Israel returns Palestinian bodies, marking last exchange between Israel and Hamas

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel turned over the bodies of 15 Palestinians on Thursday, just days after recovering the remains of the last Israeli hostage, a Gaza Health Ministry official said.

It marks the last hostage-detainee exchange between Israel and Hamas carried out as part of the first phase of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire reached in October.

The Red Cross said that it helped facilitate the return of the bodies. They were taken to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, health ministry spokeperson Zaher al-Wahidi said.

The return of all remaining hostages, living or dead, had been a key part of the first phase in the ceasefire that paused the war.

Israel agreed to return 15 Palestinian bodies for each hostage recovered, according to the ceasefire terms. It’s unclear if the bodies released Thursday were of Palestinian detainees who died in Israeli custody or bodies taken from Gaza by Israeli troops during the war.

Israel has released roughly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners under the ceasefire deal, many of whom were seized by Israeli troops during the more than two-year war and held without being charged. It also has released the bodies of 360 Palestinians back to Gaza, where officials have struggled to identify them.

The Gaza health ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, has posted photos of the deceased for families to identify. Of the bodies handed back by Israel, about 100 have been identified by families, al-Wahidi said.

On Monday, Israel announced that it found and identified the remains of the last Israeli hostage, police officer Ran Gvili, following an extensive search at a cemetery in northern Gaza.

The attack by Hamas-led militants on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which launched the war, killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. Gvili, a 24-year-old police officer known affectionately as “Rani,” was killed while fighting Hamas militants.

The return of his body closed a painful chapter for the country and cleared the way for the next and more challenging phase of the ceasefire, which calls for deploying an international security force, disarming Hamas, pulling back Israeli soldiers and rebuilding Gaza.

While U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff announced the launch of the second phase of the ceasefire deal earlier this month, Israeli fire and strikes continue to kill Palestinians across Gaza almost daily.

Israeli fire killed two Palestinians on Thursday in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis area, according to Nasser hospital, where the bodies were taken. Health officials said that the two men were killed in areas that aren't Israeli-controlled.

Another Israeli strike in central Gaza killed one Palestinian and wounded others, according to Al-Aqsa martyrs hospital, where the casualties were taken.

Israel's military said that it carried out a “precise strike” on Thursday that targeted a suspect planning to attack its troops in the southern Gaza Strip.

The Gaza Health Ministry said that 492 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire. The ministry doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.

The Israeli military has said that some of those killed in recent months were along the ceasefire line that splits Israeli-held areas and most of Gaza’s Palestinian population, and that it has targeted those posing a threat to its troops.

For Palestinians separated from their families by the war and the tens of thousands of people outside Gaza seeking to return home, the reopening of the Rafah crossing along the border with Egypt can't come soon enough.

The crossing is expected to reopen soon, Israeli officials have said, but how many people will be allowed to enter and leave Gaza remains unclear.

Preparations are underway to allow the departure of a limited number of medical evacuees who were wounded in the war and need to travel abroad for medical care.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that crossing won't be open to goods for now. The crossing, Gaza’s main gateway to the outside world, has been largely closed since May 2024.

Toqa Ezzidin reported from Cairo. Samy Magdy contributed to this report from Cairo.

Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Palestinian children fill plastic bottles with water at a tent camp in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Bodies of Palestinians returned from Israel as part of the ceasefire deal are brought to Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Red Cross vehicles transport bodies of Palestinians returned from Israel as part of the ceasefire deal to Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians watch the sun set over the Mediterranean Sea in Gaza City, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians walk amid buildings destroyed by Israeli air and ground operations in Gaza City, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

President Donald Trump gathered his Cabinet for a video-broadcasted meeting that ended without questions from reporters or comments from Homeland Security Kristi Noem or Attorney General Pam Bondi.

It seemed an opportunity to avoid commentary on the situation in Minnesota, where the recent deaths of two U.S. citizens at the hands of federal agents, and the FBI’s search of an election office in Georgia in relation to Trump’s 2020 election loss.

During the meeting, Democrats voted to block legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security and several other agencies as they continued to negotiate with Republicans and the White House on new restrictions for Trump’s surge of immigration enforcement. Thursday’s 45-55 test vote came as Democrats have threatened a partial government shutdown when money runs out on Friday.

Addressing the press gathered at the Cabinet meeting, just ahead of the vote, Trump said, “We don’t want a shutdown,” and that the two sides were discussing a possible agreement to separate homeland security funding from the rest of the legislation and fund it for a short time.

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Trump’s executive order Thursday afternoon will establish what he calls the “Great American Recovery Initiative” to address substance abuse in America, according to a fact sheet provided by the White House.

The effort will seek to better align federal resources, set goals and use data to respond to the addiction crisis, the fact sheet says. That will include increasing awareness on addiction and advising agencies on how best to help Americans get treatment and celebrate recovery. It will also include consulting with states, community groups, faith organizations and businesses.

The announcement comes as the federal agency responsible for addressing substance abuse has been thrust into turmoil under the Trump’s administration, including through a set of mass layoffs affecting the nation’s health agencies in mid-2025.

The Trump administration also abruptly canceled some 2,000 grants administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration earlier this month, then reversed course a day later, creating chaos at the agency.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey brushed off Trump’s threat that he was “playing with fire” by not enforcing federal immigration laws.

“Our police officers will do their jobs,” Frey told reporters after speaking to the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington. “They’re not going to do somebody else’s job.”

Frey said he was “hopeful” that the number of federal agents in Minneapolis will be reduced and that he expects the conduct of any remaining federal officers will change.

“But again I’ll believe it when I see it,” he said.

During his remarks to the mayors’ group, Frey said leaders of cities across the U.S. are “on the front lines of a very important battle.”

“This is not a time to bend our heads in despair out of fear that we may be next,” he said. “If we do not speak up, if we do not step out, it will be your city that is next.”

Immigration and Customs Enforcement says they were trying to apprehend someone earlier this week with a criminal record when the man ran into a building that turned out to be the Ecuadorian consulate in Minneapolis.

On Tuesday, Ecuador’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility accused immigration agents of trying to enter the country’s consulate in the city without permission.

ICE said Thursday that their officers didn’t know the building included the Ecuadorian consulate and that it wasn’t “clearly marked” as such.

They said their officers did not enter the consulate and accused the staff there of protecting a “public safety threat.”

“He is still at large,” ICE said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previewed the order in a post on X, along with sharing a link to a CBS News story about the executive order that Trump plans to sign at 4:30 p.m.

The order Trump intends to sign will create a new initiative that will be chaired by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Kathryn Burgum, the wife of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, according to CBS.

Foreign leaders and governments presented to former President Joe Biden, his wife, U.S. Cabinet members and other senior officials tens of thousands of dollars in gifts in 2024.

The State Department published the list Thursday. Most gifts are transferred to the National Archives or General Services Administration unless the Treasury is reimbursed or in rare cases, they’re kept for official use.

Here’s a snapshot:

— The most expensive gift Biden got was the acrylic painting “Marimba” by Angolan artist Guizef Guilherme, estimated to be worth $19,000.

— He also got a sterling silver train set worth $7,750 from India’s leader.

— And a road bike and two crates of dates worth $7,089 from United Arab Emirates’ president.

— Jill Biden got a bottle of Ormonde Jayne perfume and an 18-carat gold necklace with diamonds from the emir of Qatar and his spouse, worth a combined $11,165.

In addition to Noem and Bondi, there were other Cabinet members in the room who did not get called on to speak.

That includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, though Trump praised them both during the meeting.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Education Secretary Linda McMahon, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and OMB Director Russell Vought also did not speak.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the U.S. military “will be prepared to deliver whatever the president expects,” just a day after Trump warned Iran to “make a deal” on its nuclear program.

Hegseth cited this month’s U.S. military raid to capture then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in his warning to Iran.

“They have all the options to make a deal,” Hegseth said at a Cabinet meeting, referring to Iran. “They should not pursue nuclear capabilities.”

Hegseth said the military was ready to deliver what Trump wants “just like we did this month.”

An aircraft carrier and accompanying warships arrived in the Middle East this week.

He spoke for about a half hour and called on some of his agency heads, but Trump ended his Cabinet meeting without asking the Homeland Security or Justice Department chiefs to speak.

It seemed an opportunity to avoid commentary on the situation in Minnesota, where the recent deaths of two U.S. citizens at the hands of federal agents has put Homeland Security Kristi Noem in the hot seat, with some members of Congress calling for her resignation.

There were also no comments from Attorney General Pam Bondi, a day after the FBI searched the election office of a Georgia county that has been central to right-wing conspiracy theories over Trump’s 2020 election loss.

Both Noem and Bondi were present at Thursday’s meeting.

It was an unusual sight: The president didn’t entertain questions at his Cabinet meeting today.

During other appearances with Cabinet officials — and many other events with reporters present — Trump is apt to take a slew of questions on the news of the day and other topics.

Thursday was an exception. Trump, who had repeatedly implored Cabinet officials to keep the meeting short, let Vice President JD Vance have the brief final word.

Then Trump closed the meeting, prompting White House handlers to usher the press out despite reporters yelling out questions.

— Special envoy Steve Witkoff

— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent

— Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick

— Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

— Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner

— Energy Secretary Chris Wright

— Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin

At Trump’s cabinet meeting, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner said that home sales in December “rose sharply to their strongest pace in three years” — but that’s not quite what appears to be happening in the housing market that has been a persistent source of frustration for U.S. consumers.

The National Association of Realtors did report that the seasonally adjusted annual rate of home sales in December rose to 4.35 million units, “nearly” the highest in three years as the trade association noted. But the sum was just a 1.4% year over year increase.

More importantly, it could have been a monthly blip as the Realtors separately said that pending home sales in December had fallen 3% from a year ago.

Trump has said that he wants to keep home prices high to increase people’s net worth, but doing so will likely keep construction levels low and price out possible first-time buyers.

Religious leaders in Washington called the killings Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal officers “a profound moral failure” and condemned the Trump administrations’ immigration enforcement tactics.

“We affirm the sacred worth of every human life,” they said in a joint statement Thursday, adding they “stand with immigrants” and “condemn … the use of indiscriminate and lethal force against civilians.”

The administration’s operations, they said, flout “our nation’s deepest moral commitments” and “values of human dignity.”

The group includes Roman Catholic Cardinal Archbishop Robert McElroy; Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde; Rabbi Abbi Sharofsky of the Jewish Community Relations Council; and Zoroastrian Head Priest Berham Panthaki, among others.

McElroy is the latest U.S. Catholic cardinal to pan Trump’s approach, and some Catholic media have specifically slammed Catholic Vice President JD Vance. Budde drew Trump’s ire after she asked at his inaugural prayer service to “have mercy” on migrants and LGBTQ+ people.

The president said he’d read coverage suggesting that his health chief might outpace Trump’s own impact in November.

“So, I have to be very careful that Bobby likes us,” Trump joked.

It’s not the first time Trump has been sensitive to the famous Kennedy surname packing more political punch than his own name.

At the start of his administration, Trump frequently mentioned Kennedy’s high profile as a member of his Cabinet. He was fond then of suggesting that Kennedy work to make sure he didn’t get too politically famous.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gave an update on TrumpRx, a government website in development that’s intended to help people buy drugs directly from manufacturers.

The website is part of the administration’s larger push to lower drug prices and give Americans options to buy medications at lower prices by cutting out middlemen.

Trump’s administration had said TrumpRx was coming in January 2026, but Kennedy didn’t commit to that timeline at a meeting of cabinet officials.

“That’s going to be happening sometime probably in the next 10 days,” Kennedy said.

Democrats voted to block legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security and several other agencies Thursday as they continued to negotiate with Republicans and the White House on new restrictions for President Donald Trump’s surge of immigration enforcement.

Thursday’s 45-55 test vote came as Democrats have threatened a partial government shutdown when money runs out on Friday. But Trump said just ahead of the vote that “we don’t want a shutdown” and the two sides were discussing a possible agreement to separate homeland security funding from the rest of the legislation and fund it for a short time.

As the country reels from the deaths of two protesters at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis, irate Senate Democrats laid out a list of demands on Wednesday, including that officers take off their masks and identify themselves and obtain warrants for arrest. If those are not met, Democrats say they are prepared to block the wide-ranging spending bill, denying Republicans the votes they need to pass it and triggering a shutdown.

▶ Read more about Department of Homeland Security funding

Trump said at his cabinet meeting that “next week” he’ll announce his choice to replace Jerome Powell as the chair of the Federal Reserve.

The president has criticized Powell for not slashing benchmark interest rates as low as Trump would like. Powell has insisted that the Fed stay independent of politics and make its choices based on inflation and job market data.

Even though Powell’s term as chair ends in May, he could stay on the board of governors until 2028 and block Trump’s ability to appoint someone new to the board as chair.

Trump said his pick will do a “good job” and that he wants the Fed to cut rates when there are signs of economic growth.

President Donald Trump said Thursday he has asked Russian President Vladimir Putin not to target the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv for one week as the region experiences frigid temperatures.

The call for a pause in attacks on Ukraine’s capital comes as Russia has been pounding the country’s critical infrastructure, leaving many around the country without heat in the dead of winter.

“I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week during this ... extraordinary cold,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. Trump added that Putin has “agreed to that.”

After a nearly half-hour recap of administration accomplishments including on drug prices and the economy, Trump turned to envoy Steve Witkoff — not technically a Cabinet member — to give the meeting’s first report.

Trump asked Witkoff for an update on the Middle East, where the remains of the last hostage in Gaza, Ran Gvili, were recovered and returned to his family earlier this week.

“Your policy of peace through strength that’s what delivered them home,” Witkoff told Trump.

During his opener, Trump told many of the same stories he often does about policy decisions, although he did make news in noting he had he informed Venezuela’s leader Delcy Rodríguez that he’s going to be opening up all commercial airspace over Venezuela, to which the U.S. suspended commercial travel in 2019.

The president said of his Cabinet meeting in December, “It was a little bit on the boring side.”

Recalling being seen as struggling to keep his eyes open during that gathering, Trump insisted, “I didn’t sleep. I just closed them because I wanted to get the hell out of there.”

The comment drew laugher, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who has made a trademark of laughing loudest during Cabinet meetings.

Potentially less funny for those gathered during Thursday’s meeting, Trump said not everyone would be allowed to speak to save time.

“We’re not going to go through the whole table,” the president said, after he opened the meeting by speaking for nearly 25 minutes straight.

The participation of the director of national intelligence was unusual, given that Gabbard is not part of the FBI or federal law enforcement.

Asked to explain, a senior administration official said in a statement that “Gabbard has a pivotal role in election security and protecting the integrity of our elections against interference, including operations targeting voting systems, databases, and election infrastructure.”

Trump has long insisted that the election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden was stolen from him even though courts, his own former attorney general and audits have concluded that there was no widespread fraud that could have altered the outcome of the 2020 contest.

Trump said he informed Venezuela’s leader Delcy Rodríguez on Thursday that he’s going to be opening up all commercial airspace over Venezuela and Americans will soon be able to visit.

Trump said he instructed U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and U.S. military leaders to open up the airspace by the end of the day Thursday.

“American citizens will be very shortly able to go to Venezuela and they’ll be safe there,” Trump said.

The U.S. suspended commercial travel to Venezuela in 2019.

The president, as he kicked off his Cabinet meeting, said his administration is speaking with congressional Democrats on avoiding a partial government shutdown.

“We’re working on that right now,” Trump said while declining to go into specifics. He added: “We don’t want a shutdown.”

Congress has to pass the remaining government funding by Jan. 31 to avoid a partial shutdown; the money for the Department of Homeland Security has been tied up in the aftermath of the shooting death of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis as Democrats demand changes to federal immigration enforcement tactics.

Trump opened his Cabinet meeting by briefly highlighting improvements to the room, then moving on to his administration’s successes.

He touched on his administration’s efforts on crime before moving to Venezuela, where he thanked staff involved with the military operation to end the presidency of Nicolás Maduro.

House Republicans are proposing sweeping changes to the nation’s voting laws before Americans get their say in this fall’s midterm elections.

The package to be released Thursday, a long-shot Trump priority, includes requirements for photo IDs before people can vote, proof of citizenship and prohibitions on universal vote-by-mail and ranked choice voting.

“These reforms will improve voter confidence, bolster election integrity, and make it easy to vote, but hard to cheat,” said Rep. Bryan Steil, chairman of the House Administration Committee, in a statement.

The GOP election rules legislation a long road ahead in the narrowly-split Congress, where Democrats have rejected similar ideas as disenfranchising Americans’ ability to vote. According to a one-page bill summary:

They say such changes could lead to widespread problems for voters. For example, they say prior Republican efforts to require proof of citizenship have disenfranchised married women whose last names on their photo IDs don’t exactly match their birth certificates or other proofs of citizenship.

The Brennan Center for Justice and other groups estimated in a 2023 report that 9% of U.S. citizens of voting age, or 21.3 million people, do not have proof of their citizenship readily available. Almost half of Americans do not have a U.S. passport.

Majority Leader John Thune opened the Senate as Republicans and Democrats eye an emerging deal to consider immigration enforcement changes and prevent a federal shutdown.

“We’re getting closer,” the GOP leader said.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said immigration changes must be included in any deal to fund the government.

“This is a moment of truth,” Schumer said.

Democrats want an end to roving patrols and a requirement that federal agents use body cameras and unmask themselves.

Schumer decried the “thugs roaming our streets” during immigration enforcement.

“Enough is enough,” he said.

Kevin Couch confirmed in an email to The Associated Press on Thursday that he resigned Wednesday, without providing an explanation. It’s the latest sign of turmoil at the iconic performing arts venue.

The Kennedy Center’s Trump-appointed president, Ric Grenell, had welcomed Couch to the role “as we expand our commonsense programming.”

Couch’s exit comes as Trump and first lady Melania Trump are expected to walk the red carpet at the Kennedy Center on Thursday for the premiere of “Melania,” a documentary she produced.

The center is navigating a wave of artist cancellations in protest of Trump ’s new leadership, which added his name to the venue. In just the past week, composer Philip Glass called off a world premiere of a symphony about Abraham Lincoln, and Grammy-winning soprano Renée Fleming withdrew from two scheduled appearances.

President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, left, and FBI Deputy Director Andrew Bailey, enter a command vehicle as the FBI takes Fulton County 2020 Election ballots, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, in Union City, Ga., near Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., stands during a press conference on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

People gather during a vigil where Alex Pretti was shot and killed by federal immigration enforcement in Minneapolis, on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

A protester yells at a vehicle at Bishop Whipple Federal building in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Laura Bargfeld)

Law enforcement officers prepare to make arrests after declaring an unlawful assembly during a noise demonstration outside the Graduate by Hilton Minneapolis hotel on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

President Donald Trump gestures during the launch of a program known as Trump Accounts at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)