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(NEW YORK) — Dozens of humanitarian organizations have begun rapidly scaling up operations in the hopes of delivering aid to Gaza again amid the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

Items in Gaza — including food, clean water, medicine and hygiene products — are running low, the organizations say. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of families have been displaced, many living in tents in extremely crowded areas.

Humanitarian aid workers told ABC News that they will face several challenges in delivering aid to Gaza. Israeli authorities have limited the amount of aid that can enter the strip, and destroyed roads and neighborhoods make it difficult to reach areas of the enclave.

Additionally, winter is fast-approaching, and aid workers say they have a limited amount of time to deliver provisions to help Palestinians in Gaza get through the cold weather months.

“We’re not asking for anything unreasonable. We’re asking for the volume of aid that entered Gaza Strip before the escalation in October 2023,” Tess Ingram, communications manager for UNICEF, told ABC News. “I think that’s something to watch for in the coming days. Does the aid flow? Are the crossings open? Is the U.N. enabled to do its job, to serve the children of Gaza?. … But the other part is, does the ceasefire hold? The stakes are really high right now, so that ceasefire has to hold.”

Lifting restrictions on aid

The U.N. said that Sunday, Oct. 12, was the first day progress was seen in the scale-up of humanitarian aid deliveries into Gaza.

Hundreds of thousands of hot meals and bread bundles were distributed in the north and south, according to the U.N. Additionally, cooking gas entered the strip for the first time since March as well as tents, frozen meat, fresh fruit, flour and medicine, the U.N. said.

However, on Monday, no trucks entered Gaza because of the transfer of Israeli hostages, and border crossings were also closed on Tuesday due to the Jewish religious holiday of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah.

Israeli officials announced on Tuesday it would not reopen the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt and would limit aid entering Gaza after Hamas failed to return all the bodies of the deceased hostages, as called for under the ceasefire agreement.

“Starting tomorrow, only half of the agreed number of trucks — 300 trucks — will be allowed to enter, and all of them will belong to the U.N. and humanitarian NGOs, with no private sector involvement,” COGAT, the Israeli defense body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, said in a statement. “No fuel or gas will be allowed into the Strip, except for specific needs related to humanitarian infrastructure.”

Hamas said the rubble makes it logistically challenging to locate the bodies of the deceased hostages, but Israel said it believes Hamas knows where the hostages’ bodies are and is purposefully delaying their return.

Jolien Veldwijk, CARE Palestine Country Director, said the number of trucks entering Gaza is just “a trickle” of what is needed to meet the needs of the population.

“The destruction is significantly worse than compared to seven, eight months ago,” she told ABC News, compared to the first ceasefire when she was also in Gaza.

Multiple organizations, including CARE, said they have not been able to get aid into Gaza since March 2, when Israel imposed a total blockade — in an effort to pressure Hamas to release the remaining hostages — that lasted for 11 weeks.

The organization said their repeated requests to deliver aid have been denied by Israeli authorities. Veldwijk said supplies are currently stuck in warehouses in Egypt and in Jordan.

Similarly, James Hoobler, a humanitarian policy adviser with Oxfam America, told ABC News the group has had 4,000 food parcels and a large volume of essential water sanitation and hygiene equipment stuck in its warehouse in Amman, Jordan, since March.

Some organizations say they are also running into red tape while trying to access the strip.

“We’re running out of supplies now,” Veldwijk said of the CARE team on the ground in Gaza. “We still can’t bring anything in. … We’re desperate to get our supplies in, but we’re also sort of desperate for all the border crossings to open.”

Ingram, from UNICEF, who is currently in Gaza, said limiting the volume of aid entering the strip is the opposite of what is needed but that UNICEF has seen some success in its operations on the ground since the ceasefire went into effect.

“We are able to move far more freely, get access to areas that we haven’t been able to get to for a while,” she told ABC News. “We don’t have to coordinate our movements with the Israeli authorities anymore, which means that we’re not facing delays or denials.”

She went on, “So for example, the last three days, I was in and around Gaza City, and that was kind of the first time in a while that we were able to get into parts of Gaza City that were the focus of that intense bombardment in August and September, and really get a sense of how that has affected the area and how people are planning to resume living there, and what they need.”

Aid workers added that rebuilding sanitation networks is also necessary but will be a challenge until the supplies entering Gaza necessary increase.

“I went to a big wastewater dam in Gaza City, which is surrounded by residential area, and it’s at risk of flooding because the pumps aren’t working,” Ingram said. “Sanitation presents a massive disease risk if we don’t get on top of it. So, we need to really improve the systems that remove solid waste, that deal with sewage and wastewater.”

Clearing rubble and rebuilding roads

Destruction across Gaza also presents a logistical challenge in delivering aid to the civilian population. Many roads have been destroyed, and rubble may be hiding unexploded ordinances.

Zaheer Kham, global director of fundraising for the humanitarian charity Human Appeal, told ABC News that he received a message from teams on the ground in Gaza on Tuesday that rubble in the roads is starting to be removed.

“Is it enough? Of course not, we need heavy machinery to remove the rubble in the roads that has accumulated over two years,” he told ABC News.

Humanitarian workers told ABC News that rebuilding water networks will be critical in the rebuilding effort in Gaza, but it comes with many logistical challenges.

Aid workers said water that comes from the ground in Gaza is very salty from years of degradation. Drinking water needs to be desalinated, which is accomplished by desalination plants across Gaza, aid workers say.

“There needs to be quite a bit of work to make sure that they’re all functioning properly.” Ingram said. “There’s some that are out of service. So, there’s work that needs to go into making sure that drinking water production increases.”

The network of pipes that brought water into homes has mostly been destroyed so most people in Gaza receive their water from water trucks, which collect drinking water from desalination plants and distribute it throughout the strip.

Ingram said the trucks have gone through wear and tear, which may limit their ability to distribute water as water networks and wells are rehabilitated.

“The water trucks themselves are a limited fleet that have done two years in a war zone over rubble,” she said. “They need maintenance and repairs.”

Aid workers say there are many groundwater wells, which pump domestic water that people use for cooking, cleaning and showering, many of which need repairs.

Veldwijk said CARE has rehabilitated water networks in the past to bring drinking water and domestic water to people’s homes to complement the water supplied by trucks, but some of have been destroyed and need to be rebuilt.

She said the group is also working to rehabilitate wells as well as desalination units.

Aid workers added that rebuilding sanitation networks is also necessary but will be a challenge until the supplies entering Gaza necessary increase.

“I went to a big wastewater dam in Gaza City, which is surrounded by residential area, and it’s at risk of flooding because the pumps aren’t working,” Ingram said. “Sanitation presents a massive disease risk if we don’t get on top of it. So, we need to really improve the systems that remove solid waste, that deal with sewage and wastewater.”

Clearing rubble and rebuilding roads

Destruction across Gaza also presents a logistical challenge in delivering aid to the civilian population. Many roads have been destroyed, and rubble may be hiding unexploded ordinances.

Zaheer Kham, global director of fundraising for the humanitarian charity Human Appeal, told ABC News that he received a message from teams on the ground in Gaza on Tuesday that rubble in the roads is starting to be removed.

“Is it enough? Of course not, we need heavy machinery to remove the rubble in the roads that has accumulated over two years,” he told ABC News.

Veldwijk said the roads being destroyed make it difficult to travel from southern Gaza to central Gaza to northern Gaza and if all the border crossings are opened, supplies can more easily be funneled throughout Gaza.

Aid workers say entire sections in Gaza have been destroyed, making it difficult to find people who may be in need of aid.

“It’s like being inside the skeleton of a city,” Ingram said of visiting neighborhoods in Gaza City and Jabalia, just north of Gaza City. “Everything is gray. Things that would normally tell you where you are, are gone, and it’s very disorienting.”

On Tuesday, the U.N. Development Programme announced that the cost of rebuilding Gaza is estimated at around $70 billion, with $20 billion needed in the next three years alone.

Fast-approaching winter season

With the cold weather months approaching, humanitarian organizations say there is an urgent need to get warm clothes and blankets into Gaza.

Winters in Gaza are usually not very severe with low temperatures typically in the 40s F, but heavy rains and its seaside location can make it feel colder.

“It really is a race against time,” Hoobler, with Oxfam America, said. “Winterization is a major issue, especially with the amount of destruction to housing that we’ve seen. So, we know people are in very overcrowded conditions there. They don’t have adequate shelter. Many of the makeshift shelters that people were in were destroyed in bombings.”

Nine out of 10 homes have been damaged or destroyed in Gaza, meaning some people are sleeping in homes with missing walls or roofs while others are sleeping in tents, according to Ingram, increasing the need for mattresses, blankets and other provisions.

Ingram said that last winter, some children — including babies — died of hypothermia, which she said is preventable with the proper supplies.

She added that she is concerned that many children in Gaza have only one or two sets of clothes, many of which are not warm enough for winter months.

“Our aim is to provide every child in the Gaza Strip under the age of 10 with a new set of winter clothes during the ceasefire and a new pair of shoes,” Ingram said. “That goal is heavily dependent on the volume of aid that gets into the Gaza Strip, so we remain hopeful, but we do call on both parties to the conflict to adhere to the terms of the ceasefire.”

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(PASS LAKE, British Columbia) — Two hikers were attacked by a grizzly bear after they encountered the mother and her two cubs on a trail in Canada, authorities said.

The incident occurred on Sunday when the unnamed hikers encountered a grizzly sow with her two cubs on Farm Cabin Trail near Pass Lake in British Columbia, Canada, according to a statement from the British Columbia Conservation Officer Service (COS).

“They were transported and treated at University Hospital of Northern BC,” officials said. “Both hikers are in stable conditions and recovering in hospital.”

Following an investigation, the COS Predator Attack Team determined the bear’s actions were defensive and that due to the location and nature of the incident, no action will be taken against the bears.

The trail has remained closed since the attack and signage has been posted warning about the potential of bears in the area as authorities are asking people to respect the closure and avoid the area.

COS officials also took the opportunity to remind people about bear safety when hiking in the wilderness and said that if you encounter a bear, you should stay alert and make noise by talking, singing or clapping regularly to avoid surprising a bear, especially when near streams, dense brush or when visibility is low.

Officials said that people should always travel in groups since bears are less likely to approach and to always carry bear spray and, if you see a bear, stay calm and don’t run, speak in a calm voice and slowly back away.

“We’re wishing them a full and speedy recovery,” COS said about the hikers recovering from the attack.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he ordered another deadly military strike on a boat off the coast of Venezuela in what appears to be the fifth such strike in the Caribbean Sea, killing six people.

Both Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth released video of the attack, which showed what appeared to be a speed boat hit by a sudden explosion. Trump said the vessel was affiliated with an unnamed “designated terrorist organization conducting narcotrafficking.”

Trump said, “Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics” and “was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks …” was in “International Waters” and that “six male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike.”

Since Sept. 2, Trump has ordered military strikes on at least five boats in the Caribbean Sea that the administration insists were carrying drugs to the U.S. According to the government’s account, the military has killed 27 people. 

The use of lethal of military force against drug boats is unprecedented, with past administrations relying on law enforcement to interdict drug shipments. While posting videos on social media of the strikes, Hegseth and Trump have not provided details on who was killed, their nationalities, what kinds of drugs they were carrying, or exactly where they were headed.

 Instead, Trump has told lawmakers that he sees drug traffickers as “terrorists” and “unlawful combatants” and that the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with the cartels. 

Trump has ordered the Pentagon to create a new military task force “to crush the cartels” carrying drugs to the U.S., an indication that the administration is planning to expand military operations in Latin America even as lawmakers and independent experts have questioned the legality of using military force against criminal organizations. 

 Last week, in a post on X, Hegseth said U.S. Southern Command will lead the “counter-narcotics Joint Task Force.” 

“At the President’s direction, the Department of War is establishing a new counter-narcotics Joint Task Force in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility to crush the cartels, stop the poison, and keep America safe,” Hegseth wrote. “The message is clear: if you traffic drugs toward our shores, we will stop you cold.”

SOUTHCOM referred all questions on the strike to the White House, which declined to say who exactly was in the boat and where exactly the boat was located.

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(LONDON) — President Donald Trump implied Hamas has been given approval to act as a Palestinian police force in Gaza “for a period of time” in the wake of implementing phase one of the ceasefire agreement.

While en route to the Middle East early Monday aboard Air Force One, Trump responded to a question from a reporter about reports of Hamas rearming themselves.

“Well, they [Hamas] are standing because they do want to stop the problems, and they’ve been open about it, and we gave them approval for a period of time,” Trump said.

Trump continued that Palestinians are returning to buildings that have been destroyed, after two years of war, and “a lot of bad things can happen.”

“We want it to be safe. I think it’s going to be fine. Who knows? Who knows for sure?” he said. “But I think it’s going to be fine.”

ABC News has asked the White House for further comment and has not yet received a response.

The first phase of the U.S.-brokered peace deal went into effect on Friday, calling for the return of all living and dead hostages in Gaza in exchange for the release of scores of Palestinian prisoners and a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from the area.

While Trump’s overall 20-point peace plan proposal calls for the disarmament of Hamas and stipulates the militant group cannot play a role in the future governance of Gaza, these points are not covered by the initial phase of the agreement.

The final 20 remaining living hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, were returned to Israel on Monday as part of an exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, officials said.

On Monday, Trump said negotiations on phase two of the peace plan for Gaza had “started,” though he did not specify what that entailed.

“I mean, it started as far as we’re concerned,” Trump said during remarks in Egypt, where he attended a signing ceremony after addressing the Israeli Knesset earlier in the day. “Phase two has started. And, you know, the phases are all a little bit mixed in with each other. You’re gonna start cleaning up. You look at Gaza — it needs a lot of cleanup.”

ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston contributed to this report.

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(SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt) — President Donald Trump joined more than 20 world leaders in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, on Monday for talks on Gaza’s future with the first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement underway.

Among those gathered for the summit were Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and former prime minister Tony Blair, as well as officials from Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey.

The group posed for a family picture in front a sign that read “Peace 2025” before a signing ceremony on the agreement.

Trump is also set to deliver formal remarks in which he will tout the breakthrough as a turning point for the region.

“This is the day that people across this region and around the world have been working, striving, hoping, and praying for. With the historic agreement we have just signed, those prayers of millions have finally been answered. Together, we have achieved the impossible,” Trump will say, according to excerpts of his speech released by the White House.

“All the momentum now is toward a great, glorious, and lasting peace,” he is expected to say. 

Noticeably absent from talks in Egypt, though, were representatives for Israel and Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office cited the Jewish holiday as the reason for his absence, despite him having been directly invited by President Trump.

Earlier Monday, Trump addressed Israel’s parliament, where he hailed a “new dawn in the Middle East” and declared the war in Gaza to be over despite challenges ahead in ensuring a lasting peace.

Hamas released the remaining 20 living Israeli hostages on Monday and Israel freed Palestinian prisoners as part of the ceasefire agreement, with emotional scenes playing out in Tel Aviv and Gaza as families reunited.

But many questions remain about what comes next, including to what extent President Trump will be personally involved in shaping a post-war Gaza.

Trump said the second phase of his proposed peace plan is in progress, though didn’t provide much detail.

“Well, it started. I mean, it started as far as we’re concerned,” Trump said as he sat with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. “Phase two has started. And, you know, the phases are all a little bit mixed in with each other. You’re gonna start cleaning up. You look at Gaza it needs a lot of clean-up.”

The U.S. president also appeared to set his sights next on Iran, urging the country to use this opportunity to work with the administration on a nuclear deal.

“We are ready when you are and it will be the best decision that Iran has ever made, and it’s going to happen,” Trump said during his speech at the Knesset.

Trump reiterated that point as he took reporter questions alongside Egypt’s president.

“I think Iran will come along. They’ve been battered and bruised. You know, they need some help. They have big sanctions, as you know, tremendous sanctions. I’d love to take the sanctions off when they’re ready to talk,” Trump said.

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Bipin Joshi and Tamir Nimrodi, the two hostages whose fate in Gaza remained unknown, were not included on the list published by Hamas of the 20 living hostages expected to be released during Monday’s exchange of hostages held by Hamas and prisoners held by Israel.

Neither Hamas nor Israel released statements saying the two were deceased.

In addition to some 1,200 Israelis killed on Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas kidnapped 251 men and women during the terror attack. The majority were later released in hostage exchanges in the two years since then.

Of the 48 hostages who were still in Gaza at the time of the new ceasefire deal, 26 were confirmed dead by Israeli officials. Twenty others were believed to be alive at the time, with two people’s fates unknown.

Bipin Joshi, a Nepalese agriculture student who was in Israel to study, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Alumim, according to The Times of Israel.

“We just want him back,” his sister said in August, according to the newspaper. “It’s too much for me and my family.”

Joshi was 22 years old when kidnapped, according to Nepal’s Kathmandu Post.

Joshi’s family released footage of Joshi on Wednesday they said was recovered by the Israel Defense Forces and shared with the family by Israeli intelligence officials. The footage was believed to have been filmed in November 2023.

It is unclear exactly when the IDF recovered the footage and shared it with the family. The family released a clip of the footage via the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters on Wednesday.

“For many months, this footage was under strict censorship. Only recently were we granted permission to release it,” the Joshi family said in a statement with the video. “It is not easy for us to share it publicly, but we are in critical and historic days that will determine the fate of the 48 hostages, whether the living will return to their families and the deceased to a proper burial, or whether we will remain in pain without closure.”

Tamir Nimrodi was 18 years old when he was kidnapped barefoot and without his glasses, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Nimrodi, who had been serving with the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, was taken from a base near the Erez Crossing into the Gaza Strip, according to the Times of Israel

“He always said I was his best friend. … I pray for the chance to have moments with him again,” said his mom, Herut Nimrodi. “The emptiness in my heart is indescribable.”

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(NEW YORK) — One of the most potent greenhouse gas emissions has been discovered seeping out of cracks of the Antarctic seafloor, researchers announced.

Methane has been measured escaping from crevices in the seabed at a high rate as the region warms at unprecedented rates, according to a paper published in Nature Communications.

A large reservoir of methane lies beneath sea floors around the world, which can escape through fissures in the sea floor, according to the paper.

The invisible gas can be seen in streams of bubbles originating on the seafloor of Antarctica’s Ross Sea — located on the northern coast of the continent — said the researchers, describing the mechanism as “seemingly widespread” throughout the region, rather than a “rare phenomenon.”

Numerous seafloor seeps of fluid and gas were identified in the shallow coastal environment of the Northern Victoria Land and McMurdo Sound — both located in the Ross Sea — with shipboard water column acoustic surveys and Remotely Operated Vehicle surveys.

One of the most concerning greenhouse gases, methane, has been described as a “super pollutant” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It is responsible for about a third of current anthropogenic global warming and is 25 times more potent for global warming than carbon dioxide, according to the agency.

Oceans and coastlines contain the highest uncertainties of methane release, according to researchers.

“There is a continued gap between the measured increase in atmospheric methane and the total emissions predicted from currently known methane sources,” the authors wrote.

The methane leaks appear to occur in areas of the ocean that experience seepage of fluids rich in hydrocarbons, according to the paper.

Past research in the Arctic has identified tens of thousands of methane seeps — many of them linked to climate change impacts and the degradation of cryospheric caps, such as glacial ice, permafrost and gas hydrates, the authors said.

Reducing the weight of ice sheets and glaciers in the Arctic has been found to decrease hydrostatic pressure on subglacial hydrate reservoirs, which can then enhance subglacial flux and methane discharge on the coast, according to the paper.

Greenhouse gases stored in subsea permafrost reservoirs in ice-free regions of the Antarctic are similarly vulnerable to climate change.

However, the role of methane emissions in Antarctica has not yet been fully determined, requiring more study in the future, the researchers said.

“The increasing climate impacts in the Antarctic, including the widespread reduction in ice mass highlights the importance of understanding the current and future dynamics of fluid and gas release from the significant reservoirs predicted in the region,” the scientists wrote.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration is asserting that it has secured substantial financial commitments for the Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh from partner nations as reports claim that U.S. foreign aid cutbacks have worsened the crisis facing the persecuted group, according to a State Department document obtained exclusively by ABC News.

Per the document, the State Department says it has secured $64.6 million in aid commitments from partner countries in September alone, marking what it calls “a significant development in the Trump administration’s effort to encourage burden sharing with other nations to address humanitarian crises across the globe.”

State Department data indicates that 11 countries, including the U.K., Bangladesh, Japan, Qatar, Australia, Thailand, South Korea, and the Netherlands, have increased their aid to the Rohingya people by more than 10% under the Trump administration in 2025 compared to the last year of the Biden administration, the document states.

 The level of influence the Trump administration had over the uptick in aid from these foreign governments is not clear.

The Trump administration also pledged more funding to support Rohingya refugees in September, committing $60 million to the cause in addition to $73 in new assistance announced in March.

In 2024, the final year of the Biden administration, the U.S. contributed just over $300 million to the Rohingya, over 50% of total support for that year, records show.

“The Trump administration has continuously called on nations around the world to join the United States in offering humanitarian assistance to vulnerable populations like Rohingya refugees,” a senior State Department official said. “The media narrative that the obligation to provide aid falls solely on the Trump Administration is tired and ignores the reality that many other countries, including regional actors, have repeatedly failed to step up.” 

The State Department’s push to ramp up foreign aid for the Rohingya comes as the AP has published a report asserting that Rohingya children have died in a camp located in Myanmar because of the Trump administration’s USAID cuts. (Notably, the report covers impact to Rohingya children in Myanmar; the Trump administration’s fundraising efforts have focused on supporting Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.)

 “Let me be absolutely clear: the Associated Press’ claim that children are dying because of recalibrated U.S. foreign assistance levels is completely false and downright irresponsible,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement.

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(LONDON) — The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado for her work “promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela” and her push to move the country from dictatorship to democracy.

Jorgen Watne Frydens, the Nobel Committee chair, spoke broadly about the advance of authoritarian regimes in the world and retreat of democracy in the announcement.

The Nobel Committee called the Venezuelan politician and industrial engineer who is currently the opposition leader in Venezuela “a brave and committed champion of peace.”

“Machado is receiving the Nobel Peace Prize first and foremost for her efforts to advance democracy in Venezuela,” the committee said. “But democracy is also in retreat internationally. Democracy — understood as the right to freely express one’s opinion, to cast one’s vote and to be represented in elective government — is the foundation of peace both within countries and between countries.”

“Maria Corina Machado has led the struggle for democracy in the face of ever-expanding authoritarianism in Venezuela. Ms Machado studied engineering and finance, and had a short career in business,” the Nobel Committee said.

In 1992, Machado established the Atenea Foundation, which works to benefit street children in Caracas and, 10 years later, she was one of the founders of Súmate, a group that works to promote free and fair elections and has conducted training and election monitoring. In 2010, Machado was elected to the National Assembly and won a record number of votes.

“The regime expelled her from office in 2014,” the Nobel Committee said. “Ms Machado leads the Vente Venezuela opposition party and in 2017 helped found the Soy Venezuela alliance, which unites pro-democracy forces in the country across political dividing lines.”

The announcement was made on Friday morning, but the actual award ceremony will take place on Dec. 10, in Oslo, Norway.

Frydens was asked about U.S. President Donald Trump’s “campaign” for the prize, but denied it had any impact on the decision making process.

“We receive thousands and thousands of letters every year of people wanting to say what, for them, leads to peace,” Frydens said. “This committee sits in a room filled with the portraits of all laureates and that room is filled with both courage and integrity. We base only our decision on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel.”

“Democracy is a precondition for lasting peace. However, we live in a world where democracy is in retreat, where more and more authoritarian regimes are challenging norms and resorting to violence,” the Nobel Committee said.

“The Venezuelan regime’s rigid hold on power and its repression of the population are not unique in the world,” it continued. “We see the same trends globally: rule of law abused by those in control, free media silenced, critics imprisoned, and societies pushed towards authoritarian rule and militarisation. In 2024, more elections were held than ever before, but fewer and fewer are free and fair.”

“Maria Corina Machado meets all three criteria stated in Alfred Nobel’s will for the selection of a Peace Prize laureate. She has brought her country’s opposition together. She has never wavered in resisting the militarisation of Venezuelan society. She has been steadfast in her support for a peaceful transition to democracy,” the committee said.

“[She] has shown that the tools of democracy are also the tools of peace. She embodies the hope of a different future, one where the fundamental rights of citizens are protected, and their voices are heard. In this future, people will finally be free to live in peace,” Nobel Committee officials said.

Last year, Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese anti-nuclear weapons group, won the Nobel Peace Prize for their work toward the abolition of nuclear weapons, with the Norwegian Nobel Committee saying that the testimony of the Hibakusha, who are the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is unique in this larger context and that their perspective helps to “generate and consolidate widespread opposition to nuclear weapons around the world by drawing on personal stories, creating educational campaigns based on their own experience, and issuing urgent warnings against the spread and use of nuclear weapons.”

There were 338 candidates nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for 2025, of which 244 were individuals and 94 were organizations. This is a significant increase from last year when there were 286 nominees. The highest number of nominees to date was in 2016 when there were 376 candidates.

The list of nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize is released 50 years after the prize is awarded, in accordance with the statutes of the Nobel Foundation.

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(LONDON) — World leaders on Thursday issued a wave of statements commending Israel and Hamas for agreeing to the first phase of a ceasefire deal, with many also praising U.S. President Donald Trump for his administration’s role in brokering the deal.

“I welcome the news that a deal has been reached on the first stage of President Trump’s peace plan for Gaza,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement. “This is a moment of profound relief that will be felt all around the world, but particularly for the hostages, their families, and for the civilian population of Gaza, who have endured unimaginable suffering over the last two years.”

French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres issued statements with wording closely matching Starmer’s. Each praised Trump, then also included an appeal to Israel and Hamas to abide by the terms of the agreement.

Those statements and many others like them followed Trump’s announcement on Wednesday evening that the warring parties had “both signed off” on the first phase of a ceasefire plan. 

“This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace. All Parties will be treated fairly!” Trump said in a statement posted on social media.

The full details of that deal were still coming into focus on Thursday, but the broad outline included a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release by Hamas of the remaining hostages, according to Trump. An as-yet unknown number of Palestinian prisoners are also expected to be released from Israeli jails. Nearly 2,000 prisoners are believed to be under discussion for release.

Israeli officials were preparing on Thursday to ratify the deal. The details of the agreed-to deal had not been released as of Thursday morning.

White House Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were in Egypt on Wednesday for the final negotiations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Washington, where he interrupted a White House roundtable to notify Trump that an agreement to the deal was near.

The administration’s efforts drew applause from Trump’s allies in Washington, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, who in a statement hailed it as “a truly historic achievement,” as well as from leaders and aid organisations farther afield.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a statement posted on social media he wanted to thank “all those involved in this vital effort.”

“I wish to extend my deepest thanks to POTUS Donald Trump for his incredible leadership toward securing the release of the hostages, bringing an end to the war, and creating hope for a new reality in the Middle East,” Herzog said. “There is no doubt that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for this. Should he visit us in the coming days, he will be received with immense respect, affection, and gratitude by the people of Israel.”

Praise for the deal also came from the Palestinian Authority, which governed the Gaza Strip until a violent 2007 seizure by Hamas, the terror organization that at that time executed or expelled many of the Authority’s civil leaders. The Authority, which currently controls civil operations in parts of the West Bank, said in a statement that President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the deal, calling it a “prelude to reaching a permanent political solution.”

“He also commended President Trump and all mediators for their significant efforts in reaching the agreement, affirming the State of Palestine’s readiness to work with relevant mediators and international partners to ensure its success, in order to achieve stability and a lasting and just peace in accordance with international law,” the Authority’s statement said. 

The statement also said Palestinian “sovereignty over the Gaza Strip belongs to the State of Palestine.” The details of the agreed-to deal had not been released as of Thursday morning.

Guterres, of the U.N., said on social media he welcomed the agreement, praising the “diplomatic efforts” of the United States and the others who moved the deal forward, including Qatar, Egypt and Turkey. He called it a “desperately needed breakthrough.”

“The UN will support the full implementation of the agreement & will scale up the delivery of sustained & principled humanitarian relief, and we will advance recovery & reconstruction efforts in Gaza,” Guterres added.

European Council President Antonio Costa said the deal amounted to a “foundation for a lasting peace, grounded in a two-state solution.”

“Its implementation paves the way for the long-awaited release of all Israeli hostages, a ceasefire in Gaza, and an end to the severe humanitarian crisis on the ground,” Costa said on Thursday.

The Catholic Church’s local patriarchate also issued a statement praising the deal, saying it “welcomes the joy” of the announcement. 

“It is good news, and we are very happy. It is a first step, the first phase. Of course, there are many others, and surely there will be other obstacles,” Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, said in a statement.

He added, “But now we have to rejoice about this important step that will bring a little more trust for the future and also bring new hope, especially to the people, both Israeli and Palestinians.”

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