Dec. 25: Former hostage Romi Gonen recounts repeated sexual assaults by captors in Gaza

Former hostage Romi Gonen recounts repeated sexual assaults by captors in Gaza

Romi Gonen speaks to 'Uvda,' in a program aired December 25, 2025. (Video screenshot, Channel 12)

Former hostage Romi Gonen tells Channel 12’s “Uvda” program about her harrowing ordeal in Gaza. Gonen says she was sexually assaulted by four different men during her time as a hostage.

She says the first assault happened on her fourth day in captivity, the abuser being a doctor who was tasked with caring for her injuries sustained during the Hamas-led October 7 attack and her abduction.

Gonen says she was allowed to take a shower, and the man followed her in “because he’s a nurse and he came to ‘help’ me in the shower.”

“I was injured, I had no power, and I was in a situation in which I couldn’t do anything,” she says.

“He took everything from me,” she says. “Afterward, I had to continue living with him in the house.”

Gonen says her next attacker was a cameraman who filmed clips of her for propaganda purposes. When she was moved homes, she was forced to stay alone with man, Muhammad, who then began touching her. Gonen says she told him to stop and went to another room, but that the next day Muhammad told her he would be beside her from then on out. “And that’s how my ordeal in that house began,” she says.

She says that for many days, Muhammad and a second man, Ibrahim, assaulted her.

“I’m sitting on the bed. Ibrahim comes and sits next to me, and harasses me. Everything happens in the room, in complete silence. I start crying insanely. Everything is quiet, and he says, ‘Be careful, if you don’t calm down, I’ll get angry.’ And that’s how the days pass: I go to the bathroom and Muhammad is with me, and he watches me. I pee, and with one hand I pull down my pants. I sit on the toilet so that God forbid he won’t see anything of me. Ibrahim keeps bothering me endlessly. They grab my leg and move up to my thigh. I kick. It went on for 16 days… Those were by far the worst 16 days of my captivity.”

But Gonen says the worst single attack came later, when another captor in another house followed her into the toilet and assaulted her for some 30 minutes.

“I remember this one moment when I looked — there was a kind of window there, a small square like a picture frame — and I looked through the window and said to myself: ‘Wow. Blue skies, birds chirping, and this is the situation I’m in right now.’ The dissonance between life outside, the beautiful, normal, clean life, and the filth and brutality and utter disgust that’s happening here inside the bathroom — It’s a moment I will never forget in my life,” she says.

https://twitter.com/YosephHaddad/status/2004298858814493145

Gonen says she was weeping throughout the assault, while her abuser “was at the peak of his life. He got a gift for life.”

Afterward, she says the world was spinning. “All that went through my head was: ‘Romi, everyone in Israel thinks you’re dead, and you’re going to be a sex slave in captivity.’”

Later, her abuser “presses a gun to my head and tells me, ‘If you tell anyone about this, I’ll kill you.’”

Man seriously injured in car crash on Route 5 in northern West Bank

A man in his thirties is seriously injured following a collision between two cars on Route 5 in the northern West Bank. A second man, aged around 45, is in medium condition.

Magen David Adom paramedics rush the two men to the hospital.

IDF probes fatal shooting of Bedouin man during suspected smuggling near Egypt border

A view of the Israel-Egypt border south of the Nitzana Crossing, January 12, 2025. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

The IDF says it is investigating a fatal shooting that occurred overnight during a suspected smuggling incident in the Nitzana area along the Egyptian border, as Haaretz reports that the man killed was a Bedouin civilian from the village of Bir Hadaj.

According to an initial IDF probe, an IDF soldier and a civilian, who were traveling in a civilian vehicle after completing a planned operation and while outside the designated operational military area, identified several masked suspects allegedly engaged in smuggling. It is unclear if and to what extent the civilian was involved in IDF operations.

The civilian then opened fire at the suspects’ vehicle tires using both his personal weapon and the soldier’s firearm, causing the vehicle to veer off course.

One of the suspects was wounded in the incident and later died after being evacuated to a hospital, the military says. Haaretz identifies him as Ayoub Mohammed Tohi, a Bedouin man in his 20s. Another man who was with him was arrested, and the Beersheba Magistrate’s Court has extended his detention until Sunday on suspicion of involvement in smuggling, according to court proceedings cited by Haaretz.

Lawyers for the detained suspect tell the newspaper that their client denies any involvement in smuggling and claims he and the driver did not realize they were being ordered to stop, saying the vehicle from which shots were fired was a civilian vehicle and that its occupants were dressed in civilian clothing. Relatives of the deceased say family members were prevented from approaching the scene after the shooting and that the vehicle involved was towed away and not returned.

The IDF says the circumstances surrounding the conduct of the soldier and the civilian are under review. The incident is being investigated by a joint team from the Military Police and Israel Police.

IDF chief said to order use of ‘War of Revival’ as only name for 2-year conflict

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has instructed the military to refer to the ongoing war exclusively as the “War of Revival,” the name given to it by the government in October, according to multiple Hebrew media reports.

Under the directive, all IDF communications — including ceremonies, speeches, documents and internal correspondence –- will use the new name to ensure uniformity.

The move follows a government decision on October 19 to formally change the war’s name from “Iron Swords” to “War of Revival.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the time that after two years of continuous fighting, the name reflects how the campaign began, adding, “We rose from the terrible disaster of October 7.”

The name has been heavily criticized by opponents of the government as an attempt to reframe the disaster of October 7 and the ensuing, gruelling war as an overall triumph. Many parents of soldiers killed in the war have said they will not allow their children’s gravestones to be changed to incorporate the new name.

Kan news reported last week that the cost of implementing the name change is estimated at around NIS 2 million ($628,000).

The October proposal argued that “Iron Swords” was intended as a temporary operational name, while the new title reflects the war’s expansion into multiple fronts and its ostensible achievements.

Despite its formal name, many in Israel refer to the conflict as the “October 7 war.”

IDF says troops killed terror operative who crossed ceasefire line in northern Gaza

The IDF says troops operating in the northern Gaza Strip shot and killed a terror operative who crossed the ceasefire line and approached troops, posing what the military describes as an “immediate threat.”

According to the IDF, soldiers identified the suspect after he crossed the so-called Yellow Line and moved toward the forces. The troops opened fire and killed him shortly afterward.

The military says Southern Command forces remain deployed in the area in line with the ceasefire framework.

Advisory panel set to examine Netanyahu’s Mossad chief pick over past influence operation – report

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) and his military secretary, Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman, are seen in a helicopter on June 30, 2024. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)

The Senior Appointments Advisory Committee has decided to examine Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nominee for Mossad chief, Roman Gofman, over his involvement in the use of a minor for an influence operation while serving in the IDF, Haaretz reports.

The committee, chaired by former president of the Supreme Court Asher Grunis, is reviewing Gofman’s conduct as part of the vetting process for his appointment as the next head of Mossad.

Gofman, currently serving as Netanyahu’s military secretary, reportedly appeared before the panel yesterday to address the affair. The committee has since decided to summon a senior Military Intelligence officer involved in probing the case, according to a report first published by Ynet.

Haaretz reported last year that while commanding the IDF’s 210th “Bashan” Regional Division in the Golan Heights, Gofman approved the use of a 17-year-old, Ori Elmakayes, for an Arab-language influence campaign against Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas, leading to the teen’s prolonged detention by security authorities. Charges against the youth were later dropped after it emerged he had been acting on behalf of the military.

Netanyahu announced earlier this month that he intends to appoint Gofman to replace outgoing Mossad chief David Barnea, whose five-year term is set to end in June. The nomination has drawn criticism from current and former security officials, who tell Haaretz that Gofman lacks the operational and intelligence background traditionally required to lead the security agency.

Syria says it killed senior ISIS leader, arrested operative near Damascus

Syrian authorities say forces killed a senior leader in the Islamic State group and arrested another operative in fresh operations near the capital Damascus in coordination with the US-led coalition.

Syrian security and intelligence forces, working in coordination with the international coalition, conducted what the interior ministry describes as a “precise security operation” in the Damascus countryside.

“The operation resulted in neutralizing the terrorist Mohammad Shahada, known as ‘Abu Omar Shaddad,’ who is considered one of the prominent ISIS leaders in Syria,” it adds.

“This operation comes as confirmation of the effectiveness of joint coordination between the national security agencies and international partners.”

The interior ministry also says security forces “in joint coordination with international coalition forces” arrested “the leader of a terrorist cell affiliated with the ISIS organization” elsewhere near Damascus, seizing weapons and ammunition.

IDF kills Hezbollah operative allegedly involved in rebuilding terror infrastructure

The IDF says it killed a Hezbollah operative earlier today in southern Lebanon who was “involved in efforts to rebuild” the terror group’s infrastructure.

According to the military, the operative was targeted in the area of al-Jumayjimah, and his activity constituted a “blatant violation” of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.

צה"ל חיסל מחבל שעסק בשיקום ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה

צה"ל תקף וחיסל מוקדם יותר היום, במרחב ג׳מיג׳מה שבדרום לבנון, מחבל שעסק בניסיונות שיקום תשתיות טרור של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב.

פעילותו של המחבל היוותה הפרה בוטה של ההבנות בין ישראל ללבנון.

צה"ל ימשיך לפעול על מנת להסיר כל איום… pic.twitter.com/uHyy509p6U

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) December 25, 2025

Settler reservist rams ATV into praying Palestinian in West Bank; IDF launches probe

Footage published by Palestinian media shows a settler who is an IDF reservist driving an ATV into a Palestinian kneeling for prayer on the side of the road near the village of Deir Jarir, north of Ramallah in the West Bank.

The silent video shows the Palestinian falling over and lying in a heap as the settler, who has a semi-automatic rifle slung over his back, gets off the tractor and yells at him, gesturing for him to leave the area. The settler is then seen walking over to a Palestinian taxi and yelling at the driver before getting back on the ATV and driving away.

חייל מילואים על טרקטורון דרס פלסטיני בזמן שהתפלל לצד הכביש מוקדם יותר היום, ליד דיר ג'ריר באזור רמאללה. בצה"ל מתחקרים את האירוע pic.twitter.com/SjVDddBHmR

— Nurit Yohanan (@nurityohanan) December 25, 2025

It’s unclear if the Palestinian who was run over was taken to a hospital or how badly he was hurt.

The IDF says the Israeli seen in the footage was a reserve soldier, adding that his weapon was confiscated and his service suspended following the incident.

Earlier in the day, a young Palestinian man was reportedly wounded in the same village after settlers hurled stones and fired a gun there.

According to the military, an initial probe found that the same reserve soldier seen in the footage had also opened fire earlier inside the village while wearing civilian clothes, in what the IDF described as a “serious breach of his authority.” Claims that Palestinians were injured in the shooting are being examined.

The incidents are under investigation and will be transferred to the relevant authorities in accordance with the findings, the IDF says.

The military adds that it “strongly condemns” all manifestations of violence and stresses that its soldiers and commanders are required to act in accordance with the the IDF code of ethics.

Attorney general warns Knesset committees abusing power, threatening civil servants

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara attends a meeting of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, April 27, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara warns in a series of letters to the Knesset legal advisor, state prosecutor, and other state legal bodies that Knesset parliamentary committees are being misused to interfere with ongoing criminal investigations and that committee members regularly direct threatening and degrading rhetoric at public servants appearing before the committees, particularly representatives of the judicial system.

In a letter sent today, the attorney calls on Knesset Legal Advisor Sagit Afik to act “without delay” to address these issues, adding that she and her office staff are available to the Knesset “for any discussion you deem appropriate to conduct on the matter.”

This letter follows an earlier letter sent by Baharav-Miara to Afik yesterday about concerns regarding the conduct of Knesset parliamentary committees.

“Under the guise of exercising the Knesset’s oversight powers,” she writes, “law enforcement agencies are invited to discussions concerning specific investigations and are even required to provide information and documents relating to ongoing criminal proceedings.”

Baharav-Miara reiterates that such conduct is “an abuse of the Knesset’s oversight power and does not align with the principle of separation of powers.”

At least one of the impetuses for the attorney general’s letters appears to be a Knesset National Security Committee discussion held last month by Chair MK Zvika Fogel (Otzma Yehudit), concerning Supt. Rinat Saban, a high-ranking officer in the Police Investigations and Intelligence Division, over her obtaining legal representation from the good-governance organization Movement for Quality Government.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, the head of Otzma Yehudit, has for months been blocking Saban’s promotion to the rank of chief superintendent due to her testimony against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his corruption trial last year.

Saban has petitioned the High Court over the matter.

Fogel went ahead with the committee discussion despite Afik’s strong opposition to Knesset bodies holding talks on ongoing legal proceedings, as well as the chair’s inherent conflict of interest in discussing “regarding legal representation for a certain officer against the chairman of your faction in a case that is still pending,” according to a November letter she addressed to Fogel.

This “raises concerns that the committee will be perceived as a tool for political attacks,” she continued.

Culture minister on who is to blame for Oct. 7: ‘All Israeli citizens were complacent’

Culture Minister Miki Zohar declares that anybody who believes that an investigation into October 7 would point to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the main or sole figure responsible for the government’s failures is “living in a dream world.”

Speaking with the Walla news site, Zohar rejects claims that the politically appointed October 7 probe being advanced by the government would allow Netanyahu to avoid blame, adding that the proposed investigative panel would also look into the actions of “previous governments — Naftali Bennett, Yair Lapid, Benny Gantz, Avigdor Liberman — as well as security bodies including the Shin Bet.

“Anyone who thinks a commission would conclude that the main, the only culprit is Netanyahu is living in a dream world,” he declares. “This is a complex methodological event that goes back decades. All Israeli citizens were complacent; we were all in a euphoria.”

Zohar, who had previously supported establishing a state commission of inquiry, says that he now objects to one because members would be chosen by High Court President Isaac Amit, declaring that Amit was “chosen unilaterally” to the post and, as such, “only half the nation” could trust a commission he appointed.

Amit was chosen based on the decades-old seniority method used to elect all Supreme Court presidents, despite the government’s attempts to appoint its preferred candidate. He was sworn in as court president in February; the position had been vacant for 17 months. Justice Minister Yariv Levin fought the appointment of Amit every step of the way for over a year. After being repeatedly ordered by the Supreme Court, sitting in its capacity as the High Court of Justice, to appoint a new president, Levin boycotted the vote itself and has vowed to boycott Amit as head of the court as well.

On Wednesday evening, the Knesset voted in favor of a preliminary reading of a highly controversial bill to establish a politically appointed probe instead of a state commission of inquiry into October 7, drawing heated protests and condemnations from opposition lawmakers and bereaved families.

Speaking with Walla, Zohar also defends senior aides to Netanyahu implicated in the Qatargate probe.

The suspects, close Netanyahu aide Jonatan Urich and former spokesman Eli Feldstein, are alleged to have worked for a pro-Qatar lobbying firm, to have had contact with a foreign agent, and to have committed a series of corruption offenses involving lobbyists and businessmen while in the premier’s employ.

Zohar claims that their actions were “immoral” but not necessarily criminal and argues that the prime minister’s critics are “trying to find something connected” to him.

“From my acquaintance with Urich, he is a good person. It’s possible he got caught up in a situation. I’m not sure he knew exactly the nature of the client. He knew who he was representing, but not the significance that would result from it,” Zohar tells Walla. “Urich’s intentions were certainly not negative.”

IAF helicopter intercepts two drones during smuggling attempt from Egypt

An Israeli Air Force helicopter intercepted two drones during a smuggling attempt from Egypt into Israeli airspace a short while ago, the IDF says, releasing footage of the incident.

According to the military, IDF surveillance units and the air force’s aerial control center identified two drones crossing “from the west” toward Israeli territory. The aircraft was dispatched in coordination with 80th “Edom” Division and shot down the drones as they entered Israeli airspace.

A senior air force official says the interception reflects a broader shift in Israel’s border-defense approach.

“As part of a deep change in our border-defense doctrine, the air force has established control centers operating under the regional divisions, significantly improving detection capabilities and the direction of forces against low-altitude aerial threats,” the official says.

The official adds that the interception marks the first operation of its kind.

“We continue to enhance cooperation and operational capabilities to thwart infiltrations along the border,” the official says.

תיעוד מיוחד: מסוק קרב יירט שני רחפנים בעת ניסיון חדירה לשטח הארץ מהגבול המערבי

תצפיות צה"ל ומרכז הבקרה האווירית זיהו לפני זמן קצר, שני רחפנים שחצו ממערב לשטח מדינת ישראל בניסיון לחדור לשטח הארץ.

לאחר הזיהוי, מסוק קרב של חיל האוויר בשיתוף אוגדה 80 יירט את שני הרחפנים ברגע כניסתם… pic.twitter.com/guBC0UOkJh

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) December 25, 2025

IDF says it killed top commander in Iran’s Quds Force in Lebanon strike

The IDF and the Shin Bet announce the killing of a top commander in the Operations Unit of Iran’s Quds Force in a strike in northeast Lebanon this morning.

The Quds Force is the extraterritorial arm of the Revolutionary Guards.

Lebanon’s state news agency had said two people were killed in the Israeli drone strike that targeted a vehicle on a road leading to the Syrian border.

The Israeli statement says target Hussein Mahmoud Marshad al-Jawhari was involved in recent years “in advancing terrorist plots against Israel in the Syria–Lebanon arena.”

It notes that the Operations Unit, also known as Unit 840, “is the unit that directs and is responsible for Iranian terrorist activity against the State of Israel.”

The military issues drone footage of the strike.

בפעילות משותפת של צה״ל ושב״כ: חוסל מחבל מרכזי ביחידת המבצעים של 'כוח קדס' האיראני

צה״ל ושב״כ חיסלו מוקדם יותר היום במרחב נצריה שבלבנון את חסין מחמוד מרשד אלג׳והרי, מחבל מרכזי ביחידת המבצעים של 'כוח קדס' (840), אשר היה מעורב בשנים האחרונות בקידום מתווי טרור נגד מדינת ישראל בזירת… pic.twitter.com/9X2NJClmDJ

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) December 25, 2025

Smotrich warns banks not to cancel benefits for customers over new tax

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich warns the country’s banks that he will double the proposed tax on lenders’ excess profits to 30%, should they cancel any benefits or financial relief programs for customers.

“I saw a threat from the banks that they will cancel benefits for consumers, should the tax be imposed on them,” Smotrich says. “If benefits for consumers will be cancelled, I will double the tax from 15% to 30%.”

Smotrich earlier this week announced plans to introduce a law to tax commercial banks 15% on excess profits, accusing them of taking advantage of high interest rates to boost their profits during the war period and vowing to break their hold.

Israel’s commercial banks have raked in record profits over the past two years as they continued to cash in on high interest rates and fees paid by mortgage and loan holders during the war with the Hamas terror group.

Syria to start currency swap on January 1, central bank governor says

File: Stacks of Syrian pound banknotes are piled on top of each other at a currency trader's stall at a market in the city of Manbij on January 4, 2025. (Aaref WATAD / AFP)

Syria will start swapping old banknotes for new ones under a plan to replace Assad-era notes starting from January 1, 2026, Central Bank Governor Abdelkader Husrieh says.

Husrieh announces the introduction of the new Syrian currency, saying the decree “sets January 1, 2026, as the start date for the exchange process.”

Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters in August that the country will issue new banknotes, removing two zeros from its currency in an attempt to restore public confidence in the severely devalued pound.

The step is intended to strengthen the Syrian pound after its purchasing power collapsed to record lows following a 14-year conflict that ended with President Bashar al-Assad’s ouster in December.

Settlers filmed hurling stones, firing gun in Palestinian village; young man said lightly wounded

Footage published by Palestinian media shows three masked settlers hurling stones in the village of Deir Jarir, northeast of Ramallah in the West Bank.

#عاجل| مستوطنون يهاجمون مدخل بلدة دير جرير شرق رام الله. pic.twitter.com/aPxOWQjqkF

— القسطل الإخباري (@AlQastalps) December 25, 2025

A separate video from Deir Jarir shows two other, unmasked settlers, one of whom fires a gun.

#شاهد| مستوطن يطلق النار نحو الشبان خلال الهجوم على بلدة دير جرير شرق رام الله. pic.twitter.com/Z0GxUdNc0k

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) December 25, 2025

According to the outlets that published the videos, the settlers targeted homes at the entrance to the Palestinian village.

WAFA, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency, says a young man was lightly wounded in the settler attack. The outlet does not specify how he was wounded but says no injuries were reported as a result of the gunfire.

According to WAFA, IDF forces were in the area but did not respond to the settler attack.

The military does not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Gaza militia chief says Hamas raided his home, arrested his wife

Shawqi Abu Nasira, head of the self-styled “Free Homeland Forces” anti-Hamas militia in eastern Khan Younis, accuses Hamas of storming his home, abducting his wife and stealing money, a gas canister and solar panels.

“I don’t know if this is a rule of law or of larceny,” he says in an interview dated Tuesday with anti-Hamas outlet Jusoor News.

Hamas’s Sahm 103 unit, which targets Gazans accused of collaborating with Israel, confirms on its Telegram channel that it detained Abu Nasira’s wife on Monday, and says it also detained his son.

The unit claims Abu Nasira’s family members had in their possession NIS 700,000 ($220,000) “en route to one of the saboteur groups in the Strip.”

Weekend rallies planned for Ran Gvili, the last hostage still in Gaza

A poster of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili is seen at a rally calling for Hamas to return his remains from Gaza, in the southern Israeli community of Meitar, December 13, 2025. (Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90)

A series of protests and rallies will be held tomorrow and Saturday across the country, calling for the return of slain police officer Ran Gvili, the final hostage remaining in Gaza.

Gvili, a member of the Yamam police unit, was awaiting scheduled surgery on his shoulder when he went to fight Hamas terrorists who attacked on October 7, 2023. He was killed and his body was taken hostage to Gaza, where it is reportedly held by Islamic Jihad.

Tomorrow morning, the family of Hadar Goldin, a fallen soldier who was abducted and returned to Israel for burial after more than 11 years, will gather in Gvili’s name, at the 400th and final Friday gathering at the Black Arrow Memorial in the south.

The Gvili family will join the Kibbutz Movement and Ramot Menashe community, as well as other hostages’ family members for a Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony tomorrow afternoon at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square.

Several rallies will be held Saturday evening, including in the Gvilis’ hometown Meitar, at the Sha’ar Hanegev intersection in the Gaza envelope region, and in Carmei Gat, the temporary home of the Kibbutz Nir Oz community.

Speakers at the various gatherings will include Gvili family members, former hostages’ loved ones and other community leaders.

Alongside the Saturday night rallies, support demonstrations and silent vigils will take place throughout the weekend at numerous locations across the country.

IDF says it struck Hezbollah operative in southern Lebanon

The IDF says that it carried out a strike on a Hezbollah operative in the Bint Jbeil district of southern Lebanon a short time ago.

The military does not provide further details.

Earlier, the IDF said it struck a terror operative in eastern Lebanon near the border with Syria.

Smotrich: If PMO officials worked for Qatar, they should ‘sit behind bars for many years’

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich arrives to the Makor Rishon conference in Jerusalem, December 25, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says that if employees in the Prime Minister’s Office were working on behalf of Qatar, they should be sent to prison for many years, and says the scandal should be fully investigated by the Shin Bet.

“If there are corrupt people within the Prime Minister’s Office who, amid a war, worked for Qatar, they need to be pilloried and sit behind bars for many years,” Smotrich says at a conference organized by the Makor Rishon newspaper.

Smotrich asserts that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acted throughout the war only based on “relevant considerations.”

If “questionable figures” managed to “infiltrate” the Prime Minister’s Office, “it’s very serious,” says Smotrich, and it needs to be fully investigated by the Shin Bet.

“Someone who was working for an enemy state in a time of war — I don’t have words to describe how despicable and serious it is,” adds Smotrich.

The minister asserts that he never once met Eli Feldstein, a central suspect in the Qatargate affair, throughout the past two years of war.

Asked if it was a problem if Netanyahu didn’t know about the scandal, Smotrich says “it’s a problem,” but says he can’t determine its scope.

He repeats that Netanyahu acted only “with a higher purpose, 100% only with relevant considerations, 100% for the good of the State of Israel and its security and future and existence.”

Police: 5 settlers detained on suspicion of stoning Palestinian home, wounding baby

Police and IDF forces arrested five Israeli settlers suspected of hurling stones overnight at a Palestinian home in the southern West Bank village of Sa’ir and wounding a baby, police say.

According to police, the suspects came from an illegal outpost close to Sa’ir.

إصابة طفلة رضيعة بحجارة مليشيات المستوطنين خلال هجوم نفذته فجر اليوم في منطقة الربيعة ببلدة سعير شمال الخليل، تخلله حرق مركبات وهجوم على المنازل. pic.twitter.com/GIr31vMNBZ

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) December 25, 2025

Palestinian media reported earlier today that an 8-month-old girl was hospitalized in moderate condition with injuries to her head and face after being hit in the head with a stone late Monday. Footage published by Palestinian media showed two windows in the home were also shattered by the stones.

Separately, settlers reportedly set fire to a bulldozer in the southern West Bank village of Beit Fajjar and graffitied a Star of David and the messages “You won’t break us,” and “Revenge” on a nearby wall early this morning. No arrests have been reported.

#صور مستوطنون يحرقون "باجر" في بلدة بيت فجار جنوب بيت لحم، فجر اليوم. pic.twitter.com/YKAR9jqIfQ

— الجرمق الإخباري (@aljarmaqnet) December 25, 2025

Lebanese president says ‘diplomatic contacts’ are pushing back ‘specter of war’ with Israel

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun addresses the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters, in New York City, on September 23, 2025. (Ludovic Marin/AFP)

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun, who has promised to disarm Hezbollah, expresses optimism that diplomatic efforts will prevent Israel from embarking on another major military operation in Lebanon.

“Diplomatic contacts to push back the specter of war have not stopped,” says Aoun. “I tell you that the specter of war has been pushed away from Lebanon, and matters will head in a positive direction, God willing.”

Last week, Israeli and Lebanese officials met directly in the southern Lebanon town of Naqoura, as the two enemy states look to maintain the year-old ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Aoun, in an oblique jab at the armed Shiite terror group Hezbollah, called for a “state of institutions, not a state of parties and sects.”

“There is a wound that is bleeding in the south,” says Aoun. “And I hope that with the birth of the new Lebanon, we will put an end to the wars and live in peace.”

Aoun made the comments after a Christmas Day meeting with Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi.

In his Christmas Day message, Rahi called for praying for the success of negotiations, and for the Lebanese Army’s success in collecting “illegal weapons,” another reference to Hezbollah.

French victim of Australian terror massacre being laid to rest in Ashdod

Friends and family attend the funeral of Dan Elkayam, who was murdered in the Sydney Hanukkah terror attack, at a cemetery in Ashdod, December 25, 2025. (Tal Gal/Flash90)

Dan Elkayam, a French national who was one of 15 people killed when two gunmen opened fire at at Hanukkah gathering last week in Sydney, Australia, is being laid to rest in Ashdod.

A funeral was held in Australia this week before his body was flown to Israel for burial.

The IT engineer loved soccer and played semi-professionally, including at the 2022 Maccabiah Games.

“He’s never looked for drama. He’d try to avoid any fight,” his brother, Yohan, told The New York Times. “Even though he was so welcoming to everyone, he died because he was Jewish.”

Liberman claims Mossad helping rehabilitate Qatar’s image; Mossad: Totally false

Yisrael Beytenu party chief Avigdor Liberman holds a faction meeting in the Knesset in Jerusalem on November 24, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)

Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman alleges that the Mossad has been working in secret to rehabilitate Qatar’s image.

In comments at the Ogen Conference organized by Yedioth Ahronoth, Liberman asserts without evidence that Mossad chief David Barnea “held a meeting about a month ago with the Qataris in New York.”

In that meeting, Liberman claims, “they decided to establish four ‘working committees,’ including a committee focused on the issue of media and the Qataris’ image.”

In a statement attributed to the Mossad cited in Hebrew media outlets, the agency flatly denies the assertion, calling it “unfounded, false and devoid of any basis.”

The ongoing Qatargate scandal centers on the allegation that several top aides to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received money to promote Qatar while employed by the state.

Liberman, a former defense minister, asserts that Israel has “returned to October 6 — the same formula, the same Qatari intermediaries, and Hamas only grows stronger.”

The Mossad statement asserts that Barnea did meet in New York with Qatari officials as well as US special envoy Steve Witkoff, and “dealt with a series of significant issues related to the Middle East and the Gaza Strip, including senior Hamas figures hosted by Qatar.”

The only issue related to the media that arose in the meeting, the agency asserts, was a demand that Qatar act against the Al Jazeera network, “which incites hatred, antisemitism, and terrorism.”

1,400-year-old gold coins found at Christian monastery in Judean Desert

A gold coin featuring the 7th-century Byzantine Emperor Heraclius found at the Hyrcania archaeological site in the West Bank, in a discovery announced on December 24, 2025. (Tal Rogovski/ Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

Two gold coins and a ring from the Byzantine period (4th-7th centuries CE) have been uncovered at the Hyrcania archaeological site in the Judean desert about 17 kilometers southeast of Jerusalem, in today’s West Bank, according to a statement by the Archaeology Unit at the Civil Administration, a branch of the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator for Government Affairs in the Territories (COGAT) unit that manages civilian affairs in the West Bank.

The coins feature crosses on one side and the portrait of Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, who reigned between 610 and 641 CE, on the other.

The discovery was announced yesterday, on Christmas Eve, but the statement did not specify when the artifacts were first discovered.

Hyrcania was initially built by Hasmonean rulers between the end of the 2nd and the beginning of the 1st centuries BCE, as one of several desert fortress palaces intended to guard the eastern border of Judaea. Destroyed by the Romans a few decades later, it was then rebuilt by Jewish-Roman King Herod the Great and abandoned after his death at the very end of the 1st century BCE.

In the 5th century CE, the site was resettled by Christian monks. In 492 CE, historical sources document that Holy Sabas, a leader of Judean Desert monasticism, ascended what he described as a “terrifying mountain” and established the monastery as a dependence of the Great Laura of Saint Sabas, a monastery overlooking the Kidron Valley that is still used to this day, currently affiliated with the Greek Orthodox Church.

The Hyrcania monastery fell into disuse in the late 8th or early 9th century CE.

The current excavation is led by the Archaeology Unit in cooperation with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

“The finds uncovered at Khirbet Hyrcania reflect an important chapter from the Byzantine period and the early Christian tradition in the region,” says Binyamin Har-Even, head of the Archaeology Unit at the Civil Administration.

Protesters said to clash with locals outside home of former military advocate general

Protesters demonstrate outside the home of former IDF military advocate general Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, in Ramat Hasharon, October 8, 2025. (Tal Gal/Flash90)

Right-wing activists rallying outside the home of the IDF’s ex-top prosecutor, the main suspect in the Sde Teiman abuse leak case, reportedly beat several residents this morning who confronted them over the loud noise.

The demonstrations against former military advocate general Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi made a comeback in recent days near her home in Ramat Hasharon, following reports that she will soon be charged in the investigation.

Earlier this morning, one of the neighbors came out onto the street and shouted at the protesters through a megaphone. Several of them reacted by snatching the megaphone and beating him, Channel 12 reports.

Yaron Gadot, a resident with a bloodied face, says in a video uploaded to social media that “two of the guys here grabbed and attacked me.”

“We reported it to the policewoman, and she decided to detain only one of them and she allowed the others to keep demonstrating,” he claims.

שניים מתוך האספסוף שהגיע להשתולל מתחת לבית הפצ״רית בשכונת נווה גן (רמה״ש) היכו את ירון גדות (חבר מועצת רמת השרון לשעבר)עד זוב דם.
השוטרת שהגיעה החליטה לעכב רק אחד מהם…
תקשיבו לשיח ביניהם וברקע ההשתוללות של הגיברת עם הכלב pic.twitter.com/fa9wziG3qT

— Restart Israel (@restart_israel) December 25, 2025

Tomer-Yerushalmi resigned from her post shortly after police launched a criminal probe into the 2024 leaking of security camera footage from the Sde Teiman detention facility, which appears to depict IDF troops severely abusing a Gazan detainee.

The ex-prosecutor soon confessed to being behind the leak of the footage to the media, saying she sought to fend off accusations of political persecution after five soldiers were indicted in the alleged abuse.

Her admission caused an uproar on Israel’s political right, many of whom view the leak as further proof of widespread corruption within the country’s justice system.

In footage from this morning’s demonstration, one of the protesters shouts at a neighbor: “Put her [Tomer-Yerushalmi] in prison, you are Nukhba,” referring to the Hamas terrorists who took part in the October 7, 2023, attack.

Lapid warns Shin Bet deputy head’s resignation could scuttle Qatargate probe

Opposition Leader MK Yair Lapid leads a faction meeting at the Knesset on December 22, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says the recent resignation of the deputy head of the Shin Bet “raises concerns” that the person appointed in his place will shut down the investigation into the Qatargate scandal, in which several former aides to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are alleged to have worked as lobbyists for the Qatari government while in the prime minister’s employ.

The deputy director of the Shin Bet resigned from the security agency after some 30 years of service, less than three months after the agency’s new director, David Zini, stepped into the role and amid reports of serious and frequent differences of opinion between Zini and the deputy, identified only by his first initial in Hebrew, Shin.

Lapid adds that when Zini was appointed to lead the agency, Netanyahu “pledged that Zini would not involve himself in the Qatargate affair. The High Court of Justice has made this a binding order.”

“[Shin] should manage this investigation until his retirement and then appoint someone to replace him without interference from [Zini] or Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office,” the opposition leader continues.

A Netanyahu loyalist, Zini was nominated by the prime minister to lead the agency in May, in part due to the controversial ouster of former chief Ronen Bar. Bar was investigating the Qatargate scandal, which the prime minister has dismissed as a “witch hunt.”

Katz says Israel ‘will never fully withdraw’ from Gaza Strip

Defense Minister Israel Katz speaks at a conference of the Makor Rishon newspaper in Jerusalem, December 25, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Defense Minister Israel Katz walks a careful line amid controversy over his recent comments on building settlements inside Gaza, but vows that Israel will never fully withdraw from the Strip.

“In Gaza, Israel will never fully withdraw — there will be a significant security area inside the Strip, even after we move to stage two [of the peace deal] if Hamas disarms, which will enforce [security] inside Gaza to protect” Israeli communities, Katz says during a conference organized by the Makor Rishon newspaper.

US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan states that “Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza” and that once the International Stabilization Force is deployed, IDF troops will recede “until they are withdrawn completely from Gaza, save for a security perimeter presence that will remain until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat.”

If Hamas doesn’t disarm itself, “we’ll do it,” Katz says. The defense minister asserts that if Israel isn’t in control of the Philadelphi Corridor between Gaza and Egypt for “even one day,” Iran will succeed in sending all sorts of weapons into Gaza.

Katz rejects the assertion that he “reversed” his comments earlier this week calling for settlements inside Gaza, saying that “reverse is something I only do when driving.”

He suggests that his “vision” for Gaza to be carried out “in due time” includes the establishment of Nahal pioneer groups in the northern Gaza Strip — an ambiguous reference to the military units that several decades ago established outposts that later evolved into full-fledged settlements.

Katz claims that “people sought to interpret my words as announcement of the establishment” of settlements inside Gaza, and that they were not intended that way.

In his 1st Christmas mass, Pope Leo laments ‘rain, wind and cold’ facing homeless Gazans

Pope Leo XIV looks on as he performs the Christmas mass at St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican on December 25, 2025. (Tiziana FABI / AFP)

Pope Leo decries conditions for Palestinians in Gaza in his Christmas sermon, in an unusually direct appeal during what is normally a solemn, spiritual service on the day Christians across the globe celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Leo, the first US pope, says the story of Jesus being born in a stable shows that God had “pitched his fragile tent” among the people of the world.

“How, then, can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold?” he asks.

In his service with thousands in St. Peter’s Basilica, Leo also laments conditions for the homeless across the globe and the destruction caused by the wars roiling the world.

“Fragile is the flesh of defenseless populations, tried by so many wars, ongoing or concluded, leaving behind rubble and open wounds,” says the pope.

“Fragile are the minds and lives of young people forced to take up arms, who on the front lines feel the senselessness of what is asked of them and the falsehoods that fill the pompous speeches of those who send them to their deaths,” he adds.

After vowing to cut all funding to film industry, culture minister says budgets ‘will be changed’

Culture Minister Miki Zohar attends an evening in memory of actor Yaacov Cohen in Tel Aviv, December 4, 2024 (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Culture Minister Miki Zohar reiterates his threats to cut funding from the film industry, although he appears to walk back his promise to end all state budgets for movies.

“The creators of films that harm IDF soldiers will not receive money from the citizens of Israel,” writes Zohar on X. “Not on my watch.”

The minister says he has followed through on his threat to end funding for the Ophir Awards — which he cut after the annual ceremony gave its top prize this year to “The Sea,” a film about a Palestinian boy who dreams of seeing the Mediterranean.

When it comes to funding the film industry in general, Zohar says that “there will be a change in the film budgets. The party is over.”

On Sunday, Zohar vowed to cancel the Film Law and to entirely end any state funding for the film industry. He was reacting in anger after a number of nominees backed out of his planned “Israeli Film Awards,” which he set up as an alternative to the Ophir Awards.

Christian population in Israel is around 184,000 and growing

President Isaac Herzog visits the Convent of St. Anthony in Jerusalem on December 24, 2025. (Yossi Zamir/GPO)

Israel’s Christians account for 1.9% of the country’s population, and grew by 0.7% from 2023 to 2024, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics says, as most Christians celebrate the Christmas holiday.

Some 184,200 currently live in Israel, according to the CBS. Nazareth has the largest Christian population with 18,900, followed by Haifa (18,800), Jerusalem (13,400) and Nof HaGalil (10,800).

On Wednesday, Christmas Eve, President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog visited the Franciscan Sisters at the Convent of St. Anthony in Jerusalem.

“We shared a prayer for peace and fraternity, and stood united against all forms of hatred and extremism,” Herzog wrote on X after the visit. “I feel deep pride in Israel’s Christian communities, which are an integral part of our nation. The State of Israel will continue to protect the freedom of worship for people of all faiths and communities.”

Lebanon says 2 dead in Israeli drone strike on vehicle near Syrian border

Two people were killed in an Israeli drone strike targeting a vehicle on a road in Lebanon leading to the Syrian border, according to Lebanon’s state news agency.

The Israeli military said earlier that it had carried out a strike against a terror operative, without immediately providing further details.

Israel said to return to Jordan body of truck driver who killed 2 IDF soldiers

Israeli security forces stand near the scene where two IDF soldiers were killed in a shooting and stabbing attack at the Allenby Bridge Crossing between Israel and the West Bank, September 18, 2025. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)

Israel has returned the body of Abd al-Muttalib al-Qaisi, who killed two Israeli soldiers at the Allenby Crossing between Jordan and the West Bank on September 18, according to statements on Facebook by the attacker’s family.

Military sources cited by the Ynet news site say al-Qaisi’s body was returned discreetly overnight following a government directive. The manner in which the body was returned was specified by the directive, the sources say.

مصادر عائلية: الاحتلال يسلم الليلة جثمان الشهيد عبد المطلب النعيمي القيسي "أبو عيسى" منفذ عملية معبر الكرامة خلال حرب غزة والتي أدت لمقتل اثنين من جنود الاحتلال.

– الشهيد (57 عامًا)من سكان منطقة مرج الحمام، التابعة للواء وادي السير، جنوب غرب العاصمة الأردنية عَمّان. pic.twitter.com/NNytGdymGd

— القسطل الإخباري (@AlQastalps) December 25, 2025

Al-Qaisi carried out a stabbing and shooting attack at the Allenby Crossing, where he was driving a Gaza-bound aid truck. He was shot dead by Israeli security guards and his body was held.

The attack killed Lt. Col. (res.) Yitzhak Harosh, 68, who was a reservist in the Civil Administration, and Sgt. Oran Hershko, 20, who was a liaison officer with foreign forces. Following the attack, Israel closed the Allenby Crossing for Gaza aid until December.

Israeli man arrested for photographing ex-PM Bennett’s home on behalf of Iran

Unfinished construction of one of the three metal wall roadblocks encircling Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's Ra'anana home, January 13, 2022. (Carrie Keller-Lynn/Times of Israel)

The Shin Bet and police say they have arrested an Israeli citizen suspected of spying on former prime minister Naftali Bennett on behalf of Iranian interests.

Prosecutors will indict 40-year-old Vadim Kupriyanov, a resident of Rishon Lezion, on espionage charges today in the Lod District Court.

He was detained this month after being seen taking pictures outside Bennett’s residence in Ra’anana. He used a car camera to carry out the task, police say.

He had been in contact with his Iranian handler for two months, and like most of the Israeli citizens recruited to spy for Iran, had carried out a range of security-related tasks in exchange for money.

Responding to the news, Bennett says: “Iran’s efforts to harm me will not stop me in my life’s mission.”

The former premier was targeted earlier this month by Iran-linked hackers, who managed to break into his Telegram account and access his contacts and chats on the messaging app.

Turkey arrests 115 ISIS members it says were planning Christmas attacks

Turkish authorities have detained 115 suspected Islamic State members they say were planning to carry out attacks on Christmas and New Year celebrations in the country, the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office says.

Istanbul Police obtained information that Islamic State members had planned attacks in Turkey, against non-Muslims in particular, during Christmas and New Year celebrations, the prosecutor’s office posts on X.

The police raided 124 places in Istanbul, capturing 115 of the 137 suspects they were seeking, the statement said. Several pistols and ammunition were seized, it says.

IDF says it struck terror operative in eastern Lebanon

The IDF says it conducted an airstrike against a terror operative in the town of Nasiriyah in Lebanon’s eastern Beqaa Valley a short while ago.

The strike was conducted jointly with the Shin Bet security agency, the military says.

The IDF does not specify which terror group the target belongs to.

According to Lebanese media, the Israeli strike hit a car near the Lebanon-Syria border in the Beqaa Valley, some 140 kilometers from Israel.

غارة من مسيرة على سيارة في بلدة حوش السيد علي – البقاع pic.twitter.com/ua3Jv6uy7w

— Annahar النهار (@Annahar) December 25, 2025

Saudis call on Yemen separatists to pull back amid strain in anti-Houthi coalition

Illustrative: Frame grab from video shows United Arab Emirates-backed Southern Transitional Council separatist fighters as they prepare to storm the presidential palace in the southern port city of Aden, Yemen, in August 2019. (AP)

Saudi Arabia formally calls on Emirati-backed separatists in Yemen to withdraw from two governorates their forces now control in the country, a move that threatens sparking a confrontation within a fragile coalition that’s battling the Houthi rebels there.

The statement from Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry appears aimed at putting public pressure on the Southern Transitional Council, a force long backed by the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia has backed other fighters within Yemen, including a force known as the National Shield Forces, in the war against the Iranian-backed Houthis the kingdom launched in 2015.

“The kingdom stresses the importance of cooperation among all Yemeni factions and components to exercise restraint and avoid any measures that could destabilize security and stability, which may result in undesirable consequences,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry warns.

The council has moved into Yemen’s governorates of Hadramout and Mahra. The Saudi statement said mediation efforts are aimed at having the Council’s forces return to “their previous positions outside of the two governorates and handover the camps in those areas” to the National Shield Forces.

IDF: Troops arrested 4 Palestinians in West Bank planning terror attacks

The IDF says that soldiers arrested overnight a terrorist cell that was planning to carry out attacks against Israelis.

According to the IDF, troops with the Duvdevan unit arrested four terrorists in the area of Jayyus, near Qalqilya in the northern West Bank.

Separately, soldiers from the Paratroopers Brigade’s 890th Battalion arrested three Palestinians who were throwing rocks toward a main road near Kifl Haris, in the area of Ariel in the West Bank, the IDF says.

The suspects who were arrested were transferred to the Shin Bet for investigation, according to the IDF.

Melbourne police investigating after car with ‘Happy Chanukah’ sign set ablaze

Australian police are investigating a “suspicious fire” after a car carrying a sign celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah was set ablaze in Melbourne.

The empty car, which had a “Happy Chanukah” sign fixed to the roof, was scorched by the fire while parked in a house driveway, images on national broadcaster ABC television show.

It was set alight in the early hours of Thursday morning in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda East, Victoria police say in a statement, describing it as a “suspicious fire.”

🚨 Melbourne’s Jewish community woke to another attack.

A car displaying a Chanukah menorah was firebombed at 3am this morning.

Ask yourself who spends Christmas hunting Jews instead of being home with family.

Police are on the scene. pic.twitter.com/N4nQZYOcPS

— Avi Yemini (@OzraeliAvi) December 24, 2025

Occupants of the house were evacuated as a precaution.

“Detectives have identified a person who may be able to assist with their investigation and they are actively searching for and making enquiries into their whereabouts,” police say.

Australian authorities are stiffening laws and penalties for hate crimes after a December 14 mass shooting at a Hanukkah festival on Bondi Beach killed 15 people.

Rabbi Effy Block, of the local Chabad of St Kilda, says it was clearly an antisemitic attack.

“Thank God no people were harmed,” he tells AFP.

“But this is a continuing escalation, where we see these events happening again and again,” he adds.

“My Jewish community in St Kilda and Melbourne do not feel safe in their own homes and country.”

Australian man charged over online remarks in support of Bondi Hanukkah attack

An Australian man has been charged and detained after allegedly posting a message on social media backing the mass shooting on Bondi Beach.

A court in Western Australia heard that police found six licensed firearms, 4,000 rounds of unsecured ammunition, and antisemitic material in his home, local media says.

Detectives raided the suspect’s home Tuesday, Western Australia Police says in a statement.

He was charged with intent to racially harass, carrying or possessing a prohibited weapon, and failing to properly store a firearm or related material.

The suspect, named in local media as 39-year-old Perth man Martin Thomas Glynn, appeared in Fremantle Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

In a social media post, he allegedly expressed “100 percent support” for the December 14 mass shooting at a Jewish festival on Bondi Beach, which killed 15 people, media reports says.

Glynn reportedly told the court he did not intend to harm anyone and was trying to contrast the Bondi attack with the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza.

He was remanded in custody until his next court hearing in February, local media says.

Western Australia Police Commissioner Col Blanch said the man was not believed to be part of a network.

“We think this is an individual who has made these comments online, and we are still yet to assess the threat of that individual,” he tells reporters.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he had been briefed on the arrest.

“There is no place in Australia for antisemitism, hate and violent ideologies,” he says in a statement.

“I thank the work of the WA Police in quickly identifying this individual and acting immediately.”

Trump-backed Nasry Asfura wins Honduras presidency after weeks of delays

Nasry Asfura, presidential candidate for Honduras' National Party, shows his ballots during general elections in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, November 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

Nasry Asfura, the conservative National Party candidate backed by US President Donald Trump, has won Honduras’ presidential election, the electoral body says as it finally declared a victor of the November 30 presidential election after weeks of delays, technical problems, and allegations of fraud.

The electoral authority, known as the CNE, says Asfura had won 40.3% of the vote, edging out center-right Liberal Party candidate Salvador Nasralla who garnered 39.5%. Results were so tight and the ballot processing system so chaotic that around 15% of the tally sheets comprising hundreds of thousands of ballots had to be counted by hand to determine the winner.

Mamdani names Ms. Rachel, anti-Zionist JVP director to inaugural committee

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani names several prominent anti-Israel activists to his inaugural committee.

Mamdani will be inaugurated on January 1 and hold an Inauguration Block Party the same day in downtown Manhattan.

His inaugural committee includes Ms. Rachel, a children’s star on YouTube who has made pro-Palestinian advocacy central to her online platform.

Critics say her talking points, such as her constant focus on Palestinians and accusations of genocide against Israel, veer into antisemitism.

The inaugural committee also includes Beth Miller, the political director for the fringe, anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace, and Cynthia Nixon, a far-left, anti-Israel former actress.

The committee also includes Phylisa Wisdom, the head of the progressive political group the New York Jewish Agenda.

The exact role of the committee and its members is unclear.

“I’m honored to be joined by some of the most creative and experienced minds in the city as we build an inauguration that is truly by and for New Yorkers,” Mamdani says in a statement.