Gaza aid still critically scarce, say agencies, as Israel delays convoys

UN urges opening of all crossings with aid deliveries at less than half of agreed frequency, as WHO issues disease alert

Aid remains critically scarce in Gaza one week into the ceasefire, humanitarian agencies have warned, as Israel delays the entry of food convoys into the territory. The Israeli government and Hamas continue to trade blame over violations of the truce.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday that it had brought about 560 tonnes of food a day on average into Gaza since the ceasefire began, but it was still below what was needed.

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Hamas’s aim to retain authority in Gaza involves keeping the guns

With no law, order or any alternative administration under the ceasefire, the group is using violence to deter rivals

Throughout Israel’s two-year war in Gaza, aid officials working in the territory avoided naming Hamas in conversations they suspected might be intercepted, instead referring to the militant Islamist group as the “de facto authority”.

This careful euphemism for Hamas, which violently seized power in 2007, captured an important truth. Though the group was a less obvious presence in the last months of the conflict, in the absence of any alternative, it remained the closest the increasingly devastated territory had to a ruler.

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Hamas says all reachable hostage bodies recovered amid Israel threat to resume Gaza fighting

Hamas says it needs specialist equipment to recover remaining bodies as Israel’s defence minister threatens to resume fighting

Israel has threatened to resume fighting in Gaza after Hamas announced that it could not return any further remains of deceased Israeli hostages without specialist recovery equipment that is needed to retrieve the rest from the ruins of the devastated territory.

The threat from Israel Katz, the defence minister, came after Hamas handed over the remains of two further bodies late on Wednesday, bringing the total of known deceased hostages returned by Hamas to nine – along with a tenth body that Israel said was not that of a former hostage.

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Challenges remain for aid distribution in Gaza City despite ceasefire with Israel

Destruction or ongoing control by Israeli forces means roads to areas worst hit by hunger are virtually impassable

Even if the Rafah crossing from Egypt to Gaza opens on Thursday, NGOs face big challenges distributing supplies to Gaza City and its surroundings in the north, the areas worst hit by hunger, experts say.

Key roads are virtually impassable due to the massive destruction across the devastated territory – or are still controlled by Israeli forces. Any truck that breaks down is likely to be instantly looted.

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Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti assaulted by Israeli prison guards, son says

Family fears for 66-year-old’s life after assault while he was being transferred between prisons

Palestine’s most popular leader, Marwan Barghouti, was beaten unconscious by Israeli prison guards and his family fears for his life, his son has said, citing evidence given by former Palestinian detainees released this week as part of the ceasefire deal.

Arab Barghouti said his 66-year-old father was assaulted by eight guards on 14 September as he was being transferred between Ganot and Megiddo prisons.

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Syrian president in first visit to Moscow as former enemies hold talks

Ahmed al-Sharaa in effort to diversify alliances while Putin seeks to safeguard military interests in Syria

The Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, travelled to Moscow on Wednesday for talks with Vladimir Putin, marking their first meeting since the fall of the Kremlin ally Bashar al-Assad and his subsequent exile in Russia.

The talks underscored Moscow’s efforts to safeguard its military foothold in Syria and forge relations with the new rulers in Damascus, with both sides taking a pragmatic approach despite having been enemies only a year ago.

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Thousands trapped in El Fasher siege on ‘edge of survival’, says report

The city – the Sudanese army’s last stronghold in the west of the country – has withstood more than 500 days of attacks by paramilitary RSF

The besieged Sudanese city of El Fasher has been declared “uninhabitable” with new data indicating most homes are destroyed and critical levels of malnourishment among people trapped there.

The stark assessment comes as the city endures constant artillery and drone attacks, shoehorning its 250,000 starving people into a shrinking urban enclave.

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Trump says Hamas will be forced to disarm or ‘we will disarm them’

US president says it should take place in a ‘reasonable period of time’ amid questions over group’s status

Donald Trump has said that Hamas will be forced to disarm after questions swirled around the group’s status following the signing of a peace deal meant to bring an end to the war in Gaza.

Speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Trump said: “If they don’t disarm, we will disarm them and it will happen quickly and perhaps violently.

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Starmer says he expects debate about ‘full horror’ of what happened in Gaza when media allowed in – UK politics live

PM hails Trump’s part in Middle East peace deal but says what matters now is implementation

Europe’s most senior human rights official has called on Shabana Mahmood to review UK protest laws after mass arrests over the ban on Palestine Action, Rajeev Syal reports.

The Commons authorities have confirmed that there will be two statements in the chamber after 12.30pm: first, Keir Starmer on the Middle East peace summit, and then Hilary Benn, the Northern Ireland secretary, on the Northern Ireland Troubles bill being published today.

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Tuesday briefing: After the hostage release, five questions that will shape Gaza’s future

In today’s newsletter: Wild celebrations on both sides – but prospects for an enduring peace rest on compromises that appear difficult to reach

Good morning. The last 20 living Israeli hostages in Gaza were freed yesterday, after more than two years in captivity. Meanwhile, huge crowds in Ramallah greeted some of the 2,000 Palestinians – 1,700 of them held without charge – released by Israel in exchange.

Even against the backdrop of the horrors of the 7 October attack, and the Israeli assault that killed more than 67,000 Palestinians and left Gaza a wasteland, the scenes of reunion were overwhelming to watch. This picture gallery of Israeli hostages being reunited with their families captures something of an extraordinary day of catharsis and relief.

Environment | Millions more homes in England, Scotland and Wales face devastating floods, and some towns may have to be abandoned as climate breakdown makes many areas uninsurable, a Guardian investigation has found.

UK news | Tommy Robinson claimed Elon Musk was paying his legal costs as he went on trial for refusing to comply with a request made by counter-terrorism police as he tried to leave Britain last year.

Espionage | The government made “every effort” to support the trial of two men accused of spying for China, security minister Dan Jarvis has said, as he accused the Tories of claiming the case was deliberately abandoned “without a shred of evidence”.

UK politics | The families of the murdered MPs David Amess and Jo Cox have voiced concern about a recent surge in violent political rhetoric in Britain.

Nobel prize | Three experts in the power of technology to drive economic growth have been awarded this year’s Nobel prize in economics.

Peace in Gaza represents an opportunity to forget; to erase from the collective consciousness an era in which some western countries took a bludgeon to international norms and institutions, and indeed their own domestic politics, in order to force through the destruction of Gaza.”

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Trump sets sights on peace with Iran as he hails ‘end of Gaza war’

In speech to Israeli Knesset hours after hostages released, US president spoke of ‘historic dawn of new Middle East’

Donald Trump has vowed to use the power of his presidency to ensure that Israel recognises it has achieved “all that it can by force of arms”, and begin an age of cooperation in the Middle East that may ultimately extend as far as peace with Iran.

In a speech to the Israeli Knesset, made hours after the last remaining Israeli hostages were released from Gaza, Trump hailed the “historic dawn of a new Middle East” and an end to the “long and painful nightmare” of the Gaza war.

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Gaza ceasefire live: Israeli hostages due to be released as Trump says ‘war is over’ and flies to Middle East

US president is due to arrive in Israel shortly after the expected release of 20 living Israeli hostages by Hamas. Follow the latest developments

The mediating countries for the ceasefire deal in Gaza are to sign a document guaranteeing the agreement at Monday’s summit in Egypt, a diplomatic source has told the Agence France-Presse news agency.

“The signatories will be the guarantors – [the] US, Egypt, Qatar and likely Turkey,” the diplomat briefed on the signing ceremony said on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive arrangements.

While favoring diplomatic engagement, neither President Pezeshkian nor I can engage with counterparts who have attacked the Iranian People and continue to threaten and sanction us.

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Tony Blair wins nod from Palestinian Authority for role in postwar Gaza

Senior PA leader confirms readiness to work with former UK PM on post-ceasefire recovery

The former UK prime minister Tony Blair appears to have won the endorsement of the Palestinian Authority to be involved in the reconstruction of Gaza, after an exploratory meeting in Jordan.

Blair met Hussein al-Sheikh, the deputy president of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation executive committee, in Amman, Jordan, on Sunday. It was the first such meeting since Donald Trump announced Blair’s role in his 20-point plan.

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Australian Madeleine Habib released from Israeli jail after aid flotilla intercepted en route to Gaza

It’s not yet known if Habib signed waiver as demanded by Israel before being taken to Jordan border on Sunday

Australian woman Madeleine Habib has been released from an Israeli prison, four days after a ship she captained as part of another Gaza-bound aid flotilla was intercepted by the Israeli military in international waters.

A source close to Habib said she was released on Sunday morning Israel time, along with other activists from the freedom flotilla, and taken to the Jordan border.

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Agencies prepare to bring aid to starving people in Gaza as ceasefire appears to hold

Unicef says ‘humanitarian crisis continues’ and expects to scale up aid deliveries on Sunday

Aid agencies are preparing to bring large amounts of vital aid to starving people in Gaza this weekend, as a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas appeared to be holding.

“We have received signals that tomorrow will be the day that the scale-up [in aid deliveries] begins in earnest under the ceasefire,” said Tess Ingram, a spokesperson for the UN agency for children, Unicef.

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Militia strikes kill at least 60 in Sudan displacement camp, says El Fasher group

Drone and artillery strikes by RSF paramilitary group hit Dar al-Arqam shelter in western city, says resistance committee

Militia drone and artillery strikes have killed at least 60 people at a displacement shelter in the besieged city of El Fasher in western Sudan, a local activist group has said.

The Resistance Committee for El Fasher said the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group hit the Dar al-Arqam displacement centre, which is in the grounds of a university.

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Hamas will be disarmed, Netanyahu vows after ceasefire begins

In combative speech, Israeli prime minister says Gaza will be demilitarised ‘the easy way or the hard way’

Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his pledge to force Hamas to disarm in a defiant and combative speech on Friday just an hour after a ceasefire began in Gaza.

In a televised address, Israel’s prime minister said he had resisted intense domestic and international pressure to achieve his aim of ensuring “the security of Israel”, and he lambasted his critics and reiterated a threat to return to war if necessary.

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Man jailed for at least 23 years for murdering Syrian boy in Huddersfield

Alfie Franco, 20, stabbed Ahmad Al Ibrahim after taking ‘petty exception’ to teenager brushing past his girlfriend

A man has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 23 years for murdering a teenage Syrian refugee after he brushed past his girlfriend in Huddersfield town centre.

Leeds crown court heard how Alfie Franco, 20, stabbed Ahmad Al Ibrahim, 16, shortly after Ibrahim brushed past Franco’s girlfriend in April. He was found guilty of murder on Thursday.

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Gaza ceasefire plan live: Israel says it is preparing to pull back troops; living hostages could be released within days

US president Donald Trump says Israel and Hamas have agreed to ‘first phase’ of plan to pause fighting and release some hostages and prisoners

Families of Israelis held hostage in Gaza gathered in what has come to be known as Hostages Square in Tel Aviv after the announcement.

“President Trump, thank you very much. We thank him, our children will not have returned home without him,” said Hatan Angrest, whose son Matan is among the hostages.

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‘First phase’ of ceasefire deal to end war in Gaza agreed by Israel and Hamas

Donald Trump announces that all hostages will be released ‘very soon’ and Israel will withdraw troops to an agreed upon line

Israel and Hamas have agreed to the initial phase of a “peace plan” in Gaza, pausing hostilities in the devastated territory and bringing the best hope yet of a definitive end to a bloody two-year conflict that has killed ten of thousands, destabilised much of the Middle East and prompted protests across the world.

Donald Trump announced the agreement on his Truth Social network saying all of the hostages held in Gaza would be released soon and Israel would withdraw troops to an agreed upon line as the first step to a “Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace”.

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