Politics
Israel announces ceasefire and aid resumption after Gaza airstrikes kill 26
The Israeli military announced on Sunday that a ceasefire in Gaza had resumed following an attack that killed two of its soldiers and triggered airstrikes that Palestinians said left 26 people dead, marking the most serious test of this month’s truce.
US President Donald Trump said the ceasefire he brokered remained in place and suggested Hamas leadership may not have been involved in the violations. “We think maybe the leadership isn’t involved in that,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One.
“Either way … it’s going to be handled toughly but properly,” Trump added. He also said he did not know whether the Israeli strikes were justified. “I’d have to get back to you on that,” he said.
Aid to Gaza is set to resume on Monday following US pressure, an Israeli security source said, after Israel had temporarily halted supplies in response to what it described as a “blatant” truce violation by Hamas.
The airstrikes killed at least 26 people, including a woman and a child, according to local residents and health authorities. At least one strike hit a former school sheltering displaced residents in Nuseirat.
“We’re going to have to see what’s happening. We want to make sure that it’s going to be very peaceful with Hamas,” Trump said.
US envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to travel to Israel on Monday, Israeli and US officials said.
The armed wing of Hamas stated it remains committed to the ceasefire, was unaware of clashes in Rafah, and had not communicated with groups there since March.
US Vice President JD Vance did not address the Israeli strikes directly, but noted that around 40 Hamas cells remain active, with no security infrastructure yet to ensure complete disarmament.
“Some of those cells will probably honor the ceasefire. Many, as we saw today, will not,” he said. Vance added that Gulf Arab states may need to deploy forces to maintain law, order, and security on the ground before Hamas can be fully disarmed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to respond forcefully to what he called Hamas’ violations of the ceasefire.
PATH TO PEACE IS UNCERTAIN
Fearing the truce may collapse, some Palestinians rushed to buy goods from a main market in Nuseirat and families fled their homes in Khan Younis further south, after airstrikes hit nearby.
The strikes were reminiscent of Israel’s response to what it viewed as serious violations of its ceasefire with Hamas’ Lebanese ally Hezbollah in late 2024, less than a week after it came into effect and after days of mutual accusations of truce breaches, though that ceasefire has since largely held.
But formidable obstacles remain in the way of a durable peace in Gaza, where a ceasefire collapsed in March after nearly two months of relative calm when Israel unleashed a barrage of airstrikes.
DISPUTE OVER BODIES OF DECEASED HOSTAGES
The new ceasefire took effect on October 10, halting two years of war, but the Israeli government and Hamas have been accusing each other of violations of the ceasefire for days.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the “yellow line” to where Israeli forces had pulled back under the ceasefire deal would be physically marked and that any violation of the ceasefire or attempt to cross the line would be met with fire.
Hamas detailed what it said was a series of violations by Israel that it says have left 46 people dead and stopped essential supplies from reaching the enclave.
On Saturday, Israel said the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which had been expected to be reopened this week, would remain closed and that its reopening would depend on Hamas fulfilling its obligations under the ceasefire.
Israel says Hamas is being too slow in handing over bodies of deceased hostages.
Hamas last week released all 20 living hostages it had been holding and in the following days has handed over 12 of the 28 deceased captives.
MORE AID IS NEEDED
Hamas says it has no interest in keeping the bodies of remaining hostages and that special equipment is needed to recover corpses buried under rubble.
The Rafah crossing has largely been shut since May 2024. The ceasefire deal also includes the ramping up of aid to Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people were determined in August to be affected by famine, according to the IPC global hunger monitor.
The crossing has in previous ceasefires functioned as a key conduit for humanitarian aid to flow into the enclave.
Although the flow of aid through another crossing had, until Sunday’s decision to halt aid, increased significantly since the ceasefire began, the United Nations says far more is needed.
Key questions of Hamas disarming, future governance of Gaza, the make-up of an international “stabilization force”, and moves towards creation of a Palestinian state have yet to be resolved.
- Private carrier admits misjudgement, planning gaps.
- Regulator orders IndiGo to relieve senior office bearers.
- Operational meltdown linked to new policy of pilot rest.
India’s civil aviation regulator on Saturday imposed a fine of $2.45 million on IndiGo, the country’s biggest airline, for poor roster planning that led to large-scale flight cancellations in December.
Airports across India were thrown into disarray late last year, with the private carrier admitting “misjudgement and planning gaps” in adapting to a new policy of pilot rest.
Over 4,000 mostly domestic flights were either cancelled or delayed for over a week across the country, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers.
The operational meltdown came even though IndiGo had two years to prepare for the new rules aimed at giving pilots more rest periods in between flights to enhance passenger safety.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said it was levying the penalty for several lapses, including “failure to strike (a) balance between commercial imperatives and crew members’ ability to work effectively”.
The regulator ordered IndiGo to relieve its senior vice president of its operations control centre of his responsibilities, according to a statement released on Saturday.
It also issued warnings to senior officials at the company, including CEO Pieter Elbers “for inadequate overall oversight of flight operations and crisis management”.
There was no immediate response from IndiGo to the fine.
IndiGo, which commands 60% of India’s domestic market, operates more than 2,000 flights a day.
The crisis was one of the biggest challenges faced by the no-frills airline that has built its reputation on punctuality.
India is one of the world’s fastest growing aviation markets. In November 2024, IndiGo reached a daily level of 500,000 passengers for the first time.
- Khamenei terms wave of protests “American conspiracy”.
- Iran’s supreme leader says will not spare domestic criminals.
- DPM Dar expresses hope for peace and stability in region.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday accused US President Donald Trump of being responsible for “casualties” during a protest wave in the country.
“We hold the American president guilty for the casualties, damages and accusations he has levelled against the Iranian nation,” he told a crowd of supporters during an address marking a religious holiday.
“This was an American conspiracy,” he said, adding that “America’s goal is to swallow Iran… the goal is to put Iran back under military, political and economic domination”.
He further said authorities “must break the back of the seditionists” after a crackdown on the protest wave.
“We do not intend to lead the country to war, but we will not spare domestic criminals… worse than domestic criminals, international criminals, we will not spare them either,” he added.
“By God’s grace, the Iranian nation must break the back of the seditionists just as it broke the back of the sedition.”
It is pertinent to mention here that more than 3,000 people have died in Iran’s nationwide protests, rights activists said on Saturday, while a “very slight rise” in internet activity was reported in the country after an eight-day blackout.
The protests erupted on December 28 over economic hardship and swelled into widespread demonstrations calling for the end of clerical rule in the country, culminating in mass violence late last week.
Tensions in Iran, however, subsided after three weeks of protests under an internet blackout. The capital Tehran, however, has been comparatively quiet for four days, said several residents reached by Reuters.
Drones were flying over the city, but there were no signs of major protests on Thursday or Friday, said the residents, who asked not to be identified for their safety.
Separately, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar held telephonic conversation with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi today.
They discussed the current situation in Iran and the wider region.
DPM Dar expressed hope for peace and stability, and both sides agreed to continue bilateral consultations on matters of mutual interest.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump thanked Iran’s leaders for cancelling what he said were hundreds of planned executions of protesters after a crackdown.
Taking to his social media platform, he said the mass hangings had been called off and praised Tehran for the move.
US President Donald Trump, whose repeated threats to act had included a vow to “take very strong action” if Iran executed protesters, said Tehran’s leaders had called off mass hangings.
“I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled hangings, which were to take place yesterday (Over 800 of them), have been cancelled by the leadership of Iran. Thank you!” he posted on social media.
- Venezuela’s Machado gave her Nobel medal to Trump.
- Donald Trump says he intends to keep the medal.
- Original laureate recorded in history as prize recipient.
OSLO: The Nobel Peace Prize remains inseparably linked to the person or organisation that won it, though the medal can be given away, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said on Friday, a day after last year’s winner gave her medalto US President Donald Trump.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gave her medalon on Thursday to Trump, who thanked her for it. The White House released a photo of Trump and Machado, with Trump holding up a gold-coloured frame displaying it, and a White House official said Trump intends to keep it.
Machado’s award also consists of a diploma and 11 million Swedish crowns ($1.19 million).
“Regardless of what may happen to the medal, the diploma, or the prize money, it is and remains the original laureate who is recorded in history as the recipient of the prize,” the award body said in a statement.
“There are no restrictions in the statutes of the Nobel Foundation on what a laureate may do with the medal, the diploma, or the prize money. This means that a laureate is free to keep, give away, sell, or donate these items,” it added.
‘Inseparably linked’
The medal and the diploma are physical symbols confirming that an individual or organisation has been awarded the prize, said the five-strong award committee.
“The prize itself – the honour and recognition – remains inseparably linked to the person or organisation designated as the laureate by the Norwegian Nobel Committee,” it said.
The committee, which did not refer to Trump and Machado by name in its statement, said it does not comment on a laureate’s statements, decisions or actions after the prize is announced.
It was not the first time a Nobel laureate has given away the medal. In 1943, Nobel literature laureate Knut Hamsun gave his to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.
In 2022, Nobel Peace laureate Dmitry Muratov sold his medal for $100 million to raise money for the UN children’s fund Unicef to help Ukrainian refugee children.
In 2024, the widow of former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan donated his 2001 Nobel Peace Prize medal and diploma to the UN office in Geneva.
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