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The Times of Israel liveblogged Monday’s events as they unfolded.
Report: Netanyahu recently asked US for waiver on recent AI chip export restrictions
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly recently asked the United States to grant Israel a waiver on the newly imposed export restrictions for advanced computer chips used to develop artificial intelligence.
The Axios news site reports that Netanyahu’s request was made to Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick, during the premier’s recent visit to the US, but that Lutnik made no promises to grant Netanyahu on the matter.
The report adds that a senior official in President Donald Trump’s administration expressed skepticism that the US will grant Israel the waiver.
When the US first announced the restrictions last month, local sources told The Times of Israel that the restrictions could prevent Israel from competing in the global AI race.
“What it means in practice is that it will be hard for Israeli companies to create and train new AI models because we don’t have the computing power,” Adv. Eli Greenbaum, a partner at the Arnon-Tadmor Levy law firm, which specializes in technology cross-border deals, told The Times of Israel.
The sources added that it could also deter global tech companies from building large computing centers and executing big AI projects in Israel.
Kanye West’s account on X goes dark after antisemitic rant, while his bizarre Super Bowl ad promotes swastika tshirt
Kanye West’s account on X has been deactivated after a days-long rant on the platform that included vitriolic, antisemitic outbursts.
It is not immediately clear whether the artist and entrepreneur, who legally changed his name to Ye, deactivated the account himself or X took it down.
“I’m logging out of Twitter. I appreciate Elon for allowing me to vent. It has been very cathartic to use the world as a sounding board,” he writes in his final post, referring to the owner of X, Elon Musk.
It is a familiar pattern for Ye, 47, who is now in the headlines as often for his provocative, often hate-filled rants as he is for his music.
The rapper has been locked out of social media platforms in the past, notably when he was banned from X for nearly eight months after violating rules barring incitement to violence.
Ye’s most recent missives included comments in support of music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is imprisoned on sex trafficking charges. He repeatedly referred to himself as a “Nazi.”
X does not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The account was taken down as the rapper aired a bizarre Super Bowl ad promoting his clothing brand, Yeezy, though the only product available on the website is a white t-shirt with a black swastika.
Why does @Shopify @shop continue to platform Nazi merch?
From antisemite Cyan Cruz's 'BadGoysClub' to now Kanye's swastika t-shirt, @harleyf needs to prioritize the safety of Jews over company profits! https://t.co/V28z8EKry7 pic.twitter.com/LVDOifWZHE
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) February 10, 2025
“As if we needed further proof of Kanye’s antisemitism, he chose to put a single item for sale on his website – a t-shirt emblazoned with a swastika,” the ADL says in a statement.
“The swastika is the symbol adopted by Hitler as the primary emblem of the Nazis. It galvanized his followers in the 20th century and continues to threaten and instill fear in those targeted by antisemitism and white supremacy.”
“There’s no excuse for this kind of behavior. Even worse, Kanye advertised his website during the Super Bowl, amplifying it beyond his already massive social media audience,” the ADL statement ads.
Israel dismisses PA ‘pay to slay’ reform as ‘fraudulent exercise,’ says terrorists will be paid in other ways
Israel dismisses the reform announced by the Palestinian Authority that canceled legislation establishing controversial payments to the families of Palestinian security prisoners and slain terrorists.
The reform signed by PA President Mahmoud Abbas ends a policy under which the families of security prisoners received stipends based on the length of their relative’s sentence and under which the families of slain attackers receive a semi-annual stipend of several hundred dollars. Now, those seeking welfare payments will be able to apply through a new fund established by the PA, which will adjudicate requests strictly based on financial need.
“This is a new fraudulent exercise by the Palestinian Authority, which intends to continue making payments to terrorists and their families through other channels,” the Foreign Ministry says in a statement.
IDF raises alert level, bolsters Gaza border forces, after Hamas announces hostage release delay
IDF soldiers in southern Israel, on the border with Gaza, November 11, 2024. (Michael Giladi/Flash90/File)
After Hamas announced it is postponing the release of Israeli hostages until further notice, the IDF says it raised its level of alert and canceled furlough for troops in the Southern Command.
Combat soldiers and other essential units will remain deployed to the area and will not be permitted to be on leave, the military says.
Additionally, the IDF says it is “significantly” bolstering forces to carry out defensive missions on the Gaza border.
The moves come following a fresh assessment held by the IDF after Hamas’s announcement.
Egypt FM tells US Secretary of State Rubio: Arab states reject Trump plan to displace Gazans
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R) meets with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty at the State Department in Washington, DC, on February 10, 2025. (Jim Watson/AFP)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty tells US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Arab states support Palestinians in rejecting US President Donald Trump’s plan to displace them in Gaza and take control of the enclave.
In a statement, Egypt’s foreign ministry says Abdelatty, in a meeting in Washington, stressed the importance of expediting Gaza’s reconstruction while Palestinians remain there.
Abdelatty, who arrived in Washington yesterday, said he is looking forward to working with the new US administration to achieve “comprehensive and just peace and stability” in the region, according to the statement.
Egypt’s foreign ministry says that the international community should unify behind Palestinians to right “historic injustice” and restore their “legitimate and inalienable rights.”
Trump’s plan has received global condemnation, with regional and global leaders saying such a move would threaten regional stability.
Protesters block Tel Aviv highway, call for release of all hostages after Hamas threatens delay
Demonstrators protest in Tel Aviv, for the release of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip, on February 10, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90)
Protesters calling for the completion of the full hostage release-ceasefire deal are currently blocking the southbound Ayalon highway in Tel Aviv, after Hamas declared earlier today that they would delay the next hostage-prisoner swap due to “Israeli violations” of the agreement.
The protesters are reportedly urging that the timeline of the agreement be shortened to speed up the return of all Israeli hostages, as the last three to be released were returned to Israel in poor medical condition.
אנחנו לא נפקיר אותם!
בהובלת משפחות החטופים המפגינים יצאו בצעדה משער בגין.
כמו שאתם רואים המשטרה מנסה לבלום את הצעדה ללא הצלחה.
| צילום: זהר בר-יהודה Zohar Bar-Yehuda pic.twitter.com/n3lV0jVlwl— Restart Israel (@restart_israel) February 10, 2025
The protesters, who are also marching atop the Begin Street bridge, chant, “We will not abandon them!”
Among the protesters are Democrats MKs Gilad Kariv and Naama Lazimi.
אנחנו כאן. בשער בגין.
עם משפחות החטופים ועם אלפי ישראלים שלא מוכנים לקבל יותר את הזחיחות, השקרים והתככים של נתניהו, שממשיך להפקיר את האחים והאחיות שלנו.
בואו. למענם. למען כולנו. pic.twitter.com/XxaYvmceBC— גלעד קריב (@KarivGilad) February 10, 2025
In a post on X, Kariv says they are marching alongside the “families of the hostages and with thousands of Israelis who are no longer willing to accept the arrogance, lies, and intrigues of [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, who continues to abandon our brothers and sisters.”
According to Israel Hayom, police attempted to forcefully remove Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker and a prominent anti-government activst, from the protest.
“Leave her alone,” protesters around her can be heard yelling at police officers.
המשטרה מנסה לפנות בכוח את עינב צנגאוקר; המפגינים: "תעזבו אותה"
שימוש לפי 27א׳ pic.twitter.com/OjMJgzR5TW
— ישראל היום (@IsraelHayomHeb) February 10, 2025
UN suspends its humanitarian work in Houthi stronghold in Yemen after rebels detain more aid workers
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — The United Nations says it has suspended its humanitarian operations in the stronghold of Yemen’s Houthi rebels after they detained eight more UN staffers, affecting the global response to one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.
In a statement, the UN says the “extraordinary” decision to pause all operations and programs in northern Saada province was due to the lack of necessary security conditions and guarantees.
A spokesman for the Houthis does not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
The rebels in recent months have detained dozens of UN staffers, as well as people associated with aid groups, civil society, and the once-open US embassy in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital. None of the UN staffers has been released.
Last month, the Houthis unilaterally freed 153 war detainees as one of several overtures to ease tensions, after the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Such prisoner releases have been viewed as a means to jump-start talks over permanently ending Yemen’s war.
Report: PMO leaks suspect Eli Feldstein did PR work for Qatar while working for Netanyahu’s office
Eli Feldstein, a spokesman in the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is the main suspect in an investigation launched in late October 2024, of alleged illegal access and leaking of classified intelligence material. (Kan screenshot, used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)
The key suspect in the Prime Minister’s Office document leaks affair, Eli Feldstein, did public relations work for Qatar while working as a military spokesman in the PMO, Channel 12 reports.
The report says that during his tenure as military spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, Feldstein was employed by an unnamed Qatar-funded company, and was tasked with improving Doha’s image on the issue of the Gulf country’s role in hostage deal mediation between Israel and Hamas.
The report notes that Feldstein was doing this work at the same time that Netanyahu was publicly criticizing Qatar for backing the Palestinian terror group.
Channel 12 adds that as part of his work, Feldstein held conversations with several journalists in which he presented Qatar as having a “positive role” in negotiations.
Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani announces a Gaza hostage release and ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, at a press conference on January 15, 2025. (KARIM JAAFAR / AFP)
The report adds that the Qatar-funded company that employed Feldstein was working to promote contact between the families of the hostages and the government in Doha.
According to the report, Feldstein’s work for Qatar only ended when the PMO document leaks case broke into the media.
Channel 12 also notes that last November, two other Netanyahu advisers — Jonatan Urich and Yisrael Einhorn — were reported to be involved in a campaign to improve Qatar’s image surrounding hosting the 2022 World Cup.
Feldstein was arrested last November on suspicions of leaking stolen classified intelligence information to be published in the foreign press.
He stands accused of transferring classified information with the intent to harm state security, a charge that can carry a sentence of life in prison, as well as illicit possession of classified information and obstruction of justice.
Freed hostage Yarden Bibas is ‘clinging to hope’ for his wife and young sons, his sister says
Yarden Bibas is seen on an IDF helicopter on his way to a hospital in central Israel on February 1, 2025, after his release from Hamas captivity. (Israel Defense Force)
Yarden Bibas, who was released by Hamas on February 1, after almost 16 months in captivity, is clinging to hope that his wife Shiri and young sons, Ariel and Kfir, are still alive, his sister Ofri says.
In an interview on Channel 12 news, she confirms that Yarden’s Hamas captors initially lied to him and told him that his family was safe in Tel Aviv, and says “he believed them.” And she notes that, at the end of November 2023, they told him, and publicly announced, that the three were dead — a claim Israel has not confirmed.
But he came out of Gaza “with an understanding very similar to ours,” Ofri says. “That is: he understands that there is fear — fear for their lives, but he knows that there is no certainty, and he holds onto the hope. And we’ve held onto [that hope] for 15 months and we continue to hold onto it, and continue to expect them and to wait for them here at home.”
Nonetheless, she also says, “He needs the certainty. We all do. To close the circle. We are asking for that from a place where we are still clinging to hope. We’re not giving up hope for a second, especially now he’s here with us. But yes, we want them home.”
Speaking soon after Hamas announced that it was delaying Saturday’s scheduled release of hostages until further notice, she says, “What’s happening now is very scary — there are a lot of fears about this stage. And certainly that the next stage comes to fruition.”
Asked whether Yarden is aware that his wife and sons have become a kind of symbol of the cruelty of the terrorists, she says, “He is starting to understand it. He understands that he’s no longer anonymous, and that there is a lot of interest in the family. That’s not easy for him to deal with. An anonymous man realizing that pictures [of him and his family] are all over the world and that everyone knows the family.”
Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas (Courtesy)
She says that while Yarden is starting to speak a little louder and emerge from himself, and has retained his sense of humor, “there’s a lot of anger. A lot of questions about where was the army.”
His anger is, first of all, “directed at Hamas, of course,” but also, “he asked a lot, where was the army? How can it be that there was nobody” who came to the rescue on October 7? (Bibas was kidnapped separately from Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir, when Hamas terrorists raided their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, after he left their safe room hoping to distract the gunmen and save his family.)
Yarden Bibas embraces his father Eli and his sister Ofri at an IDF facility near Re’im after his release from 484 days in Hamas captivity, February 1, 2025. (Screencapture/Israel Defense Forces)
“It’s still hard for me to believe that he’s here,” says Ofri. “But we are missing Shiri and the boys. I so want this deal to be completed. This framework was so complicated from the start. And we see that it can blow up at every second.”
She concludes: “I hope that, if there is some kind of misunderstanding, they utilize it to improve the terms of the deal, shorten the timetable, and advance phase two… We don’t need to be exposed to more shocking testimonies and more hostages coming home [in the conditions] they did [in recent days]. We know they are going through hell there. They all need to be at home. This cannot be strung out any longer.”
Hamas indicates Saturday’s hostage release could still go ahead if Israel ‘implements obligations’ under Gaza truce
Hamas operatives take part in the funeral ceremony of Marwan Issa, a top Hamas commander killed in March 2024, in the war-devastated Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip on February 7, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)
After announcing it was postponing the hostage-prisoner exchange slated for Saturday over alleged Israeli violations of the ongoing Gaza truce deal, Hamas indicates that it is open to fulfilling the release on time if Israel ceases its ostensible violations.
“Postponing the release of prisoners is a warning message to the occupation, and to pressure for strict adherence to the terms of the agreement,” says Hamas, referring to the hostages it took on October 7, 2023.
The terror group adds that it intentionally made the announcement five days ahead of the planned release “to give the mediators sufficient opportunity to pressure the occupation to implement its obligations, and to keep the door open to implement the exchange on time if the occupation adheres to its obligations.”
“Hamas has implemented all its obligations accurately and on time,” the terror group says in a statement.
It lays out a list of alleged Israeli violations, including delaying the return of the displaced Gazans to the northern Strip; shooting at Palestinians; blocking the entry of tents, prefabricated houses, fuel, and equipment to remove rubble; and delaying the entry of medical supplies.
An Israeli official tells the state-run Kan news broadcaster that Israel is allowing shelters into Gaza after they undergo a security check.
Hamas says it conveyed its complaints to the mediators.
State attorney says police must prioritize tackling government corruption cases
State Prosecutor Amit Aisman attends a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee hearing at the Knesset in Jerusalem, November 18, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
State Attorney Amit Aisman says the police must prioritize tackling government corruption cases both in terms of intelligence operations and investigations.
Speaking at a conference of the police’s Intelligence and Investigations Department, Aisman says his office would likewise prioritize the prosecution of such cases brought by police, which he, as head of the prosecution personally supervises.
“The Israel Police must act decisively to eradicate the scourge of government corruption, alongside the need to eradicate violent crime, which is often led by criminal organizations and crime families,” says the State Attorney.
“Any delay in handling [corruption] cases of this type harms the social fabric and intensifies the citizen’s sense of alienation from state institutions and the law enforcement system…. The Israel Police must prioritize handling government corruption offenses, both from an intelligence and investigative perspective.”
Aisman continues saying that police have the necessary tools to uncover suspected government corruption, adding “At the end of the day, everything is a question of decisions, priorities, and the allocation of resources.”
IDF rules out possible ‘security incident’ after extensive scans near Gaza border community
The IDF says it has ruled out the possibility of a “security incident,” after extensive scans near the Gaza border community of Yad Mordechai.
The scans were launched after suspicious movement was identified in the area.
Eisenkot says Israel ‘obliged’ to see Gaza deal through all 3 phases, but will ‘fight until the end of Hamas’
National Unity MK Gadi Eisenkot speaks to Channel 12 news, February 10, 2025. (Screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
National Unity party MK and former war cabinet minister Gadi Eisenkot says that Israel has an “obligation” to see the three-phase hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas through to its end, to free the remaining captives held in Gaza.
Asked by Channel 12 news if completing the deal would mean Hamas remains in control of Gaza, Eisenkot says, “This will be a long war.”
“Anyone who promises quick wars and lightning achievements of all objectives is making false promises,” he says, adding that “Israel will continue to fight until the end of Hamas in the coming years.”
He says the true “high price” of the hostage deal was paid on October 7, 2023, with the Hamas onslaught in southern Israel.
Asked if the price of the deal is “too high,” given that it allows the terror organization to regroup in Gaza and enables the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners who have “blood on their hands,” Eisenkot says the real “high price tag of this deal was set on October 7, when the Israeli citizens who have been [in captivity] for a year and four months” were taken from their homes.
“Therefore, from a value point of view, and from the point of view of the ethos of the State of Israel, there is an obligation to complete all stages of the agreement,” he asserts.
Eisenkot’s son, Master Sgt. (res.) Gal Meir Eisenkot, and nephew Sgt. Maor Cohen Eisenkot were both killed fighting Hamas in Gaza, within days of each other in December 2023.
Report: Netanyahu asked Trump to back extension of IDF deployment at key border points in southern Lebanon
Israeli soldiers seen on the Israeli border fence with Lebanon, northern Israel, on February 2, 2025. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)
While Israel is supposed to complete its Lebanon withdrawal in eight days, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked President Donald Trump to support an extension of the IDF’s deployment, Channel 12 reports.
It says Israel claims the Lebanese Army is not effectively deployed and is not preventing Hezbollah from reorganizing, and that Hezbollah aims to return to the border area as soon as the IDF goes.
Israel is seeking to keep the IDF at five key border points to enable the maintenance of a buffer zone, the report says.
It adds that Morgan Ortagus, Trump’s envoy, who visited Beirut on Friday, toured the border area with IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and Northern Command chief Ori Gordin over the weekend.
IDF: Troops scanning near Gaza border community Yad Mordechai after identifying suspicious movement
The IDF says troops are scanning near the Gaza border community of Yad Mordechai, after identifying suspicious movement.
Currently, there are no changes to guidelines for civilians, the military says.
Further details are under investigation.
Court cancels PM’s criminal trial hearing tomorrow as he consults on Gaza deal
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives in the Tel Aviv District Court to give testimony in his criminal trial, February 10, 2025. (Tomer Appelbaum/POOL)
The Jerusalem District Court cancels the hearing for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s criminal trial, which had been scheduled for tomorrow, due to the crisis in the hostage-prisoner release deal with Hamas.
Judge Rebecca Friedman-Feldman says she is granting the request, “owing to the hour and the urgency of making a decision.”
Netanyahu is currently holding security consultations, after Hamas announced that it was postponing the hostage-prisoner exchange slated for Saturday over alleged Israeli violations of the ongoing Gaza truce deal.
The security cabinet is set to convene to discuss the accord tomorrow morning.
PM’s office says Israel committed to Gaza truce deal, updates hostage families after Hamas announces delay
Israelis protest for the release of hostages, in Tel Aviv on February 1, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
The Prime Minister’s Office says “all the families of the hostages were informed” of Hamas’s announcement that it is postponing the hostage-prisoner exchange slated for Saturday, over alleged Israeli violation of the ceasefire deal.
The families were “made aware that the State of Israel is committed to respecting the agreement,” the PMO says.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding security consultations following the Hamas statement and will convene the security cabinet tomorrow morning.
Mediators fear breakdown of the Gaza hostage-ceasefire agreement – Egyptian security sources
CAIRO, Egypt — Mediators fear a breakdown of the Gaza hostage release-ceasefire agreement, two Egyptian security sources say, after Hamas said Israel was not serious about executing the deal and announced it would stop releasing hostages until further notice.
Hamas negotiators say American guarantees for the ceasefire are no longer in place, given a plan by US President Donald Trump to displace Palestinians from Gaza to rebuild it. Mediators postponed talks until a clear indication of Washington’s intent to continue the phased deal is received.
Hundreds at Hostages Square mark 24th birthday of hostage Alon Ohel: ‘The boy whose piano is his second home’
Hundreds gather at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv to celebrate the birthday of Israeli hostage Alon Ohel, who has been held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza for over 16 months, February 10, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
About a thousand people, most wrapped in several layers, thanks to the chilly winter evening, gather at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square to mark Alon Ohel’s 24th birthday — his second in Hamas captivity.
The crowd at Hostages Square is invited to enjoy hot dogs and warm sangria, Alon’s favorites, says an emcee.
On the stage, a large banner reads: “We know you’re coming back to us alive, to be embraced at home.”
A man wearing the Hostages Families Forum’s shirt sings quiet Hebrew ballads, accompanied by another man on the Square’s outdoor piano. Alon is himself an avid pianist. Later, Israeli pop singer Ivri Lider, who shares a birthday with Ohel, performs.
עברי לידר שר את ״זכיתי לאהוב״ מחובק עם עידית אהל, אמא שלמאלון שמציין היום יום הולדת 24 בשבי חמאס.
אתמול הגיע ממנו אות חיים ראשון, הוא פצוע בעין וכבול בשרשראות כבר 490 יום.
דמעות. pic.twitter.com/oR8acEgrpt— Tal Shorrer (@TalShorrer) February 10, 2025
The event comes a day after Ohel’s family received the first sign of life from him since he was abducted from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023.
Alon’s mother Idit told Channel 12 last night that returning hostages had reported that her son is being held underground in a Hamas tunnel, bound, starved, and suffering from untreated shrapnel wounds to his shoulder, arm, and now-partially blind eye.
Speaking at Hostages Square, she slams the government for failing to begin talks on the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, when Alon is slated for release.
She says that after receiving the sign of life from her son, her family was contacted by senior officials the world over, but “there was one government whose representatives didn’t bother to talk with us — the government of Israel.” The crowd jeers.
The sign of life she received is one of “more and more pieces of the puzzle that make up our horrible reality” since her son was abducted on October 7, 2023.
The Ohel family whose son, Alon, featured in the poster, was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy)
Addressing the government, she says: “How, after the sights you have seen, after the testimonies you have heard, do you let this reality continue?” she asks.
“How did the cabinet not convene yesterday to advance the return of all the next hostages? What are you waiting for, for heavens’ sake?” she continues. “How do we keep hearing, even tonight, empty slogans about ‘total victory’? How do we keep getting heartbreaking news that the next release is delayed?”
In English, she asks US President Donald Trump to “do everything in your power to ensure that this deal continues.”
Addressing her son, Idit Ohel says, “The video we received proves you’re still alive,” though she says she did not really need proof.
“We hear about your great power, your determination,” she says. “Your willingness to help those in need.”
“People ask, where the power to go on comes from,” she says. “I know it comes from you… the boy whose piano is his second home.”
Avigdor Liberman: If we insist Egypt open border to Gazans, Trump’s plan would be possible
Yisrael Beytenu chair Avigdor Liberman speaks to Channel 12 news, February 10, 2025. (Screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Yisrael Beytenu chair Avigdor Liberman says that if Israel “insists that Egypt open its border” to allow Palestinians from Gaza to enter the country, US President Donald Trump’s plan to transfer Gaza’s population “will be possible.”
“The second they open the gates, 90 percent of Gazans” will go directly to Egypt, he tells Channel 12 in an interview.
“We have enough levers here, everything we need to demand” that Egypt go through with Trump’s plan, he claims.
“It’s not like it is just Avigdor Liberman saying these things, it’s the president of the United States,” he adds.
The hawkish former defense minister endorsed Trump’s plan last week and has long been an advocate of population transfer of Palestinians, both from the Palestinian territories to other countries and of Arab-Israelis within Israel.
UN says ‘images of emaciated’ released Israeli hostages, Palestinian prisoners are ‘deeply distressing’
Hamas gunmen surround(L-R) Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy on a stage before handing them over to a Red Cross team in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, on February 8, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)
The United Nations Human Rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan says in a statement that “images of emaciated Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees released as part of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement have been deeply distressing.”
The statement urges Israel and Hamas to ensure humane treatment for all people they hold.
Under the first stage of the hostage-ceasefire deal that came into effect in January, the terror group is slated to release 33 Israelis held hostage since its brutal October 7, 2023, onslaught, in exchange for the release of around 2,000 Palestinian security prisoners held in Israeli jails.
The three hostages freed by Hamas on Saturday, Eli Sharabi, Or Levy, and Ohad Ben Ami, all returned to Israel severely malnourished and frail.
Health officials said yesterday that the three freed hostages are suffering from severe physical and mental deterioration, including malnutrition, decreased muscle mass, heart disorders, and prolonged infection.
Released hostage Eli Sharabi reunites with his mother Chana and sister Osnat at an army facility near the Gaza border after 491 days in Hamas captivity, February 8, 2025. His wife and two daughters were murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023. (IDF).
Some Palestinian prisoners released by Israel as part of the deal have also appeared to be frail, with the head of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club saying Saturday that seven of the prisoners released this past weekend were admitted to the hospital after need “of medical care, treatment, and examinations, as a result of the brutality they were subjected to during the past months.”
Israel has said that all the detainees are “treated in accordance with international law.”
A former Palestinian prisoner released by Israel is cheered upon his arrival in Ramallah on buses of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on February 1, 2025. (AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
Ben Gvir urges ‘massive assault on Gaza’ after Hamas postpones hostage release: ‘We must return to war’
Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben Gvir chairs a faction meeting at the Knesset, February 3, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Former national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir calls for Israel to resume its campaign against Hamas in Gaza, after the terror group says it is postponing the hostage-prisoner exchange scheduled for Saturday.
The far-right lawmaker says Israel should carry out “a massive assault on Gaza, from the air and land, alongside a complete halt to humanitarian aid to the Strip, including electricity, fuel, and water, and including the bombing of aid packages that have already been brought in and are in the hands of Hamas.”
“We must return to war and destroy!” he writes in a post on X.
Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party left the coalition last month in protest of the government’s approval of the hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas.
Netanyahu holding security consultations after Hamas stops hostage releases; security cabinet to meet Tues. morning – official
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding consultations with the defense establishment leadership to discuss Hamas’s announcement a short while ago that it is postponing hostage-prisoner releases until further notice, over alleged Israeli violations of the Gaza truce deal, an official says.
The official tells the media that Netanyahu will also bring forward a security cabinet meeting scheduled for tomorrow afternoon to the morning, following the terror group’s statement.
LA soccer team’s part-owner apologizes for sharing posts calling to ‘dismantle’ Israel
A part-owner of Los Angeles Football Club apologizes for reposting reportedly anti-Israel posts on social media that were criticized by his club and Major League Soccer as “deeply offensive.”
The Jewish Chronicle reports that Ruben Gnanalingam reposted messages on his LinkedIn page, including comments urging “armies” to “dismantle” Israel and one that compared the war in Gaza with the Holocaust.
Gnanalingam, a Malaysian businessman and also vice chairman of second-division English club Queen’s Park Rangers, says in a statement that he deeply regrets that content on his social media account caused distress and concern.
“It was never my intention to offend or harm anyone, and I take responsibility for not exercising greater caution before sharing these posts,” he writes. “I sincerely apologize to those affected, including my colleagues, friends, and family.
“As someone who values unity, diversity, and respect for all people, I take full responsibility for my actions and have since removed the reposts. I have decided to step away from social media for the foreseeable future to focus on my professional responsibilities and ensure my communication reflects the values and high standards expected of me as a global business leader.”
The MLS and LAFC condemn Gnanalingam’s reposts in a joint statement.
“MLS and LAFC believe in unity and we stand firmly against hate in any form,” they say. “The League is currently reviewing the situation and will have no further comment at this time.”
Hostages Forum reaches out to mediators to salvage Gaza ceasefire deal: ‘Time is of the essence’
The 17 hostages slated to be returned in phase one of the Gaza ceasefire deal as of February 8, 2025 after the first five rounds saw 16 captives freed. Row 1 (L-R): Ariel Bibas, Kfir Bibas, Shiri Bibas, Sasha Trufanov; Row 2: Shlomo Mansour, Ohad Yahalomi, Oded Lifshitz, Tsahi Idan; Row 3: Hisham al-Sayed, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Yair Horn, Omer Wenkert; Row 4: Itzik Elgarat, Eliya Cohen, Avera Mengistu, Tal Shoham, Omer Shem-Tov. (All photos courtesy)
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum says it has reached out to mediating countries to help save the Gaza ceasefire deal, shortly after Hamas announced that it was postponing the hostage release slated for Saturday over alleged Israeli violations.
“We stand with the Israeli government and encourage maintaining the conditions that will ensure the successful continuation of the agreement, leading to the safe return of our 76 brothers and sisters,” the forum says in a statement.
The families say that testimonies from hostages released over the initial stage of the Gaza deal, “as well as the shocking conditions of the hostages released last Saturday, leaves no room for doubt — time is of the essence, and all hostages must be urgently rescued from this horrific situation.”
Doctors have said that three hostages abducted during the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack who were released over the weekend — Eli Sharabi, 52, Or Levy, 34, and Ohad Ben Ami, 56 — came back severely malnourished and suffering health issues including heart disorders and infections.
Israeli captives, from left to the right, Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy, who have been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, 2023, onstage before being handed over to the Red Cross in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
With five rounds of hostage-prisoner releases completed in the ongoing Gaza ceasefire deal as of Saturday, there are 17 Israeli hostages still supposed to be set free in the first phase, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners.
As of yesterday, 73 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.
After Hamas holds up next hostage release, Katz orders IDF in Gaza to prepare at ‘highest level of alert’
Defense Minister Israel Katz, center, visits an IDF position in southern Lebanon alongside senior IDF officials, February 2, 2025. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)
Defense Minister Israel Katz responds to Hamas’s announcement on postponing the release of Israeli hostages until further notice, saying it is an “outright violation of the ceasefire.”
“I instructed the IDF to prepare at the highest level of alert for any possible scenario in Gaza and to protect the [border] communities. We will not return to the reality of October 7,” he adds.
Freed hostage Ofer Calderon says he was ‘held in tunnels, experienced severe hunger,’ calls for release of all captives
Released hostage Ofer Calderon, top left, reunites with his children Rotem, Gaya, Erez and Sahar on February 1, 2025. Erez and Sahar were also abducted on October 7, 2023 and were freed in November 2023. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)
Recently freed hostage Ofer Calderon says he was “held in tunnels without seeing daylight, had no access to media, experienced severe hunger conditions, went entire months without showering or receiving proper care” during his captivity in Gaza.
Calderon says that “immediately after the first deal [in November 2023], the conditions of my captivity and those of many other hostages severely deteriorated and became brutal.”
“We must not stop the current deal and must continue working to free all the hostages,” he adds, in a statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
“Hamas is a cruel enemy who will not hesitate to harm the hostages left behind. We must get everyone out as quickly as possible.”
Calderon was released on February 1 as part of the current ceasefire deal after spending 484 days as a hostage in Gaza.
Israeli Ofer Calderon who has been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, 2023, walks next to Hamas gunmen before being handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Feb. 1, 2025. (Abdel Kareem)
Iranian hackers claim to have accessed classified government sites, databases; Israel Police: ‘No hack or leak’
Iranian hacker group claims to have gained access to several classified government sites and databases containing classified information including personal details of police personnel, sex offender registries, weapons licenses as well as medical and psychological profiles of soldiers and other security personnel, Channel 12 news reports.
The report says several documents were published online.
Channel 12 adds that the hackers claim to have downloaded 2.1 terabytes of classified information from Israel Police databases, and are threatening to publish more documents online.
But after the report, the Israel Police responds that an initial investigation into the alleged hack shows there is “no indication that there had been a hack or a leak of sensitive information.”
“The Israel Police operates advanced security measures and is constantly working to strengthen its defense systems, using the world’s leading technologies in the field of cybersecurity,” police say.
In major win for Trump, PA’s Abbas signs decree ending ‘pay-to-slay’ system
PA President Mahmoud Abbas at the BRICS summit in Kazan on October 24, 2024. (Alexander Zemlianichenko / POOL / AFP)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has signed a decree canceling legislation that provided payments to Palestinian security prisoners based on the length of their sentence and to the families of terrorists killed while carrying out an attacks, a Palestinian official confirms to The Times of Israel.
The decree states that those families and all others requiring welfare assistance will be eligible for stipends based solely on financial need, the Palestinian official says, confirming a report on the Walla news site.
While the effort to reform the prisoner payment system has been in the works for over a year and largely finalized during the Biden administration, Ramallah decided to hold off on announcing the move, preferring to save it as a goodwill gesture for the incoming Trump administration.
During the transition, top PA officials briefed their counterparts in the incoming Trump administration regarding their plan, two sources familiar told The Times of Israel earlier today.
However, those sources believed that the announcement had been put on the back burner following Trump’s declaration last week that he plans to take over Gaza. The Gaza proposal sent shockwaves throughout the Arab world, which is now in the midst of a full-throttled campaign to oppose the Trump idea.
Palestinian officials told The Times of Israel during the presidential transition process that Ramallah has learned lessons from the way it dealt with Trump during his first term. Abbas severed ties with the US after Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017, less than a year after taking office. The US proceeded to broker the Abraham Accords, while the Palestinians were left out of the process.
As efforts to include Saudi Arabia in those accords intensified, Ramallah has worked to boost its ties with Riyadh, hoping that the latter will condition a deal with Israel on a credible and irreversible pathway to a future Palestinian state. Meanwhile, PA officials indicated to Trump aides that they would be prepared to use his 2020 peace plan as a basis for negotiations.
Today’s decree is Ramallah’s latest effort to improve ties with Washington and amounts to a major victory for Trump, who managed to secure a concession from the PA that repeated US administrations had worked to bring about.
‘What are you surprised about?’: Lapid says PM knew Gaza hostages were ‘in cages, starving skeletons’
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid slams Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he boasts that he maximized the number of hostages released by Hamas and says that the terror group only agreed to negotiate and accept “the deal I brought” after significant military pressure.
“You just said here on the podium that you were shocked by the sight of the hostages who were released on Saturday,” Lapid says in his response to Netanyahu’s remarks.
“I just don’t understand why you were shocked, you knew that was their situation. The security establishment has said time and time again, that they are in cages, starving skeletons — you knew…
“You knew, the whole government knew, the whole cabinet knew,” Lapid continues.
He urges Netanyahu to come with him to Hostages Square in Tel Aviv to show that he cares and “did not decide to leave them there to die because of political considerations.”
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid (center) attends a rally in Tel Aviv demanding a deal to free the hostages held in Gaza, August 24, 2024. (Courtesy)
Hamas says hostage-prisoner exchange scheduled for Saturday will be delayed over alleged Israeli truce violations
Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida in a video address after the release of three Israeli hostages, January 19, 2025. (X)
Hamas intends to delay the next hostage-prisoner exchange slated for Saturday, announces a spokesman for the terror group.
Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Hudhaifa Kahlout — known by the nom de guerre Abu Obeida — alleges that Israel has not fulfilled its obligations under the current ceasefire agreement over the past three weeks.
Abu Obeida claims Israel delayed the return of displaced Gazans to the Strip’s north and opened fire on them, and has also obstructed the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The terror group demands “retroactive compensation” for Israel’s alleged violations of the ceasefire, or it will not release hostages until further notice.
Father of IDF soldier killed on Oct. 7 says Hamas wished his daughter ‘Happy Birthday’ weeks before attack
Roni Eshel, an IDF soldier who was stationed at a military base near the Gaza border when Hamas attacked on October 7, 2023. She was murdered in the onslaught. (Courtesy of Eyal Eshel via AP)
In chilling testimony, Eyal Eshel, whose daughter Sgt. Roni Eshel was killed on the IDF’s Nahal Oz base on October 7, 2023, claims that weeks before the terror group’s onslaught, Hamas operatives had held up a sign wishing his daughter “Mazal Tov” on her birthday.
Eshel says his daughter had reported the incident to her superiors, but nothing was done about it, Ynet news reports.
He says this shows that Hamas knew intimate details about the Nahal Oz base and the surveillance soldiers who were stationed there.
“Hamas terrorists stood on the other side of the fence with a banner,” Eshel tells Ynet. “They knew about her birthday.”
Eyal Eshel, the father of the late Staff Sgt. Roni Eshel, testifying before an independent civilian commission investigating the events leading up to October 7, September 17, 2024. (Civilian Commission of Inquiry)
“It illustrates that Hamas knew everything… They knew [the soldiers’] names in from communication networks, they listened and eavesdropped on them,” he says.
Hamas “came prepared and we lost because we didn’t even understand what they knew.”
According to Ynet, the IDF has yet to comment on Eshel’s claims.
The torched command center of the Nahal Oz IDF base, overrun by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, during a visit by relatives of slain lookout soldiers on December 19, 2023. (Courtesy/Eyal Eshel)
Roni Eshel was killed on October 7, 2023, at age 19, along with 14 other surveillance troops during Hamas’s attack on the Nahal Oz base.
In the same attack, seven surveillance soldiers were abducted and taken as hostages into Gaza: Ori Megidish, who was rescued by the IDF during the early days of the war; Noa Marciano, who was killed in captivity; and Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Liri Albag, Agam Berger and Naama Levy, who were all released by Hamas and returned to Israel during the current ceasefire accord.
PM: IDF operation in Rafah was what eventually brought Hamas to negotiate ‘the deal I brought’
Addressing the Knesset, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argues that Biden administration officials said that Hamas was the only obstacle to a hostage deal — and that Israel’s military campaign in the southern Gaza city of Rafah was what eventually brought the terror group to the table and to accept “the deal I brought.”
The IDF entered Rafah and the Philadelphi Corridor on the Egypt-Gaza border in May, the same month former US president Joe Biden announced a hostage-ceasefire deal very similar to the one that came into effect in January.
Netanyahu: Trump meeting was ‘friendliest, most significant’ ever between an Israeli PM and a US president
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the Knesset plenum in Jerusalem, February 10, 2025. (Screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Multiple lawmakers are removed for interrupting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he addresses the Knesset plenum following his visit to Washington in which he was hosted by US President Donald Trump.
The opposition boos and shouts at the premier, and MKs including Elazar Stern, Vladimir Beliak, Gilad Kariv and Merav Cohen are expelled from the chamber.
Netanyahu says that Israel has never been stronger and his meeting with Trump was the warmest he has experienced in his decades of politics.
“The historic meeting with Trump was the most important, the friendliest, and the most significant” of any Israeli prime minister with a US president, he says.
“We see eye to eye” on all of Israel’s war goals, including the destruction of Hamas and the return of all the hostages, Netanyahu continues, stating that Trump’s proposal for the future of Gaza represents “a new and creative vision, and he is determined to implement it.”
Netanyahu also criticizes the opposition for wanting to end the war earlier and says Trump has provided a “day after” plan for Gaza but says it is not the one that the opposition wanted.
“You wanted a day after [plan]? You got one… It just doesn’t match the Oslo narrative… We won’t repeat that mistake… I’ve come back with a vision without Hamas and without the Palestinian Authority.”
“We know what complete victory is and we will not give up on it,” Netanyahu declares, shaking his fist.
Standing up, Shas chairman Aryeh Deri yells at lawmakers jeering Netanyahu, stating that the prime minister’s speech is “hard for you to hear, but it’s true.”
In a tweet, Yesh Atid MK Yorai Lahav Hertzanu declares that “while Netanyahu boasts of his great achievements from the Knesset podium, [the hostages] are dying there. Dying of hunger, dying of torture, dying of abandonment.”
Report: Trump’s suspension of USAID has already caused loss of 35,000 jobs in Jordan
The Trump administration’s recent decision to suspect USAID payments is reportedly already having a “devastating” effect in Jordan, according to a UAE report citing nonprofit organizations.
The National outlet reports that some 35,000 jobs have been lost as a result of the move, including both Jordanians and Americans working on projects funded by the US.
One of Jordan’s larger nonprofits is quoted in the Emirati report as saying that more than half of its budget comes from US sources and the aid suspension has affected operations “tremendously.”
The lack of funding is affecting projects covering physical and mental health, disabilities, refugees, sexual and reproductive health services, and gender-based violence protection and rehabilitation services, The National reports.
“It goes beyond the numbers. It’s a ripple effect on the whole economy,” the organization says.
Report: Netanyahu’s flightpath returning from US avoided Canadian airspace due to ICC warrant
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and his wife Sara board the Wing of Zion plane ahead of their flight from Washington, DC, to Ben Gurion Airport, February 8, 2025. (Screenshot/Shachar Glick)
The Kan broadcaster reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s flightpath returning from his trip to Washington, DC, yesterday was changed to avoid flying over Canada’s airspace, due to the outstanding International Criminal Court warrant for the premier’s arrest.
Canada is a signatory to the ICC’s Rome Statute, meaning it is legally required to apprehend Netanyahu if he enters its territory.
While several ICC signatories have stated that they would not arrest Netanyahu, Canada affirmed last November that it would “abide” by the court’s warrant and would carry out the arrest.
Mark Levine, Jewish candidate for NYC comptroller, picks up high-profile endorsements
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine (C) speaks during a press conference joined by descendants of Holocaust survivors, and advocates from the World Jewish Congress to call on city leaders to remove the names of former French Minister of War Philippe Pétain and former French Prime Minister Pierre Laval from the "Canyon of Heroes," in New York City on January 27, 2023. (Angela Weiss/AFP)
Mark Levine, the Manhattan borough president, scores a series of high-profile endorsements in his campaign for New York City comptroller.
Levine is Jewish, speaks Hebrew and often appears at Jewish community and Israel-related events.
His campaign announces his endorsement by New York Rep. Jerry Nadler and several prominent lawmakers from the New York State government.
“As our next comptroller, I know he’ll be the fierce watchdog our city needs — someone with the experience and integrity to protect taxpayers and deliver real results,” Nadler says in a statement.
Levine has also won the endorsement of New York Reps. Dan Goldman, Adriano Espaillat and Ritchie Torres, and a number of city and state lawmakers.
The comptroller oversees a staff of 800 and serves as the city’s chief financial officer and auditor, acting as a check on the mayor. The position is seen as the second-highest elected office in the city government.
The current comptroller is Brad Lander, a leftist Jew whose term ends at the start of 2026.
The position can serve as a springboard for higher political office. Lander and former comptroller Scott Stringer, also Jewish, are both running for New York City mayor.
Levine’s lead challenger, City Council member Justin Brannan, has picked up endorsements from labor groups and city lawmakers.
Democrats chair slams ‘failed’ coalition for not freeing hostages sooner: ‘If the deal falls — the government falls’
The Democrats party chair Yair Golan leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, February 10, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The government “has lost its humanity,” The Democrats chairman Yair Golan declares, arguing that “a government that does not see its citizens, that does not feel their pain, that does not work with all its might to save them – is not only a failed government. It is a criminal government.”
The testimonies of freed hostages regarding their suffering in Gaza are “an indictment” of the government, he says, citing reports that they were “hung by their feet, constantly chained, starving, humiliated, without daylight, unable to stand or move.”
“Friends, every additional day that the hostages are left behind is another crime. Every hour of delay is a sentence of torture and death. This government knew – from the prime minister to the last minister – everyone knew. They knew in what inhuman conditions the hostages were being held. They knew, saw, heard — and chose to abandon them.”
“Never has the people of Israel faced a government” that is “so cruel, so un-Zionist and certainly not Jewish,” he adds, calling on the leaders of industry, academia, and unions “to take action” and “make it clear together that if the deal falls — the government falls.”
Smotrich says while he’s ‘happy’ to see Gaza hostages returning, he still opposes moving to 2nd stage of deal
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich leads a Religious Zionism faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, February 10, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Speaking ahead of his Religious Zionism party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says that while “there is no Jew who is not happy to see our brothers and sisters return home,” he still opposes moving on to the next stage of the ceasefire deal with Hamas.
“The most popular and easiest thing for us would have been to join the chorus and connect with the natural human and Jewish emotion and support the deal,” Smotrich tells reporters. But he argues that his responsibility as a national leader “requires me to oppose the abandonment of millions of citizens in the State of Israel and Jews around the world who will pay the heavy and terrible price of continuing the deal.”
“I am taking fire for my stance against the deal, including painful and harsh statements from the families of the hostages and others. But I am firm in my opposition out of national responsibility,” he says.
“History will not forgive short-sighted and irresponsible politicians who have been cooperating with Hamas propaganda for many months and trying to push Israel into surrender and losing the war.”
Instead of continuing with the deal, “we need to take all the anger, rage and revenge and take it out on the murderers in Hamas. Not to do ‘more of the same thing’ again, but to go back and fight differently,” he insists.
Smotrich says Israel should completely halt “humanitarian aid to Hamas,” “permanently occupy territory” in Gaza, and encourage Palestinians to migrate from the Strip “in cooperation with President Trump, who understands well the root of the conflict and the only realistic solution.”
He calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bring the plan to the cabinet to prepare to resume fighting Hamas after the end of the ongoing first stage of the hostage-ceasefire deal that came into effect in January.
“This is the only realistic way to force Hamas to surrender, wave a white flag, and flee for its life in exchange for the release of all the hostages, down to the last one,” Smotrich insists.
Turning to the West Bank, Smotrich notes that the cabinet has added fighting terror in Judea and Samaria to the war’s goals following his party’s demand and says that this is intended to prevent an attack similar to October 7 in that region.
“The Arab residents of Judea and Samaria should know that if they continue with terrorism, their fate will be the same as the residents of Gaza,” he says.
On ultra-Orthodox conscription, Smotrich says that he will not agree to delay the approval of the 2025 state budget “for any other law that needs to be discussed separately.” Haredi parties have threatened to condition their support of the budget on the prior passage of a law largely exempting their community from military service.
“We have a responsibility to the state and the economy, and I am convinced that all of our partners understand this,” Smotrich says, inviting the public to review a budget document his office has released.
Trump doubles down on permanent relocation for Palestinians, says no right to return to Gaza under his plan
US President Donald Trump says Palestinians would have no right to return to Gaza under his plan for the United States to take over the territory, in an interview excerpt released today.
“No, they wouldn’t, because they’re going to have much better housing,” Trump tells Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier when asked if the Palestinians would have the right to return.
“In other words, I’m talking about building a permanent place for them.”
He spoke of Gaza as “a big real estate site” that the US was “going to own.”
???????????????? — WATCH: Fox News Host Bret Baier: "Will the Palestinians have the right to return?"
Trump: "No, they wouldn't." pic.twitter.com/oL1psqoez4
— Belaaz News (@TheBelaaz) February 10, 2025
In presenting his plan last week, Trump initially said Palestinians would be permanently resettled, though his press secretary Karoline Leavitt quickly walked back the assertion, saying instead that Gazans should instead be “temporarily relocated” for the rebuilding process.
And in a series of interviews aired over the weekend, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that under Trump’s plan to relocate Gazans, Palestinians would eventually be able to return home after being screened.
Israeli forces in northern West Bank detain prominent Hamas operative planning to carry out terror attacks
A prominent Hamas operative who was planning to carry out terror attacks was detained by Israeli forces in the Jenin area in the northern West Bank last night, authorities say.
Members of the Shin Bet security agency, the police’s Yamam counter-terrorism unit, and the IDF operated last night in the village of Silat al-Harithiya and detained several suspects who had been wanted by Israel for a long time.
The detained Palestinians “over the past few months had planned to carry out attacks on behalf of Hamas against Israeli civilians and IDF troops” in the West Bank, the Shin Bet, police, and IDF say in a joint statement.
Among those detained was Alaa al-Bitawi, a resident of Jenin, identified by the Shin Bet as “one of the heads of Hamas” in the Jenin camp.
A handgun and several explosive devices were seized during the arrest of al-Bitawi and the other suspects, the statement adds.
Smotrich rejects ’emotional manipulation’ as ex-hostage’s cousin interrupts faction meeting at Knesset
Eyal Calderon, cousin of released hostage Ofer Calderon, reacts as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich leads a faction meeting of his Religious Zionism party at the Knesset in Jerusalem, February 10, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declares that he will not give in to “emotional manipulation” after Eyal Calderon, the cousin of recently released hostage Ofer Calderon, disrupts a press conference in the Knesset.
Holding up an image of his cousin reuniting with his family, Calderon accuses Smotrich of trying to prevent the former hostage’s release. Smotrich opposed the ceasefire with Hamas and has demanded Israel resume fighting the terror group instead of advancing to the next stage of the deal.
“Is this the picture you tried to prevent?” he asks. “How are we different? If we sacrifice our brothers, how we are different from the Nazis behind the fence [in Gaza]?”
Smotrich respectfully disagrees, arguing that he “will not sacrifice 10 million Jews in the State of Israel.”
Absolute victory lies in “destroying Hamas and Hezbollah and Iran,” Smotrich states, as Calderon is removed from the room. “We won’t give in to this populism.”
Finance Minister Smotrich declares that he will not give in to "emotional manipulation" after Eyal Kalderon, the cousin of recently released hostage Ofer Calderon, disrupts a press conference in the Knesset, accusing the minister of seeking to prevent his cousin's release pic.twitter.com/9n0NOMhUWH
— Sam Sokol (@SamuelSokol) February 10, 2025
PA told Trump aides it’s prepared to end ‘pay-to-slay’ stipends — sources
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on March 31, 2024, in Ramallah. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP)
WASHINGTON — Senior aides to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told top advisers to US President Donald Trump that Ramallah is prepared to reform its controversial welfare system, which included payments to convicted terrorists and the families of slain attackers, a Palestinian source and a Western diplomat familiar with the matter tell The Times of Israel.
The altered policy would base welfare stipends that Palestinian security prisoners receive on the recipient’s financial need rather than the length of their sentence, as is currently the case, the sources tell The Times of Israel, confirming a Channel 12 report.
The reform was advanced through its final stages during the end of the Biden administration, but the PA ultimately held off on announcing the plan, instead preferring to offer its rollout as a gesture of goodwill to the new Trump administration, the two sources say.
PA officials informed Trump counterparts of the proposal, but this took place before the president released his plan for the US to take over Gaza — an idea that will likely re-inflame tensions between Ramallah and the Trump administration, which were high during Trump’s first term.
‘You have been dragging me through hell!’: PM explodes at prosecutors in criminal trial
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the Tel Aviv District Court to testify in the criminal trial against him, February 10, 2025. (Tomer Appelbaum/Pool)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explodes with anger at the prosecutors in the court during his criminal trial hearing, after his lawyer Amit Hadad details an item in the indictment against him that Netanyahu says demonstrates the prosecution’s effort to invent charges against him.
The indictment details an article published on the Walla news website about Netanyahu’s son Avner enlisting in the IDF, which the prosecutors say Netanyahu demanded that Walla’s then-owner Shaul Elovitch publish as part of an illicit quid pro quo agreement between the two, in which the premier received “special treatment” from the news outlet in return for making regulatory decisions which benefited Elovitch’s business interests.
Hadad points out that multiple other outlets published articles on Avner’s IDF enlistment, including Haaretz, which is fiercely critical of Netanyahu, and that the event was in general newsworthy.
“How is it possible that I am indicted for this when it is published in every other outlet including my ‘friend’ [Haaretz publisher Amos] Schocken. You have been dragging me through this hell for eight years. For what? Have you no shame?!” demands Netanyahu of the prosecutors in the courtroom.
“This is unbelievable… Did you check this?… You didn’t check anything. How can you say what is special treatment? You have made this up from beginning to end!”
The hearing ends early after Netanyahu tells the judges that he wishes to speak in a vote of no-confidence motion scheduled in the Knesset this afternoon, and the judges accede.
Lapid says he supports Palestinians leaving Gaza should they wish to, but is against forced explusion
Opposition leader and head of the Yesh Atid party MK Yair Lapid leads a faction meeting at the Knesset, February 10, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Responding to a reporter’s question regarding US President Donald Trump’s plan to resettle the Palestinians of Gaza, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says that he does not believe the proposal involved forcing anybody to leave against their will but rather allowing those who wish to relocate to do so freely.
“I’m against transfer and expulsion by force,” he says.
Lapid launches petition campaign aimed at pressuring government to establish Oct. 7 state inquiry
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid announces that he is launching a petition campaign aimed at pressuring the government to establish a state commission of inquiry into the October 7, 2023, attacks, and accuses the Netanyahu government of seeking to hide its responsibility for the disaster.
“The Israeli government did everything yesterday to bury the state commission of inquiry. They postponed it for another three months. From their perspective, no one at the political level is guilty or responsible for what happened on October 7,” Lapid tells reporters ahead of his Yesh Atid party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.
“They don’t want us to know. They don’t want us to know that the prime minister saw the intelligence and ignored it. They don’t want us to remember that their policy was to strengthen Hamas. They don’t want us to know that they could have prevented the October 7 assault and didn’t. They don’t want us to know how decisions have been made since October 7 and why the hostages are not home yet.”
“If they think they are not guilty, what are they afraid of?” Lapid asks. “Why are they preventing the investigation? We deserve answers.”
Lapid says that his party is now launching a “nationwide campaign” to collect citizens’ signatures on a petition calling for an official state probe and that he will “work together with civil society organizations” to advance the issue.
“I call on the citizens of Israel to sign the petition, either on the street, physically, or digitally, via the internet,” Lapid urges.
Gantz slams government for pushing off decision on state inquiry into Gaza war
National Unity chairman Benny Gantz slams the government’s decision to postpone a decision on establishing a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack.
“The idea of not establishing a state commission of inquiry into the greatest disaster since the Holocaust is a sign of complete disconnection. It is unbelievable,” Gantz tells reporters ahead of his party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.
On Sunday evening, the cabinet discussed forming such a commission, and ultimately postponed a decision on the matter, according to leaks carried by Hebrew media.
Woman, 30, shot dead in Bedouin town of Kuseife
A 30-year-old woman was shot dead in the southern Bedouin town of Kuseife earlier today, a Magen David Adom spokesman says.
Paramedics found the woman unconscious, without a pulse and with gunshot wounds.
She was pronounced dead at the scene after attempts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful.
A police spokesman says officers opened an investigation into the incident and have ruled out a terror motive.
Since the start of 2025, 31 Arab Israelis have been killed as a result of violent crime, according to figures from the Abraham Initiatives coexistence NGO.
Budget deficit narrows to 5.8% of GDP after series of tax hikes takes effect
Israel posts a budget deficit of 5.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the first month of the year, narrowing from 6.9% in December, following a series of tax hikes that came into effect on January 1, according to preliminary figures released by the Finance Ministry.
In January, state revenues jumped 45% to NIS 63.1 billion ($17.7 billion) from NIS 43.1 billion year-on-year bolstered by rising tax revenues. Income from direct taxes soared by almost 61% to NIS 41.3 billion versus the same month last year and indirect taxes rose 22.5% to NIS 20.2 billion.
On January 1, tax hikes came into effect to boost state income and fill a fiscal gap amid high defense expenses in the 15-month multifront war. Value-added tax rose from 17% to 18%. VAT is a consumption tax that is collected through the purchase of goods and services, and is levied on most consumer goods and services, except for fresh produce. Income from VAT collection in January increased by 26% to NIS 16.7 billion year-on-year, according to the Israel Tax Authority.
Meanwhile, government expenditure in January declined 3.5% to NIS 39.9 billion from NIS 41.4 billion during the same month last year due to lower war costs, the ministry says.
Yarden Bibas leaves hospital, family says he won’t fully recover until wife, children are home
Yarden Bibas embraces his father Eli and his sister Ofri at an IDF facility near Re'im after his release from 484 days in Hamas captivity, February 1, 2025. (Screencapture/Israel Defense Forces)
Freed hostage Yarden Bibas has been discharged from the hospital, nine days after his release from captivity in Gaza.
His family says in a statement that his “road to rehabilitation is still long, and will not be complete until Shiri, Ariel, Kfir, and all the hostages return home.”
“Yarden is determined to fight for their return and feels obligated to do everything in his power to ensure that nobody is left behind,” the family adds.
They ask for the public and the media to respect their privacy to allow them “the time and peace needed to recover.”
Yarden was kidnapped separately from his wife Shiri and young sons Ariel and Kfir, and Israel has expressed “grave concern” for their fate.
Haredi MK caught on camera calling female lawmaker ‘an idiot’ after argument over hostage deal
MK Yitzhak Pindrus speaks during a committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on February 10, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
MK Yitzhak Pindrus, of United Torah Judaism, is caught on record calling fellow lawmaker Merav Cohen “an idiot” in a heated exchange in the hallways of the Knesset following a stormy meeting of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.
The incident, caught on video and shared on social media, comes after Cohen, a Yesh Atid MK, asked during the committee meeting why the Haredi party wasn’t doing more to ensure that the hostage deal doesn’t collapse before it reaches the next phase.
“Why do you only threaten to overthrow the government to promote evading IDF conscription, and not when it comes to the Jewish commandment of rescuing hostages?” Cohen inquires, to which Pindrus responds that the Haredi party does not adopt any independent stances, and instead follows the advice of its Torah scholars.
Cohen, visibly angered, shoots back, “When you want financial allowances, you threaten to bring down the government, but now, you’re not threatening to bring it down. Don’t hide behind your Torah scholars… when you want something, you know how to get it!”
At this point, Pindrus has Cohen removed from the room before proceeding with the meeting.
Shortly after, however, he declares that he is “shutting down the discussion” while the families of the hostages are speaking, sparking renewed anger from committee members, including National Unity MK Pnina Tamano-Shata who suggests taking a five-minute break and returning.
Rejecting her suggestion, Pindrus simply declares the meeting with the hostages’ relatives over and leaves the room.
Minutes later, while talking to Tamano-Shata in an exchange caught on video and shared on social media, Pindrus declares that Cohen is an “idiot” and says that the argument — apparently over the hostages’ families not being heard out — “doesn’t interest me at all.”
Israeli team returns from negotiations in Doha ahead of cabinet meeting on second phase of hostage deal
The Israeli delegation has returned from Doha, some 24 hours after it was dispatched to participate in talks on the ongoing ceasefire and hostage release deal, Hebrew media report.
The team has returned to Israel ahead of tomorrow’s security cabinet meeting on the state of negotiations for the second phase of the deal.
Iran’s Pezeshkian questions sincerity of Trump’s desire to negotiate new nuclear deal
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian questions the United States’ sincerity in seeking negotiations with Tehran as crowds of people, many chanting “Death to America,” rally across the country to mark the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
US President Donald Trump last week restored his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran that includes efforts to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and tightened sanctions. At the same time, however, he said that he was open to a deal with Iran and expressed a willingness to talk to Pezeshkian.
Pezeshkian, in a televised speech at Tehran’s Azadi (Freedom) Square, says: “If the US were sincere about negotiations, why did they sanction us?”
He says Tehran “does not seek war… but will not yield to foreign pressure.”
Iranian state television shows hundreds of thousands of people turning out to mark the anniversary of the 1979 revolution in a rally the clerical establishment billed as a chance to show unity amid mounting US and Israel pressure.
“Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” shouted demonstrators in cities and towns across Iran, repeating the ritual chant of the revolution which toppled the US-backed shah and swept the Shiite Muslim clergy to power.
‘I thought they were terrorizing me psychologically’: Arbel Yehoud didn’t believe captors when they said hostages had become politicized
Arbel Yehoud, who was taken hostage with her boyfriend, Ariel Cunio, from their Kibbutz Nir Oz home on October 7. (Courtesy)
Released hostage Arbel Yehoud condemns the politicization of the hostages and calls on the government to agree to a comprehensive one-time deal for the release of those still in captivity, in a message read aloud by her father to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
“I learned Arabic within a month, and I heard my captors express joy at the division in our nation over the issue of the hostages’ release,” Yehiel Yehoud reads from his daughter’s statement. “I thought they were terrorizing me psychologically when the issue of the hostages became a political issue. I didn’t believe it until I returned to Israel and was exposed to this harsh reality.”
“I was held for 482 days without seeing or hearing a single Israeli, from the time that I was separated from my partner Ariel Cunio three hours after I was kidnapped until I met Gadi [Mozes]. You can imagine for yourselves some of the horrors I went through during my time in captivity, which all of you saw on the day of my release,” Yehoud writes.
“Despite that, I returned with the goal of saving my beloved Ariel, his brother David, and all the rest of the hostages… alongside the long rehabilitation process that awaits me.”
She recalls how, hours after she returned to Israel, she turned to her father not to give up on the fight.
“‘I need Ariel in order to recover,'” Yehiel quotes his daughter’s words.
“Bring everyone back in one go — the living and the dead, and don’t scare the citizens with the price, but scare yourselves, and maybe that’s what will ensure that you protect the citizens of this country better in the future.”
Protesters gather in support of detained Jerusalem booksellers accused of stocking texts containing incitement
Protesters demonstrate against the detention of Palestinian booksellers Mahmoud and Ahmad Muna in Jerusalem on February 10, 2025. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)
Outside the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court, a small group of demonstrators protests the arrest of Palestinian booksellers Ahmad and Mahmoud Muna, detained last night by Jerusalem police.
Inside, a hearing is to be held on the police request to keep the two men in custody for a further eight days
Among those demonstrating are MK Ayman Odeh and author Nathan Thrall. Representatives from the UK, the European Union and several of its member states, Switzerland, and Brazil are waiting for the hearing.
Knesset MK Ayman Odeh and author Nathan Thrall among those protesting the arrest of Ahmad and Mahmoud Muna, owners of the Educational Bookshop, this morning in Jerusalem pic.twitter.com/xGuvyswuos
— charlie summers (@cbsu03) February 10, 2025
“There is a Palestinian nation, and they want to deny that idea, so it has now gotten to the point where they are raiding bookstores,” Odeh says to The Times of Israel.
Police accuse the booksellers, who own the Educational Bookshop, of selling texts containing incitement and support for terrorism, including a children’s coloring book titled “From the River to the Sea.”
נציגים דיפלומטים של המדינות הבאות נמצאים במסדרון המעצרים בבית משפט השלום בירושלים בהמתנה לדיון בבקשת המעצר של מוכרי הספרים: הולנד, בריטניה, בלגיה, ברזיל, האיחוד האירופאי, צרפת, שוויץ, אירלנד, שבדיה. pic.twitter.com/losRl3X6rB
— نير حسون Nir Hasson ניר חסון (@nirhasson) February 10, 2025
Netanyahu returns to court for criminal trial testimony, says he is facing medical ‘challenges’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at Tel Aviv District Court to testify in the criminal trial against him, February 10, 2025. (Tomer Appelbaum/Pool)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s criminal trial on corruption charges resumes in the Tel Aviv District Court following the premier’s return from Washington yesterday.
Netanyahu did not appear in court to testify last week as he was in the US, and in the week prior, two out of the three hearings were canceled because one of the judges had the flu.
At the start of his hearing, Netanyahu says he is facing medical “challenges,” and has been prescribed high doses of antibiotics.
He describes his visit to the US to meet with President Donald Trump as “historic,” but says it was “medically challenging.” The prime minister underwent surgery to remove his prostate in December 2024 and has experienced postoperative complications including infections.
Netanyahu says he is currently being prescribed 1,500mg a day of antibiotics which he says is “increasing the challenge,” and says he will need regular breaks during the day of testimony.
Senior Hamas leader says US plans for Gaza are ‘doomed’
Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya gives a televised speech about the hostage-ceasefire deal between the Palestinian terror group and Israel, in the Qatari capital of Doha on January 15, 2025. (YouTube screenshot used in accordance with article 27a of the Copyright Law)
Senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya says that the plans of the West — the United States — and US President Donald Trump for the Gaza Strip are “doomed.”
“We will bring them down as we brought down the projects before them,” he says during a commemoration of the 46th anniversary of the Iranian revolution in Tehran.
Trump said yesterday that he was committed to buying and owning Gaza, but could allow sections of the war-ravaged land to be rebuilt by other countries in the Middle East.
IDF warns Gazans against approaching troops, entering restricted areas
After withdrawing from the entire Netzarim Corridor in the central Gaza Strip yesterday, the IDF again warns Palestinians against approaching troops and entering prohibited areas.
Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, publishes a map of the current military deployment in a buffer zone inside Gaza and along the Philadelphi Corridor on the border with Egypt.
Palestinian civilians are able to return to the northern Gaza Strip through the Netzarim Corridor on foot via the Salah a-Din and coastal roads without inspection. Vehicular traffic is only permitted on the Salah a-Din road, where a private company is inspecting Palestinian cars heading north.
“We note that the movement of gunmen or the transfer of weapons through these routes to the northern Gaza Strip is strictly prohibited and will be considered a breach of the agreement,” Adraee says.
“We call on you to refrain from cooperating with any terror group seeking to exploit you in order to transfer weapons or prohibited materials,” he says.
Adraee warns Palestinians against approaching the Philadelphi Corridor and the buffer zone along the entire border with the Strip, where troops are currently deployed. He also warns fishermen, swimmers, and divers not to enter the sea along the entire Strip.
#عاجل‼️ بيان عاجل إلى سكان قطاع غزة،
⭕️بناءً على الاتفاق الذي تم التوصل إليه وبعد استكمال استعدادات قوات جيش الدفاع تتاح عودة السكان مشيًا إلى شمال قطاع غزة عبر شارع صلاح الدين.
????كما وننوه إلى بقية التعليمات السارية على هذه المنطقة:
⭕️عودة السكان مشيًا إلى شمال قطاع غزة عبر محور… pic.twitter.com/fYKLZRcdT2— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) February 10, 2025
Pro-Palestinian protester at Super Bowl was halftime performer, hid flag on person, NFL confirms
A pro-Palestinian protester waves a combined Sudanese-Palestinian flag during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, February 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
The pro-Palestinian protester who attempted to interrupt the Super Bowl halftime show was a cast member in Kendrick Lamar’s performance, the NFL has confirmed.
The protester was detained on the field and could face charges after unfurling a combination Sudanese-Palestinian flag with “Sudan” and “Gaza” written on it.
The NFL confirms the person was part of the 400-member field cast. The New Orleans Police Department says in a statement that “law enforcement is working to determine applicable charges in this incident.”
“The individual will (be) banned for life from all NFL stadiums and events,” NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy says in an emailed statement.
The performer stood on a car used as a prop for Lamar’s performance and held up the flag. The NFL says “the individual hid the item on his person and unveiled it late in the show” and that “no one involved with the production was aware of the individual’s intent.”
Roc Nation, the entertainment company that produced the show, says that the act “was neither planned nor part of the production and was never in any rehearsal.”
The show continued without interruption, and it did not seem as though the person was shown on the broadcast of Lamar’s performance.
For first time since 2022, Arab lawmakers meet with acting national security minister to tackle soaring homicide rates
Lawmakers from the Knesset’s Arab parties met with acting National Security Minister Haim Katz yesterday to discuss rocketing violence in Israel’s Arab communities, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
The meeting was the first of its kind to take place since the November 2022 elections, as Katz’s predecessor Itamar Ben Gvir declined to meet with the lawmakers on the issue. The ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit leader is expected to rejoin the government and take back over the reins of the National Security Ministry following the end of the ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas in Gaza.
As such, Ra’am chair Mansour Abbas proposed a series of measures that could be implemented immediately in order to combat violent crime in Arab society, Kan reports, telling Katz that they have “a one-month opportunity” to create change.
According to the report, the measures proposed by the lawmakers include establishing a surveillance system in high-crime areas that would be monitored on a national scale rather than by individual localities, and the regulated use of surveillance technology against known criminal organizations.
Arab mayors who participated in the meeting also requested the government declare tackling crime in the Arab sector a “national goal” and strengthen dialogue and cooperation between the police and local authority heads.
Violent crime rates in the Arab community have soared in recent years, and data released by the Israel Police last month showed that homicide rates doubled in 2023, with a record 244 victims in the Israeli-Arab community.
Last month, violent crime claimed 21 lives, more than double that of the corresponding month last year.
Petah Tikva mayor detained for questioning on suspicion of bribery, breach of trust
Petah Tikva Mayor Rami Greenberg has been detained for questioning by the Israel Police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit on suspicion of involvement in bribery and breach of trust offenses, Hebrew media report.
The director general of the Petah Tikva municipality has been detained for questioning as well, reports add.
Greenberg, along with several of his associates, is the subject of an ongoing corruption probe into allegations of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, false registration of corporate documents, money laundering and tax crimes.
Greenberg was previously arrested and released to house arrest in August 2022.
Pro-Palestinian protester tries to run onto field during Super Bowl halftime show
Security grabs a protester holding Palestinian and Sudanese flags with the words "Gaza" and "Sudan" as US rapper Kendrick Lamar performs during the Super Bowl halftime show at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, February 9, 2025. (Photo by Chandan Khanna / AFP)
A pro-Palestinian protester tried to storm the field during the Super Bowl halftime show.
The man, waving Palestinian and Sudanese flags with the words “Gaza” and “Sudan,” made his dash during US rapper Kendrick Lamar’s performance, and was stopped by security.
A protester holds Palestinian and Sudanese flags with the words “Gaza” and “Sudan” as US rapper Kendrick Lamar performs during the Super Bowl halftime show at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, February 9, 2025. (Photo by Chandan Khanna / AFP)
Eagles beat Chiefs 40-22 to win Super Bowl, with Trump in attendance
The Philadelphia Eagles roar to a sensational 40-22 Super Bowl victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, shattering their opponents’ bid for a historic hat-trick of NFL titles in a rout watched by US President Donald Trump.
Family of hostage Eliya Cohen is told he’s held chained, with little food or daylight
Eliya Cohen was wounded after fleeing the Re'im-area Supernova rave on October 7, 2023, and taken captive by Hamas terrorists. (Courtesy)
In addition to the details unveiled Sunday about the brutal captivity conditions suffered by Alon Ohel in Gaza, the family of fellow hostage Eliya Cohen have also said they received harrowing information.
Cohen, who unlike Ohel is set to be released in the current first phase of the ceasefire and hostage deal with the Hamas terror group, has been chained throughout his time in captivity and gets very little food or daylight, his family has been told, according to Hebrew media reports.
The new details have been provided by hostages who recently returned from captivity after more than 15 months of being held by Palestinian terrorists.
Sigi Cohen, Eliya’s mother, tells the Israel Hayom daily that Or Levy and Eli Sharabi, who were released on Saturday in extremely poor physical shape, have said Eliya Cohen was held with them in tunnels, adding that she was rattled by the details and by the released hostage’s appearances, which show they’ve been “going through a Holocaust.”
She says Eliya is wounded in his leg and hasn’t received appropriate medical attention.
“It’s frightening to hear that they are abusing them now as well. They said they were abused recently,” Sigi adds, lamenting that there are 22 young men in captivity who aren’t slated for release in the current phase “and who aren’t being talked about.”
She calls for releasing all the captives, “no matter the price.”
Police said to raid leading bookstore in East Jerusalem, arrest owner, seize books
Israel Police officers have reportedly raided two famous bookstores in East Jerusalem that focus on Palestinian identity and the Israeli-Arab conflict, confiscating many books and arresting the owner of the chain for the night.
According to Haaretz, the cops came to the Educational Bookshop’s two stores under a court-granted search warrant, arresting owner Mahmoud Muna and his nephew, Ahmad Muna, who will spend the night at the police headquarters at the Russian Compound.
תקראו כדי להבין לאן הגענו:
היום פשטו שוטרים על שתי החנויות של Educational Bookshop במזרח ירושלים, החרימו ספרים ועצרו את הבעלים (צו החיפוש ניתן ע"י השופטת חוי טוקר). אחיו של אחד הבעלים מספר: "הם עברו עם גוגל טרנסלייט על הספרים וכל מה שלא מצא חן בעינהם הם לקחו. הם אפילו נתקלו>> pic.twitter.com/hg1Q9TR8YS— نير حسون Nir Hasson ניר חסון (@nirhasson) February 9, 2025
Haaretz quotes the brother of one of the owners as claiming the officers used Google translate to determine which books — most of which are in Arabic — to confiscate.
“They took any book they didn’t like,” he reportedly says. “They even saw a Haaretz newspaper with images of hostages, asked what it was and said it was incitement. They took any book with a Palestinian flag.”
The report says the owners are formally suspected of disrupting public order rather than of incitement, since the latter requires approval by prosecutors.
אין דיפלומט, עיתונאי זר, תייר מתעניין או חוקר של ירושלים והסכסוך שלא מכיר את החנויות האלו ואת הבעלים, מחמוד מונא, שיבלה את הלילה במגרש הרוסים (ביחד עם אחיינו, אחמד מונא).
הנה למשל כמה מהספרים שנלקחו בחיפוש והוחזרו הערב: pic.twitter.com/Qffns86vs1— نير حسون Nir Hasson ניר חסון (@nirhasson) February 9, 2025
Last week, police shuttered a bookstore in Jerusalem’s Old City for selling books containing “inciting content” revolving around Yahya Sinwar and Hassan Nasrallah, among others. They detained the shop owner, a resident of the Old City in his 40s, brought him in for questioning and ordered his business closed for 30 days.
Charlie Summers contributed to this report.
Cabinet meeting ends; decision on forming state commission of inquiry delayed by 3 months
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on February 9, 2025. (GPO/Screenshot)
A cabinet meeting ends after some four hours of discussions on potentially forming a state commission of inquiry into the failure to prevent Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, Hebrew media reports.
The ministers decide to hold another meeting on the subject in 90 days.
The meeting was convened only due to a December 2024 ruling from the High Court of Justice, which ordered the government to hold a hearing on the establishment of a state commission of inquiry within 60 days.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly ruled out the possibility of establishing any inquiry before the end of the war, and critics have alleged he seeks to establish a panel with fewer powers than a state commission, fearing it would implicate him in the disaster.
Egypt says it rejects ‘misleading accusations’ made by Netanyahu in US media
Egypt disapproves of statements made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in US media, describing them as “misleading accusations,” the country’s foreign ministry says.
In an interview with Fox News, Netanyahu accused Egypt of preventing Gazans from leaving the territory. “Some would bribe the gatekeepers,” he said. “So, the very rich got out, but those who wanted to leave couldn’t,” he added, arguing that Palestinians in Gaza should be given the option to relocate.
It is unclear if the foreign ministry is referring to the Fox News interview.
Trump: 3 Israeli hostages released Saturday ‘looked like Holocaust survivors’; at some point, ‘we’re going to lose our patience’
Top row, left to right: Released hostages Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami seen on a stage set up by Hamas in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, before the terror group handed them over to the Red Cross, February 8, 2025. Bottom row, the three Israelis as pictured before they were abducted. (Eyad Baba / AFP; courtesy)
In his remarks to reporters aboard Air Force One, US President Donald Trump says the three Israeli hostages who were released Saturday by Hamas looking gaunt and frail resembled Jews under Nazi Germany, warning that “at some point, we’re gonna lose our patience.”
Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami “looked like Holocaust survivors,” Trump says. “They were in horrible condition, they were emaciated… and I don’t know how much longer we can take that.”
He goes on to say the trio “look like they haven’t had a meal in a month,” and that they are “people that were healthy people a reasonably short number of years ago, and you look at them today, they look like they’ve aged 25 years, they literally look like the old pictures of Holocaust survivors, the same thing. No reason for that.”
Trump notes that according to the current ceasefire and hostage deal, captives are supposed to “keep drippling in,” but adds: “They are in really bad shape, they have been treated brutally, horribly. Even the ones that came out earlier, they were in a little bit better shape, but mentally they were treated so badly. Who could take that?
“You know, at some point, we’re gonna lose our patience.”
I watched the hostages come back today. And they looked like Holocaust surivors. They were in horrible condition. They were emacitated. It looked like many years ago the Holocaust survivors. I don't know how much longer we can take that…We're going to lose our patience"
– Trump pic.twitter.com/axyUrhlzPG— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) February 9, 2025
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