Egypt assisting Hamas with finding captive bodies amid Gaza rubble

The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said one of its patrols was attacked by an Israeli drone that dropped a grenade, followed by tank fire, near the southern Lebanese town of Kfar Kila.

In a statement, UNIFIL said the Israeli attacks "are in violation of Security Council Resolution 1701 and Lebanon’s sovereignty, and show disregard for safety and security of the peacekeepers implementing Security Council-mandated tasks in southern Lebanon".

The force added that there were no casualties or material damage reported.

UNIFIL, which has been stationed in southern Lebanon since 1978, was significantly expanded under Security Council Resolution 1701 following the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Israel has carried out multiple air strikes in Lebanon in recent months, claiming to target Hezbollah infrastructure, despite the ceasefire agreement that took effect in November 2024.

Austria's Chancellor Christian Stocker has firmly rejected any suggestion of banning Israel from the Eurovision Song Contest as his country prepares to host the next edition of the competition in 2026.

"I would consider it a fatal mistake to exclude Israel," Stocker was quoted as saying in an interview with German news agency dpa published on Sunday, Austria's National Day.

"Based on our history alone, I would never be in favour of that," he added, in reference to Austria's shared responsibility for crimes committed during the Holocaust in World War Two.

Eurovision, which stresses its political neutrality, has faced controversy linked to Israel's genocidal campaign in Gaza.

The public broadcasters of some European countries, including Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands have pledged to withdraw if Israel takes part in the contest to be held in Vienna next May.

Eurovision Song Contest organisers this month scrapped a planned November meeting to vote on Israel's participation, and are now due to look at it in December.

A Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli forces at the Meitar checkpoint, south of Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera is reporting.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said two other Palestinians were wounded after Israeli soldiers opened fire in the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin.

More than 700,000 Israeli settlers live illegally in about 250 settlements and outposts across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, protected by Israel’s military.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Israeli settlers have targeted Palestinian property over 2,400 times in the past two years, displacing at least 3,055 people,

Four Palestinians were wounded, one of them seriously, when Israeli forces opened fire while storming al-Amari refugee camp in the town of al-Bireh in the central occupied West Bank.

According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, all of the injured were transferred to hospital for treatment.

Since 7 October, 2023, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers across the occupied West Bank, including 213 children.

Israeli soldiers are rarely held accountable for killings of Palestinians in the occupied territory.

Lebanon's health ministry said on Sunday that Israeli strikes on the country's south and east had killed three people, despite an ongoing ceasefire deal, as Israel claimed it had targeted two members of Hezbollah.

Officials said one person had been killed in an "Israeli enemy strike" on a car in Naqoura, in Tyre province, while another strike on a vehicle in Nabi Sheet, in the country's eastern Baalbek region, resulted in another fatality.

Later, the health ministry said a further strike on the town of al-Hafir, also in the Baalbek area, resulted in the death of a Syrian national and an injury to another Syrian.

Despite a nearly year-long ceasefire, Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon, often saying it is targeting Hezbollah positions.

In a statement on Sunday, the Israeli army said it had killed Ali Hussein al-Mousawi in eastern Lebanon, describing him as "a weapons dealer and smuggler on behalf of Hezbollah".

The Israeli military said it had also killed a local Hezbollah representative it identified as Abd Mahmoud al-Sayed, in southern Lebanon.

Israel has intensified strikes in recent weeks, with several deadly attacks launched over the past few days.

Last week, a United Nations special rapporteur told AFP that deadly Israeli strikes on ostensibly civilian vehicles in Lebanon could amount to war crimes.

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke said he wouldn't not play a concert in Israel, in what could be described as a shift from his stance on Palestine and Israel. 

The band had previously performed in Tel Aviv back in 2017 - drawing backlash. 

Read more here.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz visited the Israeli army Northern Command near the Lebanese border, accompanied by US envoy Morgan Ortagus.

The delegation also included US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, Israeli Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter, Northern Front Commander General Rafi Milo, and representatives from US Central Command and the National Security Council.

WATCH: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz visited the Lebanese border with U.S. Special Envoy Morgan Ortagus and representatives from CENTCOM and the U.S. National Security Council. pic.twitter.com/sNetV8tF2d

— Ariel Oseran أريئل أوسيران (@ariel_oseran) October 26, 2025

Three Israeli captives have been released from hospital after around two weeks at the Beilinson Hospital facility, Israeli media said.

Evyatar David, Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Eitan Mor will now begin a rehabilitation process with the hospital like the other former captives who were held in Gaza, the hospital was reported as saying.

Another Israeli strike targeting Lebanon killed a driver in the town of Nabi Sheet in Baalbek, after striking his car, Lebanese media said.

Mahmoud Abbas issued a constitutional declaration on Sunday setting out what would happen if the Palestinian Authority president position becomes vacant.

Under the new declaration, if there is no Palestinian Legislative Council in place, the deputy chair of the PLO Executive Committee will temporarily take over as the president for a period not exceeding 90 days.

In his statement, President Abbas stressed that the declaration aims "to protect the Palestinian political system, safeguard our homeland, ensure its security, and preserve its constitutional institutions".

The Red Cross was working with Hamas to locate the bodies of deceased captives within an area of the Israeli military's control in Gaza, Israeli media reported on Sunday, citing an Israeli official

An Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon has killed an alleged member of Hezbollah, Lebanese media is reporting.

The man, identified as Abdel Sayyed, was also the owner of a gas station located near the headquarters of the United Nations Interim Force in South Lebanon (UNIFIL) in Naqoura.

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said on Sunday that Israel is continuing to violate the internationally brokered ceasefire in Gaza "around the clock" through deadly attacks on civilians, the ongoing blockade, and restrictions on humanitarian aid.

Speaking to The New Arab’s Arabic-language edition, Qassem warned that "these violations do not provide the conditions necessary to maintain calm and implement the agreement," stressing that Hamas leadership is in "continuous and intensive contact with regional and international mediators, including Egypt, Qatar, and the United States".

Qassem also pointed to the insufficient aid entering the territory. He stressed the need for "a steady and organised flow of aid under the supervision of specialised UN agencies" and rejected any involvement from the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the aid delivery process. 

Austria's Chancellor Christian Stocker has firmly rejected any suggestion of banning Israel from the Eurovision Song Contest as his country prepares to host the next edition of the competition in 2026.

"I would consider it a fatal mistake to exclude Israel," Stocker was quoted as saying in an interview with German news agency DPA published on Sunday, Austria's National Day.

"Based on our history alone, I would never be in favour of that," he added, in reference to Austria's shared responsibility for crimes committed during the Holocaust in World War Two.

Eurovision, which stresses its political neutrality, has faced controversy linked to Israel's participation in the competition amid its war in the Gaza Strip

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa will attend and deliver an address at the annual Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh this week, two sources familiar with the matter said.

The Syrian presidency and the Saudi government media office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Sunday that Israel would seek no approval to strike targets in Gaza or Lebanon, despite agreeing to ceasefires.

"Israel is an independent state. We will defend ourselves by our own means and we will continue to determine our fate," Netanyahu told a meeting of government ministers.

"We do not seek anyone's approval for this. We control our security," he said, following a week of visits by a parade of the highest level US officials seeking to consolidate the ceasefire in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel alone would decide which countries it would allow to join a planned international security force in Gaza.

Under a US-brokered ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, a coalition of mainly Arab and Muslim powers is expected to deploy troops in the devastated Palestinian territory.

But Netanyahu, who opposes regional rival Turkey having a role in the force, said: "We made clear with respect to international forces that Israel will determine which forces are unacceptable to us."

Yemen's Houthis arrested three local United Nations staff, including two women, accusing them of spying for Israel, a security source from the rebel group told AFP on Sunday.

"Two women working for the World Food Programme were taken from their homes on Saturday" in the rebel-held capital Sanaa, the source said, adding that a Yemeni man also working for the WFP was arrested that night.

"Security and intelligence services in Sanaa still have a list of people wanted for collaborating with the Israeli and American enemy," the source added.

They are the latest in a wave of arrests targeting UN and other NGO workers, with seven other local UN staffers arrested earlier this week on accusations of colluding with Israel.

Last week, the rebels raided the UN compound in Sanaa, holding 20 staffers, including 15 foreigners, inside before they were released shortly afterwards.

Twelve of the 15 international staffers left the country on Wednesday.

A young Palestinian man was shot and injured by Israeli forces in the early hours of Sunday in Al-Ram, north of occupied Jerusalem.

Medical crews treated a man who was shot in the thigh with live ammunition near the Israeli separation wall built on the lands of Al-Ram, according to Palestinian media. He was subsequently transferred to hospital for treatment.

The incident occurred near one of the areas where Palestinians often attempt to cross the Israeli-built segregation wall to reach their workplaces inside Israel. Due to the severe restrictions on permits and movement imposed by Israeli authorities, many Palestinian workers from the West Bank are forced to try to access work through informal or unregulated openings in the wall.

American Airlines said on Sunday it would resume flights to Israel in March, after the US carrier halted the New York JFK to Tel Aviv route following the outbreak of the war in Gaza two years ago.

American said it would re-launch its flights from JFK on March 28.

US rivals Delta and United have already resumed flights to Israel.

Many foreign carriers halted flights to Tel Aviv after 7 October and stayed away for long stretches during the past two years due to intermittent missile fire from Iran and Yemen.

That largely left flag-carrier El Al Israel Airlines , and smaller Israeli airlines Arkia and Israir, operating international routes, but with demand far higher than supply, airfares soared.

In the wake of a US-brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, many foreign airlines have restarted flights to Tel Aviv. British Airways, SAS, Iberia and Swiss are slated to resume flights this week.

Israeli settlers on Sunday cut down dozens of olive trees in the village of Al-Minya, south of Bethlehem, in the southern occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian news agency Wafa said that settlers cut down the olive trees planted on an area of two dunams in the Al-Qarm area of ​​Al-Minya village, owned by Mahmoud Jabarin.

The agency stated that the attack was linked to a physical assault carried out by settlers on Saturday against Jabarin, who suffered a broken hand before being arrested by Israeli forces.

Israeli attacks against Palestinians, their farmland and crops witnesses a significant uptick during the olive harvesting season, which typically starts in October.

Israeli forces arrested at least 13 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank on Sunday, amid raids,

The incursions were carried out in Ramallah, al-Bireh, Hebron, and Tulkarem, according to local and Palestinian security sources, cited by the Palestinian Wafa agency.

In Ramallah, seven were arrested, including 60-year-old Riyad Sharif Atta and his son Mustafa, 25.

In the nearby village of Kobar, freed Palestinian prisoner Zain Issam al-Barghouti from, who was recently released as part of the ceasefire and exchange agreement, was also detained.

In Hebron, five Palestinians were detained while in Tulkarem, a former prisoner was also arrested. 

A convoy of Egyptian trucks and vehicles transporting heavy machinery entered Gaza overnight to help locate the remains of Israeli hostages in the territory, AFP footage showed.

The vehicles were filmed in Khan Younis in the south of Gaza.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request on Sunday morning for confirmation that the vehicles had entered.

But The Times of Israel had reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally approved the entry of the Egyptian team and several engineering vehicles to the Palestinian territory to locate the missing remains.

On Saturday night, Egyptian state-linked Al-Qahera News channel reported that the team was on its way to Gaza.

Two Egyptian military sources had also confirmed to AFP that the convoy was at the Kerem Shalom crossing Saturday night, awaiting authorisation to cross into the Palestinian territory.