Live updates (closed)
The Times of Israel liveblogged Tuesday’s events as they unfolded.
Palestinian man detained in West Bank with assault rifle, says IDF
The IDF says a Palestinian suspect was detained by troops in the West Bank this evening after an assault rifle was found in his car.
The man was stopped by troops of the Nahal Brigade near the village of Shufa, close to Tulkarem, the army says.
He was handed over to the Shin Bet for further questioning.
Report says man killed in central Gaza was elite PIJ commander, after IDF said strikes targeted Hamas
The UK-based Arabic outlet Asharq al-Awsat identifies Assem Abu Holi, one of the people killed by the IDF in central Gaza earlier today, as “the commander of the elite unit in al-Quds Brigades,” the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The strike also critically wounded another PIJ operative who was with Abu Holi, and killed an elderly male passerby, according to the outlet. Some reports had indicated three people were killed in the strike.
The report comes after the IDF confirmed carrying out strikes across the Gaza Strip, which the military said targeted Hamas operatives in response to an attack on troops yesterday in the Rafah area. The military’s statement did not mention PIJ.
According to Palestinian media, Abu Holi was killed in a strike on a motorized bike traveling on Gaza’s central Salah al-Din Road, at the entrance to the al-Musaddar, east of Deir al-Balah and inside the Hamas-controlled side of the Gaza ceasefire line.
مراسل الجزيرة مباشر: شهيدان جراء استهداف الاحتلال دراجة نارية على مدخل منطقة المصدر وسط قطاع غزة pic.twitter.com/dZtVoDrZCs
— الجزيرة مباشر (@ajmubasher) February 10, 2026
4 arrested during Haifa protest against soaring violent crime in Arab community
Police arrest four protesters in Haifa during a demonstration demanding law enforcement take action against violent crime in Arab locales.
In footage of one of the arrests, a pair of police officers are seen holding a man to the ground, one with a knee on the man’s neck.
Mounted officers are also at the scene, alongside a handful of undercover police.
Police say they arrested the demonstrators after they “continued with an illegal procession against the conditions” on which the protest was approved. Some of them attempted to block traffic, police add.
The demonstration, organized by the Jewish-Arab movement Standing Together, saw about 200 people turn out in Haifa’s German Colony.
It caps off today’s string of protests over the spiraling murder rate in Arab society, which activists claim is fueled by police neglect.
A man was shot to death this evening in Kafr Kanna, an Arab town in the Galilee, marking the 40th homicide since the start of the year.
הערב בחיפה – מעצר אלים של מפגין.
אחד השוטרים מצמיד ברך לצווארו של המפגין.10/02/2026 חיפה מתוך החשבון של @BetterPocker pic.twitter.com/I9xrBOlQJk
— אלימות ישראל (@Alimut_Israel) February 10, 2026
Albanese attends but does not address Chabad memorial for Bondi Beach victims
President Isaac Herzog, left, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, center, attend a ceremony at the Chabad of Bondi in Sydney, Australia, February 10, 2026. (Bianca De Marchi/Pool via AP)
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese did not give a speech at a memorial event today for the victims of the Bondi Beach Hanukkah shooting that he attended in Sydney alongside visiting President Isaac Herzog.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Albanese read out loud the names of the 15 victims of the massacre during a ceremony at the Chabad of Bondi. The newspaper says that the prime minister then met privately with the families of the victims.
As the event was ongoing, a large pro-Palestinian protest was held in central Sydney. Albanese has defended his invitation to Herzog to visit, despite anger from anti-Israel activists, and has called for calm at the protests.
Some analysts have speculated that Albanese — who has faced harsh criticism from some in the Jewish community for his failure to prevent the attack — was concerned over the reception he might receive in the Chabad House.
In his own address at the event, Herzog said that “what we saw in Bondi, the blood-curdling act of blind hatred, hatred of Jews, hatred of Australian values, simply has no place in this country, or anywhere for that matter.”
Trump: Netanyahu ‘wants a good deal’ with Iran, says nuclear talks this time ‘are different’
US President Donald Trump (right) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leave at the conclusion of a joint press conference at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 29, 2025. (Jim WATSON / AFP)
On the eve of his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump tells an Israeli reporter that the Israeli premier “wants a deal” with Iran, and says nuclear talks this time show promise.
“Last time they didn’t believe I would do it,” Trump tells Barak Ravid, a reporter with both Israel’s Channel 12 and the Axios news site, about the American strikes in June 2025 on Iran’s nuclear sites just days after the collapse of diplomatic negotiations.
“They overplayed their hand,” says Trump. This time around, the negotiations are “very different,” he adds. “We can make a great deal with Iran.”
The US president avers that Netanyahu is not against the current US-Iran talks, which included a high-level meeting over the weekend in Oman: “He also wants a deal. He wants a good deal.”
Iran, Trump says, also “wants to make a deal very badly.”
But Trump tells Ravid that the US isn’t afraid to play tough: “Either we will make a deal or we will have to do something very tough like last time.”
The US president says that “we have an armada that is heading there and another one might be going,” adding that he is “thinking” of sending another aircraft carrier strike group, after boosting the US military presence in the region in recent weeks.
Netanyahu to tell Trump that phase 2 of Gaza peace plan ‘is not moving,’ says source
US President Donald Trump (R) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands as they arrive to speak to journalists during a joint press conference at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 29, 2025. (Jim Watson / AFP)
In his meeting with US President Donald Trump tomorrow, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will stress that phase two of the Gaza ceasefire “is not moving,” an Israeli source with knowledge of the details tells The Times of Israel.
Israel has been telling the US that another IDF operation in Gaza is necessary in order to move to Trump’s vision for Gaza and the region, according to the source.
Man in his 30s shot dead in Kafr Kanna
A man has been shot dead in the northern town of Kafr Kanna, police say, as violent crime continues to run rampant in Arab society.
Paramedics found the victim, a man in his 30s identified by Arabic outlets as Salah Jabr, in critical condition. He was rushed to the hospital, but declared dead upon arrival.
The killing comes after a string of nationwide protests demanding police take action against near-daily homicides in Arab cities and towns.
Jabr’s killing marks the 40th homicide to rock Arab society since the start of the year.
Police have launched an investigation into the shooting and say they are searching for the perpetrators. No arrests have yet been reported.
Satellite images: US forces in Qatar loaded missiles on truck launchers amid Iran tensions
US forces in Qatar’s al-Udeid, the biggest US base in the Middle East, put missiles into truck launchers as tensions with Iran ratcheted up since January, analysis of satellite images shows, meaning they could be moved more quickly.
The decision to keep the Patriot missiles in mobile trucks rather than semi-static launcher stations — meaning they could rapidly deploy to strike or be moved defensively in case of an Iranian attack — shows how risks heightened as frictions grew.
A comparison of satellite photographs in early February with those taken in January shows a recent build-up of aircraft and other military equipment across the region, says William Goodhind, a forensic imagery analyst with Contested Ground.
At al-Udeid, the Patriot missiles were visible, parked and mounted into M983 Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks (HEMTT) at the start of February, Goodhind says.
“The decision to do so gives the Patriots much greater mobility, meaning they can be moved to an alternative site or repositioned with greater speed,” he says.
It is not clear today whether the missiles were still in the HEMTTs.
A spokesperson for the Pentagon is not immediately available for comment.
Venezuela shipping crude oil to Israel after its exports reopen, reports Bloomberg
Fishermen pass an oil tanker in the Gulf of Venezuela off the shore of Punta Cardon, Venezuela, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP/Matias Delacroix)
A crude oil shipment from Venezuela is reportedly heading to Israel after its exports have reopened following the capture of president Nicolas Maduro by the US a month ago.
According to the Bloomberg financial news outlet, the cargo is being transported to Haifa’s Bazan Group.
The news site says the shipment in question will mark the first sale of Venezuelan oil to Israel since mid-2020.
Bazan and Israel’s Energy Ministry declined to comment to Bloomberg.
US announces new sanctions targeting Hezbollah financiers
Mourners attend a ceremony marking the first anniversary of Israel's assassination of the longtime Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in the town of Deir Qanoun al-Nahr near Tyre in southern Lebanon on September 27, 2025. (Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)
The US State Department announces fresh sanctions on Hezbollah operatives it accuses of continuing “to exploit Lebanon’s informal financial sector” to generate revenue for the Iran-backed terror group.
The US Treasury says the sanctions will apply to gold exchange company Jood SARL as well as Russian national Andrey Viktorovich Borisov, Lebanon’s Mohamed Nayef Maged and several shipping companies.
“These actors have supported sanctions evasion schemes involving Hezbollah-controlled financial institution Al-Qard Al-Hassan (AQAH) and an Iran-based Hezbollah finance team operative,” the statement from the State Department adds.
The move is part of US President Donald Trump’s “government policy of maximum pressure against Iran’s regime and its terrorist proxies,” it adds.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says that Hezbollah “is a threat to peace and stability in the Middle East,” and that the US will “work to cut these terrorists off from the global financial system to give Lebanon a chance to be peaceful and prosperous again.”
In 1st, Israel to revoke citizenship and deport 2 Israelis convicted of terror charges
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces that this morning he signed the revocation of citizenship and deportation orders for two Israeli terrorists who carried out stabbing and shooting attacks against Israeli civilians.
The move marks the first implementation of a February 2023 law allowing the revocation of citizenship from convicted terrorists and their deportation. Defense Minister Israel Katz and coalition whip Likud MK Ofir Katz, who initiated the law, announced last year that Israel was set to implement the law for such terrorists who are receiving payments from the Palestinian Authority, with proceedings initiated against hundreds of citizens.
In a statement announcing the move, Netanyahu says the two terrorists “were rewarded for their criminal acts by the Palestinian Authority,” and thanks MK Katz for leading the legislation “that will expel them from Israel — and many more like them are on the way.”
The two terrorists are identified as Mahmoud Ahmad — sentenced to 23 years in prison for shooting attacks against soldiers and civilians — and Mohammed Ahmad Hussein al-Halsi — sentenced in 2016 to 18 years for stabbing elderly women in Armon HaNatziv, in a statement from MK Katz cited by Ynet. Ahmad was released in 2024 and will be deported immediately, while al-Hals will be deported upon his release, the report adds.
The Walla news site reports that the two terrorists will be deported to the Gaza Strip. The Prime Minister’s Office does not immediately confirm the deportation destination.
EU clears Google to purchase Israeli-founded cybersecurity unicorn Wiz for $32B
View of the Wiz cybersecurity company offices in Tel Aviv, July 15, 2024. (Flash90)
Google has been granted EU regulatory clearance to acquire Israeli-founded cybersecurity unicorn Wiz for a staggering $32 billion.
The European Commission says it concluded that the transaction would raise no competition concerns in the European Economic Area (‘EEA’).
The deal, announced in March last year, is the largest-ever purchase of an Israeli tech company. For Google, it is the largest acquisition the search giant has ever made, more than double its record purchase of Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion in 2012.
Shin Bet removes Russian-Israeli journalist from PM’s plane at last minute
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to reporters before boarding Wing of Zion at Ben Gurion Airport on February 10, 2026. (Avi Ohayon/GPO)
Israeli-Russian freelance journalist Nick Kolyohin was removed by Shin Bet agents from the Wing of Zion plane this morning after boarding the aircraft for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s flight to Washington, Channel 12 reports.
Kolyohin says he had originally received approval from the Prime Minister’s Office to join the flight along with a slate of other journalists.
“If there are checks, do them in advance. Why at the last minute, and why without an explanation?” he tells Channel 12.
Kolyohin works as a contributor to the right-wing US TV station Newsmax as well as the Chinese news agency Xinhua, which has sparked suspicion from Hebrew media in recent years over the use of sponsored content and foreign political or state affiliations. The Seventh Eye media watchdog has accused Kolyohin — who previously worked for Israel’s Channel 10 TV station (now Channel 13) — of being paid to promote Russian interests, which he has vehemently denied.
Kolyohin tells Channel 12 that such allegations amount to defamation and that he is currently pursuing a civil legal process on the matter.
The Shin Bet says in a statement to the Hebrew network that: “In accordance with the agency’s mission and duties under the law, the agency is responsible, among other things, for the security of the prime minister. Within this framework, decisions are made in order to reduce risk to the prime minister and to the information in his surroundings. By their nature, it is not possible to comment on the reasons underlying specific decisions.”
Netanyahu still planning another trip to Washington next week, says Israeli official
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to reporters before boarding Wing of Zion at Ben Gurion Airport on February 10, 2026. (Lazar Berman/Times of Israel)
Despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s two-day flight to Washington this week, his trip slated for February 18-22 has not been canceled, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
If he does make another trip to Washington next week, Netanyahu would participate in the meeting of the Board of Peace on February 19 and speak to the AIPAC conference on February 22, the official adds.
Amid Epstein fallout, UK’s Starmer says he will ‘never walk away’ from mandate
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at Horntye Park Sports Complex, in St Leonards-on-Sea, southeast England, February 5, 2026. (Peter Nicholls / POOL / AFP)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he will never walk away from his mandate, amid mounting pressure on his leadership over the appointment of former ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson.
“I will never walk away from the mandate that I was given to change this country,” Starmer says. “I will never walk away from the people that I’m charged with fighting for, and I will never walk away from the country that I love.”
Kazakhstan signs multimillion-dollar infrastructure project with Israel’s national water company
A worker at the Eshkol water filtration plant in northern Israel, operated by Israel's national water company, Mekorot. (Moshe Shai/Flash90)
Following Kazakhstan’s joining of the Abraham Accords in November, Israel’s government-owned Mekorot water company is set to begin operations in the Muslim-majority country for the first time, a company spokesman tells The Times of Israel, confirming a Channel 12 report.
An agreement on the deal has been signed by the national water company and the project – valued at tens of millions of dollars – is already underway, the spokesman confirms.
The deal aims to increase access to water sources in Kazakhstan, which faces trouble in transporting water to consumers due to geographic constraints. Mekorot, one of the leading companies specializing in desalination, water resource management, wastewater processing and international cooperation, is also pursuing projects in Azerbaijan, Jordan, Bahrain, Morocco and Iraq.
A more detailed announcement on the new deal is expected tomorrow, according to the Mekorot spokesman.
3 teenagers arrested over November settler attack on West Bank Palestinian village
Attackers seen on CCTV footage during an alleged attack by settler extremists on the Palestinian town of Jaba in the West Bank, November 17, 2025. (Screenshot/X; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Police have arrested three teenage settlers on suspicion of torching cars and buildings during an attack on a West Bank Palestinian village in November, law enforcement announces.
The investigation has been ongoing for several months into the attack, in which dozens of Jewish extremists burned three vehicles and three buildings in Jaba, a village west of Bethlehem.
According to the IDF, the attack was carried out in November in connection with the government’s evacuation and demolition of Tzur Misgavi, an outpost in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc. Police say the attack “caused heavy damage, without any casualties.”
The three suspects, ages 17-19, reside in Kiryat Arba, a West Bank settlement, and Ma’alot, in northern Israel. They were apprehended today and are being questioned by West Bank District police investigators, police say.
Dutch police arrest 15 people for ‘spreading Islamic State propaganda’
“Dutch police say they have arrested 15 people suspected of spreading Islamic State propaganda on TikTok, accusing them of trying to “incite others to commit terrorist crimes.”
Police launched a nationwide swoop on the suspects, aged between 16 and 53, after an investigation dating back to August 2025.
The Islamic State propaganda, with Dutch subtitles, “included calls to join the fight and glorification of martyrdom,” the public prosecution office (OM) says in a statement.
Some of the TikTok posts had been viewed more than 100,000 times, authorities add.
Those arrested are suspected of “incitement to commit a terrorist offense, disseminating ISIS propaganda, and/or participating in a terrorist organization,” says the OM.
Thirteen suspects have Syrian nationality. Four of the suspects are minors.
“Glorifying and disseminating propaganda significantly undermines public safety,” says the OM, noting that publishing Islamic State propaganda is a punishable offense.
Authorities do not rule out further arrests from their investigation.
Teachers union chief in talks with Finance Ministry to move to five-day school week
File: Children go to school in Sderot (Anna Kaplan /FLASH90)
Israel Teachers Union chief Yaffa Ben David says that she is negotiating with the Finance Ministry regarding shortening the school week, among other things, following Hebrew media reports that the ministry would be overhauling the elementary education system.
“I agree to shortening the week to five days, but I have conditions: teachers will work four days a week and have one day at home for errands and professional development,” Ben David says, speaking at the annual conference of the Association of Local Government Education Department Directors, held in Eilat.
Her comments follow a Ynet news report today that said that the Finance Ministry was planning to shorten the school week from six days to five days, and also shorten the summer break, so that the school year will begin as early as August 15 instead of September 1.
“Instructional hours in elementary schools need to be reduced to 23 hours, like in middle schools. That is what I will demand. We will fight to reduce teaching hours. In Israel, we study more than in all OECD countries,” she says.
Israel is currently one of the only OECD countries where students study six days a week instead of five.
While she expresses interest in shortening the work week, Ben David flatly rejects shortening the summer vacation period.
“Shortening the summer vacation will not happen, period,” she states, but declines to provide further details, adding that she “conducts negotiations with the Finance Ministry, not the media.”
According to the report, a pilot program is set to be implemented in the coming weeks that would see no classes on Fridays in elementary schools across 30 municipalities in central Israel, including Ra’anana, which the Education Ministry denies.
Teachers went on strike across the country last year over the Finance Ministry’s proposed cuts to teachers’ salaries, already among the lowest of OECD countries, to help finance the war in Gaza. The Israel Teachers’ Union reached an agreement with the Finance Ministry after a Tel Aviv Labor Court ordered teachers to return to work in May 2025.
Likud minister says West Bank measures amount to ‘de facto sovereignty’
Energy Minister Eli Cohen attends the conference for Sovereignty in Judea and Samaria at the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 21, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Energy Minister Eli Cohen says that measures adopted by the government that deepen Israeli control over the West Bank amount to implementing “de facto sovereignty.”
The steps “actually establish a fact on the ground that there will not be a Palestinian state,” Cohen, a member of the ruling Likud party, tells Army Radio.
The US, the EU and a number of Muslim countries have expressed concern over the measures, with the White House stressing yesterday that US President Donald Trump “does not support Israel annexing the West Bank.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently on his way to Washington to meet with Trump tomorrow, with Iran set to dominate the agenda.
German envoys to Israel, Ramallah decry Israel’s new West Bank policies as ‘further obstacle’ to 2-state solution
This picture shows an Israeli flag fluttering above the Israeli settlement of Beit Romano (unseen), with Palestinian buildings in the background, in the West Bank city of Hebron on February 9, 2026. (HAZEM BADER / AFP)
German envoys to Jerusalem and Ramallah join a chorus of international rebuke over the Israeli security cabinet’s approval on Sunday of a West Bank policy overhaul aimed at expanding Jerusalem’s control of the territory.
“Israel’s decision to allow private land purchases and transfer parts of the administration in the West Bank violates international law and represents a further obstacle to a two-state solution,” writes Anke Schlimm, the head of Germany’s Representative Office in Ramallah, on X, adding that “the West Bank is an integral part of a future Palestinian state.”
Reposting Schlimm’s statement, German Ambassador to Israel Steffen Seibert says he “fully agree[s]” with his colleague, adding, “The Security Cabinet’s decisions contravene Israel’s obligation under International Law.”
The Palestinian Authority, Hamas, much of the Arab and Muslim world, the European Union, and the United Nations have all condemned the measures, while the US issued a more measured statement, reiterating its opposition to Israel annexing the West Bank but not mentioning the new measures directly.
For 1st time in decades IDF announces new combat division, composed of Ground Forces training units
Illustrative image of the Bahad 1 IDF officers' school, undated. (Israel Defense Forces)
For the first time in decades, the IDF announces the formation of a new combat division, which will be composed of the Ground Forces’ training units.
The 38th Division will contain all of the units currently in the Ground Forces’ Basic Training Division — headed by Brig. Gen. Sharon Altit — including the School for Infantry Corps Professions and Squad Commanders, the Bahad 1 officers’ school, and the training schools for the Armored Corps, Artillery Corps, Combat Engineering Corps, and Border Defense Corps.
The IDF is also in the midst of establishing a signals battalion and a logistics regiment for the new division.
Since the 1970s, the IDF has not established any new “maneuvering divisions,” meaning ground units that are trained to enter deep into enemy territory. It has established new regional divisions — those tasked with defending Israel’s borders — as well as merged and restructured other maneuvering divisions in recent years.
The 38th Division derives its number from a historical division that fought during the 1956 Sinai Campaign and the 1967 Six Day War, before being merged into what is now the 146th Reserve Division. The historic 38th Division was last commanded by Israel’s eleventh prime minister, Ariel Sharon.
The military expects the new 38th Division to be combat-ready for ground operations in 2027.
Until now, in wartime, the IDF’s training schools would turn into fighting brigades and be deployed under various other divisions. The new formation will see the commander of the Basic Training Division, currently Altit, command those units himself during ground operations as chief of the 38th Division. The division would only be activated in times of war.
Shin Bet busts Lebanon-directed West Bank terror cells; 5 Palestinian suspects indicted
The Shin Bet says it has foiled a West Bank-based terror network that was being directed by figures in Lebanon with ties to Hamas and Hezbollah.
According to the security agency, the network was tasked with photographing an Israeli settlement, and its members underwent firearms training ahead of carrying out an attack.
Five members of the cell, all Palestinians from the West Bank, have been indicted.
In October 2025, the Shin Bet says, a Palestinian from the West Bank village of Anza, Mohammad Sadka, was detained on suspicion of planning a terror attack
The Shin Bet says its interrogation of Sadka revealed that he had traveled to Lebanon, where he was recruited by a Lebanese man, Musa Abu Saif, also known as Jibril, for the purpose of recruiting others for the terror network.
After returning to the West Bank from Lebanon, via Jordan, Sadka “recruited additional operatives to carry out attacks, including Mohammad Khalil, a resident of Ramallah, and Mohammad Barahmeh, a resident of Anza, who were also arrested for Shin Bet questioning,” the agency says.
The Shin Bet says Sadka remained in contact with figures in Lebanon “through correspondence on social networks and via gaming applications.”
At the same time, the Shin Bet says, another terror cell being managed by the same Lebanese figures was also uncovered, and two Palestinians from the village of Tell, Dia a-Din Hamad and Nasser Asida, were arrested.
The agency says its interrogation revealed that those two Palestinians were recruited by a Lebanese terror operative going by the name of Mujahid, alongside other Lebanese figures calling themselves Abu Ahmad and Abu Wahid. The Lebanese figures would maintain contact with the Palestinians on social media, it says.
“As part of their recruitment, the two carried out firearms training in preparation for carrying out an attack, were asked to photograph a community in Samaria (the northern West Bank), and arrangements were made with them for the transfer of funds for the purchase of weapons,” the security agency says.
The Shin Bet says that it emerged from its investigations and intelligence-gathering operations that the head of the infrastructure in Lebanon that worked to recruit the two terror cells is Mujahid Dahsha, “a resident of Lebanon with ties to Hamas and Hezbollah operatives.”
Report: Netanyahu received intel of Hamas plan to invade southern Israel as early as 2018
Palestinians break into Israel from Gaza through the border fence, October 7, 2023. (REUTERS/Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was presented with IDF intelligence reports detailing Hamas’s battle plans as early as April 2018, the Ynet news site says, citing intelligence documents and testimony from senior officials.
The report says that between 2018 and 2022, Hamas developed a comprehensive operational blueprint for a coordinated, multifront attack against Israeli military bases and civilian communities in southern Israel.
The attack plan, which was later put together in a document known as “Jericho’s Walls,” envisioned breaching the Gaza border at dozens of points and deploying thousands of fighters.
According to Ynet, Netanyahu was given intelligence about Hamas’s plans several times over the years, despite his repeated public denials that he had ever seen or heard of “Jericho’s Walls” before October 7.
The report says the earliest known transfer of the plan to Israeli leadership occurred in April 2018, when the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Research Division distributed a special intelligence document to senior officials, including the military secretaries of the prime minister and defense minister, the National Security Council, the heads of the Shin Bet and Mossad, and the IDF chief of staff’s office.
According to the documents cited by Ynet, the 2018 report asked the following question in its subheading: “Is Hamas’s military wing building its force for a broad attack deep into our territory?”
The 2018 report made sure to convey the seriousness of the threat, emphasizing that “the scope of the plan and its complexity are exceptional.”
While some analysts who contributed to the report expressed doubt that Hamas could actually carry out the plan in full, they cautioned that “the plan illustrates a new and broader threat scenario than before.”
Netanyahu has denied receiving any intelligence that Hamas was planning a major attack during the years leading up to October 7, and when questioned by State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman about it during a probe into the failures that enabled the attack, the Prime Minster’s Office said that “the prime minister never received and was never briefed on the ‘Jericho’s Walls’ document” until after the war broke out, and that he was “never presented with any Hamas plan for a mass raid into Israeli territory.”
However, Netanyahu’s own published materials appear to contradict those claims. In the 55-page document he sent to the State Comptroller’s Office last week, he acknowledged receiving the April 2018 intelligence report, but selectively quoted only the most restrained assessment, which stated that Hamas had “a basic capability to carry out several simultaneous raids,” but that due to various factors, “it is not likely at this time.”
The document omitted the paragraph’s concluding sentence, which warned that the plan signals the terror group’s future ambitions and that it intended to significantly build up its forces.
The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to requests for comment, Ynet says.
Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.
PM, Trump set to meet at White House at 11 a.m. local time tomorrow; no press conference planned
US President Donald Trump, right, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands at the conclusion of a joint press conference in the White House State Dining Room in Washington, September 29, 2025. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump will meet tomorrow in the White House at 11 a.m. local time, according to Netanyahu’s office.
There are currently no plans for a press conference or statements to the media before or after the meeting.
At Bondi memorial event, Herzog tells Albanese hatred of Jews has no place in Australia
President Isaac Herzog (R) and Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attend a service and meet with victims of the Bondi terror attack and members of the local Jewish community at the Chabad of Bondi in Sydney on February 10, 2026. (BIANCA DE MARCHI / POOL / AFP)
President Isaac Herzog tells Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that anti-Semitism has no place in Australia, as the two officials attend a memorial service at the Chabad of Bondi synagogue for the 15 people killed in the terror attack in December, Herzog’s office says in a statement.
“What we saw in Bondi, the blood-curdling act of blind hatred, hatred of Jews, hatred of Australian values, simply has no place in this country, or anywhere for that matter,” Herzog says in remarks to Albanese, who had invited the president to Australia in the wake of the shooting attack targeting a Chabad-run Hanukkah event.
Herzog calls Albanese “an important world leader,” adding that combating antisemitism “requires broad, serious measures,” and thanking him for “the legislation and initiatives” passed in Australia since the attack, which focused on tighter gun control measures and stronger powers to combat hate speech and extremist groups.
“The test will be in their full implementation and in the outcome,” Herzog says.
Herzog now joins Albanese for dinner at the premier’s private residence, his office adds.
Prior to the memorial service, Herzog, World Zionist Organization chairman Yaakov Hagoel, and Jewish Agency chairman Maj. Gen. (res.) Doron Almog met with bereaved families of victims of the Bondi attack.
IDF says it targeted Hamas operatives in strikes after attack on troops in Rafah area; 5 said killed
The IDF confirms carrying out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip in the past day, saying it targeted Hamas operatives in response to an attack on troops yesterday in the Rafah area.
According to Palestinian media, a drone strike on a motorcycle in central Gaza this morning killed three people, including a woman, and a strike on an apartment in Gaza City last night killed two men.
The military says the Hamas operatives it targeted in the strikes “advanced many terror attacks against IDF troops and the State of Israel.” The IDF does not provide any further details.
The army says the strikes come in response to a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire deal yesterday, in which four gunmen emerged from a tunnel in eastern Rafah and opened fire on troops before being killed.
Heading to US, Netanyahu says he’ll present Trump with ‘our principles’ on Iran negotiations
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to reporters before boarding Wing of Zion at Ben Gurion Airport on February 10, 2026. (Lazar Berman/Times of Israel)
Before boarding Wing of Zion for his flight to Washington to meet US President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells reporters that he will “present to the president our approach around our principles on the negotiations.”
He says that these principles are important not only for Israel, but for every country around the world “that wants peace and security.”
The two leaders will discuss “a series of topics,” including Gaza, he says.
Netanyahu says that his repeated meetings with Trump are evidence of the “unique closeness” between Israel and the US, and between him and Trump personally.
Huckabee: ‘Extraordinary alignment’ between US and Israel on Iran
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee is seen during an interview in Jerusalem, August 20, 2025. (AP/Ohad Zwigenberg)
There is “extraordinary alignment between Israel and the United States” on talks with Iran, US Ambassador Mike Huckabee says before boarding Wing of Zion to join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington tomorrow.
“Everyone would love to see something resolved, but it’s up to Iran,” he continues.
He says that “as far as he knows,” the US and Israel have the same red lines on Iran.
Despite protesters ‘cursing us,’ Herzog says ‘silent majority’ of Australia open-minded about Israel
Anti-Israel protesters gather in front of a police station in Surry Hills in Sydney on February 10, 2026, to condemn the police crackdown on protesters demonstrating against President Isaac Herzog's visit to Australia. (Saeed KHAN / AFP)
President Isaac Herzog addresses rising antisemitism in Australia and his intentions to improve relations with the country, while visiting the Moriah College Jewish school in Sydney, according to a statement from his office.
“I know that the demonstrators and protesters who are cursing us, saying the biggest lies and affirmations against our nation, do not want to hear this, but I believe that the silent majority of Australians definitely want to hear and move back on track,” Herzog says during a Q&A session alongside First Lady Michal Herzog with local Jewish high school students.
“My effort in this visit is to bring relations back on track, upgrade them, and improve them,” Herzog tells the school, saying this will be the focus of his meetings tomorrow with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and other political officials in Canberra.
The comments came as Australian leaders urged calm and called for protests to remain peaceful after clashes between anti-Israel demonstrators and police during Herzog’s visit, which comes in the wake of the Bondi terror attack in December targeting a Hanukkah event. Dozens were arrested, including 10 for allegedly assaulting officers, after police moved in to clear thousands of protesters who had gathered near Sydney’s town hall yesterday.
Iran says US talks showed enough consensus to continue ‘diplomatic process’
An Iranian rides a moped past a huge billboard depicting crashed Israeli and US aircraft, displayed on a building in Tehran's Valiasr Square on February 8, 2026. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Nuclear talks with the United States allowed Tehran to gauge Washington’s seriousness and showed enough consensus to continue on the diplomatic track, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson says.
US and Iranian diplomats held talks through mediators in Oman last week in an effort to revive diplomacy, amid a US military build-up in the region as President Donald Trump threatened military action.
“The Muscat meeting was not a long meeting. In our view, it was to gauge the seriousness of the other side and how to continue this path,” Baghaei says. “After the talks, we felt there was understanding and consensus to continue the diplomatic process.”
Indonesia’s military chief says up to 8,000 troops being prepared for possible Gaza deployment
Illustrative: Indonesian troops attend a handover ceremony at the Ministry of Defense in Jakarta on October 22, 2024 (JUNI KRISWANTO / AFP)
Indonesia is preparing for the potential deployment of 5,000 to 8,000 troops to Gaza under US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, the country’s army chief of staff, Maruli Simanjuntak, said yesterday following a security meeting with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta.
Maruli stressed that details on the force and deployment location were still being negotiated with relevant parties, but that one brigade, probably between 5,000 to 8,000 troops, was being prepared to assist Trump’s Board of Peace, in remarks cited by national news agency Antara.
Maruli said that initial preparations within the Indonesian army were already underway. The personnel are being prepared to function as peacekeeping forces, he added, and deployment would focus on engineering and medical units.
The Kan public broadcaster reported yesterday that several thousand Indonesian troops are expected to deploy in Gaza in the coming weeks.
The Indonesian soldiers would be the first members of the International Stabilization Force to reach Gaza, though there is no set date for their arrival.
The force will live in the southeast of Rafah, according to the report. Offices and living quarters will be built for the force in the coming weeks. The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to requests for comment on the Kan report.
Iran warns of Israel’s ‘destructive’ influence on diplomacy as Netanyahu set to fly to US
Iran warns of the “destructive” influence on diplomacy ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington for talks expected to focus on US negotiations with Tehran.
“Our negotiating party is America. It is up to America to decide to act independently of the pressures and destructive influences that are detrimental to the region,” says Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei in a weekly press briefing.
“The Zionist regime has repeatedly, as a saboteur, shown that it opposes any diplomatic process in our region that leads to peace,” he says.
Netanyahu flying to Washington in bid to influence Iran talks, official says
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu takes part in a Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on February 5, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is flying to Washington, DC, today in an attempt to sway US nuclear talks with Tehran, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel shortly before the premier is slated to take off.
Netanyahu, says the official, “is traveling to Washington to meet with President Trump with the aim of influencing the negotiations with Iran.”
The prime minister was initially scheduled to fly to Washington later this month, but asked to move up the meeting with Trump in a sign some interpret as anxiety over the directions US-Iran talks might take.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu believes that any agreement must not only prevent Iran from attempting to rearm itself with nuclear weapons and eliminate any possibility of uranium enrichment,” continues the official, “but also restrict ballistic missiles and ensure the cessation of support and funding for terrorism by the axis of evil.”
Senior Iranian and US officials held talks in Oman last week that both sides painted as positive.
Yesterday, Tehran floated possible concessions on its stockpile of enriched uranium, but it refuses to discuss its missile program or its support for armed militias across the Middle East.
7 arrested for dyeing fountains, blocking roads in protests calling for action against violence in Arab communities
Activists block a road at the entrance to Jerusalem during a protest against violence in the Arab community, on February 10, 2026 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Police arrest seven demonstrators amid nationwide protests demanding action against the deadly violence in Arab society.
Four demonstrators are detained in Haifa for allegedly pouring red dye into a water fountain near the city hall, while a woman is held in Tel Aviv for doing the same thing to a water feature near the beach.
Police say the five are being questioned on suspicion of causing damage to the fountains.
In Jerusalem, two demonstrators are arrested for blocking the road at the entrance to the city.
They were taken to the Lev Habira police station, and activists with the Jewish-Arab movement Standing Together announce plans to demonstrate outside the facility.
Around a dozen activists also blocked Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway in one direction, but no arrests were made.
Demonstrations are being held at a number of other locations nationwide, and short walkouts are expected at a number of workplaces, including hospitals.
Corruption watchdog sees ‘worrying’ decline in democracies; Israel slips to 35th place in ranking
Anti-graft watchdog Transparency International (TI) warns of worsening corruption in democracies worldwide and says the United States has slid to its lowest-ever score on its 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index.
Berlin-based TI also says the average global score had hit its worst level in more than a decade.
The organization measures experts’ perception of public-sector corruption around the world according to 13 data sources, including the World Bank, the World Economic Forum and private risk and consulting companies.
Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2025 gave top place to Denmark, with 89 points out of 100, followed by Finland and Singapore.
Israel slips to 35th position with a score of 62. Last year it was ranked 30th with a score of 60.
At the bottom were South Sudan and Somalia with nine points apiece, followed by Venezuela.
The report laments that “too often, we are seeing a failure of good governance and accountable leadership.”
It also points to “a worrying trend of democracies seeing worsening perceived corruption.”
Among those, it points even to high-scoring New Zealand, down two points at 81, and Sweden, unchanged at 80; as well as Canada, the United Kingdom, France and the United States, which scored 75, 70, 66 and 64 points respectively.
Iran’s security chief Larijani visits Oman after first round of fresh talks with US
This photo released by Iran's Supreme National Security Council office shows Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani (L) meeting with Oman's Minister of the Royal Office Sultan bin Mohammed al-Numani (R) in Muscat, Oman on February 10, 2026 (HANDOUT / Iran's Supreme National Security / AFP)
The secretary of Iran’s top security body arrives in Oman, days after a new round of nuclear talks was held in Muscat between officials from Washington and Tehran.
Ali Larijani, who heads the Supreme National Security Council, will hold talks with Haitham bin Tariq, the sultan of Oman, and Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad al-Busaidi, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reports.
They will discuss the latest regional and international developments as well as economic cooperation between Iran and Oman, the news agency says.
The visit comes after Iran and the United States resumed dialogue in Oman on Friday for the first time since the 12-day Iran-Israel war last June, which was briefly joined by the US military.
Albanese urges calm after anti-Israel protesters clashed with Sydney police during Herzog’s visit
Pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protesters take part in a demonstration against President Isaac Herzog's visit to Australia in Sydney on February 9, 2026. (Photo by Saeed Khan / AFP)
Australian leaders urge calm and call for protests to remain peaceful after clashes between anti-Israel demonstrators and police during President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Sydney in the wake of the Bondi terror attack targeting a Hanukkah event.
Police said 27 people were arrested, including 10 for allegedly assaulting officers, after violence broke out yesterday when police moved in to clear thousands of protesters who had gathered near Sydney’s town hall.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he is “devastated” by the violence and urges protesters to express their views peacefully.
“Australians want two things. They don’t want conflict brought here. They want killing to stop, whether it’s Israelis or Palestinians, but they do not want conflict brought here,” Albanese tells radio station Triple M.
“The causes are not advanced by these sorts of scenes — they are undermined,” he says.
Prior to Herzog’s arrival, Albanese — who has been criticized by the Jewish community for not dealing with rising antisemitism — had urged people to be respectful of the reason for the visit, saying he would join the president to meet with the families of those killed in the terror attack.
Police had been authorized to use rarely invoked powers during the protest, including directing crowds to move, restricting their entry to certain areas and searching vehicles. A legal challenge to those restrictions was dismissed by a Sydney court.
Herzog was not present at the protest site.
Television footage showed some protesters trying to push through blockades as officers forced them back. Some were seen lying on the ground while police tried to restrain them. Police used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse the crowd.
New South Wales state Premier Chris Minns defends police actions, saying officers were required to make rapid decisions in tense and volatile situations, and urged calm.
“I understand there’s criticisms of New South Wales Police, I just want to make it clear they were caught in an impossible situation,” he tells a press conference.
IDF says it destroyed Islamic Group weapons depot in south Syria raid last week
During an overnight raid in southern Syria last week, the IDF says, it destroyed a weapon depot belonging to the al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group) terror group.
The site in the village of Beit Jinn contained numerous weapons, including firearms, mines, and other military equipment, according to the military.
The announcement of the operation comes a day after Israeli special forces captured a “senior” member of al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya in southern Lebanon.
The IDF has said that al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya “advanced throughout the war and continues to attempt to advance terror activities against the State of Israel and its citizens in the northern sector.”
The military has also previously accused the group of closely cooperating with the Hezbollah and Hamas terror groups in both Lebanon and Syria, and maintaining military sites in southern Lebanon and infrastructure along the Syria-Lebanon border and in southern Syria.
This footage released by the IDF on February 10, 2026, shows a weapon depot being destroyed in the southern Syrian village of Beit Jinn. (Israel Defense Forces)
Satellite images show all entrances to Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site have been buried
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows rubble before a roof was built over it at Iran's Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center outside of Isfahan, Iran, on Dec. 7, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
Satellite images show that all the tunnel entrances to Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site have been buried under soil, says the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security.
The institute, which long has watched Iran’s nuclear sites, says the Sunday images show that two of the entrances are now totally covered, while the third northernmost entrance to the complex also has “additional passive defense measures.”
The organization says there is no longer vehicle activity seen at the entrances.
The institute says that the it appears that Iran is concerned about the possibility of strikes or a raid by the US or Israel, or both, at the site.
“Backfilling the tunnel entrances would help dampen any potential airstrike and also make ground access in a special forces raid to seize or destroy any highly enriched uranium that may be housed inside difficult,” the institute says, positing that Iran could have moved sensitive materials into the tunnels to help try to protect them.
“Preparations like these were last observed in the days before Operation Midnight Hammer struck facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” the institute says.
NEW: High resolution satellite imagery taken yesterday shows the extent to which Iran has covered the tunnel entrances at the Esfahan nuclear complex with soil. The middle and southern entrances are unrecognizable and fully covered in soil. The northernmost tunnel entrance which… pic.twitter.com/baYI2zCuN0
— Inst for Science (@TheGoodISIS) February 9, 2026
Prior to Israel launching a 12-day war with Iran in June, the Islamic Republic had three major nuclear sites associated with its program.
The facility outside the city of Isfahan was mainly known for producing the uranium gas that is fed into centrifuges to be spun and purified.
Satellite imagery last month showed roofs being built at Isfahan, which the Institute for Science and International Security said appeared to be part of an operation to “recover any sort of remaining assets or rubble without letting us know what they are getting out of there.”
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly demanded that Iran negotiate a deal over its nuclear program to avert threatened American military strikes over the country’s crackdown on protesters.
Agencies contributed to this report.
Protesters block roads, are set to hold walkouts in call for action on deadly crime in Arab society
Activists block a road at the entrance to Jerusalem during a protest against violence in the Arab community, on February 10, 2026 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Protesters block the entrance to Jerusalem and a number of other junctions across the country as demonstrations continue in a demand for action on deadly crime in Arab society.
Short strikes and walkouts will be held throughout the day at a number of workplaces, including hospitals.
The water in a fountain close to the Tel Aviv boardwalk is dyed red to symbolize the bloodshed.
The growing protests on the issue come amid a crime wave that has brought murder to Arab communities at unprecedented levels, with 252 killed last year, a nearly 300% rise from 2017. According to the Abraham Accords watchdog, 39 members of the Arab community have been killed in the violence so far this year.
Most of Arab society views Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline government and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir as major parts of the problem, insisting the far-right politician’s oversight of police has led to worsening neglect of Arab towns by law enforcement.
החל יום השיבוש. משפחות נרצחים בחברה הערבית ופעילי ״עומדים ביחד״ צבעו באדום את המזרקה בכיכר האופרה בתל אביב. ״אמרו לי שזו טעות בזיהוי. מה טעות בזיהוי? הוא היה ילד יחיד״, אמרה אימו של מוחמד בידס מלוד, שנרצח באוגוסט pic.twitter.com/k5mFVz0faJ
— Yair Foldes (@Yair_Foldes) February 10, 2026
Report: Haredi MKs said to recognize draft exemption bill won’t pass, increasing likelihood for early elections
Recent discussions between Haredi lawmakers and the legal adviser for the Knesset committee tasked with advancing legislation aimed at granting widespread conscription exemptions to ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students have not borne fruit, Channel 12 reports, without citing any sources.
The stalemate has led to a growing understanding among Haredi lawmakers that the draft exemption bill will not pass, according to the network.
Accordingly, the likelihood that elections will be called earlier has increased, as the ultra-Orthodox lawmakers lose patience with their fellow coalition lawmakers for not being able to pass the legislation as promised, Channel 12 says.
Whether that means elections will be moved up to September or June remains unclear, says the network.
US stresses opposition to annexation after Israeli steps to expand West Bank grip
This picture shows an Israeli flag fluttering above the Israeli settlement of Beit Romano (unseen), with Palestinian buildings in the background, in the West Bank city of Hebron on February 9, 2026. (HAZEM BADER / AFP)
The White House reiterates its opposition to Israel annexing the West Bank and stresses the importance of maintaining stability in the territory in a statement responding to the security cabinet’s approval of a series of measures aimed at expanding Jerusalem’s grip in the areas Palestinians hope will make up their future state.
“President Trump has clearly stated that he does not support Israel annexing the West Bank,” reads a statement attributed to a White House official sent to reporters who asked for comment on the security cabinet decision.
“A stable West Bank keeps Israel secure and is in line with this administration’s goal to achieve peace in the region,” the White House official adds.
The statement does not directly condemn or even address the measures approved by Israel, which violate the Oslo Accords by expanding Jerusalem’s administrative powers in West Bank areas that are supposed to be under the Palestinian Authority’s control.
The statement does not mention whether the US has raised its concern over the security cabinet decision with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
It has issued similarly vague statements calling for stability in the West Bank before in response to controversial decisions by Israel to expand settlements in the territory.
Upon his return to office, Trump indicated that he was mulling expressing his support for Israel annexing the West Bank.
But as Israel appeared to move toward the move, Arab allies of the US expressed their alarm, indicating it could risk their willingness to assist in the post-war management of Gaza as it would all but foreclose any chance for a two-state solution.
In response, Trump announced in September that he would not “allow” Israel to annex the West Bank.
The next month, Israel’s Knesset nonetheless adopted a pair of symbolic resolutions expressing support for the move, infuriating the administration and US Vice President JD Vance in particular, as he was visiting the country at the time.
Israel has still advanced a slew of measures in recent months, which watchdogs say amount to de facto annexation. However, Jerusalem has avoided a formal move in that direction.
During Netanyahu’s last visit to the US with Trump in late January, Trump’s aides raised their concern over the situation in the West Bank, taking particular issue with unchecked settler violence, settlement expansion and Israel’s withholding of several billion dollars in Palestinian Authority tax revenues, which has brought the Ramallah-based government to the brink of collapse, a US official told The Times of Israel then.
Trump, at the time, publicly acknowledged disagreements with Netanyahu regarding the West Bank but declined to elaborate, insisting that the premier will ultimately “do the right thing.”
The two leaders are slated to meet again on Wednesday, but the focus of the sitdown is expected to be Iran. But Gaza will likely come up, and Washington has expressed concern that tensions in the West Bank risk upending the administration’s efforts to stabilize the Strip.
Gaza technocratic panel unlikely to enter Gaza this week, with no date set for start of operations
The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza holds its first meeting in Cairo on January 15, 2026. (Screen capture/X)
The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) is not slated to enter the Strip this week, as little progress has been made toward the commencement of the technocratic committee’s operations, two Arab diplomats tell The Times of Israel.
The 12-member panel was unveiled roughly four weeks ago and has since been holding meetings in Cairo in preparation for its entry into Gaza.
US President Donald Trump’s administration and the Board of Peace’s High Representative for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, who oversees the NCAG, had aimed for the technocratic committee to enter the Strip shortly thereafter.
However, an Arab diplomat says the NCAG will not enter Gaza until it is equipped with the necessary tools to govern the enclave.
It’s still unclear how much international funding the NCAG will have to operate, which Palestinians in Gaza it will be able to hire as civil servants, where the panel will be based and how its protection will be ensured, the diplomat said.
Mladenov has been working to advance a series of measures to boost the humanitarian situation on the ground, which would help boost the NCAG’s legitimacy, according to the Arab diplomat. The measures include an increase in temporary shelter materials for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians still living in unstable tents.
But those Palestinians — the vast majority of the Strip’s population of 2 million — are located in the western half of the enclave still under Hamas control, and Israel has pushed back on easing restrictions over those areas before the terror group gives up its weapons.
Hamas has refused to do so, and disarmament talks are still in their early stages.
The Arab diplomat says there is no timeline for the NCAG’s entry into Gaza and that the panel will only do so when it is equipped to govern and the appropriate environment exists in the enclave.
Immigration judge rejects Trump effort to deport pro-Palestinian student over op-ed
File - Tufts University student from Turkey, Rumeysa Ozturk, who was arrested by US immigration agents while walking along a street in a Boston suburb, talks to reporters on arriving back in Boston, May 10, 2025, a day after she was released from a Louisiana immigration detention center on the orders of a federal judge. (AP Photo/Rodrique Ngowi, File)
An immigration judge has rejected the Trump administration’s efforts to deport Tufts University PhD student Rumeysa Ozturk, who was arrested last year as part of its targeting of pro-Palestinian campus activists, her lawyers say.
Lawyers for the Turkish student detail the immigration judge’s decision in a filing with the New York-based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals, which had been reviewing a ruling that led to her release from immigration custody in May.
An immigration judge on January 29 concluded the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had not met its burden of proving she was removable and terminated the proceedings against her, her lawyers at the American Civil Liberties Union write.
Her immigration lawyer, Mahsa Khanbabai, says the decision was issued by Immigration Judge Roopal Patel in Boston.
That ended, for now, proceedings that began with Ozturk’s arrest by immigration authorities in March on a street in Massachusetts after the US Department of State revoked her student visa.
The sole basis authorities provided for revoking her visa was an editorial she co-authored in Tufts’ student newspaper a year earlier criticizing her school’s response to Israel’s war in Gaza.
“Today, I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that despite the justice system’s flaws, my case may give hope to those who have also been wronged by the US government,” Ozturk said in a statement.
The immigration judge’s decision is not itself public, and the administration could challenge it before the Board of Immigration Appeals, which is part of the US Department of Justice.
DHS, which oversees US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, did not respond to a request for comment.
The arrest of Ozturk, a child development researcher, in the Boston suburb of Somerville, was captured in a viral video that shocked many and drew criticism from civil rights groups.
The former Fulbright scholar was held for 45 days in a detention facility in Louisiana until a federal judge in Vermont, where she had briefly been held, ordered her immediately released after finding she raised a substantial claim that her detention constituted unlawful retaliation in violation of her free speech rights.
US hails Lebanese army for locating second major Hezbollah tunnel network in two months
The head of US Central Command hails the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) for locating a large Hezbollah tunnel network for the second time in two months.
“Dismantling tunnels nefariously used by non-state actors to store ammunition, missiles and attack drones promotes peace and stability in Lebanon and across the region. Job well done by the LAF and US-led Mechanism team that is helping enforce commitments made by Israel and Lebanon,” Adm. Brad Cooper says in a statement.
Settlers filmed entering Palestinian village, harassing locals in near-daily occurrence
Residents of the Palestinian village of Fasa’il publish footage showing settlers driving an ATV into their hamlet late Monday night, blasting the horn and shining bright lights into homes.
The ATV used in the footage appears to be of the same model gifted by the government last year to illegal farming outposts in the West Bank with the stated goal of “strengthening the resilience” of such unlawful communities and “deepening” Israeli control of the territory.
Another clip shows a water pipeline after it was broken apart by settlers, according to Fasa’il residents.
פסאיל, תחום השיפוט של תומר, לפני שעה קלה.
ביקור לילי (לשים סאונד) + פגיעה בצינורות מים.
מישהו מאוד נחוש לפנות את משפחת עביאת.
מאוד.27 א https://t.co/jaArRxN5nj pic.twitter.com/yHVbIDQpoS
— Matan Golan (@MatanGolanPhoto) February 9, 2026
Such harassment is reported and documented on a near-daily basis in Palestinian villages located adjacent to Israeli outposts that have mushroomed across the West Bank over the past two and a half years.
Almost no enforcement against the harassment is carried out by Israeli authorities, who villagers say oftentimes arrive at the scene too late and then end up arresting the Palestinian locals, rather than the settler instigators.
Hundreds of families have decided to flee their homes rather than put up with the persistent violence, with extremist settler activists celebrating the developments, claiming they are part of their agenda to take over more West Bank land.
UK calls on Israel to reverse moves to expand control over West Bank
Britain joins the chorus of international calls on Israel to reverse a series of moves approved by the security cabinet over the weekend aimed at expanding Jerusalem’s control over the West Bank.
“The UK strongly condemns the Israeli security cabinet’s decision yesterday to expand Israeli control over the West Bank,” the British government says. Critics have said Israel’s move to ease settlement expansion and widen its powers in the West Bank went in the direction of annexing land.
“Any unilateral attempt to alter the geographic or demographic make-up of Palestine is wholly unacceptable and would be inconsistent with international law. We call on Israel to reverse these decisions immediately,” the British government adds.
Palestinian woman hospitalized following seizure in US ICE detention
A Palestinian woman, who lost dozens of family members in the Gaza war, has been hospitalized following a seizure in US immigration detention, the Department of Homeland Security confirms.
On February 6, 2026, at about 8:45 p.m., “medical staff at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, notified ICE that detainee Leqaa Kordia was admitted to Texas Health Huguley Hospital in Burleson, Texas, for further evaluation following a seizure,” a DHS spokesperson says.
Kordia, a 33-year-old Muslim Palestinian woman living in the U.S. and whose mother is an American citizen, was detained by US immigration authorities early last year.
She was detained during a meeting with immigration officials at the Newark Immigration and Customs Enforcement Field Office, where she was accompanied by her attorney. At the time of her detention last year, Kordia was in the process of securing legal residency.
Leqaa Kordia was hospitalized on February 6, 2026, and her family and legal team still have no information about her condition. Contact your Members of Congress today and urge them to demand that DHS and ICE disclose her location and medical status, end administrative stays, and… pic.twitter.com/TmYVqmLofO
— CAIR National (@CAIRNational) February 8, 2026
In a weekend statement cited by media, her family and legal team says they have not received communication from US authorities about her health. The family could not immediately be reached for comment. DHS says ICE will ensure she receives proper medical care.
Rights groups have long reported on detainee complaints about conditions in ICE detention facilities, calling the conditions inhumane. The federal government has denied treating detainees inhumanely.
Amnesty International says 175 members of Kordia’s family were killed in the Gaza war.
The Homeland Security Department says Kordia, who was raised in the West Bank, was arrested for immigration violations related to overstaying her expired student visa. The DHS also says she was arrested by local authorities in 2024 during pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University that the department cast as being supportive of Hamas.
Kordia and other protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the government wrongly equates criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza and its occupation of Palestinian territories with antisemitism, and advocacy for Palestinian rights with support for extremism.
Kordia has said she was targeted for pro-Palestinian activism and cast the conditions in her detention facility as “filthy, overcrowded and inhumane.”
President Donald Trump’s administration cracked down on pro-Palestinian protests by threatening to freeze federal funds for universities where protests occurred and by attempting to deport foreign protesters. It has faced legal obstacles while rights advocates say the crackdown hurts free speech and lacks due process.
Bill to split annual Arrangements Law into two parts passes 60-56 after Haredim vote in favor
Lawmakers vote 60-56 to split the annual Arrangements Law into two separate bills for consideration by the Knesset before the final two votes needed to pass the critical legislation, which is needed for the approval of the 2026 state budget, into law.
The Arrangements Law, a key part of the annual budgetary legislative package, determines how funds will be disbursed and must be passed along with the budget to avoid triggering early elections.
The Knesset’s Haredi parties had threatened to torpedo the technical vote that will allow the measure to speed ahead as leverage for legislation on IDF draft exemptions.
Further delays could complicate the timeline for approving the budget, which must pass three readings by the end of March in order to prevent the dissolution of the Knesset, triggering early elections three months later. Elections are currently slated to be held by late October.
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