Mourners carry bodies during the funeral of Hamas’s senior commander Raed Saed and his aides, who were killed in an Israeli strike a day earlier, in Gaza City, December 14, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Palestinians walk through the destruction left by the Israeli air and ground offensive in Gaza City, on November 29, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. File.
| Photo Credit: AP

Israeli settlers gather as Palestinians protest against them taking over their land, near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on November 13, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted on Wednesday (October 22, 2025) at his opposition to any role for Turkish security forces in the Gaza Strip as part of a mission to monitor a U.S.-backed ceasefire with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Speaking in Jerusalem alongside visiting U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, Mr. Netanyahu said they had discussed the “day-after” for Gaza, including who could provide security in the territory shattered by two years of war.

Mr. Vance, who said on Tuesday (October 21) U.S. President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan was going better than expected, reiterated his optimism. “I never said it was easy. But what I am is optimistic that the ceasefire is going to hold and that we can actually build a better future in the entire Middle East,” he said.

With a fragile ceasefire in place for 12 days, focus has switched to the second phase of Mr. Trump’s Gaza plan.

This requires Hamas to disarm and foresees the establishment of an internationally-supervised Palestinian committee to run Gaza with an international force supporting vetted Palestinian police.

NETANYAHU HAS ‘STRONG OPINIONS’ ON TURKISH ROLE IN GAZA

Responding to a question about the idea of Turkish security forces in Gaza, Mr. Netanyahu said: “I have very strong opinions about that. Want to guess what they are?”

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while the Defence Ministry declined to comment on the issue.

Mr. Vance said on Tuesday (October 21) there would be a “constructive role” for Turkey to play but that Washington wouldn’t force anything on Israel when it came to foreign troops “on their soil”.

Once warm relations between NATO member Turkey and Israel hit new lows during the Gaza war, with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan sharply criticising Israel’s attacks on the enclave and elsewhere in the region, and Syria — which borders both states — emerging as an arena of intensifying rivalry.

Turkey, which helped persuade Hamas to accept Mr. Trump’s plan, has said it would take part in the international task force to monitor the ceasefire implementation, and that its armed forces could serve in a military or civilian capacity as needed.

Hamas has resisted pressure to disarm, saying that it is ready to hand its weapons to a future Palestinian state.

Mr. Vance said: “We have a very, very tough task ahead of us, which is to disarm Hamas, but rebuild Gaza to make life better for the people of Gaza, but also to ensure that Hamas is no longer a threat to our friends in Israel.”

BODIES BURIED IN GAZA

The ceasefire was followed by the release of remaining living hostages seized in Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, and the freeing of some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners by Israel.

But it remains fragile, with flashes of violence and recriminations over the pace of returning hostage bodies, bringing in aid and opening borders.

Hamas has reasserted control in Gaza since the ceasefire by deploying armed men on the streets and cracking down on groups that have challenged its grip.

Health authorities in Gaza said a Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire in Gaza City. The Israeli military was looking into the report, a spokesperson said.

Gazan authorities buried the bodies of 54 unidentified people handed over by Israel, the Gaza government media office said. Medics said 30 more bodies arrived at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis after being released by Israel.

Israeli authorities have said the bodies belong to militants who invaded Israel in the October 7 attacks or were killed in battle with Israeli forces in Gaza during the war.

Hamas has released the bodies of 15 out of 28 deceased hostages seized in 2023. Mr. Vance on Tuesday (October 21) said some of the remaining bodies were buried deep under rubble, saying it would take “a little bit of time” to recover them and urging patience.

Israeli forces have killed at least 88 Palestinians, among them civilians, since the ceasefire began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and two Israeli soldiers were killed by Palestinian militants in southern Gaza over the weekend.

Hamas’ attack on Israel that triggered the war killed around 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, with 251 dragged into Gaza as hostages. Israeli attacks have killed more than 68,000 Palestinians in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Published – October 22, 2025 09:05 pm IST

Security officials walk outside the Israeli military prison, Ofer, on the day Israel is expected to release Palestinian prisoners as part of a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on October 13, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The sides appeared closer than they have been in months to ending a war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, reduced much of Gaza to rubble, brought famine to parts of the territory and left dozens of hostages, living and dead, in Gaza

Israel’s Cabinet early on Friday (October 10, 2025) approved President Donald Trump’s plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of all the remaining hostages held by Hamas, a key step toward ending a ruinous two-year war that has destabilised the Middle East.

A brief statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the Cabinet approved the “outline” of a deal to release the hostages, without mentioning other aspects of the plan that are more controversial.

The broader ceasefire plan included many unanswered questions, such as whether and how Hamas will disarm and who will govern Gaza. But the sides appeared closer than they have been in months to ending a war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, reduced much of Gaza to rubble, brought famine to parts of the territory and left dozens of hostages, living and dead, in Gaza.

The war, which began with Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, has also triggered other conflicts in the region, sparked worldwide protests and led to allegations of genocide that Israel denies.

Some 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas-led assault, and 251 were taken hostage. In Israel’s ensuing offensive, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and nearly 170,000 wounded, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half of the deaths were women and children.

In the hours leading up to the Israeli Cabinet’s vote, Israeli strikes continued. Explosions were seen on Thursday in northern Gaza, and a strike on a building in Gaza City killed at least two people and left more than 40 trapped under rubble, according to the Palestinian Civil Defence.

At least 11 dead Palestinians and another 49 who were wounded arrived at hospitals over the past 24 hours, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.

An Israeli military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military guidelines said Israel was hitting targets that posed a threat to its troops as they reposition. Hamas blasted Israel over the strike, saying Netanyahu was trying to “shuffle the cards and confuse” efforts by mediators to end the war in Gaza.

A senior Hamas official and lead negotiator made a speech Thursday laying out what he says are the core elements of the ceasefire deal: Israel releasing around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, opening the border crossing with Egypt, allowing aid to flow and withdrawing from Gaza.

Khalil al-Hayya said all women and children held in Israeli jails will also be freed. He did not offer details on the extent of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Al-Hayya said the Trump administration and mediators had given assurances that the war is over, and that Hamas and other Palestinian factions will now focus on achieving self-determination and establishing a Palestinian state.

“We declare today that we have reached an agreement to end the war and the aggression against our people,” Al-Hayya said in a televised speech Thursday evening.

In other developments, US officials announced that they would send about 200 troops to Israel to help support and monitor the ceasefire deal as part of a broader, international team. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not authorized for release.

Cautious celebrations

In the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, reactions to the announcement of a ceasefire were relatively muted and often colored by grief.

“I am happy and unhappy. We have lost a lot of people and lost loved ones, friends and family. We lost our homes,” said Mohammad Al-Farra. “Despite our happiness, we cannot help but think of what is to come. … The areas we are going back to, or intending to return to, are uninhabitable.”

In Tel Aviv, families of the remaining hostages popped champagne and cried tears of joy after Trump announced the deal.

In Jerusalem on Thursday, Sharon Canot celebrated with some others.

“We are so excited this morning. We cried all morning,” she said. “It’s been two years that we are in horror.”

Under the terms, Hamas intends to release all living hostages in a matter of days, while the Israeli military will begin a withdrawal from the majority of Gaza, people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of an agreement that has not been fully made public. Some 20 of the 48 hostages still in captivity are believed to be alive.

In a short video posted by US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Mr. Trump was seen speaking by phone to a group of elated hostage families.

“They are all coming back on Monday,” said Trump, who is expected to visit the region in the coming days.

Tom Fletcher, the UN humanitarian chief, told reporters Thursday that officials have 170,000 metric tons of medicine, aid and other supplies at ready for transport into Gaza when they are given a green light.

How the deal will unfold

The deal, which was expected to be signed in Egypt, will include a list of prisoners to be released and maps for the first phase of an Israeli withdrawal to new positions in Gaza, according to two Egyptian officials briefed on the talks, a Hamas official and another official.

Israel will publish the list of the prisoners, and victims of their attacks will have 24 hours to lodge objections.

The withdrawal could start as soon as Thursday evening, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to be publicly named speaking about the negotiations. The hostage and prisoner releases are expected to begin Monday, the officials from Egypt and Hamas said, though the other official said they could occur as early as Sunday night.

Five border crossings would reopen, including the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, the Egyptian and Hamas officials said.

The Trump plan calls for Israel to maintain an open-ended military presence inside Gaza, along its border with Israel. An international force, comprised largely of troops from Arab and Muslim countries, would be responsible for security inside Gaza. The US would lead a massive internationally funded reconstruction effort.

The plan also envisions an eventual role for the Palestinian Authority — something Netanyahu has long opposed. But it requires the authority, which administers parts of the West Bank, to undergo a sweeping reform program that could take years.

The Trump plan is even more vague about a future Palestinian state, which Mr. Netanyahu firmly rejects.

What comes next for Netanyahu

The days ahead could be politically tricky for Mr. Netanyahu, who has been shadowed by an ongoing corruption trial as he navigated the Gaza war.

His grip on power has been largely contingent on the support of hard-line, far-right coalition partners who have urged him to continue operations against Hamas until the group is eliminated.

But Mr. Trump on Thursday suggested Mr. Netanyahu’s political standing has been bolstered by the ceasefire and hostage deal.

“He’s much more popular today than he was five days ago,” Mr. Trump said. “I can tell you right now, people shouldn’t run against him. Five days ago, might not have been a bad idea.”

Protesters in Israel demanding the government make a deal to secure the release of hostages held by militants in Gaza escalated their campaign on Sunday (August 17, 2025), staging a nationwide strike that blocked traffic and closed businesses.

The “day of stoppage” was organised by two groups representing some of the families of hostages and bereaved families, weeks after militant groups released videos of hostages and Israel announced plans for a new offensive.

Protesters, who fear further fighting could endanger the 50 hostages believed to remain in Gaza, only about 20 of whom are thought to be alive, chanted: “We don’t win a war over the bodies of hostages.”

Protesters gathered at dozens of points throughout Israel, including outside politicians’ homes, military headquarters and on major highways, where they were sprayed with water cannons as they blocked lanes and lit bonfires that cloaked roads in smoke. Some restaurants and theatres shuttered in solidarity.

Police said they had arrested 32 as part of the nationwide demonstration — one of the fiercest since the uproar over six hostages found dead in Gaza last September.

“Military pressure doesn’t bring hostages back – it only kills them,” former hostage Arbel Yehoud said at a demonstration in Tel Aviv’s hostage square. “The only way to bring them back is through a deal, all at once, without games.”

Netanyahu’s allies oppose any deal that leaves Hamas in power

“Today, we stop everything to save and bring back the hostages and soldiers. Today, we stop everything to remember the supreme value of the sanctity of life,” said Anat Angrest, mother of hostage Matan Angrest. “Today, we stop everything to join hands — right, left, centre and everything in between.”

Although Israel’s largest labour union, Histadrut, ultimately did not join Sunday’s (August 17, 2025) action, strikes of this magnitude are relatively rare in Israel. Many businesses and municipalities decided independently to strike.

Still, an end to the conflict does not appear near. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded the immediate release of the hostages but is balancing competing pressures, haunted by the potential for mutiny within his coalition. Far-right members of his cabinet insist they won’t support any deal that allows Hamas to retain power. The last time Israel agreed to a ceasefire that released hostages, they threatened to topple Netanyahu’s government.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Sunday (August 17, 2025) called the stoppage “a bad and harmful campaign that plays into Hamas’ hands, buries the hostages in the tunnels and attempts to get Israel to surrender to its enemies and jeopardise its security and future.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, in a statement, accused protesters of trying to “weaken Israel.” Like Mr. Smotrich, he said the strike “strengthens Hamas and delays the return of the hostages”

Israeli airstrike hits power plant in Yemen

Israeli airstrikes hit Yemen’s capital on Sunday (August 17, 2025), escalating strikes on Iran-backed Houthis, who, since the war began, have fired missiles at Israel and targeted ships in the Red Sea.

Both the IDF and a Houthi-run television station in Yemen announced the strikes. Al-Masirah Television said they targeted a power plant in the southern district of Sanhan, sparking a fire and knocking it out of service, the Yemeni station said. Israel’s military said Sunday’s (August 17, 2025) strikes targeted energy infrastructure it claimed was being used by the Houthis and were launched in response to missiles and drones aimed at Israel.

While some projectiles have breached its missile defences — notably during its 12-day war with Iran in June — Israel has intercepted the vast majority of missiles launched from Yemen.

More tents sent to Gaza ahead of new displacement order

While demonstrators in Israel demanded a ceasefire, Israel began preparing for an invasion of Gaza City and other populated parts of the besieged strip, aimed at destroying Hamas.

The military body that coordinates its humanitarian aid to Gaza said Sunday (August 17, 2025) that the supply of tents to the territory would resume. COGAT said it would allow the United Nations to resume importing tents and shelter equipment into Gaza ahead of plans to forcibly evacuate people from combat zones “for their protection.”

The majority of assistance has been blocked from entering Gaza since Israel imposed a total blockade in March after a ceasefire collapsed when Israel restarted its offensive. Deliveries have since partially resumed, though aid organisations say the flow is far below what is needed.

Some have accused Israel of “weaponising aid” through blockades and rules they say turn humanitarian assistance into a tool of its political and military goals.

Israel’s air and ground war has already killed tens of thousands of people in Gaza and displaced most of the population. The United Nations is warning that levels of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at their highest since the war began.

The Hamas-led attack in 2023 killed around 1,200 people in Israel. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed 61,897 people in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry, which does not specify how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children.

On Sunday (August 17, 2025), two children died of malnutrition-related causes in Gaza, bringing the total over the last 24 hours to seven, according to the ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals.

The U.N. and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on casualties. Israel disputes its figures but has not provided its own.

Published – August 17, 2025 04:26 pm IST

Smoke rises over the northern Gaza Strip following an explosion as seen from a position on the Israeli side of the border on January 7, 2025 in Southern Israel, Israel. Israel and Hamas resumed indirect ceasefire talks through mediators in Qatar, as Israel continued airstrikes in Gaza over the weekend.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Talks aimed at cementing a truce in Gaza between Israel and Hamas are ongoing, with “technical meetings” taking place between the parties, mediator Qatar’s foreign ministry said Tuesday (January 7, 2025).

“The technical meetings are still happening between both sides,” ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said, referring to meetings with lower-level officials on the details of an agreement. “There are no principal meetings taking place at the moment.”

Mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States have been engaged in months of talks between Israel and Hamas that have failed to end the devastating conflict in Gaza.

Ansari said there were “a lot of issues that are being discussed” in the ongoing meetings, but declined to go into details “to protect the integrity of the negotiations”.

Hamas said at the end of last week that indirect negotiations in Doha had resumed, while Israel said it had authorised negotiators to continue the talks in the Qatari capital.

A previous round of mediation in December ended with both sides blaming the other for the impasse, with Hamas accusing Israel of setting “new conditions” and Israel accusing Hamas of throwing up “obstacles” to a deal.

In December, the gas-rich Gulf emirate expressed optimism that “momentum” was returning to the talks following Donald Trump’s election victory in the United States.

A month earlier, Doha had said it was putting its mediation on hold, and that it would resume when Hamas and Israel showed “willingness and seriousness”.

Cairo:

Once muscular and strong, Palestinian bodybuilder Moazaz Obaiyat’s nine-month spell in Israeli custody left him unable to walk unaided upon his release in July. Then, in an October pre-dawn raid on his home, soldiers detained him again.

Before being re-arrested, the 37-year-old father of five was diagnosed with severe PTSD by Bethlehem Psychiatric Hospital, related to his time at Israel’s remote Ktz’iot prison, according to medical notes seen by Reuters from the hospital, a public clinic in the occupied West Bank.

The notes said Obaiyat was subjected to “physical and psychological violence and torture” in prison and described symptoms including severe anxiety, withdrawal from his family and avoidance of discussion of traumatic events and current affairs.

Alleged abuses and psychological harm to Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons and camps are in renewed focus amid stepped-up efforts in December by international mediators to secure a ceasefire that could see the release of thousands of inmates detained during the Gaza war and before, in return for Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza.

In the event of the release of detainees in any future deal, many “will require long-term medical care to recover from the physical and psychological abuse they have endured,” said Qadoura Fares, head of the Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, a government body in the West Bank. Fares said he was aware of Obaiyat’s case.

For this story, Reuters spoke to four Palestinian men detained by Israel since the war’s outbreak after the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. All were held for months, accused of affiliating with an illegal organisation, and released without being formally charged or convicted of any crime.

All described lasting psychological scars they attributed to abuses including beatings, sleep and food deprivation and prolonged restraint in stress positions during their time inside. Reuters could not independently verify the conditions in which they were held.

Their accounts are consistent with multiple investigations by human rights groups that reported grave abuses of Palestinians in Israeli detention.

An investigation published by the United Nations human rights office in August described substantiated reports of widespread “torture, sexual assault and rape, amid atrocious inhumane conditions” in prisons since the war began. The U.N. office has also said Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The White House has called the reports of torture, rape and abuse in Israel’s prisons “deeply concerning.”

In response to Reuters questions, the Israeli military said it was investigating several cases of alleged abuse of Gazan detainees by military personnel but “categorically” rejected allegations of systematic abuse within its detention facilities.

The military declined to comment on individual cases. The Israel Prison Service (IPS), which falls under hard-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and the country’s internal security service said they were not in a position to comment on individual cases.

“Terrorists in Israeli prisons are granted supervised living conditions and accommodations appropriate for criminals,” Ben Gvir’s office said in response to Reuters questions, adding that the facilities operate in accordance with the law. “The ‘summer camp’ is over,” Ben Gvir’s office said.

Tal Steiner, executive director of the Israeli rights group Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), said the symptoms the men recounted were common and can echo through victims’ lifetimes, often shattering their families.

“Torture in Israeli prisons has exploded since October 7. It will have and already has had a devastating effect on Palestinian society,” said Steiner.

Speaking from his hospital bed in July, a severely emaciated Obaiyat called the treatment of himself and fellow prisoners “disgusting,” showing scars on his wasted legs and describing isolation, hunger, handcuffs and abuse with metal rods, without giving details.

Photos of Obaiyat taken before his incarceration show a powerfully-built man.

On Dec. 19, Israel’s High Court ordered the state to answer a petition brought by rights groups about the lack of adequate food for Palestinian prisoners.

Israel has also reported mistreatment of some of the 251 of its citizens taken captive to Gaza after the Hamas attacks. A report by the Israeli Health Ministry, published on Saturday said hostages were subjected to torture, including sexual and psychological abuse. Hamas has repeatedly denied abuse of the hostages.

WITHOUT CHARGE

Obaiyat is currently being held in a small detention centre in Etzion, south of Bethlehem, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, an advocacy group.

He is being held for six months under “administrative detention”, a form of incarceration without charge or trial, and the official reason for his arrest is unknown, the group said. Israel’s military, internal security service and prison service did not respond to questions about his specific case.

PCATI said at least 56 Palestinians had died in custody during the war, compared to just one or two annually in the years preceding the conflict. Israel’s military said it launches criminal investigations of all deaths of Palestinians in its custody.

Palestinian prisoner numbers have at least doubled in Israel and the West Bank to more than 10,000 during the war, PCATI estimates, based on court documents and data obtained through freedom of information requests.

Through the course of the war, around 6,000 Gazans have been incarcerated, the Israeli military said in response to a query from Reuters.

Unlike Palestinians from the West Bank who are held under military law, Palestinians from Gaza are held in Israel under its Unlawful Combatants Law.

The law has been used to hold people incommunicado, deny them their rights as prisoners of war or as prisoners under military occupation, and incarcerate them for extended periods without charge or trial, according to Professor Neve Gordon, an Israeli scholar who specialises in human rights and international law at London’s Queen Mary University.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club likened the detentions to forced disappearance.

Israel’s prison service declined to comment on prisoner numbers and deaths.

SDE TEIMAN CAMP

Fadi Ayman Mohammad Radi, 21, a former engineering student from Khan Younis, Gaza, was one of a couple dozen Palestinians released at the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza on Aug. 20.

Radi described struggling to stretch out his limbs after being cuffed and chained for four months at Israel’s Sde Teiman military detention camp, officially a temporary prisoner sorting facility.

“They didn’t interrogate us, they destroyed us,” said Radi.

Located in the Negev desert, Sde Teiman has been the site of grave abuses including rape, according to allegations by whistleblowers among the camp’s guards.

Israel is currently investigating what the U.N called “a particularly gruesome case” of alleged sexual abuse at Sde Teiman in which five soldiers are accused of anally penetrating a detainee with a rod that punctured his internal organs.

Radi said he was beaten repeatedly and arbitrarily, permanently restrained and blindfolded, hung up in stress positions and forced to sit on the floor almost constantly without moving.

At one point, he said he was deprived of sleep for five consecutive days in a space he said Israeli soldiers called the ‘disco room,’ subjected to loud music. He did not describe sexual violence.

Radi said he found it difficult to sleep and that even talking about his ordeal made him relive it.

“Every time I say the words, I visualise the torture,” said Radi, who was arrested by Israeli soldiers in Gaza on March 4.

Reuters could not independently verify his story. The Israeli military said it was unable to comment, saying it could not find Radi’s files because Reuters was unable to provide his ID number.

Despite a government decision to phase out Sde Teiman, the camp is still operational, PCATI said.

OFER AND KTZ’IOT

Widespread abuses have also been reported at more established facilities, such as the Ktz’iot prison, also in the Negev, and Ofer military camp, south of Ramallah in the West Bank.

After collating evidence and testimony from 55 former Palestinian prisoners, Israeli rights group B’Tselem earlier this year released a report accusing Israel of deliberately turning the prison system into a ‘network of torture camps’.

Using emergency legislation introduced after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, Ben Gvir, the hardline minister, ordered conditions be downgraded for ‘security prisoners’, a category almost entirely comprising Palestinians.

Human rights scholar Gordon likened what he said was the use of torture in Israel’s prisons to terrorism.

“Terrorism usually is an act that’s limited in the number of people directly impacted, but the psychosocial effect is dramatic. It’s the same with torture,” said Gordon, who co-edited a book on abuses in the Israeli prison system.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)