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Vladimir Putin will not be attending the BRICS trade summit in South Africa thereby avoiding the risk of arrest.

The South African government broke the news with the following statement: “By mutual agreement, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will not attend the Summit, but the Russian Federation will be represented by Foreign Minister, Mr Sergey Lavrov.”

The BRICS bloc is made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Mr Putin will instead attend by videocall, according to the Kremlin.

The announcement follows weeks of will-he-won’t-he speculation and flies in the face of understandings the Russian leader had been determined to go.

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South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa had been under increasing pressure to commit his government to arresting the Russian leader should he attend.

In court documents, he is quoted as saying that doing so would be regarded as a “declaration of war” with Russia and inconsistent with South Africa’s constitution.

President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, speaking at a UK - South Africa Business Forum at Lancaster House in London in November 2022
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President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa

But as a signatory to the treaty underpinning the International Criminal Court, South Africa is fully beholden to arrest anyone indicted by it.

Both Mr Putin and his children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova Belova, have been indicted for the alleged war crime of child deportations.

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Ukraine says a minimum of 19,000 children have been taken by Russia.

This week, the UK sanctioned a number of Russians alleged to have been involved in the deportations.

A Sky News investigation has revealed how many have been taken deep into Russia, dispersed among families, orphanages, camps and boarding schools.

Russia is accused of a systematic programme of taking children with the aim of ‘Russifying’ them.

The BRICS summit normally comprises the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Mr Putin’s decision not to attend reinforces the impression he is becoming an international pariah.

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Revealed: The Hamas-backed plan for Gaza’s future

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Revealed: The Hamas-backed plan for Gaza's future

Gaza’s Hamas-run municipal governments have published their first official reconstruction plan for the Gaza Strip, in the latest sign that the group intends to be a leading actor in the rebuilding of the territory.

In recent days, Hamas has re-emerged as the area’s main governing authority, deploying security forces across the Gaza Strip, despite suffering severe military losses during its 15-month war with Israel.

Hamas policemen stand guard deployed in Gaza City following the ceasefire. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
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Hamas policemen in Gaza City following the ceasefire. Pic: Reuters

The 200-page document, titled “Gaza Phoenix” and shared with Sky News by an official in Gaza City’s Hamas-led local government, is the first comprehensive reconstruction plan to be published since the war began.

Gaza Phoenix sets out short, medium and long-term priorities for reconstruction and development in the territory, starting almost from scratch.

Excerpt from the Gaza Phoenix Reconstruction Plan

The immediate priorities include formalising displacement camps, repairing hospitals, clearing rubble and restoring law and order.

There are also much more ambitious long-term proposals, including a tourism-focused economy, a green belt and even Dubai-style artificial islands.

One section, on “wartime resilience”, suggests constructing “an underground connecter” between all Gaza cities – a proposal likely to anger Israel, which has sought to destroy Hamas’s underground tunnel network.

International donors would be very unlikely to directly fund the activities of Gaza‘s Hamas-led municipal governments, a person familiar with reconstruction efforts told Sky News.

But the project could be delivered by aid groups, the source said, which have historically coordinated with Gaza’s local administrations.

Foreign donors, like the Gulf States, see reconstruction as an opportunity to have influence in post-war Gaza. However, they will have reservations over putting billions of dollars into Gaza’s reconstruction without an internationally agreed and comprehensive plan for stability, as well as assurances of some Palestinian autonomy.

Displaced Palestinians walk past the rubble as they attempt to return to their homes, following a delay in the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas over the hostage list, in the northern Gaza Strip, January 19, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
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Displaced Palestinians attempt to return to their homes in northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters

Under the terms of the ceasefire deal, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced from northern Gaza will be allowed to return from Sunday morning.

That makes reconstruction of the north particularly urgent, especially given the higher level of destruction there.

‘If they come, they will not find a place to live’

Dr Mohammad Salha, the director of North Gaza’s last remaining hospital, has not seen his wife and children since the war began.

He has been living in Al Awda Hospital, attempting to keep it running against all odds.

His family are staying in a tent in the south. Whenever it rains, he says, their tent fills with water.

“I want to bring them here, but I don’t know where to put them,” he says. “At least they have a tent. Here, there is nowhere to put a tent.”

Gaza’s government estimates that 14 of every 15 homes have been damaged, leaving the territory littered with an estimated 42 million tonnes of debris.

“If they come, they will not find a place to live,” says Maher Salem, 59, head of planning at Gaza City’s Hamas-led municipal government and a co-author of Gaza Phoenix.

Mr Salem says his team are trying to procure tents and caravans to serve as temporary shelters, and are preparing approximately 20 sites in and around Gaza City.

At least one new tent camp was seen in Gaza City on Thursday.

new tent camp
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A new tent camp getting set up in the Shujaya neighbourhood of Gaza City. Pic: Reuters

The reconstruction plan identifies four main zones for larger tent camps, to serve as displacement centres during the reconstruction.

Excerpt from the Gaza Phoenix Reconstruction Plan

These areas have been chosen because of their proximity to medical centres and relatively low levels of groundwater pollution.

More than 95% of the Gaza Strip has groundwater containing levels of nitrates considered unsafe by the WHO, according to maps published in the document.

Israel has yet to relax import restrictions, hampering reconstruction

The war has also wrought severe damage on Gaza’s water distribution network, with aid groups saying that 70% of water sent through the pipes is currently lost due to leakage.

“We have more than 100,000 metres of pipes that are destroyed, but we haven’t even got 10 metres of pipes for repairs,” says Mr Salem, who also manages water infrastructure in Gaza City.

Israel has so far refused to allow the entry of metal pipes into Gaza, arguing that they could be used to construct rockets.

Similar restrictions on other such “dual use” items have been in place since the war began, and in many cases long before.

Discussions about relaxing these rules post-ceasefire are ongoing, Mr Salem says.

Buildings lie in ruin  in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.
Pic: Reuters
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Buildings lie in ruin in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.
Pic: Reuters

He adds that officials are also trying to secure permission to import heavy machinery, generators and solar panels for the reconstruction effort.

“Everything is in relation to the availability of the materials. If you haven’t the materials, you can’t do the thing.”

Shaina Low, spokesperson for aid organisation Shelter Cluster, says the restrictions are affecting items necessary to build basic shelters, including timber and tent poles.

“There’s so much uncertainty, it makes it very difficult for the humanitarian sector to plan in advance,” she says.

‘Whoever is alive, they will come’

Of particular urgency are repairs to North Gaza’s hospitals. The region now has only one functioning hospital, Al Awda, after repeated raids and attacks by the Israeli military destroyed the Kamal Adwan and Beit Hanoun hospitals, and rendered the Indonesian and Sheikh Hamad hospitals out of service.

Al Awda has also suffered repeated attacks on its staff and buildings.

“A lot of equipment is destroyed,” says Dr Salha, the hospital’s director. “The whole hospital is without windows, without doors, without full ceilings.”

Many of the hospital’s surgeons have been killed or arrested, including Dr Adnan Al Bursh, whose unexplained death in Israeli custody was investigated by Sky News in November.

Despite now only having a single surgeon, Al Awda is preparing for a surge in patient numbers come Sunday, when displaced Palestinians are expected to begin their return to the north.

Dr Salha is also anticipating the arrival of “hundreds, maybe thousands” of wounded or starving people who have been in North Gaza but unable to safely reach the hospital.

“Whoever is alive, they will come,” he says.

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How Gaza will build back its schools

A relatively small, private hospital, Al Awda has never had an intensive care unit, an oxygen unit or incubator beds. In the past, Al Awda would refer critical patients and newborns to the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital.

“Now there is no Kamal Adwan Hospital,” says Dr Salha, “so we will have to do it.”

He has submitted a proposal for the construction of these advanced facilities, but this hinges on the relaxation of import restrictions.

Dr Salha thinks it will take three months before any other hospital in North Gaza is functioning. But Dr Marwan Sultan, the director of the Indonesian Hospital, thinks he can get his hospital up and running within a month.

Maxar
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Pic: Maxar

That too, however, will depend on what he is allowed to import.

“All four generators have been destroyed, along with both oxygen units,” says Dr Sultan.

“These are not available in Gaza, so we have to bring it from outside, but this has not been allowed up till now.”

Palestinians make their way past the rubble of destroyed houses and buildings in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, 21 January 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
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Palestinians make their way past the rubble of destroyed houses and buildings in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip. Pic: Reuters

It will be months before schools can reopen

For those already living in the north of Gaza, the imminent arrival of the returnees poses its own problems.

Ahmed Abu Riziq lives with his wife and three young children in a rented flat in the north of Gaza City. He speaks to us from the building’s roof, which is littered with debris and shrapnel damage.

This week, his landlord is returning and he is being evicted.

Ahmed Abu Riziq, a schoolteacher in Gaza.
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Ahmed Abu Riziq, a schoolteacher in Gaza.

He has given up hope of finding another flat. Instead, he is simply trying to find some empty land on which to pitch a tent amidst the rubble.

The destruction of homes in Gaza, and the immense quantities of debris strewn through its streets, has prompted many families to take shelter in schools.

“For more than one year the students have not gone to school, and they haven’t had any chance to go to school because all the schools are used as shelters,” says Mr Salem.

Satellite analysis by aid group Education Cluster suggests that 88% of schools in Gaza have been damaged, including every single school in North Gaza.

Mr Abu Riziq, a schoolteacher, thinks it will take between six to 12 months before schools are able to reopen.

That is echoed in the Gaza Phoenix reconstruction plan, which does not anticipate a resumption of schooling within the next six months.

For the time being, the best scenario for Gaza’s children is to enrol in one of the territory’s growing number of tent schools.

In May last year, Mr Abu Riziq set up his own tent school using the leftover parachute from an aid drop. He has since expanded to five schools, providing education and psychological support to around 2,000 children aged five to 14.

He is optimistic that, with proper support and counselling, Gaza’s children will be able to overcome their traumas.

“Most of our students, when we first tell them to draw, they draw tanks, destroyed houses, how they suffered,” he says.

“But now, after many sessions, they draw gardens, sunflowers, a plane they are in, trees with apples that they can eat. They start to draw their future.”

Additional reporting by Michelle Inez Simon, visual investigations producer, and Olive Enokido-Lineham, OSINT producer.


The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

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Hamas releases names of latest Israeli hostages set to be freed on Saturday

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Hamas releases names of latest Israeli hostages set to be freed on Saturday

Hamas has released the names of four female soldiers expected to be freed on Saturday as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal with Israel.

Hostages Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, all aged 20, and 19-year-old Liri Albag, who were all serving with the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), are set to return from the war-ravaged coastal territory to Israel in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

The four Israeli troops were taken captive from the Nahal Oz base in southern Israel on 7 October 2023 when Hamas carried out its cross-border attack.

The hostages are expected to be freed as part of an exchange that will see 200 Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails – 50 for each IDF soldier released by Hamas as per the ceasefire agreement.

It is understood that 120 of the Palestinian prisoners are serving life sentences.

Karina Ariev, 20, taken from Nahal-Oz. Pic: Bring Them Home Now
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Karina Ariev. Pic: Bring Them Home Now

Daniella Gilboa, 20, taken from Nahal-Oz. Pic: Bring Them Home Now
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Daniella Gilboa. Pic: Bring Them Home Now


All four Israeli captives are alive, Sky’s US partner network NBC News reported, citing a senior Hamas official.

The latest developments follow the release of three Israeli hostages, including dual British citizen Emily Damari, last Sunday and comes as the ceasefire approaches its second week.

Israel has yet to confirm the latest names. The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “A list of kidnapped women has been received by the mediators. Israel’s response will be provided later.”

Israel had reportedly demanded that Arbel Yehoud, an Israeli civilian, be on the list of four to be released on Saturday. However, she has not been named by Hamas.

It is thought she might be held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another militant group in the Gaza Strip.

Under the terms of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hames, 33 hostages are to be freed over the course of six weeks in return for hundreds of Palestinian detainees.

Liri Albag, 19, taken from Nahal-Oz. Pic: Bring Them Home Now
Image:
Liri Albag. Pic: Bring Them Home Now

Naama Levy, 20, taken from Nahal-Oz. Pic: Bring Them Home Now
Image:
Naama Levy. Pic: Bring Them Home Now

The Gaza-based Prisoners’ Media Office said in a statement: “After the Palestinian resistance factions announced the names of the occupation prisoners who are to be released tomorrow, which included the names of four female soldiers; we are waiting for the list of Palestinian prisoners who are to be released tomorrow, which will include 120 prisoners with life sentences, and 80 prisoners with high sentences, according to what was stipulated in the ceasefire agreement in the deal.”

If the process runs smoothly, the four Israeli hostages should be released late on Saturday afternoon. They will first be handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross and then driven to one of three border crossings to be transferred to the IDF.

From there, and after initial medical checks, they will be flown to hospital.

The Palestinian prisoners are expected to be released from Ofer Prison in the West Bank late on Saturday or in the early hours of Sunday morning.

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Released hostages ‘adjusting to freedom’

The first three hostages to be released last Sunday, Romi Gonen, Doren Steinbrecher and Emily Damari, are all still recovering in a hospital just outside Tel Aviv.

Michal Mayo, Doron’s cousin, told Sky News her condition is still fragile, but she is doing well.

“Those three young women were held mostly underground tunnels under terrible circumstances, and you know, you can only imagine after 471 days there that both mentally and physically they would then need a lot of time to recover and heal,” said Michal.

“She’s adjusting to freedom.”

Romi Gonen’s best friend, Gaya Khalifa, was shot and killed next to her on October 7 at the Nova music festival.

Gaya’s mother Sigal has visited Romi in hospital and said it brought back memories of her daughter.

“I knew from the beginning that Gaya was not going to come back but when I saw Romi it reminded me what happened on October 7 and it made me the same feeling: Why? Why has it happened to us?

“But in the same moment you feel that Romi is the last memory from Gaya and she knows everything and when I hug her, I feel like I hug Gaya.”

Saturday is also expected to see the start of an IDF withdrawal from the Netzarim Corridor that bisects Gaza.

Once complete, Gazans will be able to return home to the north of the strip, although they will be subject to checks for weapons before being allowed to pass.

It has been reported that an independent security company, possibly American, could be tasked with carrying out those checks.

Among the roughly 250 people abducted in Israel on 7 October 2023, some have died in captivity in Gaza, while others have been released or rescued.

Including the four hostages expected to be released on Saturday, 91 of those taken captive on 7 October 2023 are still yet to return home.

The ceasefire, brokered with the mediation of Qatar, Egypt and the US, has brought a pause to 15 months of brutal fighting in Gaza that has razed much of the enclave to the ground.

More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive, according to Hamas-run authorities in Gaza, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

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World’s largest iceberg on crash course with island, putting millions of penguins in danger

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World's largest iceberg on crash course with island, putting millions of penguins in danger

The world’s largest iceberg is on a collision course with the British territory of South Georgia – potentially putting millions of penguins and seals in danger. 

The trillion-tonne slab of ice, named A23a, broke free from its position last month and started drifting northwards.

The “megaberg” – which is twice the size of Greater London and 130 feet tall – is expected to approach the remote island off Antarctica in the next two to four weeks.

Experts fear for the island’s rich wildlife. If the iceberg gets wedged in the shallow waters close to the island, it could block vital pathways for penguins to get food for themselves and their chicks.

This would mean parent penguins would have to swim further, burning more energy and bringing back less to feed their offspring.

That could “dramatically increase mortality rates” among penguins, according to British Antarctic Survey physical oceanographer Andrew Meijer – something that has happened in the past.

He examined the “colossal ” iceberg up close in December 2023 when it drifted past the research ship RRS Sir David Attenborough.

“It’s a huge wall, a Game of Thrones-style wall of ice that towers above the ship,” he said.

“South Georgia is an amazingly ecologically rich island. It’s a breeding ground for a huge number of penguins, millions of penguins and seals,” Mr Meijers said.

“There’s lots of pups and chicks and they’re all still dependent on their parents.”

A23a is visible as it heads toward South Georgia on 15 January, off the coast of Antarctica. Pic: NASA Worldview /AP
Image:
A23a is visible from space as it heads toward South Georgia. Pic: NASA Worldview/AP

While the A23a represents a threat to the penguin colony on South Georgia, it doesn’t pose a greater risk to the overall penguin populations, University of Colorado ice scientist Ted Scambos said.

“The whole ecosystem in the Southern Ocean is very resilient to these events,” he wrote. “It has evolved with these icebergs being a factor for hundreds of thousands of years.”

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The iceberg started moving for the first time in more than three decades in November 2023, scientists said.

Before then, it had largely been stranded after its base became stuck on the floor of the Weddell Sea.

Eventually, the A23a will break up into smaller icebergs and melt as icebergs do, Mr Meijers said.

Icebergs breaking off is normal, but it is happening more frequently as the climate warms and more fresh water flows into the ocean, Mr Meijers said.

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