What’s happened: Hamas fighters killed two IDF soldiers on Sunday morning and wounded several others in an attack in the Rafah area, which is under IDF control according to the ceasefire agreement.

• The IDF responded with artillery and air strikes across the Gaza Strip, including against a six-kilometre-long tunnel in the Khan Yunis area. According to Palestinian sources, as many as 45 people, including a Nukhba Force commander, were killed.
• By Sunday evening the IDF announced that the retaliatory strikes had concluded and that the IDF “had begun the renewed enforcement of the ceasefire.”
• The two soldiers killed were Maj. Yaniv Kula, 26, and Staff Sgt. Itay Yavetz, 21, both from Nahal Brigade and both from Modiin-Maccabim-Reut in central Israel.
• The incident in Rafah began when a Hamas cell emerged from a tunnel shaft in an area under IDF control. They fired a rocket-propelled grenade and light weapons at two IDF bulldozers and at the rescue forces.
• Following the incident IDF Chief of Staff Zamir said, “We are ready and alert for any scenario. This blatant violation of the agreement by Hamas will be met and is being met at this time with a strong and powerful response of ours, and we will continue to vigilantly protect the State of Israel’s security interests.”

Context: The Hamas attack was viewed in Israel as a double offence – both breaking the ceasefire and violating the Yellow Line endorsed by the US and the ceasefire signatories.      

• Israel remains closely coordinated with the US administration, informing them in advance of their plan to retaliate, reportedly without going into detail. Notably the IDF’s response did not involve a ground incursion, but consisted of a broad-scale artillery and aerial strikes.
• The tunnel struck was significant and had previously been avoided due to the presence of hostages in the vicinity (which is now no longer an issue.)
• According to Palestinian sources, one of the targets was Yahya Al-Mabhouh along with 5 other Nukhba operatives. He was the commander of the Nukhba company of the East Jabalia battalion in northern Gaza and commanded the Nukhba forces’ raid on Mefalsim on October 7.
• It is unclear whether the Hamas leadership ordered Sunday’s attack, or whether the cell found itself ‘trapped’ on the Israeli side of the ceasefire line. Other speculation suggests Iran remains in contact with Hamas field commanders and encouraged the attack in an effort to torpedo the ceasefire agreement. Either way Israel stays vigilant over the threat of future attacks.      
• Israel has insisted that its response must make clear to Hamas that it no longer resembles its pre-October 7 approach to rocket fire (which often targeted Hamas weapons facilities but not personnel) and that it remains prepared at all times to resume intense fighting.
• There is some hope that this violation was an isolated incident, but it underscores the fragility of the ceasefire and the risks involved. It also highlights Israeli concerns that two of the signatories to the agreement Qatar and Turkey have a vested interest in the perpetuation of Hamas rule.        
• Although the most serious incident since the ceasefire was declared, it was not an isolated incident. There have been several accounts of Hamas attacks against IDF soldiers manning outposts along the yellow line.
• Yesterday’s attack is being perceived as a warning. If Israel fails to establish tough and clear rules of engagement the situation could further deteriorate. Although substantially downgraded, the attack is another reminder that Hamas still has thousands of fighters and a large number of weapons, reinforcing the need to move to the next phase and disarm them.
• In parallel, Israel is working along the US, Egypt and the other mediators to secure the release of the remaining 16 hostage bodies still in Gaza. Over the weekend two more bodies were returned.
  • Ronen Engel was killed on October 7, 2023, when he went out to defend his family from terrorists and his body was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Ronen was 54 at his death, which was declared on December 1, 2023. He is survived by his wife, Karina, and three children, two of whom, Mika and Yuval, were also abducted together with Karina and returned in November 2023.
  • A Thai citizen, Suntaya Oukarsri was murdered on October 7, 2023, from the orchards of Kibbutz Be’eri and his body taken to Gaza. He was 30 years old at the time of his death which was determined in May 2024.
• Seven former hostages were discharged yesterday from hospital.

Looking ahead: Following the attack, Israel will today renew the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, but not open the Rafah border crossing.

• Vice President JD Vance is expected to visit Israel this week, joining envoys Witkoff and Kushner. High on the agenda will be how to secure the ceasefire and move on to the next phase of the Trump plan.    
• The Knesset formally reconvenes for the start of winter session later today.  

What’s happened: Following on the heels of the release of all the living Israeli hostages held in Gaza, Hamas has begun to hand over to Israel the bodies of deceased hostages as well. The ceasefire agreement in effect since last Friday stipulates that all hostages, living and dead, are to be returned to Israel before the parties advance to the second stage of the agreement.

• Over the past 72 hours, the National Institute of Forensic Medicine has positively identified nine bodies handed over by Hamas.
  • Staff Sergeant Tamir Nimrodi, 18, was abducted alive in the October 7 attack and killed in captivity during the early stages of the war.
  • Sergeant Major Muhammad Al-Atresh, 39, from the Beduin village of Sa’wa, was a Tracker in the IDF’s Northern Gaza Brigade.
  • Captain Daniel Perez, 22, an immigrant from South Africa and platoon commander in the IDF, was killed battling Hamas during the October 7 attack.
  • Yossi Sharabi, 53, was kidnapped from his home on Kibbutz Beeri and killed in captivity.
  • Uriel Baruch, 35, was murdered fleeing the Nova Festival, and his body was taken into Gaza.
  • Eitan Levi, 53, was also murdered in the October 7 attack, and his body was taken to Gaza and held for two years.
  • Guy Iluz, 26, was injured in the attack on the Nova Festival, and died in captivity after not receiving proper medical treatment.
  • Bipin Joshi, a Nepalese citizen, was abducted from Kibbutz Alumim and murdered in captivity several months later.
  • Inbar Hayman, 27, was murdered at the Nova Festival, and her body was held by Hamas. She was the only female hostage still in captivity following the January-March 2025 ceasefire.
• One body handed over by Hamas was determined to not be an Israeli hostage at all and was retuned to Gaza via the Red Cross.
• A funeral held on Mt Herzl in Jerusalem for Daniel Perez yesterday was attended by Matan Angrest, who fought with Perez in the same tank on October 7.
• Angrest was released by Hamas together with the other remaining living hostages on Monday after two years in captivity, where he was subject to particularly extreme mistreatment. “It was important for me to salute and pay final respects to my commander, Daniel,” he said. “Daniel led our heroic battle that Saturday.”
• President Herzog also attended the funeral. “Daniel led his soldiers with responsibility, with faith in the justice of their cause, and with boundless love for his people and his homeland,” he said in his eulogy. “He fought until the last drop of blood, embodying the very spirit of the Israeli warrior — steadfast, moral, and brave. Today, the son of the nation returns to his soil, to our soil.”

Context: With the release of the remains of nine hostages, Hamas claimed that is has completed the handover of all the deceased Israeli hostages it can find. Nineteen more hostages believed to be dead remain to be handed over to Israel. Yedioth Ahronot reports that Israeli defence officials believe that at least ten of those are easily accessible to Hamas and that the terror organisation is deliberately dragging its feet on implementation of the agreement.

• Throughout the war Hamas has at various times claimed to have lost contact with hostages it held or even alleged that hostages who were still alive were dead. Such actions have been a part of its psychological warfare campaign.
• The remaining hostages, all presumed dead, are among its last real bargaining chips as negotiations over the future of Gaza without Hamas leave it isolated even from their longtime backers in Qatar and Turkey.
• A full hostage release in the first stage of the agreement is necessary in order to move on to the second stage, which will involve further withdrawals of IDF forces from Gaza. While Israel waits for more bodies to be handed over, it has delayed the full opening of the Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt.
• President Trump told CNN that if Hamas fails to uphold its end of the deal, Israel would have his approval to renew its military offensive in Gaza. “Israel will return to those streets as soon as I say the word,” he said. “If Israel could go in and knock the crap of them, they’d do that.”
• Other administration officials, however, emphasised that as far as the US is concerned, Hamas is not now in breach of the agreement. Live hostages were a priority for the administration, and these were indeed released on deadline, and it was understood by all parties that it might take time to locate all the bodies of deceased hostages.
• Turkish and Egyptian teams will enter Gaza and, with the help of Israeli intelligence, help locate remaining bodies of Israelis abducted in the October 7 attack.
• Internecine fighting among Palestinian factions in Gaza raged over the past three days. Hamas officials reported that 10 Hamas operatives and 20 members of rival factions were killed this week. In one widely circulated video, Hamas fighters are seen lining up eight captured Palestinians on a crowded Gaza street and summarily executing them.
• As part of the peace plan, Israel released 250 terrorists serving life sentences, along with 1,700 detainees who were arrested after the October 7. The list includes notorious terrorists.

Looking ahead: There were conflicting reports about negotiations underway regarding the second stage of the new ceasefire, with the Prime Minister’s Office denying a report in the Wall Street Journal that official talks had begun in Egypt. In the second stage, the sides are due to agree on the new regime which will govern Gaza and on the process of disarming Hamas.

• Yedioth Ahronot reports that Egypt and Jordan have trained a small Palestinian force of about 1,000 police officers to help enforce security in the Gaza Strip.
• They Egyptians would like to see this force grow to at least 10,000 officers, but Israel is expected to object to any official armed presence of the Palestinian Authority.
• The terms of the ceasefire call for an International Stabilisation Force (ISF) to operate alongside a “technocratic” Palestinian government. So far, only Indonesia, a country which does not recognise Israel, has offered to send soldier to Gaza, though its offer referred to a UN mandate (which does not exist) and not to the ISF.
• American officials quoted anonymously also mentioned contributions from the UAE, Qatar, Egypt, and Azerbaijan, though both the UAE and Qatar deny any intention of sending forces to Gaza.

What’s happened: The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect last night after the cabinet officially approved the first phase of the Trump plan to return all the hostages.

• The hard right ministers from Jewish Power and the Religious Zionist Party opposed the deal, (with the exception of Minister Ofir Sofer), but the agreement was approved with the backing of the ministers from Likud.
• As of this morning Palestinian sources confirmed that Israeli air strikes in Gaza have now stopped.
• In an unusual step, US special envoy Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner briefly joined the cabinet meeting. Prime Minister Netanyahu thanked his guests and said, “We are at a momentous development. We fought during these two years to achieve our war aims, and a central one of these war aims is to return the hostages, all of the hostages, the living and the dead. And we’re about to achieve that.”
• Witkoff told the ministers, “Here we are today, because Hamas had to do this deal. The pressure was on them, they were backed up, and you’ve got the bigger army, you were making inroads, and that’s what led to this deal.”
• This morning it was cleared publication that Sgt. Maj. (res.) Michael Nachmani, a 26-year-old reservist from Dimona was killed yesterday by Hamas sniper fire on the outskirts of the Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza City.
• In total 914 IDF soldiers have fallen since the war began, 465 of whom were killed in the ground offensive inside Gaza. Sixty-one have fallen since the fighting resumed after the previous hostage deal earlier this year.

The process ahead: Now that the agreement has been approved, the IDF is supposed to complete its withdrawal to the yellow line in the Gaza Strip.

• There are reports this morning that the IDF has already withdrawn from the coastal road, allowing Gazans to travel south to north.  
• Israel has committed not to return to those areas unless Hamas fails to fully implement the agreement    
• Hamas will be required to release all the living hostages within 72 hours.
• Within the same time frame Hamas will turn over all the information it has about the deceased hostages to a mechanism involving Qatar, Egypt, Turkey and the Red Cross.
• In parallel, Israel is preparing for the release of 250 terrorists serving life sentences along with 1,700 residents of the Gaza Strip who were not involved in the October 7 massacre and were arrested after that date. In addition, 22 minors from Gaza who were not implicated in the attacks and were detained later and the bodies of 360 terrorists.
• The Justice Ministry announced that while the full list of prisoners designated for release has been compiled. It has not yet been made available to the public as the victims’ families will be informed first.
• Israeli media reports that several of the most notorious terrorists will not be released. These include senior Fatah figure Marwan Barghouti, Ahmad Saadat, Abbas al-Sayed, and Hassan Salameh. Also excluded were Hakim Awad, who murdered five members of the Fogel family in the West Bank settlement of Itamar in 2011 and is serving five life sentences, and Mahmoud Atallah, a life-term prisoner convicted in the case involving the sexual exploitation of female prison guards.
• Terrorists serving life sentences who are released as part of the deal will be deported either to Gaza or to foreign countries willing to accept them, most likely Qatar or Turkey. They will be permanently banned from entering Israel or the West Bank  
• Notorious terrorists among those to be released:
  • Iyad Abu al-Rub, a senior Islamic Jihad commander from the Jenin area, was found responsible for a series of deadly suicide bombings, including the 2003 attack in Sde Trumot, the 2004 bombing at the Stage nightclub in Tel Aviv, and the 2005 attack at the Hadera market, as well as numerous foiled plots.
  • Ibrahim Alikam murdered Ita Tzur and her 12-year-old son Efraim in an ambush near Ramallah in 1996. He was initially sentenced to life in prison, released at a later date, and re-arrested a decade after his first detention.
  • Bahij Badr, 51, led a Hamas cell in Beit Liqya that carried out multiple bombings, including the attacks at Café Hillel in Jerusalem, a bus stop near Tzrifin, and Har Zion Boulevard in Tel Aviv. He is serving 18 life sentences for murdering 18 Israelis.
  • Jihad Rum murdered Yuri Gushchin, a teenager from the Pisgat Ze’ev in Jerusalem, after kidnapping him three weeks before his scheduled enlistment in the IDF. Gushchin was taken to Ramallah, where he was killed. Rum was sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison.
  • Hussein Rwadra murdered Israeli soldier Eden Atias in a stabbing attack in Afula.
  • Nasser and Mahmoud Abu-Srur murdered Shin Bet security coordinator Haim Nahmani and were arrested in January 1993.
  • Nabil Abu Hadir, a resident of Shuafat, murdered his sister, claiming she had collaborated with the Shin Bet. He evaded capture for 17 years, during which he fled to Palestinian Authority territory and worked as a lecturer at Bethlehem University before being arrested and convicted.
  • Raad Sheikh, a Palestinian police officer, took part in the 2000 lynching in Ramallah, beating Israeli soldier Cpl. Vadim Nurzhitz with an iron bar. He is serving two life sentences.
• As the IDF redeploys US Central Command (CENTCOM) will be establishing a new command and control centre inside Israeli to lead the security coordination.  
• The force will be led by a US general and include hundreds of US  troops responsible for monitoring the implementation of the agreement.
• The US led joint task force will include troops from Egypt and Qatar. No US troops will be deployed directly in Gaza.
• In parallel Israel is facilitating an increase of humanitarian aid into the Strip.
• To coincide with the hostage release on Monday, President Trump is expected to visit Israel for a short visit and address the Knesset.

What’s happened: At midnight UK time the first phase of an agreement was signed that will see the release of all the hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

• US President Donald Trump announced that both sides had agreed to the first phase of his peace plan. He expressed hope that the hostages would be freed by Monday at the latest. Survivors of captivity and families of hostages spoke on the phone with President Trump and thanked him for his work.
• Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “This is a diplomatic success and a national and moral victory for the State of Israel. From the beginning, I made it clear: we will not rest until all our hostages return and all our goals are achieved. Through steadfast resolve, powerful military action, and the great efforts of our great friend and ally President Trump, we have reached this critical turning point. I thank President Trump for his leadership, his partnership, and his unwavering commitment to the safety of Israel and the freedom of our hostages.”
• President Herzog said, “At this moment, the heart of Israel beats as one with the hostages and their families. As the prophet Jeremiah wrote: “They shall return from the land of the enemy… and children shall return to their borders.” Adding, “I wish to boundlessly thank President Trump. He undoubtably deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.”
• The Hostages and Missing Families Forum issued a statement, “The hostages’ families have received the news of the signing of the agreement to return all 48 hostages with excitement, anticipation and concern. The forum welcomes the signing of the agreement that is meant to bring all the hostages home—the living for rehabilitation among their families, and the deceased for a proper burial in their country. This is important and significant progress on the way to bringing back everyone, but our struggle is not over yet and it will not end until the last hostage is back.”

The deal: The final and official details have not yet been released.

• According to Trump, the living hostages will be freed by Monday.
• The deceased hostages are likely to be released gradually after the living ones.
• Hamas will not hold hostages release ceremonies.
• It is believed that the hostages know about the agreement and Hamas has begun preparations for their release.
• The Nukhba terrorists who invaded Israel on October 7 will not be released. A Hamas source said the hostages will be released in exchange for 2,000 Palestinian prisoners within 72 hours of signing the agreement.
• Israel will control 53 per cent of the Gaza Strip’s territory until the last of the hostages is freed. The IDF will then withdraw to the “yellow line” that President Trump showed on the map last week.
• The significance is that IDF troops will remain in the perimeter and act as a buffer keeping  the Gaza Strip separated from the Gaza periphery communities.
• Part of the success was the US insistence that the first phase had to be implemented as a condition for continuing the negotiations on fully ending the war. This prevented Hamas from raising issues that will be discussed in the second phase. It is hoped that once the hostages are released it will be easier to discuss Hamas demilitarisation and future governance of Gaza.

Photo credit: Donald Trump on Truth Social

Looking ahead: The agreement is to be formally signed at 1000am UK time in Sharm el-Sheikh, at which time the ceasefire will go into effect.

• The signing will trigger a 72-hour countdown to free all the hostages and release the Palestinian prisoners.
• Israel’s security cabinet will meet this afternoon, followed by the full cabinet in order to approve the Palestinian prisoners set to be released.
• At Prime Minister Netanyahu’s invitation President Trump could visit Israel next week and address the Knesset.
• In preparation of the release the Red Cross has been instructed to prepare vehicles and ambulances to turn the hostages over to the IDF quickly.
• The IDF has prepared initial emergency rooms with medical teams and equipment to treat them even before they are moved to hospitals in Israel.

Two year memorial: On Tuesday night tens of thousands of people attended an emotional national memorial ceremony that was held for the October 7 families in Ganei Yehoshua Park in Tel Aviv.

• For the second year in succession, the Kumu movement organised the ceremony for the October 7 families. It began with a poignant minute of silence observed by millions of viewers at hundreds of community screenings across Israel and the rest of the world.  
• After that the father of Sgt. First Class (res.) Ben Zussman, who was killed in action in December 2023, recited the prayer in memory of the fallen. Rabbi Elhanan Danino, whose son Ori Danino was murdered in Hamas captivity, recited the Kaddish prayer on behalf of all the victims.  
• Actor Tzahi Halevi, who fought on October 7 in Kfar Azza, and Ashira Greenberg, widow of Lt. Col. Tomer Greenberg, the former commander of the Golani Brigade’s 13th battalion who was killed in action in Gaza, presided over the ceremony.
• Israel’s leading performing artists, including Shlomi Artzi, Berry Sakharof, Shalom Hanoch, Yardena Arazi , Eden Golan, Hadag Nahash and Rami Kleinstein performed during the course of the evening.
• Among the speakers, Omer Shem Tov, a captivity survivor, said in a speech that the hostages’ release was a fundamental condition for healing Israeli society. Shem Tov said, “On a morning of holiday, happiness and a party with friends—in a single moment our world changed. That night, we were still kids who were dancing life. But in the morning everything was broken. After 505 days of pain, difficulty and mostly longing, I returned home to my family. We are still on the way with 48 hostages who haven’t returned yet. Thank you to the heroes who fought and never returned. Thank you to the men and women fighters who are defending us today as well. We will swear to be worthy of you.”