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At least 135 mutilated bodies of Palestinians returned by Israel to Gaza had been held in a notorious detention centre already facing allegations of torture and unlawful deaths in custody, officials from Gaza’s health ministry told the Guardian.
The director general of the health ministry, Dr Munir al-Bursh, and a spokesperson for Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, where the bodies are being examined, said a document found inside each body bag indicated the bodies came from Sde Teiman, a military base in the Negev desert, where, according to photos and testimonies published by the Guardian last year, Palestinian detainees were held in cages, blindfolded and handcuffed, shackled to hospital beds and forced to wear diapers.
Contacted about the allegations of torture, the Israel Defense Forces said they had asked the Israel Prison Service to investigate. The IPS did not respond to a request for comment.
What are the details of the torture allegations? Some photographs of Palestinian bodies seen by the Guardian – which cannot be published owing to their graphic nature – show several of the victims blindfolded, their hands tied behind their backs. One image shows a rope fastened around a man’s neck. Doctors in Khan Younis said official examinations and field observations “clearly indicate that Israel carried out acts of murder, summary executions and systematic torture against many of the Palestinians”.
What is the latest on the shaky ceasefire in Gaza? The 11-day ceasefire in Gaza was seriously undermined after Israel launched waves of deadly airstrikes on Sunday and said it would cut off aid into the territory “until further notice” after a reported attack by Hamas, for which the militant group denied involvement. In an attempt to ensure the ceasefire holds and to discuss the further implementation of the US brokered plan, the vice-president, JD Vance, has landed in Israel today.
This is a developing story. Follow our live coverage here.
Appeals court could reconsider ruling in Trump’s favor on Portland troop deployment
A decision in Donald Trump’s favor by a three-judge panel issued on Monday, which lifted a block on his planned deployment of Oregon national guard troops in Portland, could be reconsidered by a new, larger panel of federal appeals court judges.
Hours after the three-judge panel decided 2-1 that Trump had the legal authority to deploy federal troops to Portland, a judge on the ninth circuit court of appeals formally requested “a vote on whether this case should be reheard” by a larger panel of judges.
That prompted a formal order for lawyers for the state of Oregon and the city of Portland to submit written briefs arguing for a rehearing, and lawyers for the Trump administration to argue against it, by midnight on Wednesday.
What are the consequences? Monday’s ruling allows Trump to maintain control over the state’s national guard until litigation proceeds completely through court. The decision does not mean that troops will arrive to Portland right away, the Oregonian reported.
How has Oregon’s attorney general reacted? Dan Rayfield said the panel’s Monday ruling could hand Trump “unilateral power to put Oregon soldiers on our streets with almost no justification”.
In other news …
Officials said a seventh person had died from injuries suffered during the mass shooting in Leland, Mississippi, on 10 October. It was one of at least 14 mass killings in the US so far in 2025, AP reported.
Joe Biden has finished a round of radiation therapy, a spokesperson told CBS News.
Colombia has recalled its ambassador to Washington, amid a war of words between President Gustavo Petro and Donald Trump over deadly US strikes on boats in the Caribbean.
Argentina has formalized a currency swap agreement with the US for up to $20bn, the South American country’s central bank said.
The former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has entered a prison in Paris, after a court sentenced him to five years for criminal conspiracy.
Stat of the day: Amazon Web Services outage prompts at least 8.1 million reports of problems
Experts have warned of the perils of relying on a small number of companies for operating the global internet after a glitch at Amazon’s cloud computing service brought down apps and websites globally, with Downdetector finding at least 8.1m reports of problems.
Don’t miss this: ‘I knew in my head we were dying’ – the last voyage of the Scandies Rose
When a fishing boat left port in Alaska in December 2019 with an experienced crew, an icy storm was brewing. What happened to them shows why deep sea fishing is one of the most dangerous professions in the world. Rose George explores in the long read.
Climate check: ‘A punch in the face’ – Germany’s dash for gas raises questions over climate targets
Germany, Europe’s largest economy, raced to find new gas providers after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. But campaigners have criticized its efforts, saying they are incompatible with plans to stop the planet heating by 1.5C (2.7F).
Last Thing: Finnish novel tells the story of the extinct sea cow
Iida Turpeinen’s novel, Beasts of the Sea, has been a sensation in Finland. Before its English-language release this fall, Donna Ferguson talks to the author about the sea cow: the huge, placid sociable herbivore driven to extinction in 1768 by humans. “According to the few accounts we have, they loved to caress and touch each other, and hold their little ones,” Turpeinen says.
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