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French-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan, one of 160 activists expelled by Israel after joining the Gaza flotilla, said in Athens on Monday that she was “beaten” by Israeli police during the seizure of the ships

“I was beaten by two Israeli policemen as I was being put into the van,” she told AFP at Athens International Airport, where she landed Monday afternoon alongside Greta Thunberg and others.

“We have many things to denounce,” she added, wearing the grey tracksuit often used in Israeli prisons.

Pointing to “the treatment we received from the Israeli regime,” she continued, “some of us were beaten.”

Greece’s Foreign Ministry announced that 161 of the 171 activists expelled by Israel arrived in Athens Monday afternoon

Earlier in the day, Israel said it expelled 171 activists — including Swedish environmentalist Greta Thunberg — following the interception at sea of their convoy seeking to breach Gaza’s blockade.

A “special repatriation flight” landed in Athens carrying 27 Greek citizens who joined the Global Sumud Flotilla and 134 activists from 15 European countries, the Greek ministry said in a brief statement.

Trump-era policies raise alarm over academic freedom ahead of Nobel Prize week

As Nobel announcements approach, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences warns that academic freedom is under threat in the U.S. and beyond. Vice President Ylva Engstrom criticized recent Trump administration measures — including proposed NIH budget cuts and education policy changes — as potentially devastating for scientific research. The White House denies any stifling of research, saying the reforms aim to cut waste and boost innovation.

South Lebanon

The Health Ministry announced that “an Israeli drone strike targeting a car on the Zibdin road in the Nabatieh district resulted in two deaths and four injuries.”

Syria

“We want all parts of society to be represented, but we don’t want it to turn into a mentality of ‘dividing the cake,’” said Nawar Najmeh.

Answering a question about the representativeness of the electoral process and minority rights, Najmeh emphasized that the authorities “are committed to ensuring all components of society are represented but reject clientelism and a ‘divide and rule’ mentality.”

He added that it is “very important for President Ahmad al-Sharaa to address the issue of minority representation,” according to our reporter on the ground.

Najmeh further explained, “The role of parliament is to facilitate the transition while preserving the balance of powers.” He also said, “We are fortunate to have a parliament that is critical and revolutionary.”

When asked again about representation and the electoral process, Najmeh responded, “my dear friends, you keep talking to me about the procedure. But I am here to announce the results of a process that did not aim to represent every member of society,” our reporter Stéphanie Khouri reports.

Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel

Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israeli delegations in Egypt to discuss a Gaza ceasefire have started in Sharm al-Sheikh, focusing on the exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners, Al-Qahera News (an Egyptian state-linked TV channel) reported Monday.

Egyptian and Qatari mediators “are working with both sides to establish a mechanism” for the release of all hostages in exchange for prisoners, according to the same source.

European Union’s role in Trump’s peace plan

The European Union wants to play a role in Donald Trump’s peace plan and be part of the new international transitional body planned for Gaza, said EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas during her visit to Kuwait.

“We believe Europe has an important role and that we should also be part of this,” she said in response to a journalist’s question about the EU’s potential participation in the “Peace Committee” mentioned in the U.S. president’s plan.

Syria releases preliminary results of controversial indirect parliamentary vote

Syria on Monday released the preliminary results of an indirect vote for a new parliament — a key step in the country’s transition following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad, though not without raising concerns.

Our reporter, Stéphanie Khouri, is on the ground. Here's what you need to know:

• A partially appointed, partially elected parliament: Some MPs were chosen by local committees, while one-third were appointed directly by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa.

• An indirect and contested vote: Around 6,000 members of regional electoral colleges selected candidates from a pool of 1,578 applicants, only 14 percent of whom were women. Civil society groups have criticized the process for lacking democratic legitimacy and political pluralism.

• A transitional and limited body: The new parliament will carry out legislative duties until a permanent constitution is adopted and new general elections are held.

• Limited representation: According to a Reuters tally, only six of the newly elected members are women. Four MPs belong to religious minorities — one Christian, one Ismaili Muslim, and two Alawites — while six others are from ethnic minorities: Three Turkmen and three Kurds, including one woman. One observer described the new body as overwhelmingly male and Sunni.

Syria: Tom Barrack visits northeast, meets with Mazloum Abdi

As Syria moved to appoint its new parliament, U.S. envoy for Syria Tom Barrack visited the country’s northeast on Monday, where he met with Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

“I visited northeast Syria today with CENTCOM Commander Admiral Cooper for substantive conversations with MazloumAbdi and the SDF,” Barrack wrote on X.

He described the visit as “forward momentum for POTUS’s vision of ‘give Syria a chance’ by allowing Syrians to unite with all Syrians in a renewed effort for cooperative peace and prosperity.”

Tensions remain high between Syria’s new authorities and the Kurds, who are demanding a governance system that preserves a degree of the autonomy they have effectively exercised.

Damascus, meanwhile, continues to reject “any form” of decentralization. The SDF is backed by Washington in the fight against the Islamic State group (ISIS).

Gaza talks

Hamas and Israeli delegations have arrived in Sharm al-Sheikh for negotiations on a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of hostages, based on a plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, according to an Egyptian official at the Sinai resort city’s airport.

While Israeli airstrikes continued on Gaza on Monday, Egyptian authorities have remained tight-lipped about the negotiations, which are expected to include American envoys tasked with implementing Trump’s Sept. 29 proposal.

New parliament session by end of October?

The first session of Syria’s newly appointed Parliament could take place by the end of October, according to Imad Zahran, media coordinator for the High Electoral Committee, our correspondent Stéphanie Khouri reports.

Spokesperson for the High Electoral Committee, Nawar Najmeh, answering journalists' questions on Monday, Oct. 6, 2025, at the Syrian Parliament. (Credit: Hasan Belal / L'Orient-Le Jour)

Electoral committee acknowledges flaws in voting process

Nawar Najmeh, spokesperson for the High Electoral Committee, admitted the limitations of the current electoral process, saying:

“This is the first and last time we’ll conduct elections this way. We worked with the resources available. The next parliamentary elections will be direct.”

He added that “a good percentage of Kurds were elected” and acknowledged that “female representation remains a weak point,” though in some regions women accounted for 35 percent of the candidates.

Three provinces were excluded from the election: Two in the northeast under Kurdish control, and Sweida, a Druze-majority region recently affected by unrest. Asked about this, Najmeh replied in French:

“That’s a separate case — those areas are controlled by illegal groups.”

Najmeh reiterates: 'This is the first and last time we’ll hold elections like this'

Speaking at Parliament on Oct. 6, Najmeh again emphasized that this electoral process will not be repeated, promising that the next vote would be direct.

A third of parliamentary seats were appointed by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, leading to criticism of the election’s democratic transparency. Local committees began selecting members of Syria’s first post-Assad Parliament on Sunday.

Sharaa came to power at the head of an Islamist coalition that overthrew Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, ending more than 13 years of civil war.

Parliamentary elections officially conclude, official says 'great success'

The results of Syria’s first post-Assad parliamentary elections are now official, our reporter Stéphanie Khouri confirms. A press conference is underway at Parliament, with many journalists in attendance.

Earlier, electoral committee spokesperson Nawar Najmeh told reporters:

“This first election was a great success,” while also acknowledging “some weaknesses we’re working to improve before the next round.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced on Monday that it is ready to assist in the release of hostages held by Hamas and to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip.

"Our teams are prepared to act as a neutral humanitarian intermediary to help reunite hostages and detainees with their families. We are also ready to transport and safely distribute relief aid in Gaza to the civilian population, which is in dire need," the ICRC said in a statement.

The Israeli strikes in the Bekaa region caused no injuries, according to our correspondent in the region.

Earlier, at least three strikes targeted the Harbata Heights, while other raids hit the outskirts of several villages in Hermel. The Israeli army claimed to have "struck several Hezbollah terrorist targets in the Bekaa region, including camps belonging to the al-Radwan Force unit, where Hezbollah elements had been spotted."

Nabatieh strike: Israeli army says it eliminated senior member of 'Hezbollah air defense unit'

The Israeli strike early this afternoon on a car on the Zibdin road in Nabatieh reportedly killed a "central and highly active member of Hezbollah's air defense unit," Hassan Ali Jamil Atwi, according to the Israeli army's Arabic-speaking spokesperson, Avichay Adraee.

He "supervised reconstruction operations and armament efforts within this unit, serving as one of its key technical experts, while also being involved in relations and equipment imports from the unit's leadership in Iran," according to the Israeli army.

Our correspondent in the South reported that Atwi lost his sight due to the pagers attack in September 2024. His stationary car was targeted as soon as his wife got in, according to footage of the attack, killing the couple instantly.

"An additional 171 provocateurs from the Hamas-Sumud flotilla, including Greta Thunberg, were deported today from Israel to Greece and Slovakia," the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on X, referring to the activists who boarded the latest flotilla to Gaza.

Those deported are citizens of Greece, Italy, France, Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Austria, Luxembourg, Finland, Denmark, Slovakia, Switzerland, Norway, the United Kingdom, Serbia and the United States.

An Israeli drone dropped an incendiary bomb on the Houra area, on the outskirts of the town of Kfar Kila (Marjayoun district), causing a fire, our correspondent in the region reports.

Strikes on Bekaa: Israeli army says it targeted Hezbollah targets, including camps belonging to the party's elite unit, the al-Radwan Force

The Israeli army stated that it had "struck several Hezbollah terrorist targets in the Bekaa region, including camps belonging to the 'al-Radwan Force' unit [an elite unit of the party] where Hezbollah elements had been spotted," in a message on X from its Arabic-speaking spokesperson, Avichay Adraee.

"Hezbollah uses these camps to train and prepare its fighters to plan and execute operations" against Israel, according to the Israeli army.

Bekaa: Israeli aircraft continue their raids, targeting the outskirts of several villages located on the heights of Hermel, our correspondent specifies.

Bekaa: 3 Israeli strikes targeted the Harbata Heights in the Bekaa, our correspondent in the region reports. No casualty figures are yet available.

Israeli reconnaissance drones are flying low over the Bekaa, reports our correspondent in the region.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 19 Palestinians have been killed and 96 injured in the past 24 hours.

Israeli drone strike in Nabatieh: Victim was one of the people injured by pagers' attack

Hassan Atwi, the man killed in this morning's drone strike in Nabatieh, lost his sight due to the pager attack in September 2024, our correspondent reports.

He was originally from Kfar Kila (Marjayoun District). His wife, Zeinab Raslan, originally from Adaisseh (Marjayoun District), also killed in the drone strike, had left the car to buy some things at a store. As soon as she got back into the car where her husband was waiting, the car was targeted by Israel, killing the couple, our correspondent adds.

Hamas expresses doubts about Israel's commitment to Trump's Gaza plan

The Hamas delegation in charge of cease-fire negotiations has expressed concern about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's lack of commitment to Donald Trump's Gaza plan, sources told the Qatari Al-Araby channel.

According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, which picked up the story, these statements were made during a meeting with the Egyptian intelligence chief. The newspaper adds that Hamas reportedly demanded clear guarantees and the establishment of monitoring mechanisms to ensure the agreement's full implementation.

Two people were killed, a man and his wife who were in their car, while several passers -by were injured, according to our correspondent.

The drone strike injured two people who are in critical condition, according to our correspondent.

An Israeli army drone shot at a car on the road from Zibdin to Nabatieh, seriously injuring a person. An ambulance immediately went to the scene, reports our correspondent in southern Lebanon.

Iran will not resume negotiations 'at this stage' with Europeans, warns against 'dangerous dimensions' of Trump's Gaza plan

Iran will not resume "at this stage" negotiations with European countries on its nuclear program despite the return of sanctions, Iranian diplomacy said on Monday.

"We are not considering negotiations at this stage," said diplomacy spokesperson Esmail Baghaei, adding that Iran was examining the "consequences" and "implications" of the return of the sanctions initiated by France, the United Kingdom and Germany, reports AFP.

In addition, Iran supports any initiative aimed at "ending the killings in Gaza," said Baghaei, in reaction to Donald Trump's plan for Gaza. However, he warned of the "dangerous dimensions" of this plan and the risk of obstruction from Israel, adding that any decision concerning this plan returns to the Palestinians themselves, reports Reuters.

Syria: Explosion heard in Kurdish district of Aleppo, tunnel would've been destroyed by authorities

Syrian media reports a powerful explosion that has shaken the city of Aleppo, from the Kurdish district of Achrafieh, still controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

No possible victims are available. Videos circulating on social networks show a column of smoke escaping from the place of the explosion.

According to initial information reported by certain media, the explosion heard would come from the detonation by the Syrian Defense Ministry of a former tunnel dating from the civil war, located in the Tarek Ben Ziad garden, and several neighboring buildings were damaged by the explosion.

The SDFs adopted an attitude of neutrality between the rebels and the Assad regime during the civil war. They signed an agreement last April to transfer the security management of the district to the new authorities, which is not yet effective.

Tehran says release of French nationals in exchange for Iranian held in France is 'under discussion'

Iran is in discussion with France about a possible exchange between two French citizens detained in Tehran since May 2022 and an Iranian citizen arrested in France, said the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Affairs Ministry, Esmail Baghaei, according to AFP.

The latter added that Paris had never informed Tehran of the reasons for the arrest of Mahdieh Esfandiari, an Iranian student living in Lyon, who was arrested this year due to publications on social networks deemed hostile to Israel.

Since dawn, at least 7 Palestinians killed by Israeli army in Gaza

Israeli attacks have killed at least seven people in the Gaza Strip since dawn, including three people who came to seek help, according to information reported by Al Jazeera journalists on the ground.

Swiss flotilla activists for Gaza denounce 'inhuman conditions of detention' in Israel

Nine Swiss Humanitarian Flotilla members for Gaza returned to Switzerland on Sunday after being expelled by Israel, some claiming that they had undergone inhuman conditions of detention, said the group that represents them. Israel did not immediately react to these new accusations.

Its Foreign Affairs Ministry had previously described as "complete lies" the information inflicted on detainees. In total, nineteen Swiss nationals, including former mayor of Geneva Rémy Pagani, were on several ships of the flotilla that were trying to transport aid to the Gaza Strip, subject to the Israeli blockade. They were arrested on Wednesday at sea by Israeli forces, then transferred to Ktzi'OT prison, according to the Waves of Freedom organization.

Nine of them returned to Geneva Sunday afternoon. "The participants denounced the inhuman conditions of detention as well as the humiliating and degrading treatment that they suffered during their arrest and their imprisonment," the group said in a statement.

For its part, Israel said on Sunday that the legal rights of activists had been fully respected, that no physical force had been used and that all prisoners had had access to water, food and toilet. The activists' press release, however, reports deprivation of sleep, lack of water and food, as well as physical violence, some claiming that it has been struck, trampled and locked in a cage.

Merz: Germany should 'boycott' Eurovision 'if Israel is excluded'

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Sunday that his country is expected to boycott the Eurovision song competition, scheduled for next year in Vienna, if Israel were to be excluded, according to Haaretz.

Questioned during a program broadcast on the public channel Ard on the possibility that Berlin voluntarily gives up participating in the event in such a scenario, the conservative leader replied that he would support such a decision, considering "scandalous that this subject is even mentioned" and claiming that "Israel has its place in Eurovision."

Gaza flotilla: Last 28 Spanish activists expected back to country on Monday

The 28 Spanish activists still detained in Israel for their participation in the Gaza aid flotilla intercepted last week should be released and returned to Spain on Monday, the day after the arrival of 21 of their fellow citizens, the foreign affairs minister announced.

"Today, the group of 28 Spanish flotilla members who remain detained in Israel will leave Israel," said José Manuel Albares on Catalunya Radio, AFP said. "We work so that they all arrive in Spain as soon as possible," he added.

"According to forecasts, today there will no longer be any Spanish in prison in Israel," said Albares. Dozens of other activists of various nationalities, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, also had to leave Israel on Monday. Most, if not all, will be transported by plane in Greece, where they can take flights to return to their respective countries, their respective governments said on Sunday.

On Sunday, 21 of the 49 Spanish activists who Israel had arrested had already returned to Spain, where some denounced "physical and psychological ill-treatment" upon arrival.

Egyptian president welcomes Trump plan for Gaza

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi praised the plan of American President Donald Trump for Gaza, while representatives of Hamas and Israel must hold indirect negotiations in Egypt on an exchange of hostages and prisoners, as well as a cease-fire.

"I can only express my praise and my gratitude to the American president Donald Trump for his initiative aimed at establishing a cease-fire in Gaza," he said in a speech delivered on the anniversary of the Israeli-Arab war in October 1973 (Kippur War), AFP said.

"A cease-fire, the return of prisoners and detainees, the reconstruction of Gaza and the launch of a peaceful political process leading to the establishment and the recognition of the Palestinian state mean that we are on the right track towards a lasting peace and stability," he added.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Monday that ongoing efforts to end the war in Gaza were the most promising since the war began two years ago, according to Reuters.

"For the first time in two years, this is not just a cease-fire, but a viable political solution. Israeli, Arab, and Palestinian stakeholders are now exchanging ideas on how things can develop in the Gaza Strip," the minister told German public broadcaster ARD.

Southern Lebanon updates

In the morning, the Israeli army conducted a sweep operation using machine guns from the Israeli site of Ruweissat al-Alam, targeting the disputed heights and the outskirts of the village of Kfar Shuba, in the Hasbaya district, reports our correspondent in southern Lebanon.

Also in the south, Israeli drones flew over villages in the Sour region, as well as those of Nabatieh, Iqlim al-Tuffah and Zahrani.

U.S. President Donald Trump stated on the Truth Social network that there had been "very positive discussions this weekend with Hamas and countries around the world (Arab, Muslim, and all others) to free Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian movement, end the war in Gaza, but, most importantly, achieve a long-sought peace in the Middle East."

"There have been very positive discussions with Hamas, and Countries from all over the World (Arab, Muslim, and everyone else) this weekend ... These talks have been very successful, and proceeding rapidly ... I am told that the first phase should be completed this week, and I am asking everyone to MOVE FAST. I will continue to monitor this centuries-old 'conflict.' TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE OR, MASSIVE BLOODSHED WILL FOLLOW — SOMETHING THAT NOBODY WANTS TO SEE!" the U.S. president added.

Major news this morning

Hamas' chief negotiator, Khalil Al-Hayya, arrived in Egypt overnight at the head of a delegation tasked with beginning indirect negotiations with Israel, the Palestinian Islamist movement announced.

Hamas specified that discussions would focus on "the mechanisms of a cease-fire, the withdrawal of occupying forces and a prisoner exchange."

Israeli negotiators were expected to arrive in the evening.

Good morning! We are now launching our live coverage of the situation in the Middle East, as Hamas delivered its response to Trump's Gaza plan on Friday evening, stating its readiness to release all Israeli hostages and negotiate an end to the war, but without addressing the issue of disarmament.

We will also be following developments in the rest of the region, particularly in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.