Photos of the Week: Israel-Hamas ceasefire, Buddhist Lent

By Kit Doyle · October 15, 2025
 (RNS) — Each week RNS presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s photo gallery includes the Israel-Hamas cease-fire deal, Buddhist Lent and more. People react as they watch a live broadcast of Israeli hostages released from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip, at a plaza known as hostages square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Oct. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) Palestinians celebrate after the announcement that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a peace plan to pause the fighting, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 9, 2025. Celebrations remain limited, as relief is mixed with mourning and concern for what comes next. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi) People gather at a plaza known as the Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, prior to the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Displaced Palestinians with their belongings pass destroyed buildings as they return to their homes in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, after Israel and Hamas agreed to pause their war and release remaining hostages. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi) Local rowers practice their wooden boat in the Mekong River before competing to mark the end of the three months of Buddhism's Lent at Prek Ampel village, Kandal province, northeast of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith) Buddhists light oil lamps at Botataung pagoda during celebrations of the full moon day of Thadingyut, the end of Buddhist Lent, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025, in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw) People watch an art projection on the Catholic cathedral during the Essen Light Festival at the city center of Essen, Germany, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) An Indian Hindu married woman looks at the moon through a sieve as part of a ritual to break her fast during the Karva Chauth festival, in Ahmedabad, India, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki) Roughly 6,700 people attend the “Share the Arrows” women’s conference, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas. (RNS photo/Kathryn Post) Evangelical Christians from around the world gather for a traditional march in support of Israel during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, in Jerusalem, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025, following the announcement that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a peace plan to pause the fighting. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) People, including members of the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership (CSPL), gather outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Ill., Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Adam Gray) Kashmiri Muslims pray as a cleric displays a relic of Sufi saint Sheikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jeelani inside his shrine in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin) Police personnel take cover behind shields to save themselves from stones thrown by supporters of Islamist party 'Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan' during clashes ahead of their pro-Palestinian march toward capital Islamabad, in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary) Archival Photos A long line of people waits in freezing rain to see "The Exorcist" at a New York City movie theater in 1974. The controversial film about demonic possession has been playing to packed theaters across the country, with people waiting in the cold for hours only to be shocked and, in some cases, terrified by the story of a 12-year-old girl possessed by the devil. Reports from various cities indicate that "The Exorcist" is having an emotional impact on those who have seen it. Clergymen have received numerous calls from people who feel they are possessed; movie-goers have become nauseous or have fainted; and demonic possession and exorcism have suddenly become conversational staples. (RNS archive photo by Bruce Anspach. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.) Plans for a World Conference on Church and Society, scheduled for July 1966, are discussed at Enugu, Nigeria, by churchmen attending a consultation on "Christian Response to the African Revolution" jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches' Division of Inter-Church Aid, Refugee and World Service and the All Africa Conference of Churches in 1965. The consultation preceded the WCC Central Committee meeting. From left to right are: Prof. Aluko of the economics department of the University of Nigeria; Dr. Paul Abrecht, executive secretary of the WCC's Department on Church and Society; the Rev. Adeolu Adegbola, Methodist theologian and director of Immanuel Theological College at Ibadan, Nigeria; and Mr. Bola Ige, Ibadan lawyer who drafted a report on international affairs for the consultation. (RNS archive photo. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.)
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