Israel and Hamas are showing tentative progress toward a ceasefire, with Israel's spy chief joining negotiations and Hamas signaling readiness to end hostilities if key conditions are met. Following recent talks in Cairo, where Hamas leaders presented ceasefire ideas to Egyptian officials, the group demanded that Israel withdraw from Gaza, agree to a prisoner exchange, and allow displaced Palestinians to return.

The potential breakthrough comes as Hamas's senior leader Yahya Sinwar was recently killed, a move that U.S. officials suggest could shift dynamics. In Cairo, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed conditional support for negotiations focused on freeing hostages still held by Hamas, directing the Mossad chief to travel to Qatar to advance dialogue.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also renewed efforts, consulting Qatari leaders on a strategy to ensure Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza while preventing Hamas from regrouping. As civilian casualties rise, with over 770 recent deaths in Gaza, calls for a truce grow. This diplomatic push continues alongside intensified conflicts on Israel’s northern front with Hezbollah in Lebanon, where clashes have also led to significant casualties and displacement.

Calls for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's resignation as Liberal leader have intensified, with a faction of Liberal MPs voicing their dissatisfaction during a closed-door caucus meeting on Parliament Hill. These internal pressures have come to a head as Trudeau faces a growing wave of discontent from within his party, with 24 MPs reportedly signing a document urging him to step down before the next election.

The meeting, held on Wednesday as part of the weekly caucus sessions, saw several MPs express their frustrations directly to Trudeau. Notably, British Columbia MP Patrick Weiler presented a document advocating for the prime minister’s resignation, drawing parallels to the political shift in the United States, where the Democratic Party revitalized itself after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election.

Though about 20 MPs called for Trudeau’s resignation, others stood in defense of his leadership. Immigration Minister Marc Miller acknowledged the frustrations but downplayed the severity of the situation, stating, "This isn’t a code red."

Trudeau faces an ultimatum to decide his future by October 28, but no clear consequences have been outlined if he chooses to remain. The internal unrest is further complicated by deteriorating relations between India and Canada, sparked by Trudeau’s allegations of India's involvement in the 2023 killing of Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India has denied the accusations and criticized Canada for harboring anti-India extremists.

As Trudeau navigates this political storm, the question of whether he will step aside remains unanswered, with both party unity and international relations hanging in the balance.

Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly announced that the remaining Indian diplomats in the country are clearly on notice, following the government's move to name India’s High Commissioner in Ottawa as a person of interest in the assassination of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Joly emphasized that Canada will not tolerate diplomats who violate the Vienna Convention or jeopardize Canadian lives.

This development comes after India expelled six Canadian diplomats on Monday and withdrew its own High Commissioner in response to Ottawa’s allegations. Meanwhile, Canada claims it has expelled six Indian diplomats, intensifying the diplomatic standoff.

Joly, likening India’s actions to Russia’s interference in Europe, stated that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) had linked Indian diplomats to homicides, death threats, and intimidation within Canada. “That level of transnational repression cannot happen on Canadian soil,” she declared in Montreal. She referenced previous Russian actions in Germany and the UK as similar examples.

When asked if more Indian diplomats might face expulsion, Joly reiterated that they are “clearly on notice” and emphasized Canada’s intolerance for any diplomat contravening international laws.

Tensions between the two nations escalated in September last year when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested a possible link between Indian agents and the killing of Nijjar, who was gunned down in British Columbia. India rejected the accusations as baseless and politically motivated, criticizing Canada for being lenient toward supporters of the Khalistan movement operating within its borders.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has admitted that Canada lacks "hard evidentiary proof" to support allegations linking Indian government agents to the 2023 killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Speaking at a public inquiry, Trudeau revealed that the accusations were based on intelligence from Canada and Five Eyes allies, rather than conclusive evidence. This admission comes amid heightened diplomatic tensions between India and Canada, which escalated following Trudeau's initial claims.

Trudeau alleged that Indian diplomats were involved in gathering information on Canadians critical of the Modi government, passing it to senior officials and criminal organizations like the Bishnoi gang. Nijjar, designated a terrorist by India in 2020, was shot dead in British Columbia, and Canada has accused Indian diplomats of plotting his murder. Trudeau stated that he confronted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 summit, but India's Ministry of External Affairs rejected the accusations, labeling them as politically motivated and lacking evidence.

India has consistently criticized Canada for harboring pro-Khalistani extremists and rejected claims of involvement in Nijjar's killing. Canadian journalist Daniel Bordman called Trudeau's admission a "major win for the Indian narrative," but noted that the broader issue remains unresolved, with differing perspectives on Nijjar's identity as either a terrorist or community activist. The diplomatic rift continues to strain relations between the two nations.

A Hezbollah drone attack on an Israeli army base in central Israel on Sunday killed four soldiers and severely wounded seven others, marking the deadliest strike by the Lebanon-based militant group since Israel launched a ground invasion into Lebanon nearly two weeks ago. The attack, near the city of Binyamina, targeted Israel's elite Golani brigade, with Hezbollah claiming it launched multiple drones and missiles to overwhelm Israeli air defenses.

This strike was reportedly in retaliation for Israeli airstrikes on Beirut that killed 22 people on Thursday. Israel's military said 61 people were wounded in the attack, an unusually high toll given the country’s advanced air defense systems.

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has escalated since Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel in October 2023, with Hezbollah firing rockets into Israel the following day. In response, Israel began a ground invasion of Lebanon aimed at weakening Hezbollah and pushing them away from the border to allow displaced Israelis to return.

Meanwhile, in Gaza, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 20 people, including children, at a school sheltering displaced Palestinians. The strikes have continued as Israel battles both Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, with civilian casualties mounting.

The violence has drawn international concern, with the United Nations accusing Israel of violating international law by attacking UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon. Despite this, Israel continues to assert that Hezbollah is using UN positions as cover for its operations.

Iran's permanent mission to the United Nations in New York has firmly denied claims linking Tehran to Hamas' surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Iranian state media. The statement was made in response to inquiries from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, following reports that Israel had obtained minutes from Hamas' secret meetings that allegedly suggested Iranian involvement.

The Iranian mission rejected the accusations, stating that Hamas officials based in Doha had declared they were unaware of the operation. According to the statement, Hamas' military wing in Gaza was solely responsible for planning, deciding on, and executing the attack. The mission emphasized that any attempt to link Iran or Hezbollah to the attack, either partially or fully, was based on "fabricated documents."

Reports from The New York Times indicated that Israeli military sources had accessed detailed records of Hamas' planning for the attack, which reportedly showed that Yahya Sinwar, Hamas' political bureau chief, sought to engage allies such as Iran and Hezbollah. However, the Iranian mission dismissed these claims as false.

The October 7 attack, which saw Hamas launch an unprecedented raid on southern Israel, resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,200 people and the taking of around 250 hostages. Israel has since responded with a large-scale military offensive on Gaza. Despite Iran's historical support for Palestinian resistance groups, including Hamas, Iranian officials have consistently maintained that they had no prior knowledge of the attack and were not involved in its execution.