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Turkey has deployed dozens of disaster relief specialists to help search for bodies under the mountains of rubble in Gaza, as US President Donald Trump fired a warning at Hamas Thursday over a spate of recent killings in the territory.Trump characterised the killings as a breach of the ceasefire deal he spearheaded, under which the Palestinian militant group returned its last 20 surviving hostages to Israel.Hamas says it has also handed back all the bodies of deceased captives it can access but the bodies of 19 more are still unaccounted for and believed to be buried under the ruins alongside an untold number of Palestinians.The Palestinian militants stressed their “commitment” to the ceasefire deal with Israel, and that they want to return all the remaining bodies of hostages left in Gaza.But it said in a statement that the process “may require some time, as some of these corpses were buried in tunnels destroyed by the occupation, while others remain under the rubble of buildings it bombed and demolished”.Turkey has sent staff from its disaster relief agency to help in locating the bodies but the families of the dead have fumed at Hamas’s failure to deliver their loved ones’ remains.The main campaign group advocating for the hostages’ families demanded Thursday that Israel “immediately halt the implementation of any further stages of the agreement as long as Hamas continues to blatantly violate its obligations regarding the return of all hostages and the remains of the victims”.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed his determination to “secure the return of all hostages” after his defence minister warned on Wednesday that Israel “will resume fighting” if Hamas failed to do so.Trump had appeared to call for patience when it came to the bodies’ return — insisting Hamas was “actually digging” for hostages’ remains — but later expressed frustration on Thursday with the group’s conduct since the fighting halted.”If Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not the Deal, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them,” Trump said on Truth Social in an apparent reference to recent shootings of Palestinian civilians.Hamas has been accused of carrying out summary executions in Gaza since the ceasefire went into effect. Clashes have also taken place between the group’s various security units and armed Palestinian clans, some of which are alleged to have Israeli backing.- Aid hopes -The ceasefire deal has so far seen the war grind to a halt after two years of agony for the hostages’ families, and constant bombardment and hunger for Gazans.According to Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza, the next phases of the truce should include the disarmament of Hamas, the offer of amnesty to Hamas leaders who decommission their weapons and establishing the governance of post-war Gaza.The plan also calls for renewed aid provision, with international organisations awaiting the reopening of southern Gaza’s Rafah crossing in the hope it will enable a surge of supplies.Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on the sidelines of a summit in Naples that preparations were being made for the strategic crossing, and that he “hoped” it would reopen Sunday, Italian news agencies reported.Israel, however, said earlier on Thursday that the crossing would only be open to people, not aid, and Saar did not appear to elaborate, according to the reports.The humanitarian situation has been dire in Gaza throughout the war, with the UN declaring famine in parts of the north in August.The World Health Organization has warned that infectious diseases are “spiralling out of control”, with only 13 of the territory’s 36 hospitals even partially functioning.”Whether meningitis… diarrhoea, respiratory illnesses, we’re talking about a mammoth amount of work,” Hanan Balkhy, regional director for the UN health body, told AFP in Cairo. – ‘My children are home’ -The families of the surviving hostages were able, after two long years without their loved ones, to rejoice in their return.”My children are home! Two years ago, one morning, I lost half of my family,” said Sylvia Cunio, mother of Ariel and David Cunio, who were released from captivity.Israel returned the bodies of 30 Palestinians to Gaza on Thursday, the territory’s health ministry said.Under the ceasefire deal, Israel was to turn over the bodies of 15 Palestinians for every deceased Israeli returned.For many in Gaza, while there was relief that the bombing had stopped, the road to recovery felt impossible, given the sheer scale of the devastation.”There’s no water — no clean water, not even salty water, no water at all. No essentials of life exist — no food, no drink, nothing,” said Mustafa Mahram, who returned to Gaza City after the ceasefire.”As you can see, all that’s left is rubble.” The war has killed at least 67,967 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the United Nations considers credible.The data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children.Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Wall Street stocks fell Thursday on fears that private credit problems may weigh on US regional banks, adding to concerns about trade tensions and a government shutdown.After opening higher, US equities tumbled into the red around midday and lingered in negative territory thereafter. All three major US indices finished lower, with the S&P 500 ending down …

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A French human rights group on Thursday filed a legal complaint against Airbnb and Booking.com, accusing them of promoting “occupation tourism” by listing accommodation in Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories.In the case submitted in Paris, the Ligue des droits de l’Homme (LDH) alleges that the platforms were complicit in the aggravated concealment of war crimes.”These multinational companies, by offering their services and provisions, enable and facilitate, both directly and indirectly, the creation… and the expansion of Israeli settlements,” said the group’s lawyer, Patrick Baudouin.The settlements, which have expanded since Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, are considered illegal under international law.More than 500,000 settlers are living in the Palestinian territory, excluding Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem. Some three million Palestinians live in the territory.According to the LDH, the practices of both platforms constitute “assistance… to the concerted Israeli plan of colonisation and destruction of the Palestinian population”.Airbnb does not specify that the properties offered for rent are located in Palestinian territory. Instead, it only names the settlement, without indicating that it is one.Booking.com mentions that the accommodation is in Israeli settlements and is “in Palestine”.Places of interest for tourists and how far they are away from the rental properties are mentioned, which helps “to sustain occupation tourism”, said Baudouin.The UN, which regularly condemns the occupation of Palestinian territories, on September 26 said it had identified 158 firms from 11 countries linked to activities in Israeli settlements, including Airbnb and Booking.com.On June 30, the UN special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, condemned major travel platforms that promote tourism which “legitimises annexation”.There was no immediate response from Airbnb and Booking.com when contacted by AFP.In February this year, British newspaper The Guardian reported having identified 402 listings for apartments, hotels and houses, in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.Some 350 were on Airbnb and 52 on Booking.com, totalling 760 rooms able to accommodate more than 2,000 people.Airbnb announced in November 2018 the removal of rental listings in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.But the listings were reinstated in April the following year, after lawsuits in Israel and the United States, where Jewish Americans accused it of religious discrimination.The company then promised that all profits generated would go to humanitarian aid worldwide.Other legal complaints against Booking.com have been issued in the Netherlands, and against Airbnb in Ireland, the UK and the United States.

Abdul Rahim surveys the rubble that was his home in Kabul, where he lived with six family members.A gaping hole in the living room reveals only charred belongings and debris, while blackened teddy bears and makeup lie in what once was a bedroom.The explosion at his home was one of four that hit the Afghan capital within a week, as unusually intense violence broke out with Pakistan — then suddenly halted under a temporary truce.The fighting — which has left dozens of troops and civilians dead on both sides, mostly in border regions — represents the worst clashes between the neighbours since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.”We were attending a graduation ceremony when I learned that an explosion had struck my house around 4:00 pm,” Rahim, a motorcycle vendor, tells AFP.Two explosions occurred Wednesday afternoon following aerial bombardments, according to Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran. The strikes plunged central Kabul into terror.Pakistani security sources meanwhile said they carried out “precision strikes” against an armed group.Stunned residents have been clearing the rubble, hoping the ceasefire will hold.”When I returned, I saw shattered windows, injured people lying on the road, and several dead,” says Rahim, now forced to live with relatives.”War is not a solution — we hope for dialogue,” he pleads.Next door, a yellow-walled school has also been gutted.- ‘Not a solution’ -At least five dead and 35 injured were transported to a Kabul hospital Wednesday afternoon, according to Italian NGO EMERGENCY, which runs the facility.No official death toll has been released.Passersby stop to stare at the devastation, kept at a distance by security cordons and numerous personnel.Three hundred metres away, a market in a residential area was also hit, with videos shared by local media showing a fireball engulfing the neighbourhood. Next to a tall building where at least seven stories can be seen charred, Safiullah Hamidi, a 21-year-old student says his uncle’s apartment was among those impacted.”Pakistan should fight with our army if they want a confrontation, but not by bombing civilians,” he says.Nearby, Samir Ousmani gathers up metal bars littering his car wash station, almost entirely destroyed.”One of my employees was killed, and two others, along with my uncle, were injured,” reports the 22-year-old.- Holding their breath -At the border, where the clashes have been concentrated, residents who had fled are returning home.”Stores have reopened, and everyone is going about their business, but the border is still closed,” says Naqibullah, a 35-year-old merchant in Spin Boldak, Kandahar province.The death toll continues to mount.In the border town, 40 civilians were killed Wednesday in exchanges of fire with the Pakistani army, according to local health authorities.The UN recorded 37 civilians killed and 425 injured in recent days on the Afghan side. “Yesterday, the situation was terrible because of the war. I hope it doesn’t resume because there have already been too many victims,” says Aminullah, 22. Islamabad said the temporary truce would last 48 hours, which ends on Friday evening. “We are waiting to see what happens tomorrow,” says Shamsullah, 36, a biryani vendor.Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Thursday that for the truce to endure, the ball was “in the court” of the Taliban government.Kabul has not immediately commented.

A former Israeli hostage has said that all Gaza captives could have returned home “a long time ago”, as relatives of newly released hostages described the torment endured by their loved ones.Arbel Yehud was held in captivity for nearly 500 days before being freed earlier this year under a previous Gaza truce.She spoke on Wednesday at a press conference alongside families of newly freed hostages, including her partner Ariel Cunio, released this week along with the remaining living captives.”We could have brought them back a long time ago,” Yehud said.She said the deal that was brokered by US President Donald Trump could have been struck earlier, in turn saving the lives of more hostages.”While we are here, fortunate to embrace our loved ones, there are dozens of families that never will,” said Yehud.During their attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the war, Hamas-led militants abducted 251 hostages to Gaza.- ‘Bombings do not save’ -A vocal critic of the Israeli government, Yehud has participated in rallies calling for a ceasefire and the return of hostages.Earlier this year, she accused authorities of endangering captives by stalling negotiations.”I want you to know that when Israel blows up deals, it does so on the heads of the hostages,” Yehud said at a rally earlier this year.”Their conditions immediately worsen, food diminishes, pressure increases, and bombings and military actions do not save them, they endanger their lives.”Yehud’s own release in January was marked by chaotic scenes, with television footage showing masked gunmen struggling to clear a path for her through crowds gathered to witness the exchange.Critics of the Israeli government — and especially of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — argue that Israel could have ended the war months earlier, during a ceasefire agreed in January.That truce lasted until mid-March, when Israel resumed strikes in Gaza.This ceasefire, the second in the two-year war, was largely based on a three-stage plan announced by former US president Joe Biden in May 2024.More than 30 hostages were released from Gaza as part of that truce.- ‘Start a new journey’ -At the same press event on Wednesday, Sylvia Cunio, mother of Ariel and David Cunio, described the anguish of waiting for her sons’ return after losing several family members in Hamas’s October 7 attacks.”My children are home! Two years ago, one morning, I lost half of my family. Two of my children, two of my daughters-in-law, and two of my granddaughters were lost on the face of the earth,” Cunio said.”The world collapsed on me and my family in an instant.”Cunio, who emigrated with her husband from Argentina to Israel in 1986, has also been active at weekly Tel Aviv rallies urging a ceasefire to secure the hostages’ release.”For two years, I didn’t breathe. For two years, I felt like I had no air. And today, I stand here, in front of you, and I want to shout out loud, David and Ariel are here!” she said.”I know it will take time until they recover, but I trust my children.”Also speaking Wednesday, Kobi Kalfon, father of freed hostage Segev Kalfon, said his son endured “extreme” suffering during his two years in captivity.”It is important to note that his two years in captivity were truly difficult, reaching many extreme situations of hunger, mental, emotional and physical abuse,” said Kalfon.”We now start a new journey, his journey to rehabilitation. It will not be simple, but we will be with him, hand in hand.”