Feb. 9: Gafni: A state commission of inquiry would mean Netanyahu’s prime ministership is over

Trump says he is committed to US buying, owning Gaza, but other countries could assist in rebuilding

US President Donald Trump, from right, speaks to reporters accompanied by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Burgum's wife Kathryn Burgum, aboard Air Force One where Trump signed a proclamation declaring Feb. 9 “the first ever Gulf of America Day," as he travels from West Palm Beach, Fla. to New Orleans, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

US President Donald Trump says he is committed to the US buying and owning Gaza, but could give sections of the Palestinian enclave to other countries in the Middle East to help in the rebuilding effort.

He says that he will “turn Gaza into a prime location for future development.”

He makes the remarks to reporters aboard Air Force One.

He says that he will be meeting soon with Saudi Arabia’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman and Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, and that he expects both will agree to take in Palestinian refugees after speaking to him.

He adds that the US could look at allowing in Palestinian refugees on a case-by-case basis, and that he will “take care of the Palestinians and ensure they are not killed.”

Gafni: A state commission of inquiry would mean Netanyahu’s prime ministership is over

Likud's Benjamin Netanyahu, right, with UTJ MK Moshe Gafni in the Knesset on December 28, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Moshe Gafni, head of the Knesset Finance Committee, has told bereaved families urging a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding Hamas’s October 7 invasion and slaughter that such a commission would mean the end of Benjamin Netanyahu’s prime ministership. A state commission is the most powerful investigative commission, and the only such body empowered to subpoena witnesses.

In remarks broadcast tonight by Channel 12 news from a meeting on Wednesday held by Gafni, of the ultra-Orthodox coalition party United Torah Judaism, he was asked by the families about his stance on the establishment of such a commission — which would be headed by a retired Supreme Court justice appointed by the current Supreme Court president — and which has been steadfastly opposed by Netanyahu.

Gafni is heard saying that those who oppose the establishment of a state inquiry imply that Israel’s top court bears responsibility for October 7 because they issued rulings “not to shoot and not to hit” — ostensibly hindering the fight against terrorism.

“That’s not true. The Supreme Court did not…,” says one of the participants.

Gafni stresses: “I’m not saying that it’s true.”

He goes on to say that in Netanyahu’s Likud party, they claim that since a judge would head a state inquiry, its result would be a foregone conclusion: “What a state commission of inquiry would mean is that Netanyahu goes home.”

Again, a participant responds, “Why would you say that? It’s not true?”

Gafni insists: “Because that’s the truth.”

A participant says: “Everyone has to tell the truth” before such a panel.

Says Gafni: “Let them.”

Says a participant: “Maybe that explains why they’re torpedoing a state commission of inquiry here. Because of the fear that he’ll [be required to] go home. Evidently, that’s the agenda.”

Says Gafni: “It’s good that you said that.”

He also tells the families that he doesn’t like the current coalition, but has “no alternative.”

Sa’ar said to advocate for establishing state commission into Oct. 7; PM opposed, says war isn’t over

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, left, attend a plenum session on the state budget in the Knesset, December 16, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg FLASH90)

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar reportedly tells a cabinet meeting that he is in favor of establishing a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror onslaught, thereby adopting a position opposed by a majority of ministers.

The meeting to discuss the establishment of a state commission is being held purely to comply with the High Court of Justice, as it ruled in December 2024 that a hearing on the matter must be held within 60 days.

Netanyahu, who has repeatedly ruled out the possibility of establishing an inquiry before the end of the war, is said to have told the cabinet meeting this evening that his position has not changed, as “it’s not possible to say that the war is over.”

“There are still many challenges ahead of us,” he told the cabinet, according to Ynet. “It’s not feasible to enter into a situation in which all the relevant officials are busy with their lawyers, instead of meeting the great challenges that are facing the State of Israel.”

With most of the ministers said to be in agreement with Netanyahu on the matter, Sa’ar reportedly backed the establishment of a state inquiry and offered a proposal intended to appease the ministers who are opposed to the idea of incoming Supreme Court President Isaac Amit being in charge of the panel’s makeup, given that some of them have already said they will refuse to recognize his authority.

Instead, Sa’ar suggests that a former supreme court president of the cabinet’s choosing could pick the members of the committee.

He is also said to have rejected Netanyahu’s claim that it is not yet the right time to establish a state commission, and said that unless the commission is planning to probe the entirety of the war, and not just the events leading up to October 7, 2023, there is no reason not to establish it in the immediate future.

Erdogan says no point discussing Trump’s ‘futile’ plan for Gaza, as it won’t happen

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan says that there is no point in discussing what US President Donald Trump has said about a plan to take over the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.

“From our perspective, there is nothing worth talking about the proposals brought up by the new US administration regarding Gaza under the pressure of the Zionist lobby,” Erdogan says in a news conference, suggesting that Israel was behind Trump’s proposal.

“This plan is completely futile…No one has the power to remove the people of Gaza from their homeland. The people of Gaza will continue to stay in Gaza, live in Gaza and protect Gaza,” he says.

IDF confirms Lebanon airstrikes, targets included Lebanon-Syria arms smuggling tunnel

Israeli fighter jets carried out several airstrikes in Lebanon a short while ago, the IDF confirms, including a tunnel between Lebanon and Syria that the military says was used by Hezbollah to smuggle arms.

The IDF says the tunnel, in the Beqaa Valley, was struck in the past. “The IDF is determined to prevent restoration and use of this tunnel,” it says in a statement.

Additionally, the military says it targeted several Hezbollah sites which included weapons and rocket launchers that “posed an immediate threat” to Israel.

According to the IDF, the targeted sites were “a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”

Lebanese media reported a series of strikes in the Nabatieh area, some 20 (12.4 miles) kilometers from the border with Israel, and in the Baalbek area in the Beqaa Valley, nearly 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Israel.

Man charged for attacking Jews with scissors in Brooklyn

A suspect is charged with attacking Jews with scissors in New York City.

Kareem Govan, 47, is charged with seven counts including assault, menacing and harassment.

The NYPD says the suspect approached a group of males yesterday afternoon “with metal cutting shears” in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, the home base of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement.

“The individual threatened to stab the group of males and attacked a 47-year-old male as he attempted to flee causing minor injuries,” the NYPD tells The Times of Israel.

The victim was treated on the scene, the NYPD says.

The statement does not specify whether the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating.

Rabbi Yaacov Behrman, a community organizer and Chabad spokesperson, shares a video of the incident on X.

Shocking video footage of the incident. https://t.co/ykq8vUAvt2 pic.twitter.com/BKOPOVyboT

— Yaacov Behrman (@ChabadLubavitch) February 9, 2025

The footage shows a man approaching a group from behind, lunging over one’s head, and stabbing at the face of another.

Behrman tells The Times of Israel that the targets of the attack were all Jewish.

Brothers of Eli Sharabi, Or Levy say their weakened state must be call to action to see hostage deal through

Sharon Sharabi, brother of released hostage Eli Sharabi (left) and Michael Levy, brother of released hostage Or Levy at Sheba Medical Center on February 9, 2025. ( The Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

As released hostages Eli Sharabi and Or Levy relate details of their Hamas captivity to family members, including being chained and starved in narrow, low-ceilinged tunnels, their brothers, Sharon Sharabi and Michael Levy give statements to the press at Sheba Medical Center.

Sharon Sharabi says his brother’s gaunt, weakened condition is proof that every hostage must be brought home.

When I see Eli, Ohad and Or — and other abductees who have returned to us — how can I not think of the sentence, ‘I seek my brother,'” says Sharabi, quoting from the biblical book of Genesis. “And I tell you, Bibi Netanyahu, at this time, make brave decisions. These are critical moments for saving human lives. Every moment that passes, every second that passes is a second that may save lives from the tunnels of Hamas, from this cruel enemy that has slaughtered and killed us since October 7.”

Michael Levy, the older brother of Or Levy, says he is now able to hug his brother again, but he is not the same Or who left the house on October 7.

Or Levy suspected that his wife, Eynav Levy, was killed in the roadside shelter near the Nova rave they were trying to escape, but he wasn’t sure until he was released on Saturday.

“For 491 days he hoped he would return to her,” says Michael Levy. “He only found out yesterday, how is he supposed to hear that?”

Levy says his brother was finally reunited with his three-year-old son, Almog, who asked his father why it took him so long to come home.

“What kind of world is this?” says Levy. “We’re happy but we’re wrapped in sadness that we can’t explain. Or comes back alone and his heart is broken again and again by every detail he hears of the last year and a half.”

Levy says the state of the released hostages is the nation’s call to action, to realize that every moment in captivity can be a hostage’s last and that captivity is a death sentence.

“Or’s return is a miracle and every family deserves that miracle, the whole country deserves that miracle,” says Levy.

Pleading tearfully for his release, mother of hostage Alon Ohel says freed hostages have just told her he is held in chains at all times, has multiple untreated injuries

Idit Ohel, mother of hostage Alon Ohel, interviewed on Channel 12 news, February 9, 2025 (Channel 12 screenshot)

In a heartwrenching television interview, Idit Ohel, the mother of hostage Alon Ohel, pleads for his release “tomorrow,” saying she has just been told that he is held in chains and has multiple untreated injuries. She urges the whole nation, and the entire world, to insist upon and enable his release.

Idit tells Channel 12 that released hostages Eli Sharabi and Or Levy were held with her son for the duration of their captivity. Their return from Gaza yesterday was the first time that Ohel’s family received confirmation that he is still alive.

Alon was injured during his abduction from a bomb shelter at the Nova music festival, Idit says, sharing what she has just been told by the freed captives, and he suffered shrapnel injuries to his eye, shoulder and hand, for which he has not received treatment. As a result, she says, he cannot see properly out of the injured eye.

Idit says she now knows that her son, like Levy and Sharabi, has been “held in chains for the entire time, and received almost no food.”

“At most, they received one pita a day, for a very, very long time,” she says.

“I can’t understand it. I don’t think there’s a single mother who could handle her son being hungry, hungry for food, and held in chains for so many days,” she says, breaking down into tears. “I just got this information,” she wails.

She says that “everything you can see that Eli and Or went through, Alon is now experiencing.”

Alon, who turns 24 tomorrow, is not slated for release until the second phase of the hostage deal, for which negotiations are only expected to begin later this week.

“What is this ‘selection’,” by which Alon is not being released? she asks, her voice rising in anguish. “In the condition that he’s in… how is he not considered a humanitarian case? Why is he not here with me now, together with Eli and Or?”

“It’s incomprehensible,” Idit says. “I’ll never understand it.”

Alon Ohel, taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, from the Supernova desert rave (Courtesy)

She says: “I demand, demand, from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the cabinet, now, now, they must do everything to get Alon and everyone home. The men are suffering terribly.”

She urges all the people of Israel to act on his behalf and on behalf of all of the hostages — urging all of Israel’s artists to join the struggle, and all of Israel’s pianists to play… so that he can survive.

“Who can believe that Alon, now, as we are speaking, is chained and cannot move? The world has to turn upside down. The prime minister has to do everything so that Alon returns home. This is impossible any longer… Every citizen has to go out [into the streets] tomorrow… all the energies have to be exerted.”

“I know he is strong, that he is holding on,” she says. Members of the family endured suffering in World War II — “they also lost 30 kilos” and survived to build families.

“Alon has that heritage; we know he is strong. But we need our state, and we need the world to shout, and not allow this to continue.”

“I hope that after today, after we received this sign of life and this information, and the testimonies of those who came out from there, particularly Eli and Or, I expect not only the prime minister, but everyone involved, to call me and tell me that Alon is being released tomorrow,” Idit shouts.

“Not that they’re not doing everything, but that I know it is happening — that phase two is happening. And he is meant to be in phase one, from what I see.

“And what has been done here is shameful,” she says furiously. “This ‘selection’ — that the government of the State of Israel gave this list” of those who would be freed in phase one, first, as humanitarian cases, and only later in the still unfinalized phase two.

Lebanese media report Israeli strikes in the Nabatieh area; no comment from IDF

Lebanese media report Israeli airstrikes near the villages of Houmine, Aazze and Kafroue in the Nabatieh Governorate, some 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) north of the Israeli border.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

بالصور.. سلسلة غارات استهدفت وادي عزّة – دير الزهراني pic.twitter.com/ABANVjRS7T

— هنا لبنان (@thisislebnews) February 9, 2025

Netanyahu: Trump’s post-war Gaza vision ‘much better for Israel’; vows to use fire as needed to protect Gaza border

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a meeting with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (out of frame) at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on February 5, 2025. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)

At the start of a cabinet meeting hours after his return from Washington, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declares that his meetings with US President Donald Trump, and his other US meetings, resulted in “tremendous achievements that can ensure Israel’s security for generations.”

“I am not exaggerating,” he says. “I am not exaggerating. There are opportunities here for possibilities that I think we never dreamed of, or at least until a few months ago, they did not seem possible — but they are possible.”

While he does not give specific details of the possibilities, Trump has spoken about his vision of the US taking over Gaza after the war, clearing it of its residents and turning it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.” Israeli and US officials have insisted that the displacement would be both voluntary and temporary, despite Trump initially saying that it would be a permanent measure. Netanyahu said at the weekend that Gazans would be able to return after being screened and disavowing terrorism.

He says Trump highlighted Israel’s achievement “in breaking the Iranian axis.”

Netanyahu says that Trump agreed with him that “all the goals of the war that we set must be completed: eliminating Hamas, returning all our hostages, ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel, bringing back all the residents in the north and the south, and of course preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.”

Referring to Trump’s plan for post-war Gaza, Netanyahu says that the president came up with a “revolutionary, creative vision” that will “open up many possibilities” for Israel.

While Israel had been constantly told that the PA is needed in post-war Gaza, Trump’s vision is “completely different, and much better for the State of Israel.” It is “revolutionary, creative and we are discussing it. He is very determined to carry it out. And it also opens up many possibilities for us.”

Praising the visit once again as a “historic turning point for the State of Israel,” Netanyahu ends his remarks by reiterating Israel’s commitment to “enforcing the ceasefire agreements” in Lebanon and Gaza. Sometimes the use of fire is required, he says — in the south and the north.

His instruction this evening, he says, “is that nobody gets to the perimeter area, and nobody penetrates the perimeter” — this after the IDF opened fire on Palestinians who approached the Israel-Gaza border earlier today. “That’s part of the agreement and we will enforce it, enforce it forcefully. We expect Hamas to stand by all its commitments, and this is one of them.”

Smotrich: Hostage families’ pain must not ‘overcome reason,’ Israelis are ‘brainwashed’ into wanting deal

Finance Minister and Religious Zionist party chair Bezalel Smotrich leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, February 3, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich claims that the Israeli public has been “brainwashed” into supporting the ceasefire and hostage deal, and warns that continuing on to the second phase of the agreement will send the country down a “slippery and dangerous slope.”

In a lengthy statement on X, the hard-right Religious Zionism head pictures an imagined future in which the current hostage deal emboldens Hamas to “abduct more Israelis, and demand an Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria, the evacuation of the settlements and the establishment of a Palestinian state in exchange for their release.”

Then, he continues, Iran could “kidnap several Jewish families traveling around the world, transfer them to its territory and demand the lifting of economic sanctions against it, an Israeli commitment not to act against its nuclear facilities and a fast track to a bomb.”

“You convince yourself that this is impossible and that in the face of such demands, there is no doubt that we would refuse to surrender,” Smotrich says. “What is your basis for saying that? What is the difference between that and between the second phase of the deal that has suddenly become so trivial and necessary?!”

He claims that the “reckless media in Israel will brainwash you, without you even realizing, just as it has been doing for over a year.”

“It will put yellow symbols and flags in the background of every program and every interviewee,” he claims, referring to the yellow ribbon that has become synonymous with the plight of the hostages. “It will deny, mock and completely delegitimize those who seek to illustrate the costs of the deal and oppose it.”

Acknowledging momentarily, the “heartbreaking pain” of the families of the hostages, Smotrich declares that “a responsible state that desires life is not run through their lens, and cannot let emotion and pain overcome reason and endanger its existence and the future of all its citizens.”

He declares that Religious Zionism will oppose any and all attempts to proceed to the second stage of the agreement, and warns Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that anyone who would agree to the demands of Hamas “does not deserve to be a leader.”

Family: Or Levy had no connection with outside world, asked that another hostage be freed instead of him

Released hostage Or Levy is handed over to IDF forces in the Gaza Strip on February 8, 2025 (Screencapture/IDF)

Or Levy has told his family that the tunnel in which he was held was narrow and low, and he was unable to stand upright.

In testimony reported by Channel 12, Levy says his captors abused him psychologically by repeatedly telling him that he was about to be freed. They also staged manipulative events in which they pretended that he or other hostages were going to be freed, including despicable “games” in which they told one hostage they would be freed, and another that they would not.

The terrorists also insisted that he was a soldier, and interrogated him harshly.

Levy says he was able to count the days and kept track of when his toddler son Almog’s birthday was, and marked it in captivity.

Unlike some other hostages, Levy and other hostages held with him were allowed no connection with the outside world and knew nothing about the public struggle being waged for their release.

Levy has told his family that yesterday morning, ahead of his release, he asked that a different hostage be freed instead of him, and that it was extremely difficult for him to leave the others behind.

Ahead of his release, the terrorists took some of the hostages from place to place, to be displayed to cheering, singing terrorists.

Released hostage Or Levy reunites with his three-year-old son Almog after 491 days in captivity in Gaza, at Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv, February 8, 2025. (Courtesy)

One of Levy’s relatives tells Channel 12 that the family was “deeply shocked” to hear government sources expressing surprise at the sight of the emaciated hostages. The relative notes that the family was told by Israeli officials several months ago that the slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar had given instructions to starve and abuse the male hostages. They ask: “So how can you claim you did not know?”

Channel 12 also says that the three hostages freed yesterday were told 10 days ago that they were going to be released. Their captives made one of them put on a military uniform and ordered him to say on camera that he is a soldier. They explained that the more hostages who say they were soldiers, the more terrorists they can get released in exchange.

The three had very little to eat in captivity, and there were long days when they were given nothing at all to eat, the TV report says.

The three were not always held in tunnels, but even when not, they were held in small areas with little air and no daylight. They were allowed to shower only rarely and often had to get on the good side of the terrorists in order to be allowed to go to the toilet more than once a day.

Channel 12 notes that many of the hostages freed earlier in the current deal have also said they are extremely surprised at the professed shock among Israeli officials over the condition of the three hostages freed yesterday. They, too, were starved and abused in captivity, they have said, and returned in the same condition as those freed yesterday.

Several of them have also said that there were many times during their captivity when they feared that they were about to be killed by their captors.

Report: PM, defense ministers were ‘explicitly’ told months ago about starvation of hostages

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has known for some time that the hostages in Gaza are being intentionally starved by Hamas, Channel 12 reports, citing senior officials familiar with the intelligence material given to the premier on the hostages.

According to the report, Netanyahu was “frequently exposed to the hostages’ conditions,” as were former defense minister Yoav Gallant and his successor Israel Katz.

The three were “explicitly” told about “intentional starvation and about physical and mental abuse,” the report adds.

Furthermore, the unnamed officials tell Channel 12 that “what we saw yesterday was nothing. There are some in much worse conditions.”

“Anyone who says otherwise and pretends to be shocked now — they are lying to the public for political reasons,” the officials are quoted as having said.

Freed hostage was kept ‘chained in a dark, airless tunnel for over 15 months, could not walk or stand’

This image from video published January 11, 2024, shows a Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza's Khan Younis where the IDF believes hostages were held by the terror group. (Israel Defense Forces)

A hostage freed in the current deal was kept chained in an airless tunnel by their captors, unable to stand or walk, for almost the entire period in captivity, and had to learn to walk again when the chains were removed shortly before being released.

The family of this hostage has asked not to be identified, Channel 12 reports. The report refers to the hostage using male and female terminology, and it is therefore not clear if the freed hostage is male or female. It indicates that this hostage was not one of three men freed yesterday.

It describes the testimony as among the gravest to be given by any of the freed hostages to date.

Channel 12 quotes the hostage saying that for more than 15 months, “the terrorists kept me in chains inside a tunnel. The tunnel was dark and airless… I could not walk or stand.

“Only close to my release did the terrorists remove the chains, and I learned to walk again.”

Daughter of ex-hostage Ohad Ben Ami: ‘Nothing could have prepared me’ for ‘terrible images’ of his weak state

Family of released hostage Ohad Ben Ami delivers a statement from Tel Aviv's Sourasky Medical Center on February 9, 2025. (Paulina Patimer)

Ella Ben Ami, whose father Ohad Ben Ami was released from Hamas captivity on Saturday, says she fell to the floor and called out, “I’m sorry!” when she first saw the images of her father, his gaunt figure and shoulders, his fragility and fallen face.

“Nothing, nothing prepared me for when I saw his face and his body,” says Ben Ami.

“The cries in the room, ‘Oof oof oof’ we screamed, because what you all saw, the terrible images, is my father,” says Ben Ami.

She says that their family has only just begun to hear the horrors of Ohad’s captivity in Gaza.

“We have all our life to hear,” says Ben Ami, turning to smile at her mother, Raz Ben Ami, who was released in a hostage deal in November 2023.

Ben Ami calls attention to the 76 hostages still in Gaza.

“They are deep in the tunnels, deep in the dark, deep in hell, deep in the hands of the terrorists,” she says. “Now with my father home, I realize how much worse it is than I imagined.”

Ben Ami says they won’t give up on the fight to bring the hostages home, and asks the government and cabinet to find a way to cement the second stage of the hostage and ceasefire deal as soon as possible.

She says her father wants to join the struggle for the hostages as soon as he is able, as he “can’t imagine leaving any hostages behind in the conditions that he himself was in.”

“My father is home, after a year and four months,” says Ben Ami. “He broke into a run, the run of a winner, when he saw us. He feels he got a second chance at life.”

IDF says it fired warning shots at Palestinians who approached troops in Gaza

The IDF says it fired warning shots at Palestinian suspects who approached troops and “posed a threat” in several areas in the Gaza Strip today.

In another incident, the Israeli Navy spotted a Palestinian vessel that exceeded a maritime boundary. After warning shots, the vessel returned to the coast of Gaza, the IDF adds.

Family of hostage Alon Ohel say freed hostages told them he is alive but injured

Alon Ohel, taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 from the Supernova rave (Courtesy)

The family of Hamas hostage Alon Ohel says that they have received a sign of life from him for the first time since he was abducted from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023.

In a statement released via the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Ohel’s family says that returning hostages have informed them that he is alive, but injured and not receiving medical care.

“We were informed today that since his abduction, Alon has been held in the tunnels in Gaza together with recently released hostages,” the family says. “We are happy and excited to know that Alon is alive, but devastated and shocked by the difficult physical and mental condition Alon is in, and the abuse he and the other hostages are still going through.”

Sharing what they have been told by the freed hostages, the family says Ohel “has been held in difficult conditions in Hamas’s underground tunnels, without daylight, and in inhuman conditions.”

“We were informed that Alon’s eyes were injured,” the family continues, adding that he is “being held in extremely harsh conditions, with a severe shortage of food.”

Calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to move forward with negotiating the second phase of the ceasefire deal without further delay, the family asks the public to join them tomorrow evening in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square to mark Alon’s 24th birthday.

IDF says it thwarted attempt to transfer weapons from Egypt to Israel via drone

The IDF says it foiled an attempt to smuggle weapons into Israel from Egypt earlier today, using a drone.

The drone had been identified crossing the border from Egypt into Israel, and troops dispatched to the scene chased after it.

The soldiers found that the drone was ferrying three rifles, according to the IDF.

כוחות צה"ל סיכלו הברחת אמצעי לחימה במרחב גבול מצרים >> pic.twitter.com/HTtA5O279Z

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) February 9, 2025

In recent months there have been frequent attempts to bring weapons over the Egypt border using drones.

Incoming ambassador Huckabee vows changes ‘of biblical proportion’ coming to Mideast under Trump

Mike Huckabee gestures at a campaign event at the Drexelbrook Catering & Event Center, October 29, 2024, in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. (AP/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Hamas will not survive in the Trump administration’s vision for the future of Gaza, says incoming US ambassador Mike Huckabee.

“As long as Hamas exists, that is a threat to the Israelis,” he says on Fox News. “They want the destruction of the Jewish state.”

“One thing we know is that Hamas is not going to be able to exist,” Huckabee continues. “That’s just a done deal.”

Huckabee endorses US President Donald Trump’s proposal for Gaza, saying he “did something bold.”

“Let’s hope that people will listen to President Trump,” says the former Arkansas governor.

“He’s not thinking outside the box. He throws out the box and says let’s start with a blank slate,” Huckabee continues.

“I think we will achieve something of biblical proportions during this administration in the Middle East,” Huckabee promises.

Jewish lawmaker quits NYC Council’s women’s caucus, citing rhetoric on Israeli hostages

Inna Vernikov, a Jewish Republican, says she quit the New York City Council’s women’s caucus due to its rhetoric on Israeli women held hostage by Hamas.

“I left the women’s caucus because I refuse to be part of a caucus that cannot come together to condemn the rape, murder and captivity of Jewish women without adding ‘context,'” Vernikov says in a video posted to X.

The City Council is New York City’s governing body. Vernikov, an outspoken supporter of Israel, represents part of south Brooklyn.

“We watched the footage of these young, 20-year-old Jewish girls get released from Hamas captivity and we watched this image of them being absolutely terrified,” Vernikov says. “The women’s caucus of the New York City Council, made up of 30 plus women, cannot come out and make a simple statement condemning the terrorists without adding context.”

???? On Friday I OFFICIALLY left @WomensCaucusNYC because I can’t reasonably stay part of a body that purports to stand up for women, but refuses to condemn the RAPE, MURDER, and CAPTIVITY of Jewish women by jihadi terrorists without adding “context”.

This makes them as useless… pic.twitter.com/Jf4CeFPOs0

— Councilwoman Inna Vernikov (@InnaVernikov) February 9, 2025

The women’s caucus includes both supporters of Israel, such as Jewish co-chair Julie Menin, and harsh critics, like the far-left Shahana Hanif. The caucus does not appear to have made any recent statements related to international affairs.

Menin and caucus member Lynn Schulman criticized Vernikov in a joint statement.

“As was explained to Councilmember Vernikov, members decided to put out their own personal statements, given that some of us had actually visited with hostage families in Israel, which we felt was more personal and powerful,” Menin and Schulman told The New York Post. “It is unfortunate that the council member is seeking to politicize the lives of the hostages.”

Menin, Schulman and Vernikov are all part of the council’s five-member Jewish Caucus.

The New York City Council has 51 members who are overwhelmingly Democrats. Vernikov is an outlier as a Republican supporter of US President Donald Trump.

Katz warns ‘zero tolerance’ for Gazans approaching border, after 3 killed by troops

Defense Minister Israel Katz says there will be zero tolerance for Gazans approaching the border with Israel after dozens of Palestinians were just a few hundred meters away from troops today in northern Gaza.

“Israel’s defense policy with Gaza is clear: Anyone who enters the buffer zone puts their life at risk,” Katz says in a statement.

“There will be zero tolerance for anyone who poses a threat to IDF troops or the [border] fence and communities. We will not return to the reality of October 7,” he adds.

Herzog says feelings of Jordan, Egypt must be taken into account when looking at Gaza’s future

President Isaac Herzog speaks during a swearing in ceremony for new chief rabbis at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, November 4, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/ Flash90)

President Isaac Herzog tells Fox News that US President Donald Trump’s proposition for the Gaza Strip, which includes relocating its 2.3 million residents and then redeveloping it into “the Riviera of the Middle East,” is the first “new idea” to have been put forward in years, but appears to stop short of endorsing it.

“I believe that President Trump ignited a major process that I hope will bring real change because we must change the reality on the ground,” Herzog tells Fox’s Maria Bartiromo.

Asked whether he supports the plan, which Trump pitched in his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, he stresses the importance of working in cooperation with Israel’s regional allies.

“Both Jordan and Egypt, and the Abraham Accords partners…they are partners that must be listened to, must be discussed with, we have to honor their [feelings] as well, and see how we build a plan that is sustainable for the future,” Herzog says.

He says, however, that he supports ensuring “that Gaza changes ownership” out of Hamas’s hands.

It has to be ensured that “these terrorists, these thugs, these barbaric people do not repeat the same old control that [creates] such huge suffering for their own people,” Herzog says. “There has to be a future for the children of Gaza and the children of Israel…and only under the leadership of President Trump do we see a new idea come forward.”

He calls for Israel’s neighbors to present their own suggestions “if you have any better idea.”

PM will convene security cabinet on Tuesday, ministerial aide says

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene his security cabinet on Tuesday, an aide to one of the ministers tells The Times of Israel.

The full cabinet is slated to meet later today.

The meetings come with mid-level talks underway in Doha, which Hebrew media has reported are not focused on the second phase of the hostage release and ceasefire deal, and after Netanyahu returned from a visit to Washington, DC in which US President Donald Trump presented a proposal that would see Palestinians encouraged to move out of the Gaza Strip.

Reports on Saturday indicated that the premier would not grant the Doha delegation a mandate to discuss the second phase of the deal until after he convenes his security cabinet.

Netanyahu lands at Ben Gurion Airport after weeklong Washington visit

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returns to Israel, landing at Ben Gurion Airport on Wing of Zion after a weeklong visit to Washington, DC.

Joining him on the flight were his wife Sara and his top advisers.

IDF military police opens probe into reported killing of two Palestinian women in West Bank

The IDF Military Police has launched an investigation after the Palestinian Authority health ministry reported that two women, one of them pregnant, were shot and killed by Israeli gunfire in the Nur Shams refugee camp near Tulkarem this morning.

“Following the incident, an investigation by the Military Police Investigatory Unit was opened,” the IDF says in response to a query.

PA health officials identified the two women as Rahaf al-Ashqar, 21, and Sundus Shalabi, 23. The ministry said Shalabi was eight months pregnant, and that her husband, Yazan Abu Shola, was severely injured in the incident.

High Court rejects petition seeking revocation of Isaac Amit’s appointment as court president

The High Court of Justice has rejected a petition asking it to revoke Justice Isaac Amit’s appointment as Supreme Court president.

The petition, filed by right-wing organizations Lavi and Im Tirtzu on Friday, claimed that Amit was elected “hastily” and “without a thorough review” of claims of conflict of interest that surfaced in the weeks leading up to his election.

In the ruling, Justice Alex Stein points out that “the only body authorized to discuss reservations regarding candidates for the position of Supreme Court president is the Judicial Selection Committee,” and stresses that the committee was given all the relevant information regarding the conflict of interest accusations, and Amit’s response, before it voted to install him.

Palestinian media report 3 killed by Israeli fire near Gaza City, another in Khan Younis

Palestinian media report that three people were killed by Israeli fire east of Gaza City, apparently where dozens of suspects approached the border and troops opened fire to disperse them.

In a separate incident, a Palestinian woman was reportedly killed east of the Khan Younis suburb of Al-Qarara in southern Gaza.

The IDF has warned Palestinians against approaching the Israeli border and a buffer zone inside Gaza where troops are deployed.

Syrian media reports alleged Israeli strike on southern Syria airbase; no comment from IDF

Syrian media reports an alleged Israeli airstrike at the Khalkhalah airbase in Suwayda in southern Syria.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

The IDF last struck the military airport in December, during the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

عاجل: دوي انفجارات في مطار خلخلة العسكري شمال محافظة السويداء، بالتزامن مع سماع أصوات تحليق طيران حربي في أجواء المنطقة، وفق مراسل السويداء 24.

تفاصيل أكثر حال ورودها.. pic.twitter.com/4p4wQayL0M

— السويداء 24 (@suwayda24) February 9, 2025

Israel to install cell towers on thousands of government buildings, improving coverage and reception

Israel is rolling out a tender for the deployment of cellular antenna masts on the roofs of thousands of government buildings throughout the country to improve cellular coverage and reception, increase competition, and reduce prices.

In a joint statement, the Finance Ministry and Communications Ministry announce that thousands of government offices, police stations, fire stations, and other public properties will become new cellular reception points.

“For years, the cellular communication market suffered from the lack of available areas to erect antennas, which led to problematic reception and high prices,” says Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi. “The accessibility of thousands of government properties to erect antennas at a fixed and low price will lead to real competition, increase cellular deployment all over the country, reduce the gaps between the center and the periphery, and lower prices for the public.”

The move will allow all communication and cellular companies to set up antennas at a significantly lower cost than market prices of NIS 1,750 per month for each property, according to the joint statement. It will lead to significant improvement in cellular reception, particularly in the periphery, as well as fewer dropped calls, more stable reception, and faster internet, the ministries say.

Ex-hostage Keith Siegel was held alone for last 2 months of captivity, kept track of date for all 484 days

Released hostage Keith Siegel is handed over to IDF troops in the Gaza Strip on February 1, 2025 (Israel Defense Forces)

Recently released hostage Keith Siegel was kept alone for the last two months of his captivity, and would repeat the date, day of the week, and the number of days of his captivity to himself for every one of the 484 days he was a hostage, his siblings tell The Times of Israel.

“His strategy was to stay within himself as much as possible,” says Lee Siegel, Keith’s older brother from Kibbutz Gezer. “He found his strategy to keep anchored, what number day it was, who he was with, and repeat it and repeat it.”

Siegel told his family that on day 205 he heard his daughter Elan being interviewed in Hebrew on an Arabic radio broadcast, which is how he found out that his son Shai was alive and had not been killed on October 7.

Siegel was moved 33 times during his 15-month captivity, and often kept in dark rooms where he was forced to lie down and be quiet.

“He could tell us if there was a dog in a house where he was staying and whether the dog had a name,” says brother David Siegel. “He just had a lot of focus and concentration, and he recited details throughout the day to himself to keep aware of what day [and place] it was.”

While Keith Siegel lost a significant amount of body weight and often had to forgo his vegetarianism during captivity to survive, he’s now decided to adopt a vegan diet, says brother Lee Siegel, and is “chowing down.”

“He’s craving tofu,” says sister Lucy Siegel. “He’s had it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.”

IDF troops fire at dozens of Palestinians who approached northern Gaza border fence, near Nahal Oz

IDF troops opened fire on a group of dozens of Palestinians who approached the border in the northern Gaza Strip, near the community of Nahal Oz, earlier today, the military says.

The suspects reached just a few hundred meters from troops, who are stationed in a buffer zone. The IDF says the forces moved forward with military vehicles and fired warning shots.

As a result, several of the suspects were hit, and the group withdrew, the military says.

רק 300 מטר מהגדר: עשרות עזתים התקרבו לקו הגבול מול נחל עוז והתעלמו מירי האזהרה | תיעודhttps://t.co/YqmTybUMiH | @shapira_nitzan pic.twitter.com/7GsamzMizi

— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) February 9, 2025

Arab League: Netanyahu remark on establishing Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia a ‘detachment from reality’

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit attends the closing press conference of the joint extraordinary leaders summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League in Riyadh on November 11, 2024. (Fayez Nureldine / AFP)

The Arab League says remarks by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appearing to suggest the establishment of a Palestinian state on Saudi soil show “a complete detachment from reality.”

“The logic behind them is unacceptable and reflects a complete detachment from reality,” the regional bloc’s chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit says in a statement, adding that ideas like the one aired by Netanyahu during a recent media interview “are nothing more than mere fantasies or illusions.”

Netanyahu appeared to be joking on Thursday when he responded to an interviewer on pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 who mistakenly said “Saudi state” instead of “Palestinian state,” before correcting himself.

Netanyahu was also quick to correct anchor Yaakov Bardugo, but quipped back that “the Saudis can create a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia; they have a lot of land over there.”

Bardugo responded that it was an interesting idea that shouldn’t be “ruled out,” and Netanyahu repeated himself, saying Saudi Arabia does have “a lot of territory.”

Families of hostages Matan Zangauker, Nimrod Cohen petition High Court for full text of deal to be revealed

Einav Zangauker, the mother of Matan Zangauker, one of the hostages held in the Gaza Strip since the October 7, 2023, attack by Palestinian terrorists, speaks during a demonstration calling for the release of all hostages in front of the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on January 25, 2025 (Jack GUEZ / AFP)

The families of hostages Matan Zangauker and Nimrod Cohen petition the High Court, demanding the full details of the hostage-ceasefire deal be revealed to the public.

The petition says that the families of hostages, particularly those who are not slated to be released in the current first phase of the deal, “are entitled to know the details of the agreement, which directly affect the lives of their loved ones.”

Zangauker’s mother Einav, alongside Nimrod’s parents Vicky and Yehuda and his siblings, say the government additionally must not delay the implementation of the next stages of the agreement.

“The petitioners are in the dark and in great uncertainty regarding the details of the agreement,” the petition reads.

“In addition, the petitioners are in a state of great anxiety and concern regarding the possibility that the second phase of the agreement will not be implemented at all, or that its implementation will be postponed for an extremely long time, which could harm the well-being of their loved ones.”

“The passing time endangers the lives of the hostages,” the petition says.

Yehuda Cohen, father of Israeli hostage Nimrod Cohen, during a rally calling for the release of hostages held captive since the October 7 onslaught, in Tel Aviv on December 28, 2024 (Jack GUEZ / AFP)

5 indicted on suspicion of extorting business owners in racketeering scheme

Police indict five residents of the northern town Tuba-Zangariyye on suspicion of extorting business owners in a broader racketeering scheme.

A law enforcement spokesman says investigators covertly trailed the five suspects last month as they broke into a construction site near Migdal HaEmek and proceeded to damage and steal parts of its heavy equipment.

The suspects buried the stolen equipment in the field to later “facilitate negotiations for its return,” police say. Officers arrested the five as they returned north to Tuba-Zangariyye.

Police reached out to the construction site manager, who told them that he had been contacted by someone who offered him security services a few days prior to the incident, but he refused the proposal.

“Tuba-Zangariyye is home to several criminal gangs whose activities impact the daily lives of law-abiding residents in the northern district,” says the spokesman.

He adds that over the past few months, local law enforcement has “focused on a gang from Tuba-Zangariyye involved in extorting protection fees from construction sites and businesses in northern Israel.”

Thai hostage Watchara Sriaoun says he feels ‘reborn’ after being freed from Gaza

Freed Thai farm worker Watchara Sriaoun (R) hugs his grandfather Sompong Sriaoun (L) upon return to his hometown in Thailand's northeast Udon Thani province on February 9, 2025, following his release by terrorists in Gaza (Chanakarn Laosarakham / AFP)

A Thai farm worker held hostage in Gaza for almost 16 months says he feels “reborn” as he and four compatriots arrive home to tears of joy from their relieved families.

The five — Watchara Sriaoun, Pongsak Tanna, Sathian Suwannakham, Surasak Lamnau and Bannawat Saethao — were met by a small group of overjoyed relatives and officials at the airport in Bangkok before traveling on to their hometowns.

Watchara was embraced by his parents and nine-year-old daughter as he arrived at his simple two-story home in northeastern Udon Thani province and was handed bright yellow marigolds, a Thai symbol of prosperity.

“Thank you to everyone who helped me out. I feel like I have been reborn,” the 33-year-old says, before eating his first meal with his family in several years.

Weeping, his 85-year-old grandfather tells him: “You are back, I thought you were dead.”

His mother Viewvaew says he had little to eat in captivity, and was sometimes not allowed to shower, but kept himself sane by drawing on whatever he could find, including his blanket.

“I am really glad that I can hug him in person. I thank God that my son is healthy both mentally and physically,” she says.

Science minister Gamliel planning to run for president in 2028

Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel at a conference in Jerusalem, on February 25, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Science and Technology Minister Gila Gamliel, a member of the security cabinet, is planning a run to be the next president.

Gamliel began a campaign a few weeks ago among Knesset members and key activists of the Likud party, as well as other right-wing parties, in the hope of gaining the nomination for the position.

Gamliel, 50, has been politically active since a young age and was the first woman to chair the national Student Union.

The next presidential election will be held in June 2028. Gamliel hopes to gain support early on, following the lead of current President Isaac Herzog, who worked on his presidential candidacy for many years.

Gamliel seeks to be Likud’s sole candidate for the position. The president of the state is elected by the Knesset in a secret ballot once every seven years.

Qatar condemns Netanyahu’s ‘provocative’ comment on establishing Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press at the US Capitol following his closed-door meeting with US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson in Washington, DC, on February 7, 2025. (Oliver Contreras / AFP)

Qatar condemns a comment from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggesting establishing a Palestinian state inside Saudi territory, the Qatari foreign ministry says in a statement.

Qatar, a key mediator in Gaza hostage-ceasefire deal negotiations between Hamas and Israel, describes Netanyahu’s statement as “provocative.”

Netanyahu appeared to be joking on Thursday when he responded to an interviewer on pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 who mistakenly said “Saudi state” instead of “Palestinian state,” before correcting himself.

Netanyahu was also quick to correct anchor Yaakov Bardugo, but quipped back that “the Saudis can create a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia; they have a lot of land over there.”

Bardugo responded that it was an interesting idea that shouldn’t be “ruled out,” and Netanyahu repeated himself, saying Saudi Arabia does have “a lot of territory.”

IDF testing Central Command’s readiness for terror attacks in surprise drill

The IDF launched a surprise drill early this morning, testing the Central Command’s readiness for terror attacks, the military says.

The exercise was ordered by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi.

“The forces will be tested with scenarios of infiltration into communities, attacks on routes, terror attacks under the auspices of mass gatherings, and incidents in several areas simultaneously,” the IDF says.

The military says the various scenarios in the drill come as part of lessons learned from the war and following fresh assessments.

The IDF Operations Directorate is leading the drill with the Central Command, and it is taking place in the West Bank, Jordan Valley, Dead Sea, and Golan Heights areas.

An increased presence of military vehicles and aircraft will be seen, and sounds of explosions may be heard, the IDF adds.

Earlier, the IDF said the drill would last until the evening.

Hospital official: Ohad Ben Ami’s severe malnourishment ‘reminds us of the urgency’ of the quick return of rest of hostages

Ohad Ben Ami in (L) an undated photo and (R) upon his release by Hamas in the Gaza Strip on February 8, 2025 (Courtesy;Eyad Baba / AFP)

Former hostage Ohad Ben Ami, released after 491 days in Hamas captivity in Gaza is suffering severe malnourishment says Prof. Gil Fire, deputy director of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, where Ben Ami is being treated.

Ben Ami has lost a “significant amount of his body weight,” Fire says, “and we are prepared to address the additional health consequences of prolonged captivity under terrible conditions.”

The condition of Ben Ami and the two other freed hostages, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy, “reminds us of the urgency” of the quick return of the other hostages still in Gaza, Fire says.

Freed hostage Or Levy’s mother-in-law, who helped raise his son: ‘Today I’m going back to being a grandma’

Released hostage Or Levy reunites with his three-year-old son Almog after 491 days in captivity in Gaza, at Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv, February 8, 2025. (Courtesy)

The mother-in-law of freed hostage Or Levy, who has helped to raise his son for the past 16 months, says she is now going back to being a grandmother.

Levy’s wife Eynav, the daughter of Pnina Elkayem, was killed on October 7, while he was kidnapped to the Gaza Strip.

The couple left their then-2-year-old Almog with Elkayem when they went to the Nova festival near the Gaza border.

Since that day, Elkayem and Levy’s family have raised the boy.

“Today I’m going back to being a grandmother,” Elkayem tells the Kan public broadcaster.

“It was a difficult time, but now we see the light at the end of the tunnel. A different life lies ahead of us,” she says.

Or and Eynav arrived at the festival just before the deadly Hamas onslaught began. They headed for their car when the rockets started, then sought refuge in a roadside bomb shelter.

Several days later, the IDF informed the family that Eynav had been killed and her body had been found in the shelter, and that Or had been taken captive.

Since then, Almog had been told that people were searching for his father.

During a video call yesterday, Almog then told his father, “Dad, it took you a long time to come back.” Hours later, the two were reunited.

Or (left) and Eynav Levy went to the Nova desert rave on October 7; Eynav was killed and Or was taken hostage (Michael Levy via AP)

Egypt foreign minister heads to Washington amid backlash over Trump plan to relocate Gazans

Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty attends an Arab officials' meeting in Riyadh on January 12, 2025 (Fayez Nureldine / AFP)

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty leaves for Washington to meet with top US officials and members of Congress after US President Donald Trump floated a plan to relocate Gazans to Egypt and Jordan.

His departure comes as Cairo announces it will host an “emergency Arab summit” on February 27 to discuss “the latest serious developments” concerning the Palestinians.

According to a statement by the Egyptian foreign ministry, Abdelatty’s visit aims “to boost bilateral relations and (the) strategic partnership between Egypt and the US,” and will include “consultations on regional developments.”

Egypt has been seeking to marshal Arab allies against Trump’s plan for Gaza, with Abdelatty speaking with partners including Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on Friday to shore up opposition to any potential forced displacement of Palestinians from their land.

Last week, Trump floated the idea of US administration over Gaza, envisioning rebuilding the devastated territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere, namely Egypt and Jordan.

The remarks have prompted global backlash, and Arab countries have firmly rejected the proposal, insisting on a two-state solution with an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Hamas official: IDF completed withdrawal from eastern part of Netzarim Corridor

Displaced Palestinians cross the Netzarim corridor as they make their way to the northern parts of the Gaza Strip on February 9, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

A Hamas official tells AFP that the Israeli military has completed its withdrawal from the eastern portion of the Netzarim Corridor in the central Gaza Strip.

“Israeli forces have dismantled their positions and military posts and completely withdrawn their tanks from the Netzarim Corridor on Salah-a-din Road, allowing vehicles to pass freely in both directions,” the official from the Hamas-run interior ministry says.

An AFP journalist on the scene says there are no Israeli troops present on the corridor.

While Palestinians have been seen moving through the eastern part of the key axis, the Israel Defense Forces is yet to comment.

Iran: Trump proposal to move Palestinians from Gaza threatens Mideast security, stability

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi gives a press conference in Tehran on December 30, 2024. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Iran’s top diplomat says a proposal by US President Donald Trump to move Palestinians out of the war-battered Gaza Strip represents a threat to stability and security in the Middle East.

“Forcibly displacing Palestinians from Gaza is part of a scheme to eliminate Palestine in a colonial manner,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says in a call with his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty, according to an Iranian statement.

Trump’s proposal for the United States to take over Gaza and relocate its inhabitants was first unveiled on Tuesday during a White House meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sparking widespread condemnation.

The war in Gaza was sparked by the October 7, 2023, onslaught on Israel by Iran-backed terror groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Araghchi says Trump’s plan “poses a serious threat to the stability and security” in the region.

The US president has suggested that Gazans could resettle in Egypt or Jordan. Both governmenst have strongly rejected such a move.

According to Araghchi, “it is essential that Islamic countries take a firm and unified stance against this project.”

Egypt to host emergency Arab summit to discuss ‘serious’ developments for Palestinians

Egypt will host an emergency Arab summit on February 27 to discuss what it described as “serious” developments for Palestinians, according to a statement from the Egyptian foreign ministry.

The summit comes amid regional and global condemnation of US President Donald Trump’s suggestion to “take over the Gaza Strip” from Israel and create a “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere.

The statement says the gathering was called “after extensive consultations by Egypt at the highest levels with Arab countries in recent days, including Palestine, which requested the summit, to address the latest serious developments regarding the Palestinian cause.”

That included coordination with Bahrain, which currently chairs the Arab League, the statement says.

Turkey spy chief visits Tehran for talks on ‘terror threats,’ Syria and Gaza

Turkish Presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin gives a press conference in Ankara, on May 25, 2022 (Adem ALTAN / AFP)

ISTANBUL — Turkey’s spy chief Ibrahim Kalin has held talks in Tehran with his Iranian counterpart to discuss the fight against “terror” groups and the situation in Syria, state news agency Anadolu reports.

Kalin met with Iran’s Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib as well as security chief Ali Akbar Ahmadian, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Anadolu reports.

They discussed “the fight against terror organizations, especially the PKK and Daesh, common threats, the situation in Syria, the Gaza ceasefire and developments in the Palestinian issue,” it says, referring to the banned Kurdish militant group and using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State (ISIS) jihadist group.

The two countries were on opposite sides of Syria’s long-running civil war, with Turkey historically backing opponents of recently deposed strongman Bashar al-Assad, while Iran supported his rule.

Assad was deposed on December 8 and the leaders of Turkey and Iran held their first meeting in Cairo later that month.

Sister-in-law of emaciated freed hostage: ‘It was terrible, I didn’t really recognize him’

Ohad Ben Ami in (L) an undated photo and (R) upon his release by Hamas in the Gaza Strip on February 8, 2025 (Courtesy;Eyad Baba / AFP)

The sister-in-law of one of the hostages freed by Hamas in Gaza yesterday says that she almost didn’t recognize him when she first saw him released yesterday.

“It was terrible,” Ayelet Hakim tells Radio 103FM. “I didn’t really recognize him.”

“I knew what all three of them looked like in theory, if you can call it that, and I didn’t really recognize Ohad. But I knew it was him because of his character, not because I recognized him,” she says.

“It was a real shock to see him get out of the car [in Gaza] like that. Everyone around me shouted, ‘It’s Ohad, it’s Ohad,’ and I tried to understand if I was really seeing Ohad in front of me,” she says.

“It was hard to see him so thin and pale and really you can see that he is someone who hasn’t been fed, hasn’t eaten properly for a whole year and four months,” she says.

Ben Ami was freed alongside Or Levy and Eli Sharabi. The three men were emaciated and frail, with medical officials saying they were suffering severe medical problems as a result of their ill-treatment.

Hakim’s sister, Ben Ami’s wife Raz, was freed during the November 2023 truce.

PA officials say pregnant Palestinian woman shot, killed in West Bank; IDF looking into reports

Sundus Shalabi, an eight-month pregnant 23-year-old Palestinian woman, was shot and killed by IDF gunfire while trying to leave the Nur Shams refugee camp in the West Bank, reports the Palestinian Authority health ministry.

Her husband was severely injured.

The IDF says it is looking into the reports.

The incident comes during a widespread counter-terror operation by the Israeli military in the northern West Bank.

Health officials: 3 hostages freed yesterday have severe health conditions including malnutrition, heart disorders

Left to right: 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 (Eyad Baba / AFP)

Health officials say that three hostages, Or Levy, Ohad Ben Ami and Eli Sharabi, released from Gaza after 491 days of captivity, suffer from severe physical and mental deterioration, including malnutrition, decreased muscle mass, heart disorders, and prolonged infection, according to the Ynet news site.

The officials say some injuries after prolonged exposure to harsh conditions are not immediately visible.

Levy and Sharabi are being treated at Sheba Medical Center, and Ben Ami is at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center.

Sheba Medical Center director Yael Nir-Frankel says the consequences of “491 long days in captivity are evident on the two returnees.”

“To hold people in captivity for so long means a deterioration of their condition,” she says.

Palestinians begin returning to eastern Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza after IDF withdrawal

Displaced Palestinians travel towards Gaza City as they cross the Netzarim Corridor from the southern Gaza Strip on January 27, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

Palestinians are seen returning to the eastern portion of the Netzarim Corridor in the central Gaza Strip after the IDF withdrew from the area overnight as part of the ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas.

The IDF has not yet commented on the withdrawal.

#فيديو | مشاهد أولية من محور "نتساريم" وسط قطاع غزة بعد انسحاب قوات الاحتلال صباح اليوم. pic.twitter.com/Btmvho9h7i

— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) February 9, 2025

انسحاب جيش الاحتلال من محور "نتساريم" وسط قطاع غزة، وذلك في إطار اتفاق وقف إطلاق النار. pic.twitter.com/BFms5ZgGqG

— القسطل الإخباري (@AlQastalps) February 9, 2025

Israeli forces withdrew from their positions in the western portion of the Netzarim Corridor nearly two weeks ago, as Israel allowed displaced Gazans to return to the Strip’s north on foot via the coastal road and by vehicles on the Salah a-Din road.

The IDF maintained some posts on the eastern side of Salah a-Din road, closer to the border with Israel.

Per the outline of the agreement, on day 21 of the ceasefire, Israel must withdraw from the entire corridor that bisects the Strip and only maintain a presence in a buffer zone of up to around one kilometer inside Gaza.

Israeli forces are still deployed to the Philadelphi Corridor, the Egypt-Gaza border area. Under the deal, on day 50 of the ceasefire, Israel will need to complete its withdrawal from Philadelphi.

Report: Security cabinet won’t discuss 2nd stage of deal until later in week

The security cabinet meets in Jerusalem on January 17, 2025 to discuss the ceasefire-hostage release deal. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

The security cabinet will only begin discussions on a potential second stage of the hostage-ceasefire deal on Tuesday or Thursday, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

It is unclear what is causing a delay to the start of the deliberations, the outlet reports. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s return flight from the United States is expected to land back in Israel later today.

Initially, Israel said that the negotiations for the second stage would only resume after Netanyahu’s meeting with US President Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff. That meeting took place last week.

Kan reports that it was later said that the discussions would only be held after the security cabinet had discussed the matter after Netanyahu’s return to Israel.

Though talks for the second phase were supposed to commence on February 3, Netanyahu pushed off sending a negotiating team, in what is apparently a violation of the deal’s terms.

A working-level negotiating team, led by the outgoing Shin Bet deputy director — known by his Hebrew initial “Mem” — has arrived in Doha, but is reportedly empowered to discuss only the first phase, not the second.

The delay in talks on the second phase has deeply worried the families of male hostages and those who have been killed, and are not set to be released until phases two and three.

IDF announces expansion of counter-terror operation in northern West Bank

The IDF says it is further expanding an ongoing counter-terrorism offensive in the northern West Bank, with troops beginning to operate in the Nur Shams camp near Tulkarem overnight.

So far, troops have shot several terror operatives and detained wanted Palestinians in the area, the military says.

The offensive, dubbed Operation Iron Wall, was launched on January 21, and the military expects it to last several more weeks.

Trump: Israel won’t bomb Iran if we make a deal with Tehran

US President Donald Trump looks on during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 7, 2025. (Jim Watson/AFP)

US President Donald Trump says he would prefer to make a deal with Iran rather than “bombing the hell out of it,” adding that Israel would not carry out a strike if there was an agreement.

“I would like a deal done with Iran on non-nuclear. I would prefer that to bombing the hell out of it,” he tells the New York Post. “They don’t want to die. Nobody wants to die.”

“If we made the deal, Israel wouldn’t bomb them,” he says.

The US president says he will not discuss potential negotiations with Tehran.

“In a way, I don’t like telling you what I’m going to tell them. You know, it’s not nice,” he says. “I could tell what I have to tell them, and I hope they decide that they’re not going to do what they’re currently thinking of doing. And I think they’ll really be happy.”

Last week Trump denied the United States and Israel plan to carry out a military strike on Iran, instead saying he wants to make a new nuclear deal with Tehran and that work on the potential pact should start immediately.

IDF announces drill in West Bank, Dead Sea area, Golan Heights; explosions may be heard

The IDF says it is carrying out a drill today that will last until the evening hours, in the West Bank, Jordan Valley, near the Dead Sea hotels, and Golan Heights.

The drill will simulate “extreme scenarios,” the military says, including infiltrations into Israeli communities, violent rioting, and numerous simultaneous incidents in the area.

The IDF warns of increased movement of military vehicles and sounds of explosions amid the drill.

Netanyahu’s return flight to Israel takes off from US

After a delay to remove ice from the wings of his plane, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu takes off from Andrews Air Force Base near Washington.

He is expected to land back in Israel in ten and a half hours.

Saudi Arabia rejects Netanyahu’s remarks about displacing Palestinians

Saudi Arabia affirms its categorical rejection of remarks by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about displacing Palestinians from Gaza, the foreign ministry says in a statement.

Israeli officials have suggested the establishment of a Palestinian state on Saudi territory. Netanyahu appeared to be joking this week when he responded to an interviewer on pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 who misspoke by saying “Saudi state” instead of “Palestinian state” before correcting himself.

While the Saudi statement mentions Netanyahu’s name, it does not directly refer to the comments about establishing a Palestinian state in Saudi territory.

Netanyahu’s return flight to Israel delayed by at least 30 minutes due to ice on wings

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s flight back to Israel has been delayed by at least half an hour because of ice on the plane’s wings.

Crews are currently working to clear the wings.

Netanyahu hails Trump’s Gaza plan, says only those Gazans who renounce terror will be allowed to return

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, gives an interview to Fox News' Mark Levin aired February 8, 2025. (Screenshot/Fox News)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls US President Donald Trump’s plan to relocate Palestinians from Gaza the “first fresh idea in years.”

“It has the potential to change everything in Gaza,” says Netanyahu, speaking to Fox News’ Mark Levin in a pre-recorded interview.

It is the third interview he has granted to a friendly media outlet during the six-day trip to Washington, DC, while avoiding speaking to almost all accompanying Israeli journalists.

“Not forcible eviction,” says Netanyahu, explaining the plan Trump presented last week.

“Not ethnic cleansing. Getting out from what all these countries and all these do-gooders say is an open-air prison. Why do you want to keep them in prison?”

Netanyahu says that Gazans will eventually be able to return home, something Trump initially said would not happen.

“Give them an option to relocate temporarily while we rebuild the place physically and while we also rebuild it in terms of radicalization. You want to come back? You have to disavow terrorism, but you can come back.”

The main challenge, says Netanyahu, is where to send the Gazans.

He calls it a “novel approach, and the correct approach… a very very good, new approach.”

Netanyahu denies that US special envoy Steve Witkoff “muscled” him into the ongoing hostage release deal with Hamas: “We had a real, not only friendly, but eye-to-eye conversation, and what happened was, I accepted this deal months ago. Hamas refused the deal.”

The prime minister says he appreciated the “initial support” from Joe Biden’s administration early in the war.

But, according to Netanyahu, as pressure built on Biden to change his position on Israel, the White House said that if Israel goes into Rafah, “we’ll stop the weapons.”

According to the premier, some in his cabinet wanted to end the war in Gaza given the US opposition.

“If we become a vassal state, we will not survive,” he warns.

Netanyahu and his wife board Wing of Zion ahead of return flight from US to Israel

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)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boards the Wing of Zion plane ahead of his return flight from Washington, DC, to Ben Gurion Airport.

His wife Sara joins him, after spending over two months in the US, without returning when her husband underwent prostate removal surgery.

Sara Netanyahu heads back to Israel after 76 days in the US, including during her husband’s prostate surgery @glick_sh pic.twitter.com/9hx4EtFDPf

— Lazar Berman (@Lazar_Berman) February 9, 2025

Netanyahu set to depart US, heading back to Israel after a week

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, holds a situational assessment with advisers in Washington, DC, on February 8, 2025. (Avi Ohayon/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to take off from Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, DC, at around 10 p.m. local time (5 a.m. Israel time).

He will be heading back to Israel after a week in the United States.

Netanyahu’s office releases a photo of a Friday night situational assessment ahead of the release of three hostages.

Trump revokes security clearances for Blinken, other top Biden administration officials

US President Donald Trump has revoked security clearances for Antony Blinken, the former secretary of state, and Jake Sullivan, the former national security adviser, White House officials say.

The move comes a day after Trump said he had revoked the security clearance for his predecessor Joe Biden, stopping his access to daily intelligence briefings.

Trump also revoked security clearances for Biden’s Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, who helped coordinate the Department of Justice’s response to the January 6, 2021, attacks on the US Capitol, the officials say.

He also removed the clearances of New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who led cases against Trump, the officials say.

British PM ‘dismayed’ at freed hostage Eli Sharabi’s condition, says he’s met his UK relatives

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing Street in central London on February 5, 2025, to take part in the weekly session of Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs). (Adrian Dennis / AFP)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he’s relieved at today’s release from Hamas captivity of Eli Sharabi, but “dismayed to see his frail condition and the circumstances of his release.”

Sharabi was freed Saturday morning after 491 days in captivity in Gaza, looking visibly emaciated and forced to answer questions on a Hamas stage while terror operatives with guns surrounded him.

Sharabi’s British-Israeli wife Lianne and teenage daughters Noiya and Yahel were murdered in Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught. He didn’t know they were dead until after his release. Eli’s brother Yossi was also taken hostage and later killed.

Starmer says he has met Sharabi’s relatives, presumably his wife’s Wales-based parents and siblings, adding: “I appreciate the deep pain they have endured and my thoughts are with them.”

The UK leader says all hostages must go free after being “ripped away from their lives in the most brutal circumstances and held in appalling conditions.”

He urges the ongoing deal seen through all its phases alongside the “continued increase of aid into Gaza.”

My statement on the release of Eli Sharabi. pic.twitter.com/OuZ7qf8lJY

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) February 8, 2025

IDF set to withdraw from Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, per ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas

A view of the Netzarim Corridor in the central Gaza Strip, December 26, 2024. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

The IDF is set to withdraw overnight from its remaining positions in the Netzarim Corridor of central Gaza as part of the ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas.

Israeli forces withdrew from their positions in the northern portion of the Netzarim Corridor last week, as Israel allowed displaced Gazans to return to the Strip’s north on foot via the coastal road and by vehicles on the Salah a-Din road.

The IDF maintained some posts on the eastern side of Salah a-Din road, closer to the border with Israel.

Per the outline of the agreement, on day 21 of the ceasefire, Israel will withdraw from the entire corridor that bisects the Strip and only maintain a presence in a buffer zone of up to around one kilometer inside Gaza.

Israeli forces are also still deployed to the Philadelphi Corridor, the Egypt-Gaza border area. Under the deal, Israel needs to complete its withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor on day 50 of the ceasefire.