Oct. 21: Israel assesses Hamas still has 20,000 fighters, many untrained, 100s of rockets

Report: Iranian site hit in Israeli attack in October 2024 is being rebuilt

An Iranian site that Israel bombed as part of an October 2024 strike is being rebuilt, according to a report by an international security organization.

The report from the Institute for Science and International Security, published Monday, says that Taleghan 2, formerly a site where nuclear weapons were developed, has seen significant construction over the past year.

The site was one of several hit in Israel’s hours-long strike on Iranian defense batteries and drone and ballistic missile manufacturing and launch sites. The strikes were in retaliation for an Iranian ballistic missile barrage targeting Israel weeks earlier, and came some eight months before the 12-day war between the two countries in June 2025.

The construction at Taleghan 2 began in May, a few weeks before the June war, and by September, several new arched structures had been built at the site, the report said. The arches may enable the buildings to be turned into bunkers. The site was not hit in the June war.

The report added that “a blast mitigation feature” had been added to multiple buildings at the site and that construction is still taking place at the site.

It is unclear whether the site is being rebuilt for nuclear weapons development, the report said, but added, “it is deeply concerning that construction is occurring at a former [late 1990s-2003 crash nuclear weapons program, codenamed the] AMAD plan nuclear weapons development site, raising considerable questions as to the true purpose of the facilities there.”

Vance to meet with Netanyahu in Jerusalem tomorrow morning, followed by Herzog

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will receive US Vice President JD Vance in his Jerusalem office tomorrow at 10 a.m., says the Prime Minister’s Office.

Netanyahu’s wife Sara and Vance’s wife Usha will also be present.

The two leaders will hold an expanded meeting at 11 a.m. that will include their aides, according to the PMO.

Vance will head to the President’s Residence afterward for a meeting with President Isaac Herzog.

The vice president also said earlier today that he plans to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian holy site in Jerusalem’s Old City.

New proposal to end Ukraine war said to include peace board modeled after Gaza deal

European nations are working with Ukraine on a new proposal for a ceasefire in the war with Russia along current battle lines, four European diplomats say.

The plan mainly incorporates ideas already under discussion while pressing to keep the US in a central role.

A senior European diplomat says the proposal includes a reference to a peace board that would be chaired by US President Donald Trump and would oversee the implementation of the proposed plan.

Three other diplomats also confirm proposals were being prepared, with one saying the idea of a board was to model it on the US 20-point plan in Gaza. That plan envisions a “Board of Peace” likewise chaired by Trump.

“It’s an effort by the national security advisers to keep the United States on board,” the senior diplomat says.

European leaders called on Washington today to hold firm in demanding an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, with present battle lines to serve as the basis for any future talks.

The Russian government has long demanded that Ukraine agree to cede more territory before any ceasefire.

Some 35 allies of Ukraine will meet on Friday in London for a summit among countries willing to provide long-term support to Kyiv. There is also a possibility that Trump will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in the coming weeks.

Once both sides agree to a ceasefire, they would then engage in negotiations on territory, but there would be no recognition of lands occupied by Russia as Russian, the senior diplomat says.

Bloomberg News first reported news of the work on a new proposal on Tuesday.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report. 

IDF brings bodies said to be of two deceased hostages back to Israel

The caskets containing the apparent remains of two deceased hostages have been brought out of the Gaza Strip by IDF troops, the military says.

The bodies are now being escorted by the police to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification, a process which officials have said may take up to two days.

Hamas did not provide the identities of the hostages it handed over.

If the bodies are confirmed to belong to hostages, it would mean that the remains of 13 fallen hostages are still held in Gaza.

IDF receives two bodies said to be of deceased hostages, will bring them back to Israel

IDF troops in the Gaza Strip have received two caskets, with the apparent bodies of two deceased hostages, from the Red Cross a short while ago.

The caskets had been collected by the Red Cross from Hamas in southern Gaza. The bodies have not been identified by the terror group.

The IDF is set to inspect the caskets before draping them in Israeli flags and holding a short ceremony led by a military rabbi.

The remains will then be taken to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification.

If the bodies are identified as belonging to captives, 13 deceased Israeli hostages will remain in Gaza.

IDF: Red Cross receives bodies said to be of two deceased hostages from Hamas, headed back to Israel

The IDF says the Red Cross has notified the military that it has collected two caskets, with the apparent bodies of two deceased hostages, from Hamas in southern Gaza a short while ago.

The Red Cross is now bringing the caskets to IDF troops inside Gaza, where a small ceremony, led by a military rabbi, will be held.

UK deploys small number of military officers to Israel following US request

A small contingent of British military planning officers has been sent to Israel to join a task force led by the United States to support stabilization efforts in Gaza, the UK defense ministry said.

Mediators of the Gaza ceasefire deal – the United States, Egypt and Qatar – stepped up their efforts this week to stabilize the early stages of the truce between Israel and Hamas and to push forward US President Donald Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan.

A US-backed stabilization force, based at a compound called the Civil Military Coordination Center, or CMCC, is meant to ensure security in Gaza. Its composition, role, chain of command, legal status and other issues are yet to be agreed.

The US has agreed to provide up to 200 troops to support the force without being deployed in Gaza itself. US officials have said they are also speaking to Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and Azerbaijan to contribute.

A UK ministry of defense spokesperson said in a statement that a “small number of UK planning officers” had been embedded in the CMCC, including a two-star deputy commander.

The spokesperson said the deployment was intended to ensure the UK remained integrated into US-led planning efforts for post-conflict stability in Gaza.

“The UK continues to work with international partners to support the Gaza ceasefire to see where the UK can best contribute to the peace process,” the spokesperson added.

British media reported that Defense Minister John Healey said on Monday that Britain had “specialist experience and skills that we have offered to contribute,” adding that while the UK would not lead the effort, it would play its part.

Healey said the deployment was made in response to a request from the United States.

IDF: Red Cross vehicles on way to receive bodies of two deceased hostages from Hamas

Red Cross vehicles are now heading to a handover site in the southern Gaza Strip to collect the bodies of two deceased hostages from Hamas, the IDF says.

Hamas did not identify the hostages whose bodies it is set to hand over.

The terror group said that it had “retrieved” the bodies today.

Rubio expected to arrive in Israel later this week, following Vance visit

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to visit Israel later this week, a US official tells The Times of Israel, confirming an Axios report.

The official says Rubio will most likely arrive on Thursday, though the trip has not yet been finalized.

Rubio’s visit would follow those of US Vice President JD Vance and envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who arrived in Israel this week to advance the implementation of the US-backed Gaza ceasefire plan.

Policeman charged with reckless homicide after said to accidentally kill friend

Prosecutors charge a Border Police officer with reckless homicide after he is said to have accidentally shot and killed his friend on the doorstep to his home in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba.

According to the indictment, the defendant’s friend, 20-year-old soldier Yosef Haim Rabuah, arrived at his house and knocked on his door earlier this month, on the first night of the festival of Sukkot. The defendant allegedly opened the door with his gun cocked and aimed at the deceased’s upper body, and then pulled the trigger by mistake.

The unnamed officer has a history of behaving violently and carelessly with firearms, according to the Department for Internal Police Investigations.

Many times, he had shot his gun in open areas, played with weapons at his base and even possessed a firearm without a proper permit before the fatal accident — all of which reflect a “consistent pattern of improper use of firearms and aggressive behavior,” prosecutors write.

Rabuah’s fiance, who witnessed the shooting, testified that the unnamed officer often toyed with his gun and more than once fired it while in their presence.

The officer is also accused of needlessly beating a detainee in a police jeep while the detainee’s hands were clasped behind his head.

He is indicted in the Jerusalem District Court on several counts of aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a weapon and reckless and negligent acts, in addition to the charge of reckless homicide. Prosecutors are requesting that he remain in detention until the end of legal proceedings.

US Republican-led House panel seeks to question Bill Clinton in Epstein investigation

A Republican-led congressional committee in the US is seeking testimony from former president Bill Clinton as part of its investigation into the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, its chairman says.

Republican Representative James Comer of Kentucky, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told reporters the panel was working on arranging a closed-door interview with Clinton, a Democrat.

“Public reporting, survivor testimony and official documents show that Bill Clinton had far closer ties to Epstein” than President Donald Trump, Comer said. “We’re working to bring former President Clinton in for a deposition.”

A representative for Clinton did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The committee has been reviewing the federal government’s handling of Epstein’s case, releasing tens of thousands of pages of documents, including files from Epstein’s estate.

“The evidence we’ve gathered does not implicate President Trump in any way,” Comer said.

Democrats in Congress publicized a 2003 birthday letter Trump allegedly wrote to Epstein. The letter was dated three years before allegations of Epstein’s sexual abuse became public, and the White House denied its authenticity.

Every House Democrat and four Republicans have signed a discharge petition to force a vote on a resolution requiring the US Department of Justice to publicly release all unclassified Epstein records.

Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat who won a September 23 special election to succeed her late father in Congress, would be the 218th signature on the petition, triggering action on the resolution. But US House Speaker Mike Johnson has refused to swear her in while the House is out of session.

Israeli assessment: Hamas still has 20,000 fighters, though new recruits are of lower quality; has hundreds of rockets, some long-range

As a fragile ceasefire holds in the Gaza Strip after two years of war, fresh Israeli military assessments find that the Hamas terror group still has some 20,000 members in its military wing.

According to the IDF, before the terror group’s October 7, 2023, attack, Hamas had some 30,000 fighters in the Gaza Strip, split into five regional brigades, 24 battalions, and some 140 companies.

These units have been systematically dismantled by the military over the 24 months of fighting in Gaza, though some, in the central Gaza Strip, were largely untouched.

While the IDF says it has killed over 22,000 terror operatives in Gaza during the war, Hamas has managed to recruit new fighters, according to the military. The military assesses, however, that the new recruits are of a much lower quality and have not undergone any significant training.

The army last year stated that Hamas had been defeated “militarily” across Gaza, and is now effectively a guerrilla terror group.

Also, according to the IDF’s assessments, Hamas is still believed to possess hundreds of rockets, mostly short-range but including some that could reach central Israel. Hamas also has access to thousands of small arms, the IDF believes.

Additionally, the IDF previously estimated that it had destroyed just 25% of Hamas’s tunnels across the entire Strip since the beginning of the war. However, the military argues that the main focus has been on Hamas’s attack tunnels and those used as command centers or for weapons manufacturing — the vast majority of which have been destroyed — rather than on the numerous tunnels that Hamas uses to move around the Strip, especially in areas where ground troops never operated.

Vance: US troops won’t serve in Gaza, International Stabilization Force still being planned

US Vice President JD Vance says the International Stabilization Force envisioned under US President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza ceasefire plan is still in its early planning stages, emphasizing that no American troops will be deployed to Gaza and that Washington’s primary role in the plan will be to coordinate among regional players.

“We’re in the phase now where we’re actually starting to conceptualize what that international security force would look like,” Vance says at a press conference at the US-Israel coordination center for the ceasefire in Gaza, housed in Kiryat Gat.

He reiterates that “there are not going to be American boots on the ground in Gaza,” explaining that the US aims “to provide some useful coordination.”

“How do you take the Gulf Arab States plus Israel, plus the Turks, plus Indonesia? How do you actually get those folks to work together in a way that actually produces long-term peace? The only real mediators are the United States of America. So that’s the role that we’re going to play,” he says.

Vance closes his press conference by urging people to pray for peace and noting that he plans to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem before leaving Israel.

Vance doesn’t set deadline for Hamas to disarm; says ‘very bad things’ ahead if it breaches deal

US Vice President JD Vance declines to specify what the future government of Gaza will ultimately look like, saying that ensuring security for both Israelis and Gazans must come first.

Speaking at a press conference at the US-Israel coordination center for the ceasefire in Gaza, Vance denies that he flew to Israel this week to shore up the agreement. His visit follows the IDF’s strikes in Gaza after two IDF soldiers were killed in a Sunday Hamas attack on troops.

But Vance says the trip has been in the works for “months.”

He reiterates US President Donald Trump’s statement that Washington won’t set a specific deadline for Hamas to disarm, adding that “if Hamas doesn’t comply with the deal, very bad things are going to happen.”

Regarding the shape of “the ultimate authority in Gaza,” Vance adds, “I don’t know the answer to that question.” He adds, “We’re creating a governance structure that is very flexible to what happens on the ground in the future.”

“Once we’ve got to a point where both the Gazans and our Israeli friends can have some measure of security, then we’ll worry about what the long-term governance of Gaza is,” he continues. “Let’s focus on security, rebuilding, giving people some food and medicine. If we get to the point where we’re arguing exactly what the governance structure in Gaza is long term, then we should pat ourselves on the back.”

Netanyahu thanks Hanegbi after firing him as national security adviser, replaced by Gil Reich

After firing now-former national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu releases a statement thanking him for his service and wishes him “much success in his future endeavors and good health.”

Gil Reich, who was Hanegbi’s deputy, will immediately become acting head of the National Security Council and national security adviser.

Arab diplomat denies report Hamas handpicked members of Gaza’s postwar government

WASHINGTON — A senior Arab diplomat denies an unsourced report from the Kan public broadcaster claiming that Hamas has handpicked half of the members of the Palestinian technocratic committee that will manage postwar Gaza.

The senior Arab diplomat tells The Times of Israel that the committee hasn’t even been finalized yet, as the Trump administration prioritizes the establishment of the International Stabilization Force, a peacekeeping force for the territory, which is also still being crafted.

Those assembling the technocratic committee recognize that including names that Hamas will vehemently oppose increases the chances that the terror group will play a spoiler role. However, the idea that Hamas will be able to hand-pick the members of the committee is “blatantly false,” the Arab diplomat says.

Kushner: ‘No reconstruction funds will be going into areas that Hamas still controls’ in Gaza

US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who has been a key broker of the ceasefire deal in Gaza, says that no reconstruction funds for the territory will go into areas under Hamas’ control.

Kushner makes the pledge at a press conference alongside US Vice President JD Vance at the US-Israel coordination center for the ceasefire in Gaza, housed in Kiryat Gat.

“No reconstruction funds will be going into areas that Hamas still controls,” Kushner says, adding that discussions are ongoing as to how to begin reconstruction in areas controlled by the Israeli military in the Strip. Israel currently controls a little more than half of Gaza.

“There are considerations happening now in the area that the IDF controls,” Kushner says. He touts a vision of a “new Gaza” that can be built “to give the Palestinians living in Gaza a place to go, a place to get jobs, a place to live.”

Netanyahu ousts national security adviser Hanegbi, who writes: ‘Terrible failure of October 7 must be thoroughly investigated’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells his National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi that he is being replaced, effective immediately, according to a statement Hanegbi sent to the press today.

A longtime senior Likud party member and minister since the 1990s, Hanegbi reportedly opposed Netanyahu’s plan to invade Gaza City over the summer, and last month’s unsuccessful strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar.

Hanegbi acknowledges disagreements with his former boss in his statement.

“I thanked the prime minister for the privilege of being a partner in shaping Israel’s foreign and security policy during challenging years — for the opportunity to express an independent position in sensitive discussions, and for the professional dialogue we maintained, even in times of disagreement,” he says.

He warns that the war that started on October 7, 2023, in which a ceasefire recently took effect, “has not yet ended.”

“Our fighters remain on guard on many fronts,” he says, “and the mission to bring all our hostages home has not yet been completed. Nor has the obligation yet been fulfilled — by diplomatic or military means — to ensure that the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip are removed from power, disarmed, and that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel.”

Netanyahu defined his goals in the war as returning the hostages, defeating Hamas and ensuring that Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel.

Hanegbi admits his own responsibility for the “terrible failure of October 7,” and says it “must be thoroughly investigated to ensure that the necessary lessons are learned and to help restore the public trust that has been shaken.”

“We must all remain committed and attentive to the needs of those who have borne the dearest price of all — the bereaved families and the wounded, in body and soul,” says Hanegbi.

He calls for unity within Israeli society, calling it “essential to ensuring the eternity of Israel.”

Netanyahu has lost other key members of his inner circle as well. Chief of Staff Tzachi Braverman is heading to the Court of St. James to serve as Israel’s ambassador in London, and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer is expected to step away from public service in the coming months. The prime minister fired defense minister Yoav Gallant last November.

Vance: Finding rest of deceased hostages ‘is not going to happen overnight,’ Hamas must disarm

US Vice President JD Vance says that recovering the 15 remaining deceased hostages in Gaza “is difficult” and “is not going to happen overnight.”

Speaking at a press conference at the US-Israel coordination center for the ceasefire in Gaza, housed in Kiryat Gat, Vance says disarming Hamas is likewise ‘going to take a little bit of time.’

“This is difficult. This is not going to happen overnight,” he says about returning the bodies of the hostages still in Gaza. “Some of these hostages are buried under thousands of pounds of rubble. Some of the hostages, nobody even knows where they are,” he says.

“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work to get them,” he says, adding, “This is going to take a little bit of time.”

Addressing Washington’s response to Hamas carrying out executions of Palestinians in Gaza, Vance says the group must disarm, per the terms of the ceasefire plan.

“Our warning to Hamas; it’s very straightforward,” he says, adding, “The terms of the 20-point plan that [US] President [Donald Trump] put out there is very clear. It’s supported not just by Israel, but by all of our Gulf Arab friends.”

He says Hamas operatives can be given clemency.

“It’s that Hamas has to disarm. It’s that Hamas has to actually behave itself, and that Hamas, while all the fighters can be given some clemency, they’re not going to be able to kill each other, and they’re not going to be able to kill their fellow Palestinians,” he says, while stressing that “again, that’s going to take a little bit of time.”

“We’re talking about how to set up the security and humanitarian apparatus to put all this in place. But right now, where I stand, I feel confident that we’re going to be in a place where this peace lasts, where it’s durable. If Hamas doesn’t cooperate, then as [Trump] has said, Hamas is going to be obliterated,” the US vice president says.

Kushner: ‘Everyone believes it is possible to create something better in Gaza’

Trump Administration adviser Jared Kushner, speaking alongside Vice President JD Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff at a press conference in southern Israel, says negotiators are “currently making progress” on securing the return of the remaining bodies of deceased hostages.

He hails “surprisingly strong coordination between the United Nations and Israel” on getting humanitarian aid into Gaza. And he says the parties are trying to “find out how we can do it better,” so that the aid “reaches the people in Gaza and doesn’t go to the wrong hands there.”

He says that the new Civil Military Coordination Center, where they are speaking, is central to the wider mission as regards “what happens next in Gaza. And there’s a lot of great things happening here… The most important thing here is to figure out how you really get a good deconfliction coordination center. This really has been a startup. There’s been a lot that’s been done.”

He also says he wants “to echo what the vice president said about how a lot of people are getting a little hysterical about different incursions, one way or the other.” The fact is, however, that “both sides are transitioning from two years of very intense warfare to, now, a peacetime posture.” The goal, he adds, is “to try to build that deconflection mechanism, in order to make sure that we can get to a proper de-escalation.”

Noting that various flags have been put up at the center, Kushner says they are “not fully representative of the countries that are here. It’s happening very rapidly that people are agreeing to come on board, agreeing to help. People really want to be a part of this, and it’s just happening very, very quickly.”

Concludes Kushner: “Everyone believes that it is possible to create something better in Gaza, and we have to believe it, we have to work hard for it. And if we all work hard to do that, then I do believe a great outcome is possible.”

Vance at ceasefire HQ: Israel must consent to which foreign troops are stationed on its soil

US Vice President JD Vance says that any decision regarding the stationing of forces on Israeli soil must have Jerusalem’s consent.

Vance makes the comment at a press conference at the US-Israel coordination center for the ceasefire in Gaza, housed in Kiryat Gat. It is not clear whether he is referring to the presence of foreign forces at the center in southern Israel or to Gaza itself.

The vice president is responding to a question from The Times of Israel on Turkey’s role in the postwar Strip, and says that Ankara could play a “constructive role” there but stresses that nothing will be forced on Israel regarding the presence of troops on its territory.

“What troops are on the ground in Israel is going to be a question the Israelis have to agree to,” Vance says, adding, “I’m sure that Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu will have opinions about that.”

“But we think everybody has a role to play here. Some of that’s going to be financial, some of that’s going to be in reconstruction, some of that’s just in communication with the various parties to ensure that this deconfliction process actually works and is implemented,” he continues.

“We’re not going to force anything on our Israeli friends when it comes to foreign troops on their soil. But we do think that there’s a constructive role for the Turks to play. Frankly, they’ve already played a very constructive role; we’re very grateful for that,” he says.

Regarding concerns over Turkey’s support for Hamas, Vance says, “No one who is a party to this conflict can look in the past and not point at something that they don’t like or that they disagree with… The way that we’re going to get to peace is to focus on the future,” he says.

“We think everybody here is very willing to do that and is very eager to engage in that effort,” he concludes.

Cuomo calls Mamdani’s views ‘blatantly antisemitic,’ upping rhetoric in NYC mayoral race

Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo says his opponent in the New York City mayoral race, Zohran Mamdani, has antisemitic views.

“It’s deeply alarming to see how many have grown complacent with a candidate whose views are blatantly antisemitic. But New Yorkers: We have the power to protect the values that make this city strong,” Cuomo says in a statement.

Cuomo shares a clip of an appearance he made last night at a town hall event for the Jewish community.

“There is no New York without the Jewish community,” Cuomo says in the video, characterizing Mamdani as a “candidate who runs based on his antisemitic stance.”

There is no New York without the Jewish community.

It’s deeply alarming to see how many have grown complacent with a candidate whose views are blatantly antisemitic. But New Yorkers: we have the power to protect the values that make this city strong.

This is one of the most… pic.twitter.com/kvRbbmVoJu

— Andrew Cuomo (@andrewcuomo) October 21, 2025

“It is the complacency of New Yorkers that I find more disturbing, because I believed in my heart and soul we were better as a community, as a people, than this,” he says.

The town hall event was on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and hosted by Aish’s Jewish Wisdom Society and moderated by Elisha Wiesel, the son of Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel.

Cuomo’s accusations against Mamdani mark an escalation in rhetoric. Last week, at a mayoral debate, Cuomo refrained from labeling Mamdani an antisemite.

Mamdani’s campaign rejects the accusation.

“Zohran will be a mayor who stands with Jewish New Yorkers, not one who tries to weaponize their pain for craven political gain,” a Mamdani spokesperson tells Politico.

Cuomo is a pro-Israel centrist; Mamdani, a far-left candidate, is a harsh critic of Israel. Mamdani, as the Democratic party nominee, is the heavy favorite to win the November 4 vote.

Witkoff, speaking alongside Vance, hails the released hostages he met today: ‘I didn’t see any victims in that room. I saw strong people… It was my privilege as an American to be there’

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, speaking at a press conference alongside US Vice President JD Vance, says progress on the Gaza deal is “exceeding where we thought we would be at this time.”

He also discusses his and Jared Kushner’s meeting earlier today with newly released hostages: “We met with 10 hostages and their families, and it was really an emotional moment. I felt blessed to be in that room. Lots of tears. Lots of people, really, really grateful to President Trump for getting their children home.”

Says Witkoff: “I didn’t see any victims in that room. I saw strong people who have come out [from captivity in Gaza] under very difficult circumstances. Their families are reunited, and they are so grateful. It was just my privilege as an American to be there.”

UK drops terrorism designation for Syria’s HTS, former al-Qaeda affiliate that helped oust Assad

The British government removes Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the group that spearheaded the Syrian rebel alliance that helped oust President Bashar al-Assad, from its list of banned terrorist organizations.

HTS, a former al-Qaeda affiliate, was proscribed in 2017, meaning that Britain designated it as a terrorist group, making it illegal to support or join it.

The government said in December of last year that it could rethink the proscription. US President Donald Trump’s administration revoked the American foreign terrorist organization designation for HTS in July.

Britain had joined other nations in welcoming the end of Assad’s autocratic government, which marked one of the biggest turning points for the Middle East in generations and followed years of civil war. Then-HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has since become Syria’s president.

The British government said in a statement that removing HTS from the list of proscribed organizations would allow for closer engagement with the new Syrian government. It added that it would also allow cooperation with Syria to eliminate Assad’s chemical weapons program.

“The UK will continue to press for genuine progress and hold the Syrian government accountable for its actions in fighting terrorism and restoring stability in Syria and the wider region,” the government said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Syria’s Economy Minister Mohammad Nidal al-Shaar told Reuters at a conference in London that he hoped US sanctions against the country would be formally lifted in the coming months.

Likud cabinet members call on president to pardon Netanyahu for corruption charges

Cabinet ministers and deputy ministers from the Likud party sign a letter to President Isaac Herzog, authored by Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman, asking him to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the criminal charges he has faced in a years-long trial in the Jerusalem District Court.

The letter contends that the trial is “harming the unity of the people,” and says that Netanyahu is “leading a historic victory over the enemies of Israel.”

The ministers conclude, “These historic days have created a great opportunity for restoration and unity, through your use of your authority,” adding, “The entire nation is asking you to rise like a lion, act, and weave true unity into the people of Israel.”

Netanyahu is charged with one count of bribery, as well as fraud and breach of trust in three different cases relating to corruption allegations against him. His trial began in 2020 and is still far from being concluded. He is the first sitting prime minister to go on trial.

The president of the state is empowered to grant pardons to those convicted in court, and on very rare occasions, before legal proceedings have been concluded, if it is deemed to be for the public good. In a speech to the Knesset last week, US President Donald Trump called on Herzog to pardon the prime minister.

The individual seeking the pardon or an immediate family member must make the request, which Netanyahu and his relatives have yet to do.

Vance says Israel has been ‘remarkably helpful’ in implementing Gaza plan, projects optimism

Vance hails Israel and other Arab and Muslim countries for helping advance the US-backed ceasefire plan in Gaza.

“The Israeli government has been remarkably helpful” in implementing the plan, Vance says, while also praising partners “all across the Gulf Arab States, Indonesia, the Turks.”

“We are doing an amazing thing here,” he says.

Vance criticizes what he describes as a “weird attitude” in American and Western media, “that every time something bad happens, every time that there’s an act of violence, there’s this inclination to say, ‘Oh, this is the end of the ceasefire. This is the end of the peace plan.'”

“It’s not the end,” he says, adding that “this is exactly how this is going to have to happen when you have people who hate each other, who have been fighting against each other for a very long time. We are doing very well.”

Vance: Gaza ceasefire going ‘better than I expected,’ but ‘this is going to take a very, very long time’

Speaking at a press conference at the building in Kiryat Gat housing the US-Israel coordination center for the ceasefire in Gaza, US Vice President JD Vance says that things are going “better than I expected” with the US-backed peace plan.

“We are one week into [US] President [Donald] Trump’s historic peace plan in the Middle East, and things are going, frankly, better than I expected that they were,” Vance says as he announces the opening of the center.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff and top Trump adviser Jared Kushner, who were key brokers of the deal and arrived in Israel earlier this week to advance the plan, stand behind him.

“Here at the civilian-military cooperation center, which we are announcing the opening of, you have Israelis and Americans working hand-in-hand to try to begin the plan to rebuild Gaza, to implement a long-term peace, and to actually ensure that you have security forces on the ground in Gaza, not composed of Americans, who can keep the peace over the long term,” Vance continues.

He emphasizes that there is “lots of work left to do” and that “this is going to take a very, very long time,” while praising the efforts of Kushner, Witkoff, and Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of the US military’s Central Command, for their efforts on the deal’s implementation.

48 children of fallen IDF soldiers mark b’nei mitzvah at the Western Wall

Forty-eight children whose parents died while serving in the Israel Defense Forces celebrated their b’nei mitzvah at the Western Wall today in a ceremony organized by the IDF Widows and Orphans Organization (IDFWO).

The group, which included Jewish, Muslim, and Druze children, marked the milestone according to the children’s various own traditions. Boys received tefillin and were called up to the Torah, girls were gifted Shabbat candlesticks, and members of non-Jewish groups visited their respective holy sites, IDFWO says.

The group also met with President Isaac Herzog and celebrated with a party at Jerusalem’s Museum of Tolerance.

The annual celebration has been taking place for over a quarter of a century, but more Israelis have become IDF widows and orphans since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack than in the entire 20-year period that preceded it, IDFWO says. To date, since the onslaught, 885 children have been left without a parent, and 352 partners have been left without a spouse.

“These families paid the ultimate price for our freedom and deserve to have the best possible celebration as they become young adults,” says IDFWO CEO Shlomi Nahumson.

Troops from US, Israel, other countries present at massive ceasefire HQ in southern Israel

The building housing the US-Israel ceasefire coordination center sits in the heart of Kiryat Gat’s industrial zone.

Police cars block the roads leading to the massive building, and dozens of police officers and IDF soldiers mill about outside.

Within the gates, uniformed US soldiers, as well as civilians and contractors, move in and out of the building.

British, Canadian, German, Danish, and Jordanian soldiers are also present in the working groups, with their flags standing on low poles inside.

IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai, head of the IDF Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor, and other senior officers are present as well.

WATCH: US VP Vance gives press conference in Israel

US Vice President JD Vance is giving a press conference during his Israel visit.

He is speaking from the building housing the US-Israel ceasefire coordination center in Kiryat Gat.

Also speaking, US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

Footage: Israeli-designated Turkish terror organization seen operating in Gaza

The Turkish aid organization IHH, which is designated in Israel as a terror organization and which organized the 2010 Mavi Marmara flotilla to Gaza, publishes footage showing its personnel conducting aid activities in the Gaza Strip.

Today, the organization shared video of water being distributed in the Strip using tankers marked with Turkish flags and the group’s banners.

On October 18, IHH also posted footage of bulldozers clearing rubble in the territory, also bearing Turkish flags and the organization’s insignia.

🇵🇸We distributed clean water in Gaza, where Israel’s attacks and blockade have deepened the clean water crisis.

We need your support to heal the wounds.

🌐 Online Donation: https://t.co/Kkl7AqPy35 pic.twitter.com/kwQADiGIyk

— IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation (@IHHen) October 21, 2025

“The Turkish aid organization İHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation has begun supporting efforts in northern Gaza, which has suffered great destruction, by providing humanitarian aid, as well as assisting with environmental cleanup, road clearing, and debris removal to restore basic living conditions following the ceasefire,” Salih Mutlu Şen, the Turkish ambassador to Egypt, posted on X on October 18.

IHH has been outlawed in Israel due to ties with Palestinian terror groups, and has also been banned in Germany and the Netherlands.

In the Mavi Marmara incident, 10 Turkish activists were killed in a violent confrontation with Israeli naval commandos aboard a ship that aimed to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza.

Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report. 

Supreme Court chief thanks Herzog for defending him after snub from Knesset speaker

Supreme Court President Isaac Amit sent a message of thanks to President Isaac Herzog yesterday, after Herzog upbraided Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana for failing to acknowledge Amit’s position as head of the judiciary during a ceremony opening the Knesset’s winter session earlier in the day.

“You said beautiful and important things about the judiciary,” Amit told Herzog in a short WhatsApp message, first reported by Channel 13 News. The Times of Israel has confirmed the report.

Herzog, in unprepared remarks from the Knesset plenum podium yesterday, slammed Ohana’s slight to Amit.

“My heart is bleeding, because there is a difference between a principled debate, which is certainly legitimate and includes legitimate opinions, and sheer discourtesy, disrespect for human dignity, disrespect toward institutions and other branches of government, and disrespect toward the judges of Israel,” Herzog said.

“We are burying today two heroic soldiers, we are burying today a hostage whose body was returned from captivity… We cannot ignore the place to which we are dragging ourselves as a people… I am not prepared to accept a situation of a basic lack of respect,” added the president, to applause from opposition MKs.

As a result of Ohana’s refusal to address Amit as president of the Supreme Court, Yesh Atid MK Karine Elharrar filed a complaint to the Knesset Ethics Committee today, accusing the speaker of deliberately violating the Knesset’s code of conduct “when he decided to disgrace the elected president of the Supreme Court, Judge Isaac Amit.”

On Monday, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel filed a petition to the Supreme Court in its capacity as the High Court of Justice, requesting that it order Justice Minister Yariv Levin to register Amit’s appointment as president in the official state gazette as required by law. Levin has declined to do so for the last eight months.

Ex-hostage Avinatan Or: ‘Our unity is our strength. Only with love will we win’

Returning to his home following two years in Hamas captivity in Gaza, Avinatan Or tells a cheering crowd to remain committed to the unity they showed in fighting for his and the other hostages’ release.

“After a very long period in the tunnels in Gaza, in the dark, I am finally here with all of the people of Israel, surrounded with love,” Or says in front of a cluster of microphones, to a crowd of supporters. “We came home eight days ago, the rest of the hostages and I. From that moment, we’ve been flooded with love from all sides of the nation of Israel and from every possible source, whether it’s soldiers or doctors or the Israel Police or citizens, private people who came, supported, and showed love.”

Or, taken hostage from the Nova music festival during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, was held alone in Gaza during his two years of captivity, often in extremely harsh conditions. He was released from the hospital on Monday and greeted by well-wishers en route to his home in the West Bank settlement of Shiloh.

“I was cut off for two years,” he said. “I am slowly hearing stories about what happened, and all of the unity and love that was here in the nation. That really makes me happy. I want to thank the Israel Defense Forces, who are the real heroes here in this story. Because of them, we came home. Because of them, I am here today and can say thank you, and can see you, and receive all your love.”

He concluded, “I wish for us to know how to take this love and unity and carry it forward for years to come, without needing wars to do so. Our unity is our strength. Only with love will we win.”

2 IDF soldiers lightly injured by explosive device in Gaza; no terror operatives detected in area

Two IDF soldiers were lightly injured after their tank was hit by an explosive device in the Khan Younis area of the southern Gaza Strip earlier today, the military says.

The two wounded troops were taken to a hospital and their families were notified, the IDF adds.

The incident took place at 12:30 p.m., during efforts by the forces to clear the area where they are stationed of potential threats.

According to an initial military probe, no terror operatives were detected in the area when the bomb was detonated. The IDF is investigating when the explosive device was planted in the area.

The IDF also struck several targets in the area that had “posed a threat to the troops operating in the area,” according to military officials.

Aston Villa warns fans against showing political messages at Maccabi Tel Aviv game

Aston Villa, the English soccer team, urges supporters not to display political symbols, messages or flags during next month’s Europa League home game against Maccabi Tel Aviv.

The match sparked controversy after security officials in Villa’s home city of Birmingham last week blocked visiting fans from attending the November 6 match following a police risk assessment.

The decision drew criticism, including from Israeli officials and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, with widespread calls for the ruling to be reversed.

The UK government said it was “working around the clock” to ensure fans from both clubs could attend, but Maccabi announced Monday that it would decline any tickets for the match.

Today, Villa warns fans against contravening protocols issued by UEFA, the governing body of European football, banning the display of political messages inside stadiums.

“As per UEFA guidance, the displaying of political symbols, messages or flags during the match is strictly prohibited and will result in immediate ejection and the issuing of a stadium ban,” the club says in a statement.

The Premier League club adds that it will not be selling tickets for the seats where Maccabi fans would have sat, and has warned supporters against reselling their tickets.

This week, the UK government had been expecting police to set out their needs to oversee the game with both sets of supporters present. But Maccabi said late Monday it would not accept any tickets for the match.

Starmer’s spokesman says the government was still talking to police about putting extra resources in place for the match so both sets of fans could attend.

Birmingham has been the scene of pro-Palestinian rallies since the Gaza war began in 2023 after the Hamas-led attack on Israel.

Trump insists Mideast countries want to send troops to Gaza to ‘straighten’ out Hamas

US President Donald Trump reiterates his claim that he has been fielding offers from Middle Eastern countries that have expressed interest in sending troops into Gaza to “straighten ou[t] Hamas” but that he is holding them off as there is still time for Hamas to do “what is right.”

“Numerous of our NOW GREAT ALLIES in the Middle East, and areas surrounding the Middle East, have explicitly and strongly, with great enthusiasm, informed me that they would welcome the opportunity, at my request, to go into GAZA with a heavy force and ‘straighten our Hamas’ if Hamas continues to act badly, in violation of their agreement with us,” Trump writes on Truth Social, his social media site.

To date, only Indonesia has publicly expressed willingness to contribute troops to a UN-mandated international force that would help secure postwar Gaza, while Turkey and Azerbaijan have privately expressed willingness to do so, officials have told The Times of Israel.

The New York Times revealed earlier today that — contrary to Trump’s claims — countries are hesitant to send forces to the Strip over concerns that they’ll have to clash with the terror group while trying to stabilize the territory.

Nonetheless, Trump writes, “The love and spirit for the Middle East has not been seen like this in a thousand years! It is a beautiful thing to behold!”

“I told these countries, and Israel, ‘NOT YET!’ There is still hope that Hamas will do what is right,” he continues.

“If they do not, an end to Hamas will be FAST, FURIOUS, & BRUTAL! I would like to thank all of those countries that called to help,” Trump states.

“Also, I would like to thank the great and powerful country of Indonesia, and its wonderful leader, for all of the help they have shown and given to the Middle East, and to the USA,” he adds.

Hamas: We will hand over two bodies of deceased hostages at 9 p.m.

Hamas’s military wing announces that it will transfer two bodies of deceased hostages to Israel tonight at 9 p.m.

The terror group says the hostages were “retrieved today in the Strip,” and does not identify them.

Dozens line streets to welcome released hostage Avinatan Or en route home

Dozens of Israelis, many of them young, gather on the roads leading to the Israeli settlement of Shilo in the West Bank to welcome former hostage Avinatan Or on his way home.

Or was released last Monday from two years of Hamas captivity in Gaza, and discharged from the Rabin Medical Center (also known as Beilinson) today.

He was kidnapped from the Nova festival during Hamas’s attack on on October 7, 2023. Footage of terrorists separating Or and his girlfriend Noa Argamani, who was also taken hostage, became one of the symbols of the atrocities.

Or’s parents Ditza and Yaron live in Shilo.

Footage of Or’s return home shows dozens of people, most of them teens, waving Israeli flags and singing songs such as “Am Yisrael Chai” — “The people of Israel live” — at a junction near Shilo.

Vance arrives at HQ of US-led Gaza peacekeeping force in southern Israel

Vice President JD Vance arrives at the “Civilian Military Coordination Center,” according to the White House pool accompanying his convoy in Israel.

The Kiryat Gat site, in southern Israel, is the headquarters of the fledgling US-led force meant to oversee the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire.

“The vice president is here for private briefings with members of the military,” according to the pool.

Israel urges Canadian PM to drop pledge to arrest Netanyahu if he enters Canada

An Israeli government spokesperson urges Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to drop his pledge to honor an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he travels to the country.

“We believe that Prime Minister Carney should, of course, reconsider this and welcome Prime Minister Netanyahu, the leader of the only Jewish state and democratic country in the Middle East, to Canada,” spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian tells reporters.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Carney was asked if he would fulfill the commitment of his predecessor Justin Trudeau to detain Netanyahu on war crimes charges, to which Carney replied “yes.”

The International Criminal Court last week rejected Israel’s bid to appeal against arrest warrants issued by the ICC for Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant over the war with Hamas in Gaza.

In a ruling last year, the ICC found “reasonable grounds” to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bore “criminal responsibility” for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel denies all the allegations.

Widow of Tal Haimi says return of his body shows ‘nation does not forget its fighters’

Ela Haimi, the widow of Tal Haimi, offers a statement after her husband’s body was returned by Hamas from Gaza last night after being held for two years.

Haimi says that her husband — who headed Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak’s emergency response team and was killed in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack — last left home on the morning of the Hamas invasion on October 7, 2023, taking a vest, weapon and helmet.

“I am here today primarily as a mother — of Nir, Einav, Udi and Lotan,” says Haimi, whose youngest was born after his father was killed. “All four of them live with the memory of a father who defended his home, but they did not get to say goodbye to him.”

Udi Goren, Haimi’s cousin and a leading figure in the struggle to bring his body home, notes that Haimi will be buried Wednesday in Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak, which their grandparents founded and where his cousin grew up and built a family before dying in its defense.

“There is no other place on earth where Tal should find eternal rest other than here at the kibbutz,” says Goren, adding that Nir Yitzhak isn’t whole without Lior Rudaeff, a fellow member of the emergency response team whose body hasn’t yet been returned to Israel for burial. Rudaeff is one of 15 deceased hostages whose bodies have yet to be returned from Gaza.

“Tal’s return for burial is not the end of the story; it is the beginning of a new hope for my children,” says Haimi, who recently brought her family back home to live in Nir Yitzhak. “They grow up knowing that the nation does not forget its fighters.”

She added, “The funeral is a national moment, not only a family one; it is an expression of our collective commitment — to return every soldier, every hostage, every missing person — to the land he loved. This is not only a personal closing of a circle; it is also a promise to Israeli society as a whole: We will not rest until all the sons return home.”

Vance en route to HQ of US-backed international force that will oversee Gaza ceasefire

Vice President JD Vance is on his way from Ben Gurion Airport to the headquarters of the fledgling US-backed international force that will oversee the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire, according to the White House pool.

The US vice president is en route to the command center located in the Kiryat Gat area in the south.

An American military team of 200 people will be deployed in the Middle East to “oversee” the Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas after the hostage release deal brokered by US President Donald Trump, senior US officials said last week.

A senior official told reporters that Egyptian, Qatari, Turkish and probably Emirati military officials would be embedded in the team.

The visit comes after Vance held a two-hour meeting at the airport with senior White House advisers Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, per the pool reporters.

Israel sends bodies of 15 Palestinians to Gaza in line with deal, Red Cross says

The Red Cross says it facilitated the transfer of 15 Palestinian bodies from Israel to Gaza under a US-brokered ceasefire deal, taking the total handed over to 165.

“The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) today facilitated the transfer of deceased Palestinians to authorities in Gaza…. Local health authorities in Gaza have confirmed the number of deceased received today is 15,” the Red Cross says in a statement.

Under the Gaza ceasefire deal, Israel returns the bodies of 15 Palestinians for the body of every hostage returned. Israel confirmed that Hamas handed over the 13th body of a hostage — Tal Haimi — under the ceasefire deal overnight.

As Gaza ceasefire holds, Zamir says reservists in West Bank to be relieved by standing troops

With the fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip holding, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir says the West Bank will be bolstered with more troops from the standing army to relieve reservists.

“The focus and significant fighting in the southern sector (Gaza) would not have been possible without strong defense across all sectors. Your actions are vital for maintaining balance, strengthening the security of civilians, and preserving the connection with them,” Zamir says during an assessment today with Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth and other officers.

“We are in a period of significant change, during which developments may occur, and we must be prepared for various shifts. There are terror elements that will attempt to disrupt stabilization processes in the area, and therefore we must maintain high alert and maximum readiness, and act proactively and offensively against them,” he says, according to remarks provided by the IDF.

“We must ease the burden on reservists. We will reinforce the Judea and Samaria (West Bank) sector with additional standing army battalions,” he adds.

Freed hostage Avinatan Or released from hospital

Freed hostage Avinatan Or, who was admitted to Rabin Medical Center (Beilinson) upon his release from Hamas captivity on Gaza on October 13, was discharged today, the hospital says.

Or was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from the Nova festival on October 7, 2023, with his girlfriend, Noa Argamani, who was rescued by Israeli forces in June 2024.

Or will begin rehabilitation in the hospital’s Returned Hostages Unit. The hospital says it will continue to accompany him and his family, giving them all the support they need.

Four other freed hostages — Evyatar David, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, Eitan Mor, and Alon Ohel — remain in the hospital.

UK ‘saddened’ by Maccabi Tel Aviv’s refusal of away tickets amid concerns of violence against fans

Britain’s government says it is saddened that Maccabi Tel Aviv had turned down its ticket allocation for an upcoming game at Aston Villa, even as ministers worked to overturn a police decision to ban traveling fans.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had said it was wrong to ban away supporters from the Europa League match in the central English city of Birmingham on November 6 after local police expressed concerns about potential trouble.

But Maccabi said yesterday the “toxic atmosphere” put its fans at too much risk.

A British government spokesperson says it has been working round the clock to defend the principle that fans should be able to enjoy a game without fear of intimidation of violence.

“We are deeply saddened Maccabi Tel Aviv have turned down their away fan allocation but we respect their right to do so,” the spokesperson says.

“It is completely unacceptable that this game has been weaponized to stoke violence and fear by those who seek to divide us. We will never tolerate antisemitism or extremism on our streets.”

Birmingham has been the scene of anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian rallies since the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas began.

A number of British left-wing independent and Green politicians backed the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, with some calling for the wider exclusion of Israeli teams from international competitions.

Slain hostage Ronen Engel buried at Nir Oz: ‘It was you and me against the world. And now it’s just me, alone’

At the funeral for Ronen Engel in Kibbutz Nir Oz, his family eulogizes him as an optimistic, adventurous man, full of life and laughter, whose catchphrase was “Always look on the bright side of life.”

The volunteer EMT and motorcycle enthusiast was killed defending his family on October 7, 2023, and his body was then taken captive.

“You were the heart of our home — the one who knew how to make us laugh even on the hardest days, with your endless humor and optimism,” says Engel’s wife, Karina Engel-Bart, who was also taken hostage along with their two daughters on October 7. The three were released during a ceasefire in November 2023.

“You were always smiling, always with a witty line that made everyone turn to look at you and ask, ‘Is he serious?’ — and then hear you say, ‘I’m crazy, but I’m optimistic,'” she says.

Engel’s oldest daughter, Mika Engel, 18 when she was taken captive, eulogizes her father, saying she’ll never get to call him “Abush” again.

“It was you and me against the world — and now it’s just me, alone against the world,” says Mika Engel. “A world that’s torn me into a million pieces and is devouring me. How will I ever cope without you?

“I’m so tired of crying over your picture — I’d give anything to cry with you, just one more time, and not about you,” says Engel. “But, Abush — I’ve decided I’m going to live for you. I’ll do everything, I’ll see everything — for you.”

Engel’s youngest, Yuval, 10 years old at the time of the Hamas attack, remembers the “10 short but amazing years in which I got to be your little girl,” she says.

Ronen Engel’s older brother, Dani Engel, recalls his brother’s adventurous spirit.

“You had “ALWAYS” tattooed on your arm,” says Engel. “Only after October 7 did I really understand — that’s exactly how you lived your life. In the end, I’ve learned from you.”

He says at least his brother is home, buried in Nir Oz, and they will learn to live without him.

Netanyahu met Egypt’s intel chief in Jerusalem for talks on Trump plan and bilateral ties, PM’s office says

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his staff met with Egypt’s intelligence chief Hassan Rashad in Jerusalem, says the Prime Minister’s Office, confirming earlier reports.

According to the Israeli readout of the meeting, they discussed “advancing President Trump’s plan, Israel–Egypt relations and strengthening the peace between the countries, as well as other regional issues.”

Matan Angrest visits Hostages Square after release from Gaza

Released hostage Matan Angrest visits Hostages Square for the first time since he was freed from captivity in Gaza last Monday.

Angrest walks around the square, examining the flyers and posters featuring the hostages, and looks at a giant banner bearing his own image, the details of his capture on October 7, 2023, and information about his life before the Hamas terrorist attack.

He stands in front of a mock Hamas tunnel recreated in the square to raise awareness about the hostages, and holds up a poster with the image of Itay Chen, a soldier who was killed and taken hostage, and whose body is still held in Gaza.

According to the Hostages Forum, Angrest promises to do everything in his power to help bring the bodies of all the remaining hostages home.

Vance meets with Witkoff and Kushner, will hold press conference in Jerusalem at 6 p.m.

Vice President JD Vance will hold a press conference at 6 p.m. at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, according to the White House.

After being greeted at the airport by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Israel’s Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, and US Ambassador Mike Huckabee, he held a working lunch with top White House aides Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, says Vance’s office.

Egypt’s intelligence chief in Israel for meetings with Netanyahu, top US officials on Gaza

Egypt’s powerful intelligence chief Hassan Rashad is in Israel to discuss the future of the Gaza Strip with top Israeli and US officials, a foreign diplomatic source tells The Times of Israel.

According to Egypt’s eXtra news TV outlet, Rashad met with top Israeli officials, named by Hebrew-language reports as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Shin Bet chief David Zini.

Rashad is reportedly slated to meet with top White House aides Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. US Vice President JD Vance is in Israel as well today.

Official in PM’s office: Israel won’t take action against Hamas so long as terror group keeps returning bodies

Amid threats from Israel to Hamas over the failure to return the majority of the slain hostages held in Gaza when the ceasefire began, an official in the Prime Minister’s Office indicates that as long as Hamas keeps handing over bodies, Israel will not seek to punish the terror group.

“They’re playing games, they could release more bodies,” says the official. “But we see that they’re releasing. So if it’s constant and we see a constant release, I think that that’s something that we will bear. But the minute we start seeing that it’s not constant, we’re going to pull some rope.”

“I think that in the near future, we’re going to see a bit more bodies being handed over,” says the official. “It takes time. I think that we have to understand that the finding of the bodies and all the logistics between that and bringing them over, it takes time. Israel understands that. And we’re making the decision regarding how long we will wait on that fact.”

“On one hand, we know that it takes time,” continues the official, warning that “we won’t let it be stretched out too much. The minute that Israel will see that it’s just being stretched out for no reason, I think that would be the minute that we will give up.”

Motorcade of bikers escort body of slain hostage Ronen Engel in funeral procession

A motorcade of motorcycles, many with Israeli flags attached, accompanies the body of Ronen Engel as he is brought to burial in Kibbutz Nir Oz.

Engel, 54, who was killed and taken captive by Hamas terrorists as he defended his family on October 7, was a devoted motorcycle rider. His body was returned by Hamas on Saturday evening.

Engel’s wife, Karina Engel-Bart and two daughters, 18-year-old Mika and 11-year-old Yuval, were taken hostage on October 7 and released in November 2023.

A volunteer EMT, Engel loved exploring Israel by motorcycle or 4×4. A Tel Aviv native, he moved to Nir Oz in 2010 with his wife and two daughters.

World Food Programme calls on Israel to open north Gaza crossing to get more aid into Strip

A World Food Programme spokesperson says that the entry of supplies into Gaza are ramping up but were still far short of its daily target of 2,000 tons because only two crossings into the enclave are open.

“To be able to get to this scale-up, we have to use every border crossing point right now,” World Food Programme spokesperson Abeer Etefa tells a Geneva press briefing.

She adds that only two crossings were operational — Kerem Shalom and Kissufim — but that none were open into the famine-hit north.

There is no comment from COGAT, the Israeli Defense Ministry body that oversees civil affairs in the Palestinian territories.

Vance arrives in Israel amid US efforts to bolster Gaza ceasefire

US Vice President JD Vance lands at Ben Gurion Airport to begin his two-day visit to Israel.

He is expected to head south to the headquarters of the fledgling US-backed force to oversee the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire.

Tomorrow, he will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem.

Vance is in Israel as part of efforts to advance and bolster the Gaza ceasefire, after a New York Times report said that officials in Washington are concerned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could act to collapse the truce and return to war against the Hamas terror group.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff and top White House adviser Jared Kushner are also in Israel.

PM’s meeting with Witkoff, Kushner ‘very good,’ Israeli official says, amid report of US ceasefire concerns

The meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top White House aides Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner yesterday was “very good,” a senior official in the Prime Minister’s Office tells The Times of Israel.

“It was about things that they agreed on from the very beginning,” says the official. “There was no disagreement there. Everything was really clear between the two parties.”

There was no photo released from the meeting and no comment from the US.

The final schedule for US Vice President JD Vance’s visit has not yet been finalized, says the source, but should be in the next few hours.

The visits by the top US officials come as the New York Times reports Washington fears Netanyahu could end the Gaza ceasefire and return to the war against Hamas.

There is growing worry in the administration that Netanyahu could actively work against the deal, the report says, citing several unnamed US officials. Vance, Witkoff and Kushner are planning to pressure Israel not to undermine the accord as they visit the country, the report says.

Iranian woman held in France for anti-Israel posts set for prisoner swap, says Iranian diplomat

An Iranian student detained in France has been readied for a prisoner swap, an Iranian diplomat tells semi-official Tasnim news agency.

“The foreign minister announced that Mrs. Esfandyari was placed in the exchange channel and we have put together a political and consular package that both countries must implement,” the deputy for Consular Affairs at Iran’s foreign ministry says.

Cecile Kohler and her partner Jacques Paris, both French citizens, have been detained in Iran since 2022.

Iran has accused France of arbitrarily detaining Mahdieh Esfandiari, an Iranian student living in the French city of Lyon who was arrested this year over anti-Israel social media posts.

IDF said tightening reservist call-up methods, putting end to social media ads and unit transfers

Amid the fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the IDF is reportedly re-regulating its rules for the call-up of reservists, putting an end to several practices that have become commonplace since the start of the war on October 7, 2023.

In the last few days, the IDF’s Personnel Directorate issued new guidelines for recruiting reservists, which will take effect on November 1, the Calcalist financial daily reports.

Among the prohibited practices that were commonplace was the recruitment of reservists by various units using ads on social media. Many reservists would finish their duty in one unit, then move to another to continue serving.

The new guidelines state that recruiting reservists is only permitted through an official military website. This move intends to put an end to reservists being transferred between units without oversight.

Another practice that will be stopped under the new guidelines is the so-called “hybrid service,” where reservists perform their reserve duty while continuing to work at their civilian workplaces, sometimes doing one week on, one week off.

Calcalist reports that the frequent and prolonged waves of reserve call-ups during the war drew criticism from the Finance Ministry, which cited inefficiency and an extensive waste of funds within the IDF.

According to the paper, the direct cost of the war stands at some NIS 220 billion ($67 billion), of which around NIS 70 billion were allocated to fund the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of reservists for extended periods under emergency call-up orders.

With hugs and laughter, hostages freed last week meet with Witkoff and Kushner

About half of the released hostages brought home to Israel last week meet with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and White House adviser Jared Kushner Tuesday morning in Tel Aviv.

The former captives at the meeting include Omri Miran, Gal Berman, Ziv Berman, Yosef Chaim Ohana, Matan Angrest, Bar Kuperstein, Segev Kalfon, Nimrod Cohen, and Eitan Horn, all of whom were recently released from the hospital.

Each of the released hostages speaks privately with Witkoff, some handing him gifts to show their appreciation for helping bring about their release, others hugging him tight.

“This is my husband,” says Lishay Miran Lavi, introducing him to Witkoff, as the three laugh.

During the gathering, the former hostages urge Witkoff and Kushner to help bring back all 15 bodies of hostages remaining in Gaza, while Witkoff reaffirms the United States’ steadfast dedication to the mission and expresses his confidence in the ability to carry it out, according to the Hostages Forum statement from the meeting.

France’s former president Sarkozy arrives at Paris jail to start 5-year sentence

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has arrived at La Santé prison in Paris to start a five-year prison term.

Sarkozy, who was the conservative president of France between 2007 and 2012, was sentenced over a scheme to acquire Libyan funding for his 2007 presidential run.

Vance set to land at noon, visit HQ of emerging international task force for Gaza deal

US Vice President JD Vance is slated to land at Ben Gurion International airport at 12 noon today, says an Israeli source.

He is expected to head south to the headquarters of the emerging US/international task force that will oversee the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire, according to the source.

He is not meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, says the source — that meeting is expected later in the visit.

Police announce road closures from 1 p.m. for Vance’s visit

Police announce that a number of key routes will be closed ahead of US Vice President JD Vance’s arrival in Israel.

From 1 p.m., Route 1 — the main highway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv — will be totally shut to motorists eastbound from the Ganot interchange.

Route 6 will be closed southbound between the Daniel interchange and the Kiryat Gat junction.

Additionally, Route 35 will be blocked westbound from the Kiryat Gat interchange to the Kiryat Gat Industrial Zone.

The entrance to Jerusalem and multiple roads within the city will be blocked from 3 p.m.

Qatari emir condemns ‘Israeli ceasefire violations,’ with no mention of Hamas

Qatar’s emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani condemns “Israeli violations of the ceasefire” in a speech opening a session of the Shura Council legislative body.

“We reiterate our condemnation of all Israeli violations and practices in Palestine, particularly the transformation of the Gaza Strip into an area unfit for human life [and] the continued violation of the ceasefire,” he says.

The speech makes no mention of Hamas actions breaching the ceasefire, including its deadly attack on Sunday in which two IDF soldiers were killed. Israel has also said the terror group is in breach of the first stage of the agreement by not returning the all bodies of hostages from Gaza.

Al Thani further states that the Palestinian issue is not “a question of terrorism but of occupation,” and emphasizes that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to a genocide, a charge Israel has denied.

The Qatari leader also once again condemns Israel’s September strike targeting the Hamas leadership in Doha.

Uncle of slain hostage Tal Haimi: ‘You fought like a lion’

The uncle of Tal Haimi, whose body was released by Hamas overnight, says his nephew and the civil defense squad at Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak bravely fought the terrorists attacking their community on October 7.

“You fought like a lion with the defense squad, while no one came,” Zamir Haimi tells the Kan public broadcaster.

He says that the return of Tal’s body brought “a great mixture of emotions,” and notes that there are 15 more men whose bodies are still held by terror groups in the Gaza Strip.

Haimi and other members of the rapid response team battled the invading terrorists at the entrance to the kibbutz until he was shot dead. In December 2023, Tal’s family was informed based on intelligence that he had been killed on October 7 and his body taken hostage.

“You’re back home, blue-eyed child. An eternal 41-year-old boy,” Zamir Haimi writes on Facebook.

“We succeeded in bringing you home. Home to Ela, Nir, Einav, Udi and Lotan,” he writes. “Home to all the family that was waiting for you. Home to Nir Yitzhak.”

Haimi is survived by his wife Ela and four children. The youngest, Lotan, was born in May 2024, seven months after Tal was killed.

Hamas repeats claim it’s ready to recover all hostage bodies, but needs more time, machinery

Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya says in an interview with the Al-Qahira Al-Akhbariya channel that the terror group is willing to find and release the 15 bodies of hostages held in the Strip if it is given more time and heavy equipment.

“We are ready to recover and hand over all the bodies [of the hostages] according to the agreement; we have no desire to keep anyone with us — let them return to their relatives, and our martyrs will also return and be buried with dignity,” he says.

He adds that it is difficult to reach the bodies because some are under the ground and beneath buildings, and notes that this requires time and equipment.

Hamas has long said it would require additional machinery to locate the remaining deceased hostages. Israel accused Hamas of lying, saying it can return almost all of the bodies within a short timeframe. There are additionally concerns that the terror group could repurpose heavy equipment.

Al-Hayya also says that the guarantees Hamas received from the mediators and from the United States mean that the war in Gaza has ended.

He additionally stresses that they told the mediators that the amount of aid entering Gaza must be increased.

IDF troops demolished several Hezbollah posts on Lebanese side of Mount Dov, army says

During an overnight operation earlier this week, the IDF says troops demolished several Hezbollah posts on the Lebanese side of Mount Dov.

The operation, carried out by reservists and combat engineers of the 810th “Mountains” Regional Brigade, took place on Sunday.

The IDF says that the posts were destroyed to prevent them from being used by Hezbollah to entrench itself in the area in the future.

Trump’s pick for whistleblower office texted he has ‘Nazi streak’ — report

The nominee for US Office of Special Counsel, Paul Ingrassia, told a group of other Republicans in a text chain that the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell” and that he has a “Nazi streak,” according to a report by Politico.

Ingrassia, who currently works as White House liaison at the US Department of Homeland Security, also called assassinated civil rights leader King the “1960s George Floyd,” referring to the Black man killed by Minneapolis police in 2020, the report says.

Ingrassia’s Senate nomination hearing for the Office of Special Counsel, which investigates federal whistleblower complaints and discrimination claims, is scheduled for Thursday.

A lawyer for Ingrassia, Edward Andrew Paltzik, tells Politico that the messages could have been manipulated or doctored to damage Ingrassia’s confirmation chances. “We do not concede the authenticity of any of these purported messages,” Paltzik says.

Paltzik did not respond to a request for comment, and Reuters was unable to reach Ingrassia directly. Both the White House and DHS did not respond to requests for comment.

US increasingly worried Netanyahu could collapse Gaza ceasefire — NY Times

Officials in Washington fear Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could end the Gaza ceasefire and return to the war against Hamas, The New York Times reports.

There is growing worry in the administration that Netanyahu could actively act against the deal, the report says, citing several unnamed US officials. Top American officials including Vice President JD Vance and envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are planning to pressure Israel not to undermine the accord as they visit the country, it says.

The report also says that that are talks with Turkey on sending a team specializing in body retrieval to help locate missing bodies of hostages in Gaza, as Hamas has claimed it is having difficulty locating the 15 still in the Strip.

University of Arizona declines to sign onto Trump administration ‘compact’

The University of Arizona has cited academic freedom as it becomes the seventh elite institution to decline a Trump administration proposal offering nine schools preferential consideration for federal funding in exchange for agreeing to a set of policies.

Vanderbilt University and the University of Texas at Austin have yet to announce whether they will sign the proposal, for which the administration gave a Monday deadline.

Brown University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Southern California, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Virginia, and Dartmouth College previously rejected the proposal.

Since President Donald Trump took office in January, the White House has targeted what it deems liberal-leaning institutions and tried to withhold funding from colleges and universities over issues such as protests against Israel, transgender policies, climate initiatives and diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

The administration has canceled federal contracts worth millions of dollars with numerous schools to pressure them to drastically change their admissions and hiring policies, among other issues. Courts have ordered many of the federal cuts be restored. The compact, sent to the nine universities early in the month, marked a new approach.

“A number of the proposed federal recommendations deserve thoughtful consideration as our national higher education system could benefit from reforms that have been much too slow to develop,” University of Arizona President Suresh Garimella wrote in a statement addressed to the campus community.

“In fact, many of the proposed ideas are already in place at the U of A. At the same time, principles like academic freedom, merit-based research funding, and institutional independence are foundational and must be preserved.

“As a result, the university has not agreed to the terms outlined in the draft proposal,” but instead has submitted to the US Department of Education its existing Statement of Principles enumerating such university policies as merit-based hiring and prioritizing admission of qualified Arizona students and applicants from US tribal nations, Garimella wrote.

Report: West Bank police chief tells officers image of settler beating elderly woman ‘kept me up at night’

The head of West Bank police has instructed commanders in his district to bring to justice a masked settler who assaulted a Palestinian woman with a club Sunday morning, Channel 12 news has reported.

In an internal WhatsApp group, Deputy Commissioner Moshe Pinchi appeared to tell officers that an image of the young man bludgeoning a 52-year-old olive harvester in Turmus Ayya greatly disturbed him.

“A photo that kept me up at night. We will not be like our cruel enemies. This cruel criminal who beats elderly women, badly injuring them, will be arrested by us and be brought to justice,” he wrote in the chat.

An IDF spokesperson claimed army and police forces were dispatched to Turmus Ayya after receiving reports of the attacks to deal with the violence, but eyewitnesses at the scene claimed no forces were present during the time of the assault.

A West Bank District spokesperson said Sunday that police had opened a probe and that investigators went to the scene of the Turmus Ayya incident after the attack to take evidence, and had collected various videos documenting the violence. Police reportedly arrested one man who attacked the central West Bank town.

Pinchi is the former defense attaché to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and was appointed to his current post by the far-right leader in September 2024. He is generally known to support the interests of Israel’s settler movement.

While in his former role, the officer reportedly instructed police to refrain from using force against far-right rioters who broke into an IDF army base in late July.

מפקד מחוז ש"י ניצב משה פינצ'י מנחה את המפקדים בקבוצה פנימית – לפעול כדי לעצור יהודי רעול פנים שתקף אישה פלסטינית מבוגרת ופצע אותה קשה בזמן מסיק זיתים.
פינצ'י כותב: "תמונה שהדירה שינה מעיניי. לא נהיה כמו האויבים האכזריים שלנו". מול ניסיונות פוליטיים להתערב במשטרה – לא מובן מאליו. pic.twitter.com/oEfFrT6GAk

— Inbar Twizer ענבר טויזר (@inbartvizer) October 20, 2025

Maccabi Tel Aviv to decline tickets for European match at Aston Villa

Maccabi Tel Aviv will decline any tickets offered to their fans for a Europa League match at away to Aston Villa, the soccer club announces.

The local Safety Advisory Group (SAG) covering Villa Park in Birmingham, central England, last week blocked visiting fans from attending the November 6 match following a police risk assessment. That decision drew political criticism, including from UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, with widespread calls for the ruling to be reversed. The British government said Friday it was working to allow Israeli fans to be present.

But a statement on the Maccabi Tel Aviv website says: “The wellbeing and safety of our fans is paramount and, from hard lessons learned, we have taken the decision to decline any allocation offered on behalf of away fans, and our decision should be understood in that context.

“We hope that circumstances will change and look forward to being able to play in Birmingham in a sporting environment in the near future.”

At meeting, US Treasury chief urges Smotrich to ‘fully embrace’ Trump’s Gaza plan

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich held a rare meeting with a senior US official on Wednesday in Washington where Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent used the opportunity to urge the far-right minister to “fully embrace” US President Donald Trump’s plan for ending the Gaza war, according to a readout from the US Treasury Department.

The decision by Bessent’s office to highlight its call for Smotrich to embrace the Trump plan in its two-sentence readout points to Washington’s dissatisfaction with the Israeli finance minister’s opposition to the US effort.

Smotrich was one of several far-right ministers who voted against authorizing the first phase of Trump’s plan, which incudes a ceasefire, a limited Israeli pullback from Gaza and a hostage-prisoner swap.

He has expressed his opposition to releasing nearly 2,000 Palestinian security prisoners in exchange for the remaining hostages while also arguing that the deal leaves Hamas in power. He called for resuming the war following a deadly attack on Israeli troops in Gaza on Sunday, tweeting, “War!”

The IDF responded with a series of airstrikes against what it said were Hamas targets before announcing the resumption of its adherence to the US-brokered ceasefire several hours after Smotrich’s tweet.

Bessent’s office says he also used the Monday meeting with Smotrich to “reaffirm the strong ties between the United States and Israel.” Bessent “also underscored the historic return of the hostages, and noted the great potential for expansion of the Abraham Accords,” the US readout says.

Prime Minister’s Office confirms body of hostage Tal Haimi returned to Israel

The Prime Minister’s Office confirms that the body of Tal Haimi was returned to Israel tonight from the Gaza Strip.

Haimi, 41, was killed while defending Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak on October 7, 2023, and his body was taken to Gaza.

“The Government of Israel shares in the profound grief of the Haimi family and of all the families of the fallen hostages,” the PMO say.

Syria announces seizure of 12 million Captagon pills

The Syrian interior ministry says it seized about 12 million Captagon stimulant pills in a raid on a drug smuggling network operating near Damascus.

The seizure marks one of the largest drug busts since the transitional authority assumed power in late 2024.

Following “precise monitoring and tracking of a smuggling network attempting to traffic large quantities of narcotics abroad,” security forces seized “around 12 million Captagon pills in the Al-Dumayr area,” Brigadier General Khaled Eid, director of the Anti-Narcotics Department, says in a ministry statement.

The leader of the network was arrested during the operation, according to Eid. The confiscated drugs will be destroyed.

The operation reflects the department’s “determined approach to combating smuggling, cutting off its sources, and prosecuting” those involved in drug trafficking.

Captagon, which is similar to an amphetamine, became Syria’s largest export during the civil war that erupted in 2011, with its trade serving as a key funding source for the government of ousted president Bashar al-Assad. Since Assad’s fall, the new authorities have reported numerous major seizures across the country. However, neighboring countries continue to report the interception of large shipments.

Foreign UN staff confined to Yemen compound by Houthis since Saturday

Fifteen international staff with the United Nations have been confined to the UN compound in Yemen’s capital Sanaa since an incursion by the Houthi authorities on Saturday, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric says.

He says the staff are now free to move around the compound and have been in contact with their families and UN agencies, adding: “We hope that they will be free to leave the compound as soon as possible.”

Dujarric says five Yemeni staff who were also detained in the compound since Saturday have been released.

In addition, another 53 UN staff remain arbitrarily detained by the Houthis, he says, some since 2021. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Iran and Oman on Monday about the detentions, Dujarric says.

The Iran-aligned Houthis have controlled most of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, since seizing power in 2014 and early 2015. The United Nations has repeatedly rejected Houthi accusations that UN staff or UN operations in Yemen were involved in spying. Dujarric last week described the accusations as “extremely worrying.”

Vance en route to Israel to shore up Gaza ceasefire

US Vice President JD Vance has departed for Israel as part of efforts to advance and bolster the Gaza ceasefire, along with Second Lady Usha Vance.

He is due to meet with Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials.

His trip comes shortly after President Donald Trump warned Hamas it would be “eradicated” if it breaches the Gaza deal, but said he would give the Palestinian terror group a chance to honor the truce.

🚨BREAKING: Vice President JD VANCE and Second Lady Usha Vance board Air Force on the way to ISRAEL

The 48th President is enroute to OVERSEE the Peace Deal in the Middle East! 🇺🇸🔥pic.twitter.com/zNSNpldcyI

— The Patriot Oasis™ (@ThePatriotOasis) October 20, 2025