Closing summary
It’s 11.15pm in Tel Aviv and Gaza. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
Gaza is at “critical risk of famine”, food security experts have warned, 10 weeks after Israel imposed a blockade on the devastated Palestinian territory, cutting off all supplies including food, medicine, shelter and fuel. Aid workers say prices for essentials had risen further in recent days, warehouses were empty and humanitarian teams treating malnourished children were being forced to divide rations.
Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander has returned to Israel after being released by Hamas. Alexander, a dual national serving in the Israel Defense Forces, spent 584 days in captivity and was the last living US citizen held in Gaza. Hamas said they had freed Alexander “following contacts with the US administration, to achieve a ceasefire, open crossings, and bring aid and relief to our people in Gaza”.
Edan Alexander’s release was welcomed in Israel and beyond. US president Donald Trump described it as a “good faith step” towards ending the war and bringing home all remaining hostages. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, thanked Trump for his role in Edan’s release but also claimed credit was due to Israeli forces and his own government’s military strategy. Relatives of hostages called for the Israeli government to push for a breakthrough to bring back 58 others still in Gaza.
Alexander’s release comes on the eve of Trump’s first trip to the region since his re-election, with Israel conspicuously missing from his itinerary, and after a series of blunt public snubs to the country’s leadership. Trump’s ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, denied on Monday that the relationship with Israel’s most important ally was strained.
The Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) has declared it will disarm and disband after a call from its jailed leader, Abdullah Öcalan, earlier this year. The announcement by the Kurdish militant group, whose attacks and insurgency against Turkey have spanned more than four decades, will end decades of fighting will affect forces based near Turkey’s borders with Iraq and Iran, as well as allied or splinter groups in north-east Syria.
Al Jazeera can resume working in the Palestinian territories, the network’s Ramallah bureau chief said, after Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas lifted a ban imposed earlier this year. Al Jazeera remains banned from broadcasting from Israel.
Israel has asked judges at the international criminal court (ICC) to withdraw arrest warrants against its prime minister and former defence minister while the ICC reviews Israeli challenges to its jurisdiction over the conduct of the Gaza war.
Updated
Netanyahu tells Israeli soldiers things 'you have never seen before' will happen in Gaza 'within days'
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, told a meeting of wounded Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers that things “that you have never seen before” will “happen in Gaza” in the coming days.
In the meeting, reported by the Times of Israel, Netanyahu said:
Within days, things are going to happen in Gaza. Things will happen that you have never seen before until now.
The Israeli leader is also reported to have told soldiers that while he is “giving a chance” for the return of the hostages, if these efforts do not succeed, the fighting will be intense and “to the end”.
