Netanyahu hopes to announce hostage release in the 'coming days'

President Trump has said that Israel has agreed to an 'initial withdrawal line' for Gaza, which has also been shared with Hamas. Writing on social media, Mr Trump said that once the Palestinian group confirms it agrees with the line, there will be an immediate ceasefire and an exchange of hostages and prisoners.

Also in the programme: we speak to Slovenia's President Nataša Pirc Musar who has sanctioned Israel over the war; and Syria is holding its first parliamentary elections since the fall of Bashar al-Assad last December.

Presenter Julian Worricker is joined by Sari Bashi, an American-Israeli human rights lawyer, also former program director at Human Rights Watch; and Christos Christou, outgoing international president of the humanitarian organisation, Médecins Sans Frontières.

(Picture: Demonstrators rally in Tel Aviv ahead of the two-year anniversary October 7th attack on Israel by Hamas, and to demand the immediate release of all hostages and the end of war in Gaza on October 4, 2025. Credit: REUTERS/Ammar Awad)