Palestinian novelist Basim Khandaqji arrives in Egypt after release from Israeli jail
The 41-year-old writer has arrived in Egypt after being exiled by Israeli authorities on his release from Israeli prison.
A video shared by The Palestinian Information Center shows a gaunt Khandaqji being greeted by supporters on his arrival in Egypt, wearing a traditional Palestinian scarf and smiling.
Khandaqji was arrested in 2004, at the age of 21, on terrorism charges and sentenced to three life sentences over a deadly bombing in Tel Aviv.
In 2024, Khandaqji received the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) for his novel A Mask, the Colour of the Sky, one of several books he penned while in Israeli prison.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office, Israel forced at least 154 of the Palestinians it freed on Monday into exile.
#شاهد | الأسير باسم خندقجي يصل مصر عقب تحرره في صفقة التبادل pic.twitter.com/BQeYEDUKj5
— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) October 13, 2025
UN relief chief allocates more funds to Gaza recovery
Tom Fletcher says he has allocated an additional $11m from the UN’s emergency response fund to help “scale up aid” in Gaza as winter approaches.
In a post on X, the UN’s relief chief said the figure brings the total funds allocated by his agency to Gaza to $20m and that the money will be used to “deliver food, water, shelter and health services, and keep essential infrastructure running”.
“The ceasefire in Gaza offers a critical window to scale up aid, ahead of winter,” he wrote.
Earlier, Fletcher told the Associated Press news agency that funding and access are still needed to ensure that aid reaches Gaza, as well as ensuring that the ceasefire agreement holds.
The UN’s Emergency Response Fund is funded by voluntary commitments made by UN member states, and is meant to allow the global body to respond quickly to emergencies when needed.
The ceasefire in Gaza offers a critical window to scale up aid, ahead of winter.
I’ve allocated an additional $11 million from @UNCERF, bringing the total to $20 million, to deliver food, water, shelter and health services, and keep essential infrastructure running. pic.twitter.com/0GajVkE9Ha
— Tom Fletcher (@UNReliefChief) October 13, 2025
Aid trucks still waiting at Gaza crossing as Israeli forces delay entry
It’s just after 8am in Gaza and not a single truck has entered through the Kissufim crossing, one of the routes that had been expected to open today.
There are dozens of trucks waiting for at least two hours for the green light from Israeli forces to move through, unload food supplies and return.
Five crossings are meant to open in the south, and at least two in the north.
Today, the expectation is for about 600 trucks carrying humanitarian aid – food, shelter materials, medicine and fuel. Some drivers told us they waited the entire day yesterday for clearance but never received it, eventually returning home with their trucks still full.
It shows just how extensive the delays and restrictions are. Inspections can take hours, sometimes stretching through the entire day, leaving much-needed aid stuck at the border.
