Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: In a dinner speech with Saudi Arabia&#39;s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, US President Donald Trump, while mentioning the United Nations&#39; formal adoption of his groundbreaking &quot;Board of Peace,&quot; added that the global initiative was set to bring together the heads of major countries to address conflicts, starting with Gaza and expanding worldwide. While speaking at a dinner with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, US President Trump, in his speech said: &ldquo;Just yesterday, the United Nations Security Council formally adopted my peace plan and officially endorsed the Board of Peace.&rdquo; In his speech, shared on White House&rsquo;s YouTube channel on Wednesday, President Trump said, &ldquo;This is a board like no other. It will have the heads of major countries, I think all of the major countries.&rdquo; <div class="fr-embed youtube-embed"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/n0CpuSf99bI" title="President Trump and the First Lady Participate in a Dinner with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="" style="width: 100%; height: auto; aspect-ratio: 16 / 9; max-width: 100%; display: block;">&nbsp;</iframe>&nbsp;</div> &ldquo;I hope Your Highness will be on the board. You&#39;ll accept, I hope. But the Board of Peace will be something that&#39;s never even been thought of before,&rdquo; he added. Regarding the scope and focus of the board, President Trump said: &ldquo;And it&#39;s covering Gaza, but it&#39;ll end up covering large portions of the world. And I was honored to be chosen the chair of that Board of Peace.&rdquo; &ldquo;And I think you&#39;ll see something that nobody&#39;s ever seen before in terms of the status of the board. There will never be a board like the board that we&#39;re gonna be announcing,&rdquo; he added. &lsquo;Everybody wants to be on the board&rsquo;The US president said, &ldquo;Everybody wants to be on the board, and it&#39;ll end up being quite a large board because it&#39;ll be the heads of every major country.&rdquo; Regarding the passage of the resolution from the UN, Trump said: &ldquo;And the United Nations passed it, I guess unanimously, you can say. China, which was against it, took a pass, didn&#39;t vote against it. And Russia, which was against it, didn&#39;t vote against it.&rdquo; &ldquo;So we appreciate it because one, one negative vote and it doesn&#39;t happen.&rdquo; &lsquo;Beautiful lasting peace&rsquo;He said, &ldquo;It&#39;s called the Board of Peace and watch for it because it&#39;s gonna do some fantastic things. And I know we&#39;re both deeply committed to an enduring ceasefire.&rdquo; &ldquo;It grows into the beautiful lasting peace and, uh, we&#39;ve got things going at numbers and far ahead of schedule that nobody thought was possible,&rdquo; Trump added.

Americas

Says, UNSC has ‘formally adopted my peace plan and officially endorsed the Board of Peace; this is a board like no other; it will have the heads of major countries, I think all of the major countries.’ 

‘Everybody’ wants to be on Board of Peace: Trump 

UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council will vote Monday on a resolution endorsing US President Donald Trump&#39;s Gaza peace plan, diplomats said.&nbsp; Last week, the Americans officially launched negotiations within the 15-member Security Council on a text that would follow up on a ceasefire in the two-year war between Israel and Hamas and endorse Trump&#39;s plan. A draft of the resolution seen Thursday by AFP &quot;welcomes the establishment of the Board of Peace,&quot; a transitional governing body for Gaza -- that Trump would theoretically chair -- with a mandate running until the end of 2027. It would authorize member states to form a &quot;temporary International Stabilization Force (ISF)&quot; that would work with Israel and Egypt and newly trained Palestinian police to help secure border areas and demilitarize the Gaza Strip. Unlike previous drafts, the latest mentions a possible future Palestinian state. The United States and several Arab and Muslim-majority nations, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, called Friday for the UN Security Council to quickly adopt the resolution. &quot;The United States, Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan, and T&uuml;rkiye express our joint support for the Security Council Resolution currently under consideration,&quot; the countries said in a joint statement, adding they were seeking the measure&#39;s &quot;swift adoption.&quot; Friday&#39;s joint statement comes as Russia circulated a competing draft resolution to Council members that does not authorize the creation of a board of peace or the immediate deployment of an international force in Gaza, according to the text seen Friday by AFP. The Russian version welcomes &quot;the initiative that led to the ceasefire&quot; but does not name Trump. It also only calls on the UN secretary-general to submit a report that addresses the possibilities of deploying an international stabilization force in war-ravaged Gaza. The United States has called the ceasefire &quot;fragile,&quot; and warned Friday of the risks of not adopting its draft. &quot;Any refusal to back this resolution is a vote either for the continued reign of Hamas terrorists or for the return to war with Israel, condemning the region and its people to perpetual conflict,&quot; the US ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, wrote in The Washington Post. &quot;Every departure from this path, be it by those who wish to play political games or to relitigate the past, will come with a real human cost.&quot; While it seemed until now that Council members supported principles of the peace plan, diplomatic sources noted there were questions about the US text, particularly regarding the absence of a monitoring mechanism by the Council, the role of the&nbsp; Palestinian Authority, and details of the ISF&#39;s mandate. The Russian UN mission said in a statement that its alternative proposal differed by recognizing the principle of a &quot;two-State solution for the Israeli-Palestinian settlement.&quot; &quot;Unfortunately, these provisions were not given due regard in the US draft,&quot; it said.

Middle East

Draft of the resolution "welcomes the establishment of the Board of Peace," AFP reports

UN Security Council to vote Monday on Trump Gaza plan

MANAMA:&nbsp;Jordan and Germany said on Saturday that an international force expected to support a future Palestinian police in Gaza under US President Donald Trump&#39;s post-war governance plan should have a UN mandate. Under the US-brokered ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, a coalition of mainly Arab and Muslim nations is expected to deploy forces in the Palestinian territory, which has been devastated by the war. &lsquo;Security Council mandate&rsquo;The so-called international stabilization force is supposed to train and support vetted Palestinian police in the Strip, with backing from Egypt and Jordan, as well as secure border areas and prevent weapons smuggling to Hamas. &quot;We all agree that in order for that stabilization force to be able to be effective in getting the job done, it has to have a Security Council mandate,&quot; Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said. Jordan, however, will not be sending its own forces to the Strip. &quot;We&#39;re too close to the issue and we cannot deploy troops in Gaza,&quot; Safadi said, adding his country was nonetheless ready to cooperate with the international force. &lsquo;Clear basis in international law&rsquo;Safadi was speaking at the IISS Manama Dialogue conference in Bahrain alongside his German counterpart Johann Wadephul, who also supported a UN mandate for the force, saying it would &quot;need a clear basis in international law&quot;.&nbsp;&quot;We understand that this is of utmost importance to those countries who might be willing to send troops to Gaza and for the Palestinians. Germany would also want to see a clear mandate for this mission,&quot; Wadephul said. &lsquo;a US-led occupation&rsquo;&nbsp;The idea of the stabilization force has drawn some criticism, with UN experts last month warning it would &quot;replace Israeli occupation with a US-led occupation, contrary to Palestinian self-determination&quot;. The UN has mandated international peacekeeping forces in the region for decades, including UNIFIL in southern Lebanon, which is currently working with the Lebanese army to enforce a November 2024 ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.

The idea of the stabilization force has drawn some criticism, with UN experts last month warning it would 'replace Israeli occupation with a US-led occupation, contrary to Palestinian self-determination'.

Jordan, Germany say international force in Gaza needs UN mandate

JERSUSALEM: The families of Israeli hostages Monday called for the next phase of the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire to be delayed until Hamas returns the bodies of its remaining dead captives, even as Egyptian rescuers joined the hunt for them. &quot;Hamas knows exactly where every one of the deceased hostages is held. Two weeks have passed since the deadline set in the agreement for the return of all 48 hostages, yet 13 remain in Hamas captivity,&quot; the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said. &quot;The families urge the government of Israel, the United States administration and the mediators not to advance to the next phase of the agreement until Hamas fulfils all of its obligations and returns every hostage to Israel,&quot; the association said. On October 10, a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect, ending the Gaza war, which was triggered by the Palestinian group&#39;s cross-border attack that resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people in Israel. Hamas also took 251 people hostage during the attack. Israel&#39;s subsequent assault on Gaza killed at least 68,527 people, according to figures from the territory&#39;s health ministry that the UN considers reliable. Under the terms of the ceasefire deal, brokered by the United States and mediators Qatar and Egypt, Hamas has released its remaining 20 living hostages and the remains of 15 of the 28 that Israel had already confirmed dead. Hamas says it is committed to the ceasefire and insists it is trying to return 13 more bodies -- 11 more Israelis and two workers from Thailand and Tanzania -- but that the search has been hampered by the destruction wrought on Gaza during the war. In a statement to media on Saturday, lead Hamas negotiator Khalil al-Hayya said: &quot;There are challenges in locating the bodies of Israeli captives because the occupation has altered the terrain of Gaza. &quot;Moreover, some of those who buried the bodies have been martyred or no longer remember where they buried them.&quot; <h2 style="text-align: justify; line-height: 2;">Search for bodies</h2>In the past two days, Egypt has sent recovery crews and heavy earth-moving equipment into Gaza, with Israeli approval, to help with the recovery operation. Israeli spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian said a team of Red Cross staff, Egyptian rescuers and a Hamas member were searching for bodies and had been allowed to cross the so-called Yellow Line into the area of Gaza controlled by Israeli forces. &quot;The Red Cross, the Egyptian technical team, and a Hamas person have been permitted to enter beyond the Yellow Line position in Gaza under close (Israeli army) supervision to identify the location of our hostages,&quot; Bedrosian told journalists. A Red Cross spokesperson also confirmed it was part of the search team. No firm timescale has been put on the next stages of the Gaza truce plan, but US President Donald Trump&#39;s administration is working to set up an international security force with troops from Arab and Muslim nations to police the truce. Israel has voiced strong opposition to Turkey&rsquo;s participation in the proposed security force. At a news conference in Budapest, Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar said Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had &quot;led a hostile approach against Israel, that included not only hostile statements, but also diplomatic and economic measures against Israel&quot;. &quot;So it is not reasonable for us to let their armed forces enter the Gaza Strip, and we will not agree to that, and we said it to our American friends,&quot; he added. The US military has also set up a coordination centre in southern Israel to monitor the ceasefire and to coordinate aid and reconstruction, but aid agencies are pushing for greater access for humanitarian convoys inside Gaza. Israel has withdrawn its forces from Gaza&#39;s main cities, but still controls around half of the territory from positions on the Yellow Line, and has resisted calls to allow aid through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. Defence Minister Israel Katz, meanwhile, said Israel has lifted the state of emergency for areas near the border with Gaza for the first time since the October 2023 attack.

Families of Israeli hostages urged delaying the next Gaza ceasefire phase until Hamas returns all bodies, as Egypt and Red Cross teams join searches amid ongoing disputes over truce enforcement and security arrangements

Families of missing Israeli hostages demand delay in Gaza truce plan

ISLAMABAD: Several countries have expressed interest in joining the International Stabilization Force (ISF), a multinational security force outlined in US President Donald Trump&#39;s 20-point peace plan for Gaza. While the force will likely need a mandate from the UN Security Council, efforts to constitute it have been stepped up, led by the United States and its European allies, France and Britain. Pascal Confavreux, a spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry, told reporters in Paris that a UN mandate was necessary for such a force to have a solid basis in international law and to facilitate the process of obtaining possible contributions from nations.&nbsp; So far, Egypt, Indonesia, and Azerbaijan have shown the most interest in joining the force, while Turkiye&rsquo;s participation remains uncertain.&nbsp; IndonesiaIndonesia has made the clearest commitment so far to joining the ISF. President Prabowo Subianto told the United Nations General Assembly that his country was ready to deploy up to 20,000 troops if the Security Council approved a resolution authorizing the operation, Reuters reported. Prabowo described Indonesia as one of the world&rsquo;s leading contributors to UN peacekeeping missions, saying Jakarta stood ready to &ldquo;serve where peace needs guardians.&rdquo; The pledge marks the first formal troop offer for the ISF, positioning Indonesia as a key player in shaping the force&rsquo;s structure and mandate. EgyptThough not publicly announcing formal offers yet, Egypt is widely seen by diplomats as the likely lead partner in the force, owing to its shared border with Gaza and historic security concerns tied to the Sinai Peninsula.&nbsp; The country&rsquo;s involvement would aim to anchor Arab legitimacy for the mission, provide a regional partner acceptable to key stakeholders, and help maintain security at Gaza&rsquo;s frontier while the international stabilization force takes shape. TurkiyeTurkiye publicly declared its willingness to participate in the force, stating that it may provide military or civilian personnel and has begun arranging support for rehabilitation.&nbsp; However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected Turkish military involvement.&nbsp; &ldquo;There is no disagreement,&rdquo; the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Office told The Times of Israel. &ldquo;There will be no Turkish involvement.&rdquo; Ankara&#39;s position is uncertain, but US officials, including Vice President JD Vance, have stated Turkiye might play a &quot;constructive role&quot; in stabilizing Gaza during a briefing at the Civilian-Military Coordination Centre in southern Israel, Reuters reported. However, Israel&#39;s strong resistance appears to make a Turkish force deployment doubtful. Azerbaijan, UAE, and QatarAccording to Reuters, the US has been in contact with several countries, including Azerbaijan, the UAE, and Qatar, regarding potential contributions to the force. So far, none of these countries has announced any public troop pledges, although officials say talks are ongoing. Azerbaijan&rsquo;s inclusion would lend regional and Muslim-majority representation to the force, while aligning with its existing security ties with Israel. Pakistan and MalaysiaPakistan has shown diplomatic support for the Gaza peace proposal, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attending the ceasefire signing ceremony in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.&nbsp; During a phone call with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Sharif reviewed the peace proposal and stressed the significance of unhindered humanitarian relief to Gaza. Pakistan&#39;s leadership will decide on troops&#39; contribution to the ISF. Malaysia has condemned Israel&#39;s actions in Gaza and shown a desire to help peace efforts. Malaysia&#39;s involvement in the ISF is expected to be limited to humanitarian assistance rather than actual military engagement.

Europe

United Kingdom

The United States and European allies are advancing plans for a UN-backed international stabilization force in Gaza under President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan, with Egypt, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, and Turkiye discussed as potential contributors.

Gaza international stabilization force: who's in, who's out

THE HAGUE: The International Court of Justice said on Wednesday that Israel was obliged to ease the passage of aid into Gaza, stressing it had to provide Palestinians with the &quot;basic needs&quot; to survive.&nbsp;The wide-ranging ICJ ruling, quickly rejected by Israel, came as aid groups scrambled to scale up much-needed humanitarian assistance into Gaza, seizing upon a fragile ceasefire agreed earlier this month.&nbsp;While the UN&#39;s top court&#39;s &quot;Advisory Opinion&quot; is not legally binding, the ICJ believes it carries &quot;great legal weight and moral authority.&quot;&nbsp;&quot;This is a very important decision. And I hope that Israel will abide by it,&quot; UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday.&nbsp;ICJ President Yuji Iwasawa said Israel was &quot;under an obligation to agree to and facilitate relief schemes provided by the United Nations and its entities.&quot;&nbsp;That included UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, which Israel has banned after accusing some of its staff of taking part in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack that sparked the war in Gaza.&nbsp;The ICJ ruled that Israel had not substantiated the allegations.&nbsp;Israel did not take part in the proceedings and hit back at the findings.&nbsp;&quot;Israel categorically rejects the ICJ&#39;s &#39;advisory opinion,&#39; which was entirely predictable from the outset regarding UNRWA,&quot; foreign ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein posted on X.&nbsp;&quot;This is yet another political attempt to impose political measures against Israel under the guise of &#39;International Law.&#39;&quot;&nbsp;Iwasawa said the ICJ &quot;rejects the argument that the request abuses and weaponises the international judicial process.&quot;&nbsp;Another Israeli official added that Israel &quot;cooperates with international organizations, with other UN agencies regarding Gaza. But Israel will not cooperate with UNRWA.&quot;&nbsp;Within hours of the ruling, Norway said it would propose a UN General Assembly resolution demanding that Israel lift restrictions on Gaza aid.&nbsp;And the Palestinian delegate to the ICJ, Ammar Hijazi, urged nations to ensure Israel complies with the court to let aid into Gaza.&nbsp;&quot;The responsibility is on the international community to uphold these values and oblige Israel, bring Israel into compliance,&quot; he told reporters.&nbsp;Before the ruling, Abeer Etefa, Middle East spokesperson for the UN&#39;s World Food Program (WFP), said 530 WFP trucks had crossed into Gaza since the ceasefire started on October 10.&nbsp;The trucks had delivered more than 6,700 tons of food, which she said was &quot;enough for close to half a million people for two weeks.&quot;&nbsp;Etefa said around 750 tons a day were now coming through, well below the WFP&#39;s target of around 2,000 tons daily.&nbsp;The ICJ said that Israel, as an occupying power, was under an obligation &quot;to ensure the basic needs of the local population, including the supplies essential for their survival.&quot;&nbsp;At the same time, Israel was &quot;also under a negative obligation not to impede the provision of these supplies,&quot; the court said.&nbsp;The court also recalled the obligation under international law not to use starvation as a method of warfare.&nbsp;&#39;Serious concerns&#39;The UN had asked the ICJ to clarify Israel&#39;s obligations, as an occupying power, towards UN and other bodies &quot;including to ensure and facilitate the unhindered provision of urgently needed supplies essential to the survival&quot; of Palestinians.&nbsp;ICJ judges heard a week of evidence in April from dozens of nations and organizations, much of which revolved around the status of UNRWA.&nbsp;At the hearings, a US official raised &quot;serious concerns&quot; about UNRWA&#39;s impartiality, and alleged that Hamas used the agency&#39;s facilities.&nbsp;The US official, Josh Simmons, said Israel had &quot;no obligation to permit UNRWA specifically to provide humanitarian assistance.&rdquo;&nbsp;Simmons added that UNRWA was not the only option for delivering aid into Gaza.&nbsp;However, the ICJ noted that UNRWA &quot;cannot be replaced on short notice without a proper transition plan.&quot;&nbsp;Hijazi told the April hearings that Israel was blocking aid as a &quot;weapon of war,&quot; sparking starvation in Gaza.&nbsp;The case was separate from the others Israel faces under international law over its Gaza campaign.&nbsp;In July 2024, the ICJ issued another advisory opinion stating that Israel&#39;s occupation of the Palestinian territories was &quot;unlawful&quot; and must end as soon as possible.&nbsp;ICJ judges are also weighing accusations, brought by South Africa, that Israel has broken the 1948 UN Genocide Convention with its actions in Gaza.&nbsp;Another court in The Hague, the International Criminal Court, has issued arrest warrants for Israel&#39;s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.&nbsp;It also issued a warrant for Hamas commander Mohammed Deif, who Israel says was killed in an airstrike.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres terms it 'very important decision,' hopes Israel 'will abide by it;' ICJ president says Israel 'under an obligation to agree to and facilitate relief schemes provided by the United Nations and its entities.'

UN court says Israel must ease aid into Gaza, provide 'basic needs'

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday &ldquo;strongly condemned&rdquo; the latest Israeli attacks in Gaza, terming them a &ldquo;flagrant violation&rdquo; of the Gaza Peace Agreement, and called upon the international community to take immediate and effective measures to halt the aggression. In an official statement, the Foreign Office expressed deep concern over the renewed Israeli airstrikes that have claimed numerous civilian lives in Gaza. &ldquo;Pakistan strongly condemns Israel&rsquo;s violation of the Gaza Peace Agreement and the continued targeting of civilians,&rdquo; the statement said. &ldquo;These actions constitute a serious breach of the understanding reached in Sharm El-Sheikh under the witness of the international community.&rdquo; According to Gaza&rsquo;s Government Media Office, more than 100 Palestinians have been killed and over 230 wounded since the start of the ceasefire. The office accused Israeli forces of breaching the truce more than 80 times through &ldquo;direct gunfire, bombardments, and arrests of civilians.&rdquo; The Israeli military, however, claimed its airstrikes were in response to &ldquo;a blatant violation&rdquo; of the truce following the killing of two Israeli soldiers. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Knesset that &ldquo;153 tons of bombs were dropped on Hamas positions last week,&rdquo; insisting the strikes were &ldquo;necessary defensive actions.&rdquo; Hamas denied any breach, slamming Israel for &ldquo;fabricating pretexts&rdquo; to resume hostilities. The exchange of accusations has heightened concerns over the fragile ceasefire, which had allowed thousands of displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza to find their homes destroyed. Islamabad and Expatriates of Palestine also denounced what it described as &ldquo;terrorist assaults&rdquo; by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians and international solidarity activists during the olive harvest season in the occupied West Bank. The Pakistan Foreign Office echoed this concern, stating: &ldquo;Such actions run contrary to the spirit of the peace agreement signed in Sharm El-Sheikh in the presence of leadership from the Muslim and Arab world, the United States, Europe, and the United Nations.&rdquo; Islamabad urged the global community to intervene decisively to ensure full implementation of the ceasefire and to prevent further loss of civilian life. &ldquo;Pakistan calls for urgent and effective international measures to end these violations and restore peace,&rdquo; the statement read. &ldquo;Pakistan reaffirms its unwavering support for the Palestinian people and calls for the establishment of an independent, sovereign, viable, and contiguous State of Palestine, based on pre-June 1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.&rdquo; In related developments, Qatar&rsquo;s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Tuesday condemned Israel for repeatedly violating the ceasefire in Gaza, calling its recent strikes a &ldquo;flagrant breach&rdquo; of international law and warning that the fragile truce could collapse if such actions continue. Delivering his annual address to the Shura Council, Sheikh Tamim said the humanitarian situation in Gaza had deteriorated despite the US-brokered ceasefire that took effect on October 10. He urged the global community to &ldquo;hold Israel accountable for its actions.&rdquo; &ldquo;We reiterate our condemnation of all Israeli violations and practices in Palestine, particularly the transformation of the Gaza Strip into an area unfit for human life and the continued violation of the ceasefire,&rdquo; the emir said. Qatar, which has served as a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, has been facilitating talks in Doha to prevent renewed hostilities and secure humanitarian access to Gaza. The emir also denounced Israel&rsquo;s &ldquo;genocidal war,&rdquo; its expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, and what he described as attempts to &ldquo;Judaize the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound&rdquo; in East Jerusalem. Referring to an alleged Israeli strike on a Hamas delegation in Doha, Sheikh Tamim said: &ldquo;Israel has violated all international laws and norms governing relations between states by attacking a country that acts as a mediator and by attempting to kill delegation members. We consider this aggression an act of state terrorism.&rdquo;

Islamabad slams Israeli Gaza attacks, urges global action, reaffirms support for Palestine, and calls for an independent state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as capital

Pakistan condemns Israeli attacks in Gaza, urges urgent global action

KIRYAT GAT: US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday called progress in Gaza&rsquo;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 &ldquo;better than I expected.&rdquo; The Trump administration&#39;s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, added that &ldquo;we are exceeding where we thought we would be at this time.&rdquo; They visited a new center in Israel for civilian and military cooperation as questions remain over the long-term plan for peace, including when and how an international security force will deploy to Gaza and who will govern the territory after the war. Vance tried to downplay any idea that his visit &mdash; his first as vice president &mdash; was urgently arranged to keep the ceasefire in place. He said he feels &ldquo;confident that we&rsquo;re going to be in a place where this peace lasts,&rdquo; but warned that if Hamas doesn&rsquo;t cooperate, it will be &ldquo;obliterated.&rdquo; Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump&rsquo;s son-in-law and one of the architects of the ceasefire agreement, noted its complexity: &ldquo;Both sides are transitioning from two years of very intense warfare to now a peacetime posture.&quot; Vance is expected to stay in the region until Thursday and meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials. On Tuesday, Netanyahu fired his national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, but gave no reason for the decision. Israeli media said Hanegbi had opposed the renewal of Israel&rsquo;s Gaza offensive in March, and Israel&rsquo;s failed attempt to assassinate Hamas&rsquo; leadership in an airstrike in Qatar in September. In a statement, Hanegbi noted &ldquo;times of disagreement&rdquo; with Netanyahu. Hamas hands over remains of 2 more hostagesLate Tuesday, Israel&rsquo;s military said the remains of two more Gaza hostages had been returned to Israel, where they would be identified. Since the ceasefire began on Oct. 10, the remains of 15 hostages have been returned to Israel. Another 13 still need to be recovered in Gaza and handed over. On his visit to Israel on Tuesday, Vance urged a &ldquo;little bit of patience&rdquo; amid Israeli frustration with Hamas&rsquo; pace of returning the hostages. &ldquo;Some of these hostages are buried under thousands of pounds of rubble. Some of the hostages, nobody even knows where they are,&rdquo; Vance said. Israel is releasing 15 Palestinian bodies for the remains of each dead hostage, according to Gaza&rsquo;s Health Ministry. It said on Tuesday that Israel had so far transferred 165 bodies since earlier this month. As he faced journalists&#39; questions over the ceasefire&#39;s next steps, he said &ldquo;a lot of this work is very hard&quot; and urged flexibility. &ldquo;Once we&rsquo;ve got to a point where both the Gazans and our Israeli friends can have some measure of security, then we&rsquo;ll worry about what the long-term governance of Gaza is,&quot; he said. &quot;Let&rsquo;s focus on security, rebuilding, giving people some food and medicine.&rdquo; Although some 200 US troops were recently sent to Israel, Vance emphasized that they would not be on the ground in Gaza. But he said officials are beginning to &quot;conceptualize what that international security force would look like&quot; for the territory. He mentioned Turkey and Indonesia as countries expected to participate. The flags of Jordan, Germany, Britain and Denmark were on the stage where he spoke. Britain said late Tuesday it would send a small contingent of military officers to Israel to assist in monitoring the ceasefire. While the ceasefire has been tested by fighting and mutual accusations of violations, both Israel and Hamas have said they are committed to the deal. Aid into Gaza increases, while prices riseInternational organizations said they were scaling up humanitarian aid entering Gaza, while Hamas-led security forces cracked down against what it called price gouging by private merchants. The World Food Program said it had sent more than 530 trucks into Gaza in the past 10 days, enough to feed nearly half a million people for two weeks. That&#39;s well under the 500 to 600 that entered daily before the war. The WFP also said it had reinstated 26 distribution points across Gaza and hopes to scale up to its previous 145 points as soon as possible. Residents said prices for essential goods soared on Sunday after militants killed two Israeli soldiers and Israel responded with strikes that killed dozens of Palestinians. Israel also threatened to halt humanitarian aid. At a market in the central city of Deir al-Balah, a 25-kilogram (55-pound) package of flour was selling for more than $70 on Sunday, up from about $12 shortly after the ceasefire. By Tuesday, the price was around $30. Mohamed al-Faqawi, a Khan Younis resident, accused merchants of taking advantage of the perilous security situation. &ldquo;They are exploiting us,&rdquo; he said. On Monday, Hamas said its security forces raided shops across Gaza, closing some and forcing merchants to lower prices. Hamas also has allowed aid trucks to move safely and halted looting of deliveries. Nahed Sheheiber, head of Gaza&rsquo;s private truckers&rsquo; union, said there was no stealing aid since the ceasefire started. But other significant challenges remain as Gaza&#39;s financial system is in tatters. With nearly every bank branch and ATM inoperable, people pay exorbitant commissions to a network of cash brokers to get money for daily expenses. On Tuesday, dozens of people in Deir al-Balah spent hours in line at the Bank of Palestine hoping to access their money but were turned away. &ldquo;Without having the bank open and without money, it does not matter that the prices (in the market) have dropped,&rdquo; said Kamilia Al-Ajez. Gaza doctors say bodies returned with signs of tortureA senior health official in Gaza said some bodies of Palestinians returned by Israel bore &ldquo;evidence of torture&rdquo; and called for a United Nations investigation. Dr. Muneer al-Boursh, the health ministry&#39;s general director, said on social media late Monday that some had evidence of being bound with ropes and metal shackles, and had deep wounds and crushed limbs. It was not immediately clear if any of the bodies had been prisoners; they are returned without identification or details on how they died. The bodies could include Palestinian detainees who died in Israeli custody or bodies taken out of Gaza by Israeli troops during the war. The Israel Prisons Service denied that prisoners had been mistreated, saying it had followed legal procedures and provided medical care and &ldquo;adequate living conditions.&rdquo; Israeli hostages released from Gaza have also reported metal shackles and harsh conditions, including frequent beatings and starvation. In the 2023 attack on Israel that started the war, Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people as hostages. The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza&rsquo;s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts. Israel has disputed them without providing its own toll.

US Vice President JD Vance said Gaza’s ceasefire is progressing better than expected but warned of “very hard” work ahead, including disarming Hamas, rebuilding Gaza, and forming an international security force to maintain peace.

US vice president optimistic about Gaza ceasefire, notes 'very hard' work to come

ISLAMABAD: Nearly 100 Palestinians have been killed and more than 230 others injured since a US-brokered ceasefire took effect on October 10, according to Gaza&rsquo;s Government Media Office, as both sides trade accusations of violating the fragile truce. In a statement, the office said Israel has violated the ceasefire 80 times, citing &ldquo;direct gunfire at civilians, deliberate bombardment, the execution of fire belts, and arrests of civilian citizens.&rdquo; The statement called the actions &ldquo;grave and repeated breaches&rdquo; of international humanitarian law. On Monday, Gaza&rsquo;s civil defense agency reported that four people were killed by Israeli forces in Gaza City. &ldquo;They were returning to check on their homes in the Al-Shaaf area, east of the Al-Tuffah neighborhood,&rdquo; said Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the rescue service, which operates under Hamas authority. He said the victims were killed in two separate incidents &ldquo;by Israeli gunfire.&rdquo; The Israeli military said it fired at armed militants who crossed the so-called &ldquo;Yellow Line,&rdquo; the boundary where Israeli troops remain positioned under the ceasefire. The army said the individuals &ldquo;approached troops in the Shujaiya neighborhood,&rdquo; adjacent to Al-Tuffah. Several similar confrontations have occurred since the truce began, resulting in repeated casualties and heightening concerns over its durability. On Sunday, Israel carried out a series of airstrikes across Gaza after &ldquo;two of its soldiers were killed in combat.&rdquo; The military called the operation a response to &ldquo;a blatant violation&rdquo; of the truce. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told parliament that Israel dropped 153 tons of bombs on Hamas positions. &ldquo;One of our hands holds a weapon, the other hand is stretched out for peace,&rdquo; Netanyahu said. Hamas denied responsibility for any attacks, accusing Israel of fabricating &ldquo;pretexts&rdquo; to resume fighting. The fragile ceasefire has allowed hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, where many have found their homes reduced to rubble. With additional inputs from AFP

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel dropped 153 tons of bombs on Hamas targets, as Gaza authorities report more than 100 Palestinians have been killed and more than 230 injured since the US-brokered truce began

Israeli military actions in Gaza kill over 100 since US-brokered ceasefire began

NEW YORK: Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews packed the streets and sidewalks for blocks around the Israeli consulate in New York City on Sunday to protest issues, including a potential end of an exemption for religious students from compulsory service in Israel&#39;s military. The protest at the consulate, a block from the United Nations campus in Manhattan, illustrated the complex relationship between Israel and segments of the large population of very religious Jews in New York and its suburbs. The two influential, and often rival, grand rebbes of the Satmar community both called on adherents to participate in the demonstration.&nbsp; The Central Rabbinical Congress of the USA and Canada, a consortium of Orthodox Jewish groups, said it helped organize the protest. It comes after Israel&#39;s Supreme Court last year ordered the government to begin drafting ultra-Orthodox Jewish men into the military.&nbsp; Enlistment exemption There had been a longstanding enlistment exemption &mdash; dating to the founding of Israel in 1948. The ultra-Orthodox worry that mandatory enlistment will impact adherents&rsquo; ties to their faith.&nbsp; But many Jewish Israelis have argued that an exemption is unfair. Rifts over the issue have deepened since the start of the war in Gaza. &lsquo;Freedom and liberty&rsquo;Rabbi Moishe Indig, a Satmar community leader, said he&#39;s not sure organizers expected so many people to show up but he said he felt urgency building around the issue. He said he was appreciative of the governments in New York and the US &ldquo;for giving us the freedom and liberty to be able to live free and have our children go to school and study and learn the Torah.&quot;

There had been a longstanding enlistment exemption — dating to the founding of Israel in 1948; the ultra-Orthodox worry that mandatory enlistment will impact adherents’ ties to their faith. 

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