Israel Returns 45 Palestinian Bodies to Gaza Authorities

 Two displaced Palestinians walk past destroyed buildings in the heavily damaged Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, after Israel and Hamas agreed to a pause in their war and the release of the remaining hostages. (AP)
Two displaced Palestinians walk past destroyed buildings in the heavily damaged Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, after Israel and Hamas agreed to a pause in their war and the release of the remaining hostages. (AP)
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Israel Returns 45 Palestinian Bodies to Gaza Authorities

 Two displaced Palestinians walk past destroyed buildings in the heavily damaged Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, after Israel and Hamas agreed to a pause in their war and the release of the remaining hostages. (AP)
Two displaced Palestinians walk past destroyed buildings in the heavily damaged Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, after Israel and Hamas agreed to a pause in their war and the release of the remaining hostages. (AP)

Israel returned the bodies of 45 Palestinians on Wednesday to Gaza authorities, the Palestinian territory's Hamas-run health ministry said, bringing the total number handed over as part of a US-brokered ceasefire deal to 90.

In the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, AFP journalists saw morgue workers unloading refrigerated trucks, parked alongside Red Cross vehicles.

Under the deal pushed by US President Donald Trump and aimed at ending the two-year Gaza war, Israel was to turn over the bodies of 15 Palestinians for every deceased Israeli returned.

On Monday, Hamas gave up three Israeli bodies and one Nepalese for transfer.

This was followed on Tuesday by three more deceased Israelis and one as yet unidentified body that the military says was not that of someone listed among dead hostages.

The swap has also seen the last 20 surviving hostages return home from Gaza in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails, as well as a halt in the fighting and bombardment.

The remains of 20 other hostages are still in Gaza, and there is domestic pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to tie aid to the fate of the bodies.

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

On Wednesday, a lifeline border crossing between Gaza and Egypt remained shut despite reports that it could reopen to aid convoys, as Israel insisted Hamas hand over the remains of the last deceased hostages.



EU Condemns Israel's West Bank Control Measures

The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
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EU Condemns Israel's West Bank Control Measures

The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)

The European Union on Monday condemned new Israeli measures to tighten control of the West Bank and pave the way for more settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, AFP reported.

"The European Union condemns recent decisions by Israel's security cabinet to expand Israeli control in the West Bank. This move is another step in the wrong direction," EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni told journalists.


Atrocities in Sudan's El-Fasher Were 'Preventable Human Rights Catastrophe'

Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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Atrocities in Sudan's El-Fasher Were 'Preventable Human Rights Catastrophe'

Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

The atrocities unleashed on El-Fasher in Sudan's Darfur region last October were a "preventable human rights catastrophe", the United Nations said Monday, warning they now risked being repeated in the neighbouring Kordofan region.

 

"My office sounded the alarm about the risk of mass atrocities in the besieged city of El-Fasher for more than a year ... but our warnings were ignored," UN rights chief Volker Turk told the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

 

He added that he was now "extremely concerned that these violations and abuses may be repeated in the Kordofan region".

 

 

 

 


Arab League Condemns Israel's Decisions to Alter Legal, Administrative Status of West Bank

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
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Arab League Condemns Israel's Decisions to Alter Legal, Administrative Status of West Bank

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)

The General Secretariat of the Arab League strongly condemned decisions by Israeli occupation authorities to impose fundamental changes on the legal and administrative status of the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly in the West Bank, describing them as a dangerous escalation and a flagrant violation of international law, international legitimacy resolutions, and signed agreements, SPA reported.

In a statement, the Arab League said the measures include facilitating the confiscation of private Palestinian property and transferring planning and licensing authorities in the city of Hebron and the area surrounding the Ibrahimi Mosque to occupation authorities.

It warned of the serious repercussions of these actions on the rights of the Palestinian people and on Islamic and Christian holy sites.

The statement reaffirmed the Arab League’s firm support for the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, foremost among them the establishment of their independent state on the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.