Jan. 8: US Treasury secretary says Iran facing precarious moment, economy in trouble

Iran’s economy is facing high inflation and other challenges, partly due to US sanctions, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says, underscoring Washington’s concerns about Tehran cracking down violently on anti-regime protests.

“The Iranian economy is on the ropes,” Bessent tells the Economic Club of Minnesota, underscoring President Donald Trump’s warning to Tehran to avoid harming protesters.

“It’s a very precarious moment. He does not want them to harm more of the protesters. This is a tense moment,” the US Treasury secretary says, referring to Trump’s threat on Sunday to hit Tehran if it began killing protesters.

Bessent says it is clear that “what had been an affluent society that still maintained a high standard of living is really crumbling, and a lot of that is through the sanctions.”

He says it is unclear how Tehran planned to finance the rebuilding of its nuclear program.

11:35 pm

‘All of Iran belongs to the Iranian people’: Israel expresses support for protesters

The IsraelinFarsi X account run by the Foreign Ministry expresses its support for the ongoing protests against the Islamic Republic across Iran tonight.

“Qom, Mashhad, Tehran, Dezful — all of Iran belongs to the Iranian people,” the Israeli government account tweets.

The account has also tweeted several clips showing the wide-scale protests.

While there had been reports that the Israeli government was trying to avoid responding publicly to the protests to avoid harming them, that approach seems to have been largely abandoned by Jerusalem.

11:26 pm

Somalia, US relations hit low point as Washington pauses aid to government

Relations between Somalia and the US hit a low point as Washington says it will pause further assistance that benefits the government in Mogadishu amid a dispute over the demolition of a World Food Program warehouse.

The US State Department’s under secretary of foreign assistance says in an X post that Somali government officials had destroyed a US-funded WFP warehouse and illegally seized donor-funded food aid for vulnerable Somalis.

As a result, he says, Washington was suspending aid to Somalia. The value of the aid was not immediately clear.

A WFP spokesperson tells Reuters the program had retrieved 75 metric tons of nutritional commodities. A day earlier, another WFP spokesperson said the warehouse containing that same amount of assistance was demolished by port authorities.

A US official says Washington was “glad to hear reports that certain commodities have been recovered,” adding that the administration is continuing its investigation into diversion and misuse of assistance in Somalia.

“We’ve urged the Federal Government of Somalia to promptly follow through on their commitment to provide an account of the incident,” the official says.

Somalia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has disputed the assertion that the US-provided aid had been stolen and says it remains in WFP custody.

The chill in ties comes against the backdrop of Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, which infuriated Mogadishu.

10:29 pm

US gravely concerned by Aleppo fighting, wants it to end, says envoy

The United States calls for an end to clashes between government troops and Kurdish fighters in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, saying it was gravely concerned by the situation.

Tom Barrack, Trump’s special envoy for Syria, says the United States and its allies were ready to help efforts to de-escalate tensions between government troops and Kurdish forces, which include the Syrian Democratic Forces group.

“We therefore issue an urgent appeal to the leadership of the Syrian government, SDF, local authorities in Kurdish-administered areas, and all armed actors on the ground: pause hostilities, reduce tensions immediately, and commit to de-escalation,” Barrack says in a post on X.

The United States is closely following developments in the Ashrafiyeh and Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhoods of Aleppo with grave concern. We urge all parties to exercise the utmost restraint and to place the protection of civilian lives and property above all other considerations.…

— Ambassador Tom Barrack (@USAMBTurkiye) January 8, 2026

10:26 pm

German president says US destroying world order amid Maduro ousting

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has strongly criticized US foreign policy under President Donald Trump and urged the world not to let the world order disintegrate into a “den of robbers” where the unscrupulous take what they want.

In unusually strong remarks, which appeared to refer to actions such as the ousting of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro at the weekend, Steinmeier says global democracy was being attacked as never before.

Although the German president’s role is largely ceremonial, his words carry some weight and he has more freedom to express views than politicians.

Describing Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a watershed, Steinmeier said the US behavior represented a second historic rupture.

“Then there is the breakdown of values by our most important partner, the USA, which helped build this world order,” Steinmeier says in remarks at a symposium late on Wednesday.

“It is about preventing the world from turning into a den of robbers, where the most unscrupulous take whatever they want, where regions or entire countries are treated as the property of a few great powers,” he says.

On Thursday, a poll for public broadcaster ARD indicated 76% of Germans surveyed now felt the United States was not a partner that Germany could rely on, an increase of three percentage points since June 2025. Only 15% felt Germany could now trust the United States, the lowest level recorded in the regular survey of attitudes.

By contrast, roughly three-quarters felt they could rely on France and Britain.

The survey found 69% of Germans were concerned about security in Europe, about the same number that thought NATO partners could not rely on the protection of the United States, the strongest member of the alliance.

10:12 pm

US judge dismisses lawsuit by Palestinian Americans trapped in Gaza

Illustrative: Fatima Abu al-Bayd inspects what remains of her mother's tent after her mother, Amal Abu Al-Khair, and grandchild, Saud, were killed when it caught fire overnight at the Yarmouk displacement camp in Gaza City, January 2, 2026. (AP/Jehad Alshrafi)

A federal judge dismisses a lawsuit demanding that the US government conduct emergency rescues of Palestinian Americans and family members who are trapped in Gaza and trying to escape hardships caused by the war between Israel and Hamas.

Chief Judge Virginia Kendall of the US District Court in Chicago says she lacks the power and tools to evaluate “delicate foreign policy decisions” belonging to the government’s Executive Branch, while expressing sympathy with “the impossible positions in which many of the plaintiffs have found themselves.”

Nine Palestinian Americans, all US citizens or lawful permanent residents, sued in December 2024, accusing the US government of violating their constitutional right to equal protection by abandoning them in a war zone and not evacuating them as readily as it would evacuate other Americans.

They said destroyed homes, food shortages, poor medical care, mental anguish and other hardships imposed a “mandatory, non-discretionary duty” on the government to evacuate people from Gaza.

But the judge says she is ill-equipped to address how to coordinate an evacuation with neighboring countries, how to shepherd evacuees through dangerous “red zones,” which people are eligible for evacuations, and how the nonexistent US diplomatic presence in Gaza would complicate the process.

“Endeavoring to answer these questions – and many more like them – from the comfort of chambers is both undoable and would also invade the political branches’ constitutionally committed tasks of determining when, how, and under what circumstances evacuations from war zones should proceed,” Kendall writes.

The judge also says available evidence shows the US government has developed an evacuation plan, and the nine plaintiffs had either been evacuated or rejected offers that did not cover immediate family members.

Lawyers from the Council on American-Islamic Relations advocacy group, which represents the plaintiffs, has no immediate comment. The US Department of State does not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit was filed against former US president Joe Biden, former secretary of state Antony Blinken and former defense secretary Lloyd Austin, and continued against their respective successors Donald Trump, Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth.

9:52 pm

Iranians holding mass anti-government protest in major street of Tehran

By AFP

Protesters in Tehran massed on a key avenue in the northwest of the Iranian capital on Thursday in a major protest that is part of a nationwide movement sparked by anger over the cost of living, according to images on social media verified by AFP.

Crowds of people, as well as vehicles honking in support, filled a part of the vast Ayatollah Kashani Boulevard, images from Tehran showed, as Persian language TV channels based outside Iran and other social media outlets posted images of significant protests in other cities, including Tabriz in the north and the holy city of Mashhad in the east.

Incredible footage coming in from protest against Khamanei and Islamic Republic regime in Tehran this very hour. pic.twitter.com/zPeii5vFj1

— Bahman Kalbasi (@BahmanKalbasi) January 8, 2026

9:48 pm

Three Palestinian minors hospitalized after beating by Israeli forces, Red Crescent says

By Noam Lehmann

Three Palestinian minors were hospitalized this evening after being beaten by IDF soldiers during a military raid in the city of al-Bireh, near Ramallah in the central West Bank, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society says.

Another two young men were treated in the field after inhaling tear gas, the Red Crescent says.

WAFA, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency, says Israeli forces opened fire on a car in the city, without injuring anyone.

After shooting at the car, the soldiers reportedly clashed with locals, throwing teargas canisters and briefly detaining people, including the three minors who were hospitalized for the beating they took during their detention, according to the Red Crescent.

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

9:39 pm

Vance says Europe should take Trump ‘seriously’ on Greenland

By AFP

US Vice President JD Vance tells Europe to take President Donald Trump “seriously” on Greenland, after Washington floated buying the territory from Denmark and even taking military action to acquire it.

“I guess my advice to European leaders and anybody else would be to take the president of the United States seriously,” Vance tells a briefing at the White House when asked about Greenland.

Separately during the briefing, Vance doubles down on the Trump administration’s description of a federal immigration agent shooting dead a woman in Minneapolis as being in “self-defense,” a characterization disputed by local authorities.

“Ramming an ICE officer with your car, that’s what justifies being shot,” says Vance, when asked if the shooting was justified. “It’s not a good thing, by the way, but when you force somebody to engage in self-defense, it’s almost a preposterous question.”

9:23 pm

Trump threatens Iran with ‘hell’ if it kills protesters, declines to meet the Shah’s son

By Jacob Magid

US President Donald Trump speaks to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat in Washington, January 6, 2026. (Evan Vucci/AP)

US President Donald Trump reiterates his threat of retribution against Iran if the Islamic Republic targets protesters who have been taking to the streets in large numbers to demonstrate against the regime over the past two weeks.

“I have let them know that if they start killing people, which they tend to do during their riots… we’re going to hit them very hard,” Trump says in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.

When the interviewer says dozens have been killed in the protests, Trump responds that some of those deaths are due to stampedes and not necessarily caused by law enforcement.

“I’m not sure I can necessarily hold somebody responsible for that, but… they’ve been told very strongly — even more strongly than I’m speaking to you right now — that if they do that, they’re going to have to pay hell,” Trump says.

Asked to offer a message to the anti-government protesters in Iran, Trump says, “You should feel strongly about freedom… You’re brave people. It’s a shame what’s happened to your country. Your country was a great country.”

Pressed on whether he’ll meet with Reza Pahlavi, son of the former Shah of Iran, Trump indicates that he will not do so at this time.

“I’ve watched him, and he seems like a nice person, but I’m not sure that it would be appropriate at this point to do that,” Trump says.

“I think that we should let everybody go out there and we see who emerges,” he adds.

9:06 pm

IDF says it fired warning shots after Egyptian vessel enters Israeli waters

An Egyptian vessel briefly entered Israeli waters without authorization earlier today, the IDF says.

According to the military, Israeli Navy forces called on the vessel to stop, and after it failed to respond, warning shots were fired. The vessel subsequently changed course and returned to Egyptian waters. No casualties were reported.

“IDF forces acted in accordance with procedures, called on the vessel to stop, and after it failed to comply, dispersal measures were carried out,” the military says in response to queries. “The IDF emphasizes that Egypt is a key partner to the [Gaza] peace agreement, and security coordination between the two countries continues as usual.”

According to a military source, Egyptian officials expressed regret over the incident and took responsibility for it.

8:33 pm

IDF says Hezbollah drone operator killed in strike in southern Lebanon

The IDF says the Hezbollah operative targeted and killed earlier today in the Zaita area of southern Lebanon was a drone operator involved in rehabilitating the terror group’s military infrastructure.

According to the military, the operative – identified as Alaa Khourani – was engaged in restoring Hezbollah infrastructure, activating forces, and attempting to collect intelligence on IDF troops in the area.

The IDF says his activities constituted a violation of the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon, adding that it will continue to act to remove any threat and defend Israel.

8:22 pm

Trump slams Republican senators who voted to curb his military powers

By AFP

US President Donald Trump lashes out at a handful of Republican senators for their “stupidity” in voting to limit his military powers, after a secretive raid that captured Venezuela’s leader Nicolas Maduro.

“Republicans should be ashamed of the Senators that just voted with Democrats in attempting to take away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America,” Trump posts on his Truth Social platform.

Five Republicans voted with Democrats to advance the legislation barring further US hostilities against Venezuela without explicit congressional authorization. A vote on final passage is expected next week.

8:14 pm

UN’s Albanese ignoring US defamation lawsuit, court filings show

By Luke Tress

The UN special rapporteur for the Palestinians, Francesca Albanese, is ignoring a defamation lawsuit filed against her in the US, according to court filings.

Two pro-Israel US Christian groups sued Albanese in September for alleged defamation and libel, claiming she sought to harm them due to their support for Israel.

The lawsuit said Albanese sent letters to the two groups accusing them of human rights violations, war crimes, crimes against humanity and apartheid, and published a UN report that attacked the groups.

In a legal document filed today, the plaintiffs say Albanese has not responded to the lawsuit within the timeframe allotted to her.

She was supposed to have responded to a motion by December 30, the filings say.

“That time has passed. Defendant has made no response, answer, or appearance,” lawyers for the plaintiffs tell the court.

The lawyers for the plaintiffs request that the court rule on the case absence of Albanese’s response.

Albanese is already under US sanctions, meaning she cannot travel to the US or carry out any financial transactions linked to the US.

7:54 pm

Venezuela releasing ‘large number’ of prisoners in apparent gesture to Trump

By AFP

Venezuelan authorities are releasing a “large number” of prisoners, some of them foreigners, five days after US forces ousted authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro, parliament speaker Jorge Rodriguez says.

He tells reporters the government was carrying out the immediate “release of a large number of Venezuelan and foreign nationals” in what he called a “unilateral gesture.”

It is the first sign of possible concessions by Venezuela’s interim government since President Donald Trump’s administration said it was “in charge” in Venezuela after US forces seized Maduro and took him to New York to face trial.

Jorge Rodriguez does not say how many prisoners were being released. The non-governmental monitor Foro Penal says there are 806 political prisoners held in Venezuela, including 175 military personnel.

Trump said Tuesday that Venezuelan authorities were “closing up” a “torture chamber in the middle of Caracas,” without elaborating.

7:37 pm

Watchdog reports ‘nationwide internet blackout’ in Iran as protests mount

A nationwide internet blackout was reported in Iran on Thursday, online watchdog Netblocks says, as the death toll mounts from a crackdown by authorities after 12 days of economic protests.

“Live metrics show Iran is now in the midst of a nationwide internet blackout. The incident follows a series of escalating digital censorship measures targeting protests across the country and hinders the public’s right to communicate at a critical moment,” the group says in a statement on social media.

7:25 pm

Settlers reportedly attack Arab Israeli bus driver in West Bank using club inscribed with ‘revenge’; no arrests made

Extremist settlers attacked an Arab Israeli bus driver and repairman in the West Bank earlier this week, after the driver’s bus broke down near the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, Hebrew outlets report.

The attack took place Monday night near the recently evacuated Tzur Misgavi outpost, when a driver for the Electra-Afikim transit firm came to a halt after his bus malfunctioned. He called the bus company, which sent in a repairman to help fix the vehicle.

According to Army Radio, the bus driver came under attack by violent settlers who began throwing stones at the man and beating him with their fists.

When the repairman reached the area, he was also ambushed by the group, which attacked him with clubs and stones, Ynet reports. They shattered his car windows and scattered the equipment in his trunk out onto the asphalt.

תקרית חריגה השבוע – תקיפת נהגים ערבים ישראלים בידי יהודים סמוך לגוש עציון; צה״ל לא דיווח על האירועים החריגים לציבור

הפרטים >>

אירוע תקיפה חריג התרחש השבוע, ביום שני בשעות הלילה, סמוך ליישוב מיצד שנמצא סמוך לגוש עציון.
קבוצת פורעים יהודים תקפה באבנים ובאלות נהג אוטובוס… pic.twitter.com/xBllzctvXn

— דורון קדוש | Doron Kadosh (@Doron_Kadosh) January 7, 2026

The repairman suffered a head injury and was taken to the hospital by Magen David Adom paramedics, where his condition was defined as mild. It is unclear whether or not the driver was taken to the hospital.

Footage taken just after the attack shows the repairman in the driver’s seat of his car, as he appears to be unconscious.

One of the wooden clubs used to attack the repairman had a passage from the Torah inscribed on it, reading, “He who is for God, join me.” Written opposite the biblical verse is the word “revenge.”

The assailants fled the scene, according to reports. No suspects have been arrested in the incident.

The Electra-Afikim company stated that two of its employees were injured in Gush Etzion, and called the uptick of violence against public transit workers “a national scourge,” according to Ynet.

The incident was first reported by Army Radio after the IDF did not initially issue a statement on the incident, as is common.

In its response to Army Radio, the IDF says that forces conducted searches of the area and that police are investigating the incident.

7:09 pm

Iran president calls for ‘utmost restraint’ in handling protests

By AFP

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian calls for “utmost restraint” in handling demonstrations against the rising cost of living, which have lasted for 12 days and in which clashes have been reported in several locations nationwide.

“Any violent or coercive behavior should be avoided,” says Pezeshkian in a statement on his website, urging “utmost restraint” as well as “dialogue, engagement and listening to the people’s demands.”

7:09 pm

Iran rights NGO says at least 45 killed since start of protests in late December

By AFP

This screengrab taken on January 2, 2026, from UGC images posted on social media, shows protestors attacking a government building in Fasa, in southern Iran, on December 31, 2025, amid spontaneous nationwide protests driven by dissatisfaction at the country's economic stagnation. (UGC / AFP)

Iranian security forces have killed at least 45 protesters, including eight minors, in a crackdown on demonstrations that began in late December, the Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights says.

The NGO says Wednesday was the bloodiest day of the now 12-day movement, with 13 protesters confirmed to have been killed.

“The evidence shows that the scope of crackdown is becoming more violent and more extensive every day,” says IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, adding hundreds more have been wounded and over 2,000 arrested.

Media inside Iran and official statements have reported at least 21 people killed, including security forces, since the protests began, according to an AFP tally.

7:04 pm

Footage shows settlers brutally beating Palestinian man during attack earlier today

Footage of a settler attack in the northern West Bank Palestinian village of Deif Sharaf on January 8, 2026. (Screen capture/X)

New footage is uncovered from today’s settler attack on the northern West Bank Palestinian village of Deir Sharaf, showing one suspect repeatedly striking one of the victims with a club before others kick him in the face and back.

Three men were injured in the attack, and three arrests were made, though footage shows well over a dozen settlers took part in the raid.

תיעוד נוסף וקשה מדיר שרף מוקדם יותר היום: הפורעים מכים – באלות, בידיים, ברגליים – פלסטיני על הרצפה. כאמור שלושה פלסטינים נפצעו באירוע בסך הכול pic.twitter.com/5jWnlz6cA1

— Nurit Yohanan (@nurityohanan) January 8, 2026

תיעוד: הזירה ליד הכפר דיר שרף, לאחר שעשרות פורעים ישראלים השליכו בקבוקי תבערה לעבר כלי רכב@InbarYuval pic.twitter.com/U7za0aBPzK

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) January 8, 2026

7:01 pm

Likud minister uploads picture of herself being interviewed by PM’s ex-wife; deletes post hours later

Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman attends a Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee meeting on June 3, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman has deleted an Instagram post that included a photo of her being interviewed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ex-wife, Miriam Weizmann.

The move led to speculation that Silman was engaged in damage control due to pushback from the Netanyahu family.

פאן פקט: מראיינת את השרה סילמן היא דר' מיקי הרן ויסמן. כן כן, רעייתו הראשונה ואהבת נעוריו של אחד, בנימין נתניהו. pic.twitter.com/1pBuGXFlGH

— Ben Caspit בן כספית (@BenCaspit) January 7, 2026

6:53 pm

Israel bars some aid workers from Gaza as groups face suspension

Israel says it has barred entry to Gaza of foreign medical and humanitarian staff whose organizations were ordered to cease operations unless they register employee details with Israeli authorities and meet other new rules.

Fearing a renewed humanitarian crisis if medical and aid services can suddenly no longer access war-shattered Gaza, some of the 37 international nongovernmental organizations that were ordered to halt work are weighing whether to submit staff names to Israeli authorities, two aid sources tell Reuters.

Three of the aid groups say their foreign staff were told by Israeli authorities this week they could not enter Gaza.

Israel’s Diaspora Ministry, which manages the registration process, says the measures are meant to prevent diversions of aid by Palestinian terror groups. NGOs say sharing staff details poses too much of a risk, pointing to the hundreds of aid workers who were killed or injured during the two-year Gaza war — some of whom were found to have ties to Hamas.

The Diaspora Ministry says that while the NGOs had been granted 60 days to conclude operations, “the entry of foreign personnel into Gaza is not approved.” It says international staff with “approved organisations” including the United Nations could continue work as usual.

Three prominent global NGOs – Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), Medecins du Monde Suisse and the Danish Refugee Council – say their international staff were refused entry to Gaza this week. Foreign aid staff has generally been permitted to rotate in and out of Gaza since the start of the war.

“If we don’t have somebody in a key position, such as the emergency coordinator in charge of operations, then we either have to compensate, or we have a gap” in aid service, says Anna Halford, Gaza emergency coordinator at MSF.

6:51 pm

Protesters clash with federal agents in Minneapolis after fatal shooting

By AFP

Protesters demonstrating against the killing of a woman by an immigration officer in the US midwestern city of Minneapolis clashed with law enforcement agents earlier today, as anger mounted over the shooting.

At least one protester has been detained as federal officers armed with pepperball guns and tear gas faced off with a large crowd of demonstrators, one of whom brandished an “ICE = murder” sign.

6:50 pm

Brazil’s Lula vetoes law reducing Bolsonaro’s sentence

By AFP

Brazil’s left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has vetoed a law dramatically reducing the prison sentence of the country’s former far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted last year of coup plotting and is an outspoken supporter of Israel.

Lula vetoed the law adopted by Brazil’s Congress late last year on the third anniversary of major riots by Bolsonaro supporters in the capital Brasilia over his defeat by Lula in 2022 elections.

Brazil’s leader had made no secret of his plan to strike down the legislation, which reduces Bolsonaro’s jail sentence from 27 years to a little over two.

However, Brazil’s conservative-dominated Congress has the last word and can in turn reject his veto.

Bolsonaro, 70, began serving his sentence in November.

The Supreme Court rejected his appeal to serve his sentence under house arrest, on health grounds.

Under current rules, Bolsonaro is expected to serve at least eight years behind bars.

He was convicted over a scheme to stop Lula from taking office after his razor-thin loss in a bitter 2022 election that highlighted stark political divisions in Brazil.

The plot allegedly involved a plan to assassinate Lula, his vice president, Geraldo Alckmin, and Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes.

Prosecutors said the scheme failed because of a lack of support from military officers.

6:44 pm

Netanyahu hosts likely Board of Peace envoy

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with former UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov, who is slated to serve as a Board of Peace envoy to Gaza, in his Jerusalem office on January 8, 2026. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets in Jerusalem with Nickolay Mladenov, the former UN official who is in line to become the representative of the US-backed Board of Peace in Gaza.

According to his office, Netanyahu stresses that “Hamas must disarm and that the Gaza Strip must be demilitarized in accordance with President Trump’s 20-point framework.”

6:35 pm

Huckabee indicates Turkey won’t deploy troops in Gaza due to Israeli opposition

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee suggests that it’s unlikely Turkish troops will be deployed in Gaza, given Israel’s opposition to the idea.

“I don’t think you’re going to see it if Israel has strong reservations about it… [and] Israel does have strong reservations,” Huckabee says in an interview with the Kan public broadcaster.

“As far as I can tell, there’s not going to be some willingness to say, ‘Sure, let the Turks come in, as long as Israel has the reservations they have,” the US envoy adds.

Huckabee is a close ally of US President Donald Trump, but it’s unclear the extent of influence he has over US policy in Gaza.

6:27 pm

Chinese, Iranian warships in South Africa for exercises

By AFP

A general view of (L-R) the Chinese guided-missile destroyer Tangshan (Hull 122), the Iranian navy ship, the IRIS Makran 441, Chinese comprehensive supply ship Taihu (Hull 889) in the Simon's Town harbour, near Cape Town, on January 8, 2026. (RODGER BOSCH / AFP)

Chinese and Iranian warships have docked off South Africa’s main navy base ahead of exercises that officials said were also meant to involve Russia.

The January 9-16 “Will for Peace” drill hosted by South Africa risks further straining its ties with the United States, which is in dispute with many of the countries taking part.

AFP journalists saw two Chinese ships in Cape Town’s False Bay harbor on Wednesday, joined by an Iranian vessel on Thursday.

South African navy officials say warships from Russia were also expected to take part in the China-led exercises.

The drill was focused on the “safety of shipping and maritime economic activities,” the South African defense force said in December when it announced the maneuvers.

It was intended to “deepen cooperation in support of peaceful maritime security initiatives,” it says.

The statement says the exercise would involve navies from BRICS countries.

US President Donald Trump has accused countries in the BRICS group of emerging nations of “anti-American” policies.

South Africa has drawn US criticism for its close ties with Russia and a range of other policies, including its decision to bring a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice over the Gaza war.

South Africa’s military was criticized for hosting naval exercises with Russia and China in 2023 that coincided with the one-year anniversary of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

6:20 pm

Berlin condemns ‘excessive force’ against Iran protesters

By AFP

Germany condemns the “excessive use of force” against protesters in Iran after authorities used live fire and tear gas to disperse demonstrations sparked by an economic crisis.

“It is their right to express their opinion peacefully,” says Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul of the protesters, who have taken to the streets for days.

“I condemn the excessive use of force against peaceful demonstrators and urge Iran’s rulers to adhere to their international obligations,” Wadephul writes in a post on X.

5:55 pm

Syria Kurdish leader says Aleppo clashes undermined talks with government

By AFP

Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi says that violence in Aleppo Wednesday undermined talks with the government in Damascus, as implementation has stalled on a deal reached last year to integrate Kurdish forces into the country’s central authorities.

“The deployment of tanks and artillery in Aleppo neighbourhoods, the bombing and displacement of unarmed civilians, and attempts to storm Kurdish neighborhoods during the negotiation process undermine the chances of reaching understandings,” Abdi says in a statement.

Abdi, who leads the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), visited Damascus on Sunday for talks on implementing the March deal, but state media said the discussions failed to produce tangible results.

5:44 pm

Hamas civil defense says Israeli strikes kill 7, including 4 children

By AFP

Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency says Israeli attacks in the Strip today killed seven people, including four children, despite a ceasefire that has largely halted the fighting.

Four people, including three children, were killed when a drone struck a tent sheltering displaced people in southern Gaza, agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal tells AFP, adding that an 11-year-old girl and an adult were killed in two separate attacks in Gaza.

There was no immediate comment from the IDF, which says it has carried out attacks against terror operatives violating the ceasefire.

5:11 pm

FM: Our agreement with Somaliland does not include resettling Gazans

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar's visits Somaliland's capital, Hargeisa, January 6, 2026. (Shlomi Amsalem/GPO)

Resettling Gazans “is not part of our agreement with Somaliland,” says Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar in an interview with Channel 14.

Sa’ar doesn’t rule out Somaliland accepting Gazans, but only stresses that the agreements signed with the breakaway republic last month don’t deal with the issue of resettlement.

Earlier this month, Somaliland officially denied that it had agreed to accept Gazan refugees.

Plans for the voluntary migration of Gazans — initially advanced enthusiastically by Israel — have stalled with US President Donald Trump gradually withdrawing support from the idea he proposed in February, in addition to a global refusal to accept Palestinian refugees from Gaza and accusations that Israel is trying to ethnically cleanse the Strip.

However, asked about the idea last week, Trump speculated that most would leave. “Let’s see if that opportunity presents itself,” he said, arguing that more than half would leave “if given the opportunity.”

5:07 pm

Settlers assault 3 Palestinians, torch cars in latest West Bank attack; 3 arrested

By Noam Lehmann and Stav Levaton

Cars torched a in a settler attack on the northern West Bank village of Deir Sharaf on January 8, 2026. (Courtesy)

Three Israelis were arrested after settlers wounded at least two people and set fire to cars at a Palestinian factory near Nablus in the West Bank earlier today, according to Israeli security forces and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.

The IDF and Israel Police say in a joint statement that two Palestinians were hospitalized in moderate condition as a result of the attack.

According to the Red Crescent, three people were wounded in the attack on the al-Junaida dairy factory in the village of Deir Sharaf, including a 65-year-old man whose hand was broken. A 50-year-old and a 48-year-old man were also hospitalized with bruises to their bodies.

The Israeli forces say that they arrested three suspects at the entrance to the settlement of Shavei Shomron in the northern West Bank after receiving a report that “extremists” in the area set fire to four cars and assaulted Palestinians, including one who was inside one of the cars.

#عاجل | إصابتان وإحراق مركبات على يد المستوطنين خلال هجومهم على مصنع الجنيدي ومحيطه قرب قرية دير شرف، شمال غرب #نابلس. pic.twitter.com/vnEuouRuDs

— شبكة فلسطين للحوار (@paldf) January 8, 2026

The suspects were taken for questioning at the Ariel police station, the joint statement says, adding that the IDF, Border Police and the Shin Bet are continuing searches in the area and investigating the incident.

While arrests in such cases are rare, indictments and convictions are even less common.

Security forces say they condemn violence of any kind and will continue to act to maintain public order and security in the area.

5:02 pm

Israel proposed using PA funds to cover cost of Gaza rubble clearing or GHF operations — official

By Jacob Magid

Hamas's civil defense teams use an excavator to search rubble of a destroyed building in the Bureij refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip, on December 6, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

Israel has proposed using a portion of the several billions of dollars in clearance revenues it is withholding from the Palestinian Authority to pay for the clearing of rubble for construction projects in Gaza, a PA official tells The Times of Israel.

Another idea proposed by Israel was using the clearance revenues to cover the cost of the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s operations during the war, the PA official says.

Ramallah opposes both ideas, arguing that Israel has no right to use its “stolen” funds for rebuilding what the IDF destroyed in Gaza during the war against Hamas, the PA official asserts.

He expressed further opposition to PA funds offsetting “war crimes” — a reference to repeated shootings of aid seekers approaching GHF sites during the war. The American humanitarian organization has denied involvement in the shootings, and the IDF insisted that it only opened fire at those who posed a threat to troops.

It’s unclear, though, how much leverage the PA has on how its funds are used, given that Israel is the party in control of the over $4 billion in clearance revenues that it collects on Ramallah’s behalf.

Jerusalem is supposed to transfer those funds each month to the PA as part of the Oslo Accords, but Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has refused to do so since May 2025. At the time, he said it was in protest of the PA-backed unilateral recognitions of a Palestinian state.

Since the beginning of the Gaza war, Israel has also been withholding the portion of the funds that the PA uses to pay employees and services in the Strip, arguing that the money is at risk of seizure by Hamas.

In addition, Israel withholds funds that it says make up the stipends that the PA pays to the families of Palestinian security prisoners and slain attackers — a policy that Ramallah insists it halted last year.

The Prime Minister’s Office does not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The clearance revenues are mainly import VAT, customs duties, purchase taxes, and fuel excise on goods destined for the West Bank. They make up a majority of the PA’s budget, so Israel’s withholding of those funds has sparked a severe financial crisis for Ramallah.

4:32 pm

New York’s Cooper Union settles campus antisemitism case, pledges reforms

Anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian students and others gather outside of Cooper Union in Manhattan to protest the school's stance on Israel on May 9, 2024 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP)

Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art will take steps to reduce antisemitism and other harassment on campus, to settle a lawsuit claiming it failed to help Jewish students who were locked inside a library as protection against anti-Israel demonstrators.

The settlement is announced by lawyers for 10 Jewish students who say the private Manhattan college’s fostering of a hostile educational environment violated Title VI, a US civil rights law that bars federal funds recipients from allowing discrimination based on race, religion and national origin.

Cooper Union will create a Title VI coordinator to oversee its handling of discrimination and harassment, train employees and students about its policies, and prohibit the wearing of masks to conceal identities at demonstrations, the lawyers said. It will also pay unspecified compensation to the 10 students.

“Jewish students deserve to learn without being targeted, harassed, or excluded because of who they are or what they believe,” Ziporah Reich, director of litigation at the pro bono Lawfare Project, which represents the students, says in a statement. “Universities have a legal duty to protect them.”

Cooper Union and its lawyer do not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The lawsuit against Cooper Union followed an October 25, 2023, rally outside the library where pro-Palestinian demonstrators stormed past security guards, banged loudly on doors and windows, carried signs and chanted “Free Palestine.”

Students inside said they felt unsafe. They also said school administrators did nothing to stop the rally and told police who offered help to back off.

Last February, US District Judge John Cronan in Manhattan refused to dismiss the lawsuit, saying free speech protections did not justify how the students were treated.

Cooper Union is in Manhattan’s East Village. It offers degrees in art, architecture and engineering.

4:26 pm

Lebanon central bank seeks to recoup embezzled funds to bolster liquidity, governor says

Karim Souaid, the newly appointed Lebanon's Central Bank governor, speaks during a taking office ceremony at the Lebanese Central Bank building, in Beirut, Lebanon, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Lebanon’s central bank will seek the repayment of public funds embezzled by at least one former central bank official and by lawyers and commercial bankers, to help guarantee its liquidity, Central Bank Governor Karim Souaid says.

Souaid does not name Riad Salameh, the former central bank governor whose 30-year term ended in disgrace amid investigations into whether he embezzled more than $300 million between 2002 and 2015.

Instead Souaid tells reporters that the central bank had filed a criminal complaint against an unnamed former official of the central bank, a former banker and a lawyer over alleged illicit enrichment through misuse of public funds. He says the operations were carried out through four offshore shell companies in the Cayman Islands that he did not name.

Souaid says the bank would become a primary plaintiff in the state’s investigation against Forry Associates, suspected of receiving commissions from commercial banks and transferring them out of the country. Forry is controlled by Salameh’s brother, Raja. Both Raja and Riad Salameh deny wrongdoing.

The pair are under investigation in France, Germany, Switzerland and other countries over the alleged embezzlement. Souaid said he would travel to France to meet with the investigators this month “to exchange highly sensitive information held by the French authorities.”

Souaid does not say how many people in total were suspected of involvement in the scheme or the full sum now thought to have been embezzled.

“Our mission is to pursue these individuals and entities, seek their conviction, and seize their movable and immovable assets and the proceeds of their illicit activities to ensure liquidity for the rightful owners, first and foremost the depositors,” he says.

A Lebanese source familiar with the central bank’s new measures says they were prompted by lots of evidence – both new material uncovered in the central bank’s records and other evidence made available from external investigators. The source said the bank’s leadership suspected Salameh was aided in his scheme by other members of the institution.

Salameh was detained for nearly 13 months over the alleged financial crimes committed during his tenure, and was released last September after posting a record bail of more than $14 million. He remains in Lebanon under a travel ban.

4:25 pm

US exit from climate treaty ‘colossal own goal’: UN climate chief

By AFP

The UN climate chief says a decision by the United States to withdraw from a global climate treaty would “only harm the US economy, jobs and living standards.”

“It is a colossal own goal which will leave the US less secure and less prosperous,” Simon Stiell, the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), says in a written statement.

4:10 pm

IDF strikes Hezbollah operative in south Lebanon over ‘continued violations of ceasefire understandings’

The IDF says it carried out a strike a short while ago on a Hezbollah operative in the area of Zaita in southern Lebanon, citing “continued violations of the ceasefire understandings.”

The military does not immediately provide further details on the ceasefire violations or the outcome of the strike.

3:15 pm

UNRWA aims to open office in Turkey within weeks

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) aims to open an office in Turkey within weeks, the agency’s Commissioner-General Phillipe Lazzarini says in Ankara.

At a news conference, Lazzarini says the agency has signed the final agreement with the Turkish government for the office and is very pleased that it will have a permanent presence in the country.

3:10 pm

Neo-Nazi mother and daughter jailed in Scotland for antisemitic hate posts

By Zev Stub

A neo-Nazi mother and daughter who posted what a Scottish judge called “deeply disturbing” antisemitic, racist and transphobic material online have been sentenced to prison in Edinburgh.

Shirley Craughwell, 51, and her daughter, Hannah Craughwell, 27, pleaded guilty to hate crime offenses aggravated by racial and religious prejudice committed between 2021 and 2024. The case involved extremist propaganda, Holocaust denial and threats against Jews and other minorities.

In court on Tuesday, Sheriff Charles Walls said Shirley Craughwell repeatedly expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler, promoted conspiracy theories about “white genocide,” and called for another Holocaust. He said her conduct went beyond offensive speech and amounted to violent and threatening messaging toward Jewish people.

Hannah Craughwell, meanwhile, used the online alias “Hannah Hitler,” shared neo-Nazi propaganda, distributed extremist leaflets in her community and posted antisemitic, racist and transphobic content on multiple platforms, the court was told.

Shirley, 51, and Hannah Craughwell. 27, are sentenced at Edinburgh sheriff court to 16 and 20 months respectively over mass of racist and antisemitic content
https://t.co/Cs2WJFrvsp

— The Times and The Sunday Times (@thetimes) January 6, 2026

The mother has been sentenced to a 20-month custodial term in prison, backdated to November 27, while the daughter has been sentenced to 16 months.

3:03 pm

Israeli-owned restaurant in Lisbon says it is closing due to antisemitism

An Israeli-owned restaurant in Lisbon says it will close this week due to the toll of rising antisemitism suffered by the business.

Tantura, a Mediterranean-style restaurant in the Portuguese capital launched 10 years ago by Israelis Elad Budenshtiin and Itamar Eliyahu, will close its doors for the final time this coming Saturday, the owners say on its social media pages.

“During the past three years, with the war and the alarming rise in antisemitism in the world, we found ourselves facing a hard and painful reality: graffiti smeared on the restaurant walls, blackening its good name online, hostile campaigns and a full-on boycott,” they write. “Bit by bit, the place that was supposed to be a space for connection and joy became an arena of daily struggle.”

As antisemitism skyrocketed all over the world in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught, Jewish-owned businesses have frequently been targets of vandalism and other forms of harassment. In June 2024, the restaurant was spray-painted with the words “Tantura is a massacre, Free Palestine” by anti-Israel activists, according to local media.

We are deeply concerned by the forced closure of Tantura, a well-known Israeli restaurant in Lisbon, following years of sustained antisemitic targeting, harassment and intimidation.

That a cultural and culinary space dedicated to bringing people together has been driven out of… pic.twitter.com/33BUUAV4Qo

— European Jewish Congress (@eurojewcong) January 8, 2026

Tantura is the name of a beach in northern Israel where a large number of Arabs were killed by Jewish forces during Israel’s War of Independence in 1948. The owners have said they were unaware of that history when they opened the restaurant, saying they named it after “one of the most beautiful beaches in Israel.”

The owners do not say whether there are other reasons for the closure. They are now working to open a vacation resort outside the city, they say.

2:48 pm

Cars torched in Arab village near Jerusalem alongside ‘Revenge’ graffiti

Several cars in Ein Rafa, an Arab village west of Jerusalem, were set alight and vandalized overnight, in what appears to be an ethnically motivated incident.

Vehicles were sprayed with black graffiti that read “Revenge” and “Price tag,” and several engines appear damaged after the car hoods were popped up. The license plates of several were torn off.

Footage of the damage shows a car that appears to have been burnt. It is one of three that were set on fire there overnight, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

According to the outlet, masked individuals were caught on security camera footage committing the acts, then fleeing.

Law enforcement bodies have launched an investigation to identify those involved, police say.

"נקמה, תג מחיר": כלי רכב הושחתו וגרפיטי רוסס בכפר עין ראפה הסמוך לירושליםhttps://t.co/sl0mvg2bP3 @HGoldich pic.twitter.com/LF57m5ixWu

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) January 8, 2026

Last month, masked individuals were filmed setting cars on fire in the Jewish town of Giv’ot Bar, in what police suspect was revenge for law enforcement’s crackdown on Bedouin towns in the Negev.

In response, police launched a raid that is still ongoing on Tarabin al-Sana, a Bedouin village where the perpetrators are thought to reside, and blocked its entrances with concrete barriers.

2:30 pm

Israel’s Foreign Ministry: ‘Hezbollah is rearming faster than it is being disarmed’

After the Lebanese army claimed it has effectively disarmed Hezbollah south of the Litani River, Israel’s Foreign Ministry says that “extensive Hezbollah military infrastructure still exists south of the Litani River.”

“The goal of disarming Hezbollah in southern Lebanon remains far from being achieved,” says the ministry in a statement.

The ministry includes a video pointing out alleged military sites that Hezbollah has reestablished in the southern Lebanese town of Beit Lif.

At the same time. Israel “acknowledges the decision of the Lebanese government to address the disarmament of Hezbollah and some of the efforts the Lebanese Armed Forces have made in this context,” but calls them “limited.”

“Hezbollah is rearming faster than it is being disarmed,” says Israel, adding that cooperation between some Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) units and Hezbollah is “regrettable.”

The Foreign Ministry argues that ongoing IDF attacks against Hezbollah do not get in the way of Lebanon’s campaign to disarm the Shiite terror group, and that they actually support that effort.

“Israel expects LAF efforts to disarm Hezbollah to continue south of the Litani and throughout all other parts of Lebanon, in full accordance with the ceasefire agreement,” says the ministry.

2:17 pm

Old unexploded mortar shell found in Rehovot’s main street, defused

An old IDF mortal shell that was found and defused in Rehovot on January 8, 2025. (Israel Police)

An unexploded mortar shell was discovered on Rehovot’s main thoroughfare earlier today, with police believing it is an old munition that belonged to the IDF.

Bomb disposal experts disarmed the explosive after officers from the city’s police station called them to the scene on Herzl Street, police say, adding that further searches are underway to rule out any additional risk to the public.

The circumstances of the incident are under investigation.

2:17 pm

Winter heatwave breaks 66-year temperature record, Israel Meteorological Service says

The beach in Tel Aviv on a warm winter day, January 8, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/FLASH90)

The Israel Meteorological Service says the hottest January temperatures in 65 years have been recorded today.

Amid a winter heatwave — set to be broken abruptly tomorrow with strong winds, low temperatures and heavy rain — the service says 29 degrees Celsius (84° Fahrenheit) were measured at a station in Kibbutz Ein Hahoresh in the Sharon region north of Tel Aviv.

The last time a higher temperature was measured was 31°C (88°F) at Ein Hahoresh on January 15, 1960.

Other stations today in the northern West Bank and Jerusalem mountains have also recorded unusually warm temperatures of around 27°-28°C (80°-82°F).

1:46 pm

Spanish PM says he’s open to sending troops to maintain peace in Gaza

By AFP and ToI Staff

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez arrives for the Coalition of the Willing meeting in Paris, at the Elysee Palace on January 6, 2026. (Yoan VALAT / POOL / AFP)

Spain is ready to send troops to the Gaza Strip for peacekeeping “when the opportunity presents itself,” just as it is willing to deploy forces to Ukraine, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says.

“I will propose to parliament, when the opportunity presents itself, that we send peacekeeping troops to Palestine, once we can see how to advance this task of pacification,” he tells a gathering of Spanish ambassadors in Madrid.

“Of course, we have not forgotten Palestine and the Gaza Strip… Spain must actively participate in rebuilding hope in Palestine. The situation there remains intolerable.”

Sanchez also reaffirms Spain’s willingness to deploy troops to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal, calling the current moment “critical” and “decisive” for achieving peace there.

“If Spain has sent peacekeeping troops to many regions far from our country, how could we not send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine, a European country?” he adds.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is against having any foreign peacekeeping troops on Ukrainian soil.

The Spanish government, which recognized a Palestinian state in 2024, has been one of Europe’s most vocal critics of Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza, launched following the terror group’s onslaught in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

1:40 pm

Iran ready to fight back if US or Israel attacks again, says foreign minister

By AP

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks during a joint press conference with Turkey's foreign minister (not pictured), in Tehran on November 30, 2025. (Atta Kenare / AFP)

Iran does not want war with Israel or the United States, but is ready to fight back if attacked again, the country’s foreign minister says.

Speaking upon arrival in Beirut, Abbas Araghchi tells reporters that Iran is also ready for negotiations with the US over its nuclear program as long as the talks are based on mutual respect rather than “dictation” by Washington.

Araghchi’s comments come as many fear an escalation similar to the 12-day Israel-Iran war in June, which also saw US strikes on key Iranian nuclear sites.

“America and Israel have tested their attack on Iran and this attack and strategy faced extreme failure,” the Iranian official claims in Beirut at the start of a two-day visit to Lebanon. “If they repeat it, they will face the same results.”

“We are ready for any choice. We don’t desire a war but we are ready for it,” Araghchi says.

Araghchi says Tehran is ready for negotiations on its nuclear program, “but I say that the negotiations should be based on mutual respect and mutual interests.”

“We believe that once the Americans reach the conclusion that constructive and positive negotiations rather than ordering dictation are the framework, then the results of these negotiations will become fruitful,” he says.

1:27 pm

Herzog meets ex-UN Mideast envoy Mladenov, who is set to serve on Gaza Board of Peace

United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov at a press conference at the UNSCO offices in Gaza City, September 25, 2017. (Adel Hana/AP)

President Isaac Herzog meets former UN envoy to the Middle East Nikolay Mladenov, who is expected to serve as the US-backed Board of Peace representative on the ground in Gaza, The Times of Israel has learned.

Mladenov will also meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today.

US President Donald Trump will likely announce the Board of Peace next week.

1:08 pm

Hungarian textbooks provide fair education about Israel and Judaism, think tank finds

By Zev Stub

Hungary’s school textbooks offer detailed and largely balanced coverage of Jewish history, the Holocaust and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, portraying Jews as an integral part of the nation’s past and present, according to a new report by The Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se).

The study, part of IMPACT-se’s Europe-wide research program, examines primary and secondary school textbooks across multiple subjects, measuring them against UNESCO-based standards for peace and tolerance in education.

Textbooks highlight ancient Jewish ties to the Land of Israel, Judaism’s influence on Christianity and the contributions of Jews to Hungary’s economic, cultural and intellectual development, the report finds.

The Holocaust is covered in depth and personalized through individual stories, and the Hebrew word “Shoah” is used, the report finds. Antisemitism is placed in an appropriate context and explored through vivid examples such as blood libels. Meanwhile, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is presented accurately and objectively across textbooks, with some even highlighting the expulsion of Jews from Arab states, a topic rarely addressed in European curricula.

The report notes that while textbooks acknowledge Hungarian collaboration with Nazi Germany, some appear to partially defend the actions of Hungarian authorities during World War II.

Modern Israel is portrayed as a democratic state with notable technological and economic achievements, alongside ongoing security challenges.

“This is a curriculum filled with positivity towards Jews, the Jewish story and Jewish history in Hungary and beyond,” IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff says in a statement. “At a time when antisemitism is increasing across Europe, Hungary’s textbooks stand out as an admirable example of accurate and inclusive education.”

Previous investigations by IMPACT-se have found positive trends in countries like France, Greece, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. More worrying trends have been identified in school curricula in European countries like Ireland and Poland.

1:02 pm

Report: Senior Hamas operative targeted in Gaza City strike survives, IDF investigating

The “senior terrorist” targeted yesterday in an IDF strike in Gaza City was not killed, the Ynet news site reports, without citing sources.

According to the report, the military is investigating why the assassination attempt failed.

Two people were reportedly killed in the strike, which was carried out after Hamas operatives opened fire toward an area in the northern Gaza Strip where Israeli forces were operating.

The identity of the Hamas operative targeted in the strike remains unclear.

1:01 pm

Man found shot dead near Shfaram, raising 2026’s crime toll in Arab society to 12

A young man has been found lifeless in a forested area near Shfaram, police say, a day after a triple homicide rocked the northern Arab city.

The victim, Karam Suwaed, is a resident of the city. His killers recorded a video of themselves shooting him nine times as he lay sprawled on the ground, already dead.

They then sent the footage to his family members, according to Ynet.

Police began searching for Suwaed yesterday, after receiving a report of a missing man who left home that evening and did not return. After extensive searches in the area involving a helicopter, his body was found.

Early yesterday morning, three Arab Israeli men were gunned down in Shfaram, capping off a bloody first week of 2026, in which 11 people were killed in a violent crime wave continuing to beset Arab society.

In 2025, 252 Arab citizens lost their lives in crime-related killings, the deadliest year on record. With Suwaed’s death, the toll for this year now stands at 12.

12:49 pm

Israel: Lebanon’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah encouraging but ‘far from sufficient’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on January 5, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Lebanon’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah are “encouraging” but insufficient, says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, hours after the Lebanese Armed Forces said it has achieved the goal of a state monopoly on arms in the country’s south in an “effective and tangible way.”

“The ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States between Israel and Lebanon states clearly, Hezbollah must be fully disarmed,” says the Prime Minister’s Office in an English-language statement. “This is imperative for Israel’s security and Lebanon’s future.”

Hezbollah fought a year-long war with Israel, which ended in a November 2024 ceasefire that stipulated that only Lebanon’s state security forces are allowed to carry arms.

Netanyahu’s office says that efforts by Beirut and the LAF “are an encouraging beginning, but they are far from sufficient, as evidenced by Hezbollah’s efforts to rearm and rebuild its terror infrastructure with Iranian support.”

12:48 pm

Court orders bus driver who ran over Haredi teen during protest released to house arrest

Security and rescue forces seen near a bus that ran over Haredi protesters in Jerusalem on January 6, 2026, killing Yosef Eisenthal, 14 (right). (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90; Courtesy)

The Jerusalem District Court orders the release to house arrest of a bus driver who fatally ran over an ultra-Orthodox teenager and wounded several others in Jerusalem on Tuesday night.

Fakhri Khatib, 50, from East Jerusalem, will remain in custody until tomorrow in order to allow police to appeal the decision.

Khatib was dressed in garb normally reserved for security prisoners during the hearing, even though police have determined that the incident wasn’t security-related, Hebrew media reported, adding that a police representative explained that it was the only uniform available.

Yosef Eisenthal, 14, was killed and three other teens were injured at an intersection in Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Romema when a bus rammed into Haredi protesters, as tens of thousands of people attended an anti-conscription demonstration on Tuesday night.

Police said that a preliminary investigation found that Khatib was attacked by rioters who were blocking the road before the deadly incident.

Hebrew media outlets reported that the driver had called the emergency police hotline to request help as protesters gathered around his bus, accosting him and preventing him from driving either forward or backward, which a video published by Channel 14 appeared to show.

Police initially sought to keep the driver in custody for 15 days, and said they sought to have him charged with aggravated murder, but later downgraded the charge to negligent homicide.

Sam Sokol contributed to this report.

12:33 pm

‘It was a trick’: High Court justice rails against transfer of funds to Haredi schools before legal okay

By Jeremy Sharon

Justice Yael Willner speaks at a High Court of Justice hearing at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on a petition against the Knesset Finance Committee’s decision to transfer funds to ultra-Orthodox schools that don't teach core subjects, January 8, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The High Court of Justice tears into the state’s arguments over a recent transfer of funds to ultra-Orthodox schools that was implemented without a hearing and vote in the Knesset Finance Committee, and says the transfer was illegal.

Justice Yael Willner asks under what authority the funds were transferred without the committee’s approval, to which state representative Neta Oren responds that it is a “practice” that is done occasionally.

Justice Ofer Grosskopf demands to know if anyone gave legal authorization for such a “practice,” to which Oren says she is unsure.

“This was a mock hearing,” declares Willner of a Finance Committee hearing in which a vote on the transfer of funds was held after the funds had already been transferred.

“There is no such thing as a body that approves funds not knowing that it is approving a decision [that has already been made]. It has to know that a previous decision has been made, that it has already been done and executed, and that it is approving [that decision],” she continues.

“What happened in the Finance Committee is that the committee members did not know that the hearing was a mock hearing. That it’s a game… It was a trick. What is this?” she demands.

A representative for the Knesset’s legal department says the department is not familiar with any such practice and views the phenomenon “very gravely.”

Oren responds by saying that the state knows “this is an undesirable practice,” to which Willner responds: “It’s not ‘an undesirable practice,’ it’s an illegal practice. How can you transfer funds without a legal decision?”

12:02 pm

Teen set to be charged for swearing allegiance to ISIS, planning terror attack

Left to right: Illustrative: A handcuffed man in Jerusalem. (Olivier Fitoussi /FLASH90); Demonstrators wave the Islamic State terror group's flags in Mosul, Iraq, June 16, 2014. (AP Photo, File)

Prosecutors are expected to indict a 15-year-old from northern Israel on terror charges, after he allegedly swore allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS) group and began planning a terror attack.

The minor was arrested several weeks ago by police, operating off intelligence provided by the Shin Bet that indicated he had been in contact with ISIS affiliates abroad. Detailed instructions for preparing an explosive belt were found in his possession, police say.

According to police, the teen swore fealty to ISIS, expressed sympathy for past terror attacks against Israel, and took “practical steps” to plan his own.

Investigators have completed their investigation into the minor, and state prosecutors will file charges against him later today, police add.

12:02 pm

Netanyahu said set to meet expected representative of Trump-backed Board of Peace today

The United Nations Middle East special envoy, Nickolay Mladenov, speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem on June 25, 2020. (Menahem KAHANA / AFP)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be meeting former UN envoy to the Middle East Nikolay Mladenov today, according to Channel 14, which is close with the premier’s circle and staunchly supportive of him.

Mladenov is expected to serve as the US-backed Board of Peace representative on the ground in Gaza. US President Donald Trump will likely announce the Board of Peace next week.

11:35 am

Iran warns suppliers against overpricing or hoarding goods

Iran’s president has warned domestic suppliers against hoarding or overpricing goods, state media reports, as Tehran rolls out high-stakes subsidy reforms during nationwide protests against economic hardships.

11:35 am

IDF detects failed rocket launch from Gaza City toward Israel, targets launch site

An IDF graphic depicting a failed rocket launch from Gaza City, which landed inside the Gaza Strip, January 8, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF says it detected a failed rocket launch a short while from the area of Gaza City toward Israeli territory.

According to the military, the projectile fell inside Gaza, near a hospital. Hebrew media reports that the rocket fell near IDF outposts in the area.

There are no reported casualties.

In what it calls a rapid “closing of the circle,” the IDF says it carried out a targeted strike on the launch site.

The army says it views any attempt by terror groups in Gaza to carry out attacks against Israeli forces or civilians with “great severity.”

10:34 am

Israelis pick ‘homecoming’ as Hebrew word of the year

Israelis have chosen the Hebrew word for “homecoming” as the word of the year, the Academy of the Hebrew Language announces.

The Academy asked the public for suggestions for words that summarize the past year, and chose 10 candidate words. The public then voted on those words, with “Habaita,” which means homecoming or going home, coming in first.

The word symbolizes the return of almost all hostages from Gaza, as well as the return home of some residents of towns near the Gaza and Lebanon border that were ravaged or otherwise evacuated amid the multifront war, and hope for the return of the rest, the Academy says in a Facebook post.

In second place was “artificial intelligence,” while “hope” came third.

10:20 am

Australian Jewish community welcomes PM’s decision to set up sweeping probe into Bondi Beach massacre

By Zev Stub

After Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said today that the country will form a royal commission inquiry into the mass terror shooting that killed 15 people at a Hanukkah event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, the main body of the Australian Jewish community says it welcomes the decision.

Australia’s 120,000-strong Jewish community has long complained that Albanese hasn’t done enough to protect them from rising antisemitism following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, and that his ideological opposition to Israel has emboldened pro-Palestinian activists to target Jewish institutions. Occasional statements of support from Albanese after the many attacks on Jews in the past two years have frequently been met with cynicism.

This time, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) says the government has made “the right decision.”

“On behalf of the Australian Jewish community, we welcome the Prime Minister’s announcement,” ECAJ president Daniel Aghion KC says in a statement. He adds that ECAJ intends to cooperate with the commission, and that he hopes it will provide “an honest examination of government policies and the conduct and policies of key institutions and figures in major sectors of our society” in allowing antisemitism to thrive over the past two years.

10:09 am

Israel amends security rules to allow seizure of vehicles used in West Bank waste fires

Illegal burning of electronic waste near Azzoun, northern West Bank, November 24, 2025. (Sue Surkes/Times of Israel)

Defense Minister Israel Katz’s office says the government has begun implementing a new emergency plan against illegal waste fires in the West Bank — introduced last month — with the Justice Ministry approving an immediate amendment to the security order that will allow the seizure and confiscation of vehicles and equipment used in the burnings.

The move follows a decision by Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to classify the phenomenon as a threat to national security, shifting it from a civilian-environmental issue to a national security matter. Under the amended order, authorities will be able to confiscate waste trucks, vehicles used for arson and illegal dumping, and related equipment.

According to Katz’s office, IDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth is expected to sign the order in the coming days, with enforcement set to begin “immediately.”

The move is said to complement a series of additional directives, including aggressive inter-agency enforcement, broad allocation of resources to address fires and waste removal, and the use of expanded legal powers to create deterrence and cut off the economic incentive for the criminal activity.

“The decision we made less than a month ago to define waste-burning fires as a threat to national security was not [just] a declaration — it was a commitment to action,” Katz says. “As we said, we will not allow a situation in which Israeli citizens are forced to breathe poison. We will continue to act with full force until this phenomenon is eradicated at its root.”

9:51 am

Trump tells NYT US oversight of Venezuela could last years

US President Donald Trump speaks to the press following US military actions in Venezuela, at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on January 3, 2026. (Jim Watson/AFP)

US President Donald Trump says that “only time will tell” how long the United States will maintain oversight of Venezuela in an interview published by The New York Times.

When asked if it will be three months, six months, a year or longer, Trump says: “I would say much longer.”

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High Court hears petitions against NIS 1 billion for Haredi schools that don’t teach core subjects

By Jeremy Sharon

The High Court of Justice holds a hearing in Jerusalem on a petition against the Knesset Finance Committee’s decision to transfer funds to ultra-Orthodox schools that don't teach core subjects, January 8, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The High Court of Justice is hearing petitions against the recent transfer of NIS 1 billion ($315 million) to ultra-Orthodox schools by the Knesset Finance Committee.

Petitioners, including the Yesh Atid party and the Hiddush religious freedom and equality group, have argued that the transfer was illegal due to information showing the schools do not meet their legal obligation to teach the requisite number of hours of core curriculum subjects, such as math, science and English.

On December 31, the High Court issued an interim order freezing the transfer of funds, infuriating the ultra-Orthodox political parties.

In the state’s response to the petition filed late last night, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said, however, argued for the interim order to be canceled since the broader issue of state funding for ultra-Orthodox schools not teaching core curriculum studies should be dealt with in petitions addressing the larger problem and not just the recent Finance Committee transfers.

The attorney general said that if it is decided that funds were transferred to institutions that did not meet their obligations, it would be possible to offset the transferred funds from future budgets.

Separately, Baharav-Miara has written to Education Minister Yoav Kisch about internal oversight processes in the ministry regarding the failure of the ultra-Orthodox school networks to fulfil their obligations as fully funded state schools for teaching the requisite number of hours for core curriculum subjects.

“It is undisputed that a situation in which the state continues to fund institutions that do not comply with the provisions of the law cannot continue. This is not a question of policy, this is the law,” the attorney general tells Kisch.

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Thousands of Israeli-made rifles distributed to local emergency response teams, Defense Ministry says