaled shared—including extended kneeling, beatings, attacks by military dogs, and a lack of medical care—have been reported by human-rights groups, the United Nations, and news organizations. In June, 2024, the Times reported on Gazans who said they were strip-searched, blindfolded, and handcuffed and then taken to Sde Teiman, where they were held in a deafening “disco room” and subjected to physical abuse. “Any abuse of detainees, whether during their detention or during interrogation, violates the law and the directives of the I.D.F. and as such is strictly prohibited,” the I.D.F. said in a statement to the Times. Asked about air strikes that killed civilians, the I.D.F. told The New Yorker, “Throughout the war, the IDF has been operating in accordance with international law to protect the security of the State of Israel and its citizens against Hamas attacks aimed at civilians, by striking military targets.”

    Last week, on Facebook, a friend from my home town of Beit Lahia posted a video of our old neighborhood. It shattered me. Not a single house remained standing. The dentist’s clinic on our street, a local clothing store, a feed mill where my father used to buy grain for our birds and rabbits, even a palm tree we used as a landmark—all of it had been levelled.

    Mosab Abu Toha

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  • Israeli former hostages, now engaged, tell their story in Brookline

    Two people who were taken hostage in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, now engaged, told their story Thursday night in Brookline, Massachusetts.

    Hamas kidnapped Sapir Cohen and Sasha Troufanov from kibbutz Nir Oz, separating them. Cohen was released in November of 2023, while Troufanov was in captivity for 520 days.

    The couple took part in a discussion Thursday at Temple Emeth in Chestnut Hill.

    “I was terrified,” Cohen said. “I was shaking, and all my body was wet.”

    “I saw, from beneath the bed, the boot of the terrorist coming inside,” Troufanov recalled.

    They were visiting Troufanov’s family at the time.

    “I saw Sapir being taken out from the room, led by those terrorists,” he said. “I stood up as well. I was taken out first.”

    That was the last time the couple saw each other for over a year. Both hostages were taken to Gaza.

    Cohen spent 55 days in Hamas captivity.

    “When I came back, I felt a different person,” she said. It was hard to me to talk with people that’s not related to the captivity.”

    Troufanov was not released until February of this year. His mother and grandmother were also taken, and his father was killed by Hamas.

    “About my parents, I didn’t know even what happened, if they were killed or not,” Troufanov said. “About Sapir, I at least imagined that she has been taken hostage, because this is the last thing I saw.”

    He was shot through both his legs while trying to get away. The wound still affects him — he used crutches to move across the stage Thursday.

    “The bullet pierced my left leg and broke the bone completely,” he said.

    As a hostage, he spent much of his time in isolation.

    “There was, waiting for me, a small space where I would stay for eight-and-a-half months,” Troufanov said.

    The couple was reunited when he was released this year. They became engaged shortly after.

    Thursday’s discussion came a week after Hamas released the remaining 20 living hostages. There are still 13 bodies of hostages taken from Israel left in Gaza.

    Cohen and Troufanov plan to get married in March.

    Jericho Tran

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  • Vance optimistic about Gaza ceasefire but notes ‘very hard’ work to come

    KIRYAT GAT, Israel — U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday called progress in Gaza’s fragile ceasefire better than anticipated but acknowledged during an Israel visit the challenges that remain, from disarming Hamas to rebuilding a land devastated by two years of war.

    Vance noted flareups of violence in recent days but said the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that began on Oct. 10 is going “better than I expected.” The Trump administration’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, added that “we are exceeding where we thought we would be at this time.”


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    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

    By RENATA BRITO, MELANIE LIDMAN and SAMY MAGDY – Associated Press

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  • Maccabi Tel Aviv declines tickets for Aston Villa game, citing safety concerns

    TEL AVIV, Israel — TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Maccabi Tel Aviv has announced it will decline any tickets offered for a Europa League game against Aston Villa next month regardless of growing calls for the English city of Birmingham to reverse a ban imposed on the Israeli club’s fans.

    West Midlands Police last week deemed the Nov. 6 match at Villa Park to be high risk and cited violence and hate crimes that took place when Maccabi Tel Aviv played at Ajax in Amsterdam last season.

    The subsequent ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans for the Villa game attracted widespread criticism, including from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who said it was the wrong decision.

    In a statement posted on social media late Monday, Maccabi Tel Aviv acknowledged the efforts to overturn the ban but added: “The wellbeing and safety of our fans is paramount and from hard lessons learned, we have taken the decision to decline any allocation offered on behalf of away fans and our decision should be understood in that context.”

    Behind the scenes, the British government has been seeking to resolve the row, which comes at a time of heightened worries about antisemitism in Britain following a deadly attack on a Manchester synagogue earlier this month and calls from Palestinians and their supporters for a sports boycott of Israel over its conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza.

    Maccabi’s decision came despite the British government pledging to give police extra resources so that the game could be played safely with both teams’ fans present.

    The U.K. government said in a statement Tuesday that it was “deeply saddened” by the team’s decision.

    “It is completely unacceptable that this game has been weaponized to stoke violence and fear by those who seek to divide us,” it said. “We will never tolerate antisemitism or extremism on our streets.”

    Bans for traveling fans are not unheard of in European soccer, but are typically based on a history of violence between fans of rival clubs. There is no history of violence between Aston Villa and Maccabi fans.

    However, Maccabi fans have been increasingly in the spotlight over the past year or so, partly linked to the war in Gaza. Most notably, Maccabi fans clashed violently with city residents in Amsterdam last season when the team visited for a Europa League game against Ajax.

    Dozens were arrested and five people were treated in a hospital following the night of violence which was condemned as antisemitic by authorities and which also saw some supporters of the Israeli team chanting anti-Arab slogans.

    In Italy last week there was a heavy police presence, including snipers on the roof of the stadium, for a World Cup qualifier between Italian and Israeli national teams after authorities placed the game in the highest risk category.

    And last Sunday, dozens of people were injured after rioting soccer fans at a domestic league derby game in Tel Aviv threw flares and smoke grenades. The game at the Bloomfield Stadium between city rivals Hapoel and Maccabi was eventually abandoned out of concern for public safety, police said.

    The Nov. 6 encounter at Villa Park is set to be Maccabi’s first away match in the Europa League, European soccer’s second-tier competition, since pro-Palestinian protests took place at the stadium in Thessaloniki, Greece, when the club played PAOK on Sept. 24. About 120 Maccabi fans traveled to Greece for that game and were held behind a police cordon before entering the venue.

    European soccer’s governing body UEFA was weighing a vote to suspend Israeli teams from its competitions before that was overtaken this month by the ceasefire in Gaza.

    In the club statement, Maccabi Tel Aviv said soccer should bring people together, not divide them.

    “We have been instrumental in bringing forward footballing talent from around the world irrespective of race or creed. Our first team squad consists of Muslims, Christian and Jewish players and our fan base also crosses the ethnic and religious divide,” the statement said, adding that the club had been “working tirelessly to stamp out racism within the more extreme elements of our fan base.”

    The statement said there were critics who sought to “malign” Maccabi fans.

    “We hope that circumstances will change and look forward to being able to play in Birmingham in a sporting environment in the near future,” the club said.

    ___

    AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

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  • Israel strikes Gaza after it says Hamas attacked across ceasefire line

    TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel on Sunday struck targets in the southern Gaza Strip after it said its troops came under fire from Hamas militants, in the first major test of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire meant to halt more than two years of war.

    Members of the Palestinian group used an RPG and Israel responded with airstrikes and artillery, the military said.

    What You Need To Know

    • Israeli military officials say targets were struck in Gaza Sunday after their troops were fired upon by Hamas militants

    • Hamas officials, though, said the group was not connected to any clashes in Rafah in southern Gaza

    • Meanwhile, Hamas officials say that talks with mediators to start the second phase of the ceasefire with Israel have begun

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held consultations with Israel’s security heads and directed the military to take “strong action” against any ceasefire violations, but did not threaten to return to war.

    Hamas said that it was not connected to any clashes in Rafah in southern Gaza.

    The strikes came as Israel identified the remains of two hostages released by Hamas overnight, and the Palestinian group said talks to launch the second phase of ceasefire negotiations have begun.

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the bodies belonged to Ronen Engel, a father of three from Kibbutz Nir Oz, and Sonthaya Oakkharasri, a Thai agricultural worker killed at Kibbutz Be’eri.

    Both were believed to have been killed during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and their bodies were taken to Gaza. Engel’s wife, Karina, and two of his three children were kidnapped and released in a ceasefire in November 2023.

    Meanwhile, Israel threatened to keep the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt closed “until further notice.” The statement by Netanyahu’s office said reopening Rafah would depend on how Hamas fulfills its ceasefire role of returning the remains of all 28 deceased hostages.

    In the past week, Hamas has handed over the remains of 13 bodies, 12 of which have been identified as hostages. Israel said one of the bodies released did not belong to a hostage.

    Israel has released 150 bodies of Palestinians back to Gaza, including 15 on Sunday, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government. Israel has neither identified the bodies nor said how they died. The ministry has posted photos of dozens of bodies on its website to help families and relatives attempting to locate their loved ones, but the bodies were decomposed, blackened and some were missing limbs and teeth. Only 25 bodies have been identified, the Health Ministry said.

    After Israel and Hamas exchanged 20 living hostages for more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, the handover of the remains of deceased hostages and prisoners remains a major issue in the first stage of the ceasefire proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. A major scale-up of aid, including the opening of the Rafah border crossing, for humanitarian aid and people entering or leaving Gaza, is the other central issue.

    The next stages of the ceasefire will focus on disarming Hamas, Israeli withdrawal from additional areas it controls in Gaza, and future governance of the devastated territory.

    Second phase

    The Israeli military said on Sunday that militants shot at troops in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, in the Israeli-controlled areas, according to the agreed-upon ceasefire lines. No injuries were reported. A senior Hamas official denied that Hamas was involved. Hamas and Israel have each accused each other of violating the fragile ceasefire.

    Meanwhile, Hamas says that talks with mediators to start the second phase of the ceasefire have begun.

    Hazem Kassem, a Hamas spokesman, said in a statement late Saturday that the second phase of negotiations “requires national consensus.” He also said Hamas has begun discussions to “solidify its positions,” without providing further details.

    According to Trump’s plan, the negotiations will include disarming Hamas and the establishment of an internationally backed authority to run the embattled Gaza Strip.

    Kassem reiterated that the group won’t be part of the ruling authority in a postwar Gaza. Hamas-run government bodies in the Gaza Strip are running day-to-day affairs to avoid a power void, he said.

    “Government agencies in Gaza continue to perform their duties, as the vacuum is very dangerous, and this will continue until an administrative committee is formed and agreed upon by all Palestinian factions,” he said.

    Kassem called for a Community Support Committee, a body of Palestinian technocrats, to run the day-to-day affairs, to be established promptly.

    Rafah border crossing

    Israel didn’t open the Rafah border crossing on Sunday, in an attempt to pressure Hamas to return more hostages’ bodies. Hamas says it needs special equipment to locate the bodies of additional hostages, but Israel believes Hamas has access to more bodies than it has returned.

    The Rafah crossing was the only one not controlled by Israel before the war. It has been closed since May 2024, when Israel took control of the Gaza side. A fully reopened crossing would make it easier for Palestinians to seek medical treatment, travel or visit family in Egypt, home to tens of thousands of Palestinians.

    On Sunday, the Palestinian Authority’s Interior Ministry in Ramallah announced procedures for Palestinians wishing to leave or enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing. For those who want to leave Gaza, Palestinian Embassy staff from Cairo will be at the crossing to issue temporary travel documents that allow entry into Egypt. Palestinians who wish to enter the Gaza Strip will need to apply at the embassy in Cairo for relevant entry documents.

    The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government in the territory. Its figures are seen as a reliable estimate of wartime deaths by U.N. agencies and many independent experts. Israel has disputed them without providing its own toll.

    Thousands more people are missing, according to the Red Cross.

    Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in the attack that sparked the war.

    Hamas rejects U.S. claim

    The group rejected on Sunday a claim by the U.S. State Department that said it had credible reports of an imminent planned attack by Hamas against residents of Gaza.

    “This planned attack against Palestinian civilians would constitute a direct and grave violation of the ceasefire agreement and undermine the significant progress achieved through mediation efforts,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement Saturday.

    Hamas called the claim “false allegations,” and accused Israel of supporting armed groups operating in Israeli-controlled areas. Hamas urged the U.S. administration to pressure Israel to stop supporting the gangs and “providing them a safe haven.”

    Hamas-led fighters clashed with at least two armed groups in eastern Gaza City that the group alleges are involved in looting aid and collaborating with Israel. They executed a handful of suspects in public, in widely condemned street killings.

    The Interior Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, says its forces were working to restore law and order across areas Israel’s military withdrew from following the ceasefire.

    Associated Press

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  • Israel says Gaza’s Rafah crossing will remain closed, adding pressure over hostages’ remains

    Israel said Hamas handed over “two coffins of deceased hostages ” from Gaza late Saturday, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu increased pressure on the militant group to share the rest more quickly under their ceasefire.

    No names were immediately released. The bodies were in Israel and were being taken to the country’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine.

    Israel announced earlier Saturday that Gaza’s sole crossing with the outside world, Rafah, would stay closed “until further notice,” tying it to Hamas’ release of remains. On Thursday it had said the crossing likely would reopen Sunday.

    Hamas has now handed over the remains of 12 of the 28 dead hostages in Gaza, a key step in the week-old ceasefire process meant to end two years of war. The militant group says devastation and Israeli military control of certain areas of Gaza have slowed the handover.

    The statement by Netanyahu ’s office on the Rafah crossing came shortly after the Palestinian embassy in Egypt said it would reopen Monday for people returning to Gaza. Hamas called Netanyahu’s decision a violation of the ceasefire deal.

    The Rafah crossing has been closed since May 2024, when Israel took control of the Gaza side. A fully reopened crossing would make it easier for Gazans to seek medical treatment, travel or visit family in Egypt, home to tens of thousands of Palestinians.

    Anxiety on both sides over remains

    Israel has been returning the bodies of Palestinians with no names, only numbers. Gaza’s Health Ministry posts photos of them online, hoping families will come forward.

    ”Just like they took their captives, we want our captives. Bring me my son, bring all our kids back,” said a tearful Iman Sakani, whose son went missing during the war. She was among dozens of anxious families waiting at Nasser hospital.

    One woman knelt, crying over a body after identifying it.

    As part of the ceasefire agreement, Israel on Saturday returned 15 bodies of Palestinians to Gaza, bringing the total it has returned to 135.

    Meanwhile, Gaza’s ruins were being scoured for the dead. Newly recovered bodies brought the Palestinian toll above 68,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Thousands of people are still missing, according to the Red Cross.

    The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. But the ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. Israel has disputed them without providing its own toll.

    Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in the attack on southern Israel that sparked the war on Oct. 7, 2023.

    A push for hostages’ remains

    Israel also said the remains of a 10th hostage that Hamas handed over Friday were identified as Eliyahu Margalit. The 76-year-old was abducted from kibbutz Nir Oz during the Oct. 7 attack. His remains were found after bulldozers plowed areas in the southern city of Khan Younis.

    U.S. President Donald Trump has warned that he would greenlight a resumption of the war by Israel if Hamas doesn’t return the remains of all dead hostages.

    Hamas has said it is committed to the ceasefire deal, but that the retrieval of remains is also hampered by the presence of unexploded ordnance in the territory’s vast ruins.

    The U.S. State Department on Saturday said it had credible reports of an imminent planned attack by Hamas against residents of Gaza.

    “This planned attack against Palestinian civilians would constitute a direct and grave violation of the ceasefire agreement and undermine the significant progress achieved through mediation efforts,” it said in a statement. ”The guarantors demand Hamas uphold its obligations under the ceasefire terms.

    “Should Hamas proceed with this attack, measures will be taken to protect the people of Gaza and preserve the integrity of the ceasefire” forged by Trump to end the two-year war between Israel and Hamas, it added. There were no additional details.

    The Israeli organization supporting families of those abducted said it will continue holding weekly rallies in Tel Aviv until all are returned.

    “We don’t want to go back to fighting, God forbid, but this whole ordeal must end, and all the hostages must be returned,” said Ifat Calderon, aunt of freed hostage Ofer Calderon.

    Aid remains limited

    Hamas has urged mediators to increase the flow of aid into Gaza as closures of crossings and Israeli restrictions on aid groups continue.

    “Vast parts of the city are just a wasteland,” U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said Saturday while visiting Gaza City, where international food security experts declared famine earlier this year.

    U.N. data on Friday showed 339 trucks have been offloaded for distribution in Gaza since the ceasefire began. Under the agreement, about 600 aid trucks per day should be allowed to enter.

    COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing aid in Gaza, reported 950 trucks — including commercial trucks and bilateral deliveries — crossing on Thursday and 716 on Wednesday, the U.N. said.

    Israel has said it let in enough food and accused Hamas of stealing much of it, which the U.N. and other aid agencies deny.

    Hamas accuses Israel of violations

    Hamas again accused Israel of continuing attacks and violating the ceasefire, asserting that 38 Palestinians had been killed since it began. There was no immediate response from Israel, which still maintains control of about half of Gaza.

    On Friday, Gaza’s Civil Defense, first responders operating under the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, said nine people were killed, including women and children, when their vehicle was hit by Israeli fire in Gaza City. The Civil Defense said the car crossed into an Israeli-controlled area in eastern Gaza.

    Israel’s army said it saw a “suspicious vehicle” crossing the so-called yellow line and approaching troops. It said it fired warning shots, but the vehicle continued to approach in a manner that posed an “imminent threat.” The army said it acted in accordance with the ceasefire.

    ___

    Mednick reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press journalists Wafaa Shurafa in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, and Natalie Melzer in Jerusalem contributed.

    ___

    Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

    Toqa Ezzidin | The Associated Press, Sam Mednick | The Associated Press and Samy Magdy | The Associated Press

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  • Palestinians, Israel disagree on whether Rafah crossing will reopen Monday

    CAIRO — The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt will reopen Monday for people returning to Gaza, the Palestinian embassy in Egypt said Saturday, but the territory’s sole gateway to the outside world will remain closed to people trying to leave.

    What You Need To Know

    • The Palestinian embassy in Egypt says the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt will reopen Monday for people returning to Gaza

    • But Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says the Rafah crossing will not reopen “until further notice” 

    • The office said Saturday it will depend on how Hamas fulfills its role in returning all 28 bodies of dead hostages

    • The crossing is Gaza’s only gateway to the outside world that wasn’t controlled by Israel before the war, and it has been closed since May 2024, when Israel took control of the Gaza side

    However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issued a statement within minutes, saying that the Rafah crossing wouldn’t reopen “until further notice,” adding that it would depend on how Hamas fulfills its role in returning all the bodies of the dead hostages.

    Israel’s foreign ministry on Thursday had said that the crossing would likely reopen Sunday — another step in the fragile ceasefire.

    The Rafah crossing is the only one not controlled by Israel before the war. It has been closed since May 2024, when Israel took control of the Gaza side. A fully reopened crossing would make it easier for Gazans to seek medical treatment, travel or visit family in Egypt, home to tens of thousands of Palestinians.

    It’s unclear who will operate the crossing’s heavily damaged Gaza side once the war ends.

    Meanwhile, Gaza’s ruins were being scoured for the dead, over a week into the ceasefire. Newly recovered bodies brought the Palestinian toll above 68,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Thousands of people are still missing, according to the Red Cross.

    The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. But the ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. Israel has disputed them without providing its own toll.

    Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in the attack on southern Israel that sparked the war on Oct. 7, 2023.

    Palestinians watch members of the Hamas militant group searching for bodies of the hostages in an area in Hamad City, Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

    Hostages’ remains

    Israel said the remains of a 10th hostage that Hamas handed over the day before were identified as Eliyahu Margalit.

    The handover of hostages’ remains, called for under the ceasefire agreement, is among key points — along with aid deliveries into Gaza and the devastated territory’s future — in a process backed by much of the international community to help end two years of war.

    The office of the Israeli prime minister said that Margalit’s family had been notified. The 76-year-old was abducted from kibbutz Nir Oz during the Oct. 7 attack. His remains were found after bulldozers plowed up pits in the southern city of Khan Younis.

    The effort to find the remaining 18 hostages followed a warning from U.S. President Donald Trump that he would greenlight a resumption of the war by Israel, if Hamas doesn’t live up to its end of the deal and return them all.

    In a statement, the hostage forum that supports the families of those abducted said they won’t rest until the remaining hostages come home. The forum said that it will continue holding weekly rallies until all are returned.

    Hamas has said it is committed to the terms of the ceasefire deal, but that the retrieval of remains is hampered by the scope of the devastation and the presence of unexploded ordnance. The group has told mediators that some remains are in areas controlled by Israeli troops.

    As part of the ceasefire agreement, Israel on Saturday returned the bodies of a further 15 Palestinians to Gaza. Gaza’s Health Ministry said the International Committee of the Red Cross handed over the bodies to Nasser Hospital, bringing the total number Israel had returned to 135.

    In announcing the updated Palestinian death toll, the ministry said the number has climbed since the ceasefire began, with the majority of the newly counted bodies being found during recovery efforts.

    Thousands of people are still missing, according to the Red Cross.

    A tent camp for displaced Palestinians sits adjacent to destroyed homes and buildings in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

    A tent camp for displaced Palestinians sits adjacent to destroyed homes and buildings in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

    Hamas accuses Israel of violations

    Hamas again accused Israel of continuing attacks and violating the ceasefire, asserting that 38 Palestinians had been killed since it began. There was no immediate response from Israel, which still maintains control of about half of Gaza.

    On Friday, Gaza’s Civil Defense, first responders operating under the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, said nine people were killed, including women and children, when their vehicle was hit by Israeli fire in Gaza City. The Civil Defense said the car crossed into an Israeli-controlled area in eastern Gaza.

    The Civil Defense said Israel could have warned the people in a manner that wasn’t lethal. The group recovered the bodies Saturday with coordination from the United Nations, it said.

    Israel’s army said it saw a “suspicious vehicle” crossing the so-called yellow line and approaching troops. It said it fired warning shots, but the vehicle continued to approach in a manner that posed an “imminent threat.” The army said it acted in accordance with the ceasefire.

    Aid demands

    Hamas has urged mediators to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza for its 2 million people, expedite the full opening of the Rafah border crossing and start reconstruction of the battered territory.

    The flow of aid remains constrained because of continued closures of crossings and Israeli restrictions on aid groups.

    U.N. data on Friday showed 339 trucks have been offloaded for distribution in Gaza since the ceasefire began. Under the agreement, about 600 aid trucks per day should be allowed to enter.

    COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing aid in Gaza, reported 950 trucks — including commercial trucks and bilateral deliveries — crossing on Thursday and 716 on Wednesday, the U.N. said.

    Throughout the war, Israel restricted aid to Gaza, sometimes halting it altogether.

    International food security experts declared famine in Gaza City, and the U.N. says it has verified more than 400 people who died of malnutrition-related causes, including over 100 children.

    Israel has long said it let in enough food and accused Hamas of stealing much of it. The U.N. and other aid agencies deny the claim.

    Associated Press

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  • Letters: Trump succeeds in Mideast where diplomats have failed

    Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.

    Trump succeeds
    where diplomats failed

    Re: “Trump must be a disrupter in the Middle East” (Page A7, Oct. 16):

    The writer seems to think that Donald Trump isn’t up to the task of dealing with the problems in the Middle East because he went to business school, not the School of Foreign Service. Well, all of those people who went to the right schools don’t seem to have done very well in the Middle East.

    Letters To The Editor

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