President Donald Trump has warned Hamas that “we will have no choice but to go in and kill them” if internal conflict persists in Gaza, after initially downplaying the ongoing pockets of violence in the territory.
Hamas executed seven Palestinians this week for “collaborating” with Israel, which Trump condoned at the time, comparing it to US gang violence and strikes on Venezuelan “drug boats”. But he has since changed stance, warning the group that such killings are “not [part of] the Deal”.
Meanwhile, the families of Israeli hostages have demanded that the ceasefire with Hamas be terminated if the 19 bodies remaining in Gaza are not returned. “The agreement cannot continue to be implemented without Hamas returning all the hostages,” the Hostage Families Forum Headquarters said in a statement.
“Any decision that weakens pressure on Hamas or allows the agreement to continue while hostages remain unreturned would be a grave moral and leadership failure.
”Hamas said all reachable hostage bodies have now been returned to Israel after the Red Cross received the remains of another two late on Wednesday.
Pro-Hamas messages displayed as airports in Canada and US hacked
Hackers took over the public address systems at four airports, three in Canada and one in the US, to broadcast messages praising Hamas and criticising president Donald Trump.
An “advertisement streaming service” at the Kelowna International Airport in British Columbia “was briefly compromised and unauthorized content was shared,” according to the Kelowna Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
Hackers broadcast messages in a foreign language and music over the PA system at Victoria International Airport in British Columbia, according to an airport spokesperson.
The hackers breached third-party software to access the PA system, and the airport switched to an internal system to regain control, the spokesperson said.
The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security is assisting the airport and the RCMP with the investigation.Hackers similarly took control of the PA system at Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania, US transportation secretary Sean Duffy said in a social media post on Wednesday.
The US Federal Aviation Administration and airport officials are investigating the breach, he said.
Hackers also breached the flight information display screens and public address system Tuesday evening at Windsor International Airport in Ontario, and displayed “unauthorized images and announcements,” according to airport officials.
The breach was to a “cloud-based software provider” used by the airport, and “our systems returned to normal shortly thereafter,” according to the airport’s statement.
Trump warns Hamas: ‘We will have no choice but to go in and kill them’
US president Donald Trump has warned Hamas that there would be “no choice but to go in and kill” Hamas if it it continued to “kill people in Gaza”.
It follows Hamas’ execution of seven Palestinians for “collaborating” with Israel, actions which Mr Trump appeared to condone at the time, comparing it to gang violence and recent US strikes on Venezuelan “drug boats”.
But he has since changed stance, warning the group that such killings are “not [part of] the Deal”.
Addressing the allegations of killing Palestinians, a senior Hamas official told Reuters: “The occupying state is working day and night to undermine the agreement through its violations on the ground.”
Pro-Palestine marches to continue in the UK
Pro-Palestine organisations in the UK have reacted angrily to the government’s plans to grant police new powers to put conditions on repeated demonstrations, describing it as a “draconian assault” on the right to protest.
They have vowed to continue protesting, saying the peace deal brokered by US president Donald Trump did not resolve a number of issues that continue to afflict the Palestinian people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. The ceasefire already appears fragile, with each side accusing the other of breaking it in the hours after the final living hostages were released Monday.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced earlier this month that police forces would be granted new powers to impose tougher conditions on protests by taking account of the “cumulative impact” of previous similar demonstrations.
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US in talks with Indonesia, UAE, Qatar to send troops to Gaza
US president Donald Trump’s administration is speaking with many countries interested in contributing to an international force to stabilize security in Gaza, the White House has said.
Among the countries the US is speaking to about contributing to the force are Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, and Azerbaijan, two US advisers told Reuters.
There are also currently up to two dozen US troops in the region to help set up the operation, serving in a “coordination, oversight” role, they said.
Italy has publicly said it was willing to take part.
Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto told the UN General Assembly on 23 September that Jakarta was prepared to deploy 20,000 or more troops in Gaza to help secure peace.
France and Britain prepare UN resolution on Gaza peacekeeping force
France and the UK, in coordination with the US, are working to finalise a UN Security Council resolution in the coming days that would lay the foundation for a future international force in Gaza, Paris said.
With a shaky US-mediated ceasefire between Israel and Hamas holding, planning has begun for an international force to stabilise security in the Palestinian enclave, two senior US advisers said on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters in Paris, French foreign ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux said such a force needed a UN mandate to provide a strong foundation in international law and ease the process of getting potential contributions from countries.
“France is working closely with its partners on the establishment of such an international mission, which must be formalised through the adoption of a UN Security Council resolution,” he said.
“Discussions, notably with the Americans and British, are ongoing to propose this resolution in the coming days.”
Starmer says ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending Aston Villa game is ‘wrong decision’
Fears for Gaza ceasefire grow after Israel and Hamas accuse each other of breaching Trump’s peace
US President Donald Trump waded into the dispute late on Thursday as he threatened that there would be “no choice but to go in and kill” Hamas if it it continued to “kill people in Gaza”.
Dr Hussam Abu Safiya detention extended by six months
Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, a Gaza paediatrician, will remain in detention for six more months, Al Mezan’s lawyers confirmed on Thursday.
“An Israeli court has rubber-stamped the extension of Dr. Abu Safiya’s arbitrary detention for six more months,” the human rights organisation wrote in a statement on X/Twitter on Thursday.
“This decision strips away any pretense: Dr. Abu Safiya is a hostage, a bargaining chip in ongoing negotiations.”
Amnesty has called for the release of Dr Safiya and all arbitrarily detained Palestinian healthcare workers. The doctor was detained by Israeli authorities on 27 December 2024.
Israeli forces stormed the Kamal Adwan Hospital – the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza at the time – and arrested Dr Safiya, the hospital’s director along with other medical staff.
Prior to Channel 13 footage released earlier this year, he had last been seen walking through rubble towards Israeli tanks after the hospital was raided.
UK ends Gaza surveillance flights after return of hostages
Trucks continue to trickle in but ‘nowhere near enough’
Aid trucks entered Gaza on Wednesday as Israel said 600 had been approved to go in under the ceasefire agreement.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher said it was a “good base” but nowhere near enough, with medical care also scarce and most of the 2.2 million population homeless.
UNICEF said it has brought in 250 pallets of supplies including family tents, winter clothes, tarpaulins, sanitary pads and hygiene kits.
It has distributed more than 56,000 packs of baby food to help 12,500 children for two weeks, UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram said on Thursday.
