The Times of Israel is liveblogging Sunday’s events as they unfold.
UN chief Guterres confirms attendance at upcoming Gaza peace summit in Egypt
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will also attend the international summit in Egypt next week chaired by US President Donald Trump on his peace plan for Gaza, a UN spokesman says.
Guterres “is traveling to Egypt to attend on Monday the Sharm el-Sheikh Summit for Peace,” his spokesman’s office says, adding that Guterres will return to UN headquarters on Wednesday.
Israel’s hostage envoy told families that handover of hostages, living and dead, will begin Monday morning
On Friday, as the 72-hour window for Hamas to release all the hostages began, government pointman Gal Hirsch told families of the captives that Israel believes that “the process of releasing your loved ones—our loved ones, the hostages—will begin on Monday morning,” in a message seen by The Times of Israel.
“Living hostages will be handed over to us, and it is expected that the remains of fallen hostages will also be transferred to us,” he wrote.
Hirsch added that Israel had completed preparations for receiving the living hostage inside the Gaza Strip, at the Re’im IDF base, and at hospitals in Israel.
Bodies of slain hostages “will be transferred in a painful and respectful ceremony, in accordance with the proper protocol, to the Institute of Forensic Medicine for the identification process,” he told the families.
After Israel verifies which bodies it has received, said Hirsch, the multinational task force will start searching for those still in Gaza.
“We demand, expect, and work for 100% effort from Hamas, with the assistance of the international force, in order to complete the mission and bring back all the fallen hostages for burial in Israel,” he stressed.
Hirsch told the hostage families that Israel is maintaining close coordination with the Red Cross, the negotiating teams from the mediating countries, and with other countries and international organizations.
“The Home Front Command and I are with you at this time—with vigilance, with anticipation, with pain, with uncertainty, and with joy,” he wrote.
Sharm el-Sheikh car crash victims are Qatari security guards, not hostage negotiators — source
The victims of a deadly car accident outside Sharm el-Sheikh are not Qatari diplomats involved in the hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas, as reports have claimed, but rather Qatari security guards and protocol officers, a source familiar with the matter tells The Times of Israel.
The source says that Egyptian media reports claiming that three members of Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Abdulrahman Al Thani’s negotiation team were killed in the crash are false.
Two people have been pronounced dead, however, and two more are in critical condition.
UK’s Starmer confirms he’ll attend Gaza peace summit in Egypt on Monday
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will travel to Egypt to attend the Sharm el-Sheikh Peace Summit, where leaders are expected to sign a US-brokered peace agreement aimed at ending the war in Gaza, his office says.
The first phase of the plan is set to begin with the release of hostages and Palestinian security prisoners by Monday, marking what Britain calls a “historic turning point” after two years of war.
The British leader will pay tribute to the role of US President Donald Trump and the diplomatic efforts of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey in brokering the deal, his office says.
He is expected to call for continued international coordination to implement the next phase, which includes deploying a ceasefire monitoring mission and establishing transitional governance in Gaza.
Starmer will reiterate Britain’s “steadfast support” to help secure the ceasefire and deliver humanitarian aid.
Arabic media airs video of Palestinian prisoner phoning family to tell them he’s being released in Gaza deal
Arab media outlets publish footage of Yasser Abu Turki, a Palestinian prisoner said to be from Hebron, calling his family to update them about his pending release.
At the start of the call, the prisoner apparently asks that no celebrations be held upon his release, as public celebrations for prisoners freed in hostage deals are forbidden by Israel.
According to the report, Abu Turki is serving a life sentence.
He is also heard asking during the call whether his mother is still alive.
As a rule, security prisoners — those serving time for offenses against the State of Israel — are not entitled to make phone calls at all while in prison. In rare and exceptional cases, a prisoner may be granted permission to call his lawyer. Over the years, however, many security prisoners have smuggled cell phones into prison and used them to stay in contact with the outside world.
However, the name Yasser Abu Turki does not appear on the list of prisoners slated for release by Israel. It may instead be a fake name for a different prisoner on the list, Yasser Asfour, who is the same age as the man identified by Arab reports as Abu Turki.
According to the list published by Israel, Yasser Asfour is from the southern West Bank, was arrested in 2006, and is serving, among other sentences, a life sentence for murder.
לקראת שחרור האסירים: יאסר אבו תורכי*, מחברון שמרצה מאסר עולם – התקשר למשפחתו והודיע לה על שחרורו. (קריין: הוא לא יכול להתקשר מהכלא, זה טלפון מוברח). קשה לקבוע במאה אחוז, אבל בתחילת הקטע זה נשמע שאומר שלא יקימו חגיגות עם חזרתו כי זה אסור. pic.twitter.com/eva9K33R9J
— Nurit Yohanan (@nurityohanan) October 11, 2025
Witkoff confirms he visited Gaza to ensure Israel complying with Trump’s ceasefire plan
US special envoy Steve Witkoff tweets that he traveled to Gaza earlier today with the head of CENTCOM and Jared Kushner “to verify Israel’s compliance” with the hostage-release phase of the US plan for ending the Gaza war.
“We received detailed briefings on security, humanitarian aid and deconfliction efforts,” Witkoff writes.
“With continued commitment, peace remains within reach,” he adds.
Egypt to host over 20 world leaders at Trump-led summit to finalize Gaza peace plan Monday; Israel said not to be attending
Egypt will host an international summit in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday to finalize an agreement aimed at ending the war in Gaza, an Egyptian presidential spokesperson says.
The summit will be attended by more than 20 leaders, including US President Donald Trump, the spokesperson adds in a statement.
The summit was first reported by Axios yesterday, which said Trump had organized the event and that invitations had been extended to leaders or foreign ministers from Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Qatar, the UAE, Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Indonesia.
The outlet reports now that the US State Department issued official invitations to the leaders’ summit, and has significantly expanded the list of invitees to include Spain, Japan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Hungary, India, El Salvador, Cyprus, Greece, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Canada. Iran was also invited, according to one source cited by the outlet, which adds that Israel will not participate.