01·Middle East·PS·3d agoUnder-covered Israel holding bodies of 1,700 Palestinians as bargaining chips, says report
Israel holding bodies of 1,700 Palestinians as bargaining chips, says report
MEE staff
on
Tue, 08/11/2026 - 11:09
Shin Bet chief David Zini reportedly backs move despite no Israeli captives being held by Palestinian groups
Body bags containing human remains after civil defence teams exhumed graves at Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, 7 December 2025 (AFP)
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Israel is holding the dead bodies of about 1,700 Palestinians as potential bargaining chips despite there being no Israeli hostages currently held by Palestinian armed groups, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz has reported.
According to the report, Shin Bet chief David Zini has urged Israel to retain the remains for possible use in future hostage negotiations, a position supported by the Israeli military.
Haaretz reported that most of the remains belong to Palestinian combatants involved in the Hamas-led 7 October attack in 2023 but also include Palestinian civilians and 13 Israeli citizens.
Legal sources cited by Haaretz argue that Israel lacks the authority to hold the remains of Palestinian non-combatants, as the decision is not backed by Security Cabinet policy.
In July, the Israeli daily reported that the authorities admitted in response to a High Court of Justice petition to holding the body of a Palestinian detainee, a photographer and father of four, who was arrested in December 2023 and died a day later while being held in a detention centre at the Erez Crossing.
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The body has reportedly not undergone an autopsy.
His family discovered what happened to him in July 2025, after filing a petition through the rights group Gisha.
Even after notifying the family, the government did not disclose information relating to the date, location or circumstances of his death, as well as the legal basis for retaining his body.
It claimed that he had been a “military Hamas operative”, which the family refutes.
In July,
1 source · no Western pickup
02·South Asia·AF·2h agoUnder-covered Taliban mark 5 years in power as aid groups warn of crisis
The Taliban marked five years in power on Saturday, seeking to portray their government as in control even as aid and rights groups warned of escalating crises.
Outside the former US embassy in Kabul, armoured Taliban vehicles took part in a parade, displaying flags and banners, and celebrating what the government described as “victory day” from Western domination.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s interior minister, said in a video address that their return to power was the result of “morale, courage” and “divine assistance”.
But he also made a rare acknowledgement of “issues and problems that may still exist.”
International organisations and the UN say the Taliban have struggled to address the natural and humanitarian crises Afghanistan has faced over the past five years, in part because Afghan women are under severe restrictions.
The Taliban have also faced a string of assassinations of key regional officials in the country’s northeast in recent weeks.
In late July, the Taliban’s information director in Badakhshan province was killed in an attack later claimed by Islamic State. The mayor of the province’s capital also died in an attack on Thursday, local media reported.
Taliban officials did not immediately confirm the reports.
Diplomatic inroads
When the Taliban returned to power in 2021 amid the withdrawal of the US and its allies, they promised to govern more liberally than they had in the late 1990s and early 2000s a period marked by public executions, the sheltering of Osama bin Laden and the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas.
But those assurances quickly faltered, human rights groups say. The Taliban have imposed sweeping restrictions on women and girls since 2021, barring 2.5 million of them from secondary schools and universities, according to Unesco, and limiting their freedom of movement.
Half of Afghan women now leave their homes only once or twice a month, according to data released by UN Women on Wednesday.
The Taliban say they respect women’s right
1 source · no Western pickup
03·Latin America·BR·5d agoUnder-covered Rio Grande do Sul Storms Displace 2,686 Across 117 Towns
The cold front that swept Rio Grande do Sul on 7–9 August 2026 left 2,686 displaced, 117 municipalities affected, and one dead. Here's why this storm, unlike the 2024 floods, is a smaller — but still sobering — chapter in the state's battle with extreme weather.
The post Rio Grande do Sul Storms Displace 2,686 Across 117 Towns appeared first on The Rio Times.
1 source · no Western pickup