Middle East & North Africa

GAZA/JERUSALEM, Oct 21 (NNN-WAFA/MA’AN) – Hamas said in a statement yesterday that, it has released two American hostages for “humanitarian reasons,” in response to Qatari efforts.

It said, it made the move to prove that the U.S. allegations were “false and baseless.” This is the first time that the Gaza-ruling party released hostages, since the conflict began two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, confirmed the release of the two hostages, in a statement.

RAFAH, Egypt, Oct 21 (NNN-MENA) – UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, yesterday visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with Gaza, ahead of the anticipated opening of the crossing, to bring needed aid into the besieged Palestinian enclave.

At the Rafah crossing, the only crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, Guterres said, the large convoy, loaded with food and medicine was “the difference between life and death for the (Palestinian) people.”

DUBAI/MOSCOW, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Foreign ministers from Iran, Turkey, Russia and Georgia will meet their counterparts from Azerbaijan and Armenia in Tehran on Monday and discuss progress towards a peace agreement between the two South Caucasus neighbours, Iranian state media said.

IRNA news agency quoted the foreign ministry as saying the six countries wanted to talk about regional issues "without the interference of non-regional and Western countries".

JERUSALEM, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Israel on Saturday described as "propaganda" a claim by Hamas that the militant group had wanted to release two more hostages on humanitarian grounds but that Israel declined to receive them.

Abu Ubaida, spokesman for Hamas' armed wing, said it informed Qatar of the group's intention to release the two additional people on Friday, the same day it freed Americans Judith Tai Ranaan and her daughter Natalie.

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Israeli aircraft struck a compound beneath a mosque in the occupied West Bank early on Sunday that the military said was being used by militants to organise attacks, and Palestinian medics said at least one person was killed.

The Israeli air strike is at least the second in recent days to hit the West Bank, where violence has surged since Hamas gunmen from Gaza carried out a deadly Oct. 7 rampage in Israel.

DUBAI, Oct 22 (Reuters) - A teenage Iranian girl, who fell into a coma earlier this month following an alleged encounter with officers over violating the country's hijab law, is said to be "brain dead", Iranian state media reported on Sunday.

Right groups such as Kurdish-Iranian Hengaw were the first to make Armita Geravand's hospitalisation public, publishing photos of the 16-year-old girl on social media that showed her unconscious with a respiratory tube and bandage over her head, visibly on life support. Reuters could not verify the pictures.

GAZA/JERUSALEM, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Concerns about the risk of the Israel-Hamas war mushrooming into a wider Middle East conflict rose on Sunday with the U.S. sending more military assets to the region as Israel pummelled Gaza overnight and hit Hamas supporters in Lebanon and Syria.

Gaza's Health Ministry said 266 Palestinians, including 117 children, had been killed by Israeli air strikes in the past 24 hours in the enclave, to which Israel laid "total siege" after a deadly mass infiltration into Israel by Hamas gunmen on Oct. 7.

ISTANBUL, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has discussed humanitarian aid for Gaza over the phone with Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of Hamas, local media reported Sunday.

Erdogan told Haniyeh that "Türkiye is making efforts to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches Gaza and that the injured can be treated in Türkiye when necessary," NTV television reported, citing Erdogan's office.

Erdogan said Türkiye was working for a "ceasefire in the region as soon as possible" and reiterated his country's position regarding the conflict.

GAZA, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- At least 60 percent of the population in the Gaza Strip has been displaced as a result of the ongoing Israeli attacks, according to a UN organization.

"About 1.6 million people were forced to be displaced from their houses since the start of the current Hamas-Israel bloody conflict 15 days ago," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a press statement sent to Xinhua on Saturday.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A court in Iran sentenced two female journalists to up to seven years in prison for “collaborating” with the United States government among other charges, local reports said. Both have been imprisoned for over a year following their coverage of the death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody in Sept. 2022.

This is a preliminary sentencing that can be appealed in 20 days.