Funeral procession for slain Iranian leader Khamenei sets off in central Tehran

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Hamas said set to dissolve its Gaza government to allow in technocratic panel * Venezuela quake death toll rises to 3,342, with thousands still missing

The Times of Israel is liveblogging Monday’s events as they unfold.

Verdict expected today in Austrian torture trial of former Syrian officials

A former general and a former Syrian police officer will hear today in Vienna whether they have been found guilty of torturing opponents of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

The trial is the latest to see suspects from the Syrian civil war tried in European courts under the legal tool of universal jurisdiction, allowing judges to rule on alleged serious crimes committed abroad.

Khaled al-Halabi, 63, a former intelligence services brigadier general who has been in pre-trial detention since 2024, is charged with torture, aggravated coercion, sexual coercion, as well as multiple counts of serious bodily harm.

Musab Abu Rukbah, 54, a former local police lieutenant colonel, is accused of serious bodily harm, aggravated coercion and sexual coercion in the city of Raqa between April 2011 and March 2013.

Both pleaded not guilty at the start of their trial beginning in June and face up to 10 years in prison.

Syrian officials have also faced trials in France, Germany, Sweden and Belgium for alleged crimes committed during the country’s civil war.

Russia launches deadly barrage on Kyiv on eve of NATO summit, killing 8 people

Russia strikes Ukraine’s Kyiv region with ballistic missiles, killing at least eight people and wounding dozens, authorities said, on the eve of a NATO summit in Turkey.

The assault is the second on the capital and its surroundings in less than a week and comes as both sides increased long-range attacks, underlining the growing reach of the war more than four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky are expected to discuss the war on the sidelines of the summit in the Turkish capital Ankara, which begins tomorrow.

After that, Trump plans to speak with Russian leader Vladimir Putin as Washington seeks to revive stalled peace efforts.

An AFP journalist in Kyiv heard more than 10 explosions during a ballistic missile alert early Monday. Around 30 minutes later, AFP journalists saw several flashes in the sky as another series of blasts rang out.

Seven people were killed in Kyiv, and one in Bucha district northwest of the capital, authorities say, while at least 34 were wounded in Kyiv and its surrounding areas.

Iran sets off on a funeral procession through Tehran for slain supreme leader Khamenei

Iran begins a procession through its capital, Tehran, for the funeral of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Khamenei’s flag-draped coffin, and those of his family killed Feb. 28 in an airstrike at the start of the war launched by Israel and the United States, is being carried on board a truck.

They will be taken through the streets of Tehran on their way to Mehrabad International Airport.

Iran’s theocracy plans to see large crowds attend the ceremony across the city to show popular support for the government.

Iranian state television reports the procession has started.

Authorities have shut down streets, airspace and daily life for the mourning, which will end Thursday as the 86-year-old Khamenei is buried at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, his birthplace.

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Report: Hamas plans to dissolve its Gaza government to allow in technocratic panel

Hamas is moving toward dissolving its Gaza governing body, Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reports, citing two sources in the terror group.

The sources say this move would be meant to usher in the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a body of technocrats overseen by the US Board of Peace that is meant to administer Gaza in a period of transition from Hamas rule. The committee has not yet entered the Strip amid Hamas’s refusal to disarm.

One of the sources claims the dissolution will be announced tomorrow.

Yesterday, Kan news reported that Hamas has decided to stall for time in negotiations for its disarmament and for the implementation of US President Donald Trump’s plan for postwar Gaza, recognizing that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is doing the same due to the upcoming Knesset election.

The outlet cited an internal document discussed in the past few days by the group. It said Hamas believes Netanyahu views any concession on Gaza as political suicide, and that he is intentionally stalling in the indirect negotiations, which haven’t made meaningful progress in months. The group has therefore decided to do the same, it said, and see what the next government brings.