CAIRO: Delegations from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, mediators along with the United States of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, met on Tuesday in Cairo to discuss the second phase of the deal, Egyptian state-linked media reported.&nbsp;Al-Qahera News, which has ties to Egyptian intelligence, said the meeting included the Egyptian and Turkish intelligence chiefs alongside the prime minister of Qatar.&nbsp;The delegates discussed working with the US &quot;to ensure the successful implementation of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement&quot; between Israel and Hamas, the channel reported.&nbsp;Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the US act as both mediators and guarantors for the Gaza deal, which came into effect on October 10 after two years of war.&nbsp;Their meeting in Cairo came two days after a senior Hamas delegation met with Egyptian spy chief Hassan Rashad to discuss the second phase of the truce.&nbsp;That phase concerns disarming Hamas, establishing a transitional authority and deploying an international stabilisation force of foreign troops to the Gaza Strip.&nbsp;According to Al-Qahera News, Tuesday&#39;s meeting addressed &quot;overcoming obstacles and limiting violations to ensure the ceasefire holds&quot;.&nbsp;Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused each other of violating the truce.&nbsp;According to the Gaza health ministry, Israeli fire has killed more than 300 Palestinians since the truce took hold.&nbsp;The mediators on Tuesday also &quot;agreed to continue strengthening coordination and cooperation with the Civil-Military Coordination Centre&quot; -- the truce monitoring centre set up by the US and its allies in southern Israel.

Middle East

Egyptian, Qatari, Turkish and US mediators met in Cairo to advance the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire, discussing disarmament plans, a transitional authority, and an international stabilisation force amid ongoing truce violations and rising casualties.

Gaza truce mediators in Cairo to discuss second phase: Egyptian Media   

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Israel has approved a plan to resettle the entire Bnei Menashe community from India, accelerating settlement expansion with nearly 5,800 members of the group to emigrate by 2030, according to Israeli officials and local media outlets. The proposal, endorsed at a cabinet meeting and submitted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Immigration and Absorption Ofir Sofer, sets out a two-phase arrival schedule. By the end of 2026, 1,200 people are expected to arrive, with the remaining 4,600 arriving by 2030, according to the Times of Israel. Who are the Bnei Menashe?The Bnei Menashe identify as descendants of the biblical tribe of Manasseh, regarded as one of Israel&rsquo;s &ldquo;lost tribes.&rdquo; For decades, members practiced a form of Judaism mixed with local traditions before seeking formal recognition. Their immigration has taken place in waves, supported largely by private organizations and the state. Resettlement plan and costsUnder the plan, the first phase will cost approximately 90 million shekels ($2.75 million), covering immigration arrangements, conversion, accommodation in absorption centers, Hebrew language training, and integration into education and employment.&nbsp; According to the official Israeli press statement, the Jewish Agency will manage and finance pre-immigration preparation and flights, investing additional funds in support of diaspora communities. Although members of the Bnei Menashe began arriving in the 1990s, Israel formally recognized the group as descendants of a biblical &ldquo;lost tribe&rdquo; only in 2005, when the then-Sephardi chief rabbi issued an endorsement, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Settlement expansion&nbsp;The decision comes as Israel continues significant settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. Earlier this month, the Times of Israel reported that tenders for a record number of housing units were published in 2025. A joint statement by Katz and Smotrich described the security cabinet&rsquo;s decision as &ldquo;a step that will change the face of the area and shape the future of settlement for years to come,&rdquo; the Times of Israel reported. &ldquo;The new settlements are all placed within a long-term strategic vision, whose goal is to strengthen the Israeli hold on the territory, to avoid the establishment of a Palestinian state, and to create the basis for future development of settlement in the coming decades,&rdquo; Katz&rsquo;s office said as reported by Times of Israel. In May, the International Center for Transitional Justice, a non-profit human rights group, reported that Israeli ministers said 22 new Jewish settlements had been approved in the West Bank &mdash; the largest expansion in decades.&nbsp; Some settlements already exist as illegal outposts and will now be legalized under Israeli law, while others are newly planned as stated by Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. India-Israel tiesThis week, PM Netanyahu said Israel and India were strengthening their strategic partnership following a meeting with India&rsquo;s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal in Jerusalem. Netanyahu said in a post on X that both sides were advancing investments, innovation and plans for an economic corridor linking India to Europe through Israel. The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, announced during the 2023 G20 Summit in New Delhi, is progressing on schedule, according to its official website. Goyal also met the Israeli president and said Israel&rsquo;s innovation ecosystem, combined with India&rsquo;s scale and talent, could serve as a &ldquo;force multiplier.&rdquo; According to India&rsquo;s Ministry of External Affairs, bilateral trade reached $6.53 billion in FY 2023-24, while investment ties continue to deepen, including India&rsquo;s $1.18 billion acquisition of a majority stake in Israel&#39;s Haifa Port in 2022.

Asia

Israel has approved a plan to resettle the entire Bnei Menashe community from India, accelerating settlement expansion with nearly 5,800 members of the group to emigrate by 2030, according to Israeli officials and local media outlets.

Israel to resettle thousands from India's Jewish tribe ‘Bnei Menashe’ 

JERUSALEM: The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US- and Israeli-backed private organization that provided aid for Palestinians in Gaza but was criticized by the UN, said on Monday it was ending its mission.&nbsp;&quot;The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) today announced the successful completion of its emergency mission in Gaza after delivering more than 187 million free meals directly to civilians living in Gaza,&quot; the group said in a statement.&nbsp;GHF was tasked with managing aid distribution points in the Gaza Strip in May, effectively supplanting the UN after Israel placed tight restrictions on international aid agencies.&nbsp;Those agencies were highly critical of the GHF, which managed four distribution centres in the Gaza Strip, while the UN system it replaced had 400.&nbsp;In August, a UN-mandated expert panel alleged that under the GHF aid was &quot;exploited for covert military and geopolitical agendas&quot; and United Nations special rapporteurs called for it to be disbanded.&nbsp;Hundreds of Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire while seeking aid from GHF distribution sites, according to the UN human rights office.&nbsp;The foundation said in its statement on Monday that it had been in talks with other international humanitarian organisations and with the Civil-Military Coordination Centre, a task force set up by the US and its allies in southern Israel to monitor the truce in Gaza.&nbsp;&quot;It&#39;s clear they will be adopting and expanding the model GHF piloted,&quot; the group&#39;s executive director, John Acree, said, according to the statement.&nbsp;The US State Department thanked GHF for its humanitarian work and its contribution to reaching a ceasefire in Gaza.&nbsp;&quot;GHF&#39;s model, in which Hamas could no longer loot and profit from stealing aid, played a huge role in getting Hamas to the table and achieving a ceasefire. We thank them for all that they provided to Gazans,&quot; Tommy Pigott, a spokesman for the US State Department, wrote on X.&nbsp;In reaction to the announcement of GHF&#39;s closure, a spokesman for Hamas said the organisation should be held accountable for the harm it caused to Palestinians.&nbsp;&quot;We call upon all international human rights organisations to ensure that it does not escape accountability after causing the death and injury of thousands of Gazans and covering up the starvation policy practised by the (Israeli) government,&quot; Hazem Qassem wrote on his Telegram channel.&nbsp;A US-brokered ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel came into effect on Oct. 10.&nbsp;It is the first phase in what international mediators hope will be a process to end the war and kickstart reconstruction in Gaza.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation ended its controversial mission after delivering millions of meals in Gaza. Critics, including UN experts, accused it of aiding military agendas and causing harm, while the US praised its role in securing a ceasefire.

Gaza Humanitarian Foundation announces end of its mission

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia condemned on Wednesday a visit by Israel&#39;s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir to the Al-Aqsa compound, a disputed area in occupied east Jerusalem home to Islam&#39;s third-holiest site that is also Judaism&#39;s holiest place. Riyadh voiced its &quot;condemnation of the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound by Israeli officials and settlers under the protection of the occupation forces, reiterating its strongest condemnation of the continued attacks on the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque,&quot; the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia strongly condemned Israeli minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s visit to Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa compound, calling it a provocative “storming” under military protection and denouncing repeated Israeli violations against the sanctity of Islam’s third-holiest site.

Articles tagged with "Israeli Occupation"

Gaza truce mediators in Cairo to discuss second phase: Egyptian Media

Israel to resettle thousands from India's Jewish tribe ‘Bnei Menashe’

Gaza Humanitarian Foundation announces end of its mission

Saudi Arabia condemns far-right Israeli minister's 'storming' of Al-Aqsa compound

Israel to resettle thousands from India's Jewish tribe ‘Bnei Menashe’