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As the sun rises over the Usumacinta River between Guatemala and Mexico, the silence is broken by the sounds of people awaking after another night camping on the riverbanks.

Soon the ferrymen who pilot a flotilla of makeshift rafts constructed of planks strapped to very large inner tyre tubes, begin their never-ending trade of moving fruit and vegetables, construction equipment, crates of beer and liquor, motorcycles and bicycles, but above all – people.

This is where thousands of migrants heading to the United States begin what they hope to be the last leg of their often epic journeys to the northern border with the US.

1600 miles through Mexico is all that separates them from their dreams of a new life.

Amongst the migrants we come across is 14-year-old Edgar Fonseca Cepeda.

He is completely on his own; an unaccompanied minor migrant.

Edgar travelled from Venezuela to Colombia where his grandmother, who had been caring for him, died.

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Now he is trying to get to his mother who is in Washington DC and has undertaken this journey on his own.

We arrange for him to speak to his mother Carolina on a video call.

It was heartbreaking to witness.

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14-year-old migrant travels alone to reach his mother in US

Both mum and son started crying, and his mum kept saying how sorry she was that he was having to do this journey alone.

The day before, Edgar had explained to her that he, along with another group of migrants, had been kidnapped by a gang – he was only released after handing over $75 scrambled together by fellow travellers.

“We decided to come here on foot, which is a risk, and well, before Tapachula, just before we got here, we had already walked about six kilometres, we were stopped by a few bikers,” he explained to me.

“That’s when they told us not to cry, not to scream because nothing was going to happen to us, we thought that we were going to be surrounded by immigration, but no, they took us to a chicken coop…”

The group, including Edgar, say they were held for eight to 10 hours.

We’ve heard exactly the same testimony from a number of migrants we’ve spoken to in the last few days.

“The truth is, it was horrible that chicken coop, people holding guns, I’m not used to seeing things like that, it was really scary,” Edgar added.

The route across Mexico to reach the northern border with the US
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The route across Mexico to reach the northern border with the US

We spoke to his mum Carolina, and she asked us to take him to the authorities, saying it was too dangerous for him to continue alone.

Edgar says he hasn’t seen his mother for six or seven months.

“It’s really very, very hard, I miss her so much, that’s why I’ve done all of this.”

Edgar bade an emotional goodbye to his new travelling family, the strangers who helped look after him on the journey.

He is safe now but when he will see his mother again nobody can say.

Constant rule changes

I’ve been here many times to report over many years and I am never less than amazed at the number of people who attempt this journey, and the sheer number of small children.

But this time I’ve noticed some things have changed.

Whereas a few years ago the migrants were almost entirely from Southern and Central America, now they’re from all over the world.

On this trip we have met young men and women from China, Egypt, Jordan, Somalia, Mauritania, Kazakhstan, Haiti, and Gambia, to name a few.

Another major change seems to be the attitude of the Mexican authorities.

Migrants bathe in the river
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Migrants bathe in the river

A migrant sleeps near the river
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A migrant sleeps near the river

In the past, the passage of the migrants north, while not easy, wasn’t noticeably hindered by the Mexicans.

Now though, with the issue of migration on its southern border a political hot potato in a United States election year, the Mexican authorities have got the message from the United States that thousands of migrants on the border fence is not a good look.

What we have witnessed is a system that doesn’t actually stop the migrants moving north, but makes it bureaucratic, confusing and often contradictory enough that the migrants don’t know what to do.

The US has a problem with the numbers, so people travelling through Mexico are shifted from one location to another and left, and then shifted again – never really making any progress.

Legally, migrants and asylum seekers cannot be stopped, but they can be asked to follow rules (or have their paperwork torn up), and if the rules keep changing, there is nothing they can do about.

After crossing the Usumacinta River from Guatemala, the migrants rest in the city of Hidalgo, before forming into groups known as “caravans” to begin their journey north.

They travel together for safety from gangs and criminals who prey on the migrants.

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Migrants worldwide head to the US through Mexico

We joined a pop-up caravan shortly before dawn; they move at that time to take advantage of the cooler temperatures.

This caravan is led by a young Brazilian man named Davyde who is with his wife and sister-in-law.

“Brazil is not good, I can’t make enough money to pay the rent, America would be great,” he told me when I wondered why he’d made the journey from Brazil.

As we walk with the group of 200 plus people, the sun rises and the temperature soars.

Whole families, very young and old, travel along the sides of busy motorways, heading north – always north.

Walking with the group, we meet Mayra Ferrerr from Acarigua in Venezuela.

The 40-year-old is travelling with her two sons and some fellow Venezuelans.

They’ve all become friends along the way. Mayra has breast cancer, and she’s trying to get to her family in the US.

She’s prepared to risk everything.

Read more:
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The deadly migrant routes from Vietnam to Europe
On the ‘Train of Death’: Electric shocks, beatings and brandings

Migrant caravan leader Davyde is seen in the white vest
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Migrant caravan leader Davyde is seen in the white vest

“We left Venezuela because there is no education, because there is no medicine, because I am an oncology patient and I cannot get treatment in the public health system for breast cancer,” she told me.

“And well, I needed to go somewhere where I can be checked and continue treatment.”

Mayra explained that she’s doing chemotherapy in the form of pills, but that she stopped taking them so that she wasn’t too weak on this journey.

She says it’s tough, but that she and her family and friends plan to keep going.

“Well, it is hard because unfortunately in many towns we have crossed, they take advantage of our situation, our need to keep moving forward, and the costs, be it water or bread, they make it more expensive for us.”

A man sleeps with is daughter near the river
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A man sleeps with his daughter near the river

Most of the migrants are carrying tents, an absolute necessity for crossing the Darien Gap – a notorious jungle crossing on the migrant route, which lies between Colombia and Panama.

Mayra says the tents are worth holding on to.

“We have kept our tents because we have nowhere to stay, and we have to set up the tent and camp anywhere, so that we can keep moving forward.”

After a few hours of walking the migrants approach an immigration checkpoint where they are met by Mexican immigration officers.

A woman and baby wait near the checkpoint
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A woman and baby wait near the checkpoint

We keep filming as they are told they will be taken north to the first major city in southern Mexico called Tapachula.

The immigration officials give the migrants water and assure them that they are allowed to continue their journey north, that the involvement of immigration is simply to offer them a ride to Tapachula and a free meal.

The migrants are sceptical, but over and over they are assured that once they are in Tapachula they can get paperwork done and continue.

The ones who agree have their identity cards and passports logged and checked, and then they’re loaded onto minibuses.

Mayra, her two sons, and her friends all agree to go in the migration minibus to Tapachula.

This doesn’t mean however that a journey further north is going to happen anytime soon.

At another immigration checkpoint on the outskirts of Tapachula, crowds surge around immigration staff, waving their papers.

All they’re trying to do is get on a bus north, but the Mexican authorities assumed assistance has dried up.

America does not want them in the north and nor it seems does Mexico, so they’re in a limbo.

At multiple checkpoints we saw what is developing into a multinational mess.

Mexico's National Guard patrols the area near the river
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Mexico’s National Guard patrols the area near the river

Groups of young Chinese men and women take shade amongst Jordanians, Egyptians, Somalis, Gambians, even two friends from Kazakhstan.

The list of nationalities is remarkable, not least because of the distances they’ve travelled.

Said is a 28-year-old Afghan who worked for a British NGO until the Taliban arrived in Kabul in August 2021.

Migrants gathered at the park in Tapachula
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Migrants gathered at the park in Tapachula

He says he got his paperwork to leave from Kabul Airport at the time, but abandoned his plans after a suicide bomb went off at the evacuation point.

Said’s father and two uncles were killed by the Taliban, and he sees no safe future for his family there.

Indeed, he asked us not to show his face or use his full name because it would be dangerous for family members still in Afghanistan.

A Mexican military vehicle near the checkpoint
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A Mexican military vehicle near the checkpoint

Said is travelling with his wife, three young children, and his 74-year-old grandfather who has stage one Alzheimer’s.

Said told me that other migrants have nicknamed his grandad the “warrior” for undertaking such an intense physical journey in his older years.

The family has been on the move for two years.

“I realised I am on my own, I have to do it for myself, for my family, I’ve realised nobody is going to help me,” he told me.

Said is seen holding his son
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Said is seen holding his son

Said knows the political mood in the United States ahead of the presidential elections in November will be a factor in their chances of making it.

“I believe in God, I know I am in Mexico and 90% of the people are arriving there, actually, before the election, I need to get there before the election because I don’t know the next president, what he will do and what he is thinking about refugees like us,” he said.

‘They are the law… we are nobody’

All these migrants are in a sort of vortex – not being stopped from travelling north but not being allowed to either.

The day after meeting Mayra and her group of family and friends heading north, we travelled again south to the river.

Migrants from China, Kazakhstan and Nigeria
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Migrants from China, Kazakhstan and Nigeria

On our way back we recognised some of Mayra’s group on the side of the road, exactly where they originally started.

We were confused, so we pulled over to talk to them.

They explained they were taken north to Tapachula, given some food, waited about an hour not knowing what was happening, then put back on the minibus and sent straight back to the riverside where they started.

They told us they were given additional paperwork, and then, as they put it “thrown out on the street”.

Mayra and her son wait to board a minibus
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Mayra and her son wait to board a minibus

I asked one of them, Christian Heredia, if the authorities acknowledged that taking them all the way back doesn’t help.

“They’re delaying us, yes, they know, of course, but as I was saying, they are the law here, here we are nobody, so they do as they please with the migrants. Right? That’s the truth,” he replied.

Christian says many of the migrants we had seen loaded into the minibuses and promised a ride to Tapachula the previous day had been pushed back to the river just like them.

They suspect the authorities only promised to look after them because of our presence, otherwise they believe the migration officials probably would’ve just driven them straight back down to the river.

Christian Heredia with his daughter
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Christian Heredia with his daughter

Local buses don’t usually pick up migrants because they’re not allowed to, but standing on the side of the road with fresh papers, Christian and the group were able to flag down a minibus to take them back to Tapachula.

They reunited with Mayra and her boys in the main square where migrants from all over the world gather.

They, like everyone there, refuse to accept defeat. But their mammoth journeys are far from over.

Indeed, their difficulties continue.

The last we heard from Mayra and her friends they’d been robbed at gunpoint in a bus taking them further north.

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Israeli military announces ‘tactical pause’ in fighting in parts of Gaza amid hunger crisis

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Israeli military announces 'tactical pause' in fighting in parts of Gaza amid hunger crisis

Israel has begun a pause in fighting in three areas of Gaza to address the worsening humanitarian situation.

The IDF said it would halt fighting in three areas, Muwasi, Deir al-Balah and Gaza City, from 10am to 8pm local time until further notice, beginning today.

In a statement, the IDF said it would also establish secure routes to help the UN and aid agencies deliver food and other supplies.

Palestinians carry aid supplies that entered Gaza through Israel, in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, July 27, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Ab
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Palestinians carry aid supplies. Pic: Reuters

Israel’s announcement of what it calls a “tactical pause” in fighting comes after it resumed airdrops of aid into Gaza.

While the IDF reiterated claims there is “no starvation” in Gaza, it said the airdrops would include “seven pallets of aid containing flour, sugar and canned food to be provided by international organisations”.

Reports suggest aid has already been dropped into Gaza, with some injured after fighting broke out.

Pic: IDF
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Pic: IDF

In other developments, Bob Geldof has accused Israeli authorities of “lying” about starvation in the territory – telling Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips the IDF is “dangling food in front of starving, panicked, exhausted mothers”.

He told Sky News: “This month, up to now, 1,000 children or 1,000 people have died of starvation. I’m really not interested in what either of these sides are saying.”

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Bob Geldof: ‘Israeli authorities are lying’

Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza from the start of March. It then reopened aid centres with new restrictions in May, but said the supply had to be controlled to prevent it from being stolen by Hamas militants.

On Saturday, reports referencing US government data said there was no evidence Hamas had stolen aid from UN agencies.

The IDF’s international spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, described such reports as “fake news” and said Hamas thefts have been “well documented”.

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Malnourished girl: ‘The war changed me’

Airdrops ‘expensive and inefficient’

It comes as the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said as of Saturday, 127 people have died from malnutrition-related causes, including 85 children.

They include a five-month-old girl who weighed less than when she was born, with a doctor at Nasser Hospital describing it as a case of “severe, severe starvation”.

Health workers have also been weakened by hunger, with some putting themselves on IV drips so they can keep treating badly malnourished patients.

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Aid waiting to be distributed in Gaza

On Friday, Israel said it would allow foreign countries to airdrop aid into Gaza – but the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has warned this will not reverse “deepening starvation”.

UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini described the method as “expensive” and “inefficient”, adding: “It is a distraction and screensmoke. A manmade hunger can only be addressed by political will.

“Lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need.”

UNRWA has the equivalent of 6,000 trucks in Jordan and Egypt waiting for permission to enter Gaza, he added.

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PM says UK will help drop aid to Gaza

MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, warned on Friday that 25% of young children and pregnant women in Gaza are now malnourished, and said the lack of food and water on the ground was “unconscionable”.

The UN also estimates Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people seeking food, the majority near the militarised distribution sites of the US-backed aid distribution scheme run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Read more:
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In a statement on Friday, the IDF had said it “categorically rejects the claims of intentional harm to civilians”, and reports of incidents at aid distribution sites were “under examination”.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has also previously disputed these deaths were connected with its organisation’s operations, with director Johnnie Moore telling Sky News: “We just want to feed Gazans. That’s the only thing that we want to do.”

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Bob Geldof accuses Israeli authorities of ‘lying’ about starvation in Gaza

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Bob Geldof accuses Israeli authorities of 'lying' about starvation in Gaza

Bob Geldof has accused the Israeli authorities of “lying” about starvation in Gaza – after Israel’s government spokesperson claimed there was “no famine caused by Israel”.

Earlier this week, David Mencer claimed that Hamas “starves its own people” while on The News Hour with Mark Austin, denying that Israel was responsible for mass hunger in Gaza.

Appearing on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Geldof said the claims are false.

Follow latest: Gaza aid airdrops a ‘smokescreen’ and ‘distraction’

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Israel challenged on starvation in Gaza

Sir Trevor asked the Live Aid organiser: “The Israeli view is that there is no famine caused by Israel, there’s a manmade shortage, but it’s been engineered by Hamas.

“I guess the Israelis would say we don’t see much criticism from your side of Hamas.”

In response, Geldof said “that’s a false equivalence” and “the Israeli authorities are lying”.

The singer then added: “They’re lying. [Benjamin] Netanyahu lies, is a liar. The IDF are lying. They’re dangling food in front of starving, panicked, exhausted mothers.

“And while they arrive to accept the tiny amount of food that this sort of set up pantomime outfit, the Gaza Humanitarian Front, I would call it, as they dangle it, then they’re shot wantonly.

“This month, up to now, 1,000 children or 1,000 people have died of starvation. I’m really not interested in what either of these sides are saying.”

He added: “If the newsfeeds and social feeds weren’t so censored in Israel, I imagine that the Israeli people would not permit what has been done in their name.”

Asked about the UK government’s reaction, Geldof said it was “not enough”.

“This is a distraction thing about ‘let’s recognise the state ‘ – absolutely, it should have been done ages ago, but it’s not going to make any material difference,” he said, referring to calls for Sir Keir Starmer to recognise Palestine as a state.

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Gaza: ‘This is man-made starvation’

In the Sky News interview earlier this week, Mr Mencer added: “This suffering exists because Hamas made it so. Here are the facts. Aid is flowing, through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Millions of meals are being delivered directly to civilians.”

He also claimed that, since May, more than 4,400 aid trucks had entered Gaza carrying supplies.

It comes after MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, warned 25% of young children and pregnant women in Gaza are now malnourished.

The charity said Israel’s “deliberate use of starvation as a weapon” has reached unprecedented levels, and said that at one of its clinics in Gaza City, rates of severe malnutrition in children under five have trebled over the past two weeks.

MSF then described the lack of food and water on the ground “unconscionable”.

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Aid waiting to be distributed in Gaza

In a statement to Sky News, an Israeli security official said that “despite the false claims that are being spread, the State of Israel does not limit the number of humanitarian aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip”.

It then blamed other groups for issues delivering aid. They said: “Over the past month, we have witnessed a significant decline in the collection of aid from the crossings into the Gaza Strip by international aid organisations.

“The delays in collection by the UN and international organisations harm the situation and the food security of Gaza’s residents.”

Read more:
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Surgeon claims IDF ‘deliberately’ shooting boys at Gaza aid points
Security shot at Palestinians at Gaza aid centre – ex-guard

The IDF also told Sky News: “The IDF allows the American civilian organisation (GHF) to distribute aid to Gaza residents independently, and operates in proximity to the new distribution zones to enable the distribution alongside the continuation of IDF operational activities in the Gaza Strip.

“Following incidents in which harm to civilians who arrived at distribution facilities was reported, thorough examinations were conducted in the Southern Command and instructions were issued to forces in the field following lessons learned.

“The aforementioned incidents are under review by the competent authorities in the IDF.”

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‘I still have hope’: Parents of IDF soldier taken hostage by Hamas fear he’ll be one of last freed

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'I still have hope': Parents of IDF soldier taken hostage by Hamas fear he'll be one of last freed

Yehuda searches through a downstairs room looking for a plastic bag containing the most precious of objects.

It’s a small, blackened Rubik’s Cube that belongs to Yehuda’s son Nimrod – one of 20 living Israeli hostages still being held by the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.

It was found in Nimrod’s burnt-out tank after the October 7th attacks.

“He likes PlayStation and Rubik’s Cube,” says Nimrod’s mother, Vicky.

“They found the Rubik’s Cube in the tank. It was complete but a little bit dark and they brought it back to us.”

Stills from Holland PKG of Vicky Cohen whose son Nimrod Cohen, an 19 y/o IDF soldier, who is being held hostage by Hamas
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Vicky Cohen

We spoke to Nimrod’s parents Yehuda and Vicky about the emotional rollercoaster hostage families in Israel are going through – as hope rises and fades of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

“I still have hope that maybe I will see Nimrod again,” says Vicky.

“It almost breaks my heart because I still had expectation,” she says – in spite of the latest failure to find resolution in talks between Israel and Hamas in Doha.

“But I still have hope that maybe something good will happen,” she says.

Rubik's cube owned by Nimrod Cohen, an 19 y/o IDF soldier, who is being held hostage by Hamas
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Nimrod’s charred Rubik’s Cube

Vicky says: “We heard [during] the last weeks, President Trump saying we will hear about a ceasefire soon – next week – in a few days.

“We heard our prime minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] say visiting Washington and meeting Trump was very successful – and heard members of the coalition talking about our prime minister eventually understanding he needs to end the war. But until now nothing.”

The delegation coming back to Israel doesn’t mean a total collapse of ceasefire talks, but US envoy Steve Witkoff said the response to the latest ceasefire proposals by Hamas showed “a lack of desire”.

And so the rollercoaster of emotion for the hostage families continues.

Middle East latest: Gaza aid airdrops a ‘smokescreen’

Nimrod Cohen, an 19 y/o IDF soldier, who is being held hostage by Hamas
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Nimrod

Nimrod’s father Yehuda Cohen said: “Of course it’s a disappointment but it’s not the first one. A long time ago I learned not to get my expectations up so the disappointment won’t be too deep.

“The solution is very simple – I’ve got it on my shirt – ceasefire and hostage deal. Meaning the only way to get all the hostages is ending the war.”

Stills from Holland PKG on Yehuda Cohen (pictured) whose son Nimrod Cohen is being held hostage by Hamas
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Nimrod’s father Yehuda

Yehuda shows us Nimrod’s bedroom at the family home. It’s exactly as it was when Nimrod left to return to his army duties a few days before the October 7 attacks.

Except in a corner, there’s a box of uniforms and personal possessions, including a wallet which Nimrod had left at his army outpost – all returned to the family by the IDF.

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Stills from Holland PKG on Yehuda and Vicky Cohen's son Nimrod Cohen, an 19 y/o IDF soldier, who is being held hostage by Hamas.
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The IDF handed Nimrod’s parents a box of his possessions left at his army outpost

It’s just like the bedroom of any other teenager – Nimrod was 19 when he was kidnapped. But two birthdays have passed since then. Nimrod is 21 now – a milestone spent in captivity a few weeks ago.

It’s believed there are 20 living Israeli hostages in Gaza – all male – and that Hamas is holding the bodies of 27 more hostages who have been killed.

Read more from Sky News:
Israel resumes airdrops into Gaza
Bob Geldof accuses Israel of ‘lying’
25% of children malnourished, charity says

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Starvation in Gaza continues

But even if a deal is agreed, the first phase is expected to secure the release of only half of the living hostages – and Nimrod’s parents say their son, as a soldier, is not likely to be one of the 10.

Yehuda says: “A partial deal means that the probability my son will be on that list is close to zero. So he’s going to be one of the last ones to be released, and that’s why we have to fight.”

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