As the ceasefire appears to hold, all eyes turn to the next critical step in Donald Trump’s plan – the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners. One Israeli minister credited Benjamin Netanyahu for their impending freedom, after his name was loudly booed. Follow the latest.
Sunday 12 October 2025 08:07, UK
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The UK’s prime minister will be among the world leaders heading to a summit in Egypt tomorrow.
A “signing ceremony” for the Gaza peace plan will take place at the event in Sharm el-Sheikh, co-chaired by Donald Trump and Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah el Sisi.
According to Downing Street, Sir Keir Starmer will pay “particular tribute” to Trump and the diplomatic efforts of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey in “bringing us to this point”.
He’ll also call for “swift progress towards phase two” – which will turn attentions to a key question: who will run Gaza?
As part of the 20-point plan brokered by Trump, Israel will maintain an open-ended military presence inside Gaza.
An international force, mostly formed of troops from Arab and Muslim countries, would be responsible for security inside the territory.
Israel has said its military will operate defensively from the roughly 50% of Gaza it still controls.
As our Data & Forensics team reported earlier, satellite imagery shows the vast majority of IDF bases in Gaza will still be active in the current phase – tap below for more.
Pictures from just a short while ago this morning show aid trucks gathered in Egypt.
They’re ready to cross the Gaza border and deliver aid there, with distribution expected to ramp up as Donald Trump’s peace plan continues through the first phase.
Aid groups have consistently warned about the catastrophic humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where a famine was declared in some northern parts.
For more on what lies ahead in the plan, refer back to our 6:15am post.
In events linked to the war in Gaza, Israel has launched attacks in southern Lebanon.
The IDF claimed it has killed a Hezbollah “terrorist” who was trying to reestablish the group’s military infrastructure in the south – which would be against the agreement between the militants and Israel.
Israel said they killed the unnamed operative in a strike on Qalaouiyah and hit an “engineering vehicle” used by the group in Bilda.
Military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said: “The Hezbollah terrorist organisation continues its attempts to rebuild terrorist infrastructure, endangering the residents of Lebanon and using them as human shields.”
For context: Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel after the war began in Gaza, leading to an escalation in the conflict on Israel’s northern border that culminated in the remote detonation of thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah members last year.
Tensions eased after a ceasefire in November last year, with Hezbollah since under pressure from the US, Israel and Lebanese government to disarm.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s name was booed last night at Hostages Square when Donald Trump’s envoy brought him up in a speech.
“Let me just finish my thought,” Steve Witkoff said as the crowd whistled and jeered the Israeli prime minister’s name.
“I was in the trenches with the prime minister, believe me, he was a very important part here.”
Protesters in Israel have long called on Netanyahu to end the fighting and secure the release of remaining hostages.
Responding to the boos, Netanyahu’s minister for the diaspora Amichai Chikli was quick to defend his boss.
“They will return with the help of the Lord, first and foremost thanks to the fighters, thanks to the state’s leaders and foremost among them Netanyahu,” he said on social media, referring to the hostages.
“All this while, right at his doorstep, where he has hardly set foot, his family is being hounded.
“And of course thanks to the President of the United States Donald Trump and his people, a president who was subjected to torrents of contempt from that same bunch of clowns who have now remembered to praise him, to laud him, and to erase past tweets.”
Netanyahu’s opponent, Benny Gantz, also criticised the crowd’s reaction.
“…to shout boos at the Prime Minister of Israel, in front of the American government envoy and in the presence of the hostages’ families – that is a mistake,” he wrote.
“Not today, and not in front of these people.”
Doctors in Israel told our colleagues at NBC News they are “prepared for anything” as they wait for the arrival of hostages.
According to reports, they are expected back in Israel tomorrow.
Last night, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told AFP news agency the release won’t be today.
“According to the signed agreement, the prisoner exchange is set to begin on Monday morning as agreed, and there are no new developments on this matter,” he said.
This morning, The Times of Israel reported they have seen a message from the government’s lead on the hostages, Gal Hirsch.
In that message, the Times reports he told relatives “the process of releasing your loved ones – our loved ones, the hostages – will begin on Monday morning”.
The Jerusalem Post this morning said Hirsch told relatives last night they expect the full transfer of killed hostages as well.
Again, he said this will happen on Monday – though the report added officials are ready for it “at any time”.
“We demand, expect, and are working to ensure that Hamas, with the assistance of the international force, makes a full (100%) effort to complete the mission and return all deceased hostages so they may be laid to rest in Israel,” he is quoted as saying.
Our international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn was given access to the facility preparing to receive the hostages…
If all goes according to plan, this should be the last day Hamas holds any Israeli hostages.
All indications suggest their return – and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners – will begin tomorrow (more on that shortly).
Preparations are under way for that exchange – but this is just the first step in what many observers and analysts warn will be a challenging road to peace.
Here’s what we should expect now and next…
What steps have been taken?
What should happen next:
Before we resume our live updates, here’s a quick recap of yesterday’s main developments…
Thanks for following our coverage, we’re pausing our live updates for now but we’ll be back with more tomorrow.
The countdown is on for Hamas to release all Israeli hostages after the ceasefire came into effect in Gaza on Friday.
Under the first phase of Donald Trump’s peace plan, Hamas has 72 hours to release all the Israeli hostages, alive and dead, before Israel will free 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and 1,700 Gazans detained after the October 7 attacks.
As we reported in our 22.10 post, a senior Hamas official has said the hostage handover will get under way on Monday morning – the day the US president will also be visiting Israel.
Trump will then head to Egypt, where he will take part in a peace summit with more than 20 world leaders and an official signing ceremony for the first phase of his Gaza peace plan, with Sir Keir Starmer also set to attend (see previous post).
Watch: Witkoff tells Hostages Square ‘miracles can happen’
Before Trump arrives in Israel, his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff addressed thousands of people gathered in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv.
Witkoff told those in attendance that he “dreamed of this night” as the crowd cheered every mention of Trump and held signs thanking the US president.
But Witkoff’s mention Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was met with loud boos, although our international correspondent Alex Rossi said that’s not surprising – watch his analysis below.
Drone footage reveals extent of Gaza destruction
Swathes of Gaza have been devastated by the conflict, with hundreds of thousands of Palestinians returning to piles of rubble where their homes once stood.
The Hamas-run Gaza civil defence agency has told our US partner network NBC News that around 500,000 Palestinians are believed to have returned to northern Gaza since the ceasefire came into effect.
Drone footage captured over Gaza City, which you can see below, shows the extent of the damage caused.
By Yalda Hakim, lead world news presenter
The thought of Hamas publicly thanking Donald Trump for his peacemaking efforts would have been impossible to imagine just days ago.
This, after all, is the president who vowed “all Hell” would be unleashed on Hamas if the hostages weren’t returned.
And yet, in an exclusive interview with Hamas’s senior leader Dr Basem Naim, that’s exactly what happened.
“Without the personal interference of President Trump in this case, I don’t think that it would happen to reach this end, the end of the war,” Dr Naim told me.
“Therefore, yes, we thank President Trump and his personal efforts to interfere and to pressure Israel to make an end of this massacre and slaughtering.”
He was speaking from his office in Doha, where last month he and a group of Hamas leaders, meeting to discuss Trump’s plan, were targeted in an Israeli air strike.
He survived the attack, and in the days that followed, international condemnation seems to have helped build momentum towards the ceasefire deal finally being reached.
Watch the full interview below.
Serious pressure
This is the unpredictable, and frankly unbelievable, world of global politics right now: A Hamas leader, who narrowly escaped assassination just weeks ago, telling me he believes Donald Trump is the key man to ensure Israel sticks to the ceasefire agreement.
Let’s be clear: Hamas is under serious pressure.
It is facing calls to step away from governing Gaza and disarming altogether, not just from Israel and the US but regional powers as well.
Gaza needs an enormous amount of aid, investment and reconstruction.
A humanitarian catastrophe which has killed 67,000 Gazans, destroyed or damaged 90% of people’s homes and forced 1.2 million people to become displaced.
The message from major international powers is that their long-term commitment will require a new ruling force in the strip.
The countdown is on for Hamas to release all Israeli hostages, and preparations are under way in Israel for their arrival.
Earlier, we told you how doctors have said they are “prepared for anything” when the hostages are handed over (see our 17.00 post).
In the video below, our international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn visited a medical centre preparing to receive hostages.
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