Israel-Hamas war latest: Israeli forces rescue a hostage in Gaza

Israeli forces conducted a “complex operation” to free a hostage in Gaza, the military said Tuesday.

Qaid Farhan Alkadi was abducted during the October attack by Hamas that sparked the war in Gaza. Overjoyed family members sprinted through the hospital where he was brought after they received the news of the rescue.

It brought a rare moment of joy to Israelis after nearly 11 months of war. Dozens of hostages remain in captivity despite international efforts to broker a cease-fire and secure their release. After the latest high-level cease-fire talks came to a halt in Cairo on Sunday, negotiations are expected to soon resume in the Qatari capital of Doha.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel’s offensive has killed more than 40,000 people in Gaza. The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 people.

Here's the latest:

UNITED NATIONS — The Security Council is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a resolution that would extend the U.N peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon for a year and demand a halt to the escalating exchanges between Hezbollah militants and Israeli forces.

Israel and Hezbollah pulled back after an exchange of heavy fire across the U.N.-drawn boundary between Israel and Lebanon known as the Blue Line over the weekend, but their decades-old conflict is far from over and regional tensions linked to the war in Gaza are still high.

The French-drafted resolution demands full implementation of a 2006 resolution demanding a cessation of hostilities between the two sides and underlines “that further escalation carries the high risk of leading to a widespread conflict.”

The draft, scheduled for a vote Wednesday morning, would extend the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL until Aug. 31, 2025.

UNIFIL was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after a 1978 invasion.

The Security Council expanded the mission after a 2006 war between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants so that peacekeepers could deploy along the Lebanon-Israel border to help Lebanese troops extend their authority into their country’s south for the first time in decades. That resolution also called for a full cessation of Israeli-Hezbollah hostilities, which has not happened.

The resolution to be voted on Wednesday strongly urges the “relevant actors” to implement “immediate measures towards de-escalation, including with a view to restoring calm, restraint and stability across the Blue Line.”

WASHINGTON — Efforts to reach and assist the Greek-flagged tanker that remains ablaze in the Red Sea have been blocked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters that the U.S. is “aware of a third party that attempted to send two tugs to the vessel to help salvage, but they were warned away by the Houthis and threatened with being attacked.”

He did not identify the “third party,” but said the Houthis’ actions demonstrate “their blatant disregard for not only human life, but also for the potential environmental catastrophe that this presents.”

A French destroyed previously rescued the crew and security personnel from the tanker.

He said U.S. Central Command has been monitoring the situation to determine how best to assist the Sounion, which is loaded with 150,000 tons (136,000 metric tons) of Iraqi crude oil, and mitigate any environmental impact.

Right now, however, there are no U.S. Navy ships in the Red Sea or nearby in the Gulf of Aden.

DOHA, Qatar — President Joe Biden’s top Middle East adviser on Tuesday held talks in Doha with senior Qatari leaders on the ongoing efforts to complete a cease-fire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, according to a U.S. official.

White House senior adviser Brett McGurk’s meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani comes after the prime minister traveled to Tehran to speak with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday.

The talks also come as ongoing cease-fire talks to pause the war between Israel and Hamas are set to shift to Doha after several days of intense negotiations in Cairo.

The official, who was not authorized to discuss the sensitive talks and spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that McGurk met with the Qatari officials and discussed the negotiations and the prime minister's recent meeting with Iran's president.

Tensions have been escalating between Israel and Iran, and with militant groups — Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis — that are backed by Tehran. Iran has vowed to retaliate against Israel for last month’s assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran.

Associated Press reporter Aamer Madhani contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — Ongoing talks aimed at bringing about a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in the 10-month Israel-Hamas war in Gaza are shifting to the Qatari capital of Doha after several days of intense negotiations in Cairo, according to a U.S. official.

A round of high-level talks in Cairo meant to bring about a cease-fire and hostage deal to at least create a temporary pause in the war ended Sunday without a final agreement. Those talks included CIA director William Burns and David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. A Hamas delegation was briefed by Egyptian and Qatari mediators but have not directly taken part in negotiations.

But lower-level working teams had remained in Cairo as media as mediators from the United States, Qatar, and Egypt in hopes to address remaining disagreements.

The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly, said White House Middle East adviser Brett McGurk, who has been a key U.S. negotiator, has arrived in Doha and is expected to take part in the talks.

The official did not offer explanation for why the parties have decided to move the talks. Both Cairo and Doha have served as hosts for talks aimed at ending the war throughout the conflict.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s office confirmed that an Israeli delegation will head to Doha on Wednesday. They did not release further details about who will be traveling or what is on the agenda.

Associated Press reporter Aamer Madhani contributed to this report.

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it has rescued a hostage who was among scores of people abducted in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.

The military said on Tuesday that Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, was rescued “in a complex operation in the southern Gaza Strip.”

Hamas-led militants abucted about 250 people in the Oct. 7 attack, in which around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who don't say how many of them were fighters. The offensive has displaced 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people from their homes and caused heavy destruction across the besieged territory.

Hamas is still holding around 110 hostages, about a third of whom are believed to be dead. Most of the rest were released in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel during a cease-fire last November.

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian officials say Jewish settlers rampaged through a town in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, fatally shooting a Palestinian and wounding three others.

The Israeli military said its forces opened fire to disperse clashes between Israelis and Palestinians, and that it was investigating the reported fatality.

Settler violence has surged since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack out of Gaza, which ignited the war there. Israeli troops have also carried out near-nightly raids in the West Bank in which hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, and there has been a rise in attacks on Israelis.

Hamdi Ziyada, head of the local council in Wadi Rahal, said settlers entered the village near Bethlehem late Monday and hurled rocks at homes and cars. He says one of the settlers fired live rounds, killing and wounding the four people. The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed the casualties.

He said Israeli forces arrived more than a half-hour after the violence began and removed the settlers. He said it was not the first time settlers had attacked the village.

The Israeli military said Palestinians had thrown rocks at an Israeli vehicle and at Israeli civilians in the area. It said fighting broke out between the two sides and that Israeli troops “opened fire toward the rioters.”

Palestinians and rights groups have long accused Israeli forces of turning a blind eye or openly supporting settler violence in the West Bank.

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 war, territories the Palestinians want for a future state.

Over 500,000 Jewish settlers live in scores of settlements across the territory that most of the international community considers illegal. The territory’s 3 million Palestinians live under Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority exercising limited control over population centers. The settlers have Israeli citizenship.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s supreme leader has opened the door to renewed negotiations with the United States over his country’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, telling its civilian government there was “no barrier” to engaging with its “enemy.”

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s remarks on Tuesday set clear red lines for any talks taking place under the government of reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian and renewed his warnings that America wasn’t to be trusted.

But his comments mirror those around the time of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which saw Tehran’s nuclear program greatly curtailed in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

“We do not have to pin our hope to the enemy. For our plans, we should not wait for approval by the enemies,” Khamenei said in a video broadcast by state television. “It is not contradictory to engage the same enemy in some places, there’s no barrier.”

Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, also warned Pezeshkian’s Cabinet, “Do not trust the enemy.”

Khamenei, 85, has occasionally urged talks or dismissed them with the U.S. after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the deal.

TEL AVIV, Israel — Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with top Israeli defense leaders on Monday, and visited the military’s Northern Command headquarters.

Navy Capt. Jereal Dorsey, Brown’s spokesperson, said the chairman met with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Israeli Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi in Tel Aviv, and he participated in operational updates with Israeli Defense Force senior leaders.

“The leaders reaffirmed the importance of the U.S.-Israeli strategic partnership while also discussing the most recent engagement across the Israeli-Lebanese border and the need to de-escalate tensions to avoid a broader conflict,” said Dorsey.

He said they also discussed Israel’s need to defend itself as well as the need to get more humanitarian support into Gaza and the importance of minimizing civilian casualties. Dorsey said they talked about Brown’s recent meetings with other partners in the region. He visited Jordan and Egypt.

He said the U.S. “continues to coordinate with Israel and other allies and partners on ways to improve regional security and stability, protect U.S. forces in the Middle East, and deter a broader conflict.”

Gallant’s office said the Israeli defense chief thanked Brown for “his unequivocal commitment to Israel’s security,” including through the deployment of U.S. forces in the Middle East.

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian health officials say an Israeli airstrike has killed five Palestinians in the northern West Bank.

The military said late Monday that it struck an “operations room” used by militants in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the city of Tulkarem. Palestinian health officials said five bodies arrived at a nearby hospital.

Neither Palestinian health officials nor the military immediately identified those killed.

It’s the latest violence to occur in the West Bank, where around 640 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, most from Israeli raids into Palestinian cities and towns.

CORRECTS NAME This undated photo shows Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, who was held hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza. On Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, the Hostages Families Forum announced he has returned to Israel. (The Hostages Families Forum via AP)

Palestinians check the bodies of their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at a hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians mourn relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at a hospital in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

This undated photo shows Kaid Farhan Al-Qadi, 52, who was held hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza. On Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, the Hostages Families Forum announced he has returned to Israel. (The Hostages Families Forum via AP)

In this photo released by Soroka Medical Center on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, Kaid Farhan Al-Qadi, 52, who was held hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza lies on a bed of the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, Israel. (Soroka Medical Center via AP)

Mourners take a last look at Khalil Ziada, wrapped with a Palestinian flag, who died during an Israeli settler attack in the Wadi Rahal village, at a hospital morgue in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

CORRECTS DATE - Mourners carry the body of Khalil Ziada, wrapped with a Palestinian flag, who died during an Israeli settler attack in the Wadi Rahal village, as they leave at a hospital morgue during his funeral in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinian women mourn their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at a hospital in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians mourn relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at a hospital in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians mourn relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at a hospital in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians mourn relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at a hospital in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians check the bodies of their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at a hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A Palestinian man mourns a relative killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at a hospital in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians mourn relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at a hospital in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians mourn relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at a hospital in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A Palestinian man mourns a relative killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at a hospital in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Patients and families move outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A woman sits on a bed in a room of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Patients and families move outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A woman sits on the curb next to her belongings outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — A military court in Congo handed down death sentences Friday to 37 people, including three Americans, after convicting them on charges of participating in a coup attempt.

The defendants, most of them Congolese but also including a Briton, Belgian and Canadian, have five days to appeal the verdict on charges that included attempted coup, terrorism and criminal association. Fourteen people were acquitted in the trial, which opened in June.

The court convicted the 37 defendants and imposed “the harshest penalty, that of death” in the verdict delivered by the presiding judge, Maj. Freddy Ehuma, at an open-air military court proceeding that was broadcast live on TV. The three Americans, wearing blue and yellow prison clothes and sitting in plastic chairs, appeared stoic as a translator explained their sentence.

Richard Bondo, the lawyer who defended the six foreigners, said he disputed whether the death penalty could currently be imposed in Congo, despite its reinstatement earlier this year, and said his clients had inadequate interpreters during the investigation of the case.

"We will challenge this decision on appeal,” Bondo said.

Six people were killed during the botched coup attempt led by the little-known opposition figure Christian Malanga in May that targeted the presidential palace and a close ally of President Felix Tshisekedi. Malanga was fatally shot while resisting arrest soon after live-streaming the attack on his social media, the Congolese army said.

Malanga’s 21-year-old son Marcel Malanga, who is a U.S. citizen, and two other Americans were convicted in the the attack. His mother, Brittney Sawyer, has said her son is innocent and was simply following his father, who considered himself president of a shadow government in exile.

In the months since her son's arrest, Sawyer has declined multiple interview requests and has focused her energy on fundraising to send Marcel money for food, hygiene products and a bed. He has been sleeping on the floor of his prison cell and is suffering from a liver disease, she said.

The other Americans were Tyler Thompson Jr., 21, who flew to Africa from Utah with the younger Malanga for what his family believed was a vacation, and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, 36, who is reported to have known Christian Malanga through a gold mining company. The company was set up in Mozambique in 2022, according to an official journal published by Mozambique’s government, and a report by the Africa Intelligence newsletter.

U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters in Washington on Friday that the federal government was aware of the verdict.

“We understand that the legal process in the DRC allows for defendants to appeal the court’s decision," Miller said. "Embassy staff have been attending these proceedings as they’ve gone through the process. We continue to attend the proceedings and follow the developments closely.”

Thompson had been invited on an Africa trip by the younger Malanga, his former high school football teammate in a Salt Lake City suburb. But the itinerary might have included more than sightseeing. Other teammates alleged that Marcel had offered up to $100,000 to join him on a “security job” in Congo.

Thompson’s family maintains he had no knowledge of the elder Malanga’s intentions, no plans for political activism and didn’t even plan to enter Congo. He and the Malangas were meant to travel only to South Africa and Eswatini, his stepmother, Miranda Thompson, told The Associated Press in May.

The Thompsons have been working with a lawyer in their home state of Utah to urge the U.S. government to intervene. The offices of Utah's U.S. Sens. Mitt Romney and Mike Lee did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.

Last month, the military prosecutor, Lt. Col. Innocent Radjabu. called on the judges to sentence to death all of the defendants, except for one who suffers from “psychological problems.”

Earlier this year, Congo reinstated the death penalty, lifting a more than two-decade-old moratorium, as authorities struggle to curb violence and militant attacks in the country.

Schoenbaum reported from Salt Lake City. Associated Press writer Matthew Lee contributed from Washington.

Tyler Thompson, left, Marcel Malanga and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, all American citizens, attend a court verdict in Congo, Kinshasa, Friday Sept .13, 2024, on charges of taking part in a coup attempt in May 2024. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)

America Marcel Malanga attends a court verdict in Congo, Kinshasa, Friday Sept .13, 2024, on charges of taking part in a coup attempt in May 2024. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)

America Tyler Thompson attends a court verdict in Congo, Kinshasa, Friday Sept .13, 2024, on charges of taking part in a coup attempt in May 2024. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)

American Tyler Thompson arrives for a court verdict in Congo, Kinshasa, Friday Sept .13, 2024, on charges of taking part in a coup attempt in May 2024. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)

Tyler Thompson, left, Marcel Malanga and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, all American citizens, attend a court verdict in Congo, Kinshasa, Friday Sept .13, 2024, on charges of taking part in a coup attempt in May 2024. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)

American Marcel Malanga arrives for a court verdict in Congo, Kinshasa, Friday Sept .13, 2024, on charges of taking part in a coup attempt in May 2024. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)

Back row, Tyler Thompson, 2nd left, Marcel Malanga, center, and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, 2nd right, all American citizens, attend a court verdict in Congo, Kinshasa, Friday Sept .13, 2024, on charges of taking part in a coup attempt in May 2024. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)

American Marcel Malanga, fourth right, stands with others during a court verdict in Congo, Kinshasa, Friday Sept .13, 2024, on charges of taking part in a coup attempt in May 2024. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)

FILE - From left T,yler Thompson Jr, Marcel Malanga and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, all American citizens, face the court in Kinshasa with 52 other defendants on June 7, 2024, accused of a role in last month's attempted coup in Congo led by little-known opposition figure Christian Malanga in which six people were killed. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)