MADRID: Israel has released the five remaining Spanish detainees from flotillas it blocked while they were carrying aid and pro-Palestinian activists to devastated Gaza, sources at Spain&#39;s foreign ministry said on Sunday. Israel has this month intercepted in international waters two flotillas aiming to break its blockade of Gaza, where the United Nations has declared a famine after two years of brutal conflict. Israel arrested the crews, with Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg among the dozens of activists of various nationalities, sparking huge protests in Europe. Israel has been releasing them over recent days, with Spanish foreign ministry sources saying: &quot;The last five members of the flotilla held by Israel are now on their way to Spain.&quot; Among them is a member of the first flotilla who was not included in a first wave of releases after allegedly biting an Israeli prison officer. &quot;There are no more Spaniards from the flotilla detained in Israel,&quot; the ministry sources added. Almost 50 other Spanish flotilla members had returned home during the past week. The activists have complained of mistreatment during their detention in Israel. Israeli authorities have denied the allegations.

Pro-Palestinian supporters wave flags as they wait for the arrival of South African activists at OR Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park

Europe

Middle East

Israel released the last five detained Spanish flotilla members aiming to break Gaza’s blockade, ending Spain’s detentions amid protests and claims of mistreatment.

Spain says Israel frees its last Gaza flotilla members

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Jordan, the UAE, Indonesia, T&uuml;rkiye, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Egypt, in a joint statement on Sunday, welcomed the steps taken by Hamas in&nbsp;response to US President Donald Trump&rsquo;s plan to end the Gaza conflict. &ldquo;The foreign ministers ... welcomed President Trump&rsquo;s call on Israel to immediately stop the bombing and to begin implementation of the exchange agreement and expressed appreciation for his commitment to establishing peace in the region,&rdquo; according to the statement. Gaza administration and ceasefire talks The foreign ministers supported Hamas&rsquo;s announcement to hand over Gaza&rsquo;s administration to a transitional Palestinian Administrative Committee of independent technocrats. They called for swift negotiations to establish implementation mechanisms. They said that there is a need for &quot;immediate launch of negotiations to agree on mechanisms to implement the proposal, and address all of its aspects.&rdquo; Commitment to peace, security, and humanitarian aid According to the statement, &quot;The foreign ministers reiterated their joint commitment to support efforts toward the implementation of the proposal, to work for the immediate end of the war on Gaza, and achieve a comprehensive agreement that ensures unrestricted delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, no displacement of the Palestinian people, and that no measures are taken that threaten the security and safety of civilians, the release of hostages, the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza, unifying Gaza and the West Bank, and reaching a security mechanism that guarantees the security of all sides, in a manner that leads to the full Israeli withdrawal, and to the rebuilding of Gaza, and that creates a path for a just peace on the basis of the two-state solution.&quot; They described the developments as a &ldquo;real opportunity to achieve a comprehensive and sustainable ceasefire, and to address the critical humanitarian conditions facing people in Gaza Strip.&rdquo;

 Israeli soldiers take position along the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP)

Asia

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the eight countries reiterated their commitment to supporting the release of hostages, ceasefire talks, the handover of the Gaza administration, and urgent peace negotiations based on the two-state solution.

Pakistan, other Muslim nations, welcome Hamas response to Trump’s peace plan

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Saturday warned Palestinian group Hamas to &quot;move quickly&quot; and agree to a peace deal with Israel or risk further devastation in Gaza. &quot;Hamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off. I will not tolerate delay, which many think will happen, or any outcome where Gaza poses a threat again,&quot; Trump posted on his Truth Social page. &quot;Let&#39;s get this done, FAST.&quot; He also expressed appreciation that &quot;Israel has temporarily stopped the bombing in order to give the Hostage release and Peace Deal a chance to be completed,&quot; although the enclave&#39;s civil defense agency said Israel carried out dozens of attacks on Gaza City overnight.

Americas

US President Donald Trump warned Hamas to swiftly agree to a peace deal with Israel or face further devastation in Gaza, urging quick action while acknowledging Israel’s temporary pause in bombing to facilitate hostage and peace talks.

Trump says 'will not tolerate delay' from Hamas on peace deal

UNITED NATIONS: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Oman &mdash; all nations in the thick of the unrest that has pervaded the Middle East &mdash; confronted the crisis in the region at the annual UN gathering of world leaders, with Egypt&rsquo;s top diplomat warning that the Mideast &ldquo;is at a point of implosion.&rdquo; All four countries on Saturday decried Israel&rsquo;s ongoing pursuit of war in Gaza and the horrific impact on Palestinian civilians &ndash; and they bemoaned the failure of the United Nations and the broader international community to achieve a ceasefire and end the bloodshed. The four ministers spoke a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu &mdash; facing protesters, critics and growing global isolation over his Gaza policies &mdash; told the General Assembly his country &ldquo;must finish the job&rdquo; against Hamas for its October 7, 2023, surprise attack in southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people. Hamas also took 250 hostages. Israeli forces recently launched an offensive to take control of Gaza City. Here&#39;s a country-by-country look at those four leaders&#39; takes from the U.N. podium on the overall Mideast situation and Gaza in particular. Egypt Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, whose country has been a key mediator in Gaza along with the United States and Qatar, sharply criticized the international community &ldquo;standing idly by as a spectator&rdquo; while international law is systematically violated in Gaza and elsewhere in the Middle East. Israel&rsquo;s &ldquo;wanton, unjust war waged against defenseless civilians for a sin they did not commit&rdquo; is &ldquo;transpiring without accountability, and it has affected one country after another,&rdquo; he said. Abdelatty recalled former president Anwar Sadat&rsquo;s historic visit to Israel in 1977, and Egypt becoming &ldquo;one of the first to anchor the pillar of peace in the region.&rdquo; But surveying the turmoiul in the Mideast today, he accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza &ndash; which it vehemently denies &ndash; and blocking the Palestinians&#39; fron establishing an independent state. Abdelatty said Israel can&rsquo;t be secure unless other countries in the region are secure, and &ldquo;the region cannot see stability without an independent state of Palestine.&rdquo; In the region, he pointed to civil war in Sudan, the need for elections in divided Libya, resolving Yemen&rsquo;s crisis between the internationally recognized government and Houthi rebels who control the capital and most of the north, and ending repeated Israeli violations of Lebanese and Syrian territory. Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia&rsquo;s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, whose country hosts Russia-Ukraine-U.S. peace talks, said the suffering of Palestinians and unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Gaza make it imperative for the international community to end the war in Gaza and achieve peace through a two-state solution. A two-state solution to the nearly 80-year Israeli-Palestinian conflict is &ldquo;the only path that would guarantee the security of all countries in the region,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The failure of the international community to take firm actions to end the Israeli aggression and violation will only cause further instability and insecurity regionally and globally&rdquo; and &ldquo;will have grave consequences and will escalate war crimes and acts of genocide.&rdquo; <figure class="fr-media"><img src="https://paktv-assets-7d41fab8.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/0549e94d-2407-498a-bd60-3e35d46a3023-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia Prince Faisal bin Farhan addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, at UN headquarters. (AP).jpg" alt="Minister for Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia Prince Faisal bin Farhan addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, at UN headquarters. (AP)" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><figcaption class="caption-cover-image text-sm text-gray-600 italic">Minister for Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia Prince Faisal bin Farhan addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, at UN headquarters. (AP)</figcaption></figure> Farhan said Saudi Arabia, along with Norway and the European Union, launched an international coalition to implement the two-state solution, and it co-sponsored Monday&rsquo;s high-level meeting with France that saw at least 10 countries officially recognize the state of Palestine, bringing the total to near 160 recognitions. &ldquo;Such recognition is an important step towards achieving the two-state solution and bolstering the path towards a just and lasting peace,&rdquo; he said. Farhan condemned Israel&rsquo;s recent attack on Qatar. He also called for &ldquo;international measures&rdquo; to stop Israel&rsquo;s actions, &ldquo;and to deter it from such criminal behavior that threatens regional security and stability.&rdquo; Oman Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad al-Busaidi, whose country has mediated U.S.-Iran talks, called on the international community &ldquo;to apply effective pressure to bring Israel to the negotiating table&rdquo; &mdash; and to adopt measures limiting its ability to continue its killings, destruction, occupation and policies &ldquo;of starvation and blockade against the Palestinian people.&rdquo; He condemned Israeli aggression against Iran, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon and called for sanctions against Israel in response to its violation of international law and &ldquo;unlawful encroachment&rdquo; on the sovereignty of states. <figure class="fr-media"><img src="https://paktv-assets-7d41fab8.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/a84161b8-7fe9-4683-9dd6-360e6e4e2edb-Oman Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, at UN headquarters. (AP).jpg" alt="Oman Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, at UN headquarters. (AP)" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><figcaption class="caption-cover-image text-sm text-gray-600 italic">Oman Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, at UN headquarters. (AP)</figcaption></figure> &quot;We call for a global peaceful campaign to lift the blockade and undo the injustice imposed on the Palestinian people and to secure their freedom through the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state,&quot; al-Busaidi said. United Arab Emirates Calling it &ldquo;a pivotal moment&rdquo; in a world engulfed in turmoil and conflict, the United Arab Emirates&rsquo; deputy foreign minister Lana Nusseibeh said there is no justification for Hamas taking hostages or for Israel targeting &ldquo;tens of thousands of civilians or besieging them or starving them and forcibly displacing them.&rdquo; Israel&rsquo;s &ldquo;unacceptable, expansionist ambitions including the threat of annexing the West Bank&rdquo; are also inexcusable, she said. Nusseibeh urged all countries to recognize the state of Palestine &ldquo;as an investment in a better future for the region.&rdquo; <figure class="fr-media"><img src="https://paktv-assets-7d41fab8.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/a4230280-a749-490e-99d5-33ee213df514-Minister for Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates Lana Nusseibeh addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, at UN headquarters. (AP).jpg" alt="Minister for Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates Lana Nusseibeh addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, at UN headquarters. (AP)" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><figcaption class="caption-cover-image text-sm text-gray-600 italic">Minister for Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates Lana Nusseibeh addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, at UN headquarters. (AP)</figcaption></figure> The UAE has tried to bridge divides elsewhere in the conflict-torn world, she said, pointing to its role in the exchange of thousands of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine, hosting peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and helping to de-escalate tensions in south Asia and beyond. &ldquo;Our aim is not simply to manage conflicts, but to resolve them sustainably,&rdquo; Nusseibeh told the assembly. &ldquo;The urgent need for this approach is clear around the world, whether in the Gaza Strip, Ukraine, Sudan, Yemen, Libya or the Sahel.&rdquo; Many crises have been exacerbated by extremist ideologies, hate speech and incitement, which is why the UAE is promoting an agenda of tolerance, peace and security, she said. The UAE is also the largest donor of aid to Gaza, she said.

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates of Egypt addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, at UN headquarters. (AP)

At the UN, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Oman condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza, called for a ceasefire, supported a two-state solution, and urged international pressure to resolve Middle East conflicts peacefully.

Middle East nations face regional turmoil as Egypt warns of imminent collapse

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: The Israeli military warned on Friday it would operate with &quot;unprecedented force&quot; in Gaza City, telling residents to flee as it presses its ground offensive on the territory&#39;s largest urban centre. Israel has pummelled Gaza City with air strikes and tank fire in its bid to seize it, nearly two years into the war that has devastated the Palestinian territory and left Gaza City gripped by a UN-declared famine. The assault comes ahead of a planned move by several Western governments, including Britain and France, to recognise a Palestinian state at a UN summit next week. The military launched its ground assault on Tuesday and has for days been telling residents to head south, but many Palestinians say the journey is prohibitively expensive and they do not know where to go. &quot;For several days, we&#39;ve been trying to evacuate to the south, but we haven&#39;t been able to find any means of transport,&quot; Khaled al-Majdalawi, a displaced Palestinian in western Gaza City told AFP, describing &quot;intense and continuous&quot; shelling. &quot;We finally found a way to leave early this morning. We packed our belongings and waited for hours, but until now, no one has come, and the driver isn&#39;t answering us,&quot; the 32-year-old said. The United Nations estimated at the end of August that about one million people were living in Gaza City and its surroundings.&nbsp;The military said on Friday it estimated 480,000 had fled since late August. Gaza&#39;s civil defence agency -- a rescue force operating under Hamas authority -- said 450,000 people had fled. On Friday, the military&#39;s Arabic-language spokesman announced the closure of a temporary evacuation route opened 48 hours earlier, saying the only way south was via the Al-Rashid road along the Mediterranean coast. &quot; The (military) will continue to operate with unprecedented force against Hamas and other terrorist organisations,&quot; Avichay Adraee said in a post on X addressing residents of the city. &quot;Take this opportunity and join the hundreds of thousands of city residents who have moved south to the humanitarian area.&quot; &#39;Too weak to walk&#39; The Israeli military has urged Palestinians to head to a &quot;humanitarian area&quot; in Al-Mawasi on the coast, where it says aid, medical care and humanitarian infrastructure will be provided. Israel&nbsp;first declared the area a safe zone early in the war, but has carried out repeated strikes on it since then, saying it is targeting Hamas.Nivin Ahmed, 50, fled south from Gaza City to the central city of Deir el-Balah on Thursday, walking with seven family members.&nbsp;&quot;We walked more than 15 kilometres (nine miles), we were crawling from exhaustion,&quot; she told AFP.&nbsp;&quot;My youngest son cried from fatigue. We took turns dragging a small cart with some of our belongings.&quot; Mona Abdel Karim, 36, said she had been unable to secure transport south and had been sleeping on Al-Rashid road for two nights with her family waiting for a driver.&nbsp;&quot;I feel like I&#39;m about to explode. We can&#39;t walk on foot -- my husband&#39;s parents are elderly and sick, and the children are too weak to walk,&quot; she said. AFP photographs from the coast road on Friday showed long lines of Palestinians heading south on foot or in vehicles piled high with meagre belongings, leaving behind them a scene of rubble and smoke. Shelling, gunfire Civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal reported &quot;artillery shelling and intermittent gunfire&quot; in the southwestern Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood of Gaza City. He also reported shelling and drone fire in northwestern areas of the city, and strikes in several neighbourhoods.Israeli fire killed at least 33 people across the territory on Friday, 18 of them in Gaza City, according to a tally of figures given by Gaza hospitals contacted by AFP. In a statement, the Israeli military said its troops in Gaza City were targeting militants &quot;using tank fire, armed UAVs (drones) and air strikes, dismantling terrorist infrastructure and locating weapons in the area&quot;.Media restrictions in the territory and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the details provided by the civil defence or the Israeli military. The US-backed offensive on Gaza City came as a United Nations probe accused Israel of committing &quot;genocide&quot; in the Gaza Strip, saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials had incited the crime. Israel rejected the findings and slammed the probe as &quot;distorted and false&quot;. Israel&#39;s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 65,174 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the territory&#39;s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.

Palestinians run as the 15-storey Mushtaha Tower collapses after being hit by an Israeli air strike, in Gaza City. (REUTERS)

Israeli fire killed at least 33 people; Gaza's civil defence agency reports that about 450,000 people have fled.

Israel army says will use 'unprecedented force' in Gaza City

ISLAMABAD: The Palestinian death toll in Gaza has exceeded 65,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, amid Israel&rsquo;s continued ground invasion of Gaza City, which began following the October 2023 Hamas-led attacks. On Tuesday, Israeli tanks and ground forces launched a full-scale assault into Gaza City, claiming the operation aims to dismantle Hamas&rsquo; control and secure the release of hostages. However, much of Gaza remains devastated by nearly a year of relentless Israeli bombardment and siege. Humanitarian crisis deepensMore than 220,000 Palestinians have fled northern Gaza following evacuation orders, though many remain in the overcrowded and heavily bombarded south. Aid agencies and experts report a catastrophic humanitarian situation, with almost 90% of Gaza&rsquo;s population displaced and widespread famine declared. International condemnation growsA United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Tuesday concluded that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, stating that &quot;genocidal intent was the only reasonable inference&quot; based on the actions of Israeli authorities. In response, Saudi Arabia condemned the latest Israeli offensive &ldquo;in the strongest terms.&rdquo; At the recent Arab-Islamic Summit held by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), dozens of member states including Pakistan, Iran, Egypt, T&uuml;rkiye, and Qatar collectively denounced Israel&rsquo;s actions as war crimes. Meanwhile, the European Union announced its toughest sanctions to date, including proposed tariffs on Israeli goods and penalties against senior Israeli ministers and settlers, to pressure Israel to end the war. &ldquo;The war needs to end, the suffering must stop, and all hostages must be released,&rdquo; said EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas during a press conference in Brussels. Protests inside IsraelIn Tel Aviv, families of hostages held by Hamas held protests outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu&rsquo;s residence, demanding a ceasefire to protect their loved ones. However, Israeli officials have signaled no intention of halting the operation, despite international calls for restraint.

Displaced Palestinians flee northern Gaza

Israel’s Gaza invasion kills 65,000 Palestinians, triggers famine, displacement, and global condemnation, as EU sanctions and Arab states intensify pressure.

Israeli military aggression kills over 65,000 Palestinians in Gaza

The pope expressed his &ldquo;profound&rdquo; solidarity with Palestinians and demanded Israel respect international humanitarian law as it pushes its new offensive in Gaza.&ldquo;Before the Almighty Lord who commanded &lsquo;Thou shalt not kill&rsquo; and before all of human history, every person always has an inviolable dignity that must be respected and protected,&rdquo; Leo said Wednesday.The first American pope was interrupted by applause when he referred to Gaza at the end of his weekly general audience. He invited all to join his calls for a ceasefire, the release of hostages, a diplomatic solution to the conflict and &ldquo;full compliance with international humanitarian law.&rdquo;

Pope Leo XIV called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, urging Israel to respect international humanitarian law and pressing for a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

Articles tagged with "Israel attack on Gaza"

Spain says Israel frees its last Gaza flotilla members

Pakistan, other Muslim nations, welcome Hamas response to Trump’s peace plan

Trump says 'will not tolerate delay' from Hamas on peace deal

Middle East nations face regional turmoil as Egypt warns of imminent collapse

Israel army says will use 'unprecedented force' in Gaza City

Israeli military aggression kills over 65,000 Palestinians in Gaza

Pope Leo XIV issues an urgent call for a ceasefire in Gaza

Spain says Israel frees its last Gaza flotilla members