A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the last 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR – CEASEFIRE
195 bodies have been returned to Gaza by Israeli authorities in exchange for the bodies of 13 Israeli hostages over the last eleven days. The forensic team at Gaza’s Nasser Hospital said it is working with almost no resources to identify the bodies and assess signs of mistreatment and torture. “What is happening in Gaza is an international forensic emergency,” said Michael Pollanen, a forensic pathologist at the University of Toronto. “Based on images [of the injured bodies], there is an imperative for complete medical autopsies.” Lucy Williamson reports for BBC News.
It will take around 20 to 30 years to clear the surface of Gaza of unexploded ordnance, according to aid group Humanity & Inclusion. “If you’re looking at a full clearance, it’s never happening, it’s subterranean. We will find it for generations to come,” an Explosive Ordnance Disposal expert from Humanity & Inclusion said. More than 53 deaths caused by lethal remnants have been recorded since October 2023, which is thought to be a huge underestimate by several aid groups. Emma Farge reports for Reuters.
Vice President JD Vance said yesterday that the task of disarming Hamas was “going to take some time” and “it’s going to depend a lot on the composition of [the international security] force,” which has yet to be formed. Trump’s 20-point peace proposal did not specify that the security force would disarm Hamas, but rather envisioned that the force would help to secure areas of Gaza where Israeli troops have withdrawn and prevent munitions from entering the territory. Liam Stack and Tyler Pager report for the New York Times.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR – HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE
The amount of aid entering Gaza is only a “fraction of what’s needed,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said yesterday. Tedros said that the situation remains “catastrophic,” adding that significantly more effort was needed as over 600,000 people face severe levels of food insecurity. “There is no dent in hunger because there is not enough food.” Christy Santhosh reports for Reuters; Abby Rogers reports for Al Jazeera.
At no point since the ceasefire came into effect have 600 U.N. aid trucks entered Gaza on any given day as specified in the agreement, a U.N. Secretary-General spokesperson told Al Jazeera.
U.S. officials are considering a proposal for humanitarian aid distribution in Gaza, which would establish 12-16 humanitarian hubs along the line in Gaza to which Israeli forces have withdrawn, according to a plan seen by Reuters. The hubs would include “voluntary reconciliation facilities” for combatants to give up their weapons and receive amnesty. It is one of several concepts being explored, two U.S. officials said. Phil Stewart and Jonathan Landay report.
WEST BANK VIOLENCE AND RAIDS
Vance said yesterday, before leaving Israel, that the Knesset’s vote this week on annexing the occupied West Bank was “weird,” adding that “if it was a political stunt, it was a stupid one and I take some insult to it.” Vance reiterated that the Trump administration’s policy is that “the West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel.” Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
18-year-old Palestinian Mohamed Ahmed Abu Haneen died today of wounds sustained by an Israeli raid in the Askar Camp in Nablus, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa. The Israeli army said it arrested 44 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank over the past week, adding that all people detained were wanted by Israel. Al Jazeera reports.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
A Russian drone yesterday killed two Ukrainian journalists in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. Ukraine’s state-funded news channel reported that the journalists were in a car at a petrol station at the time of the strike. “These are not accidents or mistakes, but a deliberate Russian strategy to silence all independent voices reporting about Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Max Hunder and Yuliia Dysa report for Reuters.
“[New U.S. sanctions are] an unfriendly act toward Russia, and it doesn’t strengthen relations between Russia and the United States that only began to get restored,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday. Putin added that Ukraine’s push to receive long-range Tomahawk missiles “is an attempt at escalation.” Ivan Nechepurenko and Anton Troianovski report for the New York Times.
Chinese national oil companies have suspended purchases of seaborne Russian oil following U.S. sanctions on Moscow’s two biggest oil companies, multiple sources said yesterday. Reuters reports.
EU leaders yesterday chose not to pursue plans to provide a €140 billion loan to Kyiv using frozen Russian state assets, agreeing to return to the discussion at the next meeting in December. The failure to back the scheme could delay the European Commission’s goal of having financial support for Ukraine approved by the end of the year. Laura Dubois, Barbara Moens, Alice Hancock, Paolo Tamma, and Andy Bounds report for the Financial Times.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Four U.N. agencies said yesterday that more than 250,000 civilians in the besieged city of El Fasher, Sudan, have been cut off from food and health care. “Health facilities have collapsed, and thousands of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition are now without treatment,” the agencies said in a joint statement. Olivia Le Poidevin reports for Reuters.
Sudanese Rapid Support Forces paramilitary yesterday targeted Khartoum with drones, according to military officials and local media. The Sudanese military intercepted the drones, which caused no damage. Fay Abuelgasim reports for AP News.
Belgium yesterday endorsed Morocco’s proposal for Western Sahara to have autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty, saying in a joint declaration it “is the most adequate, serious, credible and realistic basis to reach a political solution” to the Western Sahara issue. Reuters reports.
Israeli airstrikes yesterday killed four people in eastern and southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health. The Israeli military said that it had attacked sites linked to Hezbollah, including a “military camp and a site for the production of missiles.” Al Jazeera reports.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
Trump announced yesterday that he had called off a federal government “surge” in San Francisco, without specifying whether he was referring to the deployment of ICE agents, Customs and Border Protection agents, or the National Guard. Trump said on social media that he stopped the action at the request of friends in the Bay Area, such as Salesforce Chief Executive Marc Benioff, adding “I spoke to [San Francisco] Mayor Lurie last night and he asked, very nicely, that I give him a chance to see if he can turn it around.” Heather Knight, Soumya Karlamangla, and Shawn Hubler report for the New York Times; Terry Chea and Christopher Weber report for AP News.
U.S. CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC OPERATIONS
Trump said yesterday that he would not “necessarily ask for a declaration of war” from Congress to carry out military strikes against alleged drug cartels, even as he said the operation would move to strike targets on land. “I think we are going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country, OK? We are going to kill them, you know? They are going to be, like, dead,” Trump told reporters. Robert Jimison reports for the New York Times.
Senate Foreign Relations Chair James Risch (R-ID) told Axios that he has no plans “at this time” to hold an oversight hearing on the Trump administration’s strikes targeting alleged drug traffickers. Risch said that he had been “briefed on it and felt comfortable with where we are.” Stef W. Kight reports.
Two Air Force B-1 bombers yesterday flew near Venezuela in international airspace, according to two U.S. officials. When asked about the flights, Trump responded, “No, it’s not accurate. No, it’s false.” Eric Schmitt reports for the New York Times.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
“ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED” due to an advert from the Government of Ontario which features Ronald Reagan’s voice “speaking negatively about Tariffs,” Trump posted on social media late last night. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Office said earlier that the ad misrepresented Reagan’s presidential address. A spokesperson for Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford told CBC News, “The commercial uses an unedited excerpt from one of President Reagan’s public addresses, which is available through the public domain.” Mickey Djuric reports for POLITICO.
Trump is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on October 30 on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea, the White House announced yesterday. Ben Johansen reports for POLITICO.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
The federal mortgage fraud investigation into Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) has stalled due to a lack of sufficient evidence to bring charges, according to four sources. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told U.S. Attorney Kelly Hayes earlier this week to keep going and pursue more evidence, the sources said. “No final decision has been made,” one of the sources added. Ryan J. Reilly, Kristen Welker, Michael Kosnar, and Carol E. Lee report for NBC News.
Prosecutors who investigated New York Attorney General Letitia James for possible mortgage fraud found evidence that undermines some of the allegations in James’s indictment, sources told ABC News. The sources said that an internal case memo showed that prosecutors concluded that any financial benefit derived from her allegedly falsified mortgage would have amounted to $800 per year. Katherine Faulders, Alexander Mallin, Peter Charalambous, and Steven Portnoy report.
A measles outbreak is spreading beyond its epicenter along the Utah-Arizona border. David Heaton, a public health information officer for the health department, said that given the low vaccination rates in Mohave County, Washington County, and Iron County, “we were preparing for [a measles outbreak], adding, “it was a matter of time before it came here.” Heaton said that most of the cases so far are among unvaccinated school-age children. Erika Edwards reports for NBC News.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
Trump on Wednesday pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the convicted founder of the crypto exchange Binance. The company had pleaded guilty in 2023 to violating U.S. anti-money laundering requirements and was banned from operating in the country. Trump has “exercised his constitutional authority by issuing [this] pardon for Mr Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency,” the White House said. “The Biden Administration’s war on crypto is over.” Rebecca Ballhaus, Josh Dawsey, Patricia Kowsmann, and Angus Berwick report for the Wall Street Journal.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum yesterday announced that plans to introduce oil and gas drilling to the coastal plain of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge have been finalised. Becky Bohrer reports for AP News.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
Plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Homeland Security Department concerning the tactics used by federal agents in Chicago said that senior Border Patrol Official Gregory Bovino had violated a court order by “apparently throwing tear gas into a crowd without justification” on Thursday. A federal judge had previously issued an order banning ICE agents from deploying tear gas and other chemical agents on a crowd without two warnings. Julie Bosman reports for the New York Times.
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