When Moawya Ali saw a wave of Israeli settlers storm towards his house in the West Bank town of Jit, he grabbed his five children and rushed to his car, where he dropped them off at a nearby house for safety.

When he returned to the house, Ali said, he saw some 30 settlers – armed, masked and dressed in black – jumping over the fence, breaking windows and throwing Molotov cocktails inside the house.

“We are (Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir) Ben Gvir’s gang, we are here to kill you, here to kill Arabs,” the settlers shouted in both Arabic and Hebrew, according to Ali.

Ali’s home is one of several houses and cars damaged by what residents of Jit say was an assault by dozens of settlers on Thursday night, which drew scathing condemnation from top Israeli officials.

“They were prepared with weapons,” Arman said, adding that they had silencer firearms with live ammunition, knives and M16 rifles. “They came to commit a crime in the town,” he said.

The attack has been condemned by top officials across Israel’s government, with a statement issued hours later by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office warning that “those responsible for any offense will be apprehended and tried.”

‘Netanyahu is but a toy’

One resident, Rashid Sedda, was killed in Thursday’s attack. According to the Palestinian Authority’s ministry of health, the 23-year-old died after an “injury to the chest by settlers’ bullets.”

Hundreds gathered for his burial on Friday, where residents marched down the narrow streets of the town carrying Sedda’s body, wrapped in a Palestinian flag.

Mourners blamed far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Ben Gvir for the attack, saying they have been instigating settler violence, and especially after October 7.

“Netanyahu is but a toy in their hands,” said the preacher speaking at Sedda’s burial.

In May, Smotrich said that Israel should approve 10,000 settlements in the West Bank, establish a new settlement for every country that recognizes a state of Palestine, and cancel travel permits for Palestinian Authority officials. In June, the minister said the way to prevent a Palestinian state that would endanger the state of Israel is to develop Jewish settlements.

Netanyahu has long struggled to appease the far-right side of his coalition, and is currently under pressure to delay a ceasefire deal and press on with the war in Gaza, which today shows few signs of ending.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has recorded at least 1,143 settler attacks against Palestinians from October 7 to August 5 alone. Of those, at least 114 attacks “led to Palestinian fatalities and injuries,” according to OCHA.

After Thursday’s attack, some settler leaders were keen to distance themselves from the attackers. Smotrich, who lives in the Kedumim settlement just 10 minutes away, called attackers “criminals” who “are in no way related to the settlements and the settlers.”

In a statement, Ben Gvir suggested that the riot would not have happened if the Israeli military were allowed to shoot stone-throwers in the West Bank. Ben Gvir said he “told the [IDF] Chief of the General Staff this evening that the fact that we don’t let soldiers shoot any terrorist who throws stones is leading to events of the type that occurred tonight.”

“At the same time, it is unequivocally forbidden to take the law into one’s own hands,” he added.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have also condemned the attack, saying in a statement that Israeli security forces were dispatched to Jit “minutes after receiving the report of this incident” and “used riot dispersal means, fired shots into the air, and removed the Israeli civilians from the town.”

An Israeli civilian involved in the riot has been apprehended for questioning, and a joint investigation by Israeli security forces is looking into the death of the Palestinian resident, it also said.

The world ‘does nothing’

Statements by Israeli officials did little to cool residents’ anger, however.

Murad Eshtewi, spokesman for Fatah in the Qalqilya Province, where the town of Jit is located, said that attacks by settlers are always given a greenlight by settler leaders. Fatah is the leading party in the Palestinian Authority (PA), which governs the West Bank.

While the prime minister is enjoying the support of his far-right ministers, Eshtewi said, blood is being spilled in Gaza and the West Bank.

Residents of Jit said that attacks by settlers have been rampant since Netanyahu’s new government and more so after October 7, but that Thursday’s attack was unprecedented.

They fear it may not be the last.

Yamin said that it is up to the international community to stop the violence, as the Palestinian people have no means of confronting these attacks.

“The world sees and hears what happens, and does nothing,” he said.

Doctors in war-torn Gaza have detected a case of polio for the first time in 25 years, health officials said, as international aid bodies call for a pause in the conflict for make way for a vaccination drive.

Traces of poliovirus were found in a 10-month-old child in the central Gazan city of Deir al-Balah, the health ministry said in a statement late Friday, adding that the baby had not received any polio jabs.

Previously, UNICEF said poliovirus was detected in environmental samples from Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah in July, with stool samples of three children being sent to a lab in Jordan for testing.

Polio is a highly contagious disease that mainly affects children under the age of 5. It targets the nervous system and can cause paralysis and death in extreme cases.

The resurgence of the virus – eliminated in most of the developed world – highlights the struggles facing Gaza’s two million residents, who have lived under Israeli bombardment since October last year. Many people in the enclave are deprived of food, medical supplies and clean water, with up to 90% of the population internally displaced.

More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its war on Hamas following the group’s October 7 attack, according to officials. The Hamas attack killed more than 1,200 Israelis, with 250 taken hostage, according to the Israeli government.

The health ministry said it will work with UNICEF to vaccinate children under 10 years old in Gaza, adding that more than a million doses are available.

Two rounds of vaccination are expected to be launched this month and next across Gaza, UNICEF said in a news release Friday, adding that it will target more than 640,000 children.

But a pause in hostilities is needed to make way for an effective polio vaccination campaign, it said, alongside the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees and the World Health Organization, all calling for a halt to the fighting.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called the proposal “a must,” noting the “ultimate vaccine for polio is peace and an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”

International mediators are making an urgent push for Israel and Hamas to reach a broader ceasefire and hostage deal next week, after high-stakes negotiations in Qatar saw them put a fresh proposal to the warring parties.

Gaza has been polio-free for the last 25 years, UNICEF said.

“Its reemergence, which the humanitarian community has warned about for the last ten months, represents yet another threat to the children in the Gaza Strip and neighboring countries,” the UN body added, stressing the importance of a ceasefire.

Hamas welcomed the call from the UN agencies on Friday for a seven-day “polio pause.”

But the health ministry in Gaza warned in a statement on Friday that a vaccination campaign “will not be enough without a radical solution to the problems of sanitation and accumulation of waste among the tents for the displaced.”

Last week, Palestinian Minister of Health Dr. Majed Abu Ramadan warned that Israel’s bombardment had destroyed 80% of the healthcare infrastructure in Gaza.

Most hospitals are out of service and those that have remained operational are working only partially “due to direct damage and the loss of qualified medical staff” due to displacement, according to the minister.

“We are facing a humanitarian catastrophe by all indications and evidence,” he said.

Eyad Kourdi, Hira Humayun, Sarah Dean and Ibrahim Dahman contributed to this report.

Tears streamed down Bisan Abuaita’s face as she reunited with her teammates at Jordan’s Queen Alia Airport in May.

It was the first time members of the Palestinian women’s soccer team had met since the start of the war in Gaza, an ongoing trauma for Palestinians inside and outside the enclave.

The team was en route to Dublin, Ireland – the first time a senior Palestinian women’s team had ever played in Europe.

This season’s Palestinian-based women’s league was slated to start on October 9, 2023, two days after Hamas’ devastating assault on Israel, that prompted a military campaign that has so far killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than a million more.

After months of fearing for their relatives and friends inside Gaza, the team finally got their 90 minutes of solace, kicking off against local Irish club Bohemians FC in May.

Adding extra significance to the match, it was played on the 76th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, or catastrophe, during which approximately 700,000 Palestinians fled their homes or were expelled by Jewish militia groups, in violence that accompanied the founding of the state of Israel in 1948.

Thousands of Palestinian flag-waving fans filled Dalymount Park, with the proceeds going to charitable organizations to help refugees back home. Irish President Michael Higgins was among those in attendance.

Just two weeks after the match was played, Ireland would go on to recognize Palestinian statehood, in a coordinated move with two other European nations, Spain and Norway, a decision that was condemned by Israel.

Ireland is considered one of the most pro-Palestinian nations in Europe, and earlier this year filed an intervention in the genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

The Palestinian side won the match 2-1, but the result was less important than the game itself.

“Leading the team out was unforgettable,” said 25-year-old captain Mira Natour, a doctor who will soon return to her native Bethlehem in the West Bank, where she works in a government hospital.

“It was a moment that filled me with enormous pride and a heavy sense of achievement. Not just for me, but the entire team and our nation. It was a symbol of our resilience; representing Palestine on the international stage despite all the challenges we face.”

Teammate Abuaita, who travels between Bethlehem and France to help displaced Palestinian women and children, described the “surreal” moment of being able to return to competitive soccer.

She had barely kicked a ball since her local club won the Palestinian Cup the previous year.

“It felt amazing,” she said. “Wearing the kit gives me goosebumps. With what’s happening lately, it’s like double the goosebumps.

“Everyone was crying when we heard the national anthem (pre-match) because you remember everything and everyone that you’re playing for. Each one of us knows people who are suffering, who (have been) martyred.”

‘Sisters’ assemble

The Palestinian players traveled to Ireland from far and wide – some from their homes in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, and others from the global diaspora living thousands of miles from the site of the conflict.

Five players from the West Bank, including Abuaita, had to drive to Jordan and fly from Amman. There are no airports in the Palestinian territories and the women would have needed a permit to fly from Israel’s Tel Aviv airport. Even though the distance to Jordan’s Queen Alia Airport is relatively short, three separate security checkpoints along the way meant the trip took around 10 hours, Abuaita said.

But at least they could travel. Since the team’s establishment in 2013, there has yet to be a Palestine women’s team member from Gaza, due to Israel’s blockade of the enclave.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have players from Gaza on our team. One of the main reasons why is the blockade that was forced upon Gazans since 2007,” said team manager Deema Yousef.

“This means citizens cannot leave the strip without a permit granted by the Israeli government, which is extremely hard to obtain,” said Yousef, a representative of the Palestinian Football Association.

Other players came from the Palestinian diaspora in Germany, Sweden, Canada and Saudi Arabia.

Eighteen-year-old goalkeeper Charlotte Phillips was born in Canada to a Bahamian father and Palestinian mother.

Phillips’ grandparents, George and Odette, are Nakba survivors whose family members were killed in front of them, she said.

They left Jerusalem in the mid-70s and moved to Canada and went on to open a successful Palestinian restaurant in Toronto, said Phillips, now a university student in Toronto.

“I can’t always fully relate to the struggles,” Phillips said. “I know what it means to be Palestinian in Canada, but I don’t know what it means to be Palestinian living in occupied Palestine. So, playing in a game like that in front of my teta (grandmother) and sidi (grandfather) was so significant to our family history.”

Nonetheless each meetup of the team, like the match in Ireland, is charged.

“It was so incredibly emotional,” Phillips recalled.

‘We are still fighting’

Both Natour and Abuaita described the team’s bittersweet feeling of clocking valuable minutes on the field, while remembering those struggling in war-torn Gaza.

Abuaita said her team plays as a mark of respect for those killed in the conflict, and as a reminder to the world that Palestinians are still fighting.

“We play for all those people who were killed, for those footballers and athletes who were murdered. And for those athletes who are still unable to play, because in Gaza now there’s zero stadiums – they were all destroyed. Being able to show people we’re here and that we’re still fighting in Palestine is an honor,” she said.

Since the game in Dublin, both the Palestinian men’s and women’s teams have played a handful of international friendly matches, with the former still in contention for a place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada after an impressive outing in the Asian group stages this summer.

“Football is a source of hope and unity for our people. It allows us to tell our story – we are more than just a conflict,” captain Natour said.

“Most importantly, it inspires the younger generation to dream and strive for a better future, no matter what. When I look at my teammates with diverse backgrounds and unique talents, (I realize) we’re not just athletes but role models and advocates for our country, both on and off the field.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz raised eyebrows on Friday when he said Israel would expect international partners such as the United Kingdom and France to join Israel in responding to a potential strike from Iran, “not only in defense, but also in attacking significant targets in Iran.”

Katz made the claim during a meeting to discuss “preventing regional escalation and promoting a hostage deal,” with his British and Israeli counterparts in Jerusalem, according to a readout from the Israeli foreign office.

Both France and the UK, however, have downplayed such a prospect, with the UK emphasizing the need to break the “current destructive cycle of retaliatory violence” in the Middle East.

French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné told a press conference in Jerusalem that it would be “inappropriate” to speak of “a retaliation or preparation for an Israeli retaliation” whilst diplomatic talks are underway.

Katz’s declaration comes amid heightened fears of a reprisal attack from Iran, following the assassination of Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Iran has blamed Israel for Haniyeh’s death but Israel hasn’t confirmed or denied responsibility.

When asked about Katz’s statement, a UK foreign office spokesperson stressed that the UK is “working in lockstep with our allies to deescalate tensions,” adding that they “urge all parties to refrain from perpetuating the current destructive cycle of retaliatory violence.”

“We call on Iran and its allies to refrain from attacks that would further escalate regional tensions and jeopardise the opportunity to agree a ceasefire and the release of hostages. No country or nation stands to gain from a further escalation in the Middle East,” the spokesperson added.

Meanwhile, a senior United States administration official struck a harsher tone, warning on Friday there could be “cataclysmic” consequences and “particularly for Iran” if Tehran decides to strike Israel and escalate the conflict in the Middle East.

The official added that the US has encouraged Iran, through intermediaries, to not attack as there is a “path” to achieve a ceasefire and hostage deal on the table. The de-escalation and potential for a ceasefire deal are “separate,” the official said, but they are happening in “parallel.”

“We have deployed the military resources to the region that are needed for every possible contingency, and we’re working in very close coordination with partners and allies,” the official added.

“We are ready for any possible contingency, and we’re going to help defend Israel, and not going to get ahead of anything else that. I just say this, this attack from Iran has been predicted now, I think every day over the last two and a half weeks. So you know, let’s see. I’ll just say we are prepared,” they added.

Bodies decomposing in the street. Bullet-marked civilian cars lining the road. Half of Lenin’s face blown away from the statue on the square. Streets littered with shrapnel. Locals huddling in a bomb shelter.

The smell of death, in buildings torn open.

It is a scene achingly familiar to Ukraine, yet until now alien to Russia. But the border town of Sudzha was assaulted by Ukraine eleven days ago and claimed by President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday as under their control. When Russian President Vladimir Putin began his war of choice two years ago, Russia did not expect to get invaded back.

The turnoff into Sudzha was marked with a huge Orthodox Christian cross, upon which was written “God save and protect us.” Yards away lay the wreckage of two tanks and other armor from the intense fighting days earlier.

The town’s streets were mostly vacant, yet echoed with the storm raging around them. Small arms fire and outgoing artillery broke the silence, but at a distance.

Our Ukrainian escort said the Russian attack drones that had blighted Ukraine’s progress on the front lines in the past months were simply too busy at the frontline battles to harass Kyiv’s forces at the border and in Sudzha. Their conspicuous absence, and that of Russian air power, suggested a possible improvement in Ukraine’s capabilities for this surprise assault. The ubiquity of Western-supplied armored vehicles on the roads into Russia showed Ukraine was throwing resources it had long claimed it lacked into this fight.

Sudzha was not completely deserted. At one large building, outside the basement entrance, a large cardboard hand-written sign announced, “Here are peaceful people in the basement, no military.” Inna, 68, sat outside. There were 60 other civilians downstairs, she said.

“They brought a lot of boxes, their food,” she said of the Ukrainian forces.

In the basement was a scene we have witnessed in dozens of Ukrainian towns over the past two years, and still as saddening in Russia.

At the entrance to the shelter was Stanislav, who stroked his gray beard when asked how life was. “See, this is not life. It is existing. It is not life.”

In the dark, subterranean dank were the infirm, isolated, and confused. One elderly woman, still in her wig and bright red summer dress, rocked slightly as she intoned: “And now I don’t know how it will end. At least a truce so we can live peacefully. We don’t need anything. It’s my crutch, I can’t walk. It’s very hard.” Flies buzzed around her face, in humid gloom.

In the next room, the light flickered on a family of six. The man said, “A week. No news. We don’t know what’s happening around us.” His son sat silent next to him, his white face stony.

At the end of the corridor, talking to one of our Ukrainian escorts was Yefimov, who said he was in his 90s. His daughter, niece and grandchildren are married to Ukrainian men and live in Ukraine, yet he cannot reach them.

“To Ukraine,” he said, when asked where he wanted to flee. “You are the first to mention it. People talked about it but you are the first to come.” The idea of evacuation would be arduous for many here in peacetime.

On the street outside is Nina, 74, searching for her medication. The shops are shredded and pharmacies closed. She insists she does not want to leave, with the same passionate defense of her right to live where she always has as so many Ukrainian women of her age, in similar scarred towns.

“If I wanted to I would. Why would I leave where I lived 50 years? My daughter and mother are in the graveyard and my son was born (here), my grandkids…  I live on my land. I don’t know where I live. I don’t know whose land this is, I don’t understand anything.”

It is unclear how and where this fast, successful and surprise assault ends, or when Russian forces arrive. Yet they will be too late to reverse another dent in Russia’s pride since it began an invasion meant to take only a matter of days in February 2022.

International mediators are making an urgent push for Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire and hostage deal next week after high-stakes negotiations in Qatar saw them put a fresh proposal to the warring parties.

The “bridging proposal” presented on Friday was intended to close the remaining gaps of disagreement between both sides, a joint statement from the US, Qatar and Egypt said.

US President Joe Biden expressed optimism about the state of ceasefire and hostage release talks that are expected to resume in Cairo next week. “We are closer than we’ve ever been,” he said, adding that the talks had brought the chances of a deal “much, much closer than it was three days ago.”

The two days of discussions took place amid tensions across the region about a potential Iranian attack against Israel, which carries the risk of scuppering already fragile negotiations.

The statement said the proposal “builds on the areas of agreement over the past week,” and “bridges remaining gaps in a manner that allows for a swift implementation of the deal.”

Senior officials from the US, Qatar and Egypt will meet again in Cairo before the end of next week, “with the aim to “conclude the deal under the terms put forward” Friday, the statement said.

The talks were “serious and constructive,” the statement added, though it did not elaborate on what points of agreement were achieved over the past week.

The death toll in Gaza since Israel launched its war against Hamas reached 40,000 people earlier this week, a bleak figure that underscores the desperation in the enclave for a reprieve from ten months of bloody conflict.

But discussions to bring about a pause have been shrouded in uncertainty since Israeli strikes in late July killed Hamas’ former political leader and senior figures in Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Hamas reiterated on Thursday its stance that there will be no hostage deal or ceasefire agreement without a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

“Any agreement must achieve a comprehensive ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from Gaza, the return of displaced persons, reconstruction, in addition to a prisoner exchange deal,” Hussam Badran, a member of Hamas Political Bureau, said in a statement on Thursday.

Mediators in talks for a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel are making a last-ditch effort this week to revive stalled negotiations, with high-stakes discussions continuing Friday against a backdrop of tension and desperation in the region.

The meeting in Doha started on Thursday and is taking place as the Middle East braces for a possible Iranian attack on Israel, and after the death toll since October in Gaza reached 40,000 people, a bleak figure that underscores 10 months of suffering, malnutrition and despair in the enclave.

The fear of an Iranian attack poses a further serious threat to negotiations that have already appeared tenuous in recent weeks, after a string of Israeli strikes took out Hamas’ former political leader and senior figures in Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

In the meeting, Qatar, Egypt and the United States are expected to present a plan to implement a deal that could bring about a ceasefire in the war in Gaza and free the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas. The deal was proposed by US President Joe Biden in May – but unresolved differences have left the path forward unclear.

Here’s what we know about the status of the talks so far.

What has happened in the talks?

While inconclusive so far, Thursday’s talks marked “a promising start,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said as they got underway in Doha.

On Thursday, the militant group reiterated that there will be no hostage deal or ceasefire agreement without a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

Al Thani, a key mediator in the talks, has updated the Iranian foreign minister Ali Bagheri Kani on the ongoing mediation efforts, according to a statement by the Qatari foreign ministry on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said during a Thursday speech to Turkey’s parliament that he would visit Gaza soon, in an effort to help bring about a pause to the “barbaric aggression.”

What is Biden’s proposal?

In May, Biden laid out a three-phase proposal the administration said was submitted by Israel that would pair a release of hostages from Gaza with a “full and complete ceasefire” and a release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

The first phase would last six weeks and include the “withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza” and the “release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly, the wounded in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners” and the implementation of a temporary truce.

Phase 2 would allow for the “exchange for the release of all remaining living hostages, including male soldiers” and a permanent end to the fighting.

In Phase 3, a “major reconstruction plan for Gaza would commence and any final remains of hostages who’ve been killed will be returned to their families,” the US president said.

Israel launched its war against Hamas after the group’s cross-border October 7 attacks, in which more than 1,200 Israelis were killed and 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities. More than 100 of those hostages remain in Gaza, their families back home pleading for a breakthrough to secure their safe return. It is unclear how many of the original hostages set for release are still alive.

Hamas and Israel have been engaged in tedious negotiations for months. Officials from Qatar and Egypt act as intermediaries, delivering messages to Israeli and Hamas representatives in shuttle-style diplomacy since representatives from the warring parties are not present at the same location. Technical teams have flown in and out of Doha and Cairo to iron out details for a potential agreement.

What are the key remaining sticking points?

Despite an initial positive reaction from Hamas and Israel, both sides failed to agree on the implementation of the finer details of the proposal including the sequencing of the hostage-prisoner exchange, the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released and how far back Israeli forces should withdraw in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused of undermining the deal as far-right members of his ruling coalition threaten to collapse the government despite pressure from the US and families of hostages.

Throughout the war, the prime minister has been caught between two potent political forces: the far-right members of his governing coalition who have been opposed to any suggestion that Israeli troops should leave Gaza, and the relatives of hostages held by Hamas, who have formed a powerful pressure group and have implored Netanyahu to reach a deal.

Netanyahu’s office on Tuesday rejected claims that the prime minister had changed positions, saying his most recent stance “does not introduce extra conditions and certainly does not contradict or undermine” the May proposal. Netanyahu’s office instead accused Hamas of adding unrealistic demands to its position.

The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

What is Hamas’ position on Thursday’s talks?

US officials had said that talks had reached an advanced stage until Hamas’ political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in Tehran in late July in an assassination Iran blamed on Israel. Israel hasn’t confirmed or denied responsibility, but Iran has vowed vengeance.

There were concerns that the assassination would throw a wrench in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas. The militant group replaced Haniyeh with Yahya Sinwar, the hardline Hamas leader in Gaza who is one of Israel’s most wanted men. While Haniyeh, a relative moderate, lived in Qatar and was susceptible to pressure from his host country, Sinwar is believed to be deep underground in a tunnel in Gaza and is hard to reach.

Hamas on Thursday denied it was having difficulty communicating with its leader Sinwar, after one of its top officials Osama Hamdan reportedly acknowledged in an interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday that there are “some difficulties” and delays in communicating with him.

Hamas hasn’t ruled out an agreement with Israel, but said that it won’t engage in further negotiations. It instead asked mediators for a plan to implement a ceasefire proposal put forward by Biden.

Asked why Hamas has been unclear about whether it will attend the ceasefire talks, the source said: “This ambiguity is the movement’s position, which was announced in its latest statement, is intentional and did not come by chance. It comes as a result of Netanyahu’s behavior.”

Why are this week’s talks so important?

This latest round of ceasefire talks were the result of a major diplomatic effort by mediators Qatar, Egypt and the US to push for a last-ditch effort to end the war and free the hostages as Iran prepares to attack Israel.

The urgency of the talks was highlighted by the three mediators, who issued a rare joint statement last week calling on the warring parties to return to negotiations and offered what they called a “final bridge proposal” to overcome the remaining sticking points. The details of that proposal have not been made public.

In parallel, US and Middle East diplomats have been mobilizing to dissuade Iran from launching an attack on Israel that could lead to a wider regional war. Both Iran and the US have said that that lines of communication between them are open through intermediaries.

There have been some indications that Iran may abandon plans to attack Israel if a ceasefire deal is reached. But the country’s mission to the United Nations said on Saturday that Tehran’s retaliation is “totally unrelated to the Gaza ceasefire.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, US officials didn’t believe that Iran has decided on a course of retaliatory action against Israel, according to two US administration officials. Furious diplomatic backchannel efforts are ongoing to try to deter a wide-scale attack and de-escalate the volatile situation, one of those officials said.

The second official added that the Biden administration does believe that the US’s public warnings in recent days have affected Iran’s calculus.

The conversation between Al Thani and Kani was “positive,” a diplomat familiar with the call said.

Biden acknowledged the challenges facing a ceasefire deal Tuesday, telling reporters traveling with him to New Orleans he’s “concerned” about negotiations between the two parties amid the looming threat of an attack on Israel from Iran.

The president rebuffed questions on what he’s doing to pressure Israel and Hamas to come to the bargaining table for proposed ceasefire deal talks Thursday, telling reporters, “If I told you what pressure that I’m putting on it, it wouldn’t be very much pressure would it?”

The lack of clarity on whether the Israeli prime minister will adhere to Biden’s May proposal, the source added, suggests time is running out to strike a deal before an Iranian attack. Qatar and Egypt, the source said, may not have enough influence to push Hamas to compromise.

This story has been updated.

Every Saturday, at a church in Gothenburg, Sweden, hundreds of people of all ages and backgrounds gather. There are more than 20 languages spoken among them, and they come not to worship, but to play music.

As they chat and tune their instruments, a smiling man sweeps in and the energy level rises. He greets everyone, steps onto the podium, and raises his baton. On his command, music fills the room.

It’s an ensemble known as the Dream Orchestra – the vision of Ron Davis Alvarez, an accomplished violinist, conductor, and teacher. Since 2016, his free program has given hundreds of refugees, immigrants, vulnerable young people, and native Swedes the chance to learn an instrument, connect with others, and enrich their lives.

To Alvarez, 38, the work is about far more than music.

“An orchestra, it’s like a community – different people, different voices, different melodies. Everybody (has) their own role and they all connect to each other,” he said. “Imagine if the world worked more like an orchestra. We would have a better world for sure.”

New life through music

Alvarez grew up in the favelas of Caracas, Venezuela – dangerous slums plagued by drugs and violence. To help his family make ends meet, in grade school he started selling ice cream alongside his grandmother at her home. Across the street was a chapter of El Sistema, a globally acclaimed program that provides free classical music training to children from under-resourced communities. Seeing students carrying their instruments interested him; then, he heard the music.

“You always (could) hear one of the students playing the violin (from) the balcony,” he said. “I said, ‘I want to play that. … That instrument has a voice.’”

At 10, he joined the group, and the experience changed his life.

“I fell in love with music from my first class,” he said. “For me, to play the violin – it’s electricity.”

He also appreciated the school’s inclusive philosophy.

“It (didn’t) matter if I was the guy who was selling ice cream in front of the school or I was the son or the daughter of the mayor,” he said. “Everyone was important in the classroom.”

By 14, he was teaching classes; by 16, he was conducting. His love of music kept him focused on his goals and out of trouble.

Eventually, Alvarez studied conducting at university and later worked for El Sistema to help spread the group’s innovative teaching methods worldwide – even near the Arctic Circle, where he started Greenland’s first youth orchestra. It was this work that led him to first visit Sweden in 2015.

Seeking light in the darkness

Alvarez was in Stockholm just as unprecedented numbers of refugees were arriving in the country, most from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He was stunned by the crowds he saw in the city’s central train station.

“For me, it was a shocking moment. They were, like, completely lost,” he said. “I was just thinking, ‘What are they gonna do?’ Everything was really dark. And I see in their eyes they were looking for light.”

He knew he could help. The following year, he was hired by El Sistema Sweden and moved to Gothenburg where in his free time he offered a music group for refugees. He started with 13 students. Most had no background in music and didn’t speak English – nor Alvarez’s native Spanish – but he loaned them instruments and began teaching them. He knew playing music together would help them make friends, express themselves, and rebuild their self-esteem. He named the group the Dream Orchestra to emphasize their potential.

“For me, that’s what a music education is about,” he said. “It’s about giving you new opportunities (for) learning about life, about challenges, about dreaming, about … connecting you to your soul.”

Eight years later, the program has more than 300 members, from 3 to 56 years old, of more than 25 nationalities, Alvarez said. While many are immigrants and refugees, the group also includes many second-generation immigrants as well as native Swedes, including some who are nonbinary or trans. Connecting people of different backgrounds is central to Alvarez’s mission.

“You cannot have an orchestra only for refugees because that’s segregation. You really need to include people from Sweden … We all need to learn from each other,” he said. “We are an orchestra for everyone.”

The group now offers weekly large ensemble rehearsals, as well as beginner classes at three different locations around Gothenburg. Alvarez teaches in English, but since it’s not spoken by everyone, he also communicates using numbers, colors, games and movement.

“Some of the kids, I know that they don’t understand what I say. But they do understand what I show,” he said. “It’s an orchestra where the main language is music.”

Alvarez also realizes that it can be scary to try something new, especially for those who are adjusting to life in a new country. His upbeat attitude helps encourage everyone to take risks.

“Something that I believe that you need to learn (in) music is to believe in yourself,” he said. “To believe in yourself and to develop through music, you have to make mistakes. Mistakes … make you strong.”

Most rehearsals include people of varying levels of experience, so Alvarez encourages everyone to help each other.

“Tolerance, respect, compassion. All of that is what we learn when we play an instrument,” he said. “For us, it’s one goal … to care about the others.”

Connecting beyond the music

Community is an essential part of what Alvarez is trying to create, especially for those who have recently arrived in Sweden and have no social network. While playing together helps students bond, the Swedish tradition of “fika” – basically, a coffee break – also plays a crucial role.

“It’s a moment where we socialize, so that also helps us to connect with everyone in the orchestra,” he said. “It’s a very important part of what we do. … We are a family.”

Alvarez strives to build an appreciation for different cultures by having students learn a wide range of works from around the world, including from many of their homelands. He also teaches Swedish compositions so students can learn about their new home.

“The best way to learn the culture of people is through music,” he said. “Everyone is bringing a bag with so much experience from their own country … bringing stuff to share, but also to learn.”

When students struggle to make ends meet or with immigration issues, they often turn to Alvarez and other members of the orchestra for help. Alvarez and some members of his group help with housing, food, and connection to outside resources and support. This isn’t a formal part of Dream Orchestra’s work, just a result of the friendships formed.

“When someone comes and says, ‘I have this problem,’ then we all have the problem,” Alvarez said.

For many members, Dream Orchestra truly is a family and home where they can learn, grow, connect, and find comfort.

One of those members is Olga Hushchyna. After fleeing Ukraine, she was excited to have her 8-year old son, Andrii, join the Dream Orchestra and was thrilled to realize she could also join and learn the violin. She says the group has helped rebuild their lives through friendship and music.

“After having such great stress, this makes us alive once again. We really heal and receive medicine (from) this,” she said. “Life is not stopped. Life is going on.”

Mushtaq Hansson-Khorsand arrived from Afghanistan without any family when he was just 16. As a fan of hip hop, he had no interest in joining Alvarez’s group, but when he saw how happy the musicians were, he changed his mind. Now 25, he still comes to play the flute every week and says that Dream Orchestra is where he feels most at home.

“You are welcome, who you are, no matter where you came from,” he said. “That’s why you feel safe. You can be yourself.”

Hansson-Khorsand says he couldn’t have adjusted to life in Sweden without the financial and emotional support he received from the group. Today, he’s married with a young son and has a job helping refugees find work. Alvarez is helping him prepare to study music at university.

“Right now, my only goal is to teach music to other people – teach them what I have learned, “he said. “We are going to change the world with music. … That’s what I learned from Ron.”

Alvarez wants others to replicate his work. He’s supported programs at refugee camps in the West Bank and Greece and is working to do the same in Ukraine. Ultimately, his hope is for groups like Dream Orchestra to help people overcome hardships and find joy in life and connection with others.

“This orchestra offers more than just notes. This orchestra offers something for your soul,” he said. “Music connects us. Dream Orchestra, it’s a dream, but it’s a dream (that’s) come true.”

Want to get involved? Check out the Dream Orchestra website and see how to help.

To donate to Dream Orchestra via GoFundMe, click here

Thailand’s parliament voted on Friday for Paetongtarn Shinawatra to be the country’s next prime minister, thrusting another member of the kingdom’s most famed and divisive political dynasty into the top job.

The vote came two days after Thailand’s Constitutional Court removed former Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin from office, in a surprise decision that plunged the kingdom into further political uncertainty and raised fresh concern over the erosion of democratic rights.

Paetongtarn, 37, won 319 votes in the House of Representatives, after being nominated as the sole candidate by her Pheu Thai party’s ruling coalition to replace Srettha. She still needs to be endorsed by King Maha Vajiralongkorn before she can officially take office and appoint a Cabinet.

Paetongtarn will be Thailand’s second female prime minister, after her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra – and the youngest to hold the position.

A political newcomer, Paetongtarn was one of three prime ministerial candidates for Pheu Thai ahead of national elections in May last year and made international headlines when she gave birth just two weeks before the vote.

Her appointment adds another twist to a years-long saga that has shaken up Thailand’s already-turbulent political landscape.

Paetongtarn is the youngest daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup. Thaksin is one of Thailand’s most influential figures, whose economic and populist policies enabled him to build up a political machine that has dominated Thai politics for the past two decades.

Challenges ahead

Srettha’s dismissal on Wednesday was the latest blow to the Thaksin-backed Pheu Thai, which has frequently run afoul of Thailand’s conservative establishment – a small but powerful clique of military, royalist and business elites.

Political parties allied to Thaksin have struggled to hold on to power, having been forced out due to coups or court decisions.

Paetongtarn’s aunt Yingluck was removed from office before the military seized power in a 2014 coup, and her father Thaksin went into self-imposed exile in 2006 for more than 15 years to escape corruption charges after the military toppled his government.

Thaksin, a telecoms billionaire and former owner of Manchester City Football Club, returned to Thailand from exile in August last year.

He has retained an outsized grip on Thai politics and many saw him as continuing to influence the Pheu Thai party – firstly through his sister Yingluck and now through his daughter.

Thaksin’s dramatic return coincided with the Senate’s vote to appoint Srettha as the country’s 30th prime minister. Experts believe Thaksin struck a deal with the Thai establishment for his return and Srettha’s appointment, a claim he denies.

In a stunning about-face to win that vote, Pheu Thai joined with its former military rivals and became head of a multi-party governing coalition. The progressive Move Forward Party, which pulled off a stunning election victory last year with its hugely popular reform agenda, was prevented from forming a government and forced into opposition.

Last week, the Constitutional Court accused Move Forward of “undermining the monarchy” and ordered it to be disbanded, in a blow to the vibrant progressive movement and effectively disenfranchising 14 million people.

The former members have since reconstituted the party under a new name.

On Wednesday, the same court ruled Srettha breached ethics rules set in the constitution by appointing a lawyer – and Thaksin aide – who had served prison time to the Cabinet.

The two decisions were widely seen by observers as judicial overreach that sent a chilling message to those pushing for meaningful reform.

“In light of recent rulings, Thailand should be seen as semi-autocratic at best because people’s votes practically don’t matter.  The conservative establishment has the power to veto and manipulate to get preferred outcomes,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor of political science at Chulalongkorn University.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Russian President Vladimir Putin made a big promise when he launched his war on Ukraine: conscripts would not be involved in combat. But as Moscow struggles to contain Ukrainian advances deeper into its territory, families of young soldiers deployed in the area are raising the alarm about their loved ones.

Messages shared in Russian Telegram channels and other social media over the past few days have revealed how unprepared Moscow was for this kind of attack, including the fact that its military had left poorly trained conscripts in charge of defending the border with Ukraine – the country Russia has been waging war on for more than 10 years.

“When the border was attacked at 3 a.m. by tanks, there were only conscripts defending themselves,” said one such message shared on Telegram by a woman who said she was a mother of a conscript soldier in Kursk, the border region that Ukrainian troops crossed into last week.

“They didn’t see a single soldier, not a single contract soldier — they didn’t see anyone at all. My son called later and said, ‘Mom, we’re in shock;,” the woman, identified only as Olga, said.

The deployment of conscripts is a thorny issue in Russia. That’s partly because of Putin’s repeated promises that they would not be sent to fight, but also due to fact that the mothers and wives of soldiers have traditionally been an influential voice inside the country where dissent is now almost nonexistent – and many are expressing their anger.

The independent Russian news outlet Verstka published an interview with Natalia Appel, the grandmother of one Russian conscript who was serving in Kursk and is now considered missing.

She said her grandson Vladislav had been stationed – without any weapons – in a village some 500 meters from the border. “What could the boys do? Go against (the Ukrainian soldiers) with a shovel?,” she was quoted as saying.

A petition calling on Putin to remove conscripts from the area has been shared online and dozens of messages from people who claimed to be family members of Russian conscripts who have gone missing in Kursk region have been posted on various social media, including the Russian network VKotante.

The fact that Russia was relying on conscripts to defend the border is likely why Ukrainian troops managed to advance into Russian territory with such apparent ease when they first launched the incursion last Tuesday.

Ukrainian military chief Oleksandr Syrskyi has said that Ukrainian troops have advanced 35 kilometers (21.7 miles) through Russian defenses since the incursion started.

“We have taken control of 1,150 square kilometers of territory and 82 settlements,” Syrskyi told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during an on-camera staff meeting Thursday.

Limited training, no weapons

All healthy men in Russia are subject to conscription and, if drafted, required to serve one year in the military.

The country’s military usually runs two drafts a year, one in the spring and one in the fall, conscripting well over 100,000 young men each time. Draft avoidance is a crime and can be punished with a prison term.

The treatment of conscripts has been a political third rail in the past for Russia. During the Soviet war in Afghanistan in the 1980s and Russia’s war in the breakaway republic of Chechnya, the mothers of conscripts mobilized to campaign against the abuse of conscripts.

While Russian civil society has largely been defanged under Putin, the treatment of conscripts is still a sensitive issue for families. Avoiding the draft is easier for the sons of the wealthier and politically privileged.

Last year, Putin ordered the conscription age to increase by three years to 30, so that anyone between the ages of 18 and 30 could be drafted.

Unlike professional soldiers, conscripts receive only limited training before they are sent to their posts, as the law prohibits their deployment overseas and they are not meant to participate in combat operations.

Instead, the Russia has often stationed conscripts along its long borders, not expecting them to ever come under attack. But when Ukraine launched its recent surprise incursion, these conscripts suddenly found themselves on the frontline, completely unprepared to defend themselves.

The deployment of conscripts to the border was also criticized by Russian opposition leaders.

The Anti-War Committee of Russia, a group formed by exiled Russians, issued a statement on Wednesday criticizing the Russian president. It said “the absence of any significant military units of the Russian Federation on the border at the time of the attack and the simultaneous continuous conduct of aggressive military operations for more than 900 days on the territory of sovereign Ukraine is the best proof that Putin is lying again about ‘protecting Russia.’ He doesn’t care about Russia, he is only protecting himself.”

At least some of the conscripts appear to have been taken as prisoners and brought to Ukraine.

Zelensky confirmed earlier this week that Kyiv’s forces were taking prisoners of war as they continued to advance into Kursk. The Ukrainian military also released several videos and photos of men they claimed were Russian prisoners of war – some of whom appeared to be very young men.

On Thursday, the Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, a government department, said a company of Russian soldiers surrendered in the Kursk region and was taken prisoners after being abandoned by reinforcements.

A video captured by Agence France-Presse near the border showed a Ukrainian military truck carrying a group of blindfolded men wearing what appear to be Russian military uniforms.

But while there seems to be outrage over their deployment, this is not the first time Russian conscripts were found to be fighting in Putin’s war on Ukraine.

Shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Russia’s Ministry of Defense admitted that conscripts were “discovered” in Ukraine after Kyiv announced that some of the prisoners of war it took were not professional soldiers.

The Russian military then claimed the conscripts had been withdrawn and returned to Russia. It said the commanding officer responsible for the deployments had been punished.