Regional
Egypt makes new proposal to restore Gaza truce as Israeli strikes kill 65
Palestinian officials on Sunday put the number of dead from nearly 18 months of conflict at over 50,000, read the report.
Egypt has floated a new proposal aimed at restoring the Gaza ceasefire deal, security sources told Reuters on Monday, as Palestinian health authorities said Israeli strikes had killed at least 65 people in the enclave in the previous 24 hours, Reuters reported.
The proposal, made last week, follows an escalation in violence after Israel resumed air and ground operations against Hamas militants on March 18, ending a two-month period of relative calm after 15 months of war.
Gaza health officials said Israeli airstrikes and shelling have killed nearly 700 Palestinians since then, including at least 400 women and children.
Among those killed on Monday were two local journalists, Mohammad Mansour and Hussam Shabat, medics said. The Palestinian Journalist Syndicate said at least 206 journalists have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since early October 2023, when the conflict erupted. There was no immediate Israeli comment.
Islamist group Hamas said several of its senior political and security officials had also been killed, read the report.
Later on Monday, the Israeli military said it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen before it crossed into Israel. Warning sirens had sounded in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and other areas. Iran-aligned Houthi forces in Yemen have at times fired missiles at Israel in support of Hamas fighters.
The Egyptian plan calls for Hamas to release five Israeli hostages each week, with Israel implementing the second phase of the ceasefire after the first week, two security sources said.
Hamas is still holding 59 hostages, with 24 thought to be still alive, among the more than 250 it seized in its October 7, 2023 cross-border attack on Israel. Most of the rest have been freed, or their bodies handed over, in negotiated exchanges.
Both the U.S. and Hamas have agreed to the proposal, the security sources said, but Israel has not yet responded, Reuters reported.
A Hamas official did not confirm the proposed offer, but told Reuters that “several proposals are being discussed with the mediators to bridge the gap and to resume negotiations to reach common ground that would pave the way to start the second phase of the agreement”.
The sources said the Egyptian proposal includes a timeline for a full Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza, backed by U.S. guarantees, in exchange for the release of remaining hostages.
Hamas has accused Israel of breaking the terms of the January ceasefire agreement but has said it is willing to negotiate a renewed truce and was studying proposals from U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff.
Israel says it resumed its military operations to force Hamas to release the remaining hostages it is holding in Gaza.
On Monday, Hamas released a video it said showed hostages Elkana Bohbot, 35, and Yosef Haim-Ohana, 24, who were both abducted from the Nova music festival site on October 7.
Israel says it does its best to reduce harm to civilians and has questioned the death toll provided by health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave.
Palestinian officials on Sunday put the number of dead from nearly 18 months of conflict at over 50,000, read the report.
Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli tallies.
In Gaza’s southernmost city Rafah, the municipality said thousands of people were stuck inside the Tel Al-Sultan district where some Israeli military forces had entered, with families trapped among the ruins, with no water, food, or medicine.
The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said 50,000 residents remained cornered in Rafah, which abuts the border with Egypt.
The Israeli military said troops had encircled Tel Al-Sultan to dismantle “terror infrastructure sites and eliminate terrorists in the area”.
A United Nations spokesperson said on Monday it would reduce its footprint in Gaza after five staff members of its Palestinian relief agency UNRWA were killed in the renewed conflict, but remains committed to providing aid to civilians.
Separately, UNRWA said 124,000 Palestinians have been displaced in Gaza in recent days.
“Families carry what little they have with no shelter, no safety, and nowhere left to go. The Israeli authorities have cut off all aid. Food is scarce and prices are soaring. This is a humanitarian catastrophe. The siege must end,” UNRWA said on X.
Regional
US imposes sanctions on 13 tied to Iran weapons procurement
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, “Treasury will not tolerate any support to the regime and will continue to identify, expose, and isolate Iran’s enablers.”
The US government announced fresh sanctions on Tuesday against 13 individuals and entities, including some based in Russia, China, Hong Kong and Pakistan, saying they helped Iran procure weapons and components.
The sanctions announced by the Treasury and State departments are part of the Trump administration’s effort to isolate Iran economically and force it to negotiate an end to the war that began with a US-Israeli strike on Iran on February 28.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, “Treasury will not tolerate any support to the regime and will continue to identify, expose, and isolate Iran’s enablers.”
Treasury said the sanctions were aimed at degrading Tehran’s ability to reconstitute its weapons programs, while increasing the costs for those who supported its procurement efforts.
Those targeted in Tuesday’s sanctions announcements include:
Seyyed Asghar Alizadeh Tabatabai, a Beijing-based representative of Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics agency, who Treasury said had coordinated the procurement of finished weapons systems and dual-use components in China on Iran’s behalf.
Iran-based Kavoshcom Asia R and D Group, which Treasury said had procured electronics including connectors for Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company.
Hong Kong-based EC Mojo Technology Co Limited, which Treasury said had provided electronic components in support of Kavoshcom’s procurement efforts, and EC Mojo’s China-based representative Li Fen.
Pakistan-based Waseem Pasha Tajammal, who serves as chairman of Cavalier Group, a privately owned defense company with locations in Pakistan and internationally.
Joint Stock Company Experimental Design Bureau Named After A.S. Yakovlev, a Russia-based aircraft manufacturer.
MG-Flot LLC, a Russia-based shipping company whose vessels transport weapons for the Russian government.
Saha Airlines, an Iran-based airline affiliated with the country’s air force.
Brett Erickson, managing principal with Obsidian Risk Advisors, said the latest sanctions action would do little to impede Iran’s ability to launch missiles and drones in the Strait of Hormuz. “This is optics management for the Trump administration to claim ‘We’re hammering them,’ when the reality is we’re poking them with a toothpick,” he said.
Regional
US, Iran separately talk with mediators in latest bid to end war
US officials separately spoke with mediators on Monday, US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House, without giving further details.
US and Iranian officials spoke separately with mediators on Monday as part of a renewed effort to end seven months of war, according to officials of both countries, Reuters reported.
Any further talks are expected to focus on an amended version of a seven-day proposal that Iran presented last week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters.
The war began in late February with US and Israeli attacks on Iran, killing thousands of people over seven months and shocking global markets as vital waterways for oil remained choked. The US and Iran have twice previously agreed to ceasefires in mediated peace talks, in April and June. Those agreements quickly unraveled.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who remained in New York after attending the General Assembly, said Iran expected to receive the US response to its latest ceasefire proposals and its conditions for restoring passage of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, according to state news agency IRNA.
“If the Americans claim they are seeking an agreement or a peaceful solution, we have presented that solution,” Araqchi said.
US officials separately spoke with mediators on Monday, US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House, without giving further details.
Iran’s seven-day plan envisages an end to all hostilities in Iran and Lebanon, the unfreezing of billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian assets, an end to sanctions on Iranian oil and the lifting of the US blockade on Iranian ports.
Iran would then allow the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for oil tankers, and the two sides would also resume talks on Iran’s nuclear program and Trump’s wish to seize or eliminate its highly enriched uranium, read the report.
Trump said on Saturday he had rejected Iran’s proposal, saying Iran wanted a swift agreement because of the crippling economic pressure it is under. However, he also told Axios on Sunday that he expected US negotiators to engage in further talks this week.
Araqchi said on Sunday that mediators had not formally conveyed a US rejection, and that Iran was awaiting Washington’s definitive position before deciding its next steps.
“Our conditions are clear, and any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on these conditions being met,” he said on Sunday, adding that only a negotiated solution could resolve the impasse.
Regional
Floods, landslides kill 56 in India and 14 in Nepal
In India, the Central Water Commission said 30 river-monitoring stations across seven states indicated a “severe situation”.
Heavy rain and storms have triggered floods and landslides that killed 56 people in India, while in Nepal, 14 have died and another 11 are missing, with authorities there warning on Sunday that more flash floods are possible, Reuters reported.
India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh recorded 66.5 mm of rain between September 25 and the morning of September 27, compared with a normal 7.6 mm for the period, Hrishikesh Bhaskar Yashod, the state’s relief commissioner, said on Sunday.
Authorities are carrying out rescue operations in waterlogged areas and distributing relief, while officials have been told to assess crop damage and provide compensation.
In addition to the 56 deaths, 46 people have been injured and more than 1,000 houses have been damaged.
Nepali authorities warned of possible flash floods in 49 of the country’s 77 districts, with more than half facing high flood or flash-flood risks as water levels in major rivers and tributaries continued to rise.
Shanti Mahat, a spokesperson for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, said Rasuwa and Nuwakot, areas hit by last month’s deadly floods that killed more than 1,450 people and left thousands still missing, should remain “alert” but were not currently considered high-risk areas.
Power supply has been completely disrupted in the Manang, Mustang, Myagdi and Baglung districts, with authorities working to restore electricity, energy ministry officials said.
Flooding of the Rahuganga River damaged the structure and transmission-line towers of a 40-megawatt hydropower project, Water Resources and Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha said.
In India, the Central Water Commission said 30 river-monitoring stations across seven states indicated a “severe situation”.
Several major rivers, including the Ganga, Gandak, Kosi, Bagmati and Narmada, were above danger levels, read the report.
Floods and landslides also disrupted telecommunications in parts of Nepal after damage to optical fibres and power supplies, Communications Minister Bikram Timilsinha said.
In a separate incident in Nepal, 10 local workers were also missing after an avalanche buried the base camp of the 7,126-metre (23,379-ft) Himlung Himal in the northern Manang district, hiking officials said.
The workers had been setting up tents for foreign climbers, who were not present when the avalanche struck.
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