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Turkish experts await Israeli go ahead to help recover bodies in Gaza

A team of Turkish disaster response specialists is stationed at the Egyptian border, awaiting Israeli authorization to enter Gaza and help in search and recovery operations, a Turkish official told AFP on Friday.

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Family says Israeli forces kill 11-year-old Palestinian in West Bank

Israeli forces shot dead an 11-year-old boy in the occupied West Bank, his family and health officials said Friday, while the army said its troops opened fire at rock throwers.

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Hamas says committed to Gaza truce and returning hostage remains

Hamas insisted it was committed to returning all the hostage remains still unaccounted for under Gaza's ruins, as a Turkish official said specialists dispatched to help find bodies were awaiting Israel's authorization to enter.

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Yemen's Houthis say military chief died from Israeli attack wounds

An Israeli airstrike targeting the top leaders of Yemen's Houthi rebels in August killed the chief of staff of its military, officials said Thursday, further escalating tensions between the group and Israel even as a ceasefire holds in the Gaza Strip.

The Houthis have acknowledged the killing of Maj. Gen. Muhammad Abdul Karim al-Ghamari, who had been sanctioned by the United Nations over his role in the country's decadelong war.

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Bomb explodes on Syrian Defense Ministry bus, killing 4 soldiers and wounding others

A bomb exploded Thursday on a Syrian Defense Ministry bus in the country's east, killing four soldiers and wounding others, the country's oil minister said.

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Israel returns 30 Palestinian bodies to Gaza

Israel returned the bodies of 30 Palestinians to Gaza on Thursday, bringing the total number handed over to 120, the Hamas-run health ministry and Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis said.

Under a ceasefire deal brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump, Israel was to turn over the bodies of 15 Palestinians for every deceased Israeli returned.

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Israel's Netanyahu says 'determined' to secure return of all Gaza hostages

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel was "determined" to secure the return  of the remains of all hostages still held in Gaza, vowing that the "fight is not over yet".

"We are determined to secure the return of all hostages," Netanyahu said at a state ceremony at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl military cemetery, marking the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war.

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Israel says date for opening Gaza's Rafah crossing to be announced at later stage

Israel said Thursday that the date for the opening of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt would be announced at a later stage, and that aid would not pass through the gateway.

"The date for the opening of the Rafah Crossing for the movement of people only will be announced at a later stage, once the Israeli side, together with the Egyptian side, completes the necessary preparations for the crossing's opening," said a statement from COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry body that oversees civil affairs in the Palestinian territories.

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Hostage forum urges Israel to delay next stages of truce if Hamas fails to return bodies

An Israeli group campaigning for the return of all hostages held in Gaza on Thursday demanded that the government delay implementing the next stages of the truce if Hamas fails to return the remaining captives' bodies.

In a statement, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum urged the Israeli government to "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".

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Al-Sharaa to ask Russia to hand over Assad during visit

Syrian interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa will ask Russia to hand over former ruler Bashar al-Assad during his first visit to Moscow on Wednesday, a government official said.

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