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Palestinian Prisoners Released as Gaza Cease-Fire Takes Hold: Israel-Hamas War Live Updates

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Palestinian Prisoners Released as Gaza Cease-Fire Takes Hold: Israel-Hamas War Live Updates

Three hostages have been freed in the first phase of the cease-fire agreement between Hamas and Israel.

The hostages, all women, were released into Red Cross custody in Gaza on Sunday and were transferred to Israeli forces, who took them to meet their mothers, the Israeli military said.

About 100 hostages, living and dead, are thought still to be held in Gaza, most of them taken in the deadly Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Thirty-three of them will be released during an initial six-week phase of the cease-fire, including female soldiers and civilians, children, men over 50 and sick and wounded people, according to the agreement.

“The vast majority” of the 33 hostages to be released in the six-week first phase of the cease-fire are alive, an Israeli military spokesman, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, said Sunday in a discussion on social media.

Video released by the Israeli military showed the three hostages being reunited with their families at Sheba Hospital in Israel.

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In one clip, one of the returned hostages, Romi Gonen, is surrounded in an embrace by members of her family as they tearfully comfort one another. Yarden Gonen, her sister, who had traveled around the world in the past year to lobby for Romi’s release, jumps up and down in the video as the family hugs. In another clip, another released hostage, Doron Steinbrecher, tearfully embraces loved ones.

Romi Gonen

Ms. Gonen was 23 when she was captured as she was trying to leave the Nova music festival in southern Israel when Hamas attacked. She was speaking at the time to her mother, Meirav Gonen, who said she had been shot and was bleeding.

Last February, Meirav Gonen released a recording of her last phone call with her daughter. She told the Israeli news media that Romi was a strong and happy person who often went to raves.

Romi Gonen was captured as she was trying to leave the Nova festival in southern Israel.Credit…Michael Reynolds/EPA, via Shutterstock

In the early weeks of the war, her mother expressed concern that Israeli military operations in Gaza could endanger the hostages.

Romi Gonen’s older sister, Yarden, told The New York Times in February that she regularly went to a plaza in Tel Aviv where families of hostages have held vigils.

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“None of us is doing anything remotely related to our previous lives,” she said.

Emily Damari

Ms. Damari, 27 at the time she was captured, is the only hostage with British citizenship who was still being held this month. She was taken from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Azza in southern Israel and was seen by a neighbor in her own car, driven by a militant, heading toward Gaza.

Ms. Damari was raised in Israel but traveled to Britain often, according to her mother, British-born Mandy Damari, who was in Israel last month to speak with officials and the news media and to plead for a hostage and cease-fire deal. She said that her daughter had been shot and that she feared for her life, telling the BBC that she had welcomed the threats from President-elect Donald J. Trump that there would be “all hell to pay” if no deal was reached by his inauguration.

The entrance to Emily Damari’s house in Kibbutz Kfar Aza in 2023.Credit…Avishag Shaar-Yashuv for The New York Times

Last January, a hostage who had been released from Gaza, Dafna Elyakim, told the Israeli news media that she and her younger sister had been taken into Hamas’s underground tunnels, where they met other female hostages, including Ms. Damari.

On the eve of the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks, Mandy Damari spoke at an event in Hyde Park in London, where she described her daughter as a soccer fan who enjoyed a drink and had “the classic British sense of humor, with a dash of Israeli chutzpah thrown in for good measure.”

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On Sunday, Mandy Damari thanked “everyone who never stopped fighting for Emily throughout this horrendous ordeal.” But, she said in a statement, “for too many other families the impossible wait continues.”

The Israeli military also released a picture of Emily Damari and her mother that showed her missing two fingers on her left hand. Ms. Damari was shot in the hand on Oct. 7, 2023.

A picture released by the Israeli Army on Sunday shows Emily Damari at an undisclosed location.Credit…The Israeli Army

Doron Steinbrecher

Ms. Steinbrecher, who was 30 when she was captured from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Azza, is a veterinary nurse with Romanian and Israeli citizenship. According to Israeli news media, she was in touch with her family on the kibbutz when the militants attacked, telling her parents that they had smashed her windows and shot into her room.

“They’ve arrived, they have me,” she said in a subsequent voice message sent to friends.

A supporter holding a poster of Doron Steinbrecher during a protest last week in Tel Aviv.Credit…Itai Ron/Reuters

Last January, Hamas released a video clip of Ms. Steinbrecher and two other captives, Daniella Gilboa and Karina Ariev, in which they pleaded for their release.

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Last March, on her 31st birthday, the Jewish News Syndicate published an interview with her mother, Simona Steinbrecher, who said that she had looked pale and thin in the video. She said she was concerned that Ms. Steinbrecher was not getting the daily medication she needed, though she did not specify what that was.

“She’s a strong woman, but it’s terrible being there,” Simona Steinbrecher said.

On Sunday, the family of Doron Steinbrecher issued a statement celebrating her release that thanked the Israeli people and expressed gratitude to Mr. Trump “for his significant involvement and support, which meant so much to us.” The statement did not mention President Biden or any Israeli leaders.

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Traffic to resume at Sweden’s second-biggest airport after drone scare

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Traffic to resume at Sweden’s second-biggest airport after drone scare

GOTHENBURG, Sweden, Nov 6 (Reuters) – A drone incident that prompted a sabotage investigation and halted traffic at Sweden’s second-largest airport ended on Thursday night with flights preparing to resume.

Drones have caused major disruption across Europe in recent months, forcing temporary airport closures in several countries. Some officials have blamed the incidents on hybrid warfare by Russia. Moscow has denied any connection with the incidents.

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One or more drones were observed at the Gothenburg-Landvetter Airport on Sweden’s west coast around 1641 GMT, authorities said earlier on Thursday, forcing more than a dozen flights to be rerouted or canceled.

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“Police have now informed us that the incident is over and we therefore plan to start traffic back up again,” state-owned airport operator Swedavia told Reuters in a text message.

“We have launched an investigation into suspected aviation sabotage,” the police spokesperson said.

On Tuesday, drone sightings forced closures of airports and a military air base in Belgium in what the country’s defence minister called a coordinated attack.
On Thursday, police in Sweden’s neighbour Norway said they had closed a probe into suspected sightings that caused a shutdown of Oslo’s airport in September, citing insufficient evidence that drones had been present.

In neighbouring Denmark, several airports, including Copenhagen, also closed temporarily in September due to reported drone sightings.

Reporting by Johan Ahlander in Gothenburg and Louise Breusch Rasmussen in Copenhagen; editing by Anna Ringstrom, Leslie Adler and Lisa Shumaker

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

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Violent mob attacks pro-Israel gathering in Toronto days after mayor’s ‘genocide in Gaza’ remarks

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Violent mob attacks pro-Israel gathering in Toronto days after mayor’s ‘genocide in Gaza’ remarks

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A pro-Israel event in Toronto turned violent on Wednesday when anti-Israel activists stormed a private venue, injuring one speaker and damaging property. The attack came just days after Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow faced criticism for describing “the genocide in Gaza,” a remark that Jewish groups warned could inflame tensions in the city.

The event, organized by the student group Students Supporting Israel at Toronto Metropolitan University and featuring Israeli military veterans, was moved off campus at the last minute for safety reasons. Despite the secrecy, about 40 masked agitators found the venue and forced their way inside, breaking glass and attacking participants.

Israeli-American speaker Jonathan Karten, who divides his time between Israel and New York, said he had come to Toronto to talk to students about his uncle, Sharon Edri, an Israeli soldier kidnapped and murdered by Hamas in 1996. “As soon as we got there, we were attacked by roughly forty protesters—terrorists, whatever you want to call them,” he told Fox News Digital. “Five managed to get into the main room. One had a drill bit. A guy broke through the glass door, I got knocked in the face, and we barricaded ourselves with tables and chairs until police came.”

CANADA’S ANTISEMITISM ENVOY RESIGNS, CITING EXHAUSTION AMID HATE SURGE

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Masked pro-Palestinian protesters storm a pro-Israel event in Toronto, breaking glass and attacking attendees, Nov. 5, 2025.

He said the protesters seemed to know the location in advance. “They were waiting for us before we even started speaking,” he said. “It’s not something I assumed would happen in a civilian population in a Western country.”

The assault took place less than a week after Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said during an event that “the genocide in Gaza impacts us all.” The remark drew immediate outrage from Jewish organizations. “It’s shocking and dangerous language,” said Michael Levitt, CEO of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, who urged Chow to apologize and clarify that Israel is not committing genocide. “Words like these validate hate and normalize the harassment of Jews,” he told The Algemeiner.

UK SYNAGOGUE ATTACK AND HAMAS HOSTAGE CRISIS UNDERSCORE DEADLY YOM KIPPUR

Toronto antisemitism attack

Masked protesters violently disrupted a pro-Israel event in Toronto, breaking glass and attacking participants, Nov. 5, 2025.

According to the Toronto police statement, a group of protesters entered the private event without permission, damaged property, and caused attendees to fear for their safety. One person was injured by broken glass.

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Police arrested five people in connection with the attack. All are scheduled to appear in court in January.

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A Toronto police spokesperson told Fox News Digital that while antisemitic incidents remain the most frequently reported hate-motivated category in the city, they have declined 41% compared to last year.

Toronto antisemitism

Students try to block entrance from extremist protesters attacking an event organized by Jewish students in Toronot, Canada.

Despite his injuries, Karten said he intends to keep speaking on campuses. “We’re cautious, but not scared,” he said. “We have to make sure Jewish and Israeli voices are heard without fear.

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ICC confirms war crimes charges against Uganda’s rebel leader Joseph Kony

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ICC confirms war crimes charges against Uganda’s rebel leader Joseph Kony

The International Criminal Court confirmed 39 charges against Kony, paving the way for a trial if he is ever captured.

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Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have confirmed war crimes and crimes against humanity charges against Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony, nearly two decades after the court first issued a warrant for his arrest.

Kony, who remains at large, faces 39 charges, including murder, sexual enslavement and rape, making him the ICC’s longest-standing fugitive.

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Judges from the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber III said there are “substantial grounds to believe that Mr Kony is criminally responsible for the crimes” committed in northern Uganda between 2002 and 2005, when he commanded the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

Besides crimes committed by his rebels, the judges said Kony could also be held responsible for 10 crimes he allegedly committed himself, linked to two women he forced to become his wives.

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“Mr Kony issued standing orders to attack civilian settlements, kill and mistreat civilians, loot and destroy their property and abduct children and women to be integrated into the LRA,” the judges said in their ruling.

The ruling marks the first time the ICC has confirmed charges in a suspect’s absence, meaning the case can formally proceed to trial if Kony is ever captured. Under ICC rules, a full trial cannot begin without the defendant’s presence in court.

Prosecutors said efforts to track down and arrest Kony, now 64, are ongoing.

Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) soldiers pose during peace negotiations between the LRA and Ugandan religious and cultural leaders in Ri-Kwangba, southern Sudan, in 2008 [File: Reuters]

The ICC’s decision followed a three-day hearing in September in which prosecutors and victims’ lawyers presented evidence and testimony without Kony present – an unusual procedure that set the stage for Thursday’s ruling.

Years of investigations and witness accounts formed the basis of the decision.

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Emerging from northern Uganda’s Acholi region in the late 1980s, Kony’s LRA combined Christian mysticism with an armed rebellion against President Yoweri Museveni’s government.

The United Nations estimates about 100,000 people were killed and 2.5 million displaced during the conflict.

Even after being pushed out of Uganda, LRA fighters launched deadly raids across South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic, burning villages, looting communities and abducting tens of thousands of children – the abducted boys forced to fight and girls forced into sexual slavery.

Kony came back into international focus in 2012 when a viral video about his crimes led to the #Kony2012 campaign on social media.

Despite the global attention and years of military operations to apprehend Kony, he remains at large.

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