UN confirms Israel allowing only 300 aid trucks daily into Gaza

Israel has told the UN it will allow only 300 aid trucks – half the agreed number – into the Gaza Strip from Wednesday.

No fuel or gas will be allowed into the war-torn enclave except for specific needs related to humanitarian infrastructure, it said.

Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Gaza, confirmed the UN had received the note from COGAT, the arm of the Israeli military that oversees aid flows into Gaza.

COGAT said on Friday that it expected about 600 aid trucks to enter Gaza daily during the ceasefire.

The COGAT note said the restrictions are being taken because “Hamas violated the agreement regarding the release of the bodies of the hostages.”

Ceasefire already broken, unrestricted aid never happened, starvation continues.

Well done Trump, you just want to dole out the reconstruction contracts to get good deals with your Billionaire buddies and dictators.


Hamas informs mediators it will return Israeli bodies tonight: Reports

News agencies report Hamas informed truce mediators it will begin transferring the bodies of four deceased Israeli captives to Israel tonight. The transfer will happen at 10pm local time (19:00 GMT), Reuters news agency cited an unnamed official involved in the process as saying.

Red Cross calls on Israel to open all aid routes

Under the US-brokered ceasefire at least 600 trucks carrying desperately needed aid should be entering war-battered Gaza each day.

However, Israel continues to block major crossing routes and restrict supplies.

“To my knowledge not all entry points are open to have humanitarian aid inside Gaza, and that’s the main issue right now,” said Christian Cardon, an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) spokesperson from Geneva.

“That’s what the ICRC has been calling for in the last few hours – is making sure because of the huge needs that all entry points can be opened.”

 
Israel’s Ben-Gvir threatens all Gaza aid if troops’ bodies not returned

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has threatened to cut off aid supplies to Gaza if Hamas fails to return the remains of soldiers still held in the territory.

“I call on the prime minister to set a clear ultimatum for Hamas: if you do not immediately return all the bodies of our fallen soldiers and continue with these delays we will immediately halt all aid supplies entering the Gaza Strip,” Ben-Gvir said on his Telegram channel.

Israel has decided to restrict aid into the shattered Gaza Strip and delay plans to open the crossing to Egypt at least through Wednesday, because Hamas has been too slow to turn over the bodies of dead captives.

Hamas has said locating the bodies is difficult because of the devastation inflicted upon Gaza during Israel’s two-year war.

Pro-Palestine activists rally in Italy ahead of football match against Israel

Dozens have gathered in the northeastern Italian city of Udine, where Italy will play against Israel in a World Cup qualifier later today, to denounce Israeli abuses against Palestinians.

Human rights advocates have continued to call on UEFA and FIFA to ban Israel over the genocide in Gaza despite the ceasefire.

Israel has killed at least 421 footballers in Gaza over the past two years and destroyed the sport’s infrastructure in the territory.

In 2022, both FIFA and UEFA suspended Russia within days of it launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The Israeli national team also faced protests when it faced Norway in Oslo on Saturday.


_{Protesters rally against the Israeli national team in Udine, Italy}

Trump says phase two of ceasefire ‘begins right now’

The US president has hailed the release of Israeli captives in Gaza and asserted the ceasefire deal is immediately moving to its next stage toward a permanent end to the war.

“All 20 hostages are back and feeling as good as can be expected. A big burden has been lifted, but the job is not done,” Trump wrote in a social media post.

“The dead have not been returned, as promised! Phase Two begins right now!!!”

Trump’s post comes as Israel announced it will only allow 300 aid trucks into Gaza each day, half of what it agreed to under the ceasefire. It said the move was made because of Hamas’s slow effort to hand over the bodies of dead captives.

Your deal is already dead...

Egypt announces 15 approved technocrats to lead Gaza

Badr Abdelatty, Egypt’s foreign minister, says 15 Palestinian technocrats have been chosen to administer Gaza with approval from Israel, Hamas and all other Palestinian factions.

“We need to deploy them to take care of the daily life of the people in Gaza, and the Board of Peace should support and supervise the flow of finance and money, which will come for the reconstruction of Gaza,” he said, referring to a board that would govern Gaza and be chaired by President Trump.

Abdelatty said Hamas members welcomed Trump’s plan. They “have no role in the transitional period. They are committed to that. That is why they are working on an administrative Palestinian committee to be deployed in order to take care of the daily life of the people of Gaza”.

For its part, Israel has to comply with a withdrawal from Gaza, allowing a free flow of aid, and the deployment of the administrative committee on the ground to ensure security for civilians, Abdelatty said.

Hamas also must honour its commitments, he added.

Iran condemns Israeli violations of Gaza ceasefire

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei says Israel has made a habit of “abusing the opportunity of declared ceasefires to continue its criminal actions against Palestinians”.

Israel has killed at least nine people in Gaza today and it appears to be reneging on its commitment under the truce agreement to allow 600 humanitarian aid trucks into the territory daily.

Baghaei said Iran condemns the “attacks and aggressions of the Zionist regime” in Gaza over the past day.

Actually the peace plan called for
"Full humanitarian aid enters immediately to rebuild essential infrastructure"
"Aid flows freely via UN and Red Crescent, Rafah crossings reopen under agreement" 

Rafah is still closed, supplies for rebuilding are still blocked, Aid is not flowing freely at all.

UN says ‘much more can be done’ for humanitarian relief in Gaza

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says aid agencies are scaling up humanitarian assistance to Gaza with the partial lifting of the Israeli blockade as the ceasefire comes into effect.

OCHA said “thousands of tonnes of humanitarian aid” have been delivered, and the World Health Organization (WHO) was able to send teams to several hospitals and bring in medical supplies.

“Much more can be done,” OCHA added.

“For this to happen, the humanitarian community needs more crossings to open, as well as the sustained entry of fuel and cooking gas; security guarantees for convoys; basic infrastructure to be restored; protection of humanitarian workers; the facilitation of NGO access, including through ensuring they are not de-registered; and the rapid injection of funding to support humanitarian operations.”

Another Israeli air strike targets south Lebanon

Several Lebanese news outlets are reporting that an Israeli air raid has struck the southern town of Wadi Jilou, east of Tyre. Earlier, a drone strike injured two people near the village of Tibnine.

Israel has repeatedly attacked southern Lebanon despite signing a ceasefire last November with Hezbollah.

Israel formally admits to restricting aid to Palestinian civilians

By formally notifying the United Nations that it will restrict humanitarian assistance to Gaza to pressure Hamas to locate and release the bodies of slain captives, Israel is openly admitting it’s weaponising aid – a claim it has long denied.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant are facing war crimes charges at the International Criminal Court, including for using starvation as a weapon of war.

But for the past two years, Israel has been promoting falsehoods to deny the accusation, including unfounded claims that Hamas is stealing the aid and the baseless argument that UN agencies are failing to deliver it.

Today’s notification to the UN appears to be an admission of using humanitarian aid for military and political aims.

“It’s very significant because it’s a letter that was sent to the United Nations, and it very clearly states in writing that they are going to limit the amount of aid,” reported Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo.

FW that letter to the ICC and ICJ...

Israeli army confirms return of four deceased hostages’ coffins across the border

Israel’s army has said that the coffins containing the remains of four deceased captives have now crossed the border into Israel.

In a post on X, it said: “Four coffins of deceased hostages, escorted by IDF and ISA forces, crossed the border into the State of Israel a short while ago and are on their way to the National Institute for Forensic Medicine, where identification procedures will be carried out.”

How many bodies has Hamas handed over so far?

With the four bodies of the slain Israeli captives that Hamas transferred to the Red Cross earlier, the group has handed over eight bodies since the ceasefire came into effect.

An estimated 20 more bodies of Israelis remain in Gaza.

Before the ceasefire was finalised, Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk told Al Jazeera it could take months to locate and remove all the corpses because of the mass destruction inflicted on Gaza by two years of incessant Israeli bombardment.

Trump threatens to ‘violently’ disarm Hamas if it chooses not to

US President Donald Trump has said Hamas assured United States mediators it would disarm — and has warned that if it didn’t do so, the US would.

“If they don’t disarm, we will disarm them, and it’ll happen quickly and perhaps violently,” Trump said at a White House press conference.

“I spoke to Hamas and I said, ‘You’re going to disarm, right?’ ‘Yes sir, we’re going to disarm,’ that’s what they told me. They will disarm or we will disarm them.”

Israel has demanded that Gaza be demilitarised and that Hamas hand over its weapons. The group’s leaders, however, have been ambivalent about the issue.


Trump appears to back Hamas’s crackdown on Gaza gangs

Despite stressing the group must disarm, the US president says he does not object to Hamas’s crackdown on gang members in Gaza.

There have been reports that Hamas has clashed with gangs accused of collaborating with Israel throughout Gaza after the ceasefire.

“They did take out a couple of gangs that were very bad, very, very bad gangs,” Trump told reporters. “And they did take them out, and they killed a number of gang members. And that didn’t bother me much, to be honest with you. That’s OK.”

Will Hamas disarm as part of the Gaza peace deal?

Hamas has been ambivalent about whether it would disarm. Last week, senior Hamas figure Mousa Abu Marzouk told US outlet Drop Site News those demanding the group disarm needed “to lower their expectations a lot in this regard”.

Abu Marzouk added a solid peace agreement in which Hamas pledged not to use its weapons would be more effective than attempting outright disarmament. Hamas has previously said disarming is a “red line”.

In the run up to the ceasefire, Hamas said it would lay down its arms if its main demand for a Palestinian state was fulfilled.

However, Hugh Lovatt, an Israel-Palestine expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, has told Al Jazeera while Hamas has taken a strong public stance on the issue, privately it has been more willing to engage.

“When it comes to disarmament, this is where you have seen the biggest shift in Hamas’s position,” Lovatt said. “[Hamas officials] have told interlocutors in private that the group may be open to a process decommissioning its offensive weapons.”

The IRA pledged to store its weapons when a peace deal was reached, and hang on to them for another 7 years as guarantee.

Trump’s Hamas disarmament threat ‘rings hollow’

Aaron David Miller – a veteran US diplomat who served as a senior adviser on Arab–Israeli negotiations – has reacted to Trump’s threat to disarm Hamas.

Miller, now an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment, echoed a widely held view among security experts that forcefully disarming or eradicating the armed group from Gaza is unrealistic.

“Israel spent two years in intensive combat operations and didn’t come close. Trump’s threats ring hollow. What’s he going to do – deploy 50,000 US troops to occupy Gaza and clear, hold, build?”

Israel spent two years in intensive combat ops and didn’t come close. Trump’s threats ring hollow. What is he going to do- deploy 50,000 US troops to occupy Gaza and clear, hold, build? https://t.co/w4doitBmif

— Aaron David Miller (@aarondmiller2) October 14, 2025

South Africa: Gaza deal won’t stop genocide case against Israel

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa says the US-backed agreement to end the war in Gaza will have no bearing on his country’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

South Africa has brought genocide charges against Israel to the ICJ in 2023.

“As I said, the case is proceeding and it now has to go to the stage where Israel must respond to our pleadings filed in the court,” Ramaphosa told parliament.

“They are required to do so by January of next year, well after the International Court of Justice sets a date for the evidence to be presented and tabled.”

Several countries have joined the case, including Turkiye, Egypt, Colombia, Ireland and Spain.

PFLP voices support for crackdown on Gaza gangs

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine says it “values” the Hamas-led campaign against the “dens of crime” and suspected Israel collaborators in Gaza after the ceasefire.

“What is happening on the ground reflects the national Palestinian consensus on the need to protect the internal front,” the left-wing group said in a statement.

On Sunday, clashes erupted between an armed clan and Hamas security forces, killing at least 27 people, including eight members of Hamas, according to the Ministry of Interior in Gaza.

Unexploded bombs pose ‘enormous’ risks in Gaza: NGO

Unexploded ordnance in Gaza poses “enormous” risks for displaced people returning home during the US-led ceasefire, the NGO Handicap International warns, calling for the entry of equipment needed for de-mining.

“The risks are enormous – an estimated 70,000 tons of explosives have been dropped on Gaza” since the start of the war, said Anne-Claire Yaeesh, the organisation’s director for the occupied Palestinian territory.

Handicap International specialises in mine clearance and assistance to victims of antipersonnel mines.

“The layers of rubble and levels of accumulation are extremely high,” Yaeesh said.

She warned that the risks are aggravated by the “extremely complex” nature of the environment. In January, the UN’s Mine Action Service estimated that “5 to 10 percent” of the munitions fired on Gaza had not exploded.

Dr Hussam Abu Safia’s family says no information on his release

Family members of Dr Hussam Abu Safia, who Israel has detained since December, say they don’t yet have “details about the date of his release”.

“Our father, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, has been included on the list of those approved for release, but he has not yet been freed,” his family wrote in a post on social media.

They have “received comforting news” from other released detainees who were with their father.

“They confirmed he is in good health and strong spirits, thank God,” the family said.

Update from the Family of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya

Our father, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, has been included on the list of those approved for release,
but he has not yet been freed.

we received comforting news from released detainees who were with him —
they confirmed he is in good…

— Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya د.حسام أبو صفية (@HussamAbuSafiya) October 14, 2025

UN rapporteur praises South Africa push for justice in genocide case

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, has welcomed South Africa’s decision to press ahead with its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

“Peace without justice, respect for human rights and dignity, without reparations and guarantees of non repetition, is not sustainable,” she wrote in a post on X.

Earlier today, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said his country would not withdraw its case, despite the US-backed ceasefire deal that has ended the fighting in Gaza.

Peace without justice, respect for human rights and dignity, without reparations and guarantees of non reeptition, is not sustainable. https://t.co/nmIyPS3jR6

— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) October 14, 2025

Is Netanyahu a war criminal? Prominent US senator skirts question

Cory Booker, a Democratic senator considered one of the possible candidates for president in 2028, has declined to give a clear answer when quizzed on whether he thinks the Israeli prime minister is a war criminal.

“Benjamin Netanyahu, do you think he’s a war criminal?” Booker was asked on the I’ve Had It Podcast.

“These are questions that a lot of people think are the important litmus tests that are loaded and hot,” Booker responded. “My urgency is to be an effective leader in bringing an end to this crisis. And I get these questions all the time that, to me, undermine my urgency.”

Pressed further as the host demanded a yes-or-no answer, Booker added: “Do I think Netanyahu is worse than Trump? Yes.”

Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crime charges in Gaza, including using starvation as a weapon of war. UN investigators also declared last month that the Israeli military is carrying out a genocide against Palestinians at the orders of the political authorities in the country, which Netanyahu leads.

Israel’s Smotrich declares intent to re-establish Gaza settlements

Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, says that “there will be Jewish settlements in Gaza”.

“We have patience, but we have determination and faith, and with God’s help, we will continue the series of victories and great miracles,” Smotrich said at an event in Sderot in Israel’s south.

The ceasefire deal that Trump brokered and promised to ensure its implementation would see Israel withdraw its army from Gaza.

Trump pushes for captives’ bodies to be urgently returned from Gaza

The US president seems anxious to move this process along. We know he has been pleased with the praise he’s gotten for his diplomatic achievement in getting the ceasefire.

But, the US president, just about an hour before he was speaking here at the White House, saying Hamas needs to disarm, was also lamenting the fact that there are not yet the full number of bodies of the deceased captives that have been returned.

In fact, the US president posted on social media saying the job is not done, the dead have not been returned as promised. Phase two begins right now, he said.

It appears that Trump, who was very optimistic that things could progress, that rebuilding Gaza would be the easy part, may have, as many analysts projected, had a bit of naivete when it comes to understanding how things work in the Middle East, and now is beginning to understand the complexities.

Not wanting to see this process stalled in any way, he is using his might and his bully pulpit, if you will, on social media and in front of the cameras to try and continue the process and even accelerate it.

With 70,000 tons of explosives dropped on Gaza, 83% of all buildings in Gaza destroyed, cemeteries bulldozed, tunnels collapsed and so on, it might be impossible to find the captives' bodies between the remains of tens of thousands of other dead composing bodies stuck in the rubble.

Hamas willing to hand over heavy weapons: Report

US news outlet Axios reports that Hamas has offered to hand over heavy weapons to a Palestinian governing body of Gaza or Arab nations, but will not surrender small arms.

“A US official and a source with knowledge said Hamas expressed its willingness to give up its heavy weapons — mainly rockets and missiles — to a Palestinian or Arab entity, but insisted on keeping their guns for self-defence,” the news report said.

Earlier, Trump threatened to disarm Hamas if it failed to do so itself, saying the effort could be carried out “perhaps violently”. But he also praised Hamas for battling a criminal gang in Gaza.

So, it remains unclear if the US president will allow the Palestinian group to retain light weapons.

Israel officially knocked out of World Cup qualifiers

It’s confirmed. The Israeli national team, which is facing calls to be banned from UEFA and FIFA, will not make it to the World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada next year.

Italy beat Israel 3-0 in Udine today, officially ending their run to make it to the World Cup. The match saw low attendance, with only 9,000 spectators due to boycotts, heavy security measures and protests on the streets throughout the day.

Footage showed some Italian fans booing the Israeli national anthem before the game.