Day: September 7, 2025

Jerusalem – Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar stated on Sunday that the resolution of the Gaza conflict hinges on the release of hostages and the disarmament of Hamas, reports 24brussels.

During a press conference with his Danish counterpart in Jerusalem, Saar emphasized that these two conditions are critical for achieving peace in the region. This statement follows Hamas’s reaffirmation of its longstanding position that it would release all hostages if Israel agrees to a ceasefire and withdraws its forces from Gaza City.

What long-standing position has Hamas maintained on hostages?

Hamas has consistently stated that it would release all Israeli hostages contingent on Israel halting military actions and withdrawing from Gaza City. This stance has been a core demand since the onset of the conflict, reiterated multiple times, including in September 2025.

The militant group has proposed comprehensive agreements for a ceasefire, involving the withdrawal of Israeli troops and a trade of hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Hamas has also indicated a willingness to transfer control of Gaza to a neutral administration.

Why has Israel rejected Hamas’s proposal for a truce?

Israel has dismissed Hamas’s ceasefire proposal, citing additional demands beyond those concerning hostages. Israel insists that Hamas must be dismantled, Gaza must be demilitarized, and security measures must remain in place to prevent future threats. These conditions were absent in Hamas’s proposals, leading to a deadlock in negotiations.

How many hostages are still held in Gaza?

As of September 2025, unconfirmed reports indicate that Hamas holds 48 hostages in Gaza, primarily civilians abducted during the attacks on October 7, 2023, along with several military personnel.

Intelligence assessments from the Israel Defence Forces suggest that at least 25 of these hostages may be deceased. Throughout the conflict, a total of 148 hostages have been returned alive due to releases and rescue operations, while 58 bodies of hostages have been recovered.

• US employers are hiring fewer workers, and some are looking to get rid of existing ones.
• Business leaders cited RTO mandates as one way they’re able to reduce headcount without layoffs.
• The acknowledgment confirms a piece of what some observers have long suspected about the RTO push.

Proponents of the argument that return-to-office mandates are a kind of layoff-in-disguise notched a grim win this week.

Business leaders from across the country told the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book that their RTO policies had “encouraged” a reduction in their workforces via attrition, rather leaders having to resort to layoffs.

The remark came ahead of a starkly weak jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that showed 22,000 net jobs added in August, where white-collar job losses were offset by gains in health care.

In addition, business leaders also told the Fed that AI and automation was helping their organizations get by with fewer workers.

As businesses prepare for weaker consumer demand and higher levels of economic uncertainty, and the cooling labor market appears to confirm something that some observers have long suspected about the RTO push: Ordering workers to come in to the office is, in part, a way of asking them to leave the company altogether.

As Business Insider’s Aki Ito observed, employees who choose to quit in response to an RTO mandate (or any other reason) are generally not eligible to collect the severance or health benefits that laid-off workers often get.

“It’s layoffs on the cheap,” she wrote in May.

And the trend doesn’t appear to be slowing down.

Foot-traffic data show that office visits reached a new high in July, and more than half of Fortune 100 companies now have a full-time office requirement.

Meanwhile, former job-hoppers are now “job-huggers,” holding even tighter to employers who might otherwise wish to see them go.

As employers have taken away carrots like hybrid work, raises, and promotions, they’ve also been adding new sticks, like higher performance metrics, fewer direct managers, and cuts to benefits.

Some bosses, as Business Insider’s Juliana Kaplan wrote, just want you to quit.

Of course, these stricter RTO mandates have been gaining popularity for about a year now, and critics of the policies have not been shy about calling them layoffs in sheep’s clothing.

What’s different now is the once-booming job market is no longer providing cover in the form of growing payrolls, and employers themselves are increasingly acknowledging the connection.

Public broadcaster says prime minister has made decision to avoid divide within his Liberal Democratic party

Addressing the tens of thousands of faithful filling Saint Peter’s Square on Sunday for the Mass with the canonization of Pier Giorgio Frassati and …

“We had a big, I don’t know, existential crisis among students a few years back,” Jure Leskovec told Fortune, “when it kind of wasn’t clear what our role is in this world.”