How a four-day truce could play out between Israel and Hamas

Plus, a while nationalist's radicalization and a collapsed human trafficking case [Get This Offer]( [The Star] First Up [By Manuela Vega] By Manuela Vega Good morning. Here’s the latest on a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, the making of a white-nationalist murderer and a collapsed human-trafficking prosecution. DON’T MISS Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images israel-hamas war [Israel and Hamas agree to free 50 hostages during a four-day truce]( The Israeli government has signed off on a deal with Hamas that would see the Palestinian militant group release 50 Israeli women and child hostages, while Israel would free 150 Palestinian women and children held in jails or detention centres, Allan Woods reports. As part of the deal, fighting would pause for four days and desperately-needed humanitarian aid would be able to enter besieged Gaza. [Here’s what must happen first and how the releases could affect the nature of the war](. - By the numbers: The temporary pause would be the first break in fighting that has killed 1,200 Israelis, according to the Israeli government, and 14,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. - Word from Ottawa: Justin Trudeau on Tuesday stressed the importance of free speech and [scolded Canadians for “lashing out” at each other over the Israel-Hamas war](. - In Toronto: Nazi salutes and swastikas in schools have [left Jewish students feeling unsafe](. Canadian Press/Alexandra Newbould white nationalism [Why Nathaniel Veltman is a “wake-up call” for Canada]( An Ontario court heard competing explanations this fall for how and why 22-year-old Nathaniel Veltman murdered three generations of a Muslim family, the Afzaals, in London, Ont. Veltman claimed he developed an “addiction” to online hate — Islamophobic conspiracy theories, racist tropes and “far-right talking points” — that warped his thinking and urged him to kill Muslims. The defence didn’t work, but Veltman’s online indoctrination remains critical to understanding how a worker from small-town Ontario, barely out of his teens, could become a murderer seeking to instil fear and incite terror, Wendy Gillis reports. [Here’s how a gradual path of radicalization led Veltman to dangerous extremist beliefs that experts warn are on the rise](. - Context: On Thursday, Veltman was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and attempting to murder the only survivor in the attack, the child he orphaned. He faces a mandatory life sentence. - Go deeper: Veltman’s hate was more broad than the jury was ever told, according to police and court documents. He bought Confederate and Nazi flags, police found a copy of Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” in his apartment and he had considered attacks on abortion clinics. Court Exhibit work forced [Police called it an example of “modern-day slavery.” Now, this Ontario human-trafficking prosecution has fallen apart]( A high-profile human-trafficking prosecution, which involved what police described as “modern-day slavery” of foreign workers, has collapsed after a dispute over the disclosure of evidence, Rachel Mendleson and Sara Mojtehedzadeh report. The case had involved what police raids in Barrie and Wasaga Beach in 2019 uncovered to be dozens of workers living in alleged squalor, having arrived on tourist visas and “paid peanuts.” [Here’s how the case fell apart](. - Context: A couple had been accused of luring foreign workers to Canada from Mexico with the promise of well-paying jobs, work visas and potential permanent residency. All criminal charges against them were stayed on Tuesday. - ICYMI: This case is one of 10 recent labour trafficking prosecutions the Star has reviewed as part of an ongoing investigation into Canada’s demand for cheap labour. [Here’s how some of Ontario’s most recognizable companies have become embroiled in alleged labour exploitation schemes](. WHAT ELSE The Liberal government has released its mid-year financial update. [These are six key take-aways](. When Toronto comes to the table to talk about the budget, [we find out what’s really top of mind](. The Ontario government and elementary teachers have reached a tentative deal, [averting strikes in public schools](. TDSB has amended the controversial specialty school application process it introduced last year. [Here’s how — and why](. [The OPP is investigating a shooting at an “illegal transportation depot”]( in Caledon that left one dead and two critically injured. Five victims and bail for the alleged gunman. [The rare inside details behind this Toronto court decision](. StatCan data shows hourly wages have been fairly stagnant for most workers — [except CEOs and senior management](. [Here’s how a Canadian “Grocery Code of Conduct” would lower your food bills]( — like in Australia and the U.K. Housing and transit are among the [key issues in the upcoming Scarborough Southwest byelection](. Canada stunned at home against Jamaica as the [Copa America dreams slipped further away](. POV Canadian Press/Spencer Colby [Ontario has refused to tackle our most urgent problems. Two very different fall economic statements tell the tale.]( CLOSE-UP James W. Altgens/AP File Photo NOV. 22, 1963: Through the foreground convertible’s windshield, U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s hand is seen reaching toward his head within seconds of being fatally shot. First lady Jacqueline Kennedy holds his forearm as the motorcade proceeds along Elm Street in Dallas, Texas. [Sixty years since the assassination, here’s what surviving witnesses recall](. Before I go, the Nov. 8 edition of First Up erroneously stated that Hamas had freed five more captives, when it had in fact released five captives in total as of that date. My apologies. Thank you for reading. You can reach me and the First Up team at [firstup@thestar.ca](mailto:firstup@thestar.ca?source=newsletter&utm_source=ts_nl&utm_medium=emailutm_email=6C53B63A8E3FAD70AD4EF13004527437&utm_campaign=frst_204188). I’ll see you back here tomorrow. BLACK FRIDAY SALE Now only $39.99 for 1 year [Get This Offer]( If you're not enjoying these emails, please tell us how we can make them better by emailing newsletterfeedback@thestar.ca. Or, if you'd prefer, you can unsubscribe from this newsletter by clicking the first link below. 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