Oct. 6: Hostage families host Sukkot meal and prayers in front of Netanyahu’s home

Cardinal Pizzaballa calls on Christians to help build bridges amid cautious hope for end to war in Gaza

Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa speaks during a joint press conference with the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III, not pictured, following their visit to the Gaza Strip, in Jerusalem, July 22, 2025. (Mahmoud Illean/AP)

As talks get underway to end the war in Gaza, the top Catholic leader in the Holy Land calls on Christians in the region to be a bridge and help restore trust between Israelis and Palestinians.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa says Christians — who make up just 1% of the population in the birthplace of Christianity — are of “no threat” to any side of the conflict and therefore are uniquely positioned to help everyone work toward a shared and peaceful postwar future. Though he has no illusions that it will be easy.

“In this moment, you have to be very honest, very candid — the respective communities are not ready for this,” he tells The Associated Press in his reception hall in Jerusalem’s Old City — a shared and hotly contested holy site for Christianity, Islam and Judaism. “The wounds are there, very painful. The suffering, the misunderstandings. So, what we have to do is to start from this very sad reality and rebuild.”

On the eve of the second anniversary of the Hamas-led massacre on Israel that triggered the devastating war in Gaza and violence across the region, Israeli and Hamas officials launched indirect talks today in Egypt on a US-drafted peace plan.

Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, says that cautious hope was spreading among the faithful at the one Catholic church in Gaza. It was struck by an Israeli shell in July but has continued ministering to its community and those seeking shelter in it.

“People keep dying every day out there. But at least in the air, you feel something different, you hope that maybe this is going to finish,” he says.

As for Jewish and Muslim communities, the war’s devastating toll has fractured society at all levels, Pizzaballa says.

“This war made all the different issues — political, religious, economic, cultural — explode,” he said. “Now we have to rethink everything anew.”

Initial Syrian election results show low success rate for women, minorities

The spokesman for the Supreme Committee for the Syrian parliamentary elections, Nawwar Nejmeh, announces results of Syria's first parliamentary elections since the ouster of former president Bashar al-Assad during a press conference in Damascus, Syria, October 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria publishes preliminary results of its indirect vote for the first parliament since Bashar al-Assad’s historic toppling last year, with election officials acknowledging a low success rate for women and religious minorities.

Sunday’s vote saw around 6,000 members of regional electoral colleges choose candidates from pre-approved lists, part of a process to produce nearly two-thirds of the new 210-seat body. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa will later select the remaining third.

In the days preceding the vote, analysts and some Syrians had voiced concerns that it was too centrally managed and that suspending elections in areas outside government control meant not all communities were being fairly represented.

In preliminary results, Syria’s electoral committee says that 119 lawmakers had been selected, but did not include the number of votes each received.

Six new lawmakers are women, according to a Reuters count verified by election observers. The observers say 10 seats in total went to religious and ethnic minorities, including Kurds, Christians, and two Alawites, the sect to which Assad belongs.

One of the election observers described the new parliament as overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim and male.

Hostage families host Sukkot meal and prayers in front of Netanyahu’s home

Families of hostages and their supporters hold a Sukkot meal in front of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem, October 6, 2025. (Idit Avishay/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

Hostage families host a Sukkot meal and lead prayers outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem, calling on the premier to reach a deal to return captives held in Gaza.

Ruby Chen, whose son, Sgt. Itay Chen’s body was seized by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and taken to Gaza tells supporters he hopes Netanyahu and ministers understand that a hostage deal and an end to the war are what is needed to heal the country.

He thanks fellow demonstrators, saying they understand that the “moral thing, the Jewish thing to do is to bring back our brothers and sisters from the hell they are in.”

Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is held hostage, says: “We won’t be afraid to lose hope and faith, together we will bring back everyone. And we won’t be afraid to wish chag sameach to the nation of Israel in its land and in the diaspora.”

Putin and Netanyahu discuss Trump’s Gaza Plan, Iran’s nuclear program in phone call

Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) with a bouquet of flowers and then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Kremlin in Moscow on January 30, 2020. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool/AFP)

MOSCOW, Russia — Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the situation in the Middle East, including US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza conflict, in a phone call today, the Kremlin says

Putin and Netanyahu also expressed interest in finding negotiated solutions to the situation around the Iranian nuclear program and in further stabilization in Syria.

White House avoids setting deadline for Gaza talks, but says it wants deal ‘quickly’

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks to reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, October 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt avoids giving a deadline for the indirect talks that commenced today in Egypt between Israel and Hamas aimed at reaching an agreement on US President Donald Trump’s proposal for ending the war in Gaza.

“There are technical talks happening right now in Egypt among Special Envoy Witkoff and Mr. [Jared] Kushner as well as respective parties from all sides,” Leavitt says during a press briefing.

An Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel, though, that while Witkoff and Kushner are in Egypt, they will only be personally joining the negotiations when they are ready to be finalized.

Today’s first day of the talks is mainly for allowing the sides to lay out their positions and for mediators to identify what the remaining gaps are and how to close them, the diplomat says.

Leavitt notes that “All sides of this conflict [already] agree that this war needs to end and agree to the 20-point framework that President Trump proposed.”

“The administration is working very hard to move the ball forward as quickly as we can. The president wants to see a ceasefire. He wants to see the hostages released.”

“The technical teams are discussing that as we speak to ensure that the environment is perfect to release the hostages.”

“They’re going over the list of both the Israeli hostages and also the political prisoners who will be released,” she says, in what appears to be the first time that a Trump official has referred to Palestinian security prisoners as such. However, it seems more likely a slip of the tongue, rather than a new policy decision.

Pressed on whether the October 5 deadline that Trump set for Hamas to respond to his Gaza proposal is still in effect, Leavitt notes that Hamas already, on Friday, “put out a very clear statement in the president’s view that they accept the president’s framework, and that’s why those technical talks are underway.”

Pressed on a timeline for how long talks in Egypt will last, Leavitt avoids getting specific.

“It’s important that we get this done quickly so that we can get some momentum, get the hostages out, and then move to the next part of this, which is ensuring that we can create a lasting, durable peace in Gaza and ensure that Gaza is no longer a place that threatens the security of Israel or the United States,” she says, apparently splitting Trump’s Gaza proposal into two — with the first part being the release of the hostages and the second part being the post-war management of Gaza.

Claiming that the Palestinian population is “radicalized,” a reporter asks Leavitt to identify the Palestinians that the US wants to serve on the transitional government of Palestinian technocrats that will administer Gaza after the war.

“We’re not quite there yet,” Leavitt responds, explaining that Trump believes peace is possible, which is why he presented his 20-point plan for ending the war last week.

“What you need to have peace in a region like Gaza that has been war-torn for far too long, [is] security guarantees and good governance, so those will be two of the main priorities that this administration is focused on,” she adds.

Thunberg greeted by cheering crowd in Athens after Israel expels flotilla activists

Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg raises her fist, upon arrival in Greece after being deported from Israel alongside other activists who were detained aboard vessels from the Gaza-bound flotilla. (Photo by Aris MESSINIS / AFP)

Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg arrives in Greece to a cheering pro-Palestinian crowd after she and hundreds of other activists captured by Israel on the high seas were deported following an attempt to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza.

Israel said it expelled 171 activists on Monday, including Thunberg, bringing the total deported over so far to 341, out of 479 people it detained when it captured the flotilla attempting to break its naval blockade of Gaza.

“Let me be very clear. There is a genocide going on,” Thumberg tells the crowd at the Athens airport, referring to Israeli military action in Gaza.

“Our international systems are betraying Palestinians. They are not even able to prevent the worst war crimes from happening,” she says. “What we aimed to do with the Global Sumud Flotilla was to step up when our governments failed to do their legal obligation.”

The activists attempted to reach Gaza in scores of vessels to bring aid supplies and draw attention to the plight of Gaza, where most of the 2.2 million residents have been driven from their homes and the United Nations says hunger is rampant.

Israel, which rejects accusations that it is carrying out genocide in Gaza and says reports of hunger there are exaggerated, has dismissed the flotilla as a publicity stunt benefiting Hamas. It had previously detained Thunberg at sea in a similar attempt to breach the blockade in June.

Earlier, Swiss and Spanish activists from the flotilla said they were subjected to inhumane conditions during their detention by Israeli forces.

Israel’s foreign ministry issued a statement, accompanied by photos of Thunberg at the airport, saying all participants’ legal rights had been upheld and the only violence involved an activist who bit a female medic at Israel’s Ketziot prison.

UNESCO board set to select Egypt’s El-Enany as new chief

Khaled El-Enany, former Minister of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt and candidate to become the head UNESCO, poses during a photo session in Paris on October 1, 2025. (JOEL SAGET / AFP)

The United Nations’ cultural agency is set to select Egypt’s Khaled El-Enany as its new director general, two diplomatic sources say.

UNESCO’s executive board voted 55 to 2 in favor of El-Enany, a former tourism and antiquities minister, against Édouard Firmin Matoko, 69, of the Republic of Congo. The United States did not vote.

It will now be put forward for approval to UNESCO’s 194 members in November.

Report: US wants Gaza deal inked this week; Witkoff not leaving Egypt until it’s done

An unnamed senior US official tells Channel 12 that Washington wants to reach an agreement on its proposal to end the war in Gaza this week.

The US official says that US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will not leave Egypt without an agreement.

Italy bans anti-Israel October 7 demonstration in Bologna as tensions rise

Authorities in the northern Italian city of Bologna have banned an anti-Israel demonstration planned for Tuesday, citing the risk of unrest, following days of protests and clashes with police across Italy, a local representative of the interior minister says.

The Giovani Palestinesi (Palestinian Youth) Italia group had scheduled demonstrations in the cities of Bologna and Turin to mark the second anniversary of a Hamas terror attack in Israel that killed 1,200 people.

“The demonstration will be absolutely prohibited,” Enrico Ricci, the local prefect in Bologna, told reporters, as local authorities fear possible clashes after violence flared in Rome at the weekend.

Giovani Palestinesi confirms on Instagram that it plans to try to press ahead with a gathering despite the ban.

Israel’s ambassador to Italy, Jonathan Peled, had protested against initiatives “that seek to glorify the October 7 massacre and successfully worked with Italian authorities to cancel the event,” the Israel Foreign Ministry says on X.

Hundreds of thousands of people marched through central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.

The Jewish community in Milan has opted for a low-profile commemoration of the anniversary of the Hamas attack.

“We will be in a city square, protected by law enforcement. We will meet among ourselves, but for public order reasons, police have forbidden us from announcing the location,” Davide Romano, director of the Jewish Brigade Museum, is quoted as saying by daily la Repubblica.

IDF says it foiled an attempt to smuggle weapons into Israel from Syria

Handguns seized by troops during an attempted smuggling from Syria to Israel, October 6, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF says it foiled an attempt to smuggle weapons into Israel from Syria earlier today.

Soldiers of the 595th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit, who operate surveillance cameras, spotted two suspects approaching the Israeli border from Syria.

Troops of the Golan Regional Brigade were dispatched to the scene and detained the pair, who were found to be carrying five handguns, the IDF says.

The two suspects were taken for further questioning, the military adds.

IDF chief puts army on highest alert for Sukkot holiday, which coincides with 2nd anniversary of Hamas invasion

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has instructed the military to raise its level of alert to the highest possible amid the Sukkot holiday, the army says.

The week-long festival began on Monday evening and its first full day coincides with the second anniversary of the invasion and massacre on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists slaughtered 1,200 people in southern Israel and abducted 251. Forty-eight hostages are still held in Gaza.

The move comes following an assessment Zamir held earlier today with the IDF’s top brass, the military says.

The October 7 massacre occurred on Simchat Torah, a festive day immediately following Sukkot in the Hebrew calendar, and caught the IDF by surprise. Israel’s political and military leadership had disregarded evidence and intelligence that Hamas was preparing to invade, instead assessing that the terror group governing Gaza was interested in maintaining calm. Troop deployments were particularly low given that October 7, 2023, was both a sabbath and a Jewish festival.

Zamir also instructed that “the defensive effort will be the main effort until the end of the holiday period.”

“We are at constant readiness, prepared across all arenas for defense and offense. We continue our mission to enable all Israeli’s to mark the Sukkot holiday in peace and security,” he says in remarks published by the army.

The IDF has already been on high alert amid the war, especially since the pause in offensive military activity in the Gaza Strip. Jewish holidays are normally seen by the army as sensitive periods with an increased chance of attacks.

Hamas said seeking guarantees that Israel will follow through on withdrawal promises

Egyptian sources say Hamas is seeking clarification of several details, including guarantees that Israel would follow through with promises to withdraw its troops from Gaza once the militants give up their leverage by freeing their hostages at the indirect talks that kicked off this evening in Egypt.

Greta Thunberg and 160 Gaza flotilla activists land in Greece after Israel deportation

Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg raises her fist, upon arrival in Greece after being deported from Israel alongside other activists who were detained aboard vessels from the Gaza-bound flotilla. (Photo by Aris MESSINIS / AFP)

Greece’s foreign ministry says 161 nationals from 16 European countries landed in Athens on Monday after being expelled by Israel for taking part in a Gaza aid flotilla.

Israel deported more activists who were on the flotilla bound for the devastated Palestinian territory, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.

Thunberg was on the Greece-bound plane, while another ten flotilla activists were deported to Slovakia.

“A special repatriation flight landed safely in Athens carrying the 27 Greek citizens who took part in the ‘Global Sumud Flotilla,'” the Greek foreign ministry says in a statement.

“This flight also facilitated the return of 134 nationals from 15 European countries,” it adds, without elaborating.

According to the Swedish branch of the Global Movement for Gaza, the deported Swedish nationals were on board the flight.

At Athens International Airport, activists unfurled a huge Palestinian flag in the arrivals hall and chanted “Freedom for Palestine” and “Long live the flotilla!” AFP reporters saw.

Israel PT cycling team says it will ‘rename and rebrand’ after protests

Pier-Andre Cote from the Israel Premier Tech team rides during the eleventh stage of the Spanish Vuelta cycling race, from Bilbao to Bilbao, Spain, September 3, 2025. (AP/Miguel Oses)

The Israel Premier-Tech cycling team, which was beset by protests against its participation in cycling races, said on Monday it was changing its name to move away from an “Israeli identity.”

“The decision has been made to rename and rebrand the team, moving away from its current Israeli identity,” said Canadian-Israeli billionaire Sylvan Adams in a statement that also said the owner would “step back” from the team.

EU wants to be part of Gaza transitional body, top diplomat says

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission, Kaja Kallas, speaks during a Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters, Sept. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

The European Union is seeking a role in US President Donald Trump’s transitional authority for the Gaza Strip, its top diplomat Kaja Kallas tells reporters.

“Yes we feel that Europe has a great role and we should be also on board with this,” Kallas said, when asked if the EU wanted to take part in Trump’s “Board of Peace.”

The EU is a major aid donor to the Palestinians and has ties with both the Palestinian Authority and Israel, Kallas pointed out.

“I think Europe should be not only a payer, but we should also be a player,” she says on the sidelines of an EU-Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Kuwait.

“We have worked on the peace plan… and we are working together with our Arab partners. They understand that it is in the interest of everybody if we are there, so hopefully, also the Israelis agree to this,” she adds.

Israel says 600 aid trucks entered Gaza on Sunday, nearly twice the daily average

Israel’s Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories says that nearly 600 trucks of humanitarian aid entered Gaza on Sunday, nearly twice the daily average.

The trucks entered through three different crossings in southern Gaza.

“Hundreds of trucks were collected, and will continue being collected over the holiday,” COGAT says, indicating that the crossing will not be open during the first day of the Sukkot holiday, which begins tonight.

⬆️Close to 600 trucks entered the Gaza Strip yesterday (Oct. 5), ahead of the crossing closure on the Israeli side due to the holiday.
This is twice the daily average entering Gaza.

The trucks entered Gaza from the Kerem Shalom, Nitzana and 147 crossings.

Hundreds of trucks… pic.twitter.com/uwzVnLd98v

— COGAT (@cogatonline) October 6, 2025

Indirect talks between Hamas, Israel on Trump’s Gaza proposal said to commence in Egypt

Negotiators from Israel and Hamas have begun indirect discussions in Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh for a hostage-prisoner exchange and Gaza ceasefire, Egyptian state-linked media reports.

Al-Qahera News, which is linked to state intelligence, says the delegations “are discussing preparing ground conditions for the release of detainees and prisoners,” in line with a proposal from US President Donald Trump to end the war in Gaza.

“Egyptian and Qatari mediators are working with both sides to establish a mechanism” for the exchange, the network adds.

Merz offers condolences to Herzog ahead of October 7 anniversary, as Sa’ar hosts German FM

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (R) welcomes President Isaac Herzog on May 12, 2025 at the Chancellery in Berlin (Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz sends his condolences to President Isaac Herzog in a phone call a day before the second anniversary of the October 7 Hamas-led massacre and reaffirms his support for Israel’s participation in the Eurovision song contest, according to a readout from Herzog’s office.

“I deeply share your grief and the grief of your country,” Merz says in the Israeli readout.

Herzog thanks Merz for expressing his solidarity and for his statement yesterday that the chancellor would want Berlin to withdraw from the international competition if Israel were to be excluded from it at a European Broadcasting Union vote set to take place in November.

A growing list of countries has pledged not to participate in next year’s competition if Israel is allowed to compete, placing Jerusalem’s bid in significant doubt.

“I will do what I can to prevent any step against Israel. And as I said yesterday on German television — I cannot imagine Germany participating if the Israeli delegation were excluded. That is very clear to me,” Merz tells the president.

The call follows Merz’s conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday, during which he praised Israel’s approval of the US plan for ending the war in Gaza, and takes place as German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul visits the region.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar writes on X that he hosted Wadephul at his home in Israel earlier today, saying the two discussed the talks in Egypt on the implementation of the first phase of the US plan, “which both our countries support.”

“I informed him of Israel’s positions and our will to reach a quick conclusion that will ensure the release of all our hostages,” writes Sa’ar, adding that they also talked “about bilateral relations, Israel-EU relations and the ‘Snapback’ [sanctions mechanism] against Iran.”

Following Washington’s announcement of the plan last week, Wadephul stated that he would fly to multiple countries in the region in order to help facilitate its progress.

Glad to host my friend German FM @JoWadephul at my home.
We discussed the opening of the talks in Egypt on the implementation of the first phase of President Trump's Plan, which both our countries support.
I informed him of Israel’s positions and our will to reach a quick… pic.twitter.com/IrsWwXMAwV

— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) October 6, 2025

Wadephul says that the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s plans to halt the war in Gaza must be achieved by the start of next week at the latest, but adds that all the other issues would need time.

The first phase aims at a ceasefire, release of hostages and prisoners, restraint in the military conflict and bringing in supplies to Gaza – all of which are feasible, said Wadephul.

“All other issues are very complicated and, indeed, that is why they also need time,” says Wadephul at a press conference with Sa’ar in Tel Aviv.

“We must not abandon all diplomatic efforts, but I would like to focus now on taking this first decisive step together.”

UK Foreign Office says it’s supporting British nationals detained in Israel for Gaza flotilla

Britain’s foreign office says it is supporting British nationals detained in Israel who participated an international flotilla it prevented last week from reaching Gaza, following the release of 171 activists.

“We are supporting a number of British nationals who have been detained in Israel and are in touch with the local authorities,” a spokesperson says.

US Supreme Court declines to hear Ghislaine Maxwell appeal

Audrey Strauss, acting US attorney for the Southern District of New York, points to a photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, during a news conference in New York, on July 2, 2020. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

The US Supreme Court on Monday declines to hear an appeal by Ghislaine Maxwell, the accomplice of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, of her sex trafficking conviction.

The top court rejects Maxwell’s appeal without comment.

IDF dismisses soldier caught on camera repeatedly kicking Palestinian in West Bank

An IDF soldier kicks a Palestinian in the West Bank town of Dura in October 2025. (Screen capture/X)

A reservist soldier who was seen repeatedly kicking a Palestinian man in the West Bank town of Dura, near Hebron, this week, along with another troop standing with him, were dismissed from duty, the IDF says.

The IDF says a Military Police investigation has also been opened into their actions.

The video from a surveillance camera showed two soldiers approaching the man, reported to be a bakery worker, and ordering him to sit on the floor. One soldier is then seen showing the man something on a mobile phone, before kicking him repeatedly. The second soldier stood by.

“The IDF views the behavior of a soldier that is inconsistent with IDF values gravely,” the military says in response to a query.

“The soldiers were suspended from duty, and their reserve service was immediately suspended,” the IDF adds.

https://twitter.com/Ahmad_tibi/status/1974733531470340465

Top Vatican cardinal says Israel carrying out ‘massacre’ in Gaza

Cardinal Pietro Parolin at the start of the conclave to elect a new Pope in the Sistine chapel in The Vatican, May 7, 2025. (Simone Risoluti / VATICAN MEDIA / AFP)

The Vatican’s top diplomat sharply criticized Israel’s “ongoing massacre” in Gaza in comments published on Monday — one of the Catholic Church’s strongest condemnations of Israel’s war against Hamas.

In an interview tied to the second anniversary of Hamas’s attack on Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, Cardinal Pietro Parolin also calls those attacks “inhuman and indefensible” and urged Hamas to free remaining hostages.

“Those who are attacked have a right to defend themselves, but even legitimate defense must respect the principle of proportionality,” says Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state and one of Pope Leo’s top deputies.

“The war waged by the Israeli army to eliminate Hamas militants disregards the fact that it is targeting a largely defenseless population, already pushed to the brink, in an area where buildings and homes are reduced to rubble,” he says.

“It is … clear that the international community is, unfortunately, powerless and that the countries truly capable of exerting influence have so far failed to act to stop the ongoing massacre,” Parolin tells the Vatican’s media outlet.

The Vatican, which has embassies in many capitals, normally uses guarded language in addressing conflicts, preferring to avoid press coverage and operate behind the scenes.

But Leo, elected in May after the death of Pope Francis, has been stepping up criticism of Israel’s campaign in Gaza.

He has urged Israel to let in more aid and raised Gaza in a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in September.

Parolin adds: “It’s not enough to say that what is happening is unacceptable and then continue to allow it to happen.

“We must seriously ask ourselves about the legitimacy … of continuing to supply weapons that are being used against civilians.” He does not name any countries.

Slovak government plane transports activists detained by Israel

Slovakia has provided transport for nine activists detained in Israel to Bratislava on Monday, its foreign ministry says, adding the citizens were from the Netherlands, Canada and United States.

One Slovak citizen is also on the plane, the ministry says.

Israel said earlier on Monday that 171 activists from the Gaza flotilla, including climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, were deported to Greece and Slovakia.

IDF closes Military Police high-profile probe into hawkish reserve officer

Brig. Gen. (res.) Oren Solomon speaks in an interview with Channel 12 news, on an unknown date. (Screenshot: Channel 12 news)

The Military Police says it has closed a high-profile investigation into a senior reserves officer who was booted from the military earlier this year, after finding no evidence of wrongdoing.

Brig. Gen. (res.) Oren Solomon was suspected of “severe operational security violations” after an initial probe by the Information Security Department found that non-military hard drives were plugged into an army computer with classified files, while the officer’s user was logged in.

The probe found that on several occasions, while Solomon’s user was logged in on the “top secret” military computer, two hard drives were connected and disconnected in “an unusual manner.” On one occasion, while the hard drive was plugged in, the probe found that “a very large number of classified documents were open on the computer, raising concerns that these documents had been removed from the computer.”

Despite these findings, the Military Police investigation found no evidence that Solomon was the one operating the computer during the connection of the hard drives. The investigation has raised the possibility that the computer was being used by others with Solomon’s login information.

As a result, the Military Police has closed its investigation, the IDF says.

Solomon, a member of the hawkish HaBithonistim group, had been involved in the Gaza Division’s probe into its failures related to Hamas’s October 7, 2023.

He has said that he believes he was removed from reserve duty because he found fault in the IDF’s top command.

According to the IDF, Solomon was dismissed by his commander, Gaza Division chief Brig. Gen. Barak Hiram, because of various disagreements between the pair unrelated to the October 7 investigation and the allegations of security violations.

The dismissal and Military Police investigation led to a public clash between Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir in March.

ICC convicts Sudan militia chief for crimes against humanity

Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman attends a hearing at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (Piroschka van de Wouw/Pool Photo via AP)

The International Criminal Court on Monday convicted a Sudanese militia chief for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during brutal attacks in Darfur.

Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, also known by the nom de guerre Ali Kushayb, was convicted of multiple crimes including rape, murder and torture carried out between August 2003 and at least April 2004.

Poll: 45% of Israelis think PM should immediately resign over Oct. 7; most think now’s time to end war

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference with President Donald Trump in the State Dining Room of the White House, September 29, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Sixty-six percent of Israelis say the time has come to end the war in Gaza, compared to 27% who think or are certain that the time has not yet come and seven percent who are unsure, an Israel Democracy Institute poll shows.

The 66% figure is 13 percentage points higher than the result from a year ago when respondents were asked the same question.

The top reason Israelis say the war should end is the endangerment of the hostages.

Sixty-four percent of Israelis think Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should take responsibility for the October 7 attack and resign, either immediately (45%) or after the war (19%).

Hostage families urge Nobel Committee to give Trump peace prize: ‘He brought us light in our darkest times’

Protesters display a large banner calling for US President Donald Trump to 'make history' by ending the war in Gaza and bringing the hostages home, at a protest in Tel Aviv on August 30, 2025. (Yair Palti/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

Families of hostages held in Gaza urge the Norwegian Nobel Committee to award United States President Donald Trump the Nobel Peace Prize this month over his efforts to secure the release of their loved ones.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the majority of hostages’ relatives in Israel, says in a statement that they sent a letter this morning to the committee — set to announce this year’s laureate on Friday — against the backdrop of imminent negotiations in Egypt over the implementation of the first stage of Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza. Under that plan, all 48 remaining hostages would be freed within the first 72 hours.

“At this very moment, President Trump’s comprehensive plan to release all remaining hostages and finally end this terrible war is on the table. For the first time in months, we are hopeful that our nightmare will finally be over. We are confident that he will not rest until the last hostage is brought home, the war has ended, and peace and prosperity are restored to the people of the Middle East,” the families write.

“From the moment of his inauguration, [Trump] brought us light through our darkest times,” they continue, expressing gratitude for the hostages returned through the US-brokered ceasefire between January and March.

“In this past year, no leader or organization has contributed more to peace around the world than President Trump. While many have spoken eloquently about peace, he has achieved it,” they add.

“We strongly urge you to award President Trump the Nobel Peace Prize because he has vowed he will not rest and will not stop until every last hostage is back home,” the letter concludes.

Since 2018, Trump has been nominated for the prestigious prize — which he has repeatedly asserted that he deserves — by several individuals in the United States and politicians abroad. In July, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nominated the American leader for the award, citing the US’s role in the 12-day Israel-Iran war and the ceasefire that ended it.

However, Netanyahu’s nomination would only be valid for the 2026 selection. Some observers have suggested that Trump is moving swiftly to begin implementing his Gaza ceasefire proposal in part to strengthen his chances ahead of this year’s award.

IDF says it killed prominent Hezbollah operative in south Lebanon strike

A prominent Hezbollah operative in the terror group’s air defense array was killed in a drone strike in southern Lebanon earlier today, the military says.

Hassan Atwi was killed alongside his wife in a strike targeting their car in Zebdine, on the outskirts of Nabatieh.

The IDF says Atwi was a “significant source of knowledge” in Hezbollah, and led efforts to rebuild infrastructure and procure equipment for the air defense array. The military says he also maintained contacts with Iranian officials who supplied Hezbollah with air defense systems.

According to Lebanese media, Atwi was blind due to Israel’s so-called pager attack that targeted Hezbollah members last year.

The IDF says Atwi’s activities “constituted a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” and his killing was a blow to Hezbollah’s efforts to re-establish itself.

????شهيـــ… دا العد. و|ن في زبدين: مصاب البيجر حسن عطوي وزوجته السيدة زينب رسلان التي كانت تقود السيارة pic.twitter.com/Sik6ib3ft3

— bintjbeil.org (@bintjbeilnews) October 6, 2025

كاميرا مراقبة ترصد غارة #زبدين

العدو انتظر زوجة الشهيد #حسن_عطوي حتّى وصلت إلى السّيارة واستهدفها، لتستشهد معه!

هذا العدو فاق بإجرامه حدود القذارة والنّذالة! pic.twitter.com/CzHsHFs8tk

— حسن الدّر (@HasanDorr) October 6, 2025

Bari Weiss confirmed as editor-in chief of CBS News

Bari Weiss addresses a crowd at the Tel Aviv International Salon interview with former MK Einat Wilf, at the Jaffa Hotel Chapel, January 28, 2024. (Courtesy of the Tel Aviv International Salon)

Jewish journalist Bari Weiss says she has taken the helm of CBS News, in a major changing of the guard at one of the premier US news organizations.

Weiss says in an email to readers of The Free Press, the news outlet she started in 2022, that, “as of today, I am editor-in-chief of CBS News,” confirming recent reports that such a move was in the works.

In her position, she will oversee leading programs like “60 Minutes” and “Sunday Morning,” and play a role in “shaping how millions of Americans read, listen, watch, and, most importantly, understand the news in the 21st century,” Weiss writes.

Weiss says she will remain CEO and editor-in-chief of The Free Press, which is joining Paramount, the mother company of CBS.

Weiss, a prominent critic of the far left, has spent stints in Israel and wrote a 2019 book about combating antisemitism.

She made a high-profile exit from The New York Times in 2020, saying she had been subjected to bullying from colleagues who had called her a “Nazi and a racist” and complained about her coverage of Jews.

Before her role at the Times, Weiss worked at The Wall Street Journal. She has also worked for the Israeli daily Haaretz and the century-old American Jewish newspaper The Forward, and held a senior editing role at the online Jewish publication Tablet Magazine.

Unconfirmed reports last month said that Paramount was preparing to acquire The Free Press for over $100 million.

Greta Thunberg, 170 other activists from Gaza aid flotilla deported from Israel

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg (c) at Ramon International Airport on October 6, 2025, before being deported along with other Gaza flotilla activists. (Foreign Ministry)

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and 170 members of the Global Sumud flotilla take off from Ramon International Airport in southern Israel en route to Greece and Slovakia, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Photos shared by the ministry show Thunberg and other deportees making their way through the airport in gray sweatsuits and white t-shirts.

The deportees hail from Greece, Italy, France, Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Austria, Luxembourg, Finland, Denmark, Slovakia, Switzerland, Norway, the UK, Serbia, and the United States, says the ministry.

Israel insists that “all the legal rights of the participants in this PR stunt were and will continue to be fully upheld,” adding that “the lies they are spreading are part of their pre-planned fake news campaign.”

The only violence, says the ministry on X, came from a Spanish participant who bit a medical staffer at Ketziot Prison.

Thunberg and other detainees have alleged that they were held in unlawful conditions by Israel.

The flights to Greece and Slovakia bring the number of Sumud flotilla activists deported by Israel to 341, with 138 remaining.

‘The wheat will grow again’: Kibbutz Be’eri marks two years since Hamas onslaught

Aviad Behar stands next to the graves of his wife Dana and son Carmel on October 6, 2025. (Kibbutz Be'eri)

A memorial service is held at Kibbutz Be’eri, where Hamas terrorists murdered 102 during their October 7, 2023 rampage — around one in ten residents — and kidnapped 30 to the Gaza Strip.

Many of the speakers are relatives of those who fell on October 7. Ben Suchman, CEO of the kibbutz’s storied printing house, who lost his mother Tami, reads a poem he has penned. Ran Weiss and Michal Finian Weiss sing “The wheat will grow again” in memory of Mati and Amir Weiss.

Elad Keidar, who lost his parents Sami and Ofra Keidar, also gives a reading. Sami was murdered in the kibbutz. Ofra’s body was abducted to Gaza and was retreived in June by IDF troops, along with the remains of another Be’eri member, Ilan Weiss.

Ofer Gitai, community manager, says, “Even today, the heart refuses to believe that there are still hostages in the Gaza Strip. This word ‘hostages’ — the mind cannot comprehend how many times it has been repeated over the last two years…. We have become missing people – missing you, missing parts of ourselves, missing the joy that was so easy just the night before, missing the people who will no longer be.”

Two years after the large-scale destruction of Kibbutz Be’eri, some 750 residents are still living in temporary accommodation in Kibbutz Hatzerim. About 100 have returned to Be’eri, and some 250 remain scattered throughout the country.

Be’eri is undergoing intensive repair and rebuilding, although the burned-out hulks of homes from October 7 still remain.

The plan is for the community to return next July.

Four bodies are still held by Hamas — those of Yossi Sharabi, Manny Godard, Sahar Baruch, and Dror Or.

An additional 24 members of the security forces fell trying to liberate Kibbutz Be’eri on that day.

‘A huge bleeding wound’: Nir Yitzhak members gather to mark 2 years since Oct. 7 massacre

Members of Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak hold a memorial ceremony on October 6, 2025, marking two years since Hamas's October 7 attack that ravaged the community. (Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak)

Members of Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak light memorial candles, screen videos of the fallen, and share memories at a ceremony marking two years since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on the Gaza border area.

Singer Dana Berger performs, with one of the songs dedicated to the widow of Tal Haimi, murdered on October 7. His body is believed held by terrorists in the Gaza Strip, along with that of Lior Rudaeff.

Zamir Haimi, Tal Haim’s uncle, said the entire Nir Yitzhak family missed the eight kibbutz members who were slaughtered on October 7, 2023.

“The memories remain. The longing remains,” he says. “A huge, bleeding wound remains in the heart and soul. A huge wound that will never heal.”

Over 80% of kibbutz residents have returned to Nir Yitzhak and seven new families have applied to join.

ITA Airways extends Tel Aviv flight suspension until end of year

The ITA Airways papal plane takes off from the Fiumicino International Airport Leonardo da Vinci, September 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Italy’s ITA Airways will extend the suspension of flights to and from Tel Aviv until the end of the year, it says.

The decision also concerns two flights scheduled for New Year’s Day 2026, the company, part of the Lufthansa group, says in a statement.

ITA’s services to and from Israel had been due to resume on November 2. “Passengers can either have their flight rebooked at a later date or refunded,” the airline says.

Lapid says he met with Bennett to coordinate bloc’s moves ahead of upcoming election

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid and former prime minister Naftali Bennett met ahead of this evening’s Sukkot holiday, a spokesman for Lapid announces.

In a statement, the spokesman says that the two politicians had met to discuss “coordinating the bloc’s moves ahead of the upcoming elections.”

The so-called “change bloc” bloc comprises right-wing, centrist and left-wing parties that seek to provide an alternative to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s current, hard-right coalition.

Both Lapid and Bennett, who has formed a new party provisionally called Bennett 2026, are slated to attend a meeting of the leaders of the parties comprising the change bloc on October 8. The meeting will also be attended by Blue and White-National Unity chief Benny Gantz, Yisrael Beytenu party chairman Avigdor Liberman, “Yashar! With Eisenkot” chief Gadi Eisenkot, and The Democrats head Yair Golan.

Both Bennett and Gantz were absent from an earlier meeting of the bloc last month, with the former missing the sit-down in order to mark the 10th anniversary of his father’s death.

Though they are aligned with the bloc, Bennett and Gantz haven’t expressly stated they won’t sit in a government led by Netanyahu.

PM asks High Court to delay hearing on Palestinian prisoners, citing risk to hostage talks

The Israel Prison Service dresses Palestinian prisoners set for release in shirts featuring its logo, a Star of David and the sentence in Arabic: 'We will not forget or forgive,' February 15, 2025. (Israel Prison Service)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office asks the High Court of Justice to postpone by one month a hearing on a petition demanding that representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross be allowed to visit Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Gaza and the West Bank held in Israel.

In a written request to the court, Netanyahu argues that “any decision on this matter at this time could harm efforts to secure the return of all hostages, both the living and the fallen.”

This marks the first time the government, through the State Attorney’s Office, has informed the High Court that providing information about the condition of Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Gaza could harm Israel’s standing in the international arena.

Human rights organizations in Israel view the government’s position as an implicit admission that Palestinian prisoners and detainees may be subjected to abuse in Israeli prisons.

Over a year and a half ago, several human rights groups, including the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Physicians for Human Rights, HaMoked Center for the Defense of the Individual and Gisha, filed a petition to the High Court regarding the treatment of Palestinian detainees.

The state has long avoided submitting a detailed response to the petition, filing over 20 requests for extensions despite multiple deadlines set by the justices.

In August 2024, Justices Isaac Amit, Yechiel Kasher, and Ruth Ronen issued a conditional order requiring the state to explain two issues: why it continues to enforce a blanket ban on Red Cross visits to Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Prison Service and why it has not provided the Red Cross with the names of all those in custody.

After repeated delays, the court scheduled a final hearing for two weeks from now. The state was due to file its response Sunday, but instead submitted Netanyahu’s request to defer both the filing and the hearing by another month.

According to the State Attorney’s Office, Netanyahu held a meeting Sunday attended by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs, Israel Prison Service Commissioner Kobi Yaakobi and representatives of the Shin Bet, the IDF, the Prison Service and the Justice Ministry.

Following the meeting, Netanyahu, with the backing of security officials, asked to delay the proceedings, citing the potentially imminent implementation US President Donald Trump’s recently unveiled plan for ending the Gaza war.

Attorney Oded Feller of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel responds that the petitioners “hope for the end of this terrible war, for the safe return of all living hostages, for the return of all bodies and for an end to the abuse of prisoners in jails and detention centers.”

“But the petitioners strongly reject the implication that Red Cross visits or the sharing of information about prisoners could impede the return of hostages. These are baseless political claims,” Feller continues.

“The failure to bring back the hostages lies entirely with the prime minister and his government, as does the ongoing suffering caused by their unlawful policies toward Palestinian detainees,” Feller adds.

Police say Spanish flotilla activist who allegedly bit medical worker to remain in custody

A Spanish flotilla activist will remain in police custody until Wednesday after she allegedly bit a medical worker while detained in Ketziot Prison, police announce.

Prison officials say she bit the medical worker’s hand while being escorted back from a routine check-up on the eve of her deportation, which was originally scheduled for today.

However, a Beersheba Magistrate’s Court judge extended her remand by three more days this morning, after she was detained by police last night following the bite.

Officers brought her to the Negev’s Segev Shalom police station to be interrogated, police say.

The activist is a woman in her 50s named Reyes Rigo Cervilla. She lives on the island of Mallorca and works as an acupuncture therapist, according to Spanish outlet El Pais.

Reyes Rigo Cervilla pic.twitter.com/jCKklIwYFn

— GnasherJew®גנאשר (@GnasherJew) October 6, 2025

IDF says it targeted sites used by Hezbollah’s Radwan in Beqaa Valley airstrikes

The IDF confirms it carried out airstrikes in Lebanon’s eastern Beqaa Valley, saying it targeted several Hezbollah military camps where operatives were gathered.

The Hezbollah sites were used by the terror group’s elite Radwan Force for training and planning attacks against Israel and IDF troops, the military says.

“The storage of weapons and carrying out military training against the State of Israel by Hezbollah terrorists constitutes a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon and a threat to the State of Israel,” the IDF adds.

Israel reportedly striking Lebanon’s eastern Beqaa Valley

Lebanese media reports Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon’s eastern Beqaa Valley a short while ago.

The IDF has not yet commented.

???????????? سلسة غارات اسرائيلية عنيفة تستهدف جرود حربتا pic.twitter.com/gLHMwpl9Ui

— bintjbeil.org (@bintjbeilnews) October 6, 2025

Nir Oz members return to kibbutz to commemorate two years since attack

People visit the burnt house of the Siman Tov family, where all five family members were killed during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, a day before Israel marks the two-year anniversary of the attack, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (AP/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Members of Kibbutz Nir Oz visit their former home in the largely destroyed community to mark two years since the October 7 attack.

Arriving in a convoy from Kiryat Gat, where the community has relocated temporarily, kibbutz members visit the community’s cemetery and hold a ceremony to commemorate those lost and call for the release of members still being held hostage.

Sagui Dekel-Chen, who was released from Gaza in February, as part of phase one of a mediated ceasefire, says at the ceremony that it is his first visit to the cemetery since being freed, but that he visited it in his imagination while held in Gaza “without knowing who the names are, without knowing how small some of the coffins are.”

“Somehow, in a dizzying way, I survived, I am above all this, but not after all this,” he says through tears.

The kibbutz was largely destroyed on October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists entered all but six of over 200 homes in the small community and either murdered or kidnapped one of every four residents — 117 people out of some 400.

Of those abducted, nine are still being held in Gaza, of whom five of are believed to still be alive. Pictures of the nine were carried by the convoy.

Dafna Margalit, widow of Eliyahu Margalit, who was murdered by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 and his body abducted to Gaza, says her return to “God’s little plot in Nir Oz” will be a “return to life,” although real rebuilding will only come when her husband and the other hostages are returned.

Nir Oz is being renovated and rebuilt, with the first cohort of residents expected to move into the so-called Pioneers’ neighborhood in December.

Immunologists from US, Japan share Nobel in medicine

Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Dr. Shimon Sakaguchi have been awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance.

Brunkow, 64, is a senior program manager at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle. Ramsdell, 64, is a scientific adviser for Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco. Sakaguchi, 74, is a distinguished professor at the Immunology Frontier Research Center at Osaka University in Japan.

The immune system has many overlapping systems to detect and fight bacteria, viruses and other bad actors. Key immune warriors such as T cells get trained on how to spot bad actors. If some instead go awry in a way that might trigger autoimmune diseases, they’re supposed to be eliminated in the thymus — a process called central tolerance.

The Nobel winners unraveled an additional way the body keeps the system in check.

The Nobel Committee says it started with Sakaguchi’s discovery in 1995 of a previously unknown T cell subtype now known as regulatory T cells or T-regs.

Then in 2001, Brunkow and Ramsdell discovered a culprit mutation in a gene named Foxp3, a gene that also plays a role in a rare human autoimmune disease.

The Nobel Committee said two years later, Sakaguchi linked the discoveries to show that the Foxp3 gene controls the development of those T-regs — which in turn act as a security guard to find and curb other forms of T cells that overreact.

“Their discoveries have been decisive for our understanding of how the immune system functions and why we do not all develop serious autoimmune diseases,” says Olle Kämpe, chair of the Nobel Committee.

The award is the first of the 2025 Nobel Prize announcements. They continue with the physics prize on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday and literature on Thursday. The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced Friday and the Nobel Memorial Prize in economics October 13.

Iran acquits European cyclist accused of spying for Israel during war

An Iranian court says it acquitted Lennart Monterlos, a French-German national accused of espionage and arrested in June during the war between Iran and Israel.

Monterlos, 19, was arrested on June 16 in the southern city of Bandar Abbas while cycling alone across Iran, on the third day of the war between Iran and Israel.

“The Revolutionary Court, taking into account legal principles and doubts about the crime, has issued a verdict of acquittal of the accused, although according to the law, the prosecutor has the right to object to the verdict,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website reported.

Lebanon says two killed in alleged Israeli strike

Two people were killed and one was wounded in an Israeli drone strike targeting a car in the town of Zebdine, on the outskirts of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, Lebanon’s health ministry says.

The IDF has not yet commented.

غارة من مسيّرة إسرائيلية تستهدف سيارة على طريق زبدين في منطقة النبطية pic.twitter.com/5cIOluHHZF

— kataeb.org (@kataeb_Ar) October 6, 2025

Cops arrest pair in West Bank over Lod killing

Police in the West Bank arrested two suspects in the fatal shooting of a man in Lod earlier this summer, law enforcement announces.

The two men, in their 20s and 40s, were nabbed by members of the police’s elite Yamam counter-terrorism unit during an overnight raid in a Palestinian village.

The pair are suspected of involvement in the killing of 22-year-old Muhammad al-Qadim on July 17 during a fight that broke out in the central Israeli city of Lod. The pair fled to the West Bank in the wake of the homicide, police say.

The men will be brought to the Rishon LeZion Magistrate’s Court by police, who say they will request to extend their remand.

Police previously arrested two other suspects hours after the shooting, catching them near an event hall in the city and confiscating a gun in their possession linked to the homicide.

Footage of police forces conducting an overnight West Bank raid, arresting two suspects in the fatal shooting of a man in Lod months after the incident, on October 6, 2025. (Israel Police)

Deri calls for probe into anti-government protests, not ‘God-ordained’ October 7 attack

Shas party chairman Aryeh Deri dismisses calls for a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 attack, attributing the surprise assault and subsequent Israeli security successes to divine providence.

While not a minister, the senior Haredi politician is a regular observer in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet and is closely involved in security issues.

In an interview with party newspaper HaDerech quoted by the Ynet news site, Deri asks if anybody can explain what happened on October 7, when “6,000 terrorists entered Israel” through a security barrier “that was supposed to be the strongest in the world.”

“You need to know that everything that happens is from the hand of God,” he says.

“No one can explain how it happened,” he insists, adding that during the subsequent military conflicts with Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, Israel saw “enormous miracles, there is no other explanation.”

Rather than probing October 7, it is necessary to establish a commission to investigate the funding of the regular anti-government protests on Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street, which he claims “received support from the United States, from Biden’s Democratic administration, truly enormous sums.”

“We all know that when you want to organize a demonstration of tens of thousands of people, it costs millions: billboards, amplification systems, logistics,” he states.

Three arrested in Russia for planning to attack synagogues

Russian authorities say they have arrested three men suspected of planning to carry out attacks at synagogues in two separate locations.

The country’s FSB security agency says it arrested two nationals from an unnamed central-Asian country who were planning to detonate an improvised explosive in a Krasnoyarsk synagogue, and bomb materials were found in an abandoned building.

According to the security service, the plot was ostensibly part of a pro-Palestinian protest and bore similarities to a 2023 incident in Dagestan in which a mob of rioters stormed an airport looking to attack Israelis it thought had arrived on a flight.

A Russian citizen was also arrested for planning to firebombing a synagogue in Pyatigorsk, near the Georgian border.

All three men were charged with terror offenses.

Video of the arrests is shared by Russian state media.

Serial swastika vandal nabbed in Haifa, police say

A swastika found painted onto the wall of a building in Haifa, allegedly by a 53-year resident of the city whose arrest was announced by police on October 6, 2025. (Israel Police)

Police say they have arrested a man suspected of repeatedly painting swastikas onto buildings and public property throughout Haifa, law enforcement announces.

The 53-year-old suspect, a resident of the city, allegedly vandalized buildings with the Nazi symbol upwards of 30 times over the past five months.

Police launched a probe in May this year, assigning the string of incidents to a special investigation team which analyzed security camera footage to identify the man.

Officers earlier managed to nab the suspect in the act and bring him in for questioning. They plan to bring him to court with a request to extend his detention, police say.

Israeli team to leave for talks in Egypt in coming hours, PMO says

The Israeli negotiating team will fly out from Israel to Sharm El-Sheikh this afternoon, the Prime Minister’s Office tells The Times of Israel.

“We are ready for all scenarios and hope to conclude the talks with successes,” says a PMO official.

The Israeli delegation includes officials from the Mossad and Shin Bet, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s foreign policy adviser Ophir Falk and hostages coordinator Gal Hirsch.

Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, the chief negotiator, is only expected to join later this week pending developments in the negotiations, according to Israeli officials.

Studies show Jewish life in Germany ‘most precarious since Nazis,’ group says

Jewish and Israeli communities in Germany continue to face widespread hostility, discrimination, and fear two years after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, a pair of new studies show.

An interim report by the Center for Anti-Semitism-Critical Education and Research (KOAS) and the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences, released last month, finds that Jews in Germany experience “massive harassment and exclusion” in schools, universities, workplaces, and public spaces, with many respondents saying they now conceal their Jewish identity for safety reasons.

A separate survey of Jewish youth by the Central Welfare Board of Jews in Germany (ZWST) shows that antisemitism permeates digital life.

According to the study, some 87 percent of Jewish teenagers say they encountered antisemitic content online over the past year—nearly half of them “very frequently.”

About 42% reported feelings of fear and distress, and more than one in four said the hostility affected their daily lives.

“Jewish life in Germany today is characterized by exclusion, threat, and insecurity,” ZWST says. “The state of the Jewish community in Germany has not been so fragile since the defeat of the Nazi reign of terror and should be cause for alarm.”

IDF says long-range rockets ready to launch found in Gaza

The remains of two rocket launchers found by the army in Gaza City, that were primed for attacks on central Israel, in a handout photo issued on October 6, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF troops operating in Gaza City about a week ago found long-range rockets primed for an attack on central Israel, the military says.

The rockets were located by troops of the 401st Armored Brigade. The IDF says launchers primed to fire the rockets were safely neutralized.

Additionally, the troops located cache of weapons and military equipment in the area, the IDF adds.

Official warns against expecting quick agreement in Gaza talks

An unnamed official briefed on Gaza talks taking place in Egypt says negotiations kicking off today will likely not be quick, despite Israeli and US demands that the process be wrapped up within days.

“Negotiations will last at least a few days if not longer. There won’t likely be a quick agreement because the goal is to reach agreement on a comprehensive deal with all details worked out before the ceasefire can begin to be implemented,” says the official, whose origin is not detailed.

“Hamas and Israel have agreed to the fundamentals of the Trump 20-point plan. The next phase or phases of talks are designed to tackle the specific details, which in the past has been a lengthy process,” the official adds.

A previous ceasefire saw mediators secure an agreement on a first phase while leaving the rest to be negotiated later, only for the whole process to collapse within short order.

The official says mediators have a long list of difficult issues to get Israel and Hamas to agree upon, ranging from logistics like the details and timeline for a withdrawal of Israeli forces inside Gaza to the fine print of a transfer of Gaza governance away from Hamas and the formation of an International Stabilization Force envisioned as part of Trump’s plan.

A Hamas source tells Reuters that the disarmament of the group is another thorny issue, insisting that it will only lay down its arms when Israel ends its occupation and a Palestinian state is created.

Iran says it backs any Gaza plan that ‘ends killing,’ warns of dangers in Trump proposal

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei says Tehran supports any initiative that “ends the killing in Gaza,” in response to US President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza.

Baghaei cautions, however, that the plan has dangerous dimensions and risks obstruction from Israel. He adds that any decision on the plan is up to the Palestinians.

The spokesman also says Iran does not plan to resume nuclear talks with European nations that reimposed sanctions anytime soon.

“We have no plans for negotiations at this stage,” Baghaei says, adding that Iran is examining the “consequences and implications” of the restart of sanctions initiated by France, Britain, and Germany.

French PM resigns hours after installing new government

France’s new Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has tendered his resignation, barely 14 hours after appointing his new cabinet, after allies and foes alike threatened to topple his government, driving French stocks and the euro sharply lower.

His swift resignation is unexpected and unprecedented, marking another major deepening of France’s political crisis.

The far-right National Rally is responding by urging President Emmanuel Macron to call a snap parliamentary election.

After weeks of consultations with political parties across the board, Lecornu, a close ally of Macron, had appointed his ministers on Sunday and they had been set to hold their first meeting on Monday afternoon.

But the new cabinet line-up had angered both opponents and allies, who either found it too right-wing or not sufficiently so, raising questions on how long it could last, at a time when France is already mired deep in political crisis, with no group holding a majority in a fragmented parliament.

Lecornu handed his resignation to Macron on Monday morning, France’s presidential Elysee Palace says.

“Mr. Sebastien Lecornu has submitted the resignation of his Government to the President of the Republic, who has accepted it,” the Elysee press office says.

Police, army prepping for large numbers to visit Gaza border area to mark attack anniversary

Relatives place a flag with a picture of Raz Mizrahi, who was killed in the October 7, 2023 cross-border attack by Hamas, as they visit the memorial site of Nova music festival, near the Kibbutz Reim, southern Israel, Monday, October 6, 2025. (AP/Leo Correa)

Police and Home Front Command troops are being deployed to the Gaza border region with large numbers of visitors expected to visit the area today and throughout the Sukkot holiday to mark two years since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack.

Many ceremonies are being held before or after the actual anniversary since it coincides with the first day of Sukkot, which begins tonight.

In Nir Oz, hundreds have gathered to remember the dozens killed in the small kibbutz during the attack, in which a quarter of its approximately 400 members were either killed or kidnapped.

A joint statement from police and the army says officers are being deployed in several areas expected to see large numbers of visitors, including Kibbutz Be’eri, Sderot, Route 232, and the site of the Nova festival massacre near Reim, among others.

An Israeli soldier covers his face as he visits the site where revelers were killed and kidnapped on October 7, 2023, near Kibbutz Reim, southern Israel, Monday, October 6, 2025. (AP/Leo Correa)

Travelers not taking part in remembrance activities are asked to avoid the area to ease expected congestion.

Top German diplomat says Gaza talks most promising yet

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul says ongoing attempts to end the Gaza war are the most promising since fighting was ignited two years ago.

“For the first time in two years, it is not just about a ceasefire, but about a viable political solution. Israeli, Arab and Palestinian actors now share ideas on how things can continue in the Gaza Strip,” the minister tells German public broadcaster ARD.

Rabbi assaulted in New Jersey, police say; suspect in custody

Rabbi Avraham Wein of Teaneck, New Jersey is seen in a video uploaded September 17, 2021. (Screen capture via YouTube)

Police in Bergenfield, New Jersey, say a rabbi was assaulted in the suburban town outside New York City yesterday.

The Bergenfield Police Department says the attacker, 40-year-old Jeffrey Zicchinella, was driving when he stopped his car, got out and assaulted the rabbi.

A passerby intervened to help the rabbi, who is identified in local reports as Rabbi Avraham Wein of Congregation Keter Torah in the nearby town of Teaneck.

Both the rabbi and the other resident sustained minor injuries, police say.

The suspect has been charged with two counts of assault and is being held in the county jail.

Police say the attack appears to be an isolated incident, but have increased patrols around synagogues.

The town says in an announcement that the suspect is not a resident of Bergenfield, about a 20-minute drive northwest of Manhattan.

Egypt’s Sissi lauds Trump, praises Gaza plan as ‘right path to lasting peace’

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi is praising US President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan on Monday, as negotiators from Hamas, Israel and the United States converge on Egypt to discuss a hostage-prisoner exchange and ceasefire.

“I can only extend my praise and appreciation for US President Donald Trump,” he says in an address, adding: “A ceasefire, the return of prisoners and detainees, the reconstruction of Gaza and the launch of a peaceful political process that leads to the establishment and recognition of the Palestinian state means we are on the right path to lasting peace and stability.”

Hamas holding talks with Egypt, Qatar before Sharm El-Sheikh meetings

Hamas’s lead negotiator Khalil al-Hayya will meet with mediators from Egypt and Qatar in Cairo this morning ahead of indirect talks with Israel in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, a senior Hamas official tells AFP.

The preparatory talks were slated to begin at 10 a.m., the BBC reports, citing a Palestinian official with knowledge of the negotiations.

Negotiations will look to “determine the date of a temporary truce,” as well as create conditions for a first phase of the peace plan, in which 47 hostages held in Gaza are to be released in return for hundreds of Palestinian detainees, the senior Hamas official says.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that talks would involve freeing all 48 hostages, including the body of soldier Hadar Goldin, which has been held by Hamas for over a decade.

IDF says it razed second home of Palestinian behind deadly October 2024 attack

IDF troops are seen in a demolished home belonging to Palestinian terrorist Ahmad Himouni in the West Bank city of Hebron, on October 6, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF confirms that it demolished a home belonging to one of two Palestinian terrorists who murdered seven and wounded 15 in Tel Aviv in October 2024.

According to Israel, Ahmad Himouni, 25, and Mohammad Mesek, 19, went on a shooting and stabbing spree at a light rail station in the Jaffa area of the city on October 1, 2024, just minutes before Iran launched a massive missile attack on the country.

Mesek was shot dead by a municipal security officer, and Himouni was seriously wounded after being shot by armed civilians.

Members of the IDF’s elite Yahalom combat engineering unit and the Judea Regional Brigade demolished a home belonging to Himouni in the West Bank city of Hebron overnight, the military says.

Video of the demolition shared by Palestinian media showed controlled explosions in the second story of a five-story building. According to the army, only Himouni’s apartment was razed, with limited damage caused to the other apartments in the building.

In March, the IDF also said that homes belonging to Mesek and Himouni in Hebron were razed. The military confirms to The Times of Israel that the home demolished overnight is a separate structure from the one previously demolished.

As a matter of policy, Israel demolishes the homes of Palestinians accused of carrying out deadly attacks.

Israeli activist assisting West Bank Palestinians injured in settler attack, group charges

An Israeli activist with the left-wing organization Looking the Occupation in the Eye was attacked by a settler while visiting a Bedouin hamlet in the West Bank overnight, the group says.

The activist was rushed to a hospital following the incident at Ras ‘Ein al ‘Auja in the southern Jordan Valley, according to the NGO.

The group says a settler first punctured the tires of a vehicle driven by the activist and then threw a stone at his head, injuring him.

ראס אל-עין עוג'ה, דרום בקעת הירדן.
אתמול, בסביבות 23:00 בערך, הותקפו שני פעילים, ששהו במקום בנוכחות מגינה. הפעילים היו ברכבם בקרבת מאחז בלתי חוקי חדש, שהוקם ביום הכיפורים ממערב לכפר. מתנחל הצליח להתגנב בחשיכה ולנקב את אחד הצמיגים. כאשר הפעיל יצא מן המכונית לבדוק מה קרה, מתנחל… pic.twitter.com/r6AvMYurTL

— מסתכלים לכיבוש בעיניים (@Mistaclim) October 6, 2025

The activist, who was there to assist residents of the Bedouin encampment, had been close to an illegal settler outpost recently established near the hamlet when he was attacked, Looking the Occupation in the Eye reports.

No arrests have been reported.

Lapid takes aim at ‘spoiled brat’ Goldknopf after UTJ head compares draft dodgers to hostages

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid joins a wellspring of criticism against United Torah Judaism head Yitzhak Goldknopf over comments that appeared to equate draft dodgers with hostages held in Gaza.

“Goldknopf and this whole crew have lost their minds,” Lapid writes on X, ostensibly referring to ultra-Orthodox politicians demanding exemptions from mandatory military service for their community.

“The hostages are dying, he and his Haredi deserters are a bunch of spoiled brats who think for whatever reason that they have the right to get out of serving at a time when the IDF is fighting to protect their cushy lives, supported by public funds.”

In a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday, Goldknopf set conditions for the release of Palestinian terror convicts in exchange for those held in Gaza. At the same time, he urged the premier to “immediately” free draft dodgers arrested “for the crime of studying Torah” so that they can also celebrate the upcoming Sukkot holiday with their families.

Despite pause, IDF says fighter jets striking Hamas cells in Gaza City still attacking troops

Skirmishes are ongoing in Gaza despite a pause in offensive activity by Israeli forces, the Israel Defense Forces says, reporting that it carried out a number of airstrikes in response to Hamas attacks yesterday.

The IDF halted its offensive in Gaza City on Saturday amid a push by US President Donald Trump to reach an end to the war, with troops on the ground only carrying out defensive operations.

The army says one strike was carried out by Israeli Air Force fighter jets on a cell of fighters armed with mortars and explosive devices, killing them. According to the IDF, “the group had planned to carry out terror attacks against troops operating in Gaza City.”

בסגירת מעגל מהירה: כוחות אוגדה 98 חיסלו מספר חוליות מחבלים אשר קידמו מתווי טרור נגד הכוחות במרחב העיר עזה

אתמול, מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר בהכוונת פיקוד הדרום ושב"כ, תקפו וחיסלו חוליית מחבלים חמושה במטענים ומרגמות. החולייה שחוסלה תכננה לבצע מתווי טרור נגד כוחות צה״ל הפועלים במרחב… pic.twitter.com/sx6nbQdmKa

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 6, 2025

Another strike targeted a cell which was launching mortars at soldiers in Gaza City, one of which lightly wounded a soldier. The army says the soldier was taken to a hospital for treatment and his family was notified. Fighter jets struck and killed the operatives who had been launching the mortars, the IDF says.

In a third incident, the military says Hamas operatives fired rocket propelled grenades at engineering vehicles being used in Gaza City by the 98th Division, without any injuries being caused. Fighter jets hit the building from which the projectiles were fired, according to the army.

Pharaonic painting missing from famed Saqqara necropolis, Egypt says

Members of the media gather on March 19, 2022, in the area where five ancient Pharaonic tombs were recently discovered at the Saqqara archaeological site, south of the Egyptian capital Cairo (Khaled Desouki/AFP)

Egypt says a limestone pharaonic painting has gone missing from the famed Saqqara necropolis, becoming the latest artifact to disappear in a country known for its rich and lengthy history.

The painting was in the tomb of Khentika in the Saqqara necropolis outside Cairo, says Mohamed Ismail, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. The tomb was found in the 1950s and hasn’t been opened since 2019.

Prosecutors are investigating the circumstances of the painting’s disappearance, he says, without giving further details.

According to Egyptian media, the painting exhibited the ancient Egyptian calendar that divided the year into three seasons mirroring the Nile River’s ebb and flow. It included the flooding season, Akhet, the planting season, Proyat, and the harvest season, Shomu.

Mohamed Mujahid, head of the Egyptian mission which discovered the tomb, posing for a “selfie” photograph on a cell phone inside the newly-discovered tomb of the ancient Egyptian nobleman “Khewi” in Saqqara necropolis in Egypt on April 13, 2019. (Mohamed el-Shahed / AFP).

The tomb dates to the sixth dynasty of the ancient Old Kingdom — roughly from around 2700 B.C. to 2200 B.C.

The Cairo 24 news outlet reports that a British mission working in the tomb discovered the painting was missing in May.

The tomb is one of the few in ancient Egypt to have a curse inscribed on its facade warning intruders they could face divine punishment, according to British Egyptologist Harry James, who co-authored a research paper on the tomb in the 1950s.

Egyptian antiquities workers dig at the Saqqara archaeological site, south of Cairo on January 26, 2023. (Khaled DESOUKI / AFP)

The Saqqara site is part of a sprawling necropolis at Egypt’s ancient capital of Memphis that includes the famed Giza Pyramids, the step pyramid of Djoser, as well as smaller pyramids at Abu Sir, Dahshur and Abu Ruwaysh.

Sunday’s announcement comes less than a month after an ancient pharaoh’s bracelet was stolen from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and melted for its gold.

Australian police say no known terror links in Sydney mass shooting

Australian police say they do not believe terror or religious motivations were behind a mass shooting near Sydney that left one person in critical condition Sunday evening.

A suspect accused of firing up to 50 shots at random from a .30-calibre rifle in the suburb of Croydon Park has no known links to organized crime or terror groups, acting Superintendent Stephen Parry says.

“It is incredible that nobody died,” Parry tells a press conference.

One man self-presented to hospital with a gunshot wound following the incident, but would likely survive, police say.

Another 14 people were treated by ambulance staff for minor injuries, including shattered glass as bullets hit their car windows.

Police apprehended the suspect and are expected to question him today.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon tells local radio station 2GB that the gunman’s motives remain unclear, describing the shooting as “serious and terrifying.”

Israel reportedly blows up Hebron home of Tel Aviv attacker

Palestinian media report that Israeli forces have destroyed the home of a Palestinian man who carried out a deadly terror attack in Tel Aviv just over a year ago.

Video posted online show what appear to be a series of controlled explosions in a second-story apartment in Hebron, which Palestinian media report belonged to Ahmad Himouni.

اللحظات الأولى لتفجير الاحتلال الإسرائيلي منزل الأسير أحمد الهيموني في مدينة الخليل. pic.twitter.com/X23u7rPA3g

— Newpress | نيو برس (@NewpressPs) October 6, 2025

#شاهد | لحظة تفجير منزل الأسير أحمد الهيموني في الخليل، والذي يتهمه الاحتلال بالمشاركة في عملية "تل أبيب" التي أسفرت عن مقتل 7 مستوطنين أكتوبر العام الماضي. pic.twitter.com/3HYHNeKmoS

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) October 6, 2025

According to Israel, Himouni and Mohammed Mesek killed seven Israeli and foreign civilians and wounded 15 others during a deadly terror attack in Jaffa on October 1, 2024, as people rushed to find shelter ahead of an Iranian ballistic missile attack.

Municipal security officers and armed civilians at the scene shot the attackers, killing Mesek and seriously injuring Himouni.

The scene of a shooting terror attack at the Ehrlich station of the Tel Aviv Light Rail in Jaffa on October 1, 2024. (Jack GUEZ / AFP)

A demolition order signed by Central Command head Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth was delivered to the property in July.

There is no immediate comment from the Israel Defense Forces.

Israel regularly demolishes or seals off the homes of Palestinian attackers as part of what it calls a policy of deterrence.

1,152 security personnel killed, 885 children bereaved: Two years on from Oct. 7, Defense Ministry data shows the toll of war

Soldiers place flowers and flags on graves of fallen Israeli soldiers in Kiryat Shmona Military Cemetery, on May 12, 2024 (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)

Marking two years since Hamas’s devastating attack on October 7, 2023, the Defense Ministry has released updated figures on the country’s fallen security personnel.

Since the outbreak of the war, 1,152 personnel have been killed. The figures include all soldiers, police officers, Shin Bet agents, and civilian security officers who died on and since October 7, 2023, whether in the line of duty or as a result of an accident, illness, or suicide.

Most were killed during fighting in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and the West Bank.

Approximately 42% of the fallen were under the age of 21, most of them young men serving in mandatory military service, and 141 were over the age of 40, highlighting the wide age range of those who lost their lives.

The conflict has added more than 6,500 family members to Israel’s circle of bereavement, including 1,973 parents, 351 widows, 885 children, and 3,481 siblings.

Over 200 of the fallen were buried at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem, and in total, funerals have been conducted in 264 cemeteries and military plots across Israel, with 24 plots expanded and new military cemeteries established. Eight fallen soldiers were also transferred abroad for burial, accompanied by Defense Ministry staff.

The ministry’s department for the families of fallen soldiers, commemoration and heritage has overseen the burial of the fallen, the renovation and creation of memorials, and the provision of comprehensive emotional and financial support to bereaved families.

The department implemented a 60 million NIS ($18 million) reform of family care and support services, provided targeted assistance through special committees, and set up a network of financial volunteers to support bereaved families.

“The State of Israel bears a heavy price — the history of our country has been written in the blood of our sons and daughters,” head of the department for the families of fallen soldiers, commemoration and heritage Aryeh Moalem says.

“The department’s employees see their work as a mission and continue to commemorate the memory of the fallen, preserve their heritage for future generations, and accompany the bereaved families with emotional and welfare support.”

Two moderately injured in violent incident in Rahat, as unrest rocks the southern Bedouin city

Two young men have been moderately injured in a violent incident tonight in Rahat, says the Magen David Adom emergency service.

The two wounded men, ages 21 and 24, were taken to Soroka Medical Center by paramedics.

The incident is the latest in a wave of violence that has rocked the southern Bedouin city in recent days, seemingly related to two blood feuds that were rekindled over the weekend.

On Saturday night, 21-year-old pharmacology student Adam al-Ubra was shot to death while visiting his parents in Rahat, in a revenge killing that left one other man seriously injured. Police arrested three suspects in the deadly shooting.

Earlier the same day a doctor was shot and badly wounded in his car by several assailants. Police say the attack was related to another conflict between rival families in the city. Five were arrested on suspicion of involvement.

Effort to reach agreement on Gaza ceasefire ‘looks like it’s working,’ Trump says

US President Donald Trump says the effort to secure an agreement between Israel and Hamas to end the war in Gaza “looks like it’s working.”

“We’ll wait for a little while, [and] see how it all turns out,” Trump tells reporters outside the White House.

He reiterates what he wrote in a Truth Social post less than an hour ago, that Arab, Muslim and other countries have had “very good meetings” with Hamas.

“I think it’s going to go very quickly. We’ll let you know soon,” he says.

Trump touts ‘very positive’ talks between Hamas and Arab, Muslim countries; says ‘1st phase’ should be done this week

US President Donald Trump speaks during a celebration for the 250th anniversary of the US Navy aboard the USS Harry S. Truman at Naval Station Norfolk, October 5, 2025 in Norfolk, Virginia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

US President Donald Trump reports that “very positive discussions” have been taking place between Hamas and Arab and Muslim interlocutors over the weekend aimed at securing the release of the hostages, ending the war in Gaza and achieving “PEACE in the Middle East.”

“These talks have been very successful, and proceeding rapidly,” Trump writes on Truth Social, adding that “technical teams” will meet again on Monday in Egypt to “work through and clarify the final details.”

“I am told that the first phase should be completed this week, and I am asking everyone to MOVE FAST,” Trump says.

It is not immediately clear what he means by “first phase” and whether he is suggesting that hostages will begin being released this week.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said over the weekend that he was hopeful that hostages could be released during the Sukkot holiday, which begins on Monday evening and extends for one week, followed immediately by the Simhat Torah holiday, which marks the Hebrew calendar anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 onslaught.

“I will continue to monitor this Centuries old “conflict.” TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE OR, MASSIVE BLOODSHED WILL FOLLOW — SOMETHING THAT NOBODY WANTS TO SEE!” Trump signs off in his post.

Police probing death of Palestinian man found in northern Jerusalem

cap Police investigate the death of a Palestinian man after his body was found in northern Jerusalem, near the West Bank security barrier on October 5, 2025. (Israel Police)

Police are probing the death of a Palestinian man in his 20s after his body was found in northern Jerusalem, next to the West Bank security barrier.

The circumstances surrounding his death are still unclear and the investigation is ongoing, police say, as officers collect evidence at the scene.

Haredi lawmaker draws criticism after appearing to compare detained draft dodgers to Gaza hostages

MK Yitzhak Goldknopf, the chairman of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, appears to draw a comparison between the Gaza hostages and detained Haredi draft dodgers in a letter welcoming US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza.

Expressing his wish for the hostages to be speedily returned to Israel over the upcoming Sukkot holiday, starting on Monday night, Goldknopf writes in a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the government is responsible for ensuring that any Palestinian terrorists released as part of the deal “never pose a threat to the State of Israel at any stage or in any way.”

Juxtaposing the issue of the hostages with that of IDF conscription, Goldknopf urges the premier to work to “immediately” free draft dodgers arrested “for the crime of studying Torah” so that they can also celebrate the upcoming holiday with their families.

Goldknopf quit the cabinet in protest this June over the government’s failure to pass legislation exempting yeshiva students from mandatory military service. His party left the government the following month.

Secular and national religious politicians are quick to condemn Goldknopf for his apparent comparison of the hostages and draft dodgers, with former prime minister Naftali Bennett tweeting that his rhetoric was “simply shameful.”

“My problem is with parties that call themselves ‘Zionist’ yet provide backing for the disgrace of draft evasion only out of political and personal interests,” Bennett writes.

Yesh Atid MK Debbie Biton calls Goldknopf’s comparison a “moral disgrace,” while The Democrats MK Efrat Rayten declares that she is “praying that he be forgiven for all his sins.”

The Israel National News news website cites the National Religious Reservists Forum, which complains that while Goldknopf is asking to allow draft dodgers to celebrate at home, tens of thousands of reservists will be spending the holiday in the army.

Last week, the IDF approved the early release of a number of ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers, including several who had been detained after returning from Uman, in order to allow them to mark the Yom Kippur fast at home.

It was the second such early release over a period of two weeks, with another group having been sent home ahead of Rosh Hashanah.

Iran says it supports ‘any initiative’ for Palestinian self-determination, on eve of Gaza talks

Iran says it supports “any initiative” aiming to secure “self-determination” for the Palestinian people, on the eve of negotiations in Egypt on ending the war in Gaza and returning those held hostage by the Hamas terror group.

Tehran, which backs Hamas, “has always supported any initiative aimed at ending ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, and paving the way for the realization of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination,” says the Iranian foreign ministry in a statement.

It adds that the Islamic Republic is ready to help deliver aid to the Strip.