ISLAMABAD: Israel&#39;s parliament announced on Tuesday the extension of a law allowing authorities to ban any foreign media deemed harmful to state security from broadcasting in the country. Adopted in April 2024, at the height of the Israel siege of Gaza, the legislation primarily targeted Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera, which Israeli authorities have accused of serving as a &quot;propaganda outlet&quot; for Hamas. The law was originally limited to the state of emergency declared at the start of the war. However, on December 1, 2025, the Knesset voted to end that state of emergency, and an amendment passed overnight meant the law will remain in force for another two years. According to a statement published on the Knesset&#39;s X account, the amendment &quot;allows, under a temporary provision valid until December 31, 2027, the restriction of broadcasts by foreign media that harm state security.&quot; Left-leaning Haaretz newspaper, citing the bill, reported that the legislation allows such measures even in the absence of a state of emergency. Under the law, if the prime minister determines that a foreign media outlet poses a threat to state security, the communications minister may order a halt to its broadcasts. The minister is also authorized to shut down the outlet&#39;s offices, seize broadcasting equipment and block its website, according to the text of the bill published by Haaretz. The legislation requires the prime minister to consult security agencies, including the police, before issuing a ban. However, a single favourable opinion is sufficient to order a shutdown, with no judicial review required. &quot;Terrorist channels are out of bounds, in normal times as well as under a state of emergency,&quot; Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi wrote in a post on his X account. &quot;After voting for this law several times during the war to stop Al Jazeera&#39;s broadcasts in Israel, last night we finalized it independently of the state of emergency,&quot; he added. Media freedom has deteriorated in Israel since the start of the war in Gaza, dropping 11 places in Reporters Without Borders&#39; 2025 global press freedom index, from 101st to 112th out of 180 surveyed countries in 2024.

Middle East

Under the law, if the prime minister determines that a foreign media outlet poses a threat to state security, the communications minister may order a halt to its broadcasts.

Israel extends power to ban broadcasts deemed harmful to security

Reuters

US President Donald Trump told CNN on Wednesday that he would consider allowing Israeli forces to resume fighting in Gaza if Hamas fails to uphold its end of the ceasefire deal.&nbsp;&quot;Israel will return to those streets as soon as I say the word. If Israel could go in and knock the crap of them, they&rsquo;d do that,&quot; Trump was quoted as saying to CNN in a brief telephone call when asked what would happen if Hamas refused to disarm.

Americas

US President Trump told CNN that Israel could resume military action in Gaza if Hamas violates the ceasefire deal.

Trump warns Israel may resume Gaza war if Hamas defies ceasefire

CAIRO/JERUSALEM: Hamas fighters tightened their grip in Gaza on Tuesday after carrying out public executions, defying Israel&#39;s assertion that war cannot end under US President Donald Trump&#39;s plan until the militants are disarmed. In a stark assertion of the group&#39;s return, fighters executed men they accused of collaborating with Israeli forces. In one video circulated late on Monday, Hamas fighters dragged seven men into a circle of people in Gaza City, forced them to their knees and shot them from behind. A Hamas source confirmed the authenticity of the video. Gaza residents said fighters were increasingly visible on Tuesday, deploying along routes needed for aid deliveries. Palestinian security sources say dozens of people have been killed in clashes between Hamas fighters and rivals in recent days. Although Israeli troops have withdrawn from urban areas in Gaza under the ceasefire that began last week, drone fire killed five people as they went to check on houses in a suburb east of Gaza City and an air strike killed one person and injured another near Khan Younis, Gaza health authorities said. Hamas accused Israel of violating the ceasefire. The Israeli military said it had fired on people who crossed truce lines and approached its forces after ignoring calls to turn back. Trump proclaims historic dawn but hurdles remain&nbsp; Hamas&#39; resumption of power in Gaza and continued flashes of violence underscore the daunting hurdles facing efforts to move Trump&#39;s ceasefire plan towards a longer-term resolution of the conflict. While Trump proclaimed the &quot;historic dawn of a new Middle East&quot; to Israel&#39;s parliament on Monday, some of the most difficult elements of his plan have yet to be negotiated to resolve issues that wrecked previous efforts to end the war. Israeli forces remain entrenched across much of Gaza after their partial pullback inside the tiny, crowded territory. Promised increases in aid deliveries have not yet materialised for a population of 2.2 million people, many facing famine. A summit co-hosted by Trump in Egypt on Monday ended with no public announcement of major progress towards establishing an international military force for Gaza, or a new governing body. The remains of at least 23 dead hostages remain in Gaza. Hamas asserts control Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently maintained that the war cannot end until Hamas gives up its weapons and ceases to control Gaza, a demand that the fighters have rejected, torpedoing all previous peace efforts. When Hamas fighters appeared in the streets during the last ceasefire in January-March, Israel abandoned the truce and called off negotiations on an end to the war. But Trump, having announced that the war is now over, said on Monday Hamas still had a temporary green light to keep order. &quot;They do want to stop the problems, and they&#39;ve been open about it, and we gave them approval for a period of time,&quot; he said. Hamas sources told Reuters on Tuesday the group would tolerate no more violations of order in Gaza and would target collaborators, armed looters and drug dealers. The group, though greatly weakened after two years of pummelling Israeli bombardment and ground incursions, has been gradually reasserting itself with remaining fighters moving back onto the streets since the ceasefire took hold over the weekend. The group, which has governed Gaza since 2007, also deployed hundreds of workers to start rubble clearing key routes needed to access damaged or destroyed housing and to repair broken water pipes. Road clearance and security provision will also be needed for increased aid delivery. Hamas says hundreds of policemen were killed by Israel while protecting aid routes during the war. Israel said it was targeting Hamas fighters. Aid and hostages The ceasefire has stopped two years of devastating warfare in Gaza triggered by the October 7, 2023 attack in which Hamas-led gunmen killed around 1,200 people and seized 251 hostages according to Israeli tallies. Israel&#39;s military campaign in Gaza killed nearly 68,000 people according to local health authorities, with thousands more feared dead under the rubble. Gaza&#39;s Civil Defence Service said 250 bodies had been recovered since the truce began. Swathes of Gaza are in ruins and the global hunger monitor said in August there was famine in the territory. Reuters video on Tuesday showed people clearing debris from streets and an aid truck moving through a market protected by armed men sitting on top. UNICEF spokeswoman Tess Ingram said that while aid was getting into Gaza with tents, tarpaulin sheets, winter clothes, family hygiene kits and other critical items, she hoped for a significant increase later this week. In Israel, after Monday&#39;s jubilation at the return of the last 20 living hostages, families of those declared dead awaited word from Israeli authorities on the fate of their loved ones. The Israeli military said on Tuesday that the bodies of four hostages handed over by Hamas the previous day had been identified. One of them was a Nepalese student, the military said. This leaves 23 hostages in Gaza formally declared dead, plus one whose fate is undetermined. Some families fear their loved ones&#39; remains will be lost forever in the rubble of Gaza. A special international task force is meant to help locate bodies which Hamas is not able to find.

Palestinians sit next to a tent, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, October 14, 2025. (Reuters)

Hamas fighters tighten grip in Gaza, clouding future of ceasefire

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Jordan, the UAE, Indonesia, T&uuml;rkiye, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Egypt, in a joint statement on Sunday, welcomed the steps taken by Hamas in&nbsp;response to US President Donald Trump&rsquo;s plan to end the Gaza conflict. &ldquo;The foreign ministers ... welcomed President Trump&rsquo;s call on Israel to immediately stop the bombing and to begin implementation of the exchange agreement and expressed appreciation for his commitment to establishing peace in the region,&rdquo; according to the statement. Gaza administration and ceasefire talks The foreign ministers supported Hamas&rsquo;s announcement to hand over Gaza&rsquo;s administration to a transitional Palestinian Administrative Committee of independent technocrats. They called for swift negotiations to establish implementation mechanisms. They said that there is a need for &quot;immediate launch of negotiations to agree on mechanisms to implement the proposal, and address all of its aspects.&rdquo; Commitment to peace, security, and humanitarian aid According to the statement, &quot;The foreign ministers reiterated their joint commitment to support efforts toward the implementation of the proposal, to work for the immediate end of the war on Gaza, and achieve a comprehensive agreement that ensures unrestricted delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, no displacement of the Palestinian people, and that no measures are taken that threaten the security and safety of civilians, the release of hostages, the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza, unifying Gaza and the West Bank, and reaching a security mechanism that guarantees the security of all sides, in a manner that leads to the full Israeli withdrawal, and to the rebuilding of Gaza, and that creates a path for a just peace on the basis of the two-state solution.&quot; They described the developments as a &ldquo;real opportunity to achieve a comprehensive and sustainable ceasefire, and to address the critical humanitarian conditions facing people in Gaza Strip.&rdquo;

 Israeli soldiers take position along the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP)

Asia

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the eight countries reiterated their commitment to supporting the release of hostages, ceasefire talks, the handover of the Gaza administration, and urgent peace negotiations based on the two-state solution.

Pakistan, other Muslim nations, welcome Hamas response to Trump’s peace plan

International reactions have been pouring in following Hamas&rsquo;s positive response on Friday to US President Donald Trump&rsquo;s plan to free Israeli hostages in Gaza and end the nearly two-year conflict. Here are some of the main reactions from around the world: From the US, &ldquo;Hamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off. I will not tolerate delay,&rdquo; Trump said on Saturday, on his Truth Social page.&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s get this done, FAST.&rdquo; Trump on Friday had expressed appreciation that &ldquo;Israel has temporarily stopped the bombing&rdquo; &mdash; but Israel said on Saturday it was continuing with its military offensive in Gaza. Israel also took a stance. &ldquo;In light of Hamas&rsquo;s response, Israel is preparing for the immediate implementation of the first stage of the Trump plan for the release of all the hostages,&rdquo; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu&rsquo;s office said. &ldquo;We will continue to work in full cooperation with the President and his team to end the war in accordance with the principles set out by Israel, which align with President Trump&rsquo;s vision,&rdquo; the statement added. QatarQatar welcomed &ldquo;the announcement by Hamas of its agreement to President Trump&rsquo;s plan,&rdquo; said foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari, also expressing support for Trump&rsquo;s call for an immediate ceasefire. Egypt said it hoped &ldquo;this positive development will lead all parties to rise to the level of responsibility by committing to implementing President Trump&rsquo;s plan on the ground and end the war.&rdquo; United NationsUN Secretary-General Ant&oacute;nio Guterres &ldquo;welcomes&rdquo; Hamas&rsquo;s response and &ldquo;urges all parties to seize the opportunity to bring the tragic conflict in Gaza to an end,&rdquo; spokesman St&eacute;phane Dujarric said. UN rights chief Volker T&uuml;rk said he hoped the plan would &ldquo;pave the way for a permanent cessation of hostilities... in line with international human rights and humanitarian laws.&rdquo; It was, he said, a &ldquo;vital opportunity for all parties and influential states to pursue in good faith and stop &mdash; once and for all &mdash; the carnage and the suffering in Gaza, to flood the strip with humanitarian aid, and to ensure the release of the hostages and numerous detained Palestinians.&rdquo; The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, added: &ldquo;In two years, we have never been closer to securing peace than now. We cannot miss this opportunity. Too many lives have been lost and shattered,&rdquo; he wrote on X. Europe &ldquo;The release of all hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza are within reach!&rdquo; French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X, joining a chorus of hopeful European reactions to Hamas&rsquo;s response. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the plan represented &ldquo;the best chance for peace&rdquo; in the conflict and that Germany &ldquo;fully supports&rdquo; Trump&rsquo;s &ldquo;call upon both sides.&rdquo; Britain&rsquo;s Keir Starmer called Hamas&rsquo;s acceptance &ldquo;a significant step forward&rdquo; and urged all sides &ldquo;to implement the agreement without delay.&rdquo; TurkeyTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he believed Hamas was showing, &ldquo;as it has done many times before, that it is ready for peace.&rdquo; The foreign ministry said the Palestinian group&rsquo;s response &ldquo;provides an opportunity for the immediate establishment of a ceasefire in Gaza.&rdquo; JordanJordan&rsquo;s foreign ministry welcomed Hamas&rsquo;s response. It &ldquo;stressed the need to immediately halt the Israeli aggression on Gaza, open the border crossings to allow the immediate, adequate, and sustainable delivery of humanitarian aid to all parts of the strip, and launch a genuine effort to achieve a just peace.&rdquo; Lebanon&rsquo;s HezbollahThe head of the Hamas ally in Lebanon, Naim Qassam, said Washington&rsquo;s Gaza ceasefire plan was &ldquo;full of dangers&rdquo; and accused Israel of using it to achieve what it &ldquo;failed&rdquo; to do during the war. &ldquo;It is Israel&rsquo;s project, which it seeks to achieve through politics after failing to achieve it through military action, aggression, genocide, and famine,&rdquo; he added.

President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Europe

International reactions pour in following Hamas’s positive response to US President Donald Trump’s plan to free Israeli hostages in Gaza and end the nearly two-year conflict.

Articles tagged with "hamas"

Israel extends power to ban broadcasts deemed harmful to security

Trump warns Israel may resume Gaza war if Hamas defies ceasefire

Hamas fighters tighten grip in Gaza, clouding future of ceasefire

Pakistan, other Muslim nations, welcome Hamas response to Trump’s peace plan

Gaza peace plan: Key reactions to Hamas's response