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Trump denies telling Netanyahu to not be ‘f*cking negative,’ says Hamas ‘agreeing to things that are very important’
US President Donald Trump, left, greets Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the West Wing of the White House, September 29, 2025, in Washington, DC. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
US President Donald Trump denies that he recently told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop being so “f*cking negative” and “take the win” after Hamas accepted parts of Washington’s proposal for ending the Gaza war, while saying that it would have to hold talks regarding other portions of the plan.
“No, it’s not true. He’s been very positive on the deal,” Trump says of Netanyahu.
Trump at times has avoided criticizing Netanyahu in public, even as reports have mounted about his private frustration with the Israeli premier.
Asked whether he has any red lines for Hamas in the negotiations that kicked off Monday in Egypt, Trump tells reporters in the Oval Office that he does.
“If certain things aren’t met, we’re not going to do it,” he says.
“But I think we’re doing very well. Hamas has been agreeing to things that are very important,” Trump reveals, without elaborating.
Trump: ‘Pretty sure’ there’s going to be a deal, ‘the people of Israel want this to happen’
US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before signing an executive order in the Oval Office at the White House, October 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
US President Donald Trump says he’s “pretty sure” there’s going to be an agreement between Israel and Hamas on his plan to end the war in Gaza, adding that the terror group has been “fine” as of late.
“I think we’re going to have a deal… They’ve been trying to have a deal with Gaza literally for centuries,” Trump tells reporters in the Oval Office.
He avoids giving a timeline for when a deal will be announced after a reporter asks him if hostages will be released Tuesday to coincide with the two-year anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 onslaught.
An Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel earlier Monday that it will take several days, possibly longer, before a deal will be reached.
Asked whether he’s been in contact with hostage families about his Gaza proposal, Trump says he has and that the relatives of captives have been elated. “They’re so happy about it. One said, ‘I can’t breathe.'”
“The people of Israel want this to happen,” he says, referencing the weekly protests in Israel attended by tens of thousands calling for a hostage deal and an end to the war, regularly pushing messages largely against those of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
As for Hamas, Trump says, the group has been “fine.”
“I hope it’s going to continue that way. I think it will,” he says in a rare moment where he avoided criticizing the terror group. Trump embraced Hamas’s statement last week that accepted parts of his Gaza proposal, while asserting that additional talks were needed regarding its other parts pertaining to the post-war management of Gaza.
He reiterates that his agreement goes beyond ending the war in Gaza, extending to broader regional peace. Trump points to the support his proposal has gotten from the Arab and Muslim world.
“I spoke with President Erdogan of Turkey. He’s fantastic. He’s been pushing very hard [for a Gaza deal]… and Hamas has a lot of respect for him. They have a lot of respect for Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia,” Trump says, adding that he also spoke with the king of Jordan.
Turkey and Qatar have indeed hosted Hamas leaders at the request or acquiescence of the US and Israel, while the UAE and Saudi Arabia have outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is an offshoot, so it’s unclear what respect Trump is referring to.
Trump hits out at ‘troublemaker’ Greta Thunberg after Israel deports her: ‘She should see a doctor’
Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg speaks as she arrives at Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport in Athens, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025, after being deported from Israel along with other pro-Palestinian activists from the Gaza-bound flotilla. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
US President Donald Trump is also asked by reporters in the Oval Office about Israel’s deportation of Greta Thungberg and other pro-Palestinian activists who tried to break the maritime blockade on Gaza.
“She’s just a troublemaker,” Trump says, referring to the Swedish campaigner. “You mean she’s no longer into the environment, now she’s into this?”
“She has an anger management problem, I think she should see a doctor,” Trump continues. “She’s so angry, she’s so crazy.”
Trump on Greta Thunberg: "She's just a troublemaker. She's no longer into the environment, now she's into this? She has an anger management problem. I think she should see a doctor … she's so crazy." pic.twitter.com/G3v8CSA4Ty
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 6, 2025
‘Positive atmosphere’ reported at first round of talks between Hamas and mediators
The first round of Gaza talks between Hamas and mediators have ended in Egypt “amid a positive atmosphere,” Egyptian state-linked media reports early on Tuesday.
Al-Qahera News, which is linked to state intelligence, reports the talks will continue on Tuesday, also between Hamas and mediators in the resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, where an Israeli delegation arrived on Monday.
A report carried by Qatar’s Al Jazeera similarly describes the meeting as positive.
Israel and Hamas are expected to engage in indirect talks on the details of a proposal by US President Donald Trump for a hostage-prisoner exchange and long-term ceasefire.
Starmer marks ‘nightmare’ two years since Oct. 7 attack, says rising antisemitism in UK ‘a stain on who we are’
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria talk to a member of the local Jewish community as they visit the scene of the terror attack outside Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, north Manchester, on October 3, 2025. (Phil Noble/Pool/AFP)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says the two years since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza, have been a “living nightmare” for many.
“Today we mark two years since the horrifying attacks on Israel by Hamas terrorists on October 7th 2023…. The worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” Starmer says in a statement.
“Since that awful day, so many have endured a living nightmare,” he says, vowing to continue efforts to bring home British hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
Starmer notes the period has seen surging antisemitism in the UK, days after two Jewish men were killed in a terror attack against a Manchester synagogue.
“Jewish communities have also endured rising antisemitism on our streets” including the deadly car-ramming and stabbing attack last Thursday in Manchester, which took place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
“This is a stain on who we are, and this country will always stand tall and united against those who wish harm and hatred upon Jewish communities,” said the British leader.
Man charged after New Zealand FM’s home attacked amid anti-Israel protests
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, September 26, 2025, at UN headquarters. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
A man has been charged after a window of the New Zealand Foreign Minister’s home was smashed with a crowbar Monday and a note pinned to his front door that said “welcome to the real world,” the minister’s spokesperson says on Tuesday.
The glass smashed all over Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ dog, who was sleeping below the window, he adds.
Peters has come under pressure from protest groups and opposition parties in recent days after he announced New Zealand would not be following Australia, Britain and Canada in recognizing Palestinian statehood. Anti-Israel protests have been held outside his Auckland home, with Peters hitting out at the demonstrators earlier Monday.
Peters says in a social media post on X that he was not home but both his partner and a guest were.
“This is truly gutless,” it says. “When we have protesters, political bloggers, and MPs alike encouraging this behavior, posting politicians’ home addresses online, and acting with pure ignorance and extremism, this is the result.”
“All of New Zealand needs to be deeply concerned,” the post says.
Auckland City District Commander, Superintendent Sunny Patel said that a 29-year-old man who is believed to be responsible for the damage had handed himself in to police and would appear in court on October 10.
“I know these ongoing occurrences have caused angst and frustration amongst residents. Police recognize the right to lawful protest, however we will not condone protest action where property is damaged,” Patel says in a statement.
Trump to host freed hostage Edan Alexander at White House to mark Oct. 7 anniversary
This handout photo shows US President Donald Trump, seated, posing for a photo with American-Israeli freed hostage Edan Alexander, at the White House in Washington, on July 3, 2025. (White House)
US President Donald Trump will host freed hostage Edan Alexander at the White House on Tuesday, according to a copy of the president’s schedule, two years after the American-Israeli lone soldier was abducted to Gaza during the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel.
Neighbors of Manchester synagogue attacker say they told police he was ‘radicalizing’
Jihad al-Shamie, who carried out a deadly terrorist attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation in Manchester, UK, on Yom Kippur, October 2, 2025. (Image circulated on social media)
Neighbors of the terrorist who carried out the deadly attack on a Manchester synagogue during Yom Kippur had warned police that he was becoming “radicalized” and trying to “preach” the Quran to children, according to the Guardian.
Unnamed neighbors quoted by the UK newspaper say Jihad al-Shamie, 35, a Syrian-born British citizen, became increasingly radical following the outbreak of the COVID pandemic in 2020, when he began attempting to “preach the Quran” on the street where he lived and hosting private gatherings in the yard.
“They just started wearing all the robes and everything. I thought [one relative] was being radicalized because he wouldn’t speak to us for a bit,” a neighbor is quoted as saying. ““He was coming up the road preaching to kids about the Quran. It was quite intimidating. It was intrusive.”
The neighbors also say that police visited al-Shamie’s home earlier this year, and that he “became reclusive” after suffering “brain damage” after falling off a cliff around 20 years ago.
“Jihad had a bad accident,” one of the neighbors tells the Guardian. “He fell off a cliff and got airlifted to London. He had massive head injuries, it was horrific. You didn’t see much of him after that — he became very quiet and reclusive.”
British police say they are investigating if the attacker — who was out on bail for suspected rape — may been influenced by an Islamist ideology, but have stressed he was not on any counter-terror watchlist.
UN reports 9 more staffers arbitrarily detained by Yemen’s Houthis
Nine more United Nations personnel have been detained by Yemen’s Houthis, bringing the total number of arbitrarily held UN staff to 53 since 2021, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric says.
Mourners mark Oct. 7 anniversary at Kfar Aza, stand silently at moment when attack began
Several hundred mourners gather in Kfar Aza, near the Gaza border, to mark the second anniversary of the October 2023 Hamas attack.
The crowd gathers for a ceremony at the community’s weapons storage building, where some of the fighting between the community’s response team and invading terrorists took place.
The seven members of the response team are a focus of the ceremony, their images posted on the side of the building, over a lit memorial candle for each.
Residents of the community addressing the crowd also all refer to the twins Ziv and Gali Berman, who remain hostage in Gaza.
At 6:29, at the time the attack began, the crowd stands for a moment of silence. Booms from artillery in Gaza are audible in the background.
The brief ceremony closes with the crowd signing Hatikvah, or the Hope, Israel’s anthem.
Rocket sirens sound in Gaza border community on second anniversary of October 7
Rocket sirens sound in Netiv HaAsara, a community close to the Gaza border.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces says it is looking into the details.
The apparent attack from Gaza comes on the two-year anniversary of the devastating cross-border attack led by Hamas on October 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people were murdered and 251 taken hostage to Gaza.
Netiv HaAsara was one of the communities attacked on that day.
Ceremonies to be held throughout the day as Israel marks 2 years since October 7
A woman places a candle at a tribute for Ofir Shoshani during a memorial marking two years since the deadly Hamas cross-border attack on Israel, in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Oct. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Ceremonies will be held throughout the day as Israel marks the second anniversary of October 7, coinciding this year with the Jewish festival of Sukkot.
The day began with a ceremony at Kibbutz Kfar Aza, whose members are still waiting for the return of Ziv and Gali Berman, taken hostage and held in Gaza.
At 11 a.m., dozens of bereaved families whose loved ones were killed at the Nova festival will hold a ceremony at the site of the rave.
Kibbutz Nir Oz, the hardest-hit community on that day, will hold a ceremony at 6 p.m.
At 9:30 p.m., the Bereaved Families Memorial Ceremony will be held in Tel Aviv’s Park Hayarkon and broadcast on television networks.
There are no formal state-run ceremonies today as not only is it a Jewish holiday, but also not the anniversary of the attack according to the Jewish calendar.
Gaza terrorists fire rocket at Netiv Ha’asara on 2nd anniversary of October 7; no injuries
A rocket was launched from the northern Gaza Strip at the border community of Netiv Ha’asara a short while ago, the military says.
The rocket struck in the area of the community, but no injuries were caused, the military says.
The attack comes on the two-year anniversary of Hamas’s devastating October 7 onslaught in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.
Netiv Ha’asara was one of the communities attacked on that day.
Protesters calling for hostage deal rally outside homes of ministers, coalition lawmakers
One of numerous demonstrations calling for a deal to secure the release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, and criticizing the government for October 7, 2023 failures, held outside the homes of ministers and coalition lawmakers on October 7, 2025 (Vardit Alon-Korpel / Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
Protesters calling for a hostage deal and end to the war in Gaza rally outside the homes of ministers and coalition lawmakers on the second anniversary of the October 7 onslaught.
Demonstrators chant “we haven’t forgotten the abandonment.”
Hundreds gather at site of Nova festival on second anniversary of massacre
The parents of Shiran Slavin visit the site of the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Reim in southern Israel, where she and hundreds of others were killed and abducted during the deadly Hamas cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, as Israel marks the second anniversary of the attack, Oct. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Hundreds of people are gathering at the site of the Nova festival near Re’im on the second anniversary of the devastating cross-border raid by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023.
A ceremony is set to be held at the site at 11 a.m.
The Nova music festival was held in the Re’im area near the Gaza border as part of the Sukkot holiday celebrations in 2023.
In the early morning hours of October 7, Hamas terrorists stormed the festival grounds during their surprise attack on southern Israel, murdering 378 people and kidnapping dozens more.
Australian official: ‘Glory to our martyrs’ event in Sydney on Oct 7 anniversary ‘shockingly insensitive’
Australia’s most populous state criticizes a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel group’s plan to stage a protest event in Sydney, the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023 onslaught.
The Stand for Palestine Australia group is planning a “glory to our martyrs” event in Sydney’s Bankstown suburb, drawing condemnation from Chris Minns, the premier of the state of New South Wales, which includes Sydney.
“Terrible timing, shockingly insensitive,” Minns tells radio station 2GB.
“We understand that there is concern about innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza, but to do it … on 7th, seems like they are glorifying the actions of these Hamas terrorists, and not the circumstance of those that are living in Gaza.”
Crew member of Dutch cargo ship dies of injuries sustained in Houthi attack last week
The Netherlands-flagged cargo ship Minervagracht off Delfzijl, the Netherlands, January 12, 2025. (Mark Prummel via AP)
A crew member of the Dutch cargo ship that was attacked by the Iran-backed Houthis in the Gulf of Aden last week has died of his injuries, the vessel’s Amsterdam-based operator Spliethoff says in a statement.
The company does not release further details about the deceased crew member, but a spokesperson tells a Dutch broadcaster they were Filipino.
The vessel, Minervagracht, was in international waters in the Gulf of Aden when it was struck by an explosive device that inflicted substantial damage and started a fire on the ship. A helicopter was used to rescue 19 of its crew, who are Russian, Ukrainian, Filipino and Sri Lankan.
The Houthis — whose slogan calls for “Death to America, Death to Israel, [and] a Curse on the Jews” — began attacking Israel and maritime traffic in November 2023, a month after the October 7 Hamas massacre that sparked the war in Gaza.
UK minister: Health service ‘failing to protect Jewish patients from racist doctors’
Britain's Heath Secretary, Wes Streeting waits to speak during the annual Labour Party conference in Liverpool, England, September 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
British Health Minister Wes Streeting says that the UK National Health Service (NHS) is “completely failing to protect Jewish patients” amid a rising wave of antisemitism from medical staff.
“Two years on from the horrific events of October 7th and just days after a despicable attack on our nation’s Jewish community, we must be unequivocal that antisemitism has absolutely no place in our NHS, or anywhere in our society,” Streeting tells London’s The Times, referring to the deadly terror attack at a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur.
Campaigners have long warned of spiking antisemitism within the British health service, which they say leaves Jewish patients unsafe.
Streeting also tells The Times he will overhaul the General Medical Council (GMC) and Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) after a number of cases in which medical professionals went unpunished for antisemitism.
“The NHS is a universal health service, which means that everyone, regardless of race, religion or creed, should feel safe seeking its care. I deplore the fact that this is frankly not the current reality for many Jewish patients and staff, and I am determined to change this for once and for all,” Streeting says.
“It should go without saying that doctors making racist comments about Jewish people is abhorrent and demands action. Yet all too often, appropriate action by regulators has been sorely lacking,” he says.
The comments by Streeting came two weeks after the latest incident in which a medic wasn’t suspended over antisemitic comments.
Dr Rahmeh Aladwan was investigated and then cleared of wrongdoing over social media posts, including one saying that Israelis are “worse” than the Nazis, and claiming that the “Royal Free Hospital in London is a Jewish supremacy cesspit.”
The Times says that since she escaped suspension, “Aladwan has posted incessantly about Jews and Israel.”
According to figures obtained by the Jewish News and cited by The Times, nearly 500 complaints of antisemitism relating to 123 doctors have been submitted to the GMC since October 7, 2023. Of these, 84 per cent were closed at the triage stage, according to the data.
Bereaved mother at Nova site: ‘I’m here to be with her, because this is the last time that she was alive’
Moshe Shuva and Yuval Baron (Courtesy)
Orit Baron, whose daughter Yuval was murdered with her fiance Moshe Shuva on October 7, 2023, visits the Nova festival site where the couple was murdered.
Baron says that it was a “black” date for her family.
“Now it’s two years. And I’m here to be with her, because this is the last time that she was alive,” the 57-year-old mother says at the site of the attack, adding she felt “that right now she’s with me here.”
Baron and Shuva were buried side by side, a few months before they were slated to wed on Valentine’s Day.
“Their relationship was simply beautiful, they each took small steps toward each other, they blossomed together,” Orit Baron told Mako last year. “It was incredible to see how opposite they were, she was crazy, loud, you couldn’t not see her and hear her in every place. He’s shy, introverted, gentle, you don’t hear or see him.”
The Nova music festival was held in the Re’im area near the Gaza border as part of the Sukkot holiday celebrations in 2023.
In the early morning hours of October 7, Hamas terrorists stormed the festival grounds during their surprise attack on southern Israel, murdering 378 people and kidnapping dozens more.
Rocket sirens sound for 2nd time in Gaza border town on October 7 anniversary
Rocket sirens sound in the Gaza border community of Netiv Ha’asara for the second time this morning.
The IDF says it is looking into the details.
The apparent rocket attack comes on the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023 attacks.
IDF says 2nd siren in Gaza border town was false alarm
The rocket siren that sounded in the Gaza border community of Netiv Haasara a short while ago was a false alarm, the military updates.
The alert was likely triggered by IDF activity in the northern Gaza Strip.
UN chief calls for ‘unconditional’ release of hostages: ‘After 2 years of trauma, we must choose hope’
Families of Israelis held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, in a sukkah outside the PM's residence in Jerusalem, with photographs of the hostages, on October 5, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)
The United Nations chief renews his plea for the “immediate” and “unconditional” release of hostages held in Gaza in a statement released to mark two years since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
“The horror of that dark day will be forever seared in the memories of us all,” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says.
Guterres says he had heard first-hand the “unbearable pain” of survivors and the families of captives held in Gaza and condemns the “deplorable conditions,” urging Israel and Hamas to seize the opportunity to end hostilities as talks continue negotiating US President Donald Trump’s peace plan.
“After two years of trauma, we must choose hope. Now,” he says.
“Let us honor the memory of all the victims by working for the only path forward: a just and lasting peace, in which Israelis, Palestinians, and all the peoples of the region live side by side in security, dignity and mutual respect.”
‘Positive’ Gaza talks resuming later today, sources close to Hamas say
Smoke rises following an Israeli army strike in the Gaza Strip, as seen from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, southern Israel, Oct. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Negotiations for a hostage deal and ending the Gaza war have been “positive” so far, two sources close to Hamas’s negotiating team tell AFP, with discussions set to resume around midday.
“The talks were positive last night, with the first round lasting four hours,” one of the sources says. “The indirect negotiations are scheduled to resume at midday,” he adds.
Another Palestinian source confirms the talks will resume in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh.
An Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel yesterday that it will take several days, possibly longer, before a deal will be reached.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Freed hostage Eli Sharabi marks 2 years since wife, daughters killed: ‘Unimaginable loss’
Yahel, Lianne and Noiya Sharabi (Courtesy)
Freed hostage Eli Sharabi marks two years since his wife and teenage daughters were murdered on October 7, 2023, with a call for the return of all those held in Gaza, including the body of his brother, Yossi.
“Two years have passed since the day everything changed for me,” he writes on Facebook.
“On 7/10/23 our peaceful and happy life became hell, mourning, and unimaginable loss that will accompany me every moment until my last day… A longing that is getting stronger for pure souls, my wife, Lianne, my daughters Noiya and Yahel, and Yossi my brother,” he writes.
“However since my release, every morning I choose a life full of action and hope,” Sharabi says.
“These days, I and the whole Sharabi family are holding our breath in the presence of hope, for the return of Yossi my brother for a proper burial, and the return of Alon Ohel, my dear friend, and all the hostages. We’ve suffered enough, we deserve a different reality. We want to start healing,” he says.
Sharabi, 53, was freed in February, after 491 days of captivity. It was only upon his release that he learned that his wife and two teenage daughters had been murdered in their Kibbutz Be’eri home on October 7, 2023.
He weighed just 44 kilograms (97 pounds) when he was freed. US President Donald Trump said he and the other two hostages released alongside him “looked like Holocaust survivors.”
Sharabi has said there can be no closure for him until the return of all the hostages, including his closest companion in captivity, Ohel, and the body of his older brother, Yossi.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
Macron decries ‘the unspeakable horror of the Hamas terrorism’ on Oct. 7
French President Emmanuel Macron arrives to hold a press conference at the Elysee Paslace in Paris on June 13, 2025, after Israel launched a wave of strikes across Iran. (Michel Euler / POOL / AFP)
French President Emmanuel Macron posts on social media to mark the second anniversary of the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.
“October 7.
Two years after the unspeakable horror of the Hamas terrorism, the pain remains raw.
We do not forget.
We think of all the victims, including 51 of our compatriots.
We think of the 48 hostages still held by Hamas. We work tirelessly for their return.
I reiterate France’s call: the hostages must be freed and the ceasefire must take place without delay.
We share the grief of the bereaved families as well as the anguish of those who are still waiting.
Such an abomination must never happen again. Let us unite all our forces to fight antisemitism everywhere and build peace.”
Jordanian media says 131 Gaza flotilla activists deported via Allenby Crossing
Jordan’s state news agency reports that 131 Gaza flotilla activists were deported from Israel to Jordan via the Allenby Bridge Crossing.
Loved ones of Supernova victims gather at festival site to mark two years since massacre
People visit the site of the Nova music festival, where hundreds of revelers were murdered and abducted by Hamas and taken into Gaza, as Israel marks the second year anniversary of the onslaught, near Kibbutz Re'im, October 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Relatives and friends of those murdered at the Supernova music festival on October 7, 2023, hold a ceremony at the site of the massacre.
Attendees hold a minute’s silence at the site of the attack in southern Israel, where terrorists killed over 360 people and seized dozens of hostages.
Orit Baron, whose daughter Yuval was killed at the festival with her fiancé Moshe Shuva, tells AFP the day was a “black” date for her family.
“Now it’s two years. And I’m here to be with her, because this is the last time that she was alive,” the 57-year-old mother says at the site of the attack, adding she felt “that right now she’s with me here.”
In Ben Shapiro interview, Netanyahu mistakenly counts 46 hostages in Gaza; hopes war to end ‘soon’ with Trump’s help
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mistakenly says there are 40, then 46 hostages held in Gaza during an interview with conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro.
In the interview, Netanyahu expresses hope that the ongoing war will end “soon” with the help of US President Donald Trump, as Israel and Hamas hold mediated talks in Egypt for a deal proposed by the White House last week.
“What started in Gaza will end in Gaza, with the release of 40 of our hostages, 46 actually, 20 are alive,” he says.
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 48 hostages, including 47 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 26 confirmed dead by the IDF. Twenty are believed to be alive and there are grave concerns for the well-being of two others, Israeli officials have said. Among the bodies held by Hamas is an IDF soldier killed in Gaza in 2014.
Netanyahu has incorrectly stated the number of hostages in the past. In August, the prime minister committed himself to “the release of all 20 of our hostages,” at a time when 50 hostages were held by terror groups in Gaza.
On US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza, Netanyahu says he and the president managed to “turn the tables” and put international pressure on Hamas to accept a deal to end the war, after much of the focus was on Israel.
“I thought it was a very important thing to say, hey, release those hostages, end Hamas rule. Let’s get on with the task of pursuing an expanded peace, which I think would be possible once this thing is done,” he says.
“I think we can expand the Abraham Accords. I think we can have more peace agreements. I think we can have them not only in the Middle East, but with the Islamic world beyond the Middle East. And there are some important Islamic countries, countries with big Islamic majorities, who are in touch with this, but I think first you have to finish the job. You have to finish the Gaza war, which I hope to do very soon with President Trump’s help,” he says.
Images of hostages, Oct. 7 victims fill plaza in front of Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate
More than 1,000 chairs with photographs of Israeli hostages and those murdered on October 7, 2023, are installed to remember the victims of the Hamas massacre in an installation organized by the Jewish Student Union Germany, in front of Brandenburg Gate, in Berlin on October 7, 2025. (Tobias Schwarz / AFP)
The images of hostages and those murdered on October 7, 2023, are placed on over 1,000 empty chairs in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, on the two-year anniversary of the massacre.
The installation at Pariser Platz is set up by Germany’s Jewish Student Union.
European leaders mark two years since Oct. 7, hope for ceasefire, return of hostages
EU Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen pays tribute to the victims of the October 7, 2023, massacre and expresses hope for a lasting peace in the region.
“We will never forget the horror of the Hamas attacks on 7 October and the pain they caused to innocent victims, their families and the entire people of Israel, two years ago,” she says in a statement.
“We honor their memory by working tirelessly for peace. The immediate release of all hostages and a ceasefire are now within reach… This moment must be seized to pave the way for a lasting peace in the region, based on the two-state solution,” she says.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says: “Two years have passed since the ignominy of the massacre carried out by Hamas terrorists against thousands of defenseless and innocent Israeli civilians, including women and children. Unspeakable crimes that make October 7 one of the darkest pages in history.”
“Hamas’s violence has triggered an unprecedented crisis in the Middle East. Israel’s military response has gone beyond any principle of proportionality, claiming too many innocent lives among Gaza’s civilian population,” she adds.
“We all have a duty to do everything within our power to ensure that this precious and fragile opportunity — the peace plan presented by [US] President [Donald] Trump — succeeds.”
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis writes on X: “Today we pause to honor the victims of terror. We stand firmly against hatred and violence. As talks advance under the @POTUS plan, we urge all parties to act with courage and restraint: toward a lasting ceasefire, release of all hostages and a future of peace and security for all.”
Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson laments that since October 7, “Jews in Sweden have testified that they feel unsafe in their own country.”
“My message is: There is no place for antisemitism in Sweden. Jews in Sweden should be able to proudly wear the Star of David, visit the synagogue, and leave their children in Jewish schools. All Swedish Jews should know that we stand behind you.”
Hostage families demand ‘explanation’ after Netanyahu mistakenly says 46 captives held in Gaza
Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip carry posters with portraits of their loved ones during a protest demanding their immediate release and calling for a ceasefire, in Jerusalem, October 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum demands an “explanation” from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he misquoted the number of hostages in an interview with conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro.
The forum notes that the hostages were taken two years ago from today, “All of them on your watch.”
“So we will update you — there are 48 hostages in Gaza,” the forum says.
“For us, and for the people of Israel who for two years have taken to the streets week after week, every one of them is a whole world. Every one of them must come home, the living for rehabilitation and the fallen for burial in their land,” the forum says.
Addressing Netanyahu, the forum says he has an opportunity to end the “nightmare” and return all the hostages, “48, not 40, and not 46.”
Lebanon says one killed in Israeli drone strike on car in southern town
Lebanon’s health ministry reports one dead and one wounded in an Israeli drone strike targeting a car in the southern town of Deir Aames.
Another Israeli strike hit an excavator between the southern towns of Yater and Zinqin, according to Lebanese media.
The IDF has not yet commented.
استشهاد عزيز في غارة ديرعامص ????#الجنوب pic.twitter.com/eLxD9CuReK
— moe abboud حساب بديل (@AbbMoe) October 7, 2025
بالصورة: اصابة جراء الغارة التي استهدفت جرافة في منطقة وادي مريمين بين ياطر وزبقين pic.twitter.com/5WI8jgGi7X
— Voice of Lebanon 100.3 100.5 (@sawtlebnan) October 7, 2025
Hamas marks two years since Oct. 7, calling it ‘glorious day of success’
Palestinians wave the national flag and celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the southern Gaza Strip fence east of Khan Younis on October 7, 2023. (AP/Yousef Masoud)
The Hamas terror group marks two years since launching the October 7, 2023, massacre, calling it a “glorious day of success” for the Palestinian people.
The terror group says the massacre was a “meaningful turning point” in the region.
“Two years on, and the enemy is still continuing its barbaric war against the steadfast Palestinian people, and continues its massacres against innocent civilians, while the world is silent and the Arab countries abandon them in an unprecedented way,” it says.
The statement memorializes terror chiefs who have been killed throughout the war, including Ismail Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar, Saleh al-Arouri, and Mohammed Deif.
Scientists John Clarke, Michel Devoret, and John Martinis win Nobel Prize in Physics
(L-R) Olle Eriksson, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics, Hans Ellegren, secretary general of The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and Goeran Johansson, member of the Nobel Committe for Physics, address a press conference to announce the winners of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 7, 2025. (Jonathan Nackstrand / AFP)
STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Scientists John Clarke, Michel Devoret, and John Martinis win the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for “the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit,” the award-giving body says.
“This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics has provided opportunities for developing the next generation of quantum technology, including quantum cryptography, quantum computers, and quantum sensors,” the prize-awarding body says in a statement.
All three winners are based in the United States.
Israeli firms barred from Dubai Airshow, organizer says
A man walks near the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) pavilion during the 2023 Dubai Airshow at Al-Maktoum International Airport in Dubai, on November 14, 2023. (Karim SAHIB / AFP)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Israeli defense companies have been barred from the upcoming Dubai Airshow after a “technical review,” its organizer says, without providing further details, on the two-year anniversary of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre.
“The [Israeli] exhibitors that were previously coming won’t be participating,” says Tim Hawes, managing director of Informa Markets, which organizes the show, on the sidelines of a press conference to announce details of the exhibition.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Pope Leo to make first foreign trip to Turkey and Lebanon next month
Pope Leo XIV attends the weekly general audience at the Vatican, on August 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican announces that Pope Leo XIV will travel to Turkey and Lebanon next month on the first foreign trip of his papacy, making an important gesture to both Christians and Muslims with a symbolically rich visit.
The Vatican says that Leo will visit Turkey from November 27-30, and Lebanon from November 30-December 2. The visit to Turkey will include a pilgrimage to Iznik to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea.
Egypt’s FM says Witkoff to join Gaza talks tomorrow
US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff (R) and Jared Kushner, son-in-law and adviser to US President Donald Trump, arrive for a joint news conference between Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the State Dining Room at the White House on September 29, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images/AFP)
CAIRO, Egypt — A US delegation led by presidential envoy Steve Witkoff will join talks aimed at a truce in Gaza and hostage and prisoner exchange on Wednesday, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty says.
In a joint press conference with his German counterpart, Abdelatty says he and Johann Wadephul “had a long conversation with Steve Witkoff, who is expected in Egypt in the coming hours.”
Qatar says Hamas freeing hostages would mean end of war, too early to know if talks will succeed
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman says that “if Hamas hands over the hostages, that would mean the end of the war,” in comments to reporters in Doha.
Majed al-Ansari also says that Israel should have ceased operations in Gaza already, in line with US President Donald Trump’s peace plan.
“We await the outcomes of the negotiations in the coming days regarding the ceasefire. This question should be directed first to the Israeli occupation government. It was supposed to actually cease fire if the statements made by the prime minister there regarding adherence to the Trump plan were true,” Ansari says.
He says that there are many details to be worked out on US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for the Gaza Strip, amid negotiations in Egypt, and that it is too early to be pessimistic or optimistic, or even discuss alternatives to Trump’s proposal.
He also says it is too early to discuss the future of Hamas’s political office in Qatar.
Anti-Israel protesters march on US embassy in Jakarta on anniversary of Oct. 7
Protesters wave Palestinian flags as they shout slogans during an anti-Israel rally on the anniversary of Hamas's October 7 massacre, outside the US Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, October 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
ANKARA, Turkey — As thousands gather in southern Israel to commemorate victims on the second anniversary of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre, protesters in Indonesia rallied to condemn Israel’s war in Gaza.
More than 1,000 pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protesters marched to the US Embassy in Indonesia’s capital of Jakarta to denounce Israel’s blockade of Gaza and the detention of activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla that tried to break through the siege last week.
Chanting “Free, free Palestine” and waving flags, demonstrators called for the activists’ release and condemned two years of Israeli military action in Gaza.
Authorities in Indonesia — the world’s most populous Muslim majority nation and one that has no formal ties with Israel — deployed over 1,000 police to secure the embassy.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Grenade attack kills two IRGC members in Iranian Kurdistan
TEHRAN, Iran — A grenade attack in western Iran, blamed on militants, killed two members of the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including a cleric, local media reports.
The assault, late on Monday, targeted a building belonging to pro-government paramilitary forces near the city of Sarvabad in the western province of Kurdistan and left three other members of the guard corps wounded, the official IRNA news agency reports.
The two IRGC members killed in the attack are identified by the local Tasnim news agency as cleric Alireza Valizadeh and Ayoub Shiri.
While the identity of the attackers is not immediately clear, authorities blame the incident on an “anti-revolutionary group,” which it says hurled a grenade at the paramilitary post.
Iran often uses the term “anti-revolutionary” to refer to Kurdish armed groups operating along the border with Iraq.
Tehran has repeatedly accused such groups of staging cross-border attacks from Iraqi Kurdistan.
Syria says it reached ‘comprehensive ceasefire’ with Kurdish forces
A man walks past a mural depicting supporters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), one of them raising a flag showing the face of Abdullah Ocalan -- founding member of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) outlawed by Turkey, in Syria's northeastern city of Qamishli on December 16, 2024. (Delil Souleiman / AFP)
DAMASCUS, Syria — Syrian Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra says he agreed to a comprehensive ceasefire with Kurdish forces during a meeting today with their leader, Mazloum Abdi, following deadly overnight clashes in Aleppo.
In a statement on X, Abu Qasra says he met Abdi in Damascus and that “we agreed on a comprehensive ceasefire on all fronts, and on points for military deployment in north and northeast Syria,” adding that implementation of the deal would begin immediately.
IDF strikes kill two Hezbollah operatives in southern Lebanon
Two Hezbollah operatives were killed in separate Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon within an hour earlier today, the IDF says.
The first strike in the town of Deir Aames killed Ali Issa, who the military says served as Hezbollah’s local representative in the nearby town of Kafra. As part of his role, says the IDF, he was responsible for liaising between the terror group and the residents “on economic and military matters.”
“The terrorist acted to seize private property for the organization’s military needs, such as renting homes for storing weapons and conducting surveillance,” the army says.
The second strike hit a Hezbollah operative who was operating an excavator between the southern towns of Yater and Zinqin.
“The terrorist was struck while attempting to restore Hezbollah terror infrastructure,” the IDF says.
The IDF says both operatives’ activities “constituted a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
בתוך שעה: צה"ל תקף וחיסל שני מחבלי חיזבאללה בדרום לבנון
מוקדם יותר היום, צה"ל בהובלת אוגדה 91, תקף וחיסל באמצעות חיל האוויר, את המחבל מחמוד עלי עיסא מארגון הטרור חיזבאללה, במרחב דיר עמס שבדרום לבנון.
המחבל מחמוד עלי עיסא שימש כנציג המקומי של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בכפר כפרא… pic.twitter.com/79TqLllQP8
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 7, 2025
Sirens warn of suspected drone attack in Eilat
Sirens warning of a suspected drone infiltration are heard in Eilat.
The IDF says it is looking into the details.
The Houthis in Yemen have targeted Eilat with drones numerous times. Last month, a Houthi drone hit the resort city, wounding over 20 people.
Hamas official says terror group seeking to overcome hurdles to reach Gaza deal
Boys walk with collected tree branches and pipes that will be used as firewood, at a camp for people displaced by war in northern Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip on October 7, 2025. (BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum says that the terror group’s delegation attending talks in Egypt on a US plan to end the war in Gaza is seeking to overcome all obstacles to achieving a settlement.
Drone launched by Houthis intercepted over Eilat
A drone launched by the Houthis in Yemen was shot down by air defenses over Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat, the military says.
Sirens had sounded in the city. There are no reports of injuries or damage.
A drone launched by the Houthis in Yemen was shot down by air defenses over Israel's southernmost city of Eilat, the military says.
Sirens had sounded in the city. There are no reports of injuries or damage. https://t.co/cHbQnofes3 pic.twitter.com/RCGS3su2BL
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) October 7, 2025
Sirens warn of suspected drone attack in Eilat for second time in half an hour
Sirens warning of a suspected drone infiltration sound in Eilat for the second time in half an hour.
The IDF says it is looking into the details.
Earlier, one drone launched by the Houthis in Yemen was shot down by air defenses over Eilat, according to the IDF.
Two more drones launched by Houthis intercepted over Eilat
Two more drones launched by the Houthis in Yemen were shot down by air defenses over Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat, the military says, after sirens sounded in the city.
There are no reports of injuries or damage.
Half an hour earlier, another Houthi drone was shot down over Eilat, according to the IDF, bringing the total to three.
חשש לחדירת כלי טיס עוין באילת | תיעוד@Itsik_zuarets @ItayBlumental
(צילום: הדר בן דרור) pic.twitter.com/2GAF1cdHr7— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) October 7, 2025
Newly elected German mayor stabbed, life in danger
Firefighters and rescue workers transport Iris Stalzer, the newly elected mayor of Herdecke, on a stretcher before she is airlifted via helicopter after she was stabbed, in Herdecke, western Germany, on October 7, 2025. (Alex TALASH / AFP)
DUESSELDORF, Germany — A freshly elected mayor was found injured in western Germany with multiple stab wounds, and her life is in danger, a security source tells Reuters.
Bild newspaper reports that Iris Stalzer, a Social Democrat who was due to take office after being elected mayor of Herdecke in the Ruhr region a week ago, was found by her son.
The case raises memories of the 2019 murder of conservative local government president Walter Luebcke, a supporter of then-chancellor Angela Merkel’s refugee policy, who was shot dead by a far-right activist as he smoked a late-night cigarette on his terrace at home.
Local and regional authorities are not immediately available to comment.
Rubio affirms US’s ‘unwavering’ Israel ties, blasts surging antisemitism on anniversary of Oct. 7
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio seen at the "Sukkah of Hope," at the Kennedy Center in Washington on October 7, 2025, at an event that brought together hostage families, Hamas captivity survivors, US cabinet members, and senior White House officials on the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion and massacre. (Roy Lavi / Hostages Families Forum)
In a statement marking the two-year anniversary of the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Washington “reaffirms its unwavering support for Israel’s right to exist, to defend itself, and to ensure the safety of its people.”
“As the United States marks this tragic anniversary and honors the victims, we renew our resolve to prevent such evil from ever taking place again,” Rubio says.
The top US diplomat highlights the two US citizens — Omer Neutra and Itay Chen — who are among the 48 hostages still being held in Gaza and touts US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza and advance “generational” peace in the region.
“Since October 7, 2023, we have also witnessed a troubling surge in antisemitism threatening Jewish communities worldwide,” Rubio notes.
“As I have said, there can be no compromise with antisemitism. We continue to condemn all acts of terrorism and antisemitism against Israel, and we call on the international community to stand with Israel during this painful anniversary,” he adds.
Fourth Houthi drone within an hour shot down over Eilat
Yet another drone launched by the Houthis in Yemen at Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat was shot down by air defenses, the military says.
The drone was intercepted outside of the country’s borders, and therefore no sirens were activated “according to protocol,” the IDF says.
It marks the fourth Houthi drone shot down in the Eilat area within an hour.
Brazil says 13 of its nationals that participated in Gaza flotilla are on way home
Activists in orange life jackets sit aboard a Gaza-bound Sumud flotilla boat as Israeli navy soldiers sail it into the port of Ashdod, Israel, October 2, 2025, after it was intercepted while approaching the Gaza coast. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
BRASILIA, Brazil — Brazil says 13 citizens detained by Israel on a Gaza-bound flotilla are on their way home.
The group, including lawmaker Luizianne Lins of the ruling Workers’ Party, “were taken to the border with Jordan and released,” Brasilia’s Foreign Ministry says in a statement.
The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail last month, ferrying politicians and activists, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, to break the blockade on Gaza.
“After six days of illegal imprisonment in Israel, the 13 Brazilians of the Sumud Global Flotilla are finally free,” Lins writes on Instagram.
1,200 seats with images of Oct. 7 victims set up at Columbia University
Columbia University hosts a memorial to the victims of the October 7, 2023, massacre featuring 1,200 seats with images of the victims of the onslaught.
The mile-long memorial is setup by pro-Israel nonprofits DiploAct and Let’s Do Something.
Columbia has seen frequent anti-Israel and in some cases antisemitic protests since October 7. An anti-Israel student encampment on the campus in 2024 sparked a nationwide movement and ended with police storming a building that had been forcibly taken over by protesters.
Columbia University is hosting a mile-long memorial featuring 1,200 empty chairs across it's campus in Manhattan, representing each life lost in the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. The nonprofit DiploAct and Let's Do Something are behind the memorial. pic.twitter.com/nl0VOdchSa
— CBS New York (@CBSNewYork) October 6, 2025
On two year anniversary of Oct. 7, Mamdani accuses Netanyahu of launching ‘genocidal war’ in response to Hamas attack
New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani holds a campaign event with the healthcare worker's union on September 24, 2025, outside of St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images/AFP)
Democratic Party candidate Zohran Mamdani accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of launching a “genocidal war” after the October 7 massacre on the two year anniversary of the onslaught.
Mamdani calls Hamas’s October 7 assault “a horrific war crime,” adding, “I mourn these lives and pray for the safe return of every hostage still held and for every family whose lives were torn apart by these atrocities.”
“In the aftermath of that day, Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli government launched a genocidal war: a death toll that now far exceeds 67,000; with the Israeli military bombing homes, hospitals, and schools into rubble,” continues his statement, which uses the unverified death toll provided by the Hamas-run health ministry, and does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Mamdani calls for the “occupation and apartheid” to end, adding that, “Peace must be pursued through diplomacy, not war crimes, and our government must act to end these atrocities and hold those responsible to account.”
Meanwhile, New York Daily News’s editorial board publishes an opinion piece on the two-year anniversary of the massacre, slamming Mamdani’s position on Israel.
“It is a position that smacks of antisemitism in its rejection of an article of faith held so dearly by so many,” it reads.
Vance mourns those ‘brutally murdered’ on Oct. 7, says efforts ongoing to build ‘peace for all’
US Vice President JD Vance mourns those murdered during the October 7 massacre two years ago.
“On this second anniversary of the terrible terrorist attacks of October 7, we remember all of the innocent people brutally murdered by Hamas,” Vance tweets.
“And we continue to work towards President [Donald] Trump’s plan to bring the remaining hostages home and build a lasting peace for all,” he adds.
On this second anniversary of the terrible terrorist attacks of October 7, we remember all of the innocent people brutally murdered by Hamas. And we continue to work towards President Trump's plan to bring the remaining hostages home and build a lasting peace for all.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) October 7, 2025
IDF soldier on leave killed after police officer apparently accidentally fires gun
An IDF soldier on furlough was killed in his home by an apparent accidental discharge by a police officer, according to the military and police.
The incident took place last night in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba, near Hebron.
The soldier was hit by a bullet fired from the police officer’s gun, was critically wounded, and later died.
Police say that an “officer who was on vacation at home fired a bullet from his personal weapon that hit another person.”
“The details of the incident were forwarded to the relevant authorities for review,” the police add.
The IDF says that following the incident, a joint investigation by the Military Police and the Justice Ministry’s Police Internal Investigations Department was launched.
“The IDF shares the family’s grief and will continue to accompany them,” the military adds.
‘Glory to Hamas’ and ‘Oct 7 do it again’ graffiti appears in Melbourne on massacre anniversary
Pro-Hamas graffiti appears in at least two locations in Melbourne on the second anniversary of the Hamas-led October 7 massacre.
A billboard in the suburb of Fitzroy is defaced with the text, “Glory to Hamas,” while in the neighborhood of Westgarth, a wall is defaced with the text, “Oct 7 do it again.”
Victoria’s Premier Jacinta Allan says it was “deeply wrong and offensive,” while Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calls it “abhorrent,” the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports.
Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles tells ABC radio that he has “no doubt” the incident will be looked into as a terror offense.
Today, on the day that two of my family members were brutally murdered 2 years ago, I am appalled and shocked by the abhorrent pro-Hamas graffiti seen across Melbourne.
To celebrate Hamas is to celebrate rape, murder, and mutilation.
Urging them to “do it again” is to endorse… pic.twitter.com/6dZ4VsYY5X
— Amir Maimon (@MaimonAmir) October 7, 2025
Lebanese Christian leader says Hezbollah should lay down arms ‘as soon as possible’
Samir Geagea, head of the Lebanese Forces and parliament's main Christian bloc, speaks during an interview with AFP at his residence in Maarab, north of Beirut on October 7, 2025. (Joseph EID / AFP)
MAARAB, Lebanon — Samir Geagea, the head of Lebanon’s main Christian party, the Lebanese Forces, tells AFP in an interview today that Hezbollah should surrender its weapons to the state “as soon as possible.”
Iran-backed Hezbollah was Lebanon’s only movement that refused to disarm after the country’s civil war ended in 1990.
With Hezbollah under pressure from Lebanese rivals as well as the United States and Israel, Lebanon’s army now plans to disarm the movement, a push the terror group has rejected.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Trump thanks hostage families for endorsing him for Nobel Peace Prize
US President Donald Trump thanks the Hostages and Missing Families Forum for nominating him for a Nobel Peace Prize in a letter published today.
Since the October 7, 2023, massacre, Trump says he has “been resolved to returning all the hostages home, and ensuring the total destruction of Hamas so these horrific acts may never be repeated.”
“These unspeakable scenes have been seared into our memories, and we will never forget,” he adds.
“Please know that we remain steadfastly committed to seeing an end both to this conflict and the waves of antisemitism, both at home and abroad,” the letter reads.
He adds: “May god bless you and your loved ones, and may He continue to bless the United States of America and the State of Israel, as we pray that this conflict will be at an end in the coming days — or else.”
????????????????️סקופ: הנשיא טראמפ שיגר היום מכתב לפורום משפחות החטופים ובו הדגיש כי הוא ״נחוש״ להחזיר את החטופים ולסיים את המלחמה בעזה בימים הקרובים pic.twitter.com/rfRwtxx0yK
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) October 7, 2025
UK prosecutors to appeal dropped ‘terrorism’ charge against Kneecap rapper
Irish rap group Kneecap singer, Liam O'Hanna center, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, outside Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on June 18, 2025, after being charged with supporting Hezbollah. (BENJAMIN CREMEL / AFP)
LONDON — The UK’s public prosecution body says it would appeal a court’s decision to drop a charge of supporting “terrorism” brought against a Northern Irish singer from rap group Kneecap.
“We are appealing the decision to dismiss this case as we believe there is an important point of law which needs to be clarified,” a Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson says, referring to the case against Liam O’Hanna, also known by his stage name Mo Chara.
O’Hanna had been charged under the UK’s terrorism laws for allegedly displaying a flag belonging to the banned Lebanese terror group Hezbollah during a concert in November 2024.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Swiss flotilla activists face ‘cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment’ in Israeli detention, their group claims
Activists ride aboard a vessel departing from Tunisia's northern port of Bizerte on September 14, 2025, to join the last boats taking part in the Global Sumud Flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip. (Mohamed FLISS / AFP)
GENEVA, Switzerland — Swiss participants in the flotilla that tried to break through the Israeli maritime blockade on Gaza have faced “cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment” in Israeli detention, their organization says.
The Waves of Freedom Switzerland organization claims Israel had conducted “illegal and shameful attacks on the humanitarian and peaceful flotillas,” followed by “equally illegal arrests and detentions.”
“It subjected our citizens to cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment, as defined in the International Convention against Torture, both physically and psychologically,” says the group, which goes by the acronym WOFA.
Nineteen Swiss nationals took part in the Global Sumud Flotilla, which aimed to break the blockade that aims to prevent arms from reaching Hamas and other terror groups.
While nine Swiss nationals have been released, 10 are still detained, WOFA says.
They are expected to be released today, it says, adding: “We remain cautious in the face of a state that has long since abandoned any respect for the rule of law.”
Israel has denied allegations of abuse and has insisted that the legal rights of the detainees were fully respected.
But WOFA says those released had described “sleep deprivation, lack of access to water and food, lack of medical care, and verbal and psychological abuse.”
Some, it says, “were kept handcuffed for long hours without any justification,” while others “were slapped, beaten, and locked in a cage.”
In addition, “all medical treatments have been denied, including essential medicines like insulin for diabetes,” it charges.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Three IDF soldiers wounded by grenade set off accidentally in southern Gaza
Three IDF reservist soldiers were wounded, two seriously and one moderately, by a grenade that exploded in an apparent accident in the southern Gaza Strip earlier today, the military says.
The two seriously wounded troops served in the Southern Brigade’s 7015th Battalion and the Etzioni Brigade’s 6408th Battalion. The moderately wounded reservist also served in the 6408th Battalion.
The IDF says the soldiers were taken to hospitals for treatment and their families were notified.
The incident took place at around 8 a.m. at an IDF post in the Khan Younis area. Inside a room where soldiers were residing and sleeping, a grenade exploded due to unclear circumstances.
Initially, the army suspected it had been a Hamas attack on the post, but later discovered that it had been an apparent accident.
Hamas demanding full IDF withdrawal from Gaza as soon as last hostage is released, source tells Al Jazeera
Hamas is demanding a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip as soon as it hands over the final hostage, an unnamed source from within the terror group tells the Al Jazeera news network, at the end of the second day of negotiations in Cairo.
The Hamas source tells the Qatari outlet that the terror group is also seeking international guarantees that Israel will abide by the demand for a complete ceasefire and total withdrawal from the Strip.
Under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza, Hamas is to hand over the remaining 48 hostages, the living and the dead, and only then will the IDF begin a gradual withdrawal from the enclave.
The source tells Al Jazeera that the main focus of today’s indirect negotiations was the timetable for the release of the Israeli hostages, whom he calls “prisoners.”
Touting global support for his Gaza peace plan, Trump says deal could be ‘very close’
US President Donald Trump waits to greet Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, as Carney arrives at the White House, October 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
US President Donald Trump says “we’re in very serious negotiations” to end the war in Gaza and bring broader peace to the Middle East.
“I think there’s a possibility that we could have peace in the Middle East, something even beyond the Gaza situation. We want a release of the hostages immediately, et cetera,” he says in an Oval Office press conference alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“So our team is over there now. Another team just left, and literally every other country in the world has supported the plan,” he continues.
“There’s a real chance that we could do something.”
Later in the press conference, Trump reiterates that “we are very close to making a deal on the Middle East that will bring peace to the Middle East.”
Turning to the Russia-Ukraine war, Trump also says he is “very disappointed” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding that ending that conflict is “tougher than the Middle East.”
Trump met with Witkoff, Kushner ahead of their departure for Gaza talks
US President Donald Trump huddled with his top security advisers and US special envoy Steve Witkoff and his influential son-in-law Jared Kushner before the latter two took off for Gaza talks in Egypt, Axios reports.
Witkoff and Kushner briefed the group on the state of talks, which included Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Chief of State Susie Wiles, according to the report.
Elizabeth Tsurkov says her Iraqi militia captors were ‘overjoyed’ on Oct. 7, laments suffering of hostages, Gaza’s people
Elizabeth Tsurkov prior to her captivity in Iraq. (Courtesy)
Elizabeth Tsurkov, the Israeli-Russian researcher who was held for two years by a Shiite militia in Iraq and released last month, recounts her experience in Kataeb Hezbollah captivity on October 7, 2023, and laments the “horror” suffered by Gaza’s people.
“On this day two years ago, I was detained in my second prison at the Popular Mobilization Forces camp,” she writes in Arabic on X.
“The guards from ‘the Brigades’ turned up the volume on their television so I could hear the news from behind the walls about the October 7 operation. From the news I overheard from channels supportive of Iran’s axis, I thought the operation targeted only military sites because the broadcasters mentioned ‘prisoners’ (not ‘hostages’) and talked a lot about ‘soldiers.'”
She says that her captors were “overjoyed.” Tsurkov says she knew that a “catastrophe would befall Gaza and its people, though I could not imagine the scale of the violations and their horror.”
“May God grant relief to the people of Gaza and to the starving, injured, and exhausted hostages,” she writes. “All of them are paying a heavy price for the decisions of leaders who care about staying in power and are indifferent to their fate.”
Weeks before Oct. 7, IDF chief warned Netanyahu that Israel’s enemies had become more willing to ‘take risks’ and attack
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and then-IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi at a security assessment at the military's Northern Command, December 7, 2023. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
In a letter sent to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu some two-and-a-half months before the October 7, 2023, onslaught, then-IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi had warned the premier that Israel’s strategy of deterrence was crumbling, and the country’s enemies were noticing, according to an investigation by the Channel 12 news outlet.
The existence of the letter was first reported back in December 2024, but the new report marks the first time that quotes from the letter have been made public.
According to Channel 12, Halevi explained in the letter that Israel’s strategy of deterrence has historically been built on three factors: Military strength, social cohesion, and a strong relationship with the United States.
But, he warned, Israel’s enemies had noticed weaknesses in all three of these areas, thus reducing Israel’s capacity for deterrence.
While the report does not go into the perceived weaknesses that Halevi was referring to, Israeli society had become deeply divided in the year leading up to October 7, 2023, due to the government’s controversial judicial overhaul plans. At the same time, Israel’s relationship with the US was under strain, as then-US president Joe Biden had been refusing to invite Netanyahu to the White House due to displeasure with the policies of his hardline government.
In his letter, Halevi warned Netanyahu that “the current situation [in Israel] leads to dilemmas among our enemies — whether to take advantage of what is happening and launch an attack on Israel, or to wait for the internal process to continue,” Channel 12 reports.
He wrote that, in his estimate, the developments inside Israel were increasing the chance of “escalation,” although he said he believed that this would come from the northern border, and did not mention Gaza, the report says.
Furthermore, he warned, Israel’s enemies would also potentially be more willing “to take risks in response to actions initiated by Israel, which in effect limits Israel’s freedom of action in the region.”
“We are entering a dangerous zone; it is necessary to act in a way that will prevent harm to the security of the State of Israel and the ability of the IDF to defend it,” Halevi wrote, according to Channel 12.
It was previously reported that Netanyahu received Halevi’s warning while recovering in the hospital after having a pacemaker fitted in the summer of 2023.
During that same hospital stay, he was also warned by then-Shin Bet director Ronen Bar that Israel appeared increasingly vulnerable to attack.
There is no immediate comment from the Prime Minister’s Office in response to the report.
PM’s office says negotiations in Egypt progressing, expresses ‘very cautious’ optimism
Demonstrators gather with banners during a protest for a hostage-release and ceasefire deal outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem on October 4, 2025. (Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
There is progress in negotiations in Sharm El-Sheikh, the Prime Minister’s Office tells The Times of Israel, adding that there is “optimism, but very cautious.”
“Hamas can add obstacles at any moment and leave,” the PMO official warns.
Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer will take off for talks tomorrow, says the official, as US special envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s influential son-in-law Jared Kushner head to Sharm El-Sheikh.
Witkoff and Kushner won’t leave Egypt without a deal, US official vows
US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff (L) and Jared Kushner await the arrival of President Donald Trump at Teterboro Airport, from where they will motorcade to attend the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup final, July 13, 2025. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)
US special envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner will not leave talks in Egypt without a deal, a senior US official tells Channel 12 news.
“Bibi did excellent work,” says another senior US official. “The military pressure was critical in order to make Hamas more pragmatic. But now Bibi has to understand that the time has come for a deal.”
Hamas is trying to take advantage of Trump’s determination to reach a deal to talk about “day after” issues right now, including demilitarization and the end to the war. In response, the Israeli negotiating team is instructed to only make progress on details pertaining to the release of hostages, IDF withdrawal maps, and the release of Palestinian prisoners, according to the report.
If the sides don’t reach a deal, the US could present a compromise “take it or leave it” deal, says Channel 12, despite the fact that Trump has presented his proposal as such already.
Trump is meeting former hostage and US citizen Edan Alexander in the Oval Office in the next two hours, reports Channel 12.
Qatari PM, Turkish delegation to join talks on Trump’s Gaza plan in Egypt tomorrow
FILE: Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani addresses a press conference following Israeli strikes in Doha on September 9, 2025. (Karim JAAFAR / AFP)
Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Abdulrahman Al Thani will head to Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Wednesday morning to join the ongoing indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas on US President Donald Trump’s proposal for ending the war in Gaza.
Al Thani’s participation “comes at a critical stage of the talks, reaffirming the determination of the mediators to reach an agreement that would bring an end to the catastrophic war in the Gaza Strip,” Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari says in a statement.
Separately, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reports that a Turkish delegation led by intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin will also join the negotiations tomorrow.
The agency, citing security sources, says that Kalin held talks with US, Egyptian, Qatari officials and representatives from Hamas ahead of the indirect talks.
Trump says US will do ‘everything possible’ to ensure all sides stick to his Gaza plan
President Donald Trump answers questions as he hosts Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office of the White House, Oct. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
US President Donald Trump says “We’re going to do everything possible to make sure everybody adheres” to his proposal for ending the Gaza war, if it is ultimately accepted by Israel and Hamas.
Trump is asked in the Oval Office what guarantees he is giving to Arab allies that Israel will not be able to resume the war in Gaza once the hostages are released.
Trump notes that the deal hasn’t been inked yet and that negotiations are ongoing.
If those talks in Egypt do succeed, though, Trump stresses that the US has “a lot of power” that it can leverage to ensure that the deal is upheld.
The issue of US guarantees has been essential in the negotiations, given that Hamas is seeking as firm an assurance as possible from Trump that he will not allow Israel to resume the war once the hostages are released, given that the terror group now appears willing to give up all of its leverage up front by releasing the remaining captives at once.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners have been pushing for assurances from the Israeli premier that Jerusalem will, in fact, be able to resume the war unless Hamas agrees to fully demilitarize once the hostages are released. The terror group has thus far indicated that it is not willing to do so.
Italy’s PM says she was reported to ICC for alleged ‘complicity in genocide’ in Gaza
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni speaks during the General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York City, on September 24, 2025. (Leonardo MUNOZ / AFP)
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says that she and two of her ministers had been reported to the International Criminal Court for alleged “complicity in genocide” in connection with Israel’s war in Gaza.
Israel denies accusations that it is committing genocide in the war-torn enclave, where it is seeking to destroy Hamas.
Speaking in an interview with state television company RAI, Meloni says Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had been denounced, and “I think” also Roberto Cingolani, the head of defense group Leonardo.
WATCH: Families’ ceremony marking two years since Oct. 7 begins
The stage at Tel Aviv's Park Hayarkon ahead of the Bereaved Families Memorial Ceremony on October 7, 2025. (Shai Hazan)
The Bereaved Families Memorial Ceremony marking two years since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel gets underway at Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park.
It is being broadcast live online and across television networks, and a version with English subtitles is available as well — scroll down the page and click the play button.
It is also accessible via Zoom with an English voiceover, with registration here.
The event was organized by the families of the victims of the attack.
Unlike last year, there are no formal state-run ceremonies today, the first day of the Sukkot holiday. It is also not the Jewish calendar anniversary of the attack.
National October 7 memorial ceremony draws crowd of some 30,000 people
The Bereaved Families Memorial Ceremony marking two years since the October 7, 2023, massacre, is held in Tel Aviv's Yarkon Park, on October 7, 2025. (Stav Levaton/The Times of Israel)
Israel’s national memorial event marking two years since Hamas’s brutal October 7, 2023, onslaught — in which over 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage — has begun in Tel Aviv, drawing some 30,000 attendees.
The ceremony, organized by Kumu (“Rise Up”), a movement founded by families of victims, hostages, and survivors of the attack, is being held at Yarkon Park, Tel Aviv’s largest outdoor venue.
Speakers include former hostage Omer Shem Tov and Anat Angrest, mother of hostage Matan Angrest, alongside performances by Israeli artists Yuval Rafael, Idan Amedi, and more.
Unlike last year, the Israeli government chose not to hold an official state memorial, instead designating a national day of remembrance on the day after Simchat Torah — the Hebrew anniversary of the massacre — on the 24th of Tishrei, which this year, falls on October 16. As a result, Kumu’s event has become the country’s main memorial ceremony for the October 7 attacks.
In rare interview from Egypt, Hamas head says group demanding ‘real guarantees’ on ending war
Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya gives a televised speech about the hostage-ceasefire deal between the Palestinian terror group and Israel, in the Qatari capital of Doha on January 15, 2025. (YouTube screenshot used in accordance with article 27a of the Copyright Law)
Hamas leader in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, who is leading the terror group’s negotiating team, gave a rare interview today from Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, to the Egyptian channel Al-Qahera Al-Ikhbariya.
Al-Hayya says that Hamas demands “real guarantees” to end the war, citing past experience with Israel during two previous ceasefires. He adds that Hamas came to Egypt with the direct goal of ending the war, securing an Israeli withdrawal from the Strip, and carrying out a “prisoner exchange — the release of all Israeli hostages, both living and dead, and the Palestinian prisoners that were discussed, according to the Trump plan.”
The interview is highly unusual, given that al-Hayya is speaking from the site of the still-ongoing negotiations.
On Oct. 7 anniversary, Netanyahu says Israel’s enemies tried, ‘but did not break us’
Marking the two-year anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledges to “continue to act in every way to bring back all the hostages — both the living and those who were killed.”
“Our bloodthirsty enemies struck us hard, but they did not break us,” he says in his first comments marking the anniversary of the massacre, in which some 1,200 people were murdered. “They soon discovered the immense strength of the people of Israel.”
“Our soldiers and commanders are striking back with full force at those who seek our harm, on every front, near and far,” he boasts. “Whoever raises a hand against us receives unprecedented crushing blows.”
He says that Israel has “broken the Iranian axis, together we have changed the face of the Middle East, together we will guarantee the eternity of Israel.”
With intensive talks on a potential hostage release and ceasefire deal ongoing in Egypt, Netanyahu says that Israel is “in days of historic decision.”
“We will continue to act to achieve all the goals of the war,” he promises, “the return of all our hostages, the elimination of Hamas rule, and ensuring that Gaza will never again pose a threat to Israel.”
“My wife and I bow our heads in memory of our fallen, whose image will forever be engraved in our hearts,” says the prime minister. “We embrace with love the grieving families, wish a full recovery to the wounded in body and soul.”
Two years after Oct. 7, Israel is ‘the most hated’ country in the world, Khamenei brags
Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, brags on his Hebrew-language X account that Israel has become “the most hated” country in the world, as he marks two years since the October 7, 2023, massacre.
The “brave actions” of the Iran-backed Hamas terror group “dealt a severe blow to the [Israeli] regime,” he writes, asserting that the attack — in which some 1,200 people were murdered, most of them civilians, and 251 were taken hostage — was a “response to more than 70 years of crimes by the Zionist entity.”
“Today, the Zionist entity is the most hated in the world — a global resistance movement against Zionism is growing and expanding,” he declares.
At Oct. 7 ceremony, ex-hostage Omer Shem Tov calls for release of remaining captives
Released hostage Omer Shem Tov speaks at Israel's national October 7, 2023, memorial ceremony in Tel Aviv, October 7, 2025. (Alon Levin/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
Released hostage Omer Shem Tov and Israeli singer Eden Golan take the stage at Israel’s national memorial ceremony in Tel Aviv, marking two years since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, calling for the release of the 48 hostages still held in Gaza.
“We are still on the journey — with 48 hostages who have not yet returned, and families who wait, breathe, and pray for that moment,” Shem Tov tells the crowd of some 30,000.
He expresses gratitude for all those who fell while fighting back against the invading terrorists or while saving civilians on October 7, and singles out Ori Danino, who initially fled the Nova music festival, only to return to try and rescue Shem Tov, and Maya and Itay Regev. He was taken hostage and murdered in captivity in August 2024.
“For two long years, 48 innocent souls have been held captive by Hamas,” Golan says in English, addressing national audiences watching the livestreamed event.
“Please, stand with us. Raise your voices, help us tell the world: They are coming home,” she urges, before performing a rendition of “I’m Coming Home.”
Following her performance, the crowd erupted into chants of “Everyone, now.”
Their appeal comes as ceasefire and hostage-exchange talks, mediated by the United States alongside Egypt and Qatar, are underway in Egypt.
After losing mother and daughter on Oct. 7, Galit Dan says she does not seek revenge, but healing
Bereaved mother Galit Dan speaks at the Bereaved Families Memorial Ceremony marking two years since the October 7, 2023, massacre, in Tel Aviv's Yarkon Park, on October 7, 2025. (Benny Rutloy/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
Galit Dan, whose 13-year-old daughter, Noya Dan, was killed alongside her grandmother, Galit’s mother, Carmela Dan, in the Hamas invasion of Kibbutz Nir Oz, speaks at Israel’s national memorial ceremony in Tel Aviv marking two years since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught.
Dan says she is praying that there will be no more bereaved mothers, no more death.
“We do not seek revenge, we seek healing,” says Dan, to cheers from the 30,000-strong crowd. “We want to defeat fear and find hope. To overcome hatred and reconnect to our humanity. To overcome rage and reconnect to compassion. To awaken once more the values that my grandparents came here for.”
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