The Times of Israel liveblogged Tuesday’s events as they happened.

US Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer declines to say who he voted for in New York City’s mayoral election, telling reporters only, “I voted, and I look forward to working with the next mayor to help New York City.”

The powerful New York Democrat has largely stayed out of the contentious race to lead America’s biggest city, choosing not to endorse Mamdani or Cuomo.

Mamdani has slowly picked up a slew of endorsements from many of the state’s Democratic leaders, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Governor Kathy Hochul.

The Trump administration is considering a Saudi Arabian request to buy as many as 48 F-35 fighter jets, a potential multi-billion-dollar deal that has cleared a key Pentagon hurdle ahead of a visit by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, two sources familiar with the matter say.

A sale would mark a significant policy shift, potentially altering the military balance in the Middle East and testing Washington’s definition of maintaining Israel’s “qualitative military edge.”

Saudi Arabia made a direct appeal earlier this year to US President Donald Trump and has long been interested in Lockheed Martin’s fighter, one of the people and a US official say. The Pentagon is now weighing a potential sale of 48 of the advanced aircraft, the US official and the person familiar with the talks tell Reuters. The size of the request and its status have not been previously reported.

The US official and a second US official, who acknowledges the weapons deal is moving through the system, says no final decision has been made and several more steps are needed before the ultimate nod, including further approvals at the cabinet level, sign-off from Trump and notification of Congress.

The Pentagon’s policy department worked on the potential transaction for months, and the case has now progressed to the secretary level within the Defense Department, according to one of the officials, who speaks on condition of anonymity.

The Pentagon, White House and State Department have not immediately responded to requests for comment. A Lockheed Martin spokesperson says military sales are government-to-government transactions and the matter is best addressed by Washington.

Washington weighs weapons sales to the Middle East in a way that ensures Israel maintains a “qualitative military edge.” This guarantees that Israel gets more advanced US weapons than regional Arab states.

The F-35, built with stealth technology that allows it to evade enemy detection, is considered the world’s most advanced fighter jet. Israel has operated the aircraft for nearly a decade, building multiple squadrons, and remains the only Middle Eastern country to possess the weapons system.

Saudi Arabia, the largest customer for US arms, has sought the fighter for years as it looks to modernize its air force and counter regional threats, particularly from Iran. The kingdom’s renewed push for what would constitute two squadrons comes as the Trump administration has signaled openness to deepening defense cooperation with Riyadh.

US press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirms that US President Donald Trump will host Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House on Monday, November 10.

Over the weekend, Trump’s envoy for Syria Tom Barrack first revealed the news of the visit without giving a specific date.

During the visit, Syria will “hopefully” join the US-led coalition to defeat the Islamic State group, known as ISIS, Barrack told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Bahrain.

Trump met with Sharaa in Saudi Arabia in May in what was the first encounter between the two nations’ leaders in 25 years — since Hafez Assad met Bill Clinton in Geneva in 2000. Syria continues to struggle to emerge from decades of international isolation.

Mousa Abu Marzouk says in an interview with Al Jazeera that Hamas and the Palestinian Authority have come to an agreement regarding the establishment of a temporary committee that will manage the Gaza Strip on behalf of the PA.

The committee’s responsibilities will include overseeing the border crossings and the security forces in the Strip, Abu Marzouk says, adding that it will be headed by a PA minister.

Abu Marzouk doesn’t clarify whether this decision was approved by the US as well as the PA, meaning it is unclear whether there is any weight to the agreement.

In recent weeks, Hamas has refrained from publicly addressing the composition of the committee that will oversee Gaza’s civilian affairs, in line with the White House’s plan to end the war in Gaza.

According to Arabic media reports, one of the proposed candidates to head the committee is Palestinian Authority Health Minister Majed Abu Ramadan. However, there are reports that Israel has rejected his candidacy.

Abu Marzouk says that Israel still refuses to allow UN forces to operate in areas currently under its control in the Strip, something he said contradicts the draft proposal the United States submitted to the UN Security Council, which centers on the deployment of an international stabilization force in Gaza.

He clarifies that disagreements remain over the operational details of the international force — such as where it would operate and what its mandate would be — and says that “a long discussion is still required on this matter.”

Avoiding a definitive answer on whether Hamas will disarm as required by President Donald Trump’s broad Gaza peace plan, Abu Marzouk says in the interview that “Hamas is the force that controls the ground [in Gaza]. If it is disarmed, there will be other weapons and other groups. Just as in Iraq, when the Iraqi army was disbanded, chaos followed — al-Qaeda and ISIS emerged.”

He adds that such a move “would not contribute to stability or to the implementation of agreements (such as the ceasefire).”

“There is no vacuum — any replacement force must be Palestinian and agreed upon by Palestinians, so there will be no rejection or internal conflict.”

Israeli officials strongly dislike certain clauses of the Trump administration’s draft United Nations Security Council resolution on establishing an international force in Gaza, Channel 12 reports.

A senior US official tells the network that “the Israelis gagged” over certain parts of the resolution – mainly because the deployment of the force will require another stage of IDF withdrawal from Gaza and limit the IDF’s freedom of action in the territory going forward.

Beyond the military implications, some Israeli officials view the proposal as a dangerous “internationalization” of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, fearing it could lead to undesired international oversight not only in Gaza but also in the West Bank, the network continues.

Channel 12 adds that Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer worked behind the scenes with American officials on the proposal.

The casket containing the apparent remains of a dead hostage has been brought out of the Gaza Strip by troops, the military says.

The body is now escorted by the police to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification, a process which officials have said may take up to two days.

Hamas did not provide the identity of the hostage it handed over.

If the body is confirmed to belong to a hostage, it would mean that the remains of seven hostages are still held in Gaza.

IDF troops in the Gaza Strip have received a casket, with the apparent body of a dead hostage, from the Red Cross a short while ago.

The casket had been collected by the Red Cross from Hamas in Gaza City.

The IDF is set to inspect the casket before draping it in an Israeli flag and holding a short ceremony led by a military rabbi.

The remains will then be taken to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son, Yair Netanyahu, is exerting pressure on the premier to cancel Defense Minister Israel Katz’s appointment of Itai Ofir as the next military advocate general after the resignation of Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi last week, Hebrew media outlets report.

“This is an appointment from within the legal junta,” Yair told the premier after Ofir’s appointment was announced earlier today, according to Channel 12.

According to the Hebrew network, the premier’s son cited multiple grievances against Ofir, claiming that he was a fellow of the Wexner Foundation philanthropy group, which has been criticized by government officials for promoting “radically left-wing” views; that he worked alongside Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara – whom the government is working to dismiss; and that his wife, who was appointed as a judge by former justice minister Ayelet Shaked, had ruled in favor of leaders of protests against the government’s judicial overhaul.

During a pre-scheduled security discussion this evening, Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly expressed anger at Defense Minister Israel Katz that he hadn’t been informed of the decision to appoint Ofir in advance, and that he instead found out from the media.

Nevertheless, the premier supports the appointment and believes it is “an excellent choice,” Channel 12 reports.

Israel reportedly believes that it will be possible to return all the bodies of the remaining hostages held in Gaza, with “strenuous work and cooperation” with Hamas and other parties.

Channel 12 news says Israel knows the locations of at least four of the dead hostages. The network cites three defense officials as saying that the remaining three can also be returned, though it will take time. (The tally apparently does not include the body being returned tonight, which has not yet been identified.)

“This can take time, and there are further moves that need to be carried out on the ground, but in the end, it will be possible to return them all for burial in Israel,” a defense official is cited by Channel 12 as saying.

Former military advocate general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi is maintaining that she had intended to end her own life during her hours-long disappearance on Sunday, even as police suspect she staged a crisis in order to dispose of her phone and any incriminating evidence on it.

Tomer-Yerushalmi is suspected of obstruction of justice over the leak of footage purportedly showing the abuse of a Palestinian prisoner at the Sde Teiman detention camp by IDF reservists last year, and an alleged subsequent cover-up.

“I couldn’t withstand it anymore, the public pressure, the slander and humiliation, the threats to my life and the lives of my family,” she is said to have told police investigators. “Over the past week, my life became hell, so I decided to end my life. I left a letter to my children.”

The police investigator is said to have told the former top military lawyer that he believes she was “bluffing” and that she “simply tried to evade arrest.”

“You put on a great show,” he told her, according to Channel 12.

Tomer-Yerushalmi nevertheless continued to insist that she was telling the truth, telling the investigator that “none of you understand what I’ve been going through recently. I really intended to do it.”

Separately, Ynet reports that Tomer-Yerushalmi has been summoned for additional questioning regarding the leak of the classified Sde Teiman video, the Ynet news outlet reports.

According to the report, Tomer-Yerushalmi was brought back in for another session of questioning after she expressed “repeated interest” about the results of a polygraph test taken by former chief military prosecutor Col. Matan Solomosh.

It says she is being interrogated at a Defense Ministry facility to ensure that the contents of her testimony remain confidential.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir reportedly tells political officials that he will only recommend allowing the estimated 200 trapped Hamas operatives in southern Gaza’s Rafah — which is under Israeli control — to return to Hamas-held areas of the Strip, if the terror group returns the body of Lt. Hadar Goldin.

Goldin was killed during the 2014 Gaza War, and his body was abducted by Hamas.

“No terrorist will leave Rafah alive. I am willing to consider the release of terrorists [from Rafah], on one condition — returning Hadar Goldin. Otherwise, no terrorist will leave Rafah alive,” Channel 12 news cites Zamir as telling Israel’s political echelon.

The IDF says the Red Cross has notified the military that it has collected a casket, with the apparent body of a slain hostage, from Hamas in Gaza City a short while ago.

The Red Cross is now bringing the casket to IDF troops inside the Strip, where a small ceremony, led by a military rabbi, will be held.

Red Cross vehicles are now heading to a handover site in Gaza City to collect the apparent remains of a deceased hostage from Hamas, the IDF says.

Hamas did not identify the hostage whose body it is set to hand over.

The terror group said that it had “retrieved” the body today in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit issues a correction to an earlier statement in which it claimed that volunteers who were assisting with the Palestinian olive harvest in the West Bank had downed a drone with rocks, after footage showed the drone hitting a volunteer, injuring them and falling to the ground.

The footage also showed uniformed soldiers pointing their weapons at the volunteers and firing into the air in their direction.

Contrary to the previous statement, which claimed that the drone was brought down after volunteers threw stones, the IDF now says that: “The drone was not brought down by stones. The incident is under investigation.”

“The earlier response was based on initial reports and footage received, which will be included in the IDF’s internal investigation of the matter,” it adds.

It says that this was an “exceptional incident involving unprofessional conduct that will be investigated. Disciplinary measures will be taken against those involved accordingly.”

Amid the ongoing ceasefire in Gaza, the IDF says troops deployed to the Strip’s north — on the eastern side of the Yellow Line — destroyed a Hamas tunnel spanning hundreds of meters and located a rocket launching site.

Reservists of the Yiftah Brigade who are operating in Gaza City’s eastern Shejaiya neighborhood found a site with several launchers, rockets and launch posts, according to the IDF.

Meanwhile, in the Jabalia area, the IDF says troops of the 188th Armored Brigade and the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit located and destroyed a Hamas tunnel that was hundreds of meters long and dozens of meters deep.

The tunnel had been used by Hamas operatives for residing in for long periods and preparing to launch attacks against troops, according to the military.

The Health Ministry states that two patients with measles traveled by public transportation last week.

The patients took a bus from Petah Tikva to Bnei Brak at 7:16 a.m., and then returned from Bnei Brak to Petah Tikva at 2:45 p.m. on October 28 and October 29.

Also, on October 29, one of the patients was in an event hall in Jerusalem, 6 Dover Shalom Street, starting at 7 p.m.

On October 30, the patients took a bus from Jerusalem to Bnei Brak at 12 a.m., and then a bus from Bnei Brak to Petah Tikva. At 9 a.m., the patients took a bus from Petah Tikva to Tel Aviv, and then the train from Tel Aviv to Herzliya at 1:15 p.m.

Passengers who were in those places are asked to ensure that they are vaccinated in accordance with the ministry’s recommendations.

Individuals can update their vaccination status via the government’s personal website through the digital vaccination register.

In a scathing report, the state comptroller finds that the government had made insufficient preparations for future emergencies following the coronavirus pandemic, which would have made it easier to protect the Israeli economy during the war in Gaza.

According to the comptroller’s office, the past two years of war will end up costing NIS 250 billion ($76 billion) by the end of 2025, with all Israelis “paying this enormous price, and future generations will pay it as well.”

In the two years prior to October 7, 2023, the government did not deal at all with the issue of economic emergency preparedness, the comptroller’s office found. Moreover, the Finance Ministry did not prepare any plans for an extended war lasting longer than a month, and “there was no emergency surplus in the state budget that would allow for immediate financing of military and civilian needs.”

The comptroller also found that the disbursement of war budgets in 2023 and 2024 was also “significantly delayed.”

In addition, the ministry did not create a “contingency plan that would allow for the rapid distribution of grants to affected populations” nor “finish mapping the needs of government ministries in times of emergency,” the comptroller found, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to appoint a figure to develop a strategy for dealing with economic risks arising from emergencies such as wars, epidemics, and natural disasters.

The government has struggled to provide a response to the needs of the home front, such as the reconstruction of the north, and fundamental issues such as dealing with the shortage of workers in the economy remained without a comprehensive systemic response, the comptroller’s office stated.

In a video statement, State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman called out Netanyahu, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, as well as former finance minister Avigdor Liberman for failing to address emergency preparedness.

Moreover, the government failed to adequately curtail coalition spending, with an audit revealing that despite a Finance Ministry decision in late 2023 to divert NIS 1.6 billion ($489.5 million) in coalition funds to war needs, only NIS 860 million ($262.9 million) ended up diverted.

Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman announces key elements of a strategic plan to address pirate waste burning in the West Bank and the increased pollution it is causing in Israel.

As The Times of Israel reported on Sunday, the Citizens for Clean Air organization logged 1,800 complaints last month, nearly triple those submitted in August.

Complaints are now coming not only from communities along the Green Line separating Israel and the West Bank, but from cities further inside Israel, such as Yehud, Kiryat Ono, Petah Tikva, and even Tel Aviv on the coast.

Silman’s announcement comes after a meeting she chaired in the central city of Modiin with the mayor of Modi’in-Maccabim-Reut and chairman of the Local Government Center, Haim Bibas, senior ministry officials, heads of Jewish local authorities in the West Bank, and representatives from the Israeli side of the Green Line.

The plan, which still requires input from the Defense Ministry and government approval, includes long-term steps, for which funding will need to be found, as well as immediate actions, for which the funding exists.

The immediate actions include increased steps to prevent the smuggling of waste from Israel into the West Bank and Gaza Strip; rehabilitating the waste site in Al-Minya, located near the West Bank settlements of Ma’ale Amos........

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