The number of Palestinians dying in Israeli custody surged to nearly 100 people since the start of the war in Gaza, according to a report published Monday by a human rights group that says systematic violence and denial of medical care at prisons and detention centers contributed to many of the deaths it examined.

The picture that emerges from the report by Physicians for Human Rights -Israel is consistent with findings by The Associated Press, which interviewed more than a dozen people about prison abuses, medical neglect and deaths, analyzed available data, and reviewed reports of autopsies. AP spoke with a former guard and a former nurse at one prison, an Israeli doctor who treated malnourished prisoners brought to his hospital, former detainees and their relatives, and lawyers representing them and rights groups.

After repeated delays, Israel's government has agreed to launch an investigation into the government failures that led to the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that triggered the war in Gaza.

But questions about the investigation's independence drew accusations Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to evade personal responsibility in the worst attack in Israel's history.

Syrian authorities intend to hand over jihadist fighters from China's Uyghur minority to Beijing, two sources told AFP on Monday, as Damascus's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani makes his first visit to the country.

The issue of the Uyghur fighters was expected to be on Shaibani's agenda in Beijing, a Syrian government source told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that "based on China's request, Damascus intends to hand over the fighters in batches."

President Donald Trump has not been subtle about how badly he wants to see Saudi Arabia and Israel normalize relations.

He has talked up his push to extend his first term Abraham Accords — the project that formalized commercial and diplomatic ties between Israel and a trio of Arab nations — as key to his plan for bringing long-term stability to the Middle East as the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza continues to hold.

Members of Syria's security and military services have been detained as part of an investigation into sectarian violence in the southern province of Sweida in July that left hundreds of people dead, investigators said Sunday.

The head of a Syrian committee investigating the violence in Sweida held a news conference in the capital, Damascus, to talk about progress made but did not release a death toll, saying this will come in the final report that is expected by the end of the year.

The U.N. Security Council will vote Monday on a resolution endorsing U.S. President Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan, diplomats said.

Jordan's king and Indonesia's leader on Friday held talks as the two longtime friends agreed to strengthen military cooperation and economic ties between the two Muslim-majority nations.

King Abdullah II and President Prabowo Subianto share a long-standing personal relationship as alumni of the U.S. Fort Benning military academy that dates to 1995 when both were still serving as military officers in their respective countries.

Israel returned the bodies of 15 Palestinians to Gaza on Friday, officials at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis said, in the latest step to fulfilling the terms of the fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement.

The bodies were returned after militants late Thursday handed over the body of one of the last four remaining Israeli hostages taken during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that launched the war in Gaza.

South African authorities faced heavy criticism Friday after they held more than 150 Palestinians, including a woman who is nine months pregnant, on a plane for around 12 hours due to complications with their travel documents.

A pastor who was allowed to meet with the passengers while they were still stuck on the plane said it was extremely hot and that children were screaming and crying.

A U.S. proposal to provide a United Nations mandate for an international stabilization force in Gaza is facing opposition from Russia, China and some Arab countries, which have expressed unease about a yet-to-be established board that would temporarily govern the territory and the lack of any transitional role for the Palestinian Authority.

The Chinese and the Russians — two veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council — have called for the "Board of Peace" under President Donald Trump's ceasefire plan to be removed from the resolution entirely, according to four U.N. diplomats briefed on the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations.