The Times of Israel liveblogging Friday’s events as they happened.

US welcomes UN plan for combatting antisemitism, urges Guterres to brief members on its implementation

The Biden administration welcomes the United Nations’ release of a strategic framework for combatting antisemitism.

“The plan includes the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance [IHRA] Working Definition of Antisemitism and reflects key policies outlined in the Global Guidelines for Countering Antisemitism, which have now been endorsed by dozens of UN member states,” says a joint statement from US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield and US envoy for combatting antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt.

“The challenge now lies in putting the plan into practice. The UN must demonstrate its full commitment to its human rights mandate and take concrete steps that will lead to tangible progress,” they say.

“The United States looks forward to working with member states to ensure that the UN’s strategy is not merely symbolic but instead contributes to a safer and more inclusive world for everyone,” they add.

“In that spirit, we have requested that the secretary general and Under Secretary-General Miguel Moratinos brief member states on next steps to implement the strategy.

Cabinet finishes security briefing ahead of vote on hostage deal

Israel’s security chiefs have finished briefing the cabinet on the hostage deal, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

Some of the ministers have decided to submit their votes early, rather than wait until the end of the meeting to do so.

Among them is Likud’s David Amsalem, who voted against the deal during the security cabinet meeting as well, though, his vote didn’t count then because he is only an observer.

Kan reports that Amsalem believes the hostages should be released all in one deal and not in the phased framework that is set to begin on Sunday.

Likud Minister Amichai Chikli also voted against the deal, the network later says.

Negotiators believe Hamas would have been prepared to release all of the hostages at once in exchange for an end to the war, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu preferred a phased framework, as he has sought to resume fighting after some of the hostages are released.

Cairo talks end with consensus on Gaza truce mechanism — state-linked media

Negotiators from Egypt, Qatar, the United States and Israel agreed Friday on “all necessary arrangements to implement” the Gaza truce deal, expected to take effect on Sunday, Egyptian state-linked media reports.

Citing an informed Egyptian source, Al-Qahera News says that technical meetings which started in Cairo on Friday ended “on a positive note.”

During today’s talks, the negotiators agreed to form a joint operations room in Cairo to “ensure effective coordination” and compliance with the truce terms, the source said.

It adds that the room will include representatives from Egypt, Qatar, the United States, Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Trucks have been waiting on the Egyptian side of the border, where the Egyptian foreign ministry called on Thursday for the rapid, safe and effective distribution of humanitarian aid.

Syria’s de facto leader, UAE president agree on importance of coordination to support Syrians

Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa and the President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan agreed in a phone call on the importance of continuous coordination to support Syrians, Syria’s ruling general command says.

Cabinet meeting on hostage deal continues past 10 p.m.

The cabinet meeting to discuss and approve the hostage deal is still ongoing after several hours.

Ministers are widely expected to approve the deal after the security cabinet did earlier this afternoon.

Macron confirms two French-Israelis among first hostages to be freed by Hamas

French President Emmanuel Macron confirms that French-Israeli citizens Ofer Calderon and Ohad Yahalomi are in the first group of hostages due to be freed by Hamas following a ceasefire with Israel.

“Our fellow citizens Ofer Calderon and Ohad Yahalomi are on the list of 33 hostages to be freed in the first phase of the Gaza accord,” Macron says in a social media post.

“We remain mobilized without pause to ensure their return to their families,” he writes.

The French president is set to meet with the families of the two Franco-Israeli hostages “very soon,” according to his entourage.

Yahalomi, who turned 50 in captivity, was kidnapped from his home in Nir Oz kibbutz.

His 12-year-old son, abducted separately, was released in November 2023 during the first truce.

Calderon, 54, was kidnapped along with his son and daughter from Nir Oz kibbutz. The two children were released in the November 2023 truce.

CIA employee who leaked classified documents on Israel’s plans to strike Iran to plead guilty

This undated image provided by the Guam Department of Corrections shows Asif William Rahman. (Guam Department of Corrections via AP)
This undated image provided by the Guam Department of Corrections shows Asif William Rahman. (Guam Department of Corrections via AP)

A CIA employee who was accused of leaking classified documents about Israel’s plans to strike Iran will plead guilty to criminal charges that he willfully retained and transmitted national defense information, according to a court filing.

Asif Rahman, 34, of Vienna, Virginia, allegedly disclosed the classified documents in October on the Telegram messaging app.

Outgoing Israeli envoy in Washington to be honored in Senate resolution

Israeli Ambassador to the US Mike Herzog and Sen. Linsey Graham at the Israeli Embassy in Washington on January 17, 2025. (Shmulik Almany/Embassy of Israel)
Israeli Ambassador to the US Mike Herzog and Sen. Linsey Graham at the Israeli Embassy in Washington on January 17, 2025. (Shmulik Almany/Embassy of Israel)

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham revealed last night that he is advancing a resolution recognizing outgoing Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Herzog for his service in bolstering the US-Israeli relationship.

At a farewell event for Herzog at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, Graham presented the ambassador with a framed copy of the bipartisan resolution that was referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“Michael Herzog has been the most steady, even-keeled representative at a time we needed steady and even keel. [He’s] the one guy we could go to and feel like we were heard. [He] made it easy to be pro-Israel for both parties,” Graham said at the ceremony, according to a readout from the Israeli embassy.

Also speaking at the event was US President Joe Biden’s senior energy adviser Amos Hochstein who helped broker ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza.

“I can’t think of anyone who could’ve made the transition from a peacetime to a wartime consigliere that seamlessly and that effectively. I can’t imagine us getting through this period without the skills and capabilities of Ambassador Herzog,” Hochstein said.

Herzog subsequently told those present at the event, “I did a lot of things in my life, but this was the most difficult. Navigating the pressures between Washington and Jerusalem amid an existential war wasn’t easy, yet I was constantly motivated and empowered by the deep sense that I am fulfilling a sacred mission on behalf of my country and my people at a crucial time.”

Herzog has served as ambassador since November 2021, and will be replaced by Yechiel Leiter on Monday.

Report: White House leaned hard on Israel to reverse its plan to delay deal until Monday

Channel 12 reports that the White House exerted significant pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government after the latter initially decided yesterday to delay the hostage deal’s start from Sunday to Monday due to bureaucratic concerns.

Earlier today, Netanyahu’s office announced that the deal would go ahead on Sunday as originally planned.

Hostages Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher have new caravan homes waiting for them upon return

Kibbutz Kfar Aza has built two new caravan homes that will be ready for hostages Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher upon their return from Hamas captivity, Channel 12 reports.

As female civilians, they are expected to be among the first hostages released when the deal commences on Sunday.

Israeli authorities have prepared backpacks with some of the hostages’ favorite items inside, which they will receive immediately upon their release.

Each hostage will be able to decide where they’d like to go after their release from the hospital, either to a hotel or their family’s home.

Mossad head urges security cabinet to back deal: This is a moral debt we must pay

Mossad chief David Barnea urged security cabinet members during their meeting earlier today to back the hostage release and ceasefire deal currently on the table.

“We must pay this moral debt. This deal is ethically and morally the right thing to do. It is a humane deal. It includes mechanisms that will ensure our security,” Barnea said, according to Channel 12.

Hebrew media reports that Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar told the security cabinet that 82 percent of the 1,027 Palestinian security prisoners released in the 2011 Israel-Hamas deal to free captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit returned to terror activity.

Twelve percent of those former prisoners actively participated in terror attacks after their release, and even over 50% of the prisoners released abroad returned to terror activity.

Bar said Hamas will use the ceasefire to rebuild its governing and military capabilities and that the deal will likely further weaken the PA.

Despite all of that, the security chiefs stressed that they adamantly back the agreement, insisting that Israel is prepared to deal with the security consequences.

They also argue that Hamas has an interest in abiding by the terms of the first phase in order to reach the second where it will be able to secure the release of far more prisoners in exchange for the remaining living Israeli hostages.

“The IDF knows how to return fighting with massive strength if necessary,” Channel 12 quotes IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi as having said.

Biden admin didn’t realize 2 settlers it sanctioned are US citizens ineligible for designation, officials tell ToI

Issachar Manne is seen opening a bottle of wine in his settlement in the West Bank, in this screen capture from a YouTube video posted September 1, 2022. (Screen capture via YouTube, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Issachar Manne is seen opening a bottle of wine in his settlement in the West Bank, in this screen capture from a YouTube video posted September 1, 2022. (Screen capture via YouTube, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Two US officials reveal to The Times of Israel that Washington didn’t properly vet some of the settlers it sanctioned last year which led to the designation of two Israelis who also have US citizenship. This should have made them ineligible for targeting under an executive order signed by US President Joe Biden aimed at curbing rampant settler violence in the West Bank.

Issachar Manne, who was sanctioned in July, and Levi Yitzchak Pilant, who was sanctioned in August, are both US citizens, but they were identified in the Treasury Department announcement as “foreign persons.”

The two US officials acknowledged to The Times of Israel that the administration’s vetting process failed to identify the pair as US citizens.

The Treasury Department and State Department did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Manne and Pilant have sued the US government, arguing that the sanctions violated their constitutional rights to due process and equal protection. They also note that they should have been ineligible for sanctions by virtue of their US citizenship.

US imposes sanctions on Yemen Kuwait Bank

The United States has imposed sanctions on Yemen Kuwait Bank for Trade and Investment over its ties to the Houthi movement, according to a notice published on the US Department of Treasury website.

Abbas says PA ready to assume ‘full responsibility’ in Gaza

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says on Friday that the PA is ready to assume “full responsibility” in post-war Gaza, in his first statement since the Gaza ceasefire deal was announced.

“The Palestinian government, under President Abbas’ directives, has completed all preparations to assume full responsibility in Gaza,” including the return of the displaced, providing basic services, crossings management, and reconstruction of the war-torn territory, a presidency statement says.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has thus far ruled out any role for the PA in Gaza while refusing to advance any alternative amid pressure from his far-right partners who want to establish settlements in the Strip.

France denounces ‘act of intimidation’ after Russia jails Navalny lawyers

France denounces an “act of intimidation” targeting lawyers in Russia after three members of late opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s legal team were sentenced to several years in prison.

“France strongly condemns the sentences handed down to three of Alexei Navalny’s former lawyers, Alexei Liptser, Igor Sergunin and Vadim Kobzev,” the French foreign ministry says. “These sentences are yet another act of intimidation against the legal profession as a whole.”

All nine suspects in attack on Israeli firm Elbit’s UK warehouse plead not guilty

Illustrative — Activists from the Extinction Rebellion North and Palestine Action groups protest at the gates of the Elbit Ferranti factory in waterhead, Oldham in north-west England on February 1, 2021. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP)
Illustrative — Activists from the Extinction Rebellion North and Palestine Action groups protest at the gates of the Elbit Ferranti factory in waterhead, Oldham in north-west England on February 1, 2021. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP)

Nine people appear in a London court to deny offenses including burglary, criminal damage, violent disorder and hitting a police officer with a sledgehammer, over an incident at a warehouse linked to Israeli defense firm Elbit.

The nine, who prosecutors have said were activists from the protest organization Palestine Action, are accused of smashing their way into the Elbit Systems UK facility in Bristol, southwest England, in August.

At a previous hearing, prosecutors said a repurposed prison van was used to smash through fencing before some of the group damaged items in the warehouse using sledgehammers.

Four men and five women, aged between 20 and 51, appeared by video link at London’s Old Bailey Court. All nine plead not guilty to aggravated burglary and causing criminal damage which has been estimated at 1 million pounds.

Seven of them also deny a charge of violent disorder, while one, Simon Corner, pleads not guilty to a charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, for allegedly striking a police officer with a sledgehammer.

Another nine people also charged with offenses over the incident appear at the hearing but do not enter pleas.

The first trial involving eight of the defendants is due to start in November, with the others appearing at two subsequent trials. A hearing will also be held to determine whether the cases should be treated as a terrorism matter.

Pro-Palestinian protesters have repeatedly targeted Elbit Systems UK and other defense firms in Britain linked to Israel in the wake of the conflict in Gaza.

Palestine Action has said the targeted site was Elbit’s new 35 million-pound ($43 million) research and development hub. Elbit’s website says its UK subsidiary employs 680 people at 16 sites, working on multiple programs for the British military.

Dutch diplomat Sigrid Kaag named new UN Middle East envoy

UN senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, speaks to the press at the US State Department in Washington, on January 31, 2024, as she met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP)
UN senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, speaks to the press at the US State Department in Washington, on January 31, 2024, as she met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP)

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has named former Dutch Foreign Minister Sigrid Kaag as the new UN Middle East envoy, a UN spokesperson said.

Kaag will also continue in her current role as the UN senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, says deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq.

Kaag will replace Norwegian diplomat Tor Wennesland, who has held the post since 2021.

Trump confirms inauguration to be moved indoors due to cold

Donald Trump says that his inauguration as US president on Monday will be moved indoors due to expected freezing weather.

“There is an Arctic blast sweeping the Country,” Trump writes on his app Truth Social. “Therefore, I have ordered the Inauguration Address, in addition to prayers and other speeches, to be delivered in the United States Capitol Rotunda.”

 

IDF erects 3 complexes along Gaza border to receive each of the hostages released on Sunday

Members of the Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad release Israeli hostages to the Red Cross, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, November 28, 2023. (Flash90)
Members of the Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad release Israeli hostages to the Red Cross, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, November 28, 2023. (Flash90)

The IDF has established three complexes near the border with the Gaza Strip to receive the hostages who will released by Hamas in the upcoming ceasefire deal with the terror group.

The complexes have been built at the Re’im base, the Kerem Shalom Crossing and the Erez Crossing. Hostages released from Gaza will reach one of the three sites depending on their release route.

At the sites, the hostages will meet with IDF representatives, including doctors, psychologists, and mental health officers.

From there, they will be escorted by the IDF to hospitals in Israel where they will meet their families.

The IDF says the complexes on the border are intended to facilitate the hostages’ return to Israel, by giving them initial treatment before meeting their families.

The military says it is keeping the families of the hostages updated at all times.

Meanwhile, the military is preparing to withdraw from Gaza as part of the deal.

The IDF says it will bolster its defenses along the entire Gaza border, as it adjusts its deployment inside the Strip per the agreement.

“IDF troops will adjust their deployment and gradually withdraw from points and routes in the Gaza Strip,” the military says.

The military’s 99th Division will withdraw from the Netzarim Corridor of central Gaza, the 162nd Division will be tasked with defending the northern Gaza area, and the Gaza Division will be responsible for the southern portion of the Strip. The Gaza Division will also withdraw gradually from the Philadelphi Corridor area under the deal.

Under the first stage of the agreement, the IDF says Palestinian civilians will not be allowed to return to areas where the military has a presence, as well as areas close to the border.

“The IDF is prepared with clear lines of defense and is ready to remove threats. Any threat to our forces will receive an aggressive response,” the military says.

In the West Bank, the IDF is also readying for the release of Palestinian prisoners under the deal. The military says it is bolstering troops and closely monitoring highways and Palestinian towns ahead of the release.

Trump says he needs time to decide whether to enforce TikTok ban

Incoming US president Donald Trump says that the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold a congressional ban on TikTok should be respected but he “must have time” to decide on whether to enforce the ruling.

“The Supreme Court decision was expected, and everyone must respect it. My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!” Trump writes on his social media platform Truth Social.

Implementation of TikTok ban will take time: US Justice Dept

The US Justice Department says that implementing the law banning TikTok in the United States unless its Chinese owner sells the platform will take time.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco welcomes the Supreme Court ruling upholding a law that will ban TikTok and says, “The next phase of this effort — implementing and ensuring compliance with the law after it goes into effect on January 19 — will be a process that plays out over time.”

American-Israeli hostage’s mother: White House has treated us much better than PMO

The mother of slain American-Israeli hostage Itay Chen tells Channel 12 that the treatment from the Biden administration has been far better than that of the Prime Minister’s Office.

“The treatment there is completely different,” Hagit Chen says, adding that the White House has held weekly meetings with the families of the American hostages to update them on efforts to secure their release.

CNN: Trump inauguration to be moved indoors due to frigid forecast

CNN reports that US President-elect Donald Trump’s Monday inauguration will be moved indoors due to the dangerously cold temperatures expected for that day.

Trump and JD Vance will likely be sworn in inside the Capitol Rotunda, CNN says.

Qatari PM: If Trump’s approach to region continues, the future will be bright

The ceasefire and hostage release deal is “the last chance for Gaza,” Qatar’s prime minister tells Sky News in an interview.

“What we have reached with this deal is the last chance for Gaza. To save Gaza from this war this is our last chance,” Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani says.

“When we talk about peace in general, peace won’t happen without a Palestinian state at the end of the day. To address the root cause of the issue and not to just address the symptoms of the issue,” he says.

“Failure is not an option. That’s what all of us should aspire to,” Al Thani continues. “If it fails we will not give up we will make sure it is rehashed again and the parties are adhering to that.”

Sky says that he criticized both Israel and Hamas for taking so long to reach a deal, claiming the deal reached this week was on the table in December 2023. The US has said it is the proposal from May 2024. The Qatari premier did not elaborate.

Looking to further boost Qatar’s standing in the eyes of US President-elect Donald Trump, Al Thani says that he could “create a greater impact for the region.”

“I believe if this continues to be the attitude and approach for the next four years, we can create a lot of good things for the region,” he says of Trump’s help in securing this week’s deal.

PA dispatches team to Cairo for talks on post-war management of Gaza

The Palestinian Authority dispatched a team of senior officials to Cairo today to join ongoing negotiations being led by Egypt to finalize details regarding who will control the Rafah Border Crossing once the ceasefire comes into place, Channel 12 reports.

Israel took over the Gaza side of the crossing, leading Egypt to close the gate until the PA could be the one controlling the other side.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas is insisting on PA control of the border crossing, which Israel to date has refused.

Abbas sent a document to the leaders of the US, Egypt, Qatar and the European Union that details the PA plan for the temporary administration of Gaza after the war.

The four-page document details the establishment of two working teams, one headed by the PA planning minister that will be tasked with the Strip’s reconstruction; and another led by the PA social development minister, which will be tasked with civil services and humanitarian aid to Palestinians, Channel 12 says.

The document stresses the PA’s willingness to cooperate with Arab states and other international allies to stabilize Gaza, while not specifying the division of labor between them.

The document drafted at the beginning of January also doesn’t specify who will be in charge of maintaining security in Gaza, including police and border patrol.

The document stresses that the PA will be the primary authority in the Gaza Strip. It also avoids offering any role to Hamas.

Much of the plan’s implementation will depend on Israeli acquiescence, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted for months that he won’t allow the PA to gain a foothold in Gaza.

He has also rejected repeated calls from Israel’s security establishment and the international community to plan for the post-war management of Gaza, arguing that it cannot be done until Hamas is completely defeated.

His critics have warned that failure to plan for the so-called day after, will ensure Israel remains in a state of perpetual war.

No force has been able to fill vacuums that the Israel Defense Forces has temporarily created through its military operations, thus allowing Hamas forces to repeatedly return to places that the IDF had previously cleared.

With a ceasefire slated to enter place on Sunday, analysts fear Hamas will once again be able to reestablish its authority in Gaza, even if its military structure has been destroyed.

ICC prosecutor holds talks on aiding war crimes prosecutions by new Syrian government

International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan has held discussions with Syrian authorities on how the war crimes tribunal could help in their efforts to prosecute crimes allegedly committed in the country, his office says.

Khan was invited to Syria by the transitional government, which took over after former President Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December.

Khan met with Syria’s de facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa to discuss how the ICC prosecutors could support the Syrian authorities in their efforts “towards accountability for alleged crimes committed in the country,” his office says.

The ICC, which has 125 member states, is the world’s permanent court to prosecute individuals for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and aggression.

Syria is not a member state, but could accept the ICC’s jurisdiction as a first step, Khan tells Reuters in an interview.

Such a step would mirror the action Ukraine took in search of accountability for alleged Russian war crimes.

“Some of the remarks coming out of Syria by the transitional government seem to have indicated an openness to justice and accountability for crimes that may have taken place,” Khan says in the interview.

“I think we’re happy to take part in the conversation to tell them the options that they have.”

Prison service says taking measures to block ‘public displays of joy’ when Palestinians are released

Shuruq Dwayat, left, a Palestinian prisoner released by Israel, is hugged by relatives as she arrives home in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sur Bahar, early November 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Shuruq Dwayat, left, a Palestinian prisoner released by Israel, is hugged by relatives as she arrives home in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sur Bahar, early November 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

The Israel Prison Service says it is taking measures to prevent any “public displays of joy” when Palestinian prisoners are released as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal.

It says in a statement that it was preparing for the release of prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages held in Gaza, which the Prime Minister’s Office said could begin on Sunday.

The prison service says that two jails, one near Jerusalem and another near the southern city of Ashkelon, had begun preparations for the releases by gathering prisoners to be freed.

“The commissioner of the Israel Prison Service, Kobi Yakobi, instructed that… to prevent public displays of joy in Ashkelon and other areas of Israel, the escort from ‘Shikma’ Prison will not be handled by civilian buses of the [International Committee of the] Red Cross,” the statement says.

The Geneva-based ICRC oversaw the only previous prisoner exchange of the war, in November 2023, when 105 hostages held in Gaza were freed, the 80 Israelis among them in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

Instead “special units” from the prison service would handle transport, the statement says.

Yakobi also tells prisoners earmarked for release to “refrain from expressions of joy within Israel.”

US Supreme Court upholds law banning TikTok

The US Supreme Court has upheld a law that will ban TikTok in the United States, potentially denying the video-sharing app to 170 million users in the United States on January 19.

In a major defeat for TikTok, the court rules that the law does not violate free speech rights and that the US government had demonstrated legitimate national security concerns about a Chinese company owning the app.

After call with Xi, Trump says US and China to ‘solve many problems’

Donald Trump vows that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping would build a strong relationship after they spoke by telephone, days before the incoming US president takes power.

“The call was a very good one for both China and the USA,” Trump says on his social media platform. “It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately. We discussed balancing Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects.”

“President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe!” he adds.

For his part, Xi said he hopes for a “good start” to relations with the United States, state media reports.

“We both attach great importance to mutual interaction (and) hope that China-US relations will have a good start in the new term of the US president”, Xi said according to CCTV.

Israel publishes partial list of Palestinian prisoners slated for release in deal’s 1st phase

The Justice Ministry publishes a partial list of the Palestinian prisoners slated for release in the first phase of the hostage deal.

The list includes 95 women and children who are being held in Israeli jails.

Russia, Iran leaders express hope Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal will be implemented, lead to stability

Russia hopes that the ceasefire in Gaza will lead to long-term stabilization of the region, President Vladimir Putin says at a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian.

Pezeshkian says he hoped the ceasefire would be implemented.

Putin says it was important not to weaken efforts toward a comprehensive settlement of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, leading to the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

Hamas slated to provide list on Saturday of 3 hostages to be released on Sunday

The hostage deal stipulates that Hamas provide Israel with the names of the hostages it will release 24 hours in advance.

This means that tomorrow, Hamas will provide the names of the three Israelis slated for release on Sunday.

The three are widely expected to be among the list of female civilians.

Putin, Pezeshkian sign Russia-Iran strategic partnership agreement

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian sign a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement during Pezeshkian’s visit to Moscow.

The signing of the long-awaited agreement is expected to raise concerns in the West, which views both countries as malign influences on the global stage.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says 88 killed in last 24 hours

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says that 88 people were killed in the Palestinian territory in the previous 24 hours, taking the overall war death toll to 46,876.

The ministry says that at least 110,642 people have been wounded in more than 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas, sparked by the Palestinian terror group’s October 7, 2023 attack.

Israel insists that it doesn’t target civilians, whereas Hamas hides and fights among them.

Security cabinet observers Amsalem, Strock join Ben Gvir and Smotrich in voting against hostage deal

Security cabinet observers David Amsalem (Likud) and Orit Strock (Religious Zionism) joined far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich in voting against the hostage deal.

Amsalem and Strock’s votes didn’t count, and the vote passed with 9 for and two against.

The network says that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted to cabinet members that Israel will likely resume fighting after the first phase — likely in violation of the deal’s terms — as he seeks to prevent hardline ministers from bolting the government.

Responding to those reports, the Hostages Forum representing the vast majority of families of Gaza captives issues a statement warning the government against breaching the hostage deal after the first phase.

Haredi ministers leave cabinet meeting ahead of Shabbat, leave behind notes saying they back deal

Several Haredi ministers have left the ongoing cabinet meeting early because of Shabbat but have left behind notes instructing the cabinet secretary to count them among those who support the deal, Channel 12 reports.

Among those ministers are Shas’s Michael Malcheli along with United Torah Judaism’s Yitzhak Goldknopf, who writes “There is no more important commandment than saving the lives of hostages.”

A large majority of ministers in the full cabinet are slated to vote in favor of the deal.

Einav Zanguaker, whose son is only set to be freed in 2nd phase: ‘Violating the deal will be death sentence for hostages’

Einav Zanguaker at a press conference in Tel Aviv on January 17, 2024 (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Einav Zanguaker at a press conference in Tel Aviv on January 17, 2024 (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

As ministers meet on the ceasefire-hostage release deal, Einav Zanguaker, whose son Matan Zangauker is held hostage in Gaza, says “Violating the agreement will be a death sentence for the hostages.”

“I am the closest I have been to hugging my son. We must not miss this, we must keep the agreement until the last hostage,” she says at Hostage’s Square, according to Channel 12 news.

Matan Zanguaker does not appear on the list of hostages to be released in the first phase of the deal.

Beyond the 33 set for release in phase one, Israel says 65 more hostages are currently held in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 36 confirmed dead by the IDF. As the first phase progresses, the sides will hold talks on a potential second phase, which would see the release of all remaining hostages in return for an end to the war and agreements on Gaza’s future and reconstruction.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition allies have pressured him not to agree to end the fighting, leading the families of the remaining 65 hostages to fear the second phase may never be realized and that their loved ones may remain in terrorists’ hands.

Ben Gvir makes last-minute plea for ministers to vote against hostage deal: ‘It’s not too late, we can stop this deal’

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir makes a video statement on the Gaza hostage-ceasefire deal, January 17, 2025. (Screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir makes a video statement on the Gaza hostage-ceasefire deal, January 17, 2025. (Screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir issues a last-minute plea for other members of the government to vote against the hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas that was approved by the security cabinet a short while ago.

He says that he is “even more terrified” of the deal given new details released about the Palestinian security prisoners who will be released in exchange for Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

“Everyone knows that these terrorists will try to harm again, try to kill again,” he says in a video statement.

Last night Ben Gvir announced that his far-right Otzma Yehudit party will leave the coalition if the deal with Hamas is approved.

“I call on my friends in the Likud and in Religious Zionism [parties], it is not yet too late, we still have the cabinet meeting, we can stop this deal, join me, we can stop it.”

The full cabinet is scheduled to convene shortly for a final discussion to ratify the agreement, which was announced by mediators on Wednesday.

The deal is set to go into effect at 12:15 p.m. on Sunday, with the first of 33 hostages to be freed in the first stage of the ceasefire agreement expected to be released at 4 p.m.

Herzog welcomes security cabinet approval of Gaza deal, says he ‘expects the government to do so as well’

President Isaac Herzog delivers a statement on the hostage release-ceasefire deal approved by Israel and Hamas on January 15, 2025. (Screenshot, GPO)
President Isaac Herzog delivers a statement on the hostage release-ceasefire deal approved by Israel and Hamas on January 15, 2025. (Screenshot, GPO)

President Isaac Herzog welcomes the decision of the security cabinet to approve the ceasefire-hostage release deal, “and I expect the government to do so as well soon.”

“This is a vital step on the path to upholding the basic commitment a nation has to its citizens,” he adds. Herzog says he is under “no illusions” that the agreement will not have its challenges and “painful and agonizing moments.”

The president says he feels especially for the families of the hostages who know that their loved ones will not return in the first six-week stage of the deal: “We have to bring everyone home. Everyone! We will not rest or be silent until it happens.”

Security cabinet recommends hostage release-ceasefire deal; full cabinet about to convene

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

The security cabinet recommends the hostage release-ceasefire deal agreed to last night in Doha, the Prime Minister’s Office says.

The deal will now move to the full cabinet for a discussion starting in the next few minutes and a subsequent vote. The meeting seems certain to continue into Shabbat, which begins shortly. The full cabinet is expected to approve the deal by a large majority.

The security cabinet recommendation was made “after examining all diplomatic, security and humanitarian” aspects of the agreement, with the understanding that the deal “supports the achievement of the war’s goals,” the PMO says.

The PMO does not reveal who voted to support the move, but Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party have both said they would not back the deal.

Earlier, the government said that the plan will still be implemented as of Sunday despite the bureaucratic delays, which means the High Court will still need to hold a hearing into petitions against the agreement, though it is not expected to intervene.

Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, who returned from Qatar along with Mossad chief David Barnea following the signing of the deal there overnight, reportedly urged ministers to approve the deal as soon as possible, warning that any delay risked endangering hostages’ lives.

In the course of the security cabinet meeting, according to unconfirmed Hebrew media reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ministers that Israel has “received “definitive guarantees” from both President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump, that “if the negotiations on phase two of the deal fail, and Hamas does not accept our security demands, we will resume intensive fighting with the backing of the United States.”

In a statement last night, following far-right Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben Gvir’s threat to bolt the coalition over the deal, Netanyahu’s Likud party made the same assertion and others regarding the deal.

“Contrary to Ben Gvir’s comments, the existing deal allows Israel to return to fighting under American guarantees, receive the weapons and means of warfare it needs, maximize the number of living hostages that will be released, maintain full control of the Philadelphi Route [on the Egyptian border] and the security buffer that surrounds the entire Gaza Strip, and achieve dramatic security achievements that will ensure Israel’s security for generations,” Likud said.

IDF says that the Ashkelon-Sderot train line, closed since October 7, 2023, is safe to reopen next month

A view of the Israel Railways train station in the southern Israeli city of Sderot, March 27, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
A view of the Israel Railways train station in the southern Israeli city of Sderot, March 27, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Following a fresh assessment, the IDF says that the Ashkelon-Sderot train line can reopen from February 1, more than 15 months since it was closed following the October 7, 2023, onslaught.

The line passes close to the border with Gaza and has been exposed to threats from the Strip.

The IDF says that as part of preparations to allow the train line to reopen, it deployed new “technologies” and physical defenses, in addition to its surveillance capabilities.

Other activities were carried out by the IDF in northern Gaza — to remove threats to the rail line — as well as in the border area, to enable the line to reopen, the army adds.

Guterres says UNIFIL found 100 Hezbollah ‘weapons caches’ in south Lebanon since ceasefire began

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says peacekeepers have discovered more than “100 weapons caches” belonging to Hezbollah and its allies in south Lebanon since a ceasefire between the terror group and Israel.

UN peacekeepers “uncovered over 100 weapons caches belonging to Hezbollah or other armed groups since 27 November,” he says, adding that the “presence of armed personnel, assets and weapons” other than those of the Lebanese army and the UNIFIL peacekeeping force violated a UN Security Council decision that ended a 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.

Under the truce agreement signed by Israel and Hezbollah on November 27, the IDF is required to cede all of its positions in southern Lebanon to the Lebanese army within 60 days. At the same time, Hezbollah is required to retreat north of the Litani River, some 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the border with Israel.

Prisons Service says it will transport Palestinian prisoners slated for release in Gaza deal, not Red Cross

Newly released prisoners parade in Ramallah during a welcome ceremony following the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails early on December 1, 2023. (Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
Newly released prisoners parade in Ramallah during a welcome ceremony following the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails early on December 1, 2023. (Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)

The Israel Prisons Service says it is gearing up to process the release of Palestinian security prisoners as part of the hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas.

According to a leaked copy of the agreement, over 1,700 Palestinian prisoners are to be freed in return for 33 Israeli hostages in the first phase of the deal: 700 terrorists, 250-300 of whom are serving life terms; 1,000 Gazans captured since October 8 in fighting in the Strip; and 47 rearrested prisoners from the 2011 Gilad Shalit deal.

A statement from the Prisons Service says that Israeli authorities will facilitate the first part of the prisoners’ transport, not the Red Cross, to ensure that “the terrorists do not deviate from the strict security guidelines and refrain from any expression of joy within Israeli territory.”

Implementation of the deal is slated to begin on Sunday.

Full government to convene at 3:30 p.m. to approve hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas — PM spokesperson

The full Israeli government will convene today at 3:30 p.m. to approve the hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says.

The meeting was not expected to take place until tomorrow evening after Shabbat ends.

Netanyahu convened the security cabinet earlier today for a hearing on the deal, signed late last night in Doha.

Implementation of the agreement is set to begin on Sunday at 12:15 p.m.

Syria says it foiled attempt to smuggle rifles, drones into Lebanon via illegal border crossing

A shipment of weapons destined for Lebanon which was captured by Syrian authorities, in an image released on January 17, 2025. (Tartous Public Security Directorate via SANA)
A shipment of weapons destined for Lebanon which was captured by Syrian authorities, in an image released on January 17, 2025. (Tartous Public Security Directorate via SANA)

Syria’s public security directorate announces that it foiled an attempt to smuggle arms into Lebanon via an illegal border crossing in the Tartous area.

Images released by Syrian media show a shipment of rifles, grenade launchers, Iranian Shahed drones, and other weapons that were captured and seized by authorities.

Israel has been concerned that weapons from the former Assad regime in Syria could be sent to the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon. The IDF has also struck several border crossings between Syria and Lebanon to prevent arms from reaching the Lebanese terror group.

EasyJet announces resumption of flights to and from Tel Aviv from June 1

An EasyJet flight seen taking off from Ben Gurion International Airport, on March 24, 2018. (Moshe Shai/FLASH90)
An EasyJet flight seen taking off from Ben Gurion International Airport, on March 24, 2018. (Moshe Shai/FLASH90)

British low-cost carrier easyJet announces that it will resume flights to Israel from June 1, having suspended all of its routes to Tel Aviv following Iran’s first direct attack on Israel in April.

In a statement cited by Hebrew media, easyJet says the airline will operate 38 weekly flights to and from Israel on the London, Geneva, Amsterdam, Milan, Berlin, Basel and Nice routes.

The announcement comes after Hungary-based low-cost airline Wizz Air restarted its London to Tel Aviv route this week, while Germany’s Lufthansa Group said its airlines would resume flights from Israel on February 1, amid cautious optimism around a nascent hostage-ceasefire deal between Israel and the Hamas terror group in Gaza.

Macron says two French-Israelis among 33 hostages to be released by Hamas in Gaza deal

PARIS – French President Emmanuel Macron says two French-Israeli citizens, Ofer Calderon and Ohad Yahalomi, are on the list of 33 hostages slated to be released by Hamas in the first stage of a ceasefire agreement with Israel.

Macron’s announcement comes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that the release of hostages held in Gaza since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel is expected to begin on Sunday as planned.

“Our fellow citizens Ofer Calderon and Ohad Yahalomi are on the list of 33 hostages to be freed in the first phase of the Gaza accord,” Macron says in a social media post.

“We remain mobilized without pause to ensure their return to their families,” he writes.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Hostage families say Gaza deal will be ‘hard,’ call for all stages of ceasefire agreement to be fulfilled

Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, speaks during a press conference at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on January 17, 2025 (Hostages Forum)
Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, speaks during a press conference at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on January 17, 2025 (Hostages Forum)

As the cabinet convenes to vote on the hostage deal, four hostage family members hold a press conference at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square.

Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, says she is the closest she’s been in 468 days to hugging her son.

“We can’t let any political considerations ruin this opportunity,” she says.

Zangauker, one of the hostage family members who has repeatedly blamed the government for the hostage situation, protesting daily at Tel Aviv’s Begin rallies, calls on Israelis to join the protests and demand the complete fulfillment of all stages of the deal.

“This deal will shake us all, it will be hard,” says Zangauker. “Join us, my Matan and all the hostages need you with us.”

Anat Angrest, mother of Matan Angrest, a combat soldier who was wounded and taken hostage from his tank on October 7, notes that her son’s name is not on the list of 33 hostages that will be released home in the first stage of the hostage deal.

“You who should have been on the top of the list aren’t even on it,” says Angrest. “We didn’t convince the government over the last 15 months that your blood is worth the same as the others.”

Daniel Lifschitz, Anat Angrest, Einav Zangauker and Michel Illouz, relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, at a press conference at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square on January 15, 2025. (Screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

The grandson of Oded Lifshitz, 84, who is on the list of 33 hostages, says his grandfather is the only great-grandfather in the world held hostage.

“We didn’t believe that 15 months would pass that a great-grandfather is held hostage and the world doesn’t help him and the Israeli government doesn’t help him and I pray for the moment that he will return on his own two legs and we’ll welcome him with love,” says Daniel Lifshitz.

He speaks of some 30 hostages who have been killed in captivity in Gaza, and that this deal is too late for them, many of whom were his friends and his grandparents’ friends.

Lifschitz adds, “On Sunday, we will begin a new history of this country, it will be hard, and I ask you to honor the hostage families’ privacy.”

Shin Bet says Katz didn’t hold security consult before deciding to free settlers from administrative detention

Defense Minister Israel Katz did not consult with the Shin Bet security agency before announcing his decision to free West Bank settlers held under administrative detention orders.

The Shin Bet says that Katz decided without checking with the agency regarding the security implications of the move.

Katz in November announced an end to administrative detention orders for West Bank settlers, meaning Israel now only uses the controversial policy of holding suspects without charge against Palestinian terror suspects.

Several Jewish Israeli suspects were still being held in administrative detention when Katz made the November decision, and they were due to be released when their orders expired. Now they will be released early as a result of today’s announcement.

Netanyahu convenes security cabinet to vote on hostage-ceasefire deal — PM’s office

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a security assessment in Jerusalem to discuss the ceasefire deal with Hamas, January 17, 2025. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a security assessment in Jerusalem to discuss the ceasefire deal with Hamas, January 17, 2025. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has convened the security cabinet for a hearing on the hostage release-ceasefire deal, his office says.

Prior to the meeting, Netanyahu took part in a security assessment to discuss the implementation of the deal with the negotiating team, which returned overnight from Doha after signing the final version of the agreement.

The meeting of the full cabinet, which is also required to approve the deal before it can go into effect, is not expected to take place until tomorrow evening, angering many family members of the hostages who have proclaimed that the life-saving nature of the agreement should override Shabbat.

In a previous statement, Netanyahu’s office clarified that the deal would be implemented as planned on Sunday despite the delays, with the first hostages expected to be released that day.

Court agrees to postpone Netanyahu’s criminal testimony by another week for medical reasons

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the district court in Tel Aviv on December 23, 2024, to attend the fifth day of testimony in his trial on corruption charges. (Debbie Hill/Pool/AFP)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the district court in Tel Aviv on December 23, 2024, to attend the fifth day of testimony in his trial on corruption charges. (Debbie Hill/Pool/AFP)

The Jerusalem District Court agrees to postpone by another week Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s testimony in his criminal trial due to “post-operative medical developments.”

Netanyahu’s lawyer Amit Hadad makes the request for the new postponement on Friday, saying that because of the “medical developments” following Netanyahu’s surgery earlier this month, he needs an extra week of rest.

Hadad adds that Netanyahu was unable to sufficiently rest this week and had to “deviate from the medical advice that was given to him” due to the “unusual and unexpected events taking place in the country” which were of an “extraordinary and humanitarian” nature, apparently referring to the hostage release deal which has been negotiated this week and required Netanyahu to work.

The court agrees to the delay and states that the next hearing will now be scheduled for January 27.

PM’s office says first Gaza hostages expected to be released Sunday as planned, despite bureaucratic delays

Members of the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad terror groups release Israeli hostages to the Red Cross, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, November 28, 2023. (Flash90)
Members of the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad terror groups release Israeli hostages to the Red Cross, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, November 28, 2023. (Flash90)

The Prime Minister’s Office says that despite the delays in signing the deal and its approval by the government, hostages are still expected to be released from Gaza on Sunday as planned.

According to a statement from the PMO, once the ceasefire deal has been approved by both the security cabinet and the full cabinet, and has gone into effect, “the release of hostages can be carried out according to the planned outline,” which would see three female hostages freed on Sunday.

The security cabinet is meeting now and the full government is expected to meet tomorrow evening to approve the deal.

Following the government approval, the High Court is still slated to hear petitions against elements of the deal, but it is widely expected not to intervene.

Iran’s Pezeshkian arrives in Moscow to sign treaty with Russia, hold talks with Putin

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin meets with Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of an international forum in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, on October 11, 2024. (Alexander SHCHERBAK / POOL / AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin meets with Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of an international forum in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, on October 11, 2024. (Alexander SHCHERBAK / POOL / AFP)

MOSCOW — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrives in Russia for the signing of a broad cooperation treaty and to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It’s their third meeting since Pezeshkian’s election in July.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov says the “comprehensive strategic partnership treaty” to be signed by the two leaders covers all areas -– from trade and military cooperation to science, education and culture.

The signing comes ahead of the January 20 inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, who has pledged to broker peace in Ukraine and take a tougher stance on Iran.

Peskov dismisses any link with Trump’s inauguration, saying the signing had been planned long ago.

Hebrew media: Gaza deal will be implemented on Sunday as planned, with first hostages to be released at 4 p.m.

A sign calling for the release of hostages held by terror groups in Gaza, near the Israeli border with the Strip, January 16, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
A sign calling for the release of hostages held by terror groups in Gaza, near the Israeli border with the Strip, January 16, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The implementation of a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas signed in Doha last night will begin as planned on Sunday and will not be delayed due to the timing of Israeli government meetings, according to Hebrew media reports.

Channel 12 news reports that the first hostage release, in which three women kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023, are expected to be released from captivity in Gaza, will go ahead on Sunday at 4 p.m.

The deal, announced by mediators on Wednesday, is currently scheduled to take effect on Sunday at 12:15 p.m.

Previous reports had indicated that the delay of the full cabinet meeting to Saturday evening would mean the 24-hour grace period for filing petitions against the deal would only conclude late Sunday, meaning the deal wouldn’t come into place until Monday.

The Ynet news site reports that the Prime Minister’s Office has informed relatives of hostages held in Gaza that the list of Palestinian security prisoners slated for release in the deal will be released after this morning’s cabinet meeting.

Ynet quotes an anonymous source as saying, “We’re doing everything we can to start the deal as early as Sunday, even in the evening, but it is not certain that we will have time.”

ICC prosecutor defends war crimes warrant for Netanyahu, says Israel made ‘no real effort’ to probe allegations

International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan speaks during a press conference at the San Carlos Palace in Bogota, on April 25, 2024. (Luis ACOSTA / AFP)
International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan speaks during a press conference at the San Carlos Palace in Bogota, on April 25, 2024. (Luis ACOSTA / AFP)

THE HAGUE (Reuters) – International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan defends his decision to bring war crimes allegations against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying Israel has made “no real effort” to investigate the allegations itself.

In an interview with Reuters, he stands by his decision over the arrest warrant despite a vote last week by the US House of Representatives to sanction the ICC in protest, a move he describes as “unwanted and unwelcome.”

ICC judges issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant last November for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza conflict.

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

Israel has rejected the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court and denies war crimes. The United States is also not a member of the ICC and Washington has criticized the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant.

“We’re here as a court of last resort and… as we speak right now, we haven’t seen any real effort by the State of Israel to take action that would meet the established jurisprudence, which is investigations regarding the same suspects for the same conduct,” Khan tells Reuters.

“That can change and I hope it does,” he says in the interview that was conducted yesterday, as a hostage-ceasefire deal was signed in Doha by Israel and Hamas.

Ben Gvir reiterates that he’ll quit if Gaza truce is approved: ‘I love PM Netanyahu… but the deal is disastrous’

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir holds a press conference together with members of his far-right Otzma Yehudit party in Jerusalem. January 16, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90)
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir holds a press conference together with members of his far-right Otzma Yehudit party in Jerusalem. January 16, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir reiterates his Otzma Yehudit party will leave the coalition if the hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas that was signed in Doha last night is approved, as is expected to happen today or tomorrow.

Lauding his own work strengthening the Israel Police, Prisons Service and Border Police as national security minister, he says he will leave the government “with a heavy heart.”

“I love Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and will make sure he continues to be prime minister, but I will leave because the deal that was signed is disastrous; it releases hundreds of terrorists with blood on their hands, who, upon their release, will seek to murder the next Jew; it allows the return of thousands of terrorists to the northern Gaza Strip with weapons — when their goal is to murder Jews; it harms Israel’s ability to defend itself on the Philadelphia axis and at other important points; and it undoes all the war successes that cost us so much blood,” he says in a lengthy statement.

The far-right minister also reiterates that if the IDF resumes fighting Hamas after a pause to free hostages held in Gaza since October 7, 2023, his party will offer to return to the government.

“We will not overthrow this government and we will support it from the outside, but we will not be partners in a defeatist agreement,” he says.

List of 33 hostages due to be freed in first stage of ceasefire deal with Hamas released

The following is a list of the 33 hostages that are due to be released in the first stage of the ceasefire deal with the Hamas terror group.

The list is not in order of release, and does not indicate the condition of the hostages. Israel believes that most of the 33 are alive.

Each day, once the hostages have been received by IDF troops and the families are updated, the Prime Minister’s Office will issue a statement with the names of the captives that have been released.

1. Liri Albag
2. Itzhik Elgarat
3. Karina Ariev
4. Ohad Ben-Ami
5. Ariel Bibas
6. Yarden Bibas
7. Kfir Bibas
8. Shiri Silberman Bibas
9. Agam Berger
10. Romi Gonen
11. Danielle Gilboa
12. Emily Damari
13. Sagui Dekel-Chen
14. Yair Horn
15. Omer Wenkert
16. Alexander Troufanov
17. Arbel Yehud
18. Ohad Yahalomi
19. Eliya Cohen
20. Or Levy
21. Naama Levy
22. Oded Lifshitz
23. Gadi Moshe Moses
24. Avera Mengistu
25. Shlomo Mansur
26. Keith Siegel
27. Tsahi Idan
28. Ofer Calderon
29. Tal Shoham
30. Doron Steinbrecher
31. Omer Shem-Tov
32. Hisham Al Sayed
33. Eli Sharabi

Ahead of Palestinian prisoner release in Gaza deal, Katz says he’s freeing settlers held in administrative detention

Defense Minister Israel Katz announces his decision to free West Bank settlers held under administrative detention orders, ahead of the expected release on Sunday or Monday of Palestinian security prisoners in a hostage-ceasefire deal signed with Hamas in Doha last night.

“In light of the expected release of terrorists from Judea and Samaria as part of the hostage release deal, I have decided to release the settlers detained in administrative detention and to convey a clear message of strengthening and encouraging the [West Bank] settlements, which are at the forefront of the struggle against Palestinian terrorism and facing growing security challenges,” he says in a statement.

“It is better for the families of Jewish settlers to be happy than the families of released terrorists.”

Katz in November announced an end to administrative detention orders for West Bank settlers, meaning Israel now only uses the controversial policy of holding suspects without charge against Palestinian terror suspects. A total of 16 administrative detention orders were issued for Jewish Israelis under former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and seven of them were still being held at the time.

His latest decision comes after reports that the government would take additional measures to combat terrorism in the West Bank as part of efforts to convince Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich not to leave the coalition in protest of the Gaza deal.

Smotrich, Netanyahu reach agreement on Gaza deal; Religious Zionism to vote against but stay in coalition — reports

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (left) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attend a vote in the Knesset plenum,  Jerusalem, December 31, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (left) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attend a vote in the Knesset plenum, Jerusalem, December 31, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has come to an understanding with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the hostage-ceasefire deal signed with Hamas in Doha last night, according to Hebrew media reports.

The two reached an agreement over the far-right minister’s demand that the IDF return to fighting Hamas in Gaza after a temporary ceasefire and over the issue of control over humanitarian aid being transferred to the Palestinian enclave, according to Channel 12 News and the Walla news site.

Smotrich and his Religious Zionism party will vote against the deal but remain in the government as a result of the agreement, the reports say.

Last night, Smotrich’s fellow far-right coalition member Itamar Ben Gvir said his Otzma Yehudit party will quit the government if the deal is approved.

Shas minister calls for telephone vote to approve hostage-ceasefire deal before Shabbat

Interior Minister Moshe Arbel attends a plenum session at the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 24, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Interior Minister Moshe Arbel attends a plenum session at the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 24, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Interior Minister Moshe Arbel submits a request to cabinet secretary Yossi Fuchs to hold a telephone vote to approve the hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas that was signed in Doha late last night.

“In these matters, every hour and every minute is important — both for the hostages themselves and for their families who yearn for certainty after over a year in captivity,” he writes.

If the vote can be brought forward to today, before the beginning of the Sabbath, it will allow opponents of the deal the 24 hours required to petition the High Court of Justice so that the deal can be implemented on Sunday as mediators have urged.

A Netanyahu spokesperson said earlier this morning that the full cabinet meeting was not slated to take place until tomorrow night to give people who are religious and observe the Sabbath time to petition.

It’s unclear why the religious principle allowing the violation of the Sabbath to save a life doesn’t apply in this case.

“Therefore… I request that the government hold a telephone vote on this issue so that the families of the hostages can know at the beginning of Shabbat that the Israeli government has approved the deal and that it will be implemented at the beginning of the week,” the Shas minister writes.

Israel says 98 hostages are currently held in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 36 confirmed dead by the IDF. The agreed-upon first phase of the deal will see Hamas release 33 “humanitarian” hostages over 42 days — children, women, female soldiers, the elderly and the sick. Israel believes most of the 33 are alive but that some are dead. Jerusalem has not yet received word on each hostage’s status.

Cousin of slain hostage says pending deal with Hamas ‘is terrible, but no deal with terrorists is ever good’

In a photo released on January 16, 2025, Udi Goren poses with a poster of his cousin Tal Chaimi, who was killed and his body taken captive to Gaza on October 7, 2023. (Hostages Forum)
In a photo released on January 16, 2025, Udi Goren poses with a poster of his cousin Tal Chaimi, who was killed and his body taken captive to Gaza on October 7, 2023. (Hostages Forum)

As hostage families await the cabinet deal decision regarding the hostage deal, hostage family member Udi Goren, whose cousin Tal Chaimi was killed and his body taken hostage on October 7, says the pending deal “is terrible, but no deal with terrorists is ever good.”

Goren, one of the six hostage family members who are part of the Hostages Forum steering committee, says the only way for the country to get out of the situation in which it found itself on October 7, 2023, is to make this deal and then remain committed to those who suffered as a result of the Hamas terrorist attack that took place on that Shabbat.

“When people say they’re afraid of terrorists getting out in an exchange, they’re right,” said Goren. “But this is the deal we have. I want [hostage] Liri [Albag] to sleep near her parents next week, and I don’t want terrorists to ever touch her again.”

Albag is one of the five female surveillance soldiers taken hostage and expected to be among the first hostages released.

Goren says the hostage families are in a terrible emotional state at this point, and the task of the Forum steering committee is to represent each of the hostage families, including all those in the various categories, whether the hostage is alive or dead, injured, male or female, or in relatively good health.

“Our job is to use our voices and every interaction with any public institution, politician or public servant like [hostage envoy] Gal Hirsch, and to negotiate this deal forward,” says Goren.

Court orders evaluation to decide whether NCO in PM’s office leaks case can be released to house arrest

Aaron 'Ari' Rosenfeld, one of the suspects in the Prime Minister's Office classified documents leak case arrives to the courtroom at the Tel Aviv District Court on January 7, 2025. (Koko/Flash90)
Aaron 'Ari' Rosenfeld, one of the suspects in the Prime Minister's Office classified documents leak case arrives to the courtroom at the Tel Aviv District Court on January 7, 2025. (Koko/Flash90)

The Tel Aviv District Court orders that IDF non-commissioned officer Ari Rosenfeld be sent for an evaluation to determine whether or not he can be released to house arrest.

Rosenfeld is a key figure in the Prime Minister’s Office security documents scandal who allegedly unlawfully transferred classified documents to an aide of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“The evaluation service is requested to address the level of danger posed by the applicant,” Judge Ala Masarwa writes, saying the position of the Shin Bet must be taken into consideration as well as Rosenfeld’s defense attorney’s assertion that Rosenfeld’s mental state is deteriorating due to his ongoing incarceration.

The judge requests that the evaluation service present its report no later than February 6, far quicker than usual, because of concerns over Rosenfeld’s condition in prison.

Earlier this month, Rosenfeld’s attorney presented the court with a letter from Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Yuli Edelstein in which Corb said that Edelstein wrote that the head of the Shin Bet domestic security agency Ronen Bar stated that releasing Rosenfeld would not endanger national security.

IDF begins ‘proceedings’ against Haredi recruits who ignore draft orders, says they will face ‘criminal sanctions’

An ultra-Orthodox man is seen in front of a sign for an IDF recruitment office during a protest against conscripting Haredi men to the military, in Jerusalem, May 1, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
An ultra-Orthodox man is seen in front of a sign for an IDF recruitment office during a protest against conscripting Haredi men to the military, in Jerusalem, May 1, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The IDF says it has begun “proceedings” against members of the Haredi community who did not show up at induction centers after receiving draft orders.

Those who did not show up after receiving multiple orders, “will be considered to be committing an offense of unauthorized absence from duty, and are expected to face criminal sanctions,” the military says in a statement.

The military does not detail what sanctions will be issued, but it has already sent over 1,000 warrants that would prevent those who ignored multiple draft orders from leaving the country.

The IDF says it is “the people’s army,” and therefore is working to recruit all those eligible for conscription, “in accordance with the law and the directives of the political echelon.”

“The IDF invests great efforts to recruit Haredim with conditions that will allow them to maintain their lifestyle and beliefs,” the military says.

The IDF adds that it will “continue to enforce the law and take action against recruits who violate it and fail to report to the induction centers.”

The efforts to draft members of the ultra-Orthodox community come as the IDF suffers personnel shortages amid the ongoing war, and following a High Court ruling last year stating that there is no longer any legal framework allowing the state to refrain from drafting yeshiva students into military service.

The IDF has said that starting in 2026, there would be no limit to the number of ultra-Orthodox servicemen the IDF is technically able to enlist.

This past year, some 70,000 Haredi males were listed as eligible for military service.

Mysterious airstrip being built on Yemeni island nears completion, satellite photos show

This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows an airstrip on Abd al-Kuri Island in Yemen on January 7, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows an airstrip on Abd al-Kuri Island in Yemen on January 7, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A mysterious airstrip being built on a remote island in Yemen is nearing completion, satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press show, one of several built in a nation mired in a stalemated war threatening to reignite.

The airstrip on Abd al-Kuri Island, which rises out of the Indian Ocean near the mouth of the Gulf of Aden, could provide a key landing zone for military operations patrolling that waterway. That could be useful as commercial shipping through the Gulf and Red Sea — a key route for cargo and energy shipments heading to Europe — has halved under attacks by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. The area also has seen weapons smuggling from Iran to the rebels.

The runway is likely built by the United Arab Emirates, which has long been suspected of expanding its military presence in the region and has backed a Saudi-led war against the Houthis.

This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows an airstrip on Abd al-Kuri Island in Yemen on January 7, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

While the Houthis have linked their campaign to the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, experts worry a ceasefire in that conflict may not be enough to see the rebels halt a campaign that’s drawn them global attention. The Houthis have lobbed repeated attacks at Israel, as well as US warships operating in the Red Sea, raising fears that one may make it through and endanger the lives of American service members.

Satellite photos taken on January 7 by Planet Labs PBC for the AP show trucks and other heavy equipment on the north-south runway built into Abd al-Kuri, which is about 35 kilometers (21 miles) in length and about 5 kilometers (3 miles) at its widest point.

The runway has been paved, with the designation markings “18” and “36” to the airstrip’s north and south respectively. As of January 7, there was still a segment missing from the 2.4-kilometer- (1.5-mile-) long runway that’s 45 meters (150 feet) wide. Trucks could be seen grading and laying asphalt over the missing 290-meter (950-foot) segment.

Once completed, the runway’s length would allow private jets and other aircraft to land there, though likely not the largest commercial aircraft or heavy bombers given its length.

While within Houthi drone and missile range, the distance of Abd al-Kuri from mainland Yemen means “there’s no threat of the Houthis getting on a pickup truck … and going to seize it,” says Yemen expert Mohammed al-Basha of the Basha Report risk advisory firm.

This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows an airstrip on Abd al-Kuri Island in Yemen on January 7, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

Ugandan judge who backed Israel in genocide claim ruling said set to replace Lebanon’s Salam as ICJ chief

Ugandan Judge Julia Sebutinde makes her solemn declaration as a new member of the ICJ in the Great Hall of Justice of the Peace Palace in The Hague, March 12, 2012. (ICJ)
Ugandan Judge Julia Sebutinde makes her solemn declaration as a new member of the ICJ in the Great Hall of Justice of the Peace Palace in The Hague, March 12, 2012. (ICJ)

Justice Julia Sebutinde of Uganda is set to be appointed president of the International Court of Justice, according to media reports, after Lebanese President Joseph Aoun summoned Nawaf Salam, the head of the ICJ, to designate him prime minister earlier this week.

An ICJ statement released on Tuesday announcing Salam’s resignation does not mention Sebutinde, but as the court’s current vice president, she is expected to be promoted to the top spot.

Sebutinde was the only judge on the 17-member ICJ panel to vote against all six measures adopted by the court last year in a ruling ordering Israel to take action to prevent acts of genocide as it fought Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.

She was also one of only two judges to oppose the court’s assertion that some Israeli actions in the war against Hamas may violate the Genocide Convention. The other was Israeli Justice Aharon Barak.

Biden recalls telling Netanyahu in October 2023: ‘You can’t be carpet-bombing these communities’

US President Joe Biden recalls in an interview a conversation he had with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shortly after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught in which he told the Israeli premier, “You can’t be carpet-bombing these communities.”

In an interview with MSNBC, he says that Netanyahu then countered that the US had used nuclear bombs in civilian areas in World War Two.

“I said: ‘But that’s why we came up with the UN,’” Biden recalls responding.

“And he made a legitimate argument, his perspective, and said, ‘Look, these are the guys that killed my people,’” he says, adding that he doesn’t believe Netanyahu held up negotiations to achieve a hostage-ceasefire deal with the terror group for his own political interests.

“I do think he’s in a position where, even now, it takes a lot of courage and to take on that coalition he has, because they could vote him out of office tomorrow,” the outgoing US president says.

Netanyahu’s office confirmed earlier this morning that the Israeli and Hamas negotiating teams had signed the deal in Doha. The security cabinet is set to meet this morning to approve the agreement. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir announced last night that his far-right party will leave the government if the deal is passed.

‘Un-Australian’: Sydney home previously owned by Jewish activist vandalized, cars torched in antisemitic attack

Australian authorities say a Sydney home that was previously owned by a senior Jewish community leader was vandalized and two cars set on fire overnight, amid a series of antisemitic incidents in the city in recent months.

The attack, the third targeting the Jewish community in Sydney in two months, happened on a property once owned by Alex Ryvchin, the co-chief executive of the Executive Council of the Australian Jewry, according to New South Wales Premier Chris Minns.

“These are horrifying antisemitic attacks… it is truly disgusting,” Minns says during a media conference.

“While police can’t categorically at this early stage of the investigation say that the attack and the residence are linked, clearly it would be a massive coincidence if they were not linked.”

Police say the house in the upscale suburb of Dover Heights was spray painted in red. There are no reports of injury.

“I tell you no fire, no vandalism, no paint, no threats, no intimidation will stop me. I will continue to fulfill my duty to my country, my community, and my people,” Ryvchin tells reporters after the incident, vowing to continue advocating for the Jewish community.

New South Wales state police minister Yasmin Catley vows to “hunt” down the perpetrators.

“We will find you and lock you up,” Catley says. “What we are seeing on our streets is totally un-Australian.”

Australia has seen a rise in antisemitic incidents since war erupted in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught in southern Israel.

A car was set alight and two properties spray painted with anti-Israel messages in Sydney last month, just days after an arson attack at a synagogue in Melbourne which is being investigated as terrorism.

Macron heads to Lebanon for first time since 2020 to speed up formation of government, reforms

French President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Lebanon today for the first time since 2020 to help speed up the formation of a government that can quickly implement reforms and open the door to reconstruction.

Since a truce brokered by France and the United States in November between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group, Paris has played a key role in helping break Lebanon’s political deadlock, along with its American and Saudi counterparts, that has now led to a new president and prime minister.

“In three months, we have helped Lebanon move from escalation to recovery, and to open a new page of hope,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, who will be in Lebanon with Macron, says in parliament during a debate on France’s Middle East policy.

“With popular support, a broad internal consensus and international backing, the new Lebanese executive can act decisively to restore state sovereignty and rebuild Lebanon.”

A French presidency source briefing reporters ahead of the trip says the objective is to underscore the importance of Lebanon’s sovereignty, help it towards implementing structural economic reforms that would restore international confidence and ensure a united government able to push change.

G7 leaders call on Israel and Hamas to work for ‘full implementation’ of ceasefire

OTTAWA, Ontario — G7 leaders call the ceasefire deal in Gaza “a significant development” and urged Israel and Hamas to work on its “full implementation.”

“This is a significant development,” the G7 says in a statement, urging “all parties to engage constructively” in its next phases of talks “to help ensure its full implementation and a permanent end to hostilities.”

Biden says ‘my friend’ Netanyahu has to ‘accommodate legitimate concerns’ of Palestinians

US President Joe Biden, right, meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, July 25, 2024. (AP/Susan Walsh)
US President Joe Biden, right, meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, July 25, 2024. (AP/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON — Outgoing Democratic US President Joe Biden says that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has to find a way to accommodate the legitimate concerns” of Palestinians for the long term sustainability of Israel.

“And the idea that Israel is going to be able to sustain itself for the long term without accommodating the Palestinian question … It’s not going to happen,” Biden, who hands over to Republican President-elect Donald Trump on Monday, says in an interview on MSNBC.

“And I kept reminding my friend, and he is a friend, although we don’t agree a whole lot lately, Bibi Netanyahu, that he has to find a way to accommodate the legitimate concerns of a large group of people called Palestinians, who have no place to live independently.”

PM’s office: Security cabinet to meet Friday, government will approve deal on Saturday

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirms that the Israeli and Hamas negotiating teams have signed a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Doha.

A statement from Netanyahu’s office says the premier has convened a security cabinet meeting for Friday in order to hold a vote on the deal.

A Netanyahu spokesperson says that the full cabinet meeting is not slated to take place until Saturday night, explaining that opponents of the deal must be given 24 hours to petition the High Court of Justice and a Friday afternoon meeting would not provide them enough time to do so because many of them are religious and observe the Sabbath.

It’s unclear why the religious principle allowing the violation of the Sabbath to save a life doesn’t apply in this case.

While the security cabinet is waiting for Israel’s negotiating team to return from Doha to hold the meeting, it was unclear why neither the security cabinet nor the full cabinet could convene before sundown on Friday.

Holding the full cabinet meeting on Saturday means the 24-hour grace period for petition filing won’t conclude until late Sunday, meaning the deal won’t come into place until Monday — a day after originally slated. The first three hostages who were supposed to be released on Sunday will have to wait an extra day.

The Israeli negotiating team called Netanyahu moments ago to inform him a deal had been reached, with the premier thanking them for their efforts.

The families of the remaining 98 hostages have also been updated, according to the statement, which says the premier instructed authorities to work together on preparations for receiving the captives who will be freed as part of the deal.

“The State of Israel is committed to achieving all the goals of the war, including the return of all our hostages — both the living and the dead,” Netanyahu’s office adds.

Anti-Israel protesters hail ‘resistance’ at New York ceasefire rally

Anti-Israel activists rally in New York City, January 16, 2025. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
Anti-Israel activists rally in New York City, January 16, 2025. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)

Hundreds hail the Palestinian “resistance” at a rally in New York City’s Times Square marking the ceasefire-hostage deal.

The crowd carries signs that say “The movement continues until Palestine is free,” and “Resistance against occupation is a human right.”

The protesters chant, “Resistance is glorious, we will be victorious,” and “Long live the intifada.”

Speakers urge the crowd to continue its anti-Israel activism, despite the ceasefire announcement.

“Our work is only beginning,” a speaker tells the crowd. “Gaza has taught us that the enemy’s defeat is clear and in sight.”

Another hails the “heroism of resistance” and the “Al Aqsa Flood,” Hamas’s name for the October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel.

“The price has been devastatingly high but so it has been in every revolution,” she says. “Now is not the time to rest, but to reignite the fire.”

At least two men in the crowd wear Hamas headbands. Another holds a banner for Samidoun, a US designated terrorist entity.

The rally was organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement, a US activist group, and attended by several socialist organizations. A handful of pro-Israel counter-protesters sing “The nation of Israel lives” and heckle the anti-Israel demonstrators across a police barricade.

Palestinian officials say IDF strikes set back truce deal between PA and Jenin Brigade

Illustrative: Smoke rises during clashes between gunmen and the Palestinian Authority's security forces, inside the Jenin refugee camp, on January 12, 2025. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP)
Illustrative: Smoke rises during clashes between gunmen and the Palestinian Authority's security forces, inside the Jenin refugee camp, on January 12, 2025. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP)

A pair of IDF airstrikes in the West Bank’s Jenin refugee camp earlier this week set back negotiations that were on the verge of a truce agreement between the Palestinian Authority and armed terror groups in the northern West Bank city that would have seen the latter hand over their weapons to the PA in exchange for immunity, two Palestinian officials familiar with the matter tell The Times of Israel.

The Tuesday and Wednesday strikes targeted some of the terror leaders that the PA has been operating against for over a month. Six people were killed in each strike, including civilians, according to Palestinian media reports.

The Palestinian officials who spoke with The Times of Israel lambasted the IDF for the airstrikes, saying that they undermined Ramallah’s efforts to crack down on lawlessness in the northern West Bank.

The PA has been carrying out an unprecedented counterterrorism raid, largely targeting the refugee camp’s so-called Jenin Battalion, whose fighters are largely affiliated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas.

Israel has urged the PA to crack down on these armed factions for years, explaining that it would limit raids in West Bank cities where Ramallah is operating against terror elements.

The IDF held off on conducting any strikes or raids in Jenin when the PA began its raid there last month but ended that policy this week.

One of the Palestinian officials speculated that the decision was pushed by far-right elements in Israel who don’t want the PA to succeed in its effort, which also comes as Ramallah works to get off on the right foot with US President-elect Donald Trump.

The official says the strikes may have also been designed to scuttle the brewing agreement between the PA and the armed groups that would have seen them hand over all of their weapons in exchange for immunity — something that Ramallah believes would significantly calm tensions in the northern West Bank.

The second Palestinian official says that negotiations with the Jenin Brigade are ongoing and the PA still hopes an agreement can be reached in the coming days. The PA is hoping that the deal can coincide with the ceasefire in Gaza, the official says.

Israel and Hamas sign hostage-ceasefire deal in Doha after mediators iron out final kinks

Left: Mossad director David Barnea, the head of Israel's hostage-ceasefire negotiating team, speaks during the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) World Summit in the central coastal city of Herzliya on September 10, 2023. Right: Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Doha on January 7, 2024. (Gil Cohen-Magen, Karim Jaafar/AFP/collage)
Left: Mossad director David Barnea, the head of Israel's hostage-ceasefire negotiating team, speaks during the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) World Summit in the central coastal city of Herzliya on September 10, 2023. Right: Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Doha on January 7, 2024. (Gil Cohen-Magen, Karim Jaafar/AFP/collage)

Israeli and Hamas negotiating teams have signed a hostage release and ceasefire deal in Doha, an Arab official from one of the mediating countries confirms to The Times of Israel.

The deal was announced Wednesday, but the negotiating teams continued meeting afterward in order to finalize implementation details, the official says.

A particular point of dispute was over the identities of the Palestinian security prisoners slated for release, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issuing a statement early on Thursday accusing Hamas of reneging on its commitments.

The issue was ultimately resolved by the mediators, allowing the Israeli and Hamas teams to move forward with signing the agreement.

While Israel’s decision-making security cabinet and full cabinet had been originally been slated to vote on the deal on Thursday, Netanyahu insisted on waiting until the agreement was signed before holding a vote.

The security cabinet meeting has now been rescheduled for Friday. A subsequent vote before the full cabinet is also required, but an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel that it will only take place on Saturday, in what will likely delay the start of the deal until Monday, instead of the originally planned Sunday.

After the full cabinet vote, a list of Palestinian security prisoners to be freed will be published, and opponents will have 24 hours to petition against these releases to the Supreme Court.

The Israeli official did not provide an explanation for why the full cabinet vote couldn’t take place on Friday as well. However, Channel 12 explained that it was decided by the Prime Minister’s Office that if the original timetable were to be maintained, and a vote to be taken tomorrow, this would mean opponents of the prisoner releases would have almost no time to lodge appeals because of Shabbat. The court is not expected to intervene in the releases.

Channel 12 said judicial sources have made clear that the formal 24-hour period for petitions can be shortened, as happened ahead of the November 2023 truce, and that the intended Sunday start of the deal need not be affected, but that the Prime Minister’s Office was not persuaded.

The deal is currently scheduled to take effect on Sunday at 12:15 p.m., with the first three hostages to be released soon after. If the Prime Minister’s Office sticks to its reported new, delayed timetable, the first hostage releases would go ahead on Monday — the day of US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

While far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir are expected to vote against the deal, it is still expected to have enough support to pass both the security cabinet and full cabinet votes.

Netanyahu is still working to convince Smotrich to back the deal. The prime minister’s Likud party issued a statement Thursday claiming the US has given Israel guarantees that will allow it to resume fighting after the first stage of the deal, as Smotrich has demanded, in what would be an apparent violation of the deal’s terms.

SpaceX Starship prototype fails in space after Texas takeoff

SpaceX's mega rocket Starship and booster separate during a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, January 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
SpaceX's mega rocket Starship and booster separate during a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, January 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

A SpaceX Starship prototype fails in space, minutes after launching from Texas, setting back the company’s speedy rocket development efforts in a mission that was expected to debut a key satellite deployment demonstration.

SpaceX’s Starship system, a heavily upgraded version standing roughly 37 stories tall, lifted off from the company’s Boca Chica, Texas, launch facilities at 5:38 p.m. Eastern Standard Time in the company’s seventh test mission, and first such test this year.

SpaceX mission control in Texas lost contact with Starship eight minutes into flight after it separated in space from its Super Heavy first stage booster, SpaceX Communications Manager Dan Huot says on a live stream.

“We did lose all communications with the ship – that is essentially telling us we had an anomaly with the upper stage,” Huot says, confirming minutes later that the ship was lost.

The Starship upper stage, two meters (6.56 feet) taller than previous versions, is a “new generation ship with significant upgrades,” SpaceX says in a mission description prior to the test. It was due to make a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean roughly an hour after its launch from Texas.

SpaceX has not seen a Starship second stage fail since its second test mission in March last year, when the rocket was reentering Earth’s atmosphere and broke apart.

The towering Super Heavy booster, meanwhile, returned to its launchpad roughly seven minutes after liftoff, as planned, slowing its descent from space by reigniting its Raptor engines as it hooked itself on giant mechanical arms fixed to a launch tower.

The landing success is SpaceX’s second across three attempts.

Trump warns hostage deal ‘better be done before I take the oath of office’ on Monday

An electronic billboard beams an image of President-elect Donald Trump and references his threat to unleash hell if hostages held in Gaza are not freed until his inauguration later this month. in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP/Oded Balilty)
An electronic billboard beams an image of President-elect Donald Trump and references his threat to unleash hell if hostages held in Gaza are not freed until his inauguration later this month. in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP/Oded Balilty)

WASHINGTON — US President-elect Donald Trump says the hostage-ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas better be finalized before his inauguration on Monday and says his involvement was crucial for the negotiation.

“We changed the course of it, and we changed it fast, and frankly, it better be done before I take the oath of office,” Trump says in a podcast interview with Dan Bongino.

Trump also says “we shook hands, and we signed certain documents, but it better be done.”

The truce is expected to begin Sunday, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a “last-minute crisis” with Hamas is holding up his government’s approval.

Trump claims Biden hadn’t done anything to bring about the deal.

“I’m not looking for credit. I want to get these people out,” he says. “We’ve got to get them out.”

He likened the situation to the hostage Iran hostage crisis that was resolved moments after then-president Ronald Raegan entered office in the place of Jimmy Carter.

“For three years they’ve lived like in hell,” Trump said of the hostages, who have been in captivity for 470 days. “We gotta get them out, and it’ll be great when we do.”

Far-left activist journalists heckle Blinken over Gaza during his last press conference

A journalist is dragged out of the State Department press briefing room after repeatedly interrupting Secretary of State Antony Blinken on January 16, 2025. (Screen capture/X)
A journalist is dragged out of the State Department press briefing room after repeatedly interrupting Secretary of State Antony Blinken on January 16, 2025. (Screen capture/X)

A pair of far-left activist journalists heckled US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a press conference he gave at the State Department earlier today.

Blinken began the presser by offering remarks on the Biden administration’s foreign policy before taking questions, but Max Blumenthal and Sam Husseini refused to wait until the secretary had finished speaking before shouting him down.

“Are you compromised by Israel?” Blumenthal shouted, as he filmed himself, indicating he had planned to cause a scene.

Shortly after security guards escorted him from the briefing room, Husseini began shouting Blinken down, calling him a criminal.

He had to be picked up and dragged out of the room by multiple security guards.

Senior Biden administration official downplays apparent delay of deal’s finalization

A senior Biden administration official downplays apparent delays in finalization of the hostage release and ceasefire deal

“We consider the hostage deal done and agreed, and are now simply awaiting Israel’s formal approval procedures which begin tomorrow [Friday],” the official tells The Times of Israel.

A source familiar with the matter says the Biden administration wants the deal authorized as quickly as possible and believes that Netanyahu has the votes for the hostage deal to pass both security cabinet and full cabinet votes over the weekend.

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