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Gaza ceasefire talks at crucial stage as Hamas delegation leaves Cairo

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Gaza ceasefire talks at crucial stage as Hamas delegation leaves Cairo

Negotiations over a potential ceasefire in the Gaza war have entered a crucial stage as Hamas reiterated its demand for an end to Israel’s assault on the Palestinian territory in exchange for the release of captives and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flatly ruled out such an outcome.

On Sunday, the two sides blamed each other for the impasse. In their second day of talks with Egyptian and Qatari mediators, Hamas negotiators maintained their stance that any ceasefire agreement must include an end to the war, Palestinian officials said.

Israeli officials did not travel to Cairo to take part in indirect diplomacy, but on Sunday, Netanyahu reiterated Israel’s aim since the start of the war nearly seven months ago: to disarm and dismantle Hamas.

He said Israel was willing to pause fighting in Gaza in order to secure the release of hostages still being held by Hamas, believed to number more than 100.

“But while Israel has shown willingness, Hamas remains entrenched in its extreme positions, first among them the demand to remove all our forces from the Gaza Strip, end the war, and leave Hamas in power,” Netanyahu said.

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“Israel cannot accept that,” he said.

In a statement released shortly after Netanyahu’s, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh blamed Netanyahu for “the continuation of the aggression and the expansion of the circle of conflict, and sabotaging the efforts made through the mediators and various parties”.

A Hamas delegation at the Gaza truce negotiations in Cairo had departed and will return for more talks on Tuesday, Egyptian state-linked media said.

“The Hamas delegation has left Cairo this evening [Sunday] for Doha in order to conduct consultations, and will return Tuesday to conclude the negotiations” towards a truce in the war with Israel, said Al-Qahera News, a site linked to Egyptian intelligence services, citing an unidentified “informed source”.

Reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera’s Bernard Smith said that Israel has been insisting that any agreement would only include a pause in fighting rather than a permanent end to hostilities.

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“From the Israelis, there’s an insistence that the most Hamas is going to get is this initial 40-day truce in exchange for 33 Israeli captives and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners,” he said.

“From Hamas, there’s an insistence that any agreement with Israel should lead to an end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza,” Smith added.

Meanwhile, CIA Director William Burns – who had been in Cairo – is also travelling to Doha to hold an emergency meeting with Qatar’s prime minister, an official briefed on the talks said late on Sunday.

“Burns is on his way to Doha for an emergency meeting with the Qatari prime minister aimed at exerting maximum pressure on Israel and Hamas to continue negotiating,” a source told Reuters.

Washington has pressed Hamas to accept the latest Israeli proposal.

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Rafah assault

The talks come amid signs that Israel is preparing for an assault on Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than a million displaced Palestinians have taken refuge.

Israel believes thousands of Hamas fighters are holed up in the city, along with potentially dozens of captives.

Such an incursion would put hundreds of thousands of lives at risk and be a huge blow to the aid operations of the entire enclave, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Friday.

Residents and health officials in Gaza said Israeli planes and tanks continued to pound areas across the Palestinian enclave overnight, killing and wounding several people.

Hamas’s armed wing claimed responsibility for an attack on Sunday near the Karem Abu Salem crossing between Israel and Gaza, the main entry point for humanitarian aid access into Gaza. Israel’s military said the crossing – known to Israelis as Kerem Shalom – was closed in the wake of the rocket attack.

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At least 34,683 people, mostly women and children, have been killed and 78,018 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza since October, according to Palestinian authorities.

Israel launched the assault after Hamas led an attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing at least 1,139 people, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on Israeli statistics.

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Top US border official to face judge in Chicago over use of tear gas

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Top US border official to face judge in Chicago over use of tear gas
  • Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino accused of violating court order on tear gas use
  • Video shows Bovino deploying gas, potentially violating judge’s order
  • Trump immigration crackdown in Chicago generates pushback
CHICAGO, Oct 28 (Reuters) – A federal judge has summoned a top U.S. Border Patrol official leading President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Chicago to appear in court on Tuesday, after a video appeared to show him deploying tear gas potentially in violation of a court order limiting its use against protesters.
Gregory Bovino, a roving Border Patrol operations commander who also played a lead role in immigration enforcement efforts in Los Angeles, was ordered to attend the hearing in person by U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis, who earlier this month barred federal agents from using certain crowd-control tactics following a legal challenge by protesters.

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Trump, a Republican, has made Chicago the focus of his aggressive immigration enforcement push during the past two months. Under Bovino’s leadership, federal agents have used tear gas in residential areas and forcibly subdued protesters while attempting to arrest suspected immigration violators—sparking criticism and legal scrutiny.

Three former federal immigration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity told Reuters that it was unusual for a top official to be summoned to court on short notice.

Ellis ordered Bovino’s appearance after the protesters submitted a video they said showed him violating her earlier court order directing federal agents to give multiple warnings before using tear gas and other anti-riot weapons.

In the video, Bovino appeared to toss a canister of gas at protesters who had gathered as federal agents conducted arrests last Thursday in a Chicago neighborhood known for being home to many Mexican immigrants.

In a statement on Friday, U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the agents were surrounded by a large group while conducting an enforcement operation. She said some people in the crowd shot fireworks and threw rocks, hitting Bovino in the head, and that agents gave warnings before deploying chemicals.

A DHS spokesperson on Monday defended Bovino and the agency’s crowd-control tactics.

“DHS can think of nobody better to correct Judge Ellis’s deep misconceptions about its mission, and we thank him for his service,” the spokesperson said.

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TRUMP’S BLITZ OPERATION FACES RESISTANCE

Trump’s ongoing “Operation Midway Blitz” deportation drive in Chicago has spurred arrests across the city and sparked widespread protests. In response, Trump attempted to send hundreds of National Guard troops to Illinois to quell what his administration called unprecedented violence against federal law enforcement, but the move has been halted for now by another court.

Tuesday’s hearing stems from a lawsuit filed by protesters, journalists and clergy in Chicago against Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other federal officials earlier this month, alleging they were deliberately targeted and brutalized during demonstrations.

The judge has repeatedly expressed concerns that federal agents are violating her October 9 ruling requiring them to wear visible identification and limiting their use of anti-riot weapons such as pepper balls and tear gas. She later updated her order to require federal officers with body cameras to turn them on while conducting immigration enforcement activity and during interactions with the public.

Reporting by Diana Novak Jones in Chicago and Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Lisa Shumaker

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Hamas hands over remains of hostage whose body was recovered nearly 2 years ago

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Hamas hands over remains of hostage whose body was recovered nearly 2 years ago

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Israel announced Tuesday that it had received from Hamas via the Red Cross the remains of a deceased hostage as President Donald Trump’s 48-hour deadline looms.

The remains, however, did not match any of the 13 deceased hostages whose bodies are still in Gaza. Fox News has learned that the coffin handed over to Israel was assessed to contain the remains of a hostage whose body was already brought back to Israel for burial. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office urged the public to respect the privacy of the hostages’ families. Netanyahu’s office later identified the remains as belonging to Ofir Tzarfati, whose body was first recovered in 2023.

The Hostages and Missing Families forum released a statement following the return of more of Tzarfati’s remains.

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“Ofir attended the Nova Festival to celebrate his birthday with his partner Shoval and close friends. The birthday celebration was brutally cut short when Ofir was abducted into captivity, where he was murdered. Ofir’s body was recovered at the end of November 2023 and brought to burial in Israel,” the forum wrote.

IDF SAYS BODY TURNED OVER BY HAMAS DOESN’T MATCH ANY HOSTAGES

A protester holds a poster of hostage Ofir Tzarfati, 27 during a rally in Tel Aviv. (Ashley Chan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The forum also noted that some of Tzarfati’s remains were returned in March 2024 and that in August 2024, Hamas published a photo of his body.

“We went to sleep last night with anticipation and hope that another family would close an agonizing two-year circle and bring their loved one home for burial. But once again, deception has been inflicted upon our family as we try to heal. This morning we were shown video footage of our beloved son’s remains being removed, buried, and handed over to the Red Cross — an abhorrent manipulation designed to sabotage the deal and abandon the effort to bring all the hostages home,” the Tzarfati family wrote in a statement.

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“This is the third time we have been forced to open Ofir’s grave and rebury our son. The circle supposedly ‘closed’ back in December 2023, but it never truly closes. Since then, we have lived with a wound that constantly reopens, between memory and longing, between bereavement and mission.”

The Tzarfati family urged the public to support the families who were still waiting for their loved ones to be brought home for a dignified burial.

A hostage poster for Ofir Tzarfati is seen at the site of the Nova festival

The kidnapped poster of Ofir Tzarfati, who was recently declared killed and kidnapped, is seen at a memorial display of photos of people killed during Hamas’s attack on the Super Nova festival at the site on Nov. 30, 2023 in Re’im, Israel.  (Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

HAMAS SAYS IT WILL HAND OVER ANOTHER HOSTAGE BODY, AS TRUMP’S 48-HOUR WARNING LOOMS

On Saturday, Trump touted the “very strong peace in the Middle East,” but then he slammed Hamas and demanded they “start returning the bodies of deceased hostages, including two Americans, quickly.” He said that if the terror group failed to hold up its end of the deal, other countries would “take action.”

“We have a very strong PEACE in the Middle East, and I believe it has a good chance of being EVERLASTING. Hamas is going to have to start returning the bodies of the deceased hostages, including two Americans, quickly, or the other countries involved in this GREAT PEACE will take action,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

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The president added that while he said that “both dies would be treated fairly,” his promise would only apply if “they comply with their obligations.”

Protesters in Tel Aviv hold sign reading "President Trump Bring the Last Hostages Home"

A drone view shows participants holding a large banner during a rally held by hostage families and supporters at “Hostages Square” to demand the immediate release of the bodies of the deceased hostages who were kidnapped in the deadly October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Oct. 18, 2025.  (Ilan Rosenberg/Reuters)

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Trump acknowledged that “some of the bodies are hard to reach,” but said others could start being returned now, adding that “for some reason, they are not.” He then said that it would remain to be seen what actions Hamas would take in the coming 48 hours, adding, “I am watching this very closely.”

Since the U.S.-brokered ceasefire began, all living Israeli hostages held in Gaza have been released, while the country awaits the return of deceased hostages’ remains.

So far, Israel has received 15 of the 28 deceased hostages’ remains, including Aryeh Zalmanovich, Master Sergeant (Res.) Tamir Adar, Staff Sgt. Tal Haimi, Suntaya Akrasi, Ronen Tommy Engel, Eliyahu Margalit, Uriel Baruch, Staff Sgt. Tamir Nimrodi, Eitan Levi, Daniel Peretz, Yossi Sharabi, Guy Illuz, Bipin Joshi, Inbar Hayman and Sergeant Major Muhammad Al-Atresh. The remains of U.S.-Israeli citizens Cpt. Omer Neutra and Staff Sgt. Itay Chen, have not been returned to Israel.

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The Israeli government and military have repeatedly called on Hamas to hold up its end of the deal and give families the closure they have been denied for over two years.

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Suspect pleads guilty to murdering former Japanese PM Abe

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Suspect pleads guilty to murdering former Japanese PM Abe

As trial opens, Tetsuya Yamagami admits murdering Japan’s longest serving leader three years ago.

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The man accused of killing former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022 has pleaded guilty to murder.

Forty-five-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami admitted all charges read out by prosecutors as his trial opened on Tuesday, according to the Japanese broadcaster NHK.

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Yamagami was charged with murder and violations of arms control laws for allegedly using a handmade weapon to shoot Japan’s longest serving leader.

“Everything is true,” the suspect told the court, according to the AFP news agency.

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Abe was shot as he gave a speech during an election campaign in the western city of Nara on July 8, 2022. Yamagami was arrested at the scene.

The assassination was reportedly triggered by the suspect’s anger over links between Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to the Unification Church.

Yamagami held a grudge against the South Korean religious group due to his mother’s donation of 100 million yen ($663,218). The gift ruined his family’s financial health, Japanese media reported.

Long the subject of controversy and criticism, the Unification Church, whose followers are referred to disparagingly as “Moonies”, has since faced increased pressure from authorities over accusations of bribery.

The church’s Japanese followers are viewed as a key source of income.

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The shooting was followed by revelations that more than 100 LDP lawmakers had ties to the Unification Church, driving down public support for the ruling party.

After Tuesday’s initial court session, 17 more hearings are scheduled this year before a verdict is scheduled for January 21.

The trial opened the same day as two of Abe’s former allies, LDP leader and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and visiting United States President Donald Trump, held a summit in Tokyo.

Abe, who served as Japan’s prime minister for almost nine years, is regularly mentioned by both during public events.

On Tuesday, Takaichi gave Trump a golf putter owned by Abe and other golf memorabilia during their meeting at the Akasaka Palace.

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