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Ceasefire talks to continue Tuesday “amid positive atmosphere,” Egyptian state-affiliated news agency reports
Talks between Hamas and mediators will continue in Sharm El-Sheikh on Tuesday “amid a positive atmosphere,” Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera News reported.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators began indirect talks in Egypt on Monday over the terms of a US-proposed plan for a ceasefire in Gaza.
British prime minister calls for release of hostages and ceasefire on anniversary of October 7 attacks
On the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for the release of the hostages, more aid for Gaza and progress towards a lasting peace.
“Time does not diminish the evil we saw that day,” Starmer said of the October 7 massacre. “The brutal, cold blooded torture and murder of Jews in their own homes. And the taking of hostages, including British citizens, some of whom remain in Gaza today.”
In a statement released Tuesday local time, Starmer also highlighted rising antisemitism in the United Kingdom and said his government will stand with the Jewish community following last week’s terror attack on a synagogue in Manchester.
He went on to say that the UK’s priority in the Middle East remains the same: “Release the hostages. Surge aid into Gaza. And a ceasefire that can lead to a lasting and just peace as a step towards a two-state solution.”
It comes after Starmer’s government formally recognized a Palestinian state in September, in a coordinated move with Canada and Australia intended to pile pressure on Israel.
“We welcome the US initiative towards peace in the Middle East, and this government will do everything in our power to bring about the day where every child of Israel can live peacefully, alongside their Palestinian neighbors, in safety and security,” Starmer added.
UN aid teams "ready to go" if Trump's ceasefire plan goes ahead
United Nations aid teams in Gaza are “ready to go” and prepared to deliver thousands of metric tons of supplies if the Trump administration’s ceasefire plan is approved, according to a UN spokesperson.
Meanwhile, the UN’s Relief Chief said Monday that he had allocated $9 million toward keeping the war-torn territory’s hospitals, water systems, bakeries and other critical services operating.
Trump says Hamas "agreeing to things" in ceasefire talks
President Donald Trump said from the Oval Office on Monday that Hamas has been making important concessions during negotiations in Egypt over his Gaza ceasefire plan.
“I think Hamas has been agreeing to things that are very important,” Trump told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
When Collins pressed on whether the US had any red lines, such as its demand that Hamas disarm, Trump replied, “Well, if certain things aren’t met? We’re not going to do it, but I think we’re doing very well.”
Collins also asked about a report from Axios that Trump had urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop being negative and take the win after Hamas responded to his 20-point proposal. Trump denied that Netanyahu had been negative, saying, “No, it’s not true. He’s been very positive. He’s been very positive on the deal.”
“But this is a deal that, incredibly, everyone just came together. They all came together. No, Israel’s been great. They’ve all been good, Kaitlan,” Trump concluded.
“I really think we will get a deal done,” Trump said later.
Hostage families gather outside Israeli prime minister’s residence on eve of Jewish holiday of Sukkot
Families of Israeli hostages gathered outside the residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, holding a prayer service on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
This year, Sukkot coincides with the second anniversary of the October 7 massacre. Hostage families said the day marked “another Jewish holiday without their loved ones.”
Einav Zangauker, the mother of 25-year-old hostage Matan Zangauker, said a prayer for the hostages, asking God to “break their chains, deliver them from their distress, and return them swiftly to the embrace of their families.”
Putin and Netanyahu discussed US-proposed Gaza ceasefire plan, Kremlin says
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the US-proposed plan for a ceasefire in Gaza, the Kremlin said on Monday.
Putin voiced Russia’s “consistent position in favor of a comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian issue based on the well-known international legal principles,” the Kremlin said.
The two leaders also spoke about other regional issues, including Iran’s nuclear program and the situation in Syria.
Netanyahu also “extended his warmest wishes” ahead of Putin’s 73rd birthday on Tuesday.
CNN has reached out the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office for comment.
White House hopes quick hostage release creates momentum toward rest of Gaza plan
President Donald Trump wants all sides to move quickly in agreeing to the conditions for a hostage release in Gaza, the White House said Monday, as technical teams were meeting in Egypt to discuss details of Trump’s 20-point plan.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump hoped a quick release of the remaining hostages would generate momentum for the other aspects of the plan.
“We want to move very quickly on this, and the president wants to see the hostages released as soon as possible,” she said.
“That’s how the president’s team feels, so we can get some momentum, get the hostages out, and then move to the next part of this, which is really ensuring that we can create a lasting and durable peace in Gaza, and ensure that Gaza is a place that no longer threatens the security of Israel or the United States,” she added.
She said technical talks underway in Egypt, which include US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, were focused on the details of the hostage release.
“The technical teams are discussing that as we speak, to ensure that the environment is perfect to release those hostages,” she said, adding that teams are “going over the list of both the Israeli hostages and also the political prisoners who will be released.”
In CNN interview, Gaza flotilla activist describes allegations of mistreatment in Israeli custody
An Italian activist who was part of the Gaza aid flotilla and subsequently detained by Israel has described allegations of being mistreated and humiliated while in Israeli custody, with little access to legal assistance.
Lorenzo D’Agostino is one of a number of flotilla participants deported by Israel who have claimed they were treated poorly while they were detained.
In an interview with CNN, D’Agostino described being forced to sit or kneel on concrete in front of an Israeli flag for hours at a time, being left in cold temperatures with little clothing, having his belongings seized, mocked and destroyed and having his wrists bound tightly.
“We were shocked by the level of humiliation and gratuitous cruelty that these people used on us,” he said.
Israel has strongly denied allegations of mistreating the group. You can read more about the allegations and Israel’s response here.
Indirect talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators began about an hour ago, source says
The indirect talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators began about an hour ago, as delegations work toward a final deal based on Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan, a Hamas source familiar with the negotiations told CNN on Monday.
Hamas delegation has arrived in Sharm El-Sheikh, source says
A Hamas delegation has arrived in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, for Gaza ceasefire talks, a Hamas source familiar with the negotiations told CNN on Monday.
Greta Thunberg arrives in Greece after being deported from Israel
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg said Monday that the alleged abuse flotilla activists faced in Israeli detention is “not the story” as she arrived at Athens International Airport after being deported from Israel earlier today.
“I could talk for a very, very long time about our mistreatment and abuses in our imprisonment, trust me, but that is not the story,” she said amid chants from the crowd.
The Israeli government has maintained it is conducting the war in Gaza in accordance with international law, firmly denying accusations of genocide.
The environmental campaigner was met at the airport with chants of “free Palestine,” before taking a photo alongside other activists.
“What we aim to do with the Global Sumud Flotilla was to step up when our governments failed to do their legal obligation,” Greta said.
Thunberg was deported from Israel after spending several days in custody for being part of the flotilla, according to the Israeli foreign ministry.
Thunberg was one of 171 flotilla participants who were deported today, the foreign ministry said in a post on X. Responding to reports the activists had been mistreated, the foreign ministry said the claims were “brazen lies.”
German foreign minister calls for first phase of Trump's Gaza ceasefire plan to be achieved by next week
Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Monday that the first phase of the US plan to end the war in Gaza must be achieved by the beginning of next week.
“We now have the first phase of this US plan, and this first phase aims at a ceasefire, the release of hostages and also the release of Palestinian prisoners, restraint in the military conflict and, above all, that food, water, medicines and the most essential supplies are finally brought to the population in the Gaza Strip. We must now achieve this first phase this week, or at the latest by the beginning of next week,” Wadephul said during a news conference in Tel Aviv.
“We welcome Israel’s agreement to this plan. Now it is Hamas’s turn. Israel also has a responsibility to ensure a smooth transition between the different phases of the plan,” Wadephul added. “We need the ceasefire for Gaza as soon as possible so that the hostages can be released and the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza can finally come to an end.”
Earlier on Monday, Wadephul met with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar. The foreign ministers discussed the talks in Sharm el-Sheikh, as well as bilateral relations between Israel and Germany, Israel’s relations with the European Union and sanctions on Iran, according to a spokesperson for Sa’ar.
“Minister Sa’ar presented Israel’s positions to his German counterpart and emphasized its desire to reach a swift agreement that would lead to the release of all our hostages,” the spokesperson added.
Wadephul said he is now travelling to Egypt, calling this week of talks “crucial.”
Indirect talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators begin, Egyptian state media reports
Indirect talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Egypt’s Sharm El Sheikh have begun on Monday, Egyptian state media reported.
Negotiators are working toward a final deal based on US President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan.
Vatican condemns “ongoing massacre” in Gaza
The Vatican’s top diplomat says the Israeli army is carrying out an “ongoing massacre” in Gaza in one of the Catholic Church’s strongest condemnations to date of the Israel-Hamas war.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s Secretary of State, made the remarks in an interview for the Vatican newspaper l’Osservatore Romano on the eve of the second anniversary of the 7 October attacks by Hamas on Israeli communities.
Parolin described those attacks as an “inhuman massacre,” warned against the “cancer” of rising antisemitism and said the “evil” which led to the Holocaust must “not rise again.”
But the cardinal said the Israeli army, in seeking to eliminate Hamas militants, is “targeting a largely defenceless population, already pushed to the brink,” while he lamented 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.”
The cardinal pointed out many voices within the Jewish world strongly disagree with “how the current Israeli government has operated and continues to operate in Gaza and the rest of Palestine.”
Analysis: Despite Trump’s optimism, many gaps remain in Gaza truce talks
Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya, who survived an Israeli airstrike in Qatar last month, faces an even greater existential threat in Gaza ceasefire talks in Egypt: the potential demise of his militant group.
This is what Israel and US President Donald Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan for Gaza demands as Israel and Hamas enter indirect and secretive proximity talks in Sharm al Sheikh, Egypt’s luxurious Red Sea tourist hub.
Across the region, a sense of urgency and momentum had been building.
Over the weekend, Arab and Muslim foreign ministers whose countries signed off on Trump’s proposal, called these talks a “real opportunity for a comprehensive and sustainable ceasefire.”
Yet, despite the groundswell of optimism and increased pressure from Trump on both Israel and Hamas, early signs of a cooling are emerging.
In Cairo, the Egyptian hosts have been unusually, even by their opaque standards, tight lipped. So too has Hamas, whose officials brief reporters frequently when it is to their advantage. Even the high-level US delegation, led by Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son in law Jared Kushner, have been off the radar for almost two days.
Both Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday told reporters, without offering detail, that talks were ongoing, but ambiguity on the makeup of the Israeli delegation, and a possible slowing of the talks’ timeline hint at the scale of the challenge.
Netanyahu’s confidant, Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, isn’t going to the talk in person just yet, instead planning to lead the Israeli delegation remotely.
It was a subtle signal that gaps between the sides won’t be closed as quickly as hoped. Amid his oft repeated optimism that everything is on track, Trump said Sunday that talks could take “a couple of days.”
Talks may still succeed, but the potential to back flip is monumental.
A point in case in Trump’s 20-point plan, which calls for the “decommissioning” of Hamas’s weapons by “independent monitors,” language redolent of the head of Trump’s Gaza “Board of Peace,” Tony Blair. His 1998 ceasefire deal in Northern Ireland took a further seven years to fully “decommission” the weapons of the Irish Republican Army.
In speeches last week, Netanyahu spoke of Hamas’ disarmament, saying, “if they fail to do it – we will do it.”
Such is the gap on this and other issues that Hamas held pre-negotiation talks with Egyptian and Qatari officials in the hours before the Israeli delegation arrived, according to a senior Hamas official.
As in any peace talks, absent an absolute victor, and the seemingly vanquished refusing to admit defeat, the language surrounding talks is the best clue to potential success. As of now, compromise is not central in the public lexicon.
NGOs demand “surge of aid” and “accountability for atrocities” in Gaza ahead of ceasefire talks
Rights advocates escalated demands for a permanent end to hostilities in Gaza on Monday, just hours before ceasefire and hostage release talks were set to begin in Egypt.
One relief worker called for assurances that a “massive surge of aid” will enter the Gaza Strip, and Palestinians’ rights are upheld, as Israeli, Palestinian and US officials convene in Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss a 20-point proposal by the White House.
“The ceasefire we hope will come soon must not be just a ‘pause’ or a ‘freeze’ for the people of Gaza enduring unimaginable deprivation and suffering,” Rohan Talbot, the director of advocacy and campaigns at the UK-based non-profit, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), said on Monday.
Another senior humanitarian official emphasized that families in Israel “are desperate for the safe return of the living,” referring to the 20 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza who are thought to be alive.
Mirjana Spoljaric, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), requested in a statement on Monday that “all release operations to be done in a way that is both safe and dignified.”
Remember: If resolved, a 20-point plan proposed by US President Donald Trump would see Israel release 250 Palestinian prisoners with life sentences, as well as 1,700 Palestinians detained since October 7, 2023, and Hamas would free 48 captives.
Gaza war has killed two health care workers a day, medical charity says
More than 1,722 health care workers have been killed in Gaza over the past two years, according to a medical charity, marking an average of more than two killed per day.
Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), a UK-based charity, accused Israeli forces of perpetrating the “deliberate and systematic targeting” of Gaza’s health care system.
Last month, an independent UN inquiry concluded that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza through a multi-pronged campaign – including by targeting the health care system.
Israel has firmly denied accusations of genocide.
Palestinian medics say they are struggling to cope with an influx of injured patients. Less than 14 of 36 hospitals in Gaza remain partially functional, Rik Peeperkorn, the West Bank and Gaza representative for the World Health Organization said on October 2. Nearly 42,000 people are now living with life-changing injuries, including more than 10,000 children, he said.
Gaza ceasefire talks to last "a few days" and will discuss a postwar security force, official says
Negotiations between Hamas and Israel in Sharm el-Sheikh are expected to “last a few days,” with mediators from the United States, Qatar, Egypt and Turkey in attendance, an official with knowledge of the talks has told CNN.
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner will travel to Egypt for the negotiations, the official said.
It is unclear if Witkoff and Kushner will be in Sharm El Sheikh today or later in the week.
Negotiators representing Hamas and Israel are already in Egypt, as we reported earlier.
Mediators are trying to iron out details of the plan presented by the Trump administration last week. The Trump plan differs from earlier rounds of negotiations, which had called for a three-phased ceasefire in Gaza, according to the official.
Under those plans, Hamas would have released hostages over several weeks as Israel carried out a multi-stage withdrawal from the enclave.
Previous talks over the various phases caused negotiations to break down, the official said, adding that “there is a conscious effort among mediators to avoid that approach this time around.”
The current plan demands Hamas release all hostages while Israel releases Palestinian prisoners, withdraws its forces within Gaza to agreed upon lines and according to an agreed upon timeline.
Still, many details must still be agreed upon over the next few days for the plan to succeed. The details and timeline of Israel’s withdrawal have not yet been agreed, the official said, and even more complex are the details of the transfer of governance in Gaza, as well as the formation of the International Stabilization Force (ISF) to stabilize the devastated enclave.
The United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt are among the countries proposed to play a role in the ISF, according to the official, although “what that means” is still subject to negotiations, the official added.
Negotiations in Egypt are “designed to tackle the specific details,” the official said.
What's currently happening with the Gaza ceasefire talks?
Israeli, Palestinian and US officials set off for the Egyptian coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh – known as the “City of Peace” – to discuss a US-led ceasefire proposal, as human rights officials warn of persistent attacks, deepening starvation and throttled aid into the besieged Gaza Strip.
An Israeli official has told CNN that Israel’s delegation has since arrived to negotiate the proposal – which calls for the hostilities to “end immediately.”
In the enclave, hospital officials warned of heavy Israeli strikes late Sunday, after US President Donald Trump called on Israel to stop bombing Gaza ahead of the talks.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Hamas says first round of ceasefire negotiations to start tonight: The first official negotiations to broker an end to hostilities in Gaza are scheduled to begin at Monday evening local time, in Egypt, a Hamas source told CNN.
- Israeli strikes on Gaza persist, despite Trump’s demands: Even though some people reported a slight drop in the intensity of Israeli air attacks in Gaza overnight, the Ministry of Health there said at least 21 people were killed in the past 24 hours, on Monday.
- What is in the plan? Under Trump’s 20-point scheme to end the war in Gaza, Israel would release 250 Palestinian prisoners with life sentences, as well as 1,700 Palestinians detained since October 7, 2023, and Hamas will free 48 hostages.
- What did Trump say? The US president told CNN’s Jake Tapper Hamas faces “complete obliteration” if it refuses to relinquish power and control of Gaza, as part of his proposal.
- Thunberg and Gaza aid flotilla participants deported: Meanwhile, the Swedish activist Great Thunberg was among 171 people deported from Israel on Monday, after Israeli forces detained hundreds of passengers.
