Israelis prepared to mourn the dead on Tuesday as the nation marks two years since Hamas’ 7 October attack plunged the region into a devastating war, while Israel and Hamas hold indirect talks in Egypt.
Keir Starmer urged students not to attend protests marking the second anniversary of Hamas’ attack, calling it âun-Britishâ, and adding that pro-Palestine protests have been used by some as a âdespicable excuse to attack British Jewsâ.
Calling the 7 October assault âthe worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaustâ in a piece in The Times, he also warned of rising antisemitism in Britain and said that the UK will âalways stand tallâ against those who wish harm and hatred upon Jewish communities.
Earlier, Donald Trump said âtremendous progressâ had been made in talks on a Gaza peace plan involving Israel and Hamas in Egypt. The talks are due to resume on Tuesday afternoon.
Israel has continued to pound Gaza with deadly airstrikes despite the US president’s order to stop. Gaza’s health ministry said the Palestinian death toll reached 67,160 on Monday.
Starmer urges students to stay away from 7 October protests
Hundreds were arrested at a Palestine Action demonstration in London on Saturday, which went ahead despite calls from Sir Keir and others in the wake of the attack on British soil, leading Amnesty International to say it should not be the job of police to arrest people âpeacefully sitting downâ.
Thousands of students are expected to attend rallies on Tuesday on the second anniversary of the atrocity in which 1,200 people were killed.
Read more in this report from our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin:
Greta Thunberg receives warm reception from pro-Palestinian crowd in Greece
Greta Thunberg arrived in Greece to a cheering pro-Palestinian crowd on Monday after she and hundreds of other activists captured by Israel on the high seas were deported following an attempt to bring aid to Gaza.
Israel said it expelled 171 activists, including the climate activist, bringing the total deported so far to 341, out of 479 people it detained when it captured the flotilla attempting to break its naval blockade of Gaza.
Greece said 161 of the activists arrived on a flight to Athens on Monday, including Ms Thunberg. They included 27 Greeks, as well as citizens of nearly 20 other countries.
Badenoch claims Starmer government has ârewarded terroristsâ in recognising Palestinian state
On the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said “the same hatred that fuelled those barbaric attacks still festers today”.
She said in a statement: “Israel, the world’s only Jewish state, has faced hatred, war and terror since the day it was founded. And yet, it has stood strong. A beacon of democracy and resilience in the Middle East.
“But two years on from the horrific massacre on October 7, we must also be honest: the same hatred that fuelled those barbaric attacks still festers today.
“We see it in the so-called ‘protests’ that turn into hate marches on our streets. We hear it in chants calling to ‘globalise the intifada’. And we saw it again, tragically, in the appalling terrorist attack on our Jewish community right here in Manchester just last week.”
She added: “It is shameful that in recognising Palestine as a state, the government has rewarded the terrorists that perpetrated the 7th October atrocities.
“Appeasement does not work. There are still 48 hostages held captive in Gaza. They must come home now.”
Starmer brands protests taking place on 7 October anniversary âun-Britishâ
The UK will “always stand tall” against those who wish harm and hatred upon Jewish communities, Sir Keir Starmer said as he urged students not to protest on the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks.
Around 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage in the deadly attacks on Israel by Hamas in 2023.
Every child of Israel should be able to live alongside their Palestinian neighbours in “safety and security”, the prime minister said as he marked the anniversary.
In pictures: Vigils around world to mark two years since 7 October Hamas attack
There are still major areas of contention over the ceasefire terms presented by Donald Trump that could potentially impact the outcome of talks.
One Hamas official has already said that it would need days or weeks to locate some hostages’ bodies, for example.
And senior Hamas officials have suggested that there are still major disagreements requiring further negotiations.
A key demand is for Hamas to disarm, but the group’s response made no mention of that.
It’s not clear that Hamas officials can agree among themselves on the plan.
A senior official, Mousa Abu Marzouk, said that Hamas was willing to hand over its weapons to a future Palestinian body that runs Gaza, but there was no mention of that in the group’s official statement responding to Trump’s plan.
Another official, Osama Hamdan, told Al Araby television that Hamas would refuse foreign administration of the Gaza Strip and that the entry of foreign forces would be “unacceptable.”Parts of the plan remain unclear. Hamas wants Israel to leave Gaza completely, but the plan says Israel would maintain a “security perimeter presence,” which could mean it would keep a buffer zone inside the territory.
And the future of a possible Palestinian state remains in question. The plan says that if the Palestinian Authority, which administers the occupied West Bank, reforms sufficiently and Gaza redevelopment advances, “the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood”.
While Israel has said it backs Trump’s plan, Benjamin Netanyahu has continued to reject outright the idea of recognising a state of Palestine.
Is Trumpâs plan an existential threat to Hamas?
Donald Trump may be frantically calling for an agreement between Israel and Hamas, but the latter has always created chaos and ridden its violent waves â and has little incentive to pursue peace, writes world affairs editor Sam Kiley.
How have Israel and Hamas responded to peace plan
A Hamas statement on Friday said that it was willing to release the hostages and hand over power to other Palestinians, but that other aspects of the plan require further consultations among Palestinians. The statement made no mention of Hamas disarming, which is a key Israeli demand.
The statement also reiterated its longstanding openness to handing power over to a politically independent Palestinian body.
Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that Israel was prepared for the implementation of the “first stage” of Donald Trump’s peace plan, apparently referring to the release of hostages. But his office said in a statement that Israel was committed to ending the war based on principles that it has set out before.
Netanyahu has long said that Hamas must surrender and disarm.
Israel’s army on Saturday said that the country’s leaders had instructed it to prepare for the first phase of the US plan.
Essentials of Trumpâs ceasefire plan
Under Donald Trumpâs Gaza peace plan, all hostilities would â in theory â immediately end. Under the deal, Hamas would release all hostages it holds, living or dead, within 72 hours.
The militants still have 48 hostages. Israel believes about 20 of them are alive.
Israel would free 250 Palestinians serving life sentences in its prisons and 1,700 people detained from Gaza since the war began, including all women and children.
Israel also would hand over the bodies of 15 Palestinians for each body of a hostage handed over.
Israeli troops would withdraw from Gaza after Hamas disarms, and an international security force would be deployed. The territory would be placed under an international board of governance, with Trump overseeing it and former prime minister Tony Blair named as an example of a member.
An interim administration of Palestinian technocrats would run day-to-day affairs. Hamas would have no part in administering Gaza, and all its military infrastructure, including tunnels, would be dismantled. Members who pledge to live peacefully would be granted amnesty. Those who wish to leave Gaza can.
Palestinians wouldn’t be expelled from Gaza. Large amounts of humanitarian aid would be allowed and would be run by “neutral international bodies,” including the United Nations and the Red Crescent.
Who’s at the Gaza peace talks?
US envoy Steve Witkoff is leading the US negotiating team for the Israel-Hamas peace talks, according to a senior Egyptian official Saturday.
Local Egyptian media said that Witkoff and Jared Kushner, US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law, arrived in Egypt and are expected to join the talks.
The Israelis are led by top negotiator Ron Dermer, while Khalil al-Hayyah leads the Hamas delegation. Netanyahu’s office said that foreign policy adviser Ophir Falk would also be present for Israel among others.
It’s not clear how long the talks would last.
Netanyahu said they would be “confined to a few days maximum,” and Trump has said that Hamas must move quickly, “or else all bets will be off.”
Hamas officials have warned more time may be needed to locate bodies of hostages buried under rubble.
