Turkish President Erdogan raises Kashmir issue during UN General Assembly address

The 41 workers trapped in an Uttarakhand tunnel for 17 days are likely to be rescued anytime now, as the manual drilling team clearing the debris that blocks their escape is metres away from reaching them. The operation, which faced several setbacks owing to the difficult terrain, is now on the threshold of success. As the country has its fingers crossed and hands joined in prayer, here's a look at how the workers got stuck

The Tunnel

The 4.5 km-tunnel is part of the Centre's ambitious Char Dham project aimed at providing all-weather connectivity between four prominent Hindu shrines in Uttarakhand - Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. Also known as Silkyara tunnel, this tunnel is on the route connecting Silyara and Dandalgaon in Uttarkashi district. It is a double-lane tunnel and one of the longest under Char Dham project. About 2.4 km of the under-construction tunnel from the Silkyara side and 1.75 km from the other side has been built. The tunnel, once complete, is expected to cut down travel time by an hour. The project to build the tunnel is being carried out by Hyderabad-based Navayuga Engineering Company Limited, which has reportedly handled such projects before.

What Went Wrong?

On November 12, a section of tunnel between 205 and 260 metres from the Silkyara side collapsed. Workers who were beyond the 260-metre mark were trapped, with their exit blocked. Fortunately for them, the part of the tunnel where they are stuck has power and water supply. While government authorities have maintained that a detailed probe will reveal what led to the collapse, multiple theories are floating around. One of them is that a landslide in the fragile Himalayan region led to the collapse. Several experts have pointed out how hasty development in the ecologically sensitive region was responsible for the incident.

Big Lapses?

There have been claims that the collapse was triggered by a blast carried out by construction teams building the tunnel. SP Sati, a geologist and professor of environmental science at Uttarakhand University of Horticulture and Forestry, said, "The agency will never accept this, but I am certain that a major blast led to this collapse." NDTV had earlier reported that the construction plan for the tunnel mentioned an escape tunnel, but it was never built. International expert Arnold Dix, who has been at the site, was asked if the absence of an escape tunnel contributed to the situation. He said that globally, escape tunnels are put at the end "because normally you don't expect them to collapse". He, however, added a disclaimer that escape tunnels may be built during the course of the project in areas that have specific geological conditions.

An Israeli woman held by the military wing of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas during the regime’s war on the Gaza Strip has thanked the movement’s fighters for their kind and humane behavior.

Daniel Aloni’s commendation came in a letter released by Palestinian media outlets on Monday. She was held in Gaza along with her six-year-old daughter Emelia.

The letter was written in Hebrew while Aloni was in detention in which she has praised the behavior of al-Qassam Brigades’ fighters who accompanied and guarded her and her daughter during the days they spent in the blockaded territory.

Daniel and her daughter were among the first batch of Israeli captives who were released on Friday after the Hamas movement reached a prisoner swap deal with the regime.

Other released Israeli captives have also testified to the good treatment they had received while in Hamas captivity.

After being released on humanitarian grounds, an 85-year-old Israeli woman said the Hamas fighters provided all the needs of the captives and gave them the same food that they themselves ate.

Aloni thanked al-Qassam fighters from the bottom of her heart for "extraordinary humanity that you have shown towards my daughter Emelia. You treated her like your own.”

She added that due to extraordinarily good care that Hamas fighters provided her daughter she “considered herself a queen in Gaza and felt like she was the center of the world.”

Here is the full text of Aloni’s letter, which has been translated from Hebrew:

“To the commanders who have accompanied me in recent weeks. It seems that we will part ways tomorrow, but I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your extraordinary humanity that you have shown towards my daughter Emelia. You treated her like your own. You welcomed her in your room whenever she walked in. She says that you are all her friends, not just acquaintances. You are her true and good loved ones. Thank you, thank you, thank you for the countless hours you spent with her as caregivers. Thank you for being patient with her and showering her with sweets, fruits, and everything available, even if it wasn’t readily accessible. Children should not be in captivity, but thanks to you and other kind-hearted individuals and leaders we have met during our presence here, my daughter considered herself a queen in Gaza and felt like she was the center of the world. We did not meet a single person, whether a member or leader, during our long stay [in Gaza] who did not treat her with kindness, tenderness, and love. I will forever be a captive of gratitude because she will not leave this place with a permanent psychological trauma. I will remember your kind manners, which you showed in here despite the difficult situation you were coping with yourselves, and the heavy losses that befell you here in Gaza. I wish in this world that we could be really good friends one day. I wish you all good health and well-being. Health and love to you and your families. Thank you very much. Daniel and Emelia.” 

A brutal Israeli attack targeting a refugee camp in Gaza has killed more than 100 people as the regime continues with its relentless aggression against the besieged Palestinian territory.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said in a Saturday report that many people had also been injured in the Israeli missile strike that took place earlier in the day and targeted the Jabalia refugee camp in the north of Gaza.

It said the attack had targeted a residential building belonging to a large family in Jabalia, adding that many members of the family were still missing under the rubble.

The attack comes a day after the Israeli regime resumed its brutal military campaign against Gaza after a seven-day ceasefire deal with Gaza’s ruling Hamas movement came to an end.

Nearly 200 people were killed in the renewed round of attacks on Gaza until early Saturday, according to Gaza Health Ministry authorities.

Israel’s aggression against Gaza started on October 7 hours after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on the Israeli-occupied territories of Palestine near Gaza.

More than 15,000 people had been killed in Gaza in the first round of Israel attacks before the truce with Hamas came into force on November 24.

Israel had targeted Jabalia and other camps hosting refugees in Gaza in its first round of attacks.

More than a million people have been displaced in Gaza as a result of the Israeli aggression.

Rights organizations and governments have repeatedly condemned Israel’s indiscriminate targeting of places of gathering for displaced Palestinians, including hospitals, schools, mosques and refugee camps in Gaza.