Oct. 28: PM reportedly sought to strike Gaza before latest attack on IDF troops, but US objected

At Hostages Square, released captive Bar Kuperstein thanks Israelis for their support

Released hostage Bar Kuperstein speaks at Hostages Square on October 28, 2025. (Dana Reany/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

Released hostage Bar Kuperstein speaks at the weekly Tuesday night gathering at Hostages Square, offering thanks for the prayers for him and the other hostages.

“I don’t have words to describe the love, what you did for me and the others,” says Kuperstein. “Part of my rehabilitation is coming here and saying thank you and appreciating what you did.”

Kuperstein says he was told to come with a prepared speech, but says, “I’m coming freestyle, that’s the best way to do it.”

He invites the audience to join him for a massive gathering of laying phylacteries, or tefillin, on Friday at 10 a.m., as part of the effort to bring home the remaining hostages.

“Join us and fulfill my dream from captivity of putting on tefillin,” says Kuperstein.

Faina Kuperstein, his grandmother, briefly takes the podium to thank the Israeli nation for its support.

“My grandson came back!” says Kuperstein. “Thank you so, so much.”

Hamas claims to mediators that it hasn’t violated the ceasefire while Israel has repeatedly — source

Hamas has informed Middle Eastern mediators in the last several hours that it remains committed to the ceasefire with Israel in Gaza, echoing a statement it has since issued publicly, a source familiar with the matter tells The Times of Israel.

In its message to Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish mediators, Hamas insisted that it is committed to returning the remaining hostages’ bodies as quickly as possible. Israel has pushed back on this claim, pointing to footage showing operatives in the group staging the recovery of a hostage’s remains that already appeared to have been in Hamas’s possession.

The Hamas message to the Mideast mediators, also shared with the US, claims the group has not committed any ceasefire violations since it went into place on October 10, while accusing Israel of repeated breaches — including the killing of about 100 Gazans, crossing the Yellow Line dividing the IDF-controlled half of the Strip from the Hamas-controlled side to the west, and keeping the Rafah Crossing closed, the source familiar with the matter said.

Israel asserts its troops have only responded to imminent threats posed by Palestinian operatives and insists that Hamas is the one violating the ceasefire by not returning the remaining bodies.

‘Unacceptable’: Red Cross criticizes Hamas for staged recovery of hostage’s remains

Hamas operatives are seen staging the recovery of the remains of a hostage in Gaza City, October 27, 2025. (Courtesy)

The Red Cross issues a rare statement criticizing Hamas for staging the recovery of a hostage’s remains, burying the body in the ground before calling in Red Cross teams and retrieving it when they were present.

The organization says in a statement that it is “aware” of the IDF-issued footage showing the scene unfolding, adding that it “accepted to be present in good faith in its role as a neutral intermediary between the parties,” and that its staff “were not aware that a deceased person had been placed there prior to their arrival, as seen in the footage.”

“Our team only observed what appeared to be the recovery of remains without prior knowledge of the circumstances leading up to it,” the statement says.

“It is unacceptable that a fake recovery was staged, when so much depends on this agreement being upheld and when so many families are still anxiously awaiting news of their loved ones,” it adds.

“The ICRC is raising its concerns directly with the parties. We urgently reiterate our call for human remains to be handled in a dignified manner that upholds international humanitarian law obligations, as well as forensic standards. The return of human remains to their loved one should never be political.”

PM’s office: Israel informed US of planned Gaza strikes, but only after they were ordered

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, speaks alongside US Vice President JD Vance at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, October 22, 2025 (Marc Israel Sellem/POOL)

Israel notified US President Donald Trump’s administration of its decision to carry out strikes in Gaza City in response to Hamas violations of the ceasefire after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered the move, the Prime Minister’s Office tells The Times of Israel.

“The prime minister made the decision to carry out the strike, gave the order to the military to execute it and afterward informed the United States,” the PMO says.

A US official and an Israeli official tell The Times of Israel that Jerusalem updated Washington after the decision was made but before the strikes took place.

“We were informed,” a Trump administration official says, noting that the US-led Civil-Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat, tasked with overseeing the ceasefire and monitoring progress on Washington’s Gaza peace plan, facilitated communication between the two sides.

An Israeli official confirms that “there were talks with the Americans” regarding Israel’s planned response before the strikes were carried out.

According to the officials, discussions took place on both political and military levels.

Brother of fallen hostage Hadar Goldin is optimistic but on guard, fears being left behind again

Tzur Goldin, third from left, twin brother of Hadar Goldin whose body has been held in Gaza since 2014, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, DC in July 2025. (Courtesy)

Tzur Goldin — the twin brother of Hadar Goldin, a Givati Brigade officer who was killed in 2014, with his body still held captive in Gaza — says that Hamas unequivocally knows the location of all 13 remaining hostages in Gaza.

“If the remaining hostages won’t be released in the context of this war, they won’t be released,” Goldin tells The Times of Israel. “Instead of one Hadar Goldin, there will be 13 Hadar Goldins.”

Goldin, a lawyer currently attending the Kennedy School at Harvard University, has been in Washington, DC, over the past few weeks, advocating for the ceasefire and the release of all the hostages.

The family’s deepest concern has been of a repeat of the scenario of 2014, when the Israel-Hamas war known as Operation Protective Edge ended, and Israel and the US put aside the issue of deceased hostages, says Goldin.

“That found us for nine and a half years quite alone on that front,” he says. “We’re petrified of a repetition of this scenario, where it’s left open-ended and the Hamas interest is to hold onto hostages and bleed Israeli society and intimidate families. The main issue is not to close the door.”

Now, says Goldin, the US and Israeli governments have to pressure Hamas to comply with the ceasefire agreement, given the terror group’s violations and foot-dragging in returning all the remaining deceased hostages. He refers to mechanisms such as sanctions, diplomatic relations, and if necessary, IDF strikes in Gaza — which reportedly took place tonight.

“Hamas doesn’t have an issue with information,” says Goldin, “it has issues with motivation.”

Goldin says the family is hopeful, that they have received signals from US special envoy Steve Witkoff, the Trump administration and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that they intend to enforce the secure release of all hostages and that the US doesn’t want to legitimize a situation where there will be hostages’ bodies that disappear.

“That will lead us to the abyss,” says Goldin.

“The White House wants the peace process in the Middle East,” he says. “They want to get from stage A to stage B. I’m optimistic but on guard.”

Palestinian media reports 5 dead in Khan Younis strikes, 4 dead in Gaza City

Palestinian media reports five dead in an Israeli airstrike targeting a car in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis a short while ago.

Four additional deaths are reported in strikes on Gaza City.

There has been no comment from the IDF yet on the strikes this evening, which come as a response to Hamas’s violations of the ceasefire agreement.

عاجل | إصابات في قصف الاحتلال مركبة وسط خانيونس جنوب القطاع pic.twitter.com/AUY8S5iYTp

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) October 28, 2025

Man who repeatedly assaulted Jews in NYC sentenced to 17 months in prison

Tarek Bazrouk, a US anti-Israel activist in New York City, is sentenced to 17 months in prison for a series of attacks against Jews.

Bazrouk, who is Palestinian, attacked Jews at anti-Israel protests on three occasions last year and early this year.

He became a cause célèbre for the pro-Palestinian movement in the US. More than 10,000 people signed a petition seeking leniency in the sentencing.

Around 200 supporters turn out for his sentencing in New York’s federal Southern District court.

Bazrouk signed a plea agreement in June that included a sentencing guideline of 12-18 months in prison, so the judge’s sentence is at the high end of the guidelines.

The sentence also includes three years of supervised release.

“If you assault somebody unprovoked just because that random somebody is an actual or perceived Jew,” the judge, Richard Berman, says, “because you, the assaulter, hate Jews, you are very likely to go to jail. It’s that simple.”

Berman stresses that the ruling is not particular to Jews, but to hate crimes against any group, including Palestinians.

One of the victims, Elisha Baker, says he’s “grateful” for the judge’s decision.

“The message that the court sent today is that if you assault Jews on the basis of their Judaism and membership in the Jewish people, you will be held accountable,” Baker tells The Times of Israel.

Jews are targeted in hate crimes more than any other group in New York City, but hate crime convictions are rare.

Revised Haredi draft bill said to reduce penalties for dodgers, lower requirements for exemption

Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Boaz Bismuth’s revised bill to regulate the conscription of — and draft exemptions for — Haredi yeshiva students will feature reduced penalties for draft evasion and lowered requirements for draft exemption for yeshiva students, according to reports by Channel 12 news and other Hebrew media outlets.

Under his new bill, set to be presented to lawmakers on Monday, the time students must be enrolled in a yeshiva to qualify for a military exemption has been reduced from three years to two.

Participation in national service programs will be counted toward military service, mandatory appearances at draft offices will be canceled and restrictions on overseas travel for draft evaders will apply only until age 26.

While the plan sets a long-term target of enlisting 50% of each annual Haredi draft cohort within five years, according to Hebrew news reports, critics say the revisions make the law more of a symbolic effort than a serious enforcement tool, offering incentives and loopholes that may allow many ultra-Orthodox students to avoid service entirely.

Report: Netanyahu sought to strike Gaza before today’s attack on IDF troops, but US objected

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu initially hesitated to authorize a military response in Gaza today over Hamas’s ceasefire violations due to resistance from the US, but chose to do so after the attack on troops in Rafah, Channel 12 reports, citing Israeli and American officials.

Discussions took place between the Prime Minister’s Office and the White House throughout the day over how to respond to Hamas’s failure to return the bodies of deceased hostages still held in Gaza, according to the report.

Hours before the Rafah attack, Netanyahu had been seeking a green light from US President Donald Trump for a military response to Hamas, but had not received one before the incident occurred, the report continues.

Earlier in the day, Israel shared with Washington and the CIA the IDF-released drone video showing Hamas terror operatives staging the recovery of a hostage’s body returned the previous night, arguing it constituted a ceasefire violation.

Senior Trump administration officials, however, told their Israeli counterparts they did not view the footage as a clear breach and urged Israel not to take “radical measures” that could risk collapsing the truce, according to the report. Instead, they suggested issuing a tougher ultimatum to Hamas to return the bodies within 72 hours, after which Israel would receive a US green light to act or to expand the IDF’s “Yellow Line” of control inside Gaza.

In his initial meeting with defense officials today, no response was approved by Netanyahu, and he emphasized that Israel should engage with Washington before proceeding.

Following the Rafah attack, however, Netanyahu held a smaller security cabinet session, during which he decided to renew airstrikes in Gaza and advance plans to expand the yellow line — moves which are now at the center of ongoing talks with the Trump administration on how far Israel should go, according to Channel 12.

IDF chief says Israel ‘will not remain silent’ over Hamas’s ceasefire violations

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks at a ceremony for outstanding civilian employees of the IDF, October 28, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir says Israel “will not remain silent” over Hamas’s violations of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.

“Hamas committed to returning the remaining deceased hostages, but it is violating its commitment. We saw that last night as well. We know well the nature of this organization, an organization built on terror, on deception and on treachery,” Zamir says during a ceremony for outstanding civilian employees of the IDF.

“We will not remain silent about this; we will continue to act to return all our hostages for burial; this is our moral and ethical duty,” he says.

“If Hamas does not fulfill its commitments, it will bear responsibility and will pay a heavy price. Many challenges still await us. The war is not yet over,” Zamir adds.

Hamas claims it’s not behind attack on IDF forces in Rafah, says it’s committed to ceasefire

Hamas asserts that the organization has no connection to the incident in Rafah in which IDF troops came under fire, adding that it is committed to the current ceasefire.

The statement adds that “the criminal assault by the occupation army in several areas of Gaza constitutes a serious violation of the ceasefire agreement… the attack is a continuation of a series of violations in recent days.”

The Palestinian terror group demands that the mediators pressure Israel to stop the “dangerous violations.”

Israel has accused Hamas of a series of truce violations, including the attack in Rafah, the extended delay in the return of hostages’ bodies, and the staging of the recovery of a hostage’s body yesterday.

Vance downplays current Israel-Hamas flareup, says ceasefire will hold

US Vice President JD Vance tells reporters that the Gaza ceasefire will hold, despite today’s exchange of fire between Israel and Hamas.

“The ceasefire is holding. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t going to be little skirmishes here and there,” Vance says during a visit to Capitol Hill.

“We know that Hamas or somebody else within Gaza attacked an IDF soldier,” he adds, notably avoiding a definitive assignment of blame on Hamas.

“We expect the Israelis are going to respond, but I think the president’s peace is going to hold despite it,” Vance adds.

Hamas authorities say at least 2 killed, 4 injured in IDF strike on Gaza City

At least two people have been killed and four others injured after an Israeli strike on the Sabra neighborhood south of Gaza City, Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense says.

Israeli planes launched strikes on Gaza City after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to carry out “powerful attacks” due to a string of violations of the current ceasefire by the Hamas terror group.

مشاهد من قصف الاحتلال بصاروخ استطلاع خلف مستشفى الشفاء.. #غزه_تباد_وتحرق#غزة_تحت_القصف pic.twitter.com/C6dnYo0cyX

— د.تامر – غَـ????ـزْةَ ????????Dr. Tamer – Gaza (@Tamer09875) October 28, 2025

Hamas authorities report at least 3 IDF strikes on Gaza City, including on area near hospital

Gaza’s civil defense agency says Israel has launched at least three airstrikes on the Strip, shortly after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to carry out fresh strikes in response to a string of Hamas violations.

“The occupation is now bombing Gaza with at least three airstrikes despite the ceasefire agreement,” Mahmoud Bassal, spokesman for the Hamas-run agency, tells AFP. Witnesses tell multiple outlets that they heard the blasts.

According to Palestinian reports, one of the strikes targeted an area near Gaza’s largest hospital, Shifa, with no casualties reported.

Wave of Israeli strikes reported in Gaza City

Palestinian media reports a wave of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City a short while ago.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

The strikes come after Israeli officials vowed to respond to an attack on troops in south Gaza today and Hamas’s failure to return the bodies of hostages still held in the Strip.

Report: Hamas claims to recover another hostage’s body from tunnel in Khan Younis

The Saudi Al-Hadath channel reports that Hamas has recovered what it says is another hostage’s body from a tunnel in Khan Younis, in addition to the one recovered earlier today.

Hamas earlier announced that it would return the first hostage’s body, recovered today from a tunnel, tonight, but then called that off “due to [Israeli] violations of the ceasefire agreement.”

Israel has accused Hamas of multiple violations of the deal reached earlier this month, and has charged that the terror group knows where the vast majority or even all the remaining bodies of hostages are, and is purposely stalling and staging fake discoveries of bodies.

Katz: Hamas ‘will pay many times over’ for attacking troops, foot-dragging on returning hostages

Defense Minister Israel Katz speaks to press at the site of a missile impact in Holon on June 19, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)

Defense Minister Israel Katz says Hamas will pay a “heavy price” for attacking IDF soldiers earlier today in southern Gaza’s Rafah and for the terror group’s violations of the deal under which it was supposed to return the bodies of remaining dead hostages held in the Strip.

“The attack on IDF soldiers in Gaza today by the Hamas terror organization crosses a glaring red line to which the IDF will respond with great force,” Katz says in a statement.

“Hamas will pay many times over for attacking the soldiers and for violating the agreement to return the fallen hostages,” he adds.

Poll: Most Palestinians want Gaza managed by panel of experts, but don’t want it delinked from Hamas or PA

A survey released today by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, headed by Khalil Shikaki, shows that 67% of Palestinians — 67% in the West Bank and 66% in Gaza — support “the administration of the Gaza Strip by a committee of Palestinian experts and specialists, including the implementation of the reconstruction program under international auspices and support.”

Opposition to this option stands at 31%.

Support drops, however, when the committee is described as “a Palestinian committee of professionals not affiliated with the Palestinian Authority or Hamas, managing Gaza’s affairs under an international umbrella in line with the Trump Plan.”

In this formulation, a majority of 53% oppose the idea, though a significant minority (45%) support it. A slim majority of 51% of Gazans support such a committee, compared to only 41% of West Bank respondents.

When presented only with the options of independent committee governance versus full or partial PA control, just 33% of respondents favor PA control — either full or shared — over Gaza.

The poll also shows that a large majority — 68% — oppose the entry of an armed Arab force from Egypt, Jordan, or other Arab and Islamic countries to maintain security and disarm Hamas. Opposition is far higher in the West Bank (78%) compared to Gaza (52%).

When asked about Hamas’s decision to launch the October 7, 2023, attack, 53% say it was the right decision. This compares to 50% in May 2025, 54% in September 2024, 67% in June 2024, and 71% in March 2024.

The latest increase comes from Gaza, where 44% now support the decision — up 7 percentage points from the previous poll. In the West Bank, support stands at 59%, identical to May 2025.

When asked whether Hamas committed the October 7 atrocities shown in international media videos — of Hamas fighters systematically killing Israeli civilians, including women and children in their homes — an overwhelming majority of 86% claim Hamas did not commit such acts, while only 10% say it did.

Regarding the two-state solution, 45% express support for it and 53% opposition to it when the idea is presented without details.

If new Palestinian parliamentary elections were held today, 65% say they would participate. Among those, 44% say they would vote for Hamas, 30% for Fatah and 10% for third parties, while 16% remain undecided.

The sample size of the survey is 1,200 people, of whom 760 were interviewed face-to-face in the West Bank and 440 in the Gaza Strip. The margin of error is +/-3.5%.

Sources: Israeli veto on Turkish or Qatari forces in Gaza forced mediators to only send Egyptian hostage-recovery team

Palestinians watch as Egyptian machinery and workers search for the bodies of hostages in Hamad City, Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israel rejected an initiative being advanced by the countries mediating the Gaza ceasefire that would have seen the creation of a multilateral team tasked with entering Gaza and retrieving the bodies of the remaining deceased hostages still in the Strip, two Arab diplomats tell The Times of Israel.

The initiative would have seen representatives from Israel, the US, Qatar, Turkey and Egypt form a joint search team that would share advanced capabilities and intelligence to locate and retrieve the remaining hostages, the Arab diplomats say.

Israel pushed back vehemently against granting a role for Turkish and Qatari forces in Gaza, and the mediators sufficed with an alternative proposal that would just see an Egyptian search team enter the Strip, the diplomats say.

The Egyptian team entered the Strip earlier this week but has yet to play a role in the retrieval of additional hostages, one of the Arab diplomats says, claiming that Cairo alone doesn’t have the capabilities necessary for the task at hand.

Israel has pushed back on the notion that such an initiative is needed, arguing that Hamas knows where the vast majority — or even all — of the remaining 13 deceased hostages are located and is dragging its feet in retrieving them.

Israel said to decide to take over more Gazan territory in response to Hamas violations

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to expand the territory under IDF control in the Gaza Strip after repeated Hamas violations of the ceasefire agreement, according to Hebrew media reports.

The Prime Minister’s Office declines to comment on the reports.

According to the Kan public broadcaster, Netanyahu is speaking with senior US officials in order to coordinate the move.

Hamas says planned return of hostage’s body postponed due to ‘Israeli violations’

Hamas’s military wing announces it is postponing the return of a hostage’s body that had been scheduled for 8 p.m. tonight.

In its statement, Hamas says the move is in response to “violations of the ceasefire agreement by the occupation.”

Earlier, Hamas announced it would hand over the body of a hostage recovered from one of the tunnels today.

But Israel has ordered the resumption of strikes in Gaza after terror operatives fired at IDF troops, in violation of the current ceasefire.

Group of hundreds of Oct. 7-affected families announces stepped-up campaign to form state inquiry

Rafi Ben Shitrit of the October Council speaks alongside others at a press conference announcing the intensification of the public campaign to form a state commission of inquiry into the failure surrounding the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught, at Paris Square in Jerusalem, October 28, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)

The October Council, made up of hundreds of families of victims and people directly affected by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, says it will step up its public campaign urging the formation of a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the attack.

At a press conference in Jerusalem, Rafi Ben Shitrit, whose son Staff Sgt. Shimon Alroy Ben Shitrit was killed on October 7 while attempting to fend off Hamas terrorists in southern Israel, urges the public to attend a demonstration near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence this coming Saturday evening.

“We will get masses of Israelis out to the streets,” he says.

Netanyahu has refused to acknowledge responsibility for the failures, has refused for over two years to form a state commission of inquiry — or any other inquiry — and is reportedly seeking to form a lesser commission whose makeup the government will be able to control.

The October Council said its steps are because “despite the war ending, the government continues to avoid forming a state commission of inquiry and is currently working to find new ways to cover up the truth, conceal responsibility and avoid a genuine probe of the October 7 failures.”

The council says Saturday’s protest is the first of a series of “public, legal and media steps” planned for the coming weeks, until an “independent and impartial state commission of inquiry is formed.”

Netanyahu orders ‘immediate and powerful strikes’ on Gaza in light of Hamas violations

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a plenary session of the opening day of the winter session at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on October 20, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructs the IDF to “carry out immediate and powerful strikes in the Gaza Strip,” says his office after he called a meeting on Israel’s response to repeated violations of the Gaza ceasefire.

The decision comes shortly after IDF troops came under attack in the southern Gaza Strip, and amid Israeli anger after further Hamas violations involving the return of hostages’ bodies.

IDF confirms it has lifted all restrictions on south, after 2-year emergency status ends

After Defense Minister Israel Katz announced yesterday that an emergency situation declared in southern Israel since the October 7, 2023, onslaught would be removed, the IDF announces that it has lifted all restrictions that were still in place near the border with the Gaza Strip.

The move follows a fresh assessment held by the IDF, with the approval of Katz, the military says.

The “special situation” had allowed the IDF’s Home Front Command to restrict gatherings and close off areas. It was declared on the morning of October 7 in the entire country, but has since remained in place only in the south.

The vast majority of restrictions in the country have already been lifted, but in some communities on the Gaza border, gatherings were still limited to 2,000 people.

‘How can you bury your child in installments?’ Ofir Tzarfati’s family slams Hamas’s ‘continuous emotional abuse’

Richelle Tzarfati, mother of slain Hamas captive Ofir Tzarfati, speaks to the crowd at a rally at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on May 11, 2024. (Paulina Patimer/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

Richelle Tzarfati, mother of murdered hostage Ofir Tzarfati, says she is forced to open her son’s grave for the third time.

Tzarfati, who was taken hostage on October 7, 2023, from the Nova and killed in captivity, had his remains recovered by the IDF in December 2023 and again in March 2024.

Additional remains from Tzarfati were released to Israel by Hamas last night.

In a press conference at the family home in Kiryat Ata, Richelle Tzarfati says she feels like the return of more remains is “continuous emotional abuse” by the terror group, saying she is forced again to bid her son farewell.

“For the third time. The third time I’ve been required to bury my Ofir,” says Tzarfati.

She describes the emotional torture, the wound that is reopened many times over.

“It’s a punch to the gut, an arrow to the heart, a wound that opens again and again,” she says.

“We thought we had closed the circle, that we were able to lay Ofir to rest, but today we discovered we never received all of him,” says Tzarfati. “I can’t grasp this. How can you bury your child in installments? How can you relive this once, and again, and again? Each time the grave is opened, my heart opens too, and another small piece of me is buried inside.”

“And what turns the pain into something unbearable is the way Hamas chooses to play with the bodies of our boys. With our pain. With videos, manipulations, and vile presentations,” she says.

Tzarfati says Hamas is lying to the world with “false presentations of ‘searches’ and ‘discoveries,’ when it is completely clear they know where most of the hostages are.”

Amid the horror, “there is also one moment of light,” which is the return of Ofir’s remains, she states. “I choose to remember Ofir not through the horrors, but through his life.”

“He was all light. A man’s man. Young, handsome, full of the joy of life, love, and laughter. A man who knew how to inspire everyone he met, who knew how to love without limit, who knew how to live honestly,” she says.

Tzarfati’s sister, Shoval Tzarfati, says Hamas carried out a cruel manipulation by returning her brother’s remains instead of one of the remaining 13 hostages, a violation of the agreement signed and approved by both sides.

“I stand here with a crown on my head, grateful for the privilege of having such a good brother. Ofir is a hero of love and light. A young man who dreamed, loved, and lived powerfully. A graduate of the Navy, an electrical engineer, a surfer, a traveler, and a beloved tennis instructor who was murdered in Hamas captivity. But his bright light continues to shine in the hearts of all of us,” she says.

Traffic mayhem expected Thursday as police to block Jerusalem entrance for mass Haredi anti-draft rally

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men block a road during a protest against the jailing of yeshiva students who failed to comply with an army recruitment order, in Jerusalem on August 7, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

A planned massive “million man” Haredi prayer rally against IDF conscription slated for Thursday is expected to block the main entrance to Jerusalem for hours and cause major congestion in the capital, police say.

Only buses carrying rally participants will be allowed to enter Jerusalem via Route 1 starting at 12 p.m. on the day of the 2:30 p.m. demonstration, until it concludes. During that time, Route 1 — the main Jerusalem-Tel Aviv artery — will be closed to private vehicles in both directions between the entrance to Jerusalem and Latrun Interchange.

Drivers will be able to exit the city via Route 443, according to a police statement. Public buses running between Jerusalem and other cities will leave the capital via Route 16, which joins Route 1.

Police say hundreds of officers will deploy at Jerusalem’s northern entrance and the city center to secure the event, which was announced by ultra-Orthodox leaders earlier this week as the IDF ramps up its arrests of Haredi draft evaders.

Transportation Minister Miri Regev told Radio Kol Hai last night that public transportation will be increased in order to allow demonstrators to arrive.

“We will act as we do at all major events. As soon as we identify congestion at specific points, we will increase public transportation there. Israel Railways will increase train service to Jerusalem, and so will the bus operators,” said the Likud minister. She also expressed support for conscripting Haredim who do not study in yeshiva.

Regev’s statement is at odds with what she told Ynet in 2023, when she said that her ministry was “not a transportation company for demonstrations,” referring to anti-government protests.

Both Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and MK Avichai Boaron of the ruling party have said that they support the demonstration and are considering taking part. Fellow Likud MK Osher Shekalim told Ynet that he identifies with the protesters.

In a statement, former communications minister Yoaz Hendel’s brand-new The Reservists party slams Regev and schedules a counter-demonstration in Jerusalem on Thursday.

“A government that encourages evasion and now shamelessly cooperates with the evasion rally on Thursday is a government that acts against the State of Israel,” the party says. “Miri Regev, who did not concern herself with a solution for reservists to reach their bases, is worried about increasing transportation for the evasion rally.”

Yesh Atid MK Karine Elharrar writes to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, accusing Regev of “abusing her authority” and acting in a discriminatory fashion by increasing transportation for some protests but not for others. Elharrar calls on Baharav-Miara to “urgently examine the legality of the decision.”

Terror operatives fire at IDF troops in Rafah, in another apparent truce violation

A remote-controlled, explosive-laden IDF M113 APC is seen after being detonated in southern Gaza's Rafah, April 21, 2025. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

Israeli troops stationed in southern Gaza’s Rafah came under fire by terror operatives a short while ago, The Times of Israel has learned.

Troops returned fire toward the attackers. Palestinian media reports also Israeli artillery shelling in the Rafah area.

The IDF has not yet commented on the incident, which appears to be another violation of the ceasefire deal by Hamas.

Last week, two IDF soldiers were killed in an attack in the Rafah area. The military blamed Hamas for the attack, though the terror group said it had no responsibility for its operatives in IDF-held areas of Gaza.

IDF releases full video of Hamas staging fake hostage remains recovery

Hamas operatives are seen staging the recovery of the remains of a hostage in Gaza City, October 27, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF publishes the full, 15-minute uncut drone video showing Hamas terror operatives staging the recovery of the remains of a hostage it returned to Israel last night, in front of the Red Cross.

The remains were identified as belonging to Ofir Tzarfati, whose body was recovered by the IDF in the Gaza Strip in December 2023, less than two months after his abduction during the Hamas onslaught.

“Contrary to Hamas’s claims of difficulties locating the bodies of the deceased hostages, yesterday Hamas operatives were documented removing body remains from a structure that had been prepared in advance and burying them nearby,” the IDF says.

“Shortly thereafter, the Hamas terror organization summoned representatives of the Red Cross and staged a false display of discovering a deceased hostage’s body,” it says.

The military says the footage “clearly shows that the Hamas terror organization is attempting to create a false impression of efforts to locate the bodies, while in fact holding deceased hostages whose remains it refuses to release as required by the agreement.”

“This is accompanied by false claims of shortages in engineering equipment, equipment that is clearly unnecessary for the transfer of remains, and therefore these claims do not constitute an obstacle to the return of the remaining deceased hostages,” the IDF adds.

Hamas operatives are seen staging the recovery of the remains of a hostage in Gaza City, October 27, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Italian anti-Israel activists prevent Jewish ex-MP, son of Holocaust survivor, from speaking at Venice university

Pro-Palestinian activists have prevented a former Jewish member of the Italian Parliament, who is the son of an Auschwitz survivor, from speaking at an event at the Ca’ Foscari University in Venice, Italian media reports.

A member of the center-left Italian Democratic Party, Emanuele Fiano, 62, currently serves as the secretary of the group Left for Israel.

Yesterday, he was set to speak at an event about the perspectives for peace in the Middle East and specifically advocating for the two-state solution, which Fiano and his group support.

According to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, a group of pro-Palestinian activists interrupted the debate with anti-Israel chants and did not allow for the discussion to continue.

Doveva essere un dialogo per la pace a sostegno di un percorso tra i due popoli, tra Antonio Calò e @emanuelefiano e invece gruppi della sedicente sinistra giovanile hanno impedito a #Fiano di parlare, al grido incessante: "fuori i sionisti dall'università". pic.twitter.com/O25SjlmR8k

— Sinistra per Israele 2 popoli 2 Stati (@SinistraXIsrael) October 27, 2025

Videos shared by Left for Israel on Twitter also show the activists holding a banner reading: “Zionists out of the university.”

“I tried everything I could to continue, but they kept on talking and telling lies about me,” Fiano tells the daily La Repubblica.

“I’m shocked by what happened,” he adds. “The last time they expelled a Fiano from a place of study was my father in 1938. We were there to discuss peace between two peoples, injustice, pain, violence and peace. Anyone who doesn’t want to hear about these things doesn’t want peace.”

Fiano’s father, Nedo, was expelled from his public school in Florence when he was 13 after Italy passed its anti-Jewish laws in 1938. He was sent to Auschwitz in 1944 and lost both of his parents there. He passed away in 2020.

The Venice episode has been condemned by politicians across the political spectrum.

Last month, Ca’ Foscari approved a resolution to suspend all collaborations with Israeli universities in light of the war in Gaza.

Jewish educator assaulted in Manhattan in apparent antisemitic attack

Rami Glickstein, victim of an antisemitic assault in New York on October 27, 2025,, speaks to Channel 7. (Screenshot via X)

An Israeli educator was assaulted in midtown New York yesterday in what is believed to be an antisemitic attack, American and Hebrew media reports say.

According to the reports, 58-year-old Rami Glickstein says he was heading toward the Mr. Broadway restaurant on 38th Street when a man approached him, pointed at his kippa, and said: “Tell me about your religion.”

Glickstein did not respond, and the man grabbed his kippa off his head, threw it on the ground, and spat on it. Then, when Glickstein bent down to pick it up, the attacker allegedly punched him in the face.

Jewish bystanders who witnessed the scene called for police and medical help, but Glickstein was able to walk toward the restaurant before he was taken to a hospital, the report said. He has since been discharged.

Investigators from NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force are searching for the suspect, described as a man in his 30s wearing a dark hoodie, according to media reports.

“My Israeli pride was hurt” in the attack, Glickstein says.

Jews are targeted in hate crimes in New York more than any other minority, according to the NYPD.

Israel issues demolition orders for 13 buildings in West Bank Palestinian hamlet

Caravans and simple structures for residents of the West Bank Bedouin village of Umm al-Khair, are seen at the entrance on July 10, 2024. (AP /Maya Alleruzzo)

The Civil Administration issues demolition orders for 13 structures, including 11 homes, in the Palestinian hamlet of Umm al-Khair in the South Hebron Hills area of the West Bank.

According to the left-wing Peace Now organization, the buildings were built decades ago. The owners have four days to file an objection through the courts to halt the demolitions.

“The letters the Civil Administration has issued are part of a brutal and long-term struggle against the villagers,” Peace Now says.

The demolition orders come against the background of a petition filed by Peace Now to the Jerusalem District Court requesting that seven prefabricated homes established by Israeli settlers on the outskirts of the Carmel settlement and located just meters from Umm al-Khair be evacuated on the grounds that the dwellings were constructed without authorization and in violation of zoning designations on the land in question.

In August, when the construction work in the area began, Awdah Hathaleen, a prominent Palestinian activist featured in the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land,” was shot and killed, apparently by a known extremist settler who was conducting contract work for the building work.

The court issued a temporary injunction forbidding settlers from taking up residence in the homes as well as prohibiting further work to pave a road to the structures until further notice, but this order was seemingly violated and the homes have already been populated.

The state has until today to respond to the petition.

Hamas says it will hand over hostage’s body tonight, after Israeli fury at violations of ceasefire deal

The 13 deceased hostages whose bodies were still held in Gaza as of October 22, 2025: (Top row from left) Meny Godard, Ran Gvili, Sahar Baruch, Dror Or; (Second row) Joshua Mollel, Itay Chen, Asaf Hamami, Oz Daniel, Hadar Goldin; (Bottom row) Sudthisak Rinthalak, Lior Rudaeff, Amiram Cooper, Omer Neutra. (Collage by Times of Israel; Photos: Courtesy)

Hamas’s military wing announces that tonight at 8 p.m., as part of the ceasefire agreement, it will release “the body of a hostage that was recovered a short time ago from one of the tunnels in the Gaza Strip.”

The identity of the hostage is not specified.

The announcement comes amid Israeli fury at the slow pace of the return of the abductees’ remains; at the return last night of additional remains of a previously recovered hostage instead of a new body; and at what Israel says was Hamas staging a fake “finding” of those remains.

Shortly before the announcement, Hamas’s official news agency Shehab published footage showing Hamas members at what appears to be the entrance of a tunnel in Khan Younis. According to the report, Hamas members conducted a search there for the bodies of hostages.

#متابعة_شهاب|???? أفراد من وحدة الظل في كتائب القسَّام يستعدُّون للدُّخول لأحد الأنفاق؛ لانتشال جثة أحد أسرى الاحتلال pic.twitter.com/s9P4f2J4p3

— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) October 28, 2025

Haredi MK visits jailed yeshiva students held for draft dodging, calls arrests ‘stain on Israel’

United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni visits the Beit Lid military prison, where several ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students are being held for draft evasion, October, 28, 2025. (Courtesy/Moshe Gafni's office)

United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni visits several ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students who are being held in military prison for draft evasion.

“It is a great stain on the State of Israel that someone who studies Torah is arrested and thrown into prison. This is an unbearable and unacceptable reality, and we will do everything we can to get them out of here and return them to the yeshiva to continue studying Torah,” Gafni states upon leaving the prison.

UTJ and fellow ultra-Orthodox party Shas are among the organizers of a massive “million man” prayer rally against conscription set to be held at the entrance to Jerusalem on Thursday afternoon.

Knesset panel delays presentation of controversial Haredi draft exemptions bill to Monday

Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Boaz Bismuth’s revised bill to regulate ultra-Orthodox conscription will not be presented to lawmakers on Thursday as scheduled, and will instead be discussed on Monday.

The presentation of Bismuth’s draft of the bill has already been postponed once. Last week, Shas gave up its chairmanships of parliamentary committees to protest the lack of a law regulating the conscription of — and draft exemptions for — Haredi yeshiva students.

Bismuth (Likud) has said his goal is to have the controversial bill passed into law in December. The new bill is set to be based on a document of principles he recently submitted to the committee’s legal adviser.

According to Hebrew news reports, the document stipulates that within five years, 50% of the annual eligible Haredi draft cohort will be conscripted, and the age of exemption from conscription will remain at 26. Government funding for yeshivas will only be cut if they fail to meet army enlistment quotas after a year. Sanctions on individuals who do not serve in the army will only go into effect after two years if the overall enlistment goal is not met.

Sanctioned individuals will not lose their driver’s licenses, although restrictions on issuing new licenses to draft evaders will apply.

IDF drone video shows Hamas staging the ‘recovery’ of remains of hostage Ofir Tzarfati

Hamas operatives are seen staging the 'recovery' of the remains of a hostage in Gaza City, October 27, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

An Israeli military drone video shows Hamas staging the fake recovery of the remains of a hostage it returned to Israel last night.

The remains were identified as belonging to Ofir Tzarfati, whose body was recovered by the IDF in the Gaza Strip in December 2023, less than two months after his abduction during the Hamas onslaught on October 7.

The video shows Hamas operatives bringing a body bag from a building to a hole that was dug in the ground and covering it in dirt.

The operatives are then seen digging up the body bag they had just hidden, using an excavator, before moving it and dumping it nearby.

Red Cross representatives are seen arriving as the excavator dumps more dirt on the body bag. The Hamas operatives then uncover the body bag in front of them, with one operative seen taking pictures with his phone.

Hamas operatives are seen staging the recovery of the remains of a hostage in Gaza City, October 27, 2025. (Courtesy)

279 IDF soldiers attempted suicide since start of 2024, Knesset report finds

A new report from the Knesset Research and Information Center reveals that between January 2024 and July 2025, 279 Israel Defense Forces soldiers attempted to take their own lives.

The report, prepared at the request of far-left Hadash-Ta’al lawmaker Ofer Cassif, found that for every soldier who died by suicide, seven additional attempts were recorded.

According to the report, combat soldiers made up 78% of all suicides in Israel in 2024 — a sharp rise from previous years, when the rate hovered between 42% and 45% from 2017 to 2022. The increase may be partly linked to the surge in reservist mobilization following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, which drew tens of thousands of troops back into active service during the war.

Most of the data was supplied by the IDF Medical Corps’ mental health center, as well as from discussions held in various Knesset committees.

The report clarifies that the figures refer only to soldiers serving at the time of their death or attempt — whether in regular or reserve service — and do not include veterans who took their own lives after completing military duty.

Gaza coordination center being set up in Egypt’s El-Arish, Arab diplomat says

A parallel, but smaller, counterpart to the Civilian-Military Coordination Center in the Israeli city of Kiryat Gat is being set up in Egypt in El-Arish, an Arab diplomat tells The Times of Israel.

The center is effectively a coordinating mechanism for the mediating countries, says the official, which includes Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the US. That coordination is currently taking place in Cairo, says the diplomat.

It remains unclear whether Israel will have a representative there.

The El Arish center will focus on, among other issues, what is taking place in Hamas-controlled areas of Gaza, and the aid being sent there through Egypt.

Model arrested on suspicion of murder to be held for further 8 days – reports

A well-known Israeli model will remain behind bars for another eight days, after being arrested earlier this month on suspicion of murder, Hebrew media reports.

The woman, whose name is barred for publication under a court-issued gag order, is one of four suspects to be arrested in connection with the death of Shalom Nissim on October 15.

The suspects were brought to a hearing earlier today, during which the model surprised the courtroom by swapping out her private lawyer for an attorney in the Public Defender’s Office.

The court also allows for the publication of the name of another suspect in the case, David Kricheli, a 36-year-old father of four from Be’er Yaakov. His detention was also extended by eight days.

Investigators believe that the woman and her alleged accomplices killed Nissim after a fight broke out in her Petah Tikvah apartment, in which one of the suspects allegedly stabbed him. The victim is said to have then fallen from the balcony, landing on a fence and breaking his neck, which killed him on the spot.

Police initially believed Nissim’s death to have been a suicide, but began to suspect the man was unlawfully killed after receiving the findings of his autopsy. The suspects are thought to have consumed hard drugs, including heroin, before the victim’s death, according to Hebrew reports.

Netanyahu set to begin meeting on response to Hamas violations of Gaza ceasefire

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the Tel Aviv District Court for a hearing in his criminal trial, October 28, 2025 (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s emergency meeting on Israel’s response to Hamas violations of the Gaza ceasefire agreement is scheduled to begin now, a defense official tells The Times of Israel.

The meeting will include senior ministers, Netanyahu’s advisers, and senior security officials, says the official.

Israel fed up with Hamas ‘lies,’ considering steps against terror group for violating ceasefire from day 1, official says

Palestinians watch as Egyptian machinery and workers search for the bodies of hostages in Hamad City, Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Hamas has been violating the terms of the Gaza ceasefire since day one, the Prime Minister’s Office tells The Times of Israel, but now Israel is fed up with Hamas “lies.”

The return last night of more remains of a hostage whose body was already recovered is not the only reason for Israel meeting to decide on measures against Hamas, says a senior PMO official. “The issue is that they have been violating for two weeks.”

“We waited patiently, because we understood that it takes time to locate, to dig, to extract, to return,” says the official. “All of this takes time.”

“But here, they’re crossing a red line,” says the official.

The IDF captured video yesterday of Hamas digging a hole in Gaza, bringing the remains of slain hostage Ofir Tzarfati there, and then calling the Red Cross to witness the apparent retrieval.

The “modus operandi of Hamas has been revealed,” says the PMO official. “It’s all a big show. It’s just like their ‘starvation’ campaign.”

“They stage everything, everything is a lie.”

“We proved in black and white, in color even, in pictures, how much they are lying,” says the official. “There is no bigger lie than taking a bulldozer and digging up a grave, putting [a body] inside, then covering it. It’s a big deal.”

The Egyptian team — which included a Hamas official — looking for slain hostages in Israeli-controlled territory in Gaza has left the area, says the PMO official.

Before coordinating with the US on sanctions, says the official, “first of all, we need to make a decision what we’re going to do, and if it even needs coordination.”

55 lawmakers call on Herzog to release Jewish security prisoners

Amiram Ben Uliel, convicted of the Duma arson murder in July 2015, in which three members of the Dawabsha family were killed, attends a hearing on his appeal, at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, on March 7, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Fifty-five coalition lawmakers and MKs sign a letter calling on President Isaac Herzog to release Jewish security prisoners held in Israelis jails in the wake of the recent ceasefire deal which saw hundreds of Palestinian terrorists responsible for dozens of deadly terror attacks freed in return for the release of hostages.

The letter, an initiative of far-right Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech, says that while its signatories do not in any way agree with the actions of those on whose behalf they are advocating, it is wrong that they remain in prison while Palestinian terrorists are freed to return to their families.

The letter is signed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Settlements and National Projects Minister Orit Strock, Transportation Minister Miri Regev, Culture Minister Miki Zohar and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, among others.

Among the lawmakers who signed the letter are members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud, Religious Zionism, Otzma Yehudit, Shas and United Torah Judaism.

“In recent days, the government of Israel has been releasing thousands of terrorists. It goes without saying that none of us desires the release of the terrible terrorists who have harmed so many families in Israel. However, the failure to release the Jewish prisoners constitutes a policy of discrimination against them,” the letter states.

“A high percentage of released terrorists return to the path of terrorism while none of these Jewish prisoners have ever committed similar acts,” the letter claims. “We call on you, Mr. President, to act immediately to release this handful of Jewish prisoners and to correct this injustice.”

Herzog has recently indicated that he is considering commuting the prison sentence of convicted mass murderer Ami Popper, who massacred Palestinian workers at a bus stop in Rishon Lezion in 1990, in one of the largest cases of Jewish terrorism in Israel’s history.

According to the Ynet news site, which first published the letter, it was the initiative of both Son Har-Melech and the Honenu legal aid organization, which advocates on behalf of multiple Jewish security prisoners, including Amiram Ben Uliel, who was convicted in 2020 of killing three members of the Palestinian Dawabsha family in a 2015 arson attack.

Son Har-Melech has previously called Ben Uliel a “holy righteous man” whose imprisonment was a “crime.”

Netanyahu’s testimony in criminal trial cut short today over ‘security developments’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the Tel Aviv District Court for a hearing in his criminal trial, October 28, 2025 (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Today’s hearing for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s testimony in his criminal trial has been cut short and will end three hours earlier than later, due to “security developments” that the premier relayed to the judges of the Jerusalem District Court in a closed-door session.

The hearing itself dealt with the interests of Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan in Israel’s Channel 10 TV and the allegations that Netanyahu tried to assist Milchan with various regulatory issues while in office.

During one of the breaks in the hearing, pro-Netanyahu activists arrived in the courtroom and harassed and even threatened some of the reporters and anti-government activists in the room.

Following intervention by court security, the right-wing activists retracted their threats and apologized.

Ofir Tzarfati’s family: We saw video of Hamas burying his remains in ‘despicable’ fake retrieval

Richelle Tzarfati, mother of slain Hamas captive Ofir Tzarfati, speaks to the crowd at a rally at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on May 11, 2024. (Paulina Patimer/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

The family of Ofir Tzarfati says they were shown video of Hamas digging a hole in Gaza yesterday, bringing their son’s remains there, burying them, and then calling the Red Cross to witness the apparent retrieval, in a “despicable” manipulation by the terror group.

“We went to sleep tonight expecting and hoping that another family would close a two-year torturous circle and have their loved one returned for burial,” the family says in a statement.

“But once again, there was a deception at the expense of our family as we try to recover,” says the family.

IDF reservists stationed in eastern Gaza City have said that Hamas operatives carried out digging works yesterday before bringing out a body from a nearby building and placing it in the hole.

Hamas then covered the body in dirt and called the Red Cross to watch its operatives “uncover” it, they said. Army Radio said that the entire incident was filmed by a military drone.

The Tzarfati family says they saw the video of the fake burial and retrieval by Hamas, and calls it a “despicable manipulation designed to torpedo the deal and abandon the return of all the hostages.”

“This is the third time that we have been forced to open Ofir’s grave and rebury our son. The circle supposedly closed in December 2023, but it never really closes. Since then, we have been living with the wound that keeps opening, between memory and longing, between bereavement and a sense of mission,” they say.

*Our Ofir went to Nova to celebrate his birthday and never returned. We ask all the people of Israel not to forget the fallen, not to forget the hostages, and to continue supporting the families until they return — that’s the only way we’ll have a future. That’s the only way we can continue to live in our country,” the family says.

Tzarfati, 27, was shot, wounded and kidnapped by Gazan terrorists as he tried to escape from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, along with a number of others including freed hostage Romi Gonen. On November 27, the IDF declared that he was confirmed dead, and on December 1, the military announced it had recovered his body from Gaza.

Remains returned by Hamas belong to Ofir Tzarfati, whose body was recovered by IDF from Gaza in December 2023

Ofir Tzarfati (Courtesy)

The remains returned by Hamas to Israel last night belong to Ofir Tzarfati, whose body was recovered by the IDF in the Gaza Strip in December 2023, less than two months after his abduction during the Hamas onslaught.

Tzarfati’s family was notified by military representatives that additional remains of his body were returned.

The Prime Minister’s Office says in a statement that “this is a clear violation of the agreement” by Hamas, as it is obligated to return the bodies of the 13 slain captives still held in Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a security assessment with top defense officials this afternoon to “discuss Israel’s steps in response to the violations,” the PMO adds.

Storm approaching Jamaica could wreak destruction on par with Hurricane Katrina

A man watches the waves crash into the walls at the Kingston Waterfront on October 27, 2025 (Ricardo Makyn / AFP)

Jamaican officials urge the public to get to higher ground and shelters ahead of Hurricane Melissa’s expected landfall today, with the prime minister warning it could bring massive devastation.

The Category 5 storm — which could be the island’s most violent on record — is charting a slow path through the Caribbean, and has already been blamed for three deaths in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic.

The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported that Melissa was still 150 miles (240 kilometers) from Kingston late Monday, and reaching maximum wind speeds of 175 miles per hour.

Its heavy rains combined with intense winds could wreak devastation on par with historic hurricanes, including 2017’s Maria or 2005’s Katrina, which left indelible impacts on Puerto Rico and the US city of New Orleans.

Scientists say human-driven climate change is causing such massive storms to become increasingly common in the region.

Ohana to cut Knesset’s budget by NIS 125 million, says vital operations won’t be impacted

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana in Knesset, Jerusalem, June 16, 2025. (Noam Moskowitz, Office of the Knesset Spokesperson)

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana is seeking to cut the Knesset’s budget for the third time since taking office.

The Knesset Spokesperson’s office says that Ohana informed Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of the NIS 125 million (approximately $38 million) cut, and will transfer the funds directly to the treasury.

The measure still needs to be approved by the Joint Committee for the Knesset Budget.

“My policy is to cut public spending wherever possible and return the funds to the treasury, so they may go back to the citizens and to the rehabilitation of communities affected by the war,” says Ohana.

This latest move brings total reductions initiated by Ohana to NIS 326 million ($100 million). The speaker previously made an NIS 80 million ($24.5 million) cut from the operational budget in November 2023 and an additional cut of NIS 121 million ($37 million) in January 2024 to support the country’s wartime needs.

According to the Knesset Spokesperson’s Office, the new cut will not affect the parliament’s essential operations, and its budgetary independence will remain intact.

The office does not immediately respond when asked what will be impacted by the cuts.

Citing David and Goliath story, Taiwan president says Israel a model for island’s defense

Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te gives a speech during National Day celebrations at the Presidential Palace in Taipei on October 10, 2025. (I-HWA CHENG / AFP)

Israel is a model for Taiwan to learn from in strengthening its defenses, President Lai Ching-te says, citing the Biblical story of David versus Goliath on the need to stand up to authoritarianism.

Taiwan has been a strong backer of Israel since the 2023 Hamas-led onslaught which triggered the war against Hamas in Gaza, though Israel, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic relations with Taipei.

Attending a Monday night dinner in Taiwan of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Lai, who has also been courting conservative US media in an effort to win support from the White House, said that Jewish people have suffered constant persecution over their history.

“The Taiwanese people often look to the example of the Jewish people when facing challenges to our international standing and threats to our sovereignty from China. The people of Taiwan have never become discouraged,” he says, in comments his office released today.

Appeasement has never been the way to stop authoritarian governments, and the concept of peace through strength is a maxim that Israeli, US and Taiwanese societies have had for years, Lai adds.

“Israel’s determination and capacity to defend its territory provides a valuable model for Taiwan. I have always believed that Taiwan needs to channel the spirit of David against Goliath in standing up to authoritarian coercion.”

Taiwan has a de facto embassy in Tel Aviv, while Israel has a similar representative office in Taipei. There is no similar arrangement between Taiwan and the Palestinians, with whom China has a close relationship. China recognized a Palestinian state in 1988.

Lai earlier this month announced a new multi-layered air defense system called “T-Dome” to defend itself against a possible future attack by Beijing, which claims the democratically governed island as its own territory.

Lai told the dinner that T-Dome had been inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system, as well as US President Donald Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile defense shield.

“I believe that trilateral Taiwan-US-Israel cooperation can help achieve regional peace, stability, and prosperity,” he says.

Lai and his government reject Beijing’s territorial claims. Foreign minister Lin Chia-lung says he is not worried that US President Donald Trump, who is touring Asia, will “abandon” the island.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Bennett calls for Hamas to be destroyed amid ceasefire violations

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett visits the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, May 26, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett calls for the destruction of Hamas for its ceasefire violations, after the terror group appeared to hand over additional remains of a previously returned hostage rather than the body of an additional captive.

“Hamas is a cancer. Hamas must be destroyed,” he declares in a statement.

Bennett is widely seen as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s main rival in upcoming elections, set to be held in the coming year.

Prosecutors appeal release of activist who allegedly torched dumpster near PM’s home last month

Mark Foigel, one of the activists arrested for setting fire to recycling bins and a car near the Prime Minister’s Residence, arrives at a hearing at the Jerusalem District Court on October 26, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

State prosecutors file an appeal to the Supreme Court against the release of one of the four anti-government activists detained for setting fire to dumpsters near the prime minister’s residence early last month.

Mark Foigel, 57, will appear tomorrow afternoon before Justice Daphne Barak-Erez. The three other defendants were released from Hadarim Prison last night, after the Jerusalem District Court ordered them to supervised house arrest.

Foigel is accused of having organized a plan to light a “ring of fire” around Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem during a day of mass protest calling for a hostage deal. He and his three alleged accomplices had been held in detention for a number of weeks.

The defendants’ lawyers have denounced prosecutors’ efforts to keep their clients in custody as a politically motivated step, and their prolonged detention has sparked several demonstrations outside the prison where they were held.

In the district court hearing earlier this week, prosecutors characterized Foigel as the “dominant actor” in the plot, who recruited the three other defendants to torch trash bins the morning of September 3. They argued that the incident was not a “standard arson case,” insisting that it was meticulously planned. One of the fires spread, destroying a car and forcing locals to evacuate, but caused no injuries.

On Sunday, Foigel’s attorney Gaby Lasky accused police  of selective enforcement against anti-Netanyahu protesters, referencing the frequent torching of dumpsters by Haredi protesters during anti-draft demonstrations, as well as targeted arson attacks against Palestinian property by extremist settlers in the West Bank.

‘Davos in the desert’ kicks off in Saudi Arabia as Riyadh eyes investment for AI

People attend the opening ceremony of the Future Investment Initiative, in Riyadh on October 28, 2025 (Fayez Nureldine / AFP)

Saudi Arabia opens a major investment conference featuring heads of state and the global business elite as it seeks support for its sprawling “gigaprojects” and sky-high AI ambitions.

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, joined by several ministers and more than 150 business leaders, and Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa are among the guests at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh.

Donald Trump Jr. and the heads of US investment giants Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and BlackRock are also gathering at the capital’s opulent King Abdulaziz International Conference Center, the former royal palace.

FII, dubbed “Davos in the desert,” will once again try to lure investment dollars to Saudi Arabia as the world’s biggest oil exporter attempts to diversify its economy.

Conference of European Rabbis convention in Azerbaijan canceled over security concerns, organizers say

A planned convention of the Conference of European Rabbis set to be held next week in Baku, Azerbaijan, has been canceled due to security concerns, organizers say.

In a letter, the organization thanks the Azerbaijani government for having agreed to host the event.

The event had been expected to attract hundreds of participants from Europe, Israel, the United States, and other countries.

The conference, which would have been the first of its kind to take place in a Muslim country, was planned as a display of interfaith cooperation. Promotional material for the gathering said it would address “the Abraham Accords, the promotion of freedom of religion, and the crucial fight against antisemitism in Europe.”

However, in recent days, Arab leaders, including the head of Turkey’s Homeland Party, Dogu Perincek, have called for the event to be canceled, warning that it served the interests of the United States and Israel.

A previous conference by the organization in Sarajevo was also canceled in June, following similar protests.

No word has been given on whether the conference will be rescheduled.

Far-right ministers call on PM to destroy Hamas over ceasefire violations

Left: National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, January 16, 2025; Right: Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, January 13, 2025. (Both photos by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Far-right ministers call for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to act to ensure Hamas is destroyed, after the terror group appeared to hand over additional remains of a previously returned hostage, rather than the body of an additional captive.

“The fact that Hamas continues to play games and does not immediately transfer all the bodies of our fallen, is in itself evidence that the terror organization is still standing,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir declares.

“Now we don’t need to ‘extract a price from Hamas’ for the violations. We need to exact from it its very existence, and destroy it completely, once and for all — in accordance with the central goal defined for the War of Revival,” he says, adding: “Mr. Prime Minister, enough hesitation. Give the order!”

Writing to Netanyahu, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich demands an urgent meeting of the security cabinet to discuss “forceful responses” to Hamas’s violations of the first phase of the ceasefire, and continued action toward the terror group’s destruction.

“Against the backdrop of Hamas’s repeated violations of the ceasefire terms and the first stage of President Trump’s plan, and against the backdrop of the lack of progress in its dismantling and demilitarization of Gaza, I request that you urgently convene the security cabinet today for a discussion in order to formulate a package of forceful and determined responses, and to ensure our adherence to the central objective of the war: the destruction of Hamas and the removal of the threat emanating from Gaza toward the citizens of Israel,” Smotrich writes.

“Hamas cannot be allowed to taunt the citizens of Israel and cruelly play with the feelings of the families of the fallen hostages,” he writes.

PM to convene meeting on possible response to Hamas violations of ceasefire’s 1st phase

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the Tel Aviv District Court for a hearing in his criminal trial, October 28, 2025 (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene an emergency meeting today to discuss possible Israeli reactions to Hamas violations of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, according to Hebrew-language media.

The meeting will come as Hamas appears to have handed over last night additional remains of a slain hostage who has already been returned, rather than the body of one of the remaining 13 hostages.

If that suspicion is confirmed, it will be a week since Hamas has handed over a body. Israel insists that the terror group is dragging its feet on the requirement of the ceasefire that came into effect on October 10.

Israel is considering moving the Yellow Line that divides Gaza in two, placing more territory under IDF control, according to reports.

Netanyahu was in court this morning for a hearing in his corruption trial.

Woman convicted for fleeing the scene of 2023 hit-and-run that killed 4-year-old boy

Rafael Adana (Facebook; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Carol Fessler, 81, is convicted of fleeing the scene of a 2023 hit-and-run that caused the death of a 4-year-old boy.

Rafael Adana, aged 4, was hit by the car while walking with his grandfather in Netanya. He was critically injured and died several days later.

Channel 12 reported that an eyewitness saw the child step onto the road from the sidewalk without a pedestrian crossing when he was hit by Fessler’s vehicle.

A senior police official told Channel 12 that “at the time, no driver could have stopped and prevented the injury. Therefore, the driver had no chance to swerve her car.” Fessler was not indicted for the boy’s death.

Law enforcement’s handling of the probe led to protests by members of the Ethiopian community, who accused authorities of racism and leniency toward Fessler.

Casket handed over by Hamas believed to contain further remains of previously returned hostage

Members of the Red Cross observe an operation to recover the body of a hostage in the al-Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City on October 27, 2025 (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

The casket Hamas handed over to Israel last night is assessed to contain remains belonging to a hostage whose body was already brought back to Israel for burial, The Times of Israel has learned.

The remains do not belong to any of the 13 hostages currently held in the Gaza Strip.

The assessment is made by authorities following the completion of identification efforts at the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv.

Hamas suspected of returning body not of hostage

Heavy machinery amid a purported operation to recover the body of a hostage in the al-Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City on October 27, 2025 (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

The body that Hamas returned to Israel last night may not belong to any of the hostages, according to new assessments after hours of identification efforts at the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv.

Officials have said that the identification process could take up to two days, though the vast majority of bodies returned by Hamas or recovered in Gaza have been identified within hours.

As of this morning, the body Hamas returned last night has not been identified, and authorities increasingly suspect it may not belong to any of the 13 dead hostages whose bodies are still held in the Strip.

IDF says its strike killed 1 of 3 terror operatives targeted in West Bank

The IDF says its airstrike in the northern West Bank village of Kafr Qud this morning killed one of the three Palestinian terror operatives.

Snipers of the Israel Police’s Yamam counter-terrorism unit had opened fire on the operatives, killing two and wounding a third, according to the military.

The military says the IAF then struck the cave from which the operatives had emerged, killing the third.

Afghanistan-Pakistan truce talks said to end in Istanbul end without resolution

People wait near the closed gate at the Spin Boldak border crossing with Pakistan, after the border was shut for nearly two weeks following clashes between Afghan and Pakistani forces, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, Oct. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Sibghatullah)

Talks between Afghanistan and Pakistan in Istanbul to broker a long-term truce have ended without a resolution, Afghan state media and a Pakistan security source say.

Spokespeople for Afghanistan’s foreign ministry and Pakistan’s army and defense minister do not immediately respond to a request for comment.

IDF says will test warning sirens in 3 West Bank settlements

The IDF says it will conduct tests of the warning siren system in three West Bank settlements today.

Sirens will sound in Sansana at 10:05 a.m., in Carmel at 11:05 a.m., and in Negohot at 12:05 p.m.

In the event of an actual incident, a second siren will sound, the military says.

Hamas dug hole, brought apparent body of hostage from nearby building in staged recovery, IDF troops say

Members of the Red Cross observe an operation to recover the body of a hostage in the al-Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City on October 27, 2025 (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Hamas allegedly staged the finding of the body, which it says is a deceased hostage, yesterday, according to eyewitness accounts of IDF reservists.

Channel 12 news and Army Radio both cite reservists stationed in eastern Gaza City as saying that Hamas operatives carried out digging works in the area, before bringing out a body from a nearby building and placing it in the hole.

Hamas then covered the body in dirt and called the Red Cross to watch them “uncover” it, they say.

Army Radio says that the entire incident is filmed on a military drone.

The IDF has not yet commented on the claims.

Last night, Hamas handed over the body to the Red Cross, whose representatives brought it to IDF troops in Gaza. It was then taken to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification.

As of this morning, the body has not yet been identified.

3 Palestinian terror operatives planning attack killed by snipers in north West Bank, police say

Officers of the Yamam counter-terrorism unit killed three Palestinian terror operatives during a raid in the northern West Bank village of Kafr Qud, near Jenin, police say.

Police say that the Yamam officers operated in the village, following intelligence provided by the Shin Bet and with IDF support, to thwart a terror cell that was planning to carry out an attack.

According to the police, snipers of the Yamam unit opened fire and killed the three operatives who had emerged from a cave in the village.

A short while after that, the Israeli Air Force carried out an airstrike in the area that targeted the cave from which the operatives had emerged, police add.

The IDF confirmed carrying out an airstrike in the Jenin area, without providing additional details.

IDF says it carried out airstrike against terror squad in northern West Bank

The IDF announces that it carried out an airstrike on a terrorist squad in the northern West Bank — a relatively rare occurrence for the territory.

According to the IDF spokesperson, the strike was conducted by the Air Force with Shin Bet guidance.

Earlier, Palestinian media reported that Israeli forces had surrounded a house in the village of Kafr Dan in the Jenin area where clashes erupted between gunmen and IDF troops.

#شاهد| الاحتلال يواصل إطلاق النار في محيط المنزل المحاصر في قرية كفر قود، شمال غرب مدينة جنين شمال الضفة الغربية pic.twitter.com/NanTtqOcuI

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) October 28, 2025

Mother of slain ex-hostage pays respects as coffin carrying body of presumed captive from Gaza heads to forensic institute

Yael Adar arrives at the Saad Junction to honor and accompany the convoy carrying the coffin of a deceased hostage on October 27, 2025. (Hostage Family Forum)

A group of Israelis came out late Monday night to accompany the coffin carrying the remains of a presumed hostage that Hamas handed over tonight.

Among them is Yael Adar, whose son Tamir’s remains were returned last week.

She is joined by a group of other Israelis at the Sa’ad Junction in southern Israel, which was passed by the convoy traveling from the Gaza border to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv, where the body is being identified.

Report: Trump withdraws State Department Middle East nominee

Then-US deputy assistant secretary for Levant affairs and special envoy for Syria Joel Rayburn delivers a statement ahead of a meeting of the Syria constitution-writing committee on October 29, 2019, at the United Nations Offices in Geneva. (Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

US President Donald Trump has withdrawn the nomination of Joel Rayburn, an envoy for Syria during his first White House term, to be assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, two sources familiar with the matter tell Reuters.

The Republican president nominated Rayburn in February for the State Department position overseeing Middle East policy. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held his confirmation hearing in May.

But Republican Senator Rand Paul and committee Democrats had concerns about Trump’s choice, and the panel held an unusual vote last week in favor only of advancing the nomination, not recommending Rayburn to the full Senate.

One of the sources says Rayburn did not have enough votes to proceed and that the administration will move ahead in a different direction.

Senators had questioned whether Rayburn had been involved in misleading US officials about the number of US troops in Syria during Trump’s first term. Rayburn said at the hearing that he had no role in any deception.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the withdrawal, which was first reported by online media outlet Axios.

Rayburn served at the State Department and the National Security Council during Trump’s first administration.

Since the position of assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs requires Senate confirmation, the post has remained vacant since the beginning of Trump’s term. The State Department’s Near Eastern Affairs Bureau has been headed in the interim by Mora Namdar, who herself has been awaiting Senate confirmation to become assistant secretary of state for consular affairs.

UN staff member detained after Houthis raided offices in Sanaa, UN spokesperson says

Another United Nations staff member has been detained in Yemen, bringing the number of the world body’s employees apprehended in recent days to six, a UN spokesperson says.

The latest detention comes after Houthi security forces entered several United Nations offices in Sanaa, Yemen, on Sunday, says Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary general.

He adds that the Houthis confiscated IT and communication equipment and assets.

At least 59 UN personnel are being held by Houthis, according to Dujarric, who condemns the continued detentions. Some have been held for years, the UN says.

There are hundreds of UN personnel remaining in parts of Houthi-controlled Yemen, including a small number of international staff, says Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the UN secretary general.

“Our immediate priority is the safety and well-being of all UN personnel, including securing the release of colleagues who have been arbitrarily detained and those of our local partners who have also been affected, and prevent further detentions,” Haq says.