Israel has handed over the bodies of 15 Palestinians to the International Committee of the Red Cross in exchange for the final Israeli captive, whose remains were recovered by Israeli forces earlier this week, closing the chapter on this part of its more than two-year genocidal war on Gaza.
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza, said Palestinian authorities are still trying to determine whether the bodies of the Palestinians will be released at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis or at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City later on Thursday.
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On Wednesday, Israel laid to rest policeman Ran Gvili, who was killed during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel.
Of the 251 captives taken by Hamas and other Palestinian groups that day, Gvili’s were the last remains held in the Palestinian territory.
At his funeral on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Gvili as a “hero of Israel” and warned Israel’s enemies that they would pay a heavy price if they attacked again.
The return of all the captives from Gaza dragged on over the course of Israel’s war in a series of ceasefire and prisoner-swap deals as well as some mostly failed attempts to rescue them militarily.
The most recent set of captives-for-prisoners handovers was part of the ceasefire that took effect on October 10.
While all the captives held in Gaza have been returned to Israel, thousands of Palestinians continue to languish in Israeli prisons, many without charges or trials.
A July 2024 report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights found that Israel was holding about 9,400 Palestinians as “security detainees”, often without giving them a reason for their detentions, in facilities where abuses such as torture and sexual assault were rife.
In November, the rights group Physicians for Human Rights-Israel released a report stating that of the Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, at least 94 have died during detention from causes such as torture, medical neglect, malnutrition and assault. The report said the true number is likely much higher.
Dozens of bodies of Palestinian prisoners that have been returned in previous exchanges have shown signs of torture, mutilation and execution.
Meanwhile, Palestinians are awaiting the reopening of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which Israel has been pushed by Washington to do as part of the current United States-brokered ceasefire with Hamas.
After the completion of the captive-prisoner exchanges, that agreement calls for a political transition in Gaza that will start with a committee of Palestinian technocrats in charge of day-to-day governance of the enclave.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said the group was ready to transfer the governance of Gaza to the committee.
“Protocols are prepared, files are complete and committees are in place to oversee the handover, ensuring a complete transfer of governance in the Gaza Strip across all sectors to the technocratic committee,” Qassem said.
The committee is to work under the supervision of the Board of Peace, created and chaired by US President Donald Trump. Its work promises to be difficult.
On Thursday, Gaza’s Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal warned that the besieged territory is experiencing an “unprecedented catastrophe” due to the lack of shelter and food as well as shortages of medical supplies due to a continued Israeli blockade.
The Kano State Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs, Ibrahim Waiya, has advised the deputy governor, Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo, to resign following his decision not to defect alongside Governor Abba Yusuf to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Speaking to journalists in Kano on Thursday, Waiya stressed that governance is built on loyalty and mutual confidence, describing continued participation in executive affairs as incompatible with trust and confidentiality.
“This is his personal decision, but there is no way someone who is no longer with you should be part of the routine council meeting,” the commissioner said.
“Who knows with whom he might share important government secrets? In government, things are done based on trust, and you can’t trust someone who is not with you.”
READ ALSO: Gov Yusuf Defects To APC With 22 State, Nine Federal Lawmakers
Waiya added that, in his view, resignation would be the most honourable course of action for the deputy governor.
“If I were him, I would humbly resign,” he stated.
The commissioner’s comments come amid wider political developments in the state, including Governor Yusuf’s recent defection to the APC from the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP).
Waiya described the governor’s move as beneficial to Kano, noting that closer alignment with the Federal Government would attract more development projects and interventions.
He also reassured residents that concrete steps are being taken to resolve the lingering emirate tussle, emphasizing dialogue, respect for the rule of law, and the preservation of peace and stability.
Bangladesh has approved its shooting team’s tour to New Delhi for next month’s Asian Shooting Championships, days after the cricket team’s refusal to play in India due to safety concerns cost them a place at the Twenty20 World Cup.
Bangladesh have been replaced by Scotland in the T20 World Cup, which runs from February 7 to March 8, after they insisted they would not tour India, highlighting security concerns following soured political relations between the neighbours.
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The International Cricket Council (ICC), citing independent security assessment reports, dismissed Bangladesh’s demands to play their World Cup matches in Sri Lanka, the tournament cohosts, instead, arguing the late change in schedule was “not feasible”.
However, media reports in Bangladesh said a three-member contingent comprising shooter Robiul Islam, his coach Sharmin Akhter and jury member Saima Feroze had received approval from the Ministry of Youth and Sports to compete in New Delhi.
The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) secretary-general, Pawan Singh, confirmed the shooting team’s participation in India.
“Bangladesh’s participation was confirmed a month ago. Our applications for clearances for all nations have been in process for almost three months,” Singh told the Reuters news agency.
“We have to follow ISSF norms as a sport and comply with the IOC (International Olympic Committee) charter, and as NRAI, we have always received support from the government,” he said, referring to the International Shooting Sport Federation.
Singh added that the Bangladesh contingent did not request any extra security measures.
“The Bangladesh team has come to our tournaments many times, so they know our strict protocols well. Maybe that’s why they are confident and have not made any special requests.”
The Asian Shooting Confederation, which is organising the event, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Wael Tarabishi died after weeks in intensive care while his father, his primary caregiver, was held in ICE detention. Despite multiple requests, ICE denied his release and have barred him from attending his son’s funeral.
The United States and Iran are engaged in increasingly hostile rhetoric as US warships move into the Arabian Sea, despite regional nations seeking a diplomatic solution to prevent a military flare-up.
US President Donald Trump warned this week that “time is running out” for Iran to return to talks to reach a new deal on its nuclear programme.
Trump said the naval forces he was sending to Iran’s neighbourhood were even greater than those that he deployed to the coast of Venezuela before US special forces abducted the South American country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, in a military assault on Caracas on January 3.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi hit back at Trump’s threats, warning that his nation’s military was ready “with their fingers on the trigger”. He added that they would “immediately and powerfully respond” to any new US attack.
The escalation comes seven months after US bombers attacked Iranian nuclear facilities during Tehran’s 12-day war with Israel last year. Iran retaliated by striking Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base, which is used by US forces. During its war with Israel, Iran also struck several Israeli cities with missiles.
Earlier this month, Trump told Iranian protesters who were clashing with security forces that “help” was on the way, threatening to bomb Iran. However, he has since walked back his warning, seemingly accepting Tehran’s assurances that arrested protesters would not be executed.
As Iran and the US appear to be headed towards a new military escalation, key demands from both sides appear to be primarily the same as they have been for years.
We unpack what they are:
What the US wants Iran to do
Historically, the US has imposed sanctions on Iran for a range of reasons, from punishment for the hostage crisis in 1979 – when, after the Iranian Revolution, students took over the US embassy with staff inside – to supposed concern for the human rights of Iranians.
But over the past two decades, US pressure against Iran, including through crippling economic sanctions that have devastated the country’s middle class, has largely focused on Tehran’s nuclear and ballistic missiles programme.
Nuclear programme
The US and some of its Western allies insist that Iran’s programme is aimed at building nuclear weapons, even though Tehran has insisted that it is only developing a civilian programme to meet energy needs.
Under a nuclear deal that Iran agreed with the US during the Obama administration – known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – Tehran capped its uranium enrichment at 3.67 percent and its enriched uranium stockpile at 300kg (660lb). This was enough for Iran to use for nuclear power plants, but far from adequate for weapons. In exchange, the US lifted most sanctions previously imposed on Iran.
At 60 percent enrichment, uranium is considered ready to be developed for weapons. At 90 percent, it is considered fully weapons-grade.
But Trump withdrew the US from this deal in his first term as president, in May 2018, and reimposed sanctions against Tehran. Iran appeared to try to stick to its end of the agreement for a while, along with European powers, Russia and China, who were all co-signatories to the Obama deal. Trump’s successor, Joe Biden, however, kept most of Trump’s sanctions in place, even though he had been Obama’s vice president.
In his second term as president, Trump has further ramped up economic coercion against Iran, which also began rapidly enriching its uranium.
In May 2025, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warned that Iran had stockpiled more than 400kg (880lb) of uranium enriched to 60 percent. Though weapons need uranium that’s more than 90 percent enriched, no non-nuclear weapons state is known to keep uranium enriched to levels as high as 60 percent.
The US and Israel cited the IAEA warning as justification for bombing Iran in June.
“There has been a consistent lobby in Washington arguing that Iran achieving nuclear weapon capability is an enormous threat to the US and the wider world, and the US government knows that this fear is widely held in America,” Christopher Featherstone, associate lecturer at the Department of Politics, University of York, told Al Jazeera.
The US now demands that:
Iran must not build nuclear weapons, and it must abandon even a civilian nuclear programme.
Iran must not enrich uranium at all – not even to very low levels that would be useless for military purposes.
Iran must hand over any enriched uranium it already has.
Ballistic missiles
Israeli bombs and missiles killed more than 1,000 Iranians during the June war. But while far fewer – 32 – Israelis died in retaliatory Iranian attacks, Tehran’s ballistic missiles frequently managed to breach Israel’s vaunted Iron Dome, hitting several cities.
Since then, US and Israeli concerns about Iran’s ballistic missiles have grown. Iran’s Emad, Khorramshahr, Ghadr, Sejjil and Soumar ballistic and cruise missiles have ranges between 1,700km and 2,500 km (1,056-1,553 miles).
That puts Israel and all US military bases in the Middle East within the range of these missiles.
The US now demands that:
Iran must curb the number and range of its ballistic missiles.
(Al Jazeera)
Regional influence
The US’s third key demand involves Iran’s influence in its region, stitched together through alliances with governments, religious movements and armed resistance groups.
That so-called “axis of resistance” has suffered body blows over the past two years. In Syria, Bashar al-Assad’s regime, a close partner, fell in December 2024; in Lebanon, Israel decimated the leadership of Hezbollah; while Hamas in Gaza and the Houthis in Yemen have also been bloodied in wars since 2023.
Still, many of these and other groups that Iran has traditionally supported remain active and alive. Earlier this week, the Iraq-based Kataib Hezbollah, for instance, warned of a “total war” if the US were to attack Iran.
The US demands that:
Iran must end its support and links with armed resistance groups across the region.
What Iran wants the US to do
Iran, meanwhile, has its own set of demands of the US.
Economic sanctions
US sanctions, first imposed on Iran in 1979, have grown increasingly harsh in recent years, leading to shortages, inflation and economic decline.
Iran’s oil exports fell by 60-80 percent after Trump reimposed sanctions in 2018, robbing the government in Tehran of tens of billions of dollars in annual revenues.
The currency has crashed, hitting a record low of 1,500,000 rials to the dollar this week and leading to soaring inflation and a surge in the prices Iran must pay for everything it imports.
As a result, Iran’s middle class has shrunk dramatically in recent years.
Iran demands that:
The US must end economic sanctions, including the secondary sanctions that, in effect, coerce other nations from doing business with Tehran.
Nuclear programme
Iran has consistently argued that its nuclear programme is civilian in nature.
But since the joint attacks by Israel and the US last year, and the reimposition of sanctions on Tehran in recent months by the United Nations and European nations, hardliners in the country have been pressuring the government to instead race towards producing a nuclear bomb.
While the Iranian establishment has officially not shifted its position on the subject, it wants:
Iran to continue to have a nuclear programme, even if with some limits.
Iran to continue to be able to enrich uranium, even if with some limits.
A new understanding before allowing IAEA inspectors back into the country. Iran believes that the IAEA’s report on its enriched uranium last year was designed to provide the US and Israel with justification for their attacks.
Ballistic missiles
Iran believes its ballistic missiles offer it much-needed protection against regional threats, especially Israel.
That these missiles have the capacity to batter Israeli cities and reach US bases in the region gives Tehran leverage.
Iran wants:
To be allowed to keep its ballistic missiles programme.
Regional influence
Iran’s alliances and partnerships in its neighbourhood are embedded in a complex web of ideological affiliations, political commitments – such as to the Palestinian cause – and strategic calculations.
It has lost al-Assad as an ally, and Hezbollah has been weakened. But Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei alluded in December 2024 to Tehran’s belief that:
How close are we to a war?
This all depends on Trump, and how back-channel negotiations that are ongoing between the US and Iran proceed.
US allies in the region, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have stated that they will not allow their airspace to be used for any attack on Iran. Qatar has been leading efforts to find a diplomatic solution.
Still, the US has been beefing up its military presence off Iran. The USS Abraham Lincoln, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is now in the Arabian Sea.
Over the past seven months, Trump has bombed Iran, including deeply buried nuclear facilities like Fordow.
And while Trump has called for talks, Featherstone from the University of York said “it will take an enormous diplomatic effort to see a negotiation of any real meaning.”
