truce

Aid agencies are in “a race against time” to get food and other humanitarian supplies into the Gaza Strip, a United Nations official has warned, as Israeli restrictions continue to impede deliveries across the bombarded enclave.

Speaking during a news briefing on Tuesday, a senior spokesperson for the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) noted that aid deliveries have increased since a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect last month.

But only two crossings into Gaza are open, which “severely limits the quantity of aid” that the WFP and other agencies can bring in, said Abeer Etefa.

“We need full access. We need everything to be moving fast. We are in a race against time. The winter months are coming. People are still suffering from hunger, and the needs are overwhelming,” she said.

WFP, which currently operates 44 food distribution points across Gaza, said it has provided food parcels to more than one million Palestinians in the territory since the ceasefire began on October 10.

But Etefa told reporters that the amount of food getting into Gaza remains insufficient, and reaching northern Gaza, where the world’s top hunger monitor confirmed famine conditions in August, remains a challenge.

“A major obstacle is the continued closure of the northern crossings into the Gaza Strip. Aid convoys are obliged to follow a slow, difficult route from the south,” she said.

“To deliver at scale, WFP needs all crossings to be open, especially those in the north. Full access to key roads across Gaza is also critical to allow food to be transported quickly and efficiently to where it is needed.”

Thousands of Palestinians have returned to their homes in Gaza’s north in recent weeks as the Israeli army withdrew to the so-called “yellow line” as part of the ceasefire agreement.

But most found their homes and neighbourhoods completely destroyed as a result of Israel’s two-year bombardment. Many families remain displaced and have been forced to live in tents and other makeshift shelters.

Khalid al-Dahdouh, a Palestinian father of five, returned to Gaza City to find his house in ruins. He has since built his family a small shelter, using bricks salvaged from the rubble and held together with mud.

“We tried to rebuild because winter is coming,” he told Al Jazeera.

“We don’t have tents or anything else, so we built a primitive structure out of mud since there is no cement … It protects us from the cold, insects and rain – unlike the tents.”

The UN and other aid agencies have been urging Israel to allow more supplies into the Strip, as outlined in the ceasefire agreement, particularly as Palestinians are set to face harsh conditions during the colder winter months.

On Saturday, Gaza’s Government Media Office said that 3,203 commercial and aid trucks brought supplies into Gaza between October 10 and 31, an average of 145 aid trucks per day, or just 24 percent of the 600 trucks that are meant to be entering daily as part of the deal.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army has continued to carry out attacks on Gaza, as well as demolishing homes and other structures.

One person was killed and another wounded on Tuesday after an Israeli quadcopter opened fire in the Tuffah neighbourhood east of Gaza City. A source at al-Ahli Arab Hospital also told Al Jazeera that a person was killed by Israeli army fire in northern Gaza’s Jabalia.

At least 240 Palestinians have been killed and 607 others wounded in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire came into effect, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

Israeli leaders have rejected criticism of those attacks and of continued restrictions on humanitarian aid, accusing Hamas of breaching the deal by not releasing all the bodies of deceased Israeli captives from the territory.

On Tuesday, Israel said it received the remains of an Israeli captive after Hamas handed them over to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The United States and China have declared a truce in the trade war launched by US President Donald Trump in April, argues Evan Medeiros, former US National Security Council director for China.

Medeiros tells host Steve Clemons that the deal reached between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump resolves the urgent trade issues between the two sides – tariff rates, soya beans and rare earth minerals – but China “remains committed to ensuring that Russia doesn’t lose” in Ukraine.

The US has more than 200,000 soldiers surrounding China, Medeiros adds, but Washington knows that “nobody wants to choose between the US and China.”

Pakistan has accused Afghanistan of harbouring the Pakistan Taliban, a charge Kabul denies.

Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to extend a ceasefire for at least another week during talks in Turkiye, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The sides plan to meet again at a higher-level gathering in Istanbul on November 6 to finalise how the ceasefire will be implemented, the ministry said in a statement released on behalf of Pakistan, Afghanistan and mediators Turkiye and Qatar.

“All parties have agreed to put in place a monitoring and verification mechanism that will ensure maintenance of peace and imposing penalty on the violating party,” the statement read.

The two neighbours engaged in a weeklong border conflict earlier this month following explosions in Afghanistan, which the Afghan government blamed on Pakistan.

In the subsequent cross-border strikes, Pakistan’s military claimed it killed more than 200 Afghan fighters, while Afghanistan says it killed 58 Pakistani soldiers.

It was the most serious fighting between the two countries since the Taliban regained control of Kabul in 2021.

After the skirmishes, mediation by Qatar and Turkiye led to a ceasefire signed by the defence ministers of Pakistan and Afghanistan on October 19 in Doha.

The two nations — which share a 2,600-kilometre (1,600-mile) frontier — began a second round of talks in Istanbul on Saturday, which broke down Wednesday when both parties failed to reach a consensus on Islamabad’s central demand that Kabul crack down on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, an armed group often called the Pakistan Taliban or TTP, which has been long accused by Pakistan of carrying out deadly attacks inside its territory.

The Afghan government has consistently denied that it provides safe haven for the group.

Talks resumed on Thursday, leading to the agreement to maintain the ceasefire until a new round of talks on November 6.

Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid issued a statement confirming the conclusion of the talks and saying both sides had agreed to continue discussions in future meetings. Pakistan did not immediately comment.

While a ceasefire remains in place, the border between the two countries has been closed for more than two weeks, leading to mounting losses for traders in the region.

In Kandahar on the Afghan side, Nazir Ahmed, a cloth trader, told the newswire AFP both countries “will bear losses.”

“Our nation is tired and their nation is also tired,” the 35-year-old said Wednesday.

Abdul Jabbar, a vehicle spare parts trader in the Pakistani border town of Chaman, said “trade suffers greatly”.

“Both countries face losses — both are Islamic nations,” he told AFP.

The Ta’ang National Liberation Army says it will pull out of the ruby-mining town of Mogok and nearby Momeik.

An armed rebel group in Myanmar says it has reached a truce with the military-run government to stop months of heavy clashes in the country’s north.

The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) announced on Tuesday that it had signed an agreement with Myanmar’s government following several days of China-mediated talks in Kunming, roughly 400km (248 miles) from the Myanmar border.

Under the deal, the TNLA said it would withdraw from Mogok, the ruby-mining centre in the upper Mandalay region, and the neighbouring town of Momeik in northern part of Shan state, though it did not provide a timeline. Both rebel forces and government troops will “stop advancing” starting Wednesday, it added.

The group also said the military, which has not yet commented on the agreement, has agreed to halt air strikes.

The TNLA is part of the Three Brotherhood Alliance, which also includes the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Arakan Army. They have been fighting for decades for greater autonomy from Myanmar’s central government and are loosely allied with the pro-democracy resistance groups that emerged after the army deposed the elected government and seized power in February 2021.

Since October 2023, the alliance has captured and controlled significant swaths of northeastern Myanmar and western Myanmar. The TNLA alone seized 12 towns in an offensive.

Their advance slowed following a series of China-brokered ceasefires earlier this year, allowing the army to retake major cities, including Lashio city in April and Nawnghkio in July, as well as Kyaukme and Hsipaw in October.

China is a central power broker in the civil war in Myanmar, where it has major geopolitical and economic interests.

Beijing has more openly backed the military government this year as it battles to shore up territory before an election slated for December, which it hopes will stabilise and help legitimise its rule.

However, the polls are expected to be blocked in large rebel-held areas, and many international observers have dismissed them as a tactic to mask continuing military rule.

Palestinians in Gaza have experienced the deadliest 24 hours since the start of the United States-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect almost three weeks ago.

Israel killed more than 100 people, including 46 children, in attacks late on Tuesday and on Wednesday. Medical sources told Al Jazeera the strikes hit all over Gaza.

This adds to dozens of previous ceasefire violations with a rocky outlook ahead. Let’s take a look at where things stand:

What’s the latest?

The Israeli military said by noon on Wednesday that it was returning to the ceasefire in line with instructions from the political leadership but remained ready to attack again if necessary.

It said it hit more than 30 targets in the besieged enclave, claiming that the targets were “terrorists in command positions within terror organisations”.

But as more residential buildings were flattened by the Israeli bombs, at least 18 members of the same family in central Gaza, including children, parents and grandparents, were among the victims.

Civil Defence teams once again had to use small tools and their hands to dig in the rubble of bombed areas to search for survivors and the dead. Several tents belonging to displaced Palestinian families were also targeted.

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, at least 68,643 people have been killed and 170,655 wounded since the start of Israel’s genocidal war in October 2023.

What was Israel’s justification?

On Tuesday, Israel announced that the body of a captive transferred from Gaza by Hamas through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) did not match one of the 13 to be handed over as part of the ceasefire.

Israeli forensic analysts determined that the remains belonged to Ofir Tzarfati, who was taken to Gaza during the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and whose partial remains were recovered in November of the same year.

Israeli officials reacted furiously, especially far-right ministers in the coalition government who are against stopping the war on Gaza and want Hamas “destroyed”. An organisation run by the families of the captives also expressed outrage and demanded action.

A short time later, the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, said it would hand over the remains of an Israeli captive at 8pm (18:00 GMT), but it held off after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered “powerful strikes” on Gaza.

Heavy gunfire and explosions were also heard in the southern city of Rafah. Israel alleged this was an attack by Hamas fighters, something Hamas rejected.

Israel also accused the Palestinian group of “staging” the recovery of a captive’s remains after showing footage purportedly of Hamas fighters burying a body before calling in the ICRC.

The ICRC said its personnel “were not aware that a deceased person had been placed there prior to their arrival”.

What’s in the ceasefire?

As part of the agreement, which entered into force on October 10, Hamas handed over all remaining 20 living captives held in Gaza within several days.

The group has also handed over the remains of 15 deceased Israeli captives as part of the deal with 13 others remaining unrecovered or undelivered.

Israel has allowed some humanitarian aid into Gaza, but supplies have been well below the 600 trucks a day specified in the ceasefire, a level that is required to help the famine-stricken population.

Israel has also prevented tents and mobile homes from entering the enclave but has let some heavy machinery enter to search for the remains of its captives.

After all the remains are handed over, a second phase of the ceasefire could potentially enter into force, allowing the deployment of an international stabilisation force and the reconstruction of Gaza.

Israeli officials have repeatedly stressed that they will not allow the formation of a sovereign Palestinian state and have been advancing with a plan to illegally annex the occupied West Bank despite international criticism.

What is Hamas saying?

Hamas has accused Israel of fabricating “false pretexts” to renew aggression in Gaza.

Before the attacks over the past day, Hamas  said Israel had carried out at least 125 violations.

Since October 10, the Health Ministry in Gaza said, at least 211 Palestinians have been killed and 597 wounded in Israeli attacks while 482 bodies have been recovered.

Hamas has also accused Israel of obstructing efforts to recover the bodies of the captives while using the same bodies as an excuse to claim noncompliance.

It pointed out that Israel has prevented enough heavy machinery from entering Gaza to recover the remains and has prevented search teams from accessing key areas.

The Qassam Brigades said its fighters have recovered the bodies of two more deceased captives, Amiram Cooper and Sahar Baruch, during search operations conducted on Tuesday.

Hamas and other Palestinian factions have said they are prepared to hand over administration of Gaza to a technocratic Palestinian body while maintaining that armed resistance is a result of decades-long occupation and apartheid by Israel.

What does this mean for Gaza’s civilians?

Since the start of the war, civilians have been the main casualties of Israel’s war on Gaza.

They have been disproportionately targeted, as they were in the latest overnight attacks, and have also seen Gaza’s infrastructure and means of living destroyed by bombs and invading Israeli forces.

Because nowhere in Gaza is fully safe, Palestinians underwent another day of panic that the Israeli attacks could be extended.

Israeli warplanes and reconnaissance aircraft continued to hover over the enclave.

What happens now?

The US has repeatedly expressed support for Israel despite its ceasefire violations, emphasising Israel’s right to defend itself.

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the ceasefire “is not in jeopardy” despite the strikes.

Mediator Qatar has previously condemned violations of the agreement and accused Israel of undermining its implementation. But along with Egypt, it has worked to ensure the deal stays alive.

WASHINGTON — President Trump faces the most important international meeting of his second term so far on Thursday: face-to-face negotiations with Xi Jinping, who has made China a formidable economic and military challenger to the United States.

The two presidents face a vast agenda during their meeting in Seoul, beginning with the two countries’ escalating trade war over tariffs and high-tech exports. The list also includes U.S. demands for a Chinese crackdown on fentanyl, China’s aid to Russia in its war with Ukraine, the future of Taiwan and China’s growing nuclear arsenal.

Trump has already promised, characteristically, that the meeting will be a major success.

“It’s going to be fantastic for both countries, and it’s going to be fantastic for the entire world,” he said last week.

But it isn’t yet clear that the summit’s concrete results will measure up to that high standard.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that the two sides have agreed to a “framework” under which China would delay implementing tight controls on rare earth elements, minerals crucial for the production of high-tech products from smartphones and electric vehicles to military aircraft and missiles. He said China has also agreed to resume buying soybeans from U.S. farmers and to crack down on fentanyl components.

In return, Bessent said, the United States will back down from its stinging tariffs on Chinese goods.

Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador in Beijing under then-President Biden, said that kind of deal would amount to “an uneasy trade truce rather than a comprehensive trade deal.”

“That may be the best we can expect,” he said in an interview Monday. Still, he added, “it will be a positive step to stabilize world markets and allow the continuation of U.S.-China trade for the time being.”

But U.S. and Chinese officials have been close-mouthed on what, if anything, has been agreed on regarding Xi’s other big trade demand: easier U.S. restrictions on high-tech exports to China, especially advanced semiconductor chips used for artificial intelligence.

Burns said the two superpowers’ technology competition is “the most sensitive … in terms of where this relationship will head, which country will emerge more powerful.”

Giving China easy access to advanced semiconductors “would only help [the Chinese army] in its competition with the U.S. military for power in the Indo-Pacific,” he warned.

Other former officials and China hawks outside the administration have said, even more pointedly, that they worry that Trump may be too willing to trade long-term technology assets for short-term trade deals.

In August, Trump eased export controls to allow Nvidia, the world leader in AI chips, to sell more semiconductors to China — in an unusual deal under which the U.S. company would pay 15% of its revenue from the sales to the U.S. Treasury.

Matthew Pottinger, Trump’s top China advisor in his first term, protested in a recent podcast interview that the deal risked trading a strategic technology advantage “for $20 billion and Nvidia’s bottom line.”

Underlying the controversy over technology, some China watchers warn, is a basic mismatch between the two presidents: Trump is focused almost entirely on trade and commercial deals, while Xi is focused on displacing the United States as the biggest economic and military power in Asia.

“I don’t think the administration has a strategy toward China,” said Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. “It has a trade strategy, not a China strategy.”

“The administration does not seem to be focused on competition with China,” said Jonathan Czin, a former CIA analyst now at Washington’s Brookings Institution. “It’s focused on deal making. … It’s tactics without strategy.”

“We’ve fallen into a kind of trade and technology myopia,” he added. “We’re not talking about issues like China’s coercion [of smaller countries] in the South China Sea. … China doesn’t want to have that bigger, broader conversation.”

It isn’t clear that Trump and Xi will have either the time or inclination to talk in detail about anything other than trade.

And even on the front-burner economic issues, this week’s ceasefire is unlikely to produce a permanent peace.

“As with all such agreements, the devil will be in the details,” Burns, the former ambassador, said. “The two countries will remain fierce trade rivals. Expect friction ahead and further trade duels well into 2026.”

“Buckle up,” Czin said. “There are likely more sudden moves from Beijing ahead.”

In the long run, Trump’s legacy in U.S.-China relations will rest not only on trade deals but on the larger competition for economic and military power in the Pacific Rim. No matter how this week’s meetings go, those challenges still lie ahead.

Hamas agreed to return all of the Israeli captives – both the living and the dead – within 72 hours of signing a ceasefire deal with Israel.

It has been more than a week, and 18 bodies have yet to be handed over.

The Palestinian group is calling for heavy machinery to retrieve the remains.

It accuses Israel of purposely hampering the search, while Israel insists that Hamas is dragging its feet.

All the while, the lives of Palestinians in Gaza depend on the return of Israel’s dead.

Will Israel resume the war? And is the US prepared to give it the green light?

Presenter: Tom McRae

Guests:

Ori Goldberg – Israeli political commentator

Xavier Abu Eid – political analyst

Mehmet Celik – editorial co-ordinator at the Daily Sabah

Strike on civilian vehicle by Israeli military in Gaza City marks deadliest violation of eight-day ceasefire with Hamas.

Israeli forces have killed 11 members of a Palestinian family in Gaza, the deadliest single violation of the fragile ceasefire since it took effect eight days ago.

The attack happened on Friday evening when a tank shell was fired by Israeli forces at a civilian vehicle carrying the Abu Shaaban family in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City, according to Gaza’s civil defence.

Seven children and three women were among those killed when the Israeli military fired on the vehicle as the family attempted to reach their home to inspect it, civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said in a statement.

“They could have been warned or dealt with differently,” Basal said, adding that “what happened confirms that the occupation is still thirsty for blood, and insists on committing crimes against innocent civilians.”

Hamas condemned what it called a “massacre” and said the family was targeted without justification. The group called on United States President Donald Trump and mediators to pressure Israel to respect the ceasefire agreement.

In that attack, Israeli soldiers opened fire on people who crossed the so-called “yellow line”, the demarcation to which Israel’s military was supposed to pull back under the ceasefire terms.

Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Gaza, said many Palestinians lack internet access and are unaware of where Israeli forces remain positioned along the demarcation lines, putting families at risk.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has said that the yellow lines in Gaza will be soon marked out for clarity.

Israeli forces remain in control of approximately 53 percent of Gaza, Khoudary said.

As the exchange of captives for Palestinian prisoners under the provisions of the deal has continued, Israel has killed at least 28 Palestinians, and heavily restricted the flow of desperately needed aid, including food and medical supplies.

Last week, Israeli forces killed five Palestinians in the Shujayea neighbourhood, also in Gaza City.

Israel has continued to seal the Rafah crossing with Egypt and blocked other key border crossings, preventing large-scale aid deliveries into the enclave.

The United Nations warned this week that aid convoys are struggling to reach famine-hit areas, with 49 percent of people accessing less than six litres of drinking water per day – well below emergency standards.

The World Food Programme said it has brought an average of 560 tonnes of food daily into Gaza since the ceasefire began, far below what is needed to address widespread malnutrition and prevent famine.

Hamas has said it remains committed to the ceasefire terms, including returning the remains of Israeli captives still under Gaza’s rubble.

The group handed over the body of another captive on Friday evening, bringing the total to 10 since the truce began. Hamas said it needs heavy machinery and excavation equipment to retrieve more remains, but Israel has blocked their entry.

Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said by blocking heavy equipment and machinery from entering, Israel is creating “a challenge for the residents of Gaza who are experienced and have the expertise to search and to dig out bodies from under the rubble” with that type of equipment.

Suicide car bomber strikes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa amid unconfirmed reports that Qatar has offered to host peace talks.

Tensions are mounting between Pakistan and Afghanistan amid reports of a brutal border attack on the former’s troops as a fragile truce between the neighbours, and once allies, nears its expiry.

A 48-hour ceasefire between the two sides, which came into effect this week after days of bloody cross-border attacks, is set to expire at 13:00 GMT on Friday.

As the end of the truce approached, Pakistani police official Irfan Ali said a suicide car bomber backed by Pakistan Taliban, known by the acronym TTP, attacked a military compound in Mir Ali, a city in North Waziristan district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Accounts of losses suffered during the attack varied.

The official, quoted by news agency The Associated Press, said three fighters were killed in an intense shootout and did not report any troop casualties.

News agency Reuters quoted Pakistani security officials as saying seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in an attack by a fighter who rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the wall of a Pakistani military camp in North Waziristan.

The anonymous officials said two other fighters were shot dead as they tried to get into the facility. At least 13 were left injured.

Pakistan’s Geo News reported that four assailants from TTP were killed in a suicide attack on a military camp in North Waziristan, with security sources saying security forces had suffered no losses.

Pakistan’s army did not immediately comment.

Deadly clashes

The truce, imposed on Wednesday, brought a temporary halt to the deadliest clashes between the neighbours since 2021, when the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of United States and NATO forces.

The conflict, which threatens to destabilise a region where groups like ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda are trying to resurface, was triggered after Islamabad demanded that Kabul rein in fighters who had stepped up attacks in Pakistan, saying they operated from havens in Afghanistan.

The Taliban denies the charge and accuses the Pakistani military of spreading misinformation about Afghanistan, provoking border tensions, and sheltering fighters to undermine its stability and sovereignty.

Media reported that Qatar has offered to host peace talks between the two countries in Doha, though neither government has confirmed the offer.

Reporting from Peshawar, Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder said there had been “some talk of a meeting in Doha … Friendly countries are trying to make efforts in order to ensure that the ceasefire is extended,” he said.

He described the situation on the border as “tense”, adding that Pakistan had stated that unless the Afghan side addressed its concerns, the situation would be “precarious and can escalate at any moment”.

Afghanistan’s Taliban government said on Thursday that Pakistan had carried out two drone attacks on Kabul the previous day, just before the ceasefire came into effect. Doctors told AP that five people were killed and dozens were injured.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said on Thursday that 37 civilians were killed and 425 were wounded in Afghanistan as a result of cross-border clashes with Pakistan this week.

Pakistan has not provided figures for civilian casualties suffered on its side of the border.

On Thursday, Dawn cited Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the military, as saying 34 “India-backed terrorists” from “Fitna-al-Khawarij” – the government’s term for TTP – had been killed during multiple operations across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the week.

Preparations are also under way for a Gaza summit in Egypt, with US President Donald Trump expected to attend.

Hamas and allied Palestinian factions have reiterated that any decision on the future governance of Gaza is “an internal Palestinian matter” as the ceasefire in the territory takes effect.

In a joint statement on Friday, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) joined Hamas in lauding the steadfastness of Palestinians, which they said foiled Israel’s plans for mass forced displacement in Gaza.

“We renew our rejection to any foreign guardianship, and we stress that the nature of the administration of the Gaza Strip and its institutions are an internal Palestinian matter to be determined by the national component of our people directly,” the statement said.

The groups added that they are working on an “urgent comprehensive national meeting” to discuss next steps after the ceasefire.

“This will unify the Palestinian position, formulate a comprehensive national strategy, and rebuild our national institutions on the foundations of partnership, credibility, and transparency,” they said.

It is not clear whether Fatah, the faction that dominates the Palestinian Authority, has agreed to be part of the meeting.

United States President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan includes the creation of a new international body, dubbed the “Board of Peace”, that would be tasked with overseeing an interim authority of technocrats to govern Gaza.

According to the scheme, Trump himself would chair the board, which would also include former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The first stage of the ceasefire, to which both Hamas and Israel agreed, is linked to Trump’s plan, but it remains unclear how Gaza will be governed going forward.

Captive releases; aid trucks for Gaza

Al Jazeera obtained a copy of the stipulations of the agreement, which calls on Hamas to hand over the Israeli captives within 72 hours without any public celebrations or media ceremony.

The deal also would ensure that at least 600 aid trucks reach Gaza daily, as well as the rehabilitation of water stations and the establishment of camps to shelter people in the enclave.

Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians began their journey to their homes in the north of the territory on Friday as the Israeli military started to withdraw from coastal areas.

The Palestinian Civil Defence said it retrieved 63 bodies from the streets of Gaza City after the truce came into effect on Friday. Thousands of Palestinians remain missing amid difficulty in pulling victims from under the rubble and reaching areas under Israeli military control.

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud described near total destruction in Gaza City after weeks of intense Israeli bombardment.

“On the way to Gaza City, as we approached the main entrance on the coastal road, it was already unrecognisable by the vast destruction and devastation of many of the buildings,” Mahmoud said.

“During our displacement journey, when we left the city, we counted 15 buildings either partially standing or still fully intact, inhabited by some of the displaced families. On our way back, we did not see them.”

Later on Friday, the Gaza Government Media Office stressed the need for a comprehensive reconstruction plan for the territory.

The first phase of the agreement calls for the entry of equipment to remove the rubble – a first step towards reconstruction.

The deal also says that United Nations agencies and other aid groups would distribute the humanitarian assistance, effectively sidelining the controversial Israel and US-backed GHF.

Hundreds of Palestinians were killed over the past months as they tried to reach GHF sites deep inside Israeli lines of control. Rights groups have described the mechanism as a death trap.

But GHF announced on Friday that it will continue to operate despite the ceasefire.

“GHF’s team on the ground continues to provide humanitarian aid and food to all those who need it,” GHF executive director John Acree said in a statement.

“We will not rest so long as there are Gazans in need. It’s our mission, and it continues on.”

GHF whistleblowers have documented horrific abuses committed in and around the private foundation’s sites.

Thousands of displaced Palestinians have begun returning to their abandoned and mostly destroyed homes, as the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas takes hold, with Israeli forces withdrawing from parts of Gaza.

Families started moving from western residential areas on Friday back towards Gaza City’s main districts, areas from which they were previously forced to flee.

Several Israeli military brigades and divisions have pulled out from central Gaza regions as well.

At the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, families have begun travelling northward, though many remain waiting to enter areas in the Netzarim Corridor, where Israeli forces were stationed. They are holding there until the final Israeli tank departs the area.

Concerning developments include heightened activity of Israeli drones, fighter jets, and warships since early morning. Multiple attacks were reported in the morning at locations where people were gathering to return home.

A huge procession of displaced Palestinians moved northward through dust-filled roads towards Gaza City, the territory’s largest urban centre, which had experienced intense Israeli military operations just days earlier.

“Thank God my house is still standing,” said Ismail Zayda, 40, in the Sheikh Radwan area in Gaza City. “But the place is destroyed, my neighbours’ houses are destroyed, entire districts have gone.”

The Israeli military announced the ceasefire agreement took effect at noon local time (09:00 GMT). Israel’s government ratified the ceasefire with Hamas early Friday, setting in motion a partial troop withdrawal and complete suspension of hostilities in Gaza within 24 hours.

Israeli captives are scheduled for release within 72 hours afterwards, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

The first phase of United States President Trump’s plan to end the two-year Gaza conflict requires Israeli forces to withdraw from major urban centres, though they will maintain control of approximately half the enclave’s territory.

Once the agreement takes effect, aid trucks carrying food and medical supplies will enter Gaza to assist civilians, hundreds of thousands of whom have been living in tents after their homes were destroyed and entire cities reduced to rubble.

At least 85 Palestinians killed across the territory, including 12 at a makeshift shelter, as global leaders demand end to the war at UNGA.

At least 12 Palestinians, among them seven women and two children, have been killed in a strike on a stadium sheltering displaced families in the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza, as Israel pressed ahead with its relentless attacks despite calls for a ceasefire from world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly.

The al-Ahli Stadium, which has been converted into a makeshift refuge for Palestinians fleeing the Israeli onslaught, became the site of another massacre on Wednesday.

“I only had what I had in my hand. I left with nothing,” Najwa, a displaced woman from Gaza City, told Al Jazeera. “We are frightened. Transportation is expensive. We can’t pay to bring our things.”

‘Inflicting terror’

Israel’s assault on Gaza intensified overnight, with at least 85 Palestinians killed across the territory on Wednesday – more than double the number of those killed yesterday.

As the UN warned that Israel’s military is “inflicting terror on the Palestinian population of Gaza City and forcing tens of thousands to flee”, Israeli military chief of staff Eyal Zamir claimed Palestinians were being pushed southward “for their safety”.

But UN investigators have rejected those claims. A commission of inquiry this week concluded that Israel’s actions are aimed at establishing permanent control over Gaza while ensuring a Jewish majority in the occupied West Bank and inside Israel.

Zamir added that “most of Gaza’s population has already left Gaza City” and that the army “will continue a systematic and thorough advance” into the enclave’s largest urban centre.

Since the war began on October 7, 2023, at least 65,419 Palestinians have been killed and 167,160 wounded, with thousands more believed to be buried beneath the rubble. Israel launched what campaigners say is a war of vengeance after 1,139 people were killed in Israel in a Hamas-led attack in October 2023. About 200 were taken captive by the Palestinian fighters, out of which more than 40 still remain in Gaza.

Condemnation at the United Nations

At the UN General Assembly in New York, Israel’s war on Gaza has dominated proceedings, drawing condemnation from leaders across the world.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian told world leaders: “If you have no sympathy for human pain, the name of human you cannot pertain. Those criminals who bully by murdering children are not worthy of the name ‘human being’, and they shall never prove to be trustworthy partners.”

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa also demanded an immediate ceasefire: “We stand firmly with the people of Gaza, its children and women and all peoples facing violations and aggression. We call for an immediate end to the war.”

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told Al Jazeera that quiet talks are taking place on ending the conflict, building on the “New York Declaration” roadmap endorsed by 142 states in July.

“Those of us who are closest to the Israeli position are beginning to understand that we cannot just continue with this endless, senseless war, and that includes the United States,” he said.

Meanwhile, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said Washington was “hopeful … even confident that in the coming days we’ll be able to announce some sort of breakthrough” and confirmed that President Donald Trump’s 21-point peace plan had been circulated among world leaders.

But previous peace proposals have been derailed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Earlier this month, Netanyahu ordered the assassination of Hamas leaders gathering in Doha to discuss a peace proposal by Trump.

The Israeli leader unilaterally pulled out of the last ceasefire agreement on March 18 and launched fierce air strikes and imposed a total aid blockade, resulting in famine and starvation deaths. He faces an arrest warrant for war crimes issued by the International Criminal Court.

As Israel becomes increasingly isolated, protests have erupted in Tel Aviv. Hundreds gathered at Ben Gurion airport to denounce Netanyahu as he departed for the UN meeting.

Before leaving, the Israeli prime minister once again rejected international calls for a Palestinian state. “The shameful surrender of some leaders to Palestinian terrorism will not bind Israel in any way,” his office said.

The Israeli military has continued its intense assault on northern Gaza City with a series of deadly overnight attacks.

If Israel rejects the latest offer to pause its War on Gaza, it’s a sign that Israel “doesn’t want any deal,” argues US journalist and author Jeremy Scahill.

Scahill, the co-founder of Drop Site News, tells host Steve Clemons that Hamas has offered major concessions on sticking points such as the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released, Israeli withdrawal from the border with Egypt, and the so-called GHF.

But with carte blanche from the US to continue its war, the question remains: Will Israel decide to sign a temporary deal or pursue war?

The US and China have extended their trade truce until 10 November, just hours before a jump in tariffs had been set to take effect.

In a joint statement, the world’s two biggest economies said triple-digit tariffs on each other’s goods announced earlier this year will be suspended for another 90 days.

Talks last month ended with both sides calling the discussions “constructive”. China’s top negotiator said at the time that the two countries would push to preserve the truce, while US officials said they were waiting for final sign-off from US President Donald Trump.

On Monday, Trump signed an executive order to extend the tariff truce.

It means Washington will further delay imposing 145% tariffs on Chinese goods and Beijing will continue its pause on 125% duties on US shipments.

Under the agreement, the US will hold its tariffs on Chinese imports at 30%, while China will keep a 10% tariff on American goods.

The truce extension will give more time for negotiations about “remedying trade imbalances” and “unfair trade practices”, the White House said.

It cited a trade deficit of nearly $300bn (£223bn) with China in 2024 – the largest among any of its trading partner.

The talks will also aim to increase access for US exporters to China and address national security and economic issues, the statement said.

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington said: “Win-win cooperation between China and the United States is the right path; suppression and containment will lead nowhere.”

In the statement, China also called on the US to lift its “unreasonable” trade restrictions, work together to benefit companies on both sides and maintain the stability of global semiconductor production.

A return of higher duties would have risked further trade turmoil and uncertainty amid worries about the effect of tariffs on prices and the economy.

Trade tensions between the US and China reached fever pitch in April, after Trump unveiled sweeping new tariffs on goods from countries around the world, with China facing some of the highest levies.

Beijing retaliated with tariffs of its own, sparking a tit-for-tat fight that saw tariffs soar into the triple digits and nearly shut down trade between the two countries.

The two sides had agreed to set aside some of those measures in May.

That agreement left Chinese goods entering the US facing an additional 30% tariff compared with the start of the year, with US goods facing a new 10% tariff in China.

The two sides remain in discussions about issues including access to China’s rare earths, its purchases of Russian oil, and US curbs on sales of advanced technology, including chips to China.

Trump recently relaxed some of those export restrictions, allowing firms such as AMD and Nvidia to resume sales of certain chips to firms in China in exchange for sharing 15% of their revenues with the US government.

The US is also pushing for the spin-off of TikTok from its Chinese owner ByteDance, a move that has been opposed by Beijing.

Earlier on Monday in remarks to reporters, Trump did not commit to extending the truce but said dealings had been going “nicely”. A day earlier he called on Beijing to increase its purchases of US soybeans.

Even with the truce, trade flows between the countries have been hit this year, with US government figures showing US imports of Chinese goods in June cut nearly in half compared with June 2024.

In the first six months of the year, the US imported $165bn (£130bn) worth of goods from China, down by about 15% from the same time last year. American exports to China fell roughly 20% year-on-year for the same period.

It is the third incident in a few weeks in which Thai soldiers have been injured by mines around the border.

Three Thai soldiers have been injured by a landmine while patrolling the border with Cambodia, according to the army, days after the two neighbours agreed to a detailed ceasefire following a violent five-day conflict last month.

One soldier lost a foot and two others were injured after one of them stepped on a landmine as they patrolled an area between Thailand’s Sisaket and Cambodia’s Preah Vihear provinces on Saturday morning, the Royal Thai Armed Forces said.

One soldier suffered a severe leg injury, another was wounded in the back and arm, and the third had extreme pressure damage to the ear, it said.

There was no immediate comment from Cambodia’s defence ministry.

It is the third incident in a few weeks in which Thai soldiers have been injured by mines while patrolling along the border.

Two previous similar incidents led to the downgrading of diplomatic relations and triggered five days of fighting.

The Southeast Asian neighbours were engaged in deadly border clashes from July 24-28, in the worst fighting between the two in more than a decade.

The exchanges of artillery fire, infantry battles and jet fighter sorties killed at least 43 people.

The clashes halted with a ceasefire on July 28 after United States President Donald Trump warned both sides that he would not conclude trade deals with them if fighting continued.

A meeting of defence officials in Kuala Lumpur ended on Thursday with a deal to extend the ceasefire, and the two sides also agreed to allow observers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to inspect disputed border areas to ensure hostilities do not resume.

Bangkok accused Cambodia of planting landmines on the Thai side of the disputed border that injured soldiers on July 16 and July 23. Phnom Penh denied it had placed any new mines and said the soldiers had veered off agreed routes and triggered old landmines left from its decades of war.

Israeli forces have continued to pound the besieged Gaza Strip, killing at least 72 Palestinians, including several aid seekers, as ceasefire talks stall amid a deepening fuel and hunger crisis.

An Israeli attack near an aid distribution point in Rafah in southern Gaza killed at least five people who were seeking aid on Monday, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

The killings raised the death toll of Palestinians killed near aid sites run by the controversial Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to 838, according to Wafa.

In Khan Younis, also in southern Gaza, an Israeli strike on a displacement camp killed nine people and wounded many others. In central Gaza’s Bureij refugee camp, four people were killed when an Israeli air strike hit a commercial centre, Wafa said.

Israeli forces also resumed stepping up attacks in northern Gaza and Gaza City. Israeli media reported an ambush in Gaza City, with a tank hit by rocket fire and later, with small arms. A helicopter was seen evacuating casualties. The Israeli military later confirmed that three soldiers were killed in the incident.

Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said Israeli forces responded with “massive air strikes in the vicinity of [the] Tuffah and Shujayea neighbourhoods, levelling residential buildings”.

The Wafa news agency said at least 24 Palestinians were killed in Gaza City and dozens more were wounded.

The attacks come as UN agencies continue to plead for more aid to be allowed into Gaza, where famine looms and a severe fuel shortage has brought the already battered healthcare sector to its knees.

Gaza’s water crisis has also intensified since Israel blocked nearly all fuel shipments into the enclave on March 2. With no fuel, desalination plants, wastewater treatment facilities and pumping stations have largely shut down.

Egypt’s foreign minister said on Monday that the flow of aid into Gaza has not increased despite an agreement last week between Israel and the European Union that should have had that result.

“Nothing has changed [on the ground],” Badr Abdelatty told reporters ahead of the EU-Middle East meeting in Brussels.

‘A real catastrophe’

The EU’s top diplomat said on Thursday that the bloc and Israel agreed to improve Gaza’s humanitarian situation, including increasing the number of aid trucks and opening crossing points and aid routes.

When asked what steps Israel has taken, Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar referred to an understanding with the EU but did not provide details on the implementation.

Asked if there were improvements after the agreement, Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi told reporters that the situation in Gaza remains “catastrophic”.

“There is a real catastrophe happening in Gaza resulting from the continuation of the Israeli siege,” he said.

Meanwhile, stuttering ceasefire talks entered a second week on Monday, with mediators seeking to close the gap between Israel and Hamas.

The indirect negotiations in Qatar appear to still remain deadlocked after both sides blamed the other for blocking a deal for the release of captives and a 60-day ceasefire.

An official with knowledge of the talks said they were “ongoing” in Doha on Monday, the AFP news agency reported.

“Discussions are currently focused on the proposed maps for the deployment of Israeli forces within Gaza,” the source reportedly said.

“Mediators are actively exploring innovative mechanisms to bridge the remaining gaps and maintain momentum in the negotiations,” the source added on condition of anonymity.

Hamas accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who says he wants to see the Palestinian group destroyed, of being the main obstacle.

“Netanyahu is skilled at sabotaging one round of negotiations after another, and is unwilling to reach any agreement,” the group wrote on Telegram.

Netanyahu is under growing pressure to end the war, with military casualties rising and public frustration mounting.

He also faces backlash over the feasibility and ethics of a plan to build a so-called “humanitarian city” from scratch on the ruins of southern Gaza’s Rafah to house 600,000 Palestinians if and when a ceasefire takes hold.

Israel’s security establishment is reported to be unhappy with the plan, which the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said amounts to plans for a “concentration camp”.