Jan. 19: PM calls Rubio to express dismay at inclusion of Qatar, Turkey on key Gaza panel

Avdija falls short of NBA All-Star starting lineup; can still make team through coaches vote

Portland Trail Blazers’ Israeli forward Deni Avdija fell outside the top five on ballots submitted by fans whose votes determine the starting lineups for the NBA All-Star game next month.

Avdija finished seventh in the Western Conference voting, just two spots shy of a starting bid.

He still has a chance to become the first Israeli player to be named an All-Star through the coaches vote, which will be revealed on February 1. Seven players will be selected from each conference ahead of the game in Inglewood, California, on February 12.

The 6-foot-8 Avdija is in the midst of a breakout season after entering the league six years ago. His 26.2 points, 7.1 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game have analysts predicting he’ll make the Western Conference team this year.

Some 1,500 ISIS prisoners reportedly escape amid Syrian gov’t advance on Kurdish city

The Kurdish website Rudaw reports that a spokesperson for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Farhad Shami, said around 1,500 Islamic State members escaped from Syria’s Shaddadi prison.

Earlier, the Syrian army said “a number of” Islamic State fighters had escaped a prison that had been under SDF control in the eastern city of Shaddadi, accusing the SDF of releasing them. The army did not say how many escaped.

Ministers reportedly decide to keep Rafah Crossing shut, bucking US pressure amid anger over Board of Peace

A small group of senior cabinet ministers on Sunday decided against reopening the Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt, bucking US demands that the gate resume operating as envisioned by President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the Gaza war, the Ynet news site reports.

The decision came amid Israeli frustration over the inclusion of senior officials from Turkey and Qatar in the Board of Peace’s Gaza Executive Board, which will be overseeing the postwar management of Gaza.

Israel has also argued that it shouldn’t reopen Rafah in both directions before Hamas agrees to disarm and returns the body of the final Israeli hostage, Ran Gvili.

Walz was also asked if he was a foreign agent during Harris team’s VP vetting — report

Former US vice president Kamala Harris’s campaign asked Tim Walz if he was a foreign agent for China during his vetting process to become her running mate, CNN reports.

The network cites four sources familiar with the matter who ostensibly are tied to Harris as the former vice president’s inner circle seeks to push back on allegations of antisemitism after Jewish Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said he was asked during his vetting process if he was a foreign agent for Israel.

CNN says a series of trips Walz took to China sparked the question from Harris’s vetting team.

IDF says it targeted Hezbollah operative in south Lebanon airstrike

A Hezbollah operative was targeted in an Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese town of Zibqin, close to Tyre, a short while ago, the military says.

The IDF does not immediately provide further details.

Court rules to allow autopsy of babies who died in daycare, families to appeal

The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court has ruled in favor of allowing an autopsy of two babies who died earlier today in an unlicensed daycare center, against the wishes of the parents.

According to the Ynet news site, the ZAKA organization, backed by the families, is set to appeal the decision.

Hundreds of extremist Haredi protesters have taken to the streets of Jerusalem and Bnei Brak to protest the pending autopsy. Jewish law generally prohibits autopsies, but allows for some exceptions.

The circumstances of the babies’ deaths are still unclear, although initial reports indicate they may have died due to dehydration after being closed in a room with a fan heater set on high.

Netanyahu congratulates Trump on 1st year of his 2nd term: ‘A year like no other’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulates US President Donald Trump on marking one year since he returned to office.

“Congratulations to President @realDonaldTrump and the United States of America for an incredible first year of a second term – A year like no other,” he writes on the official prime minister’s X account.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
Congratulations to President @realDonaldTrump and the United States of America for an incredible first year of a second term – A year like no other. pic.twitter.com/Q9OF9K7QW6

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) January 19, 2026

Netanyahu and Trump have met face to face six times since the US president began his second term in office, most recently just a few weeks ago in Florida.

Syria says Sharaa, Trump discuss Kurds in phone call after shaky ceasefire

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa spoke to US President Donald Trump today and discussed guaranteeing Kurdish rights, Syria’s presidency says, a day after Damascus reached a deal with Kurdish forces including a truce.

During the telephone call, “both sides emphasized the need to guarantee the Kurdish people’s rights and protection within the framework of the Syrian state,” the statement says, adding that the leaders also “affirmed the importance of preserving the unity and independence of Syrian territory.”

They also agreed to continue cooperation to combat ISIS, the presidency added.

Yesterday, the Syrian government signed a sweeping integration deal with the Kurdish led Syrian Democratic forces, though tensions have persisted today.

Signing ceremony for Trump’s Board of Peace said set for Thursday in Davos

A signing ceremony of US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace is scheduled for Thursday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, according to a copy of the invitation circulating online.

Israeli reporter Barak Ravid posts a notice purportedly issued by the White House calling for “the chief of state or head of government” to sign the “Board of Peace Charter at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday.

????Trump's Board of Peace charter signing ceremony: Thursday 10:30am in Davos pic.twitter.com/155SrdeyvQ

— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) January 19, 2026

President Isaac Herzog is slated to attend the forum, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not. Netanyahu confirmed earlier today that he had been invited to join the body.

The makeup of the board is still unclear, with some world leaders confirming they will join, while others have expressed skepticism or indicated they would need time to weigh the decision. The UN has expressed concerns that such a body will seek to undermine its own mandate.

Haredi protesters clash with police in rally against autopsying babies who died in daycare

Ultra-Orthodox extremist protesters clash with police in Jerusalem as they rally against the autopsy of two babies who died in an unlicensed daycare earlier today in the capital.

Jewish law general prohibits autopsies, but allows for certain exceptions.

Photos and video show police working to clear protesters on Shmuel HaNavi Street in the capital.

According to the Ynet news site, hundreds of protesters are clashing with the police, surrounding buses and lighting dumpsters on fire.

Shelling reported near north Syria’s Raqa city despite ceasefire with Kurds

A monitor says clashes erupted this evening between government troops and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces near northern Syria’s Raqa city, a day after the sides agreed to a ceasefire.

The AFP correspondent in Raqa reports the sound of heavy bombardment, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports “clashes between government forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces stationed at Al-Aqtan prison,” on the city’s outskirts, adding that government forces also shelled an SDF military position north of the city.

A Kurdish source with knowledge of the talks tells AFP on condition of anonymity that direct negotiations were held today between Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF chief Mazloum Abdi, but were not positive.

Morocco accepts Trump’s invite to Gaza peace board as France said to turn it down

King Mohammed VI of Morocco accepted an invitation by US President Donald Trump to join as a founding member of the US-led Board of Peace, Morocco’s foreign ministry says.

Morocco welcomes the second phase of Trump’s comprehensive peace plan, as well as the official creation of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza as a temporary transitional body, the ministry says in a statement.

Meanwhile French President Emanuel Macron has rejected the invitation, his office says, according to Politico.

The news outlet says Paris has concerns that the body will undermine the United Nations.

An aide to Polish President Karol Nawrocki says that he was also invited to join the Gaza Board of Peace.

“President Nawrocki received an invitation from President Trump to participate in this council,” Marcin Przydacz tells a press conference, adding that the invitation demonstrated a recognition of Poland’s role in the international arena.

Nawrocki’s has reportedly expressed concern over the inclusion of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk tweets that joining such a body would require approval by the parliament, “and we will not let anyone play us.”

After Jerusalem daycare tragedy, UTJ MK submits bill for free childcare for all toddlers

Following today’s tragedy in which two babies died and dozens of infants and toddlers were injured at an overcrowded, unlicensed daycare in Jerusalem, United Torah Judaism lawmaker Meir Porush announces that he has submitted a bill requiring the government to provide “free education for toddlers” across the board. Among the evacuated babies and toddlers from the daycare this morning was one of Porush’s great-grandchildren.

According to a statement released by Porush’s Shlomei Emunim sub-faction of Agudat Yisrael, one of the two factions making up the larger UTJ party, the “revolutionary bill will expand the Compulsory Education Law, and provide free and supervised education to all Israeli toddlers from the age of 3 months.”

“The purpose of the bill is to ensure that every toddler and child in Israel has a proper, high-quality education, regardless of their family’s financial situation,” the statement adds, explaining that it would apply to children from the age of 3 months and up and “that the State of Israel will bear full responsibility for financing, operating, and supervising early childhood education frameworks.”

The frameworks will be required “to meet pedagogical, safety and sanitary standards, and will operate under the supervision of the Education Ministry and other government ministries,” Shlomei Emunim says, adding that the bill will be considered by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation next Sunday.

Porush claimed earlier this month that withholding daycare subsidies from the families of draft evaders would cause “starvation” among Haredim and suggested that it might violate a United Nations human rights treaty.

Netanyahu called Rubio to express dismay at inclusion of Qatar, Turkey on Executive Board

Only hours after his office issued an announcement that he had instructed Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar to express Israel’s opposition to the make-up of the Gaza Executive Board to his US counterpart Marco Rubio, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself spoke with top US diplomat, Channel 12 reports.

Netanyahu stressed to Rubio Israel’s opposition to Qatar and Turkey’s inclusion, and emphasized that Israel was surprised by the US statement announcing the make-up of the Executive Board.

Sources tell Channel 12 that Netanyahu realizes, however, that there is no way to turn back the clock on the decision, now that Trump has announced it.

The Prime Minister’s Office confirms to the outlet that the call took place.

Court upholds police request extending ban on Netanyahu’s chief of staff from PMO

The Lod District Court rules in favor of an appeal by the police to bar Tzachi Braverman, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff, from the Prime Minister’s Office, due to an ongoing police investigation into Braverman on suspicion of obstruction of justice.

Judge Jacob Spasser rules that Braverman cannot be present in the Prime Minister’s Office or the IDF’s headquarters at the Kirya complex in Tel Aviv until January 26.

Spasser also prohibits Braverman from contacting a list of people connected to, but not necessarily suspects in, the Bild leaked documents case, including Netanyahu himself; the prime minister’s military secretary; key suspects in the Bild affair Jonatan Urich and Eli Feldstein; and various other officials in the Prime Minister’s Office, until February 10.

The judge rules that the restriction on Braverman leaving the country can be shortened, and that the restriction be kept in place until January 30, where the police had sought to keep the restriction in place until February 9.

Braverman is suspected of attempting to quash or influence a military investigation into the allegedly unlawful removal of documents from IDF Military Intelligence and the leaking of at least one of those documents to the German Bild newspaper.

Report: IDF chief warns Netanyahu, Katz that manpower shortage harming readiness

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen Eyal Zamir wrote a pointed letter last week to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and head of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Boaz Bismuth, warning that the shortage of soldiers could harm military readiness in the very near future, Channel 12 reports.

“The security reality in the last two years has led to unprecedented challenges and to significant effects on the various manpower arrays in the IDF,” Zamir reportedly wrote.

Zamir added that legislation on drafting more soldiers into the IDF “is not progressing in the way that is necessary, and could lead the IDF to be in a state of unreadiness. The effects will be felt in the coming year, and even more so from January 2027.”

He says that mandatory services for men must be extended back to 36 months “urgently, immediately, and retroactively,” or else IDF force design, readiness, and training will be “severely impacted.”

Initial reports indicate babies at Jerusalem daycare may have died of dehydration

According to an initial investigation, medical experts reportedly believe that two babies who died at an illegal Jerusalem daycare succumbed to dehydration after being held in a closed room with a fan heater set very high.

Hebrew media reports, citing the Abu Kabir Institute for Forensic Medicine, say that there were no signs of poisoning found on the two infants, and that at least one of them had died a significant period of time before first responders arrived.

The two babies who were declared dead have been named as Leah Goloventzitz, 4 months, and Aharon Katz, 6 months.

The three daycare providers at the unlicensed center in a private apartment in Jerusalem’s Romema neighborhood have been detained by police. Footage circulating on social media shows overcrowded facilities, with babies sleeping on the floor of the bathroom and poor conditions.

IDF chief says military prepared for the possibility of ‘a surprise war’

During a visit to the Home Front Command today, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir says the military is prepared for defense against “multi-front threats,” in an apparent reference to Iran, amid the ongoing tensions.

“In the face of the scope of the multi-front threats to the State of Israel, the Home Front Command stands on defense, is competent, trained, and on high alert. The command is prepared at all times to employ a wide range of capabilities to contend with an attack on the civilian home front and to save lives,” Zamir says, according to remarks provided by the IDF.

“At the same time, the IDF is prepared to employ an offensive capability unprecedented in its power against any attempt to harm the State of Israel,” he continues.

“We are prepared with full defense for any scenario,” Zamir says, adding that the lessons from the 12-day war against Iran in June have been implemented in the military, “and as part of this, the IDF is also preparing for the possibility of a surprise war.”

UTJ’s Eichler blames ‘judicial system’ for ‘spilling blood’ in daycare tragedy

Addressing the Knesset, Deputy Communications Minister Yisrael Eichler (United Torah Judaism) blames the legal system for for today’s tragedy in Jerusalem, in which two babies died and 53 other infants and children were injured at an overcrowded, unlicensed daycare in Jerusalem’s Haredi-majority Romema neighborhood.

“I have previously warned that the Daycare Law needs to be urgently passed to ensure a woman’s rights regardless of her husband, but unfortunately” this demand went unheeded, he says. “The judicial system cannot say that our hands did not spill this blood.”

After the High Court ruled in 2024 that Haredi exemptions from military service were illegal, yeshivas harboring draft dodgers have seen their budgets slashed and the Attorney General’s Office instructed the Labor Ministry to cut daycare subsidies for the children of evaders.

Responding to critics who said that he is anti-Zionist, Eichler argues that his “family has already been in the land of Israel for 160 years” and that he was “raised to love the holy land and Jerusalem.”

Eichler, a member of UTJ’s Agudat Yisrael faction, was just sworn in as a deputy minister this evening and resigned under the Norwegian Law. He is being replaced by Degel HaTorah’s Yitzhak Pindrus. Eichler became a minister despite his party as a whole not returning to the coalition.

Lapid: Under Netanyahu, Gaza returning to ‘a point much worse than at the beginning’

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of mismanaging relations with the United States and post-war Gaza during a 40-signatures debate in the Knesset plenum.

“President Trump has announced, over your head, the composition of the ‘executive committee’ of Gaza. Hamas’s hosts in Istanbul and Doha, Hamas’s ideological partners, have been invited to run Gaza,” Lapid says, referring to the United States’ decision to include Qatari and Turkish representatives on the executive committee of the Board of Peace that will oversee the postwar management of Gaza.

“Since that speech, President Trump has also announced the composition of the committee of technocrats that is supposed to run daily life in Gaza. I know you’re trying to gloss over this, but the dominant factor in the committee is the Palestinian Authority,” he continues — arguing that, since Netanyahu said he was in complete coordination with Trump, he either “agreed behind our backs that Turkey, Qatar, and the Palestinian Authority would be in Gaza, or Trump doesn’t give a damn about you.”

“When the State of Israel is forced to return to fighting in Gaza — every soldier who is called up to the reserves will know — it is because of your political failure. Absolute failure,” Lapid tells Netanyahu, arguing that, after two years of war and a Qatari “influence operation” being run in the Prime Minister’s Office, “we are returning in Gaza not to the starting point, but to a point much worse than at the beginning.”

The next election will hinge on which leaders can be trusted and “you can no longer tell voters that they can trust you. You used to be able to, you can no longer,” Lapid continues.

“Not after October 7, not after Qatargate, not while you are promoting a disgraceful evasion law when the IDF is screaming that it lacks fighters and our children are being killed and injured by the thousands,” the opposition leader says. “This is what the elections will be about.”

Lapid asserts that it is in Israel’s interests to allow Egypt to “manage Gaza for the next 15 years.”

The opposition leader says that what Netanyahu “achieved in Gaza is the worst possible result: Hamas with 30,000 armed men. It is not disarming. Its plan is that in the end, it will give a few rusty missiles and the world will say, ‘Here, they have disarmed their offensive weapons.'”

Lapid says that “for a year, I have been telling you, the right way is to let Egypt manage Gaza for the next 15 years. Turkey and Qatar are the ideological partners of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt is the bitterest enemy of the Muslim Brotherhood. We know how to manage security cooperation with the Egyptians. We have done it in Sinai against ISIS for the past few years,” Lapid argues.

High Court expands panel for Oct. 7 state commission of inquiry petitions to 7 justices

The High Court of Justice decides to expand the panel of judges hearing petitions requesting that the court order the government to establish a state commission of inquiry into the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion and atrocities to a panel of seven.

The High Court expands panels when it considers an issue to be especially important and sensitive. The decision is made by Justices David Mintz, Alex Stein, and Yehiel Kasher.

In November, the High Court issued a conditional order against the government requiring it to explain why it was not establishing a state commission of inquiry. Conditional orders switch the burden of proof from the petitioner to the respondent, in this case the government, and often indicate that the court believes the petition may have merit.

The government has refused to establish a state commission of inquiry, the only form of inquiry available under the law that is fully independent from politicians.

The coalition is instead advancing a bill in Knesset that would create a new form of inquiry where the coalition and opposition get to handpick the members of the commission. The opposition is, however, boycotting the committee process for that legislation, and has vowed to boycott any process for creating such an inquiry, should that bill pass.

Lipstadt condemns questioning of Josh Shapiro’s Israel ties as ‘classic antisemitism’

Former US president Joe Biden’s antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt, and her deputy, Aaron Keyak, issue separate statements condemning former vice president Kamala Harris’s campaign team after Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro revealed in his new memoir that they asked him if he was an Israeli agent while vetting him as Harris’s running mate.

“The more I read about [Shapiro’s] treatment in the vetting process, the more disturbed I become. The questions to him, I repeat, are why they needed a Special Envoy on antisemitism. These questions were classic antisemitism,” Lipstadt tweets.

“This report is extremely distressing. When vetted by the White House for my position as special envoy, I was not asked anything akin to this. Had I been, I would have responded that the question is an example of why an envoy is necessary. It is classic antisemitism,” she adds in a separate post.

In his own statement, Keyak writes that “the minimum demand of Jews in the United States and our allies — even those in public service — is to simply be treated like any other American, regardless of religion, ethnicity, or race. That Governor Josh Shapiro wrote that he was asked if he was a double agent of the world’s only Jewish state is an antisemitic inquiry.”

“While we can safely assume that asking all potential vice presidential picks if they are an Israeli double agent is not included on the standard list, the obvious question is why it was Governor Shapiro who was targeted by the staff of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, in particular,” Keyak continues. “The truth is, we almost certainly know why.”

“Unfortunately, this is not the first time the US government or a presidential campaign has applied a double standard to American Jews during the vetting process for a wide range of officials. I have heard from too many being asked similar questions over many years and I can speak from personal experience,” he continues.

“During my vetting process I faced questions in a classified setting that my fellow non-Jewish political appointees did not. These sort of antisemitic questions are anti-American and do not represent the best that the Democratic Party offers. Now and especially during the next Presidential campaign we must demand better,” Keyak adds.

UTJ blames Jerusalem daycare tragedy on cuts to subsidies for draft dodgers

The ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party explicitly blames the decision to cut daycare subsidies for the children of draft dodgers for today’s tragedy in Jerusalem, in which two babies died and 55 infants and children were injured at an overcrowded, unlicensed daycare in Jerusalem’s Haredi-majority Romema neighborhood.

In a statement, the party declares that the tragedy “occurred despite clear and repeated warnings previously issued explicitly against the severe measures [against draft dodgers], which resulted in the families being unable to cope with the financial burden imposed on them, causing severe overcrowding in daycare centers that had not been closed.”

“It has become clear that these decrees for these measures have taken on heavy responsibility and guilt,” the party adds in an apparent reference to the High Court of Justice and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

After the court ruled in 2024 that Haredi exemptions from military service were illegal, yeshivas harboring draft dodgers have seen their budgets slashed and the Attorney General’s Office instructed the Labor Ministry to cut daycare subsidies for the children of evaders.

Netanyahu rejects October 7 state inquiry, claims he has ‘nothing to hide’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeats his argument that only a political commission of inquiry into October 7 will be accepted by the majority of Israelis, despite polling showing otherwise.

“I don’t have anything to hide,” he says, stressing that he was himself questioned by the state comptroller for hours on the failures surrounding October 7.

“Who didn’t show up to the comptroller?” he asks. “The former Shin Bet director, the former IDF chief of staff, the former head of military intelligence. I showed up.”

Netanyahu accuses Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara of blocking the investigation into the truth of October 7 by stopping the comptroller’s inquiry and the investigation into the IDF Military Advocate General.

Last month the High Court ordered the comptroller to freeze his October 7 inquiry amid petitions calling for it to be halted, alleging “substantive flaws” in Matanyahu Englman’s information-gathering processes.

Netanyahu also dismisses the investigations into the leak of classified information to the Bild newspaper and into Qatargate, saying that their only goal is to topple the government.

Belarus confirms Lukashenko invited to join Trump’s Board of Peace

Belarus confirms that its president, Alexander Lukashenko, was among the world leaders who received an invitation to join US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace.

“We are ready to take part in the activities of the Board of Peace, taking into account and hoping that this organization will expand its scope and authority far beyond the mandate proposed in the initiative,” the country’s foreign ministry says in a statement.

The board’s charter indicates that the US is aiming for the body to usurp the UN, but it’s unclear whether it has the legal mandate to do so and whether countries that accept invitations to join will allow for the panel to play such a role.

Trump sent Lukashenko a letter proposing that #Belarus become a founding member of the Board of Peace, a new international organization.#Belarus stance: We are ready to take part in the activities of the Board of Peace, taking into account and hoping that this organization will… pic.twitter.com/V26fjHU42l

— Belarus MFA ???????? (@BelarusMFA) January 19, 2026

Netanyahu vows Turkish, Qatari soldiers won’t enter Gaza, admits to ‘argument’ with US

Speaking to the Knesset plenum about phase 2 of the Gaza peace plan, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows that Turkish and Qatari soldiers “will not be in the Strip.”

However, Turkey and Qatar will sit on the influential Gaza Executive Board, the White House announced over the weekend.

“We have a certain argument with our friends in the US on the makeup of the council of advisers that will accompany the processes in Gaza,” he says, likely referring to the Executive Board.

Netanyahu asserts that Qatar and Turkey “are barely members of an advisory committee of one of the three commissions, in which they don’t have any authority or any influence or any soldiers.”

He says he doesn’t know whether Trump’s Board of Peace is a new United Nations, and adds that Trump invited him to join: “It’s one body, but there are all sorts of bodies.”

Netanyahu boasts that he is willing to stand up to the US when there are disagreements over core issues. He stresses that occasional disagreements don’t hurt ties with US President Donald Trump, “our greatest friend in the White House.”

Netanyahu says the IDF is currently holding on to 53 percent of Gaza from a “position of strength.”

“What is phase 2?” he asks rhetorically. “Phase 2 says something simple — Hamas will be disarmed, and Gaza will be demilitarized.”

“We are sticking to those goals, and they will be achieved,” he pledges, “either the easy way, or the hard way.”

He says that no one needs to remind him of the importance of bringing back the body of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last slain hostage in Gaza. “He remains at the top of our priorities, and the less we talk about it, the better.”

Erdogan calls for Iran diplomacy, praises Syrian ceasefire with Kurds

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he hoped the Iranian government will overcome what he calls a “period filled with traps” through dialogue and diplomacy.

Speaking after a cabinet meeting in Ankara, Erdogan adds that Turkey is closely following “scenarios trying to be written on the streets,” after Iran’s worst domestic unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Erdogan also says that the deal reached between the Syrian government and Kurdish forces after days of fighting must be implemented swiftly, including the full integration of Kurdish fighters into Syria’s armed forces.

Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Erdogan says Turkey will not allow any attempts to sabotage efforts to achieve peace and stability in Syria at a time when Syrians are longing for peace following years of conflict, adding the “period of terror” in the region was now over.

He praises the Syrian government for what he says was a very meticulous operation in the country’s northeast, and adds that Turkey’s government will continue to work towards its goal of a “terror-free” Turkey and region, referring to a peace process with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) group that Ankara considers linked to Kurdish forces in Syria.

Liberman says Netanyahu is ‘complicit’ with Haredi extremists who attack soldiers

Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman slams Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, asking him if he has “forgotten what it is to be a Zionist.”

“How can it be that in the heart of the State of Israel, in the city of Bnei Brak, soldiers from the Hasmonean Brigade are attacked — five soldiers wounded — and you are silent?” he asks during a 40-signatures debate in the Knesset.

Last Sunday, extremist Haredi protesters broke into a gathering held for parents of recruits to the newly formed ultra-Orthodox Hasmonean Brigade. The IDF says no soldiers were wounded.

There was “not a single response from the Prime Minister’s Office. How can it be that a soldier in uniform cannot walk around Bnei Brak?” Liberman continues. “How can it be that there are entire neighborhoods closed to IDF soldiers… and you continue to remain silent?”

Liberman says despite claims that such attacks are carried out by a handful of extremists, “that is the central pillar you rely on. When the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Yitzhak Yosef, says: ‘If you receive a draft order, tear it up and throw it in the toilet’ — and you are silent, are you complicit with him? When [United Torah Judaism party chairman Yitzhak] Goldknopf talks about conscription in terms of the yellow star and you are silent, are you complicit with him?”

“That’s how you became an accomplice of those extremists,” Liberman adds. “Mr. Prime Minister, nothing will help. In the upcoming elections, we will return you to the opposition benches and we will also make decisions about conscription for everyone.”

Netanyahu: If Iran attacks Israel, ‘we will act with strength that Iran hasn’t yet known’

Israel is “following closely” developments in Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says in the Knesset.

He praises the “heroic struggle” of the Iranian people against the regime.

Netanyahu says that those who refer to him as a dictator should be embarrassed to use that term, given the slaughter Iran’s rulers are inflicting on their people.

“If Iran makes a mistake and attacks us, we will act with strength that Iran hasn’t yet known,” he promises.

Netanyahu attacks Ra’am, accuses it of turning ‘blind eye’ to gang control of local governments

The government will hold a special meeting in Kiryat Shmona as part of a program to strengthen the north, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promises.

Speaking to the Knesset plenum, Netanyahu adopts what appears to be a central campaign strategy ahead of this year’s election by focusing his remarks on the Islamist Ra’am party.

The premier tells the opposition that, “in order for the Muslim Brotherhood’s Shura Council to approve Ra’am joining your government, you have simply given in to its demands.” One of the demands, he claims, is to turn a blind eye to Arab criminal gangs to take control of local governments.

Ra’am has distanced itself from the Muslim Brotherhood in recent months after Netanyahu indicated he would try to bar the organization. Netanyahu and his government have been accused of failing to tackle soaring crime in Arab communities in both the north and south.

Ra’am head Mansour Abbas has revealed that Netanyahu previously courted his party to join his coalition in 2021.

Canada indicates it will join Board of Peace but not pay $1B for permanent seat

Canada will not pay to be on US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace,” a government source tells AFP, after Prime Minister Mark Carney indicated he would accept an invitation to join the body.

“Canada will not pay for a seat on the board, nor has that been requested of Canada at this time,” the government source says, referring to Trump’s demand that countries pay $1 billion for a permanent spot following an initial three-year term on the board, which was initially conceived to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza.

Netanyahu: We are at war with Arab criminal gangs, treating them as terror groups

Israel is treating the issue of crime and violence in Arab communities “as a core national challenge,” says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Knesset.

Speaking at a so-called 40-signatures debate called once a month by the opposition, Netanyahu stresses that last week he took Israel’s defense, intelligence and law enforcement leadership to the Negev to gain common first-hand insights into the problem.

“Criminal organizations are terror organizations in every way,” he declares. “That is how we are treating them, and that is how we are dealing with them.”

He says that Israel is in a war against these gangs, pointing at the security forces and new budgets Israel is committing to the challenge, which includes weapons smuggling, protection money and illegal weapons.

“We are determined to bring back law and order to the south,” he says.

France likely to decline Trump invite to Gaza Board of Peace, says source

France “does not intend to answer favorably” to an invitation to join US President Donald Trump’s Gaza “Board of Peace,” a source close to President Emmanuel Macron tells AFP.

The board’s charter “goes beyond the sole framework of Gaza,” the source says, adding “it raises major questions, particularly regarding respect for the principles and structure of the United Nations, which under no circumstances can be called into question.”

Police arrest 10 for purchasing drones used to smuggle drugs and weapons in Israel’s south

Israel Police say they have arrested 10 suspects for allegedly purchasing hundreds of drones that were later used to smuggle drugs and weapons across Israel’s southern borders. The group is accused of committing money laundering offenses, concealing income and using fictitious invoices, police say.

Police and IDF forces carried out coordinated raids on the suspects’ homes this morning, seizing documents and property for possible confiscation. They were taken in for questioning and are expected to appear before the Beersheba Magistrate’s Court today for a hearing on extending their detention.

The suspects allegedly purchased hundreds of drones and transferred them to criminal elements, who used them to smuggle drugs and weapons, police say. They did this through companies created as a front to conceal the identities of the criminals, while falsifying financial records to hide the proceeds, police add.

The arrests followed a monthslong undercover investigation led by the Southern Division of Lahav 433, in cooperation with the Southern District police and the Yahalom unit of the Israel Tax Authority, according to police.

Ra’am’s Abbas slams Netanyahu, Ben Gvir, for ignoring soaring crime in Arab community

Ra’am chairman Mansour Abbas slams Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Knesset, blaming the premier and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir for failing to tackle rising crime, especially in the Arab sector.

Addressing Netanyahu during a so-called 40-signature debate, which the opposition can compel the prime minister to attend once a month by collecting the requisite number of signatures from MKs, Abbas notes that Netanyahu has served as prime minister since 2009 and that “over the past 20 years nearly 2,000 citizens have been murdered as part of the phenomenon of crime and violence within Arab society.”

“In the past year alone, we surpassed 250 murder victims, including 46 murdered women in Israel,” Abbas says, complaining that “for many years, thousands of citizens in Israel have been paying protection money to criminal organizations, and there is still no response. There is widespread penetration into local government; some local authorities have fallen under the control of criminal organizations. There are also attempts to take over many businesses — effectively destroying not only citizens’ lives but also their livelihoods.”

Abbas says Israelis are experiencing “a loss of personal, community, municipal and national security,” stating that this is not limited to Arab society and asserting that it represents “a systemic failure — both at the policy level, in attention, priorities, and effort invested in this issue, and at the level of the day-to-day functioning of law enforcement and state authorities in general.”

Netanyahu has made many promises to deal with the issue but has not taken the appropriate steps, he insists, arguing that this is “first and foremost a policy problem.”

Abbas says he has requested that Likud MK Eli Dallal be appointed a deputy minister in the National Security Ministry in order to serve as a “project lead for eradicating crime and violence,” asserting that he cannot work with Ben Gvir, accusing him of impeding plans to handle crime in the Arab sector.

Rejecting government argument, AG says court has right to intervene on Oct. 7 state inquiry

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara says the High Court of Justice must hold a hearing on petitions regarding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government’s refusal to establish a state commission of inquiry into failures surrounding the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, rejecting the government’s argument yesterday that the court has no authority to order it to establish such a probe.

In her filing to the High Court today, the attorney general argues that the government’s failure to establish a state commission of inquiry is “causing serious harm to the possibility of uncovering the truth about the events of October 7.”

Baharav-Miara says that “a state commission of inquiry must be established without further delay,” noting that the passing of time exacts “a real evidentiary price: it erodes memories, blurs the sequence of events, and makes it difficult to locate witnesses and documents.”

The High Court issued a conditional order against the government on November 19, 2025, asking it to explain why it was not establishing a state commission.

The government, in its response, asserted that the 1969 Law for Commissions of Inquiry explicitly gives the government, and no other body, including the court, the authority to establish such inquiries, and cited a 2021 decision by the court to back its argument.

In her filing, Baharav-Miara rejects this argument and asserts that while the government “has broad discretionary power” to establish a commission, precedent holds that the court is “authorized to conduct judicial review” and “intervene” in “rare and exceptional cases.”

She says that the “unique and unprecedented circumstances of October 7… mean that this authority has turned from a discretionary power into a mandatory duty.”

“The failure to establish a state commission for more than two years since the outbreak of the war contradicts the government’s duty to the public and severely harms the possibility of reaching the truth,” she continues.

She adds that there is “grave concern” that the government’s actions “aim to circumvent the investigation due to the immediate political needs of the sitting government.”

Iran police chief promises ‘leniency’ to those who surrender over ‘riots’

Iran’s national police chief says that people who were “deceived” into joining demonstrations the authorities have deemed “riots” would receive lighter punishment if they turned themselves in within three days.

“Young people who became unwittingly involved in the riots are considered to be deceived individuals, not enemy soldiers,” and “will be treated with leniency by the Islamic Republic system,” Ahmad-Reza Radan tells state television, adding that they have “a maximum of three days” to surrender to authorities.

Miami Beach mayor condemns pro-Nazi party at nightclub

Steven Meiner, the mayor of Miami Beach, Florida, condemns a pro-Nazi party at a nightclub in the city.

Footage shows the antisemitic, far-right online personalities Nick Fuentes, Andrew Tate, Myron Gaines and Sneako dancing to the Kanye West song “Heil Hitler,” with some raising their arms in a Nazi salute, at the Vendome nightclub.

“I am deeply disturbed and disgusted by these videos of twisted individuals glorifying Hitler and the murder of millions,” says Meiner, who is Jewish.

pic.twitter.com/0r8ppUuqOR

— Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner (@StevenMeiner) January 19, 2026

Meiner adds that members of his grandparents’ family were murdered in the Nazi genocide.

“These ‘influencers’ who spread hate should never have been welcomed into this club or allowed to play a song with ‘Heil Hitler’ lyrics that has been universally condemned,” Weiner says.

Vendome says it is aware of the incident, calling the party “deeply offensive and unacceptable.”

The club says it is conducting a review to ascertain how the pro-Hitler song was played at the club.

Smotrich boasts of reforms to cheese market, vows to pass state budget

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich boasts of taking “another significant step in the fight against the cost of living,” telling reporters ahead of his Religious Zionism party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset that he has “dramatically expanded the opening of the import market for hard cheeses.”

Arguing that cheese prices are artificially high due to local monopolies, which “have limited the quantity of imports and forced us all to pay dearly,” Smotrich says that his dairy reform will allow Israelis to “pay less for basic products.”

Insisting that “it can be cheap here,” Smotrich says that he is “determined to continue lowering prices, and I will not allow anyone to stop” him.

In a statement sent out while Smotrich is talking, the Finance Ministry says that he had signed an order to increase the duty-free quota for hard cheese by 70 percent, to 19,500 tons.

“The increase in quotas will take effect immediately and will be valid for two years, with the finance minister reserving the authority to extend the order in accordance with market developments,” the ministry says.

Turning to Economy Minister Nir Barkat, a critic of his wider dairy reform, Smotrich calls on him to “put the quotas out to tender tomorrow.”

Turning to the 2026 state budget, Smotrich says that “we are determined to pass it on first reading and then discuss it and pass all the important reforms that are here for economic growth and lowering the cost of living, and to pass it on second and third readings before the end of March.”

“As I understand it, the Haredim also have an interest in this coalition serving its time because they have a clear interest in passing a budget,” he adds, referring to Haredi threats to oppose the budget unless the government first passes a controversial bill exempting yeshiva students from military service.

“This is a good budget that contains a lot of good news for the citizens of Israel, lowering taxes and encouraging growth and deploying infrastructure and lowering the cost of living,” Smotrich adds.

Great-grandson of senior Haredi MK among babies evacuated from unlicensed daycare

The great-grandson of Haredi MK Meir Porush, a member of the United Torah Judaism party, is among the children evacuated from an unlicensed daycare in the Romema neighborhood of Jerusalem, where two babies lost their lives earlier today, according to the Ynet news site.

Israel Porush, the former mayor of Elad and the baby’s grandfather, says his grandson is in good condition.

“I was here in Jerusalem in the middle of a meeting, and I got a call from my son that he needed something urgent,” he tells Ynet.

“We arrived at the scene, and the paramedics showed pictures of the babies,” he adds. “Thank God the baby is alive, he is breathing and in good condition. My heart goes out to the other children, this is not an easy moment. I know that there are children whose condition is not good, it is worrying and scary.”

Medical experts and authorities are trying to determine the cause of the incident that left two babies dead and others with difficulties in breathing. Possible explanations include excessive temperatures caused by heaters in unventilated, crowded spaces.

Some 55 babies and toddlers were kept at the daycare in an apartment. Images circulating in Hebrew media show children sleeping on bathroom floors and in closets.

Deri says ultra-Orthodox ‘pushed into hardship’ by state, leading to Jerusalem daycare disaster

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri appears to blame Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and the High Court, at least in part, for today’s tragedy in Jerusalem, in which two babies died and 55 infants and children were injured at an overcrowded, unlicensed daycare in Jerusalem’s Haredi-majority Romema neighborhood.

Addressing his party’s MKs during their weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, Deri insists it is “forbidden to operate unlicensed daycares,” but that “at the same time, a deep soul-searching is also required.”

“Who can say ‘our hands did not shed this blood’? When a very large population is suddenly pushed into hardship, people are forced to look for other solutions, and the consequences can be harsh and bitter,” he declares in an apparent reference to cuts made to Haredi budgets following last year’s High Court of Justice ruling that Haredi exemptions from military service were illegal.

Since then, yeshivas harboring draft dodgers have seen their budgets slashed and the Attorney General’s Office instructed the Labor Ministry to cut daycare subsidies for the children of evaders.

Asked if there is a relationship between the cut to daycare subsidies and the tragedy, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich tells reporters ahead of his Religious Zionism party’s own faction meeting that “we are obligated to protect the lives of our children and grandchildren and to ensure they are placed in supervised, legal, orderly frameworks.”

Smotrich says that it’s “clear that when you block a public’s main path to licensed systems, a black market develops. I can’t say there wasn’t a black market before… but this is obvious.”

Queried as to whether his party would vote in favor of the government’s proposed conscription bill, Smotrich says that after the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee finishes its deliberations and presents a revised bill, his party will make a decision on how to vote.

Earthquake felt in northern Israel

An earthquake measuring 3.7 on the Richter scale was felt just now in northern Israel, according to the Geological Survey of Israel.

The tremors were felt in the area near the Sea of Galilee, it says. No injuries or damage have been reported.

A few days ago, an earthquake was also felt in the area of the Dead Sea.

Gantz says ‘no plans’ to return to coalition unless ‘Israel really needs me’

Blue and White leader Benny Gantz says that he does not plan on returning to the current government unless the state needs him, following repeated remarks that he would not rule out joining Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

“I have no intention to return to the current government,” Gantz says to journalists before a faction meeting.

However, he adds ambiguously that “any time that Israel needs me, really needs me, I’ll be there.”

Gantz, who has joined Netanyahu’s coalition several times after vowing not to, says it is the only way to keep the far right out of government and not depend on the support of Arab parties for a majority.

In a controversial ad campaign launched last week, Blue and White took aim at both the far-right Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit and Mansour Abbas’s Ra’am party.

“Ben Gvir has many Zionist voters. I don’t agree with how extreme he is,” Gantz says in response to a question regarding whether he considers Ben Gvir or Abbas to be a “bigger Zionist.”

“Mansour Abbas isn’t a Zionist — he’s a proud Arab-Israeli. Today, he held an important discussion on how the Arab community does not receive what it should regarding internal security, infrastructure development, education, etc,” Gantz says.

However, Gantz argues that cooperating with Arab parties does not extend to the government.

“There are many places for cooperation with the Arab [community] and help them advance in integrating into society — not in government,” Gantz asserts.

Lapid slams proposed state budget for favoring ‘the corrupt and the evaders’

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid slams the proposed 2026 state budget, calling it “a budget of the corrupt and the evaders” that “continues to exploit and destroy working people who pay taxes and serve in the reserves and keep the country alive.”

Addressing reporters ahead of his Yesh Atid party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, Lapid declares that what was submitted by the government last night was “not a budget” but rather constituted “theft” by a government that is “stealing” from the middle class to subsidize “those who are neither productive nor working.”

Lapid pans the appropriation of funds for “unnecessary government ministries” as well as the inclusion of NIS 5 billion ($1.5 billion) in coalition funds, including NIS 2.1 billion and NIS 1.2 billion for the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism and Shas parties, respectively.

Haredi schools that do not teach secular core subjects will receive hundreds of millions of shekels “to raise another generation of children who will not work, and will live at the expense of our children,” he complains, arguing that services such as public transportation are suffering from lack of funds and “there are no solutions to the cost of living, no war on monopolies, no opening of markets.”

“There is no money for science, for research, for bringing [the highly educated] back to Israel, for strengthening medicine, for stopping the mass exodus of doctors. This government, as is well known, does not believe in science and progress. Instead, they will continue to pay, this year too, NIS 60 billion to [draft] evaders, instead of sending them to the army,” adds Lapid.

“Hang in there. Help is on the way,” he proclaims. “This is the last budget of the [most] failed government in the history of the country. The next budget will be in the next government and it will be dedicated entirely to working people, to young parents, to the education of their children, to the health of their parents, to what really matters.”

Babies, children were sleeping underneath toilets, in closets at overcrowded Jerusalem daycare where 2 died

The Jerusalem daycare where two babies died today was dangerously overcrowded, with small children sleeping in closets and on mattresses around a toilet, footage shows.

Channel 12 news broadcasts video showing the dangerous conditions at the unlicensed daycare in the Romema neighborhood.

First responders say that babies and children were sleeping in closets, hallways and bathrooms.

מזרונים בשירותים, תיעוד מהצפיפות במעון הפרטי בו אירע האסון בירושלים ???????? pic.twitter.com/ogn0R2OFXx

— שילה פריד???????? (@shilofreid) January 19, 2026

The responders tell the Ynet news site that dozens of babies and children napped on top of each other in cupboards and next to the toilet in the bathroom.

They also say that the air conditioner was operating at a very high temperature, described by the outlet as “life-threatening.”

Footage broadcast by Channel 13 news also appears to show overcrowding.

פרסום ראשון: תיעוד מבפנים של הפעוטון בו התרחש האסון בו נהרגו שני פעוטות בני כמה חודשים בלבד: בדירה דחוסה, כשחלק מהפעוטות ישנים יחד בדירה מוזנחת. במשטרה בודקים האם רשלנות חמורה של שלוש גננות גרמה למוות הטראגי. pic.twitter.com/Fik8DpulHz

— Yossi Eli (@Yossi_eli) January 19, 2026

Two babies died and 53 others were hospitalized in the incident at the daycare. Three caregivers have been detained.

Cause of death of 2 babies at Jerusalem daycare still unknown, police and medics say

Medics and police say they are unable to determine what caused the deaths of two babies at an unlicensed daycare in Jerusalem’s Romema neighborhood.

The Shaare Zedek Medical Center, where one of the babies was taken in critical condition, says it is still not known what caused the girl’s death.

Reports had initially suggested that the incident was caused by hazardous materials.

Fifty-five babies and children were injured, including the two babies who died. Many of the children were said to be suffering breathing problems.

Reports say the three-month-old and four-month-old were in a separate area from the other children at the unlicensed daycare that was located in a number of adjacent apartments.

Three caregivers have been detained for questioning.

Committee to summon IDF and Shin Bet heads to weigh in on death penalty for terrorists bill

Israel’s military chief of staff and the head of the Shin Bet internal security agency will be summoned to appear before the Knesset’s National Security Committee later this week as lawmakers continue deliberations on a controversial bill that would allow the death penalty for convicted terrorists.

According to a Knesset statement, committee chairman Zvika Fogel of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party told the committee that repeated requests for written or oral input from security officials had gone unanswered.

He said he considered canceling the session because of their absence, but instead announced that IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and Shin Bet head David Zini would be summoned to present their views on Wednesday ahead of the bill’s second and third readings.

Although the death penalty formally exists in Israeli law, it has only ever been used once, in 1962 — in the case of Nazi officer Adolf Eichmann, one of the architects of the Holocaust.

It is technically allowed in cases of high treason, as well as in certain circumstances under martial law that applies within the army and in the West Bank, but currently requires a unanimous decision from a panel of three judges, and has never been implemented.

Military courts also handed down several death sentences to terrorists and enemy combatants between the 1950s and 1990s, although all were mitigated to life sentences following appeals.

Trump invited Netanyahu to join Board of Peace, PM’s office says

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, or a representative of his choice, was invited by US President Donald Trump to join the Gaza Board of Peace, Netanyahu’s office confirms to the Times of Israel.

Many other world leaders have been invited to join the board, which is meant to act as a supervisory body.

2 babies die after incident at unlicensed daycare in Jerusalem’s Romema neighborhood

Two babies have died after they were found in a critical condition in an unlicensed Jerusalem daycare, Hebrew media reports.

The reports say the two babies aged four months were taken to hospital, where medics declared their deaths.

According to the ultra-Orthodox Behadrei Haredim news site, it was the first day that one of the babies attended the daycare.

The Magen David Adom emergency service says 53 other babies and toddlers were injured in the incident at the daycare in a number of adjacent apartments on Ha’Mem Gimel Street in the Haredi-majority Romema neighborhood.

Three of the caregivers at the daycare have been detained for questioning, police say.

While the incident was initially reported to involve hazardous materials, police say they have now ruled that out as a cause of injury.

Liberman slams government for not doing enough to strengthen Israel’s defenses against Iran

Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman criticizes the government for not doing enough to strengthen Israel’s defenses against Iranian missiles and build additional shelters following last year’s war.

“Yesterday I read that the prime minister himself asked to postpone the attack on Iran because the State of Israel is not prepared,” Liberman tells reporters ahead of his party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, citing a state comptroller report that “more than 3 million people live without proper protection, and moreover – half a million students go to [school] without proper protection.”

“Since the war with [Iran] nothing has happened. How many protected spaces have we added since then? The defense establishment and the political establishment are making a big mistake. Instead of buying another squadron, we must establish a missile force,” he declares, calling on the defense establishment to “examine all their assessments – both in the short term and in the long term.”

“90 percent of modern warfare is in the framework of missiles. We have the best air force in the world, but it is not enough. We have seen the damage from Iranian missiles. Since the war, the Iranians have worked hard to increase their missile array,” he says.

Liberman also criticizes Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s contention that Israel should engage with Egypt as a partner in Gaza in order to prevent the entry of Qatar and Turkey, stating that Cairo has not done enough to prevent the entry of drones from the Sinai.

3 caregivers detained for questioning over incident at Jerusalem daycare

Three caregivers at an unlicensed daycare where 55 children were injured in an incident have been detained for questioning, Hebrew-language media reports.

Investigators are said to be checking if it was linked to a faulty heating system at the apartment on Ha’Mem Gimel Street in the Haredi-majority Romema neighborhood.

Two babies are in critical condition.

According to the Kan public broadcaster, the nursery school cared for children aged four months to three years.

The Education Ministry tells the outlet it was unaware of the daycare’s existence and had never been approached for a license.

Herzog to visit Sydney next month following deadly terror attack at Bondi Hanukkah event – source

President Isaac Herzog will visit Sydney, Australia, on February 7, a source tells The Times of Israel, confirming earlier reports in Hebrew media.

Herzog accepted an invitation weeks ago from Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to visit the country and its Jewish community following last month’s shooting attack at Bondi Beach, during which two terrorists killed 15 people in an Islamic State-inspired attack targeting a Hanukkah event.

The visit goes ahead despite calls from members of Albanese’s Australian Labor party to rescind his invitation to Herzog, accusing him of being complicit in alleged Israeli crimes in Gaza.

Israel denies all accusations that it has broken international law in its military campaign in Gaza, and Herzog, as president, has no role in legislation or policy relating to the war.

The campaign against his visit was joined by number of left-wing Jewish groups, who argued that there would be “mass protests… [including] a very large contingent of Jewish participants” if Herzog visited Australia.

Bereaved families boycott Knesset meet on political Oct 7. probe, establish own committee

Over a hundred bereaved family members who lost relatives during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks, announce that they are establishing a “Committee for Advancing the Law on a State Commission of Inquiry” into October 7 in opposition to government efforts to establish a political commission of inquiry.

“In a fair world, the Knesset should have voted months ago to establish a state commission of inquiry. Instead, members of the ‘government of failure’ are currently debating the promotion of the cover-up committee law, aimed at burying the truth about October 7,” says the October Council in a statement.

The announcement comes as opposition MK Simcha Rothman’s Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee met to discuss the political inquiry.

The October Council says that they “refused to participate in the performance and decided to boycott the discussion.”

As a result, the group announces that it is establishing a “Committee for Advancing the Law on a State Commission of Inquiry,” and demonstrating how a “Knesset committee would look in a fair world.”

The committee will be chaired by Rafi Ben Shitrit, whose son, Staff Sgt. Shimon Alroy Ben Shitrit was killed on October 7 while attempting to fend off Hamas terrorists in southern Israel, and “bereaved families and professional experts” will appear before the committee.

“We will not cooperate with the cover-up committee, nor allow a government whose failures are engraved in the blood of our loved ones to choose the investigators, the questions, or the boundaries of truth,” the Council says.

“A state commission of inquiry is not a political gesture but a moral obligation of the state to its citizens. Anyone preventing it today consciously chooses the side of concealment, fear, and evasion of responsibility. We are here to remind everyone: the truth will be investigated, with or without the cooperation of the cover-up government,” it continues.

The government is currently advancing a highly controversial bill sponsored by Likud MK Ariel Kallner to set up a politically appointed probe, largely opposed by hostage families and relatives of those murdered on October 7.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes the formation of a state commission, favored by the October Council and the majority of bereaved families, and has resisted pressure to do so throughout the more than two years since the deadly Hamas onslaught. Netanyahu has claimed that, because a state commission is appointed by the judiciary – whose powers his government has sought to curb – it would be biased against the government.

55 children injured, including 2 babies who are critical, after incident at Jerusalem daycare

Medics say that 55 children were injured, including two babies in critical condition, in the incident at a Jerusalem daycare.

Police have said the incident did not involve hazardous materials, but reports say investigators are examining whether the heating was faulty at the unlicensed daycare.

The daycare was located in an apartment on Ha’Mem Gimel Street.

Medics tell Hebrew-language media that they were running in and out of the building, carrying multiple babies and young children at a time.

Police say incident at unlicensed Jerusalem daycare did not involve hazardous materials

Police say the incident at a Jerusalem daycare which left two babies in critical condition did not involve hazardous materials.

Reports say investigators are examining whether the incident was linked to a faulty means of heating used at the unlicensed daycare facility.

Forty-one children were injured in the incident, including two babies aged four months who are in critical condition.

2 babies critical, 28 others injured at Jerusalem daycare after gas thought to have leaked from heater

Medics say that two babies are in critical condition and 28 other children were impacted in the apparent hazardous materials incident at a private Jerusalem daycare.

The two babies in critical condition are aged around four months, Magen David Adom emergency service says.

According to Hebrew-language media reports, it is believed that gas may have leaked from a heater at the daycare on Ha’Mem Gimel Street.

IDF says Lebanon strikes targeted Hezbollah, including rocket launch sites and tunnels

Israeli strikes in several areas of southern Lebanon in the past hour targeted Hezbollah infrastructure, including rocket launching sites, the military says.

Among the targets were training camps used by Hezbollah to plan and carry out attacks against Israel, according to the IDF.

The IDF says it also struck tunnel shafts used by the terror group to store weapons. The shafts were located at Hezbollah sites where “unusual military activity” by the terror group was identified in recent months, the army says.

In addition, the IDF says it struck rocket launching sites and buildings used by Hezbollah to advance attacks on Israel.

2 babies in critical condition amid apparent hazardous materials incident at Jerusalem daycare

Two babies aged around 4 months old have been taken to a hospital in Jerusalem by medics who are performing life-saving measures after an incident apparently involving hazardous substances at a nursery school, medics say.

The Magen David Adom emergency service says the two babies were found unconscious.

Channel 12 news says the two babies are in critical condition.

Police say that they are working to evacuate the daycare on Ha’Mem Gimel Street in the capital amid an apparent hazardous materials incident, and that a number of toddlers have been impacted.

Police urge the public to avoid the area.

Finance Ministry sends 2026 budget to Knesset ahead of preliminary vote

The Finance Ministry says it delivered the 2026 state budget draft to the Knesset ahead of a preliminary vote on Wednesday.

Under Israeli law, if the government fails to pass the budget by the end of March, the Knesset will automatically dissolve, triggering early elections three months later. Elections are currently slated to be held by late October.

The budget, as well as an accompanying economic plan, faces an uphill battle for approval.

If approved on Wednesday, the budget will head to parliament’s finance committee where it could undergo changes before its final two votes in the plenum.

Despite declaring that they would not support the budget until the coalition passes its controversial bill exempting yeshiva students from military service, the ultra-Orthodox Shas and Degel HaTorah parties plan to vote in favor of the budget in its first reading, Channel 12 reported yesterday.

According to the network, following the first reading of the budget bill, the two Haredi parties will withhold their support for further votes on the budget until the exemption bill’s legislative process is completed.

Eitan Na’eh, senior Israel ambassador and representative to CMCC, dies unexpectedly

Eitan Na’eh, a seasoned Israeli diplomat who had served as Israel’s envoy to Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Bahrain, passes away unexpectedly.

Na’eh, 62, was also Israel’s first diplomat to take up office in the United Arab Emirates following its normalization deal with Israel, serving as chargé d’affairs of the Israeli Embassy in Abu Dhabi.

“Beyond his exceptional diplomatic skills and his unique ability to build bridges and strengthen ties in every country in which he served, Eitan stood out for his deep dedication to the work of the foreign service and his unwavering commitment to the State of Israel,” says the Foreign Ministry in a statement.

“Eitan was a true team player in the fullest sense of the term—a man with a generous heart, who opened both his door and his heart to everyone, in every role he held, and to all who had the privilege of working with him. Eitan will be deeply missed by the Foreign Ministry family and by the State of Israel as a whole,” the ministry says.

He was serving as the Foreign Ministry’s representative to the Civil-Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat.

“Eitan was a gifted diplomat who excelled in forging connections and relationships wherever he served,” writes Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar. “Above all, in all his missions and in the many positions he held, Eitan was known for his generous heart and boundless compassion.”

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, who appointed Naeh as Israel’s first ambassador to Manama, writes on X that he “served Israel with devotion for over 35 years.”

From 2016-2018, Na’eh served as Israel’s envoy to Turkey, until he was expelled by Ankara in protest of the deaths of dozens of Palestinians during violent clashes with Israeli forces on the border with the Gaza Strip. Na’eh, who was ordered to leave Turkey temporarily, underwent a strict security screening at Istanbul’s airport that required him to take off his shoes. Turkish press was invited to film the spectacle, prompting Israel to respond in kind.

Coalition MKs discuss political Oct. 7 probe; Yesh Atid MK: Attempt to change law undermines public trust

The Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee’s discussion on a highly controversial bill to set up a politically appointed probe into October 7 is attended only by coalition lawmakers and about ten members of bereaved families who support the probe.

Committee Chair Simcha Rothman says that he feels “uncomfortable that one side is represented here and another is not.”

He says that he feels that “this law creates distrust and causes so many bereaved families to sit outside with the sense that the process is meant to silence the truth.”

However, Rothman adds that “anyone who registered could have entered the discussion.”

Likud MK Ariel Kallner, who proposed the bill, says that “the door of this committee is open and I have met with families of all kinds and views.”

He adds that he is willing to establish a committee “in which every family feels that someone is asking the questions that burn inside them. My hand is extended.”

Opposition lawmakers and dozens of bereaved families are boycotting the session, demanding an independent state commission of inquiry, and are participating in an alternate discussion in a separate committee room.

The few bereaved family members who attend are part of the Law and Justice Forum, a minority of families who lost loved ones on October 7 and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza.

The forum supports the government’s political probe due to their opposition to the judicial system, and support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that because a state commission is appointed by the judiciary – whose powers his government has sought to curb – it would be biased against the government.

This is in contrast to the majority of bereaved families, who are demanding an independent state commission of inquiry and argue that the government cannot investigate itself.

Former Yesh Atid MK and activist Inbar Bezek is one of the lone opponents of the politically appointed probe to attend the session, and says that she is attending to “give voice to the bereaved families I stood with this morning in the square, who are not here.”

“I support a state commission of inquiry as mandated by law. The very attempt to change the law undermines public trust. Over the past two years, you have succeeded in creating a rift in the nation. It all begins and ends with the fact that there is a prime minister here who is under criminal indictment and who, for his own sake, is seeking to dismantle the justice system,” she continues, addressing coalition lawmakers.

The committee descends into chaos as members of the Law and Justice Forum Itzik Bontzel, father of Staff Sergeant Amit Bontzel, who fell in combat in the Gaza, and Galia Hoshen, whose daughter Hadar was killed at Nova, voice opposition to Bezek.

“She is spreading poison here. There are people here who are bleeding. We came to discuss a commission of inquiry, not slander. We are not interested in her opinions about the prime minister,” says Hoshen.

Bontzel adds, “She should respect the people who are bleeding here. We are fed up with this nonsense. Anyone who has been an MK for fifteen minutes comes and hurls nonsense at us.”

Smotrich calls on Netanyahu to take over Gaza, rebuild settlements in Strip

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich calls to correct the “sin” of the 2005 disengagement from Gaza, declaring during a speech marking the newly recognized Yatziv settlement in the West Bank that Israel cannot “wait another 20 years” to take control of the coastal Palestinian territory.

Boasting that the current government had “correct[ed] the sin of expulsion” from a number of West Bank settlements, which took place concurrently with the withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, the far-right minister argues that “there is one sin that we have not yet been able to correct, even when it seemed that we had the opportunity and the duty to do so – the expulsion from Gush Katif.”

“Wasn’t the most terrible massacre that has befallen the Jewish people since the terrible Holocaust enough” to make Israel’s leadership understand what must be done, Smotrich asks.

The minister insists that Israel did not pay a price in blood over the past two years of war “so that the Turks and Qataris, who still sponsor Hamas today and are no different from it in their desire to destroy the State of Israel, can sit on our fence.”

“Erdogan is Sinwar. Qatar is Hamas. There is no difference,” he declares, referencing the United States’ decision to include Qatari and Turkish representatives on the executive committee of the Board of Peace that will oversee the postwar management of Gaza.

Appealing to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take over Gaza, Smotrich says that “it is either us or them. Either full Israeli control, the destruction of Hamas and the continued suppression of terrorism over time, encouraging the enemy’s emigration abroad and permanent Israeli settlement or, God forbid, squandering the efforts and costs of the war and waiting for the next round.”

While US President Donald Trump deserves Israeli gratitude for his part in returning the hostages, “his plan is bad for the State of Israel” and must be shelved, Smotrich continues, insisting that “Gaza is ours and its future will affect our future more than anyone else’s” and that, as such, Jerusalem must “take responsibility for what is happening there” and “impose military rule.”

This includes dismantling Civil-Military Coordination Center for Gaza set up by the United States in Kiryat Gat and remove from there representatives of “countries like Egypt and Britain that are hostile to Israel and undermine its security.” It is unclear why he singled out the United Kingdom for criticism.

Instead, Israel should issue an ultimatum to Hamas demanding its disarmament and exile followed by “a full-force assault on Gaza, to destroy Hamas militarily and civilly, to open the Rafah crossing with or without Egyptian consent, and to allow the residents of Gaza to leave it and seek their future elsewhere, where they will not endanger the future of our children.”

IDF says 2 terror operatives killed yesterday after crossing Gaza ceasefire line

Two Palestinian terror operatives who crossed the Gaza ceasefire line in separate incidents yesterday were killed by troops, the military says.

In one incident in south Gaza, two operatives crossed the Yellow Line and approached troops of the 188th Armored Brigade, according to the army. The IDF says the troops opened fire, killing one.

In the second incident in the Strip’s north, the military says three operatives crossed the ceasefire line and approached reservists of the Alexandroni Brigade. The soldiers opened fire and killed one of the three, according to the IDF.

IDF says it’s carrying out strikes against Hezbollah in south Lebanon

The IDF says it is carrying out strikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.

No further details are immediately given.

2 Israelis charged for terror arson, shooting attacks in Ramle in bid to intimidate police

An indictment is filed in the Lod District Court against two Israelis accused of carrying out a series of terror-related attacks in the central city of Ramle, including terrorist acts of arson and shooting in a residential area and attempting to use explosive devices.

The defendants, Modi Ghanim, 20, and Halaf Abu Janam, 21, both residents of Ramle, were arrested in recent weeks in a joint operation by the Shin Bet security agency and the Israel Police’s Central District.

Prosecutors say the two targeted Jewish residents and security forces in a bid to intimidate police.

According to the indictment, the suspects decided to carry out attacks after clashes with police involving members of Ghanim’s family.

In December, prosecutors say, Ghanim set fire to three vehicles on a street where Jewish families live. The blaze spread to a fourth vehicle.

During the same incident, Ghanim allegedly fired a gun repeatedly at a residential building until the magazine was empty. One bullet entered the kitchen of an apartment, the indictment says.

The indictment also alleges the pair planned attacks on police, including attempting to use pipe bombs after learning how to make them from TikTok videos. In a separate incident, Ghanim allegedly threw a grenade at a vehicle in a Jewish neighborhood, but it failed to explode.

Trump invited Putin to join Board of Peace, Kremlin says

The Kremlin says that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been invited to join US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, and that Moscow is studying the proposal and hopes for contacts with Washington concerning it.

Russia has been largely diplomatically isolated by the west in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.

The Board of Peace, which will act as an umbrella oversight body for Gaza and which Trump will chair, will largely be made up of heads of state from around the world.

Leaders from a range of countries in the Middle East and across the world have been invited.

The board would be chaired for life by Trump and would start by addressing the Gaza conflict and then be expanded to deal with other conflicts, according to a copy of the letter and draft charter seen by Reuters.

Member states would be limited to three-year terms unless they pay $1 billion each to fund the board’s activities and earn permanent membership, the letter states.

Diplomats warn the plan could harm the work of the United Nations.

Trump tells Norway PM he no longer has obligation to ‘think purely of peace’ after Nobel snub

US President Donald Trump tells Norway’s prime minister he no longer needed to think “purely of peace” after failing to win the Nobel Peace Prize, in a message published today.

“Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace,” Trump says in a message to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.

The authenticity of the message is confirmed to AFP by a source close to the matter, and by Store to Norwegian newspaper VG.

Urich questioned under caution again over ‘nighttime parking lot meeting’ between Braverman, Feldstein

Jonatan Urich, a senior aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is summoned for questioning under caution by the police over an investigation related to the Bild leaked documents scandal in which he is a key suspect, Channel 13 reports.

Urich is being questioned about the so-called “nighttime parking lot meeting” in which Eli Feldstein, another Netanyahu aide, met with the premier’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, at the IDF’s Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv in late September 2024.

Feldstein has said Braverman called him there to tell him he was aware of a military investigation into the leak of a document from IDF Military Intelligence to Feldstein, who subsequently leaked it to the German Bild newspaper as part of an effort to bolster Netanyahu’s claims that there was no hostage release deal to be done with Hamas.

Feldstein claims that Braverman asked him if was familiar with any figures on a list of six names, who appear to have been additional suspects in the military investigation, and allegedly told him he could “quash” the probe.

Braverman himself has been questioned on suspicion of obstruction of justice. His appeal against conditions barring him from returning to work in the Prime Minister’s Office is scheduled to be heard in the Lod-Central District Court later today.

Opposition lawmakers meet bereaved families, slam coalition bill for politically appointed Oct. 7 probe

As coalition lawmakers discuss a contentious bill for a politically appointed investigation into October 7, opposition lawmakers attend an emergency gathering of relatives of those killed and abducted on October 7 in a nearby room at the Knesset.

The opposition is boycotting the deliberations on the bill being held by the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.

“The people sitting in the room next to us are not the investigators – they are the ones being investigated. The opposition will not cooperate with this,” says Yesh Atid char Yair Lapid, flanked by Einav Zangauker, the mother of released hostage Matan Zangauker.

“In the first month of the next government, we will establish a state commission of inquiry to ensure that this never happens again,” Lapid says.

Democrats chair Yair Golan says, “The Israeli government does not want to investigate and does not intend to investigate. And if it does investigate, it will be a false investigation and a national disaster.”

“The struggle to establish a state commission of inquiry is part of a broader struggle. If we do not replace the government, Israel’s revival is in danger – an existential danger,” says Golan.

Demonstrators are gathered in a number of locations in and near the Knesset to protest the advancement of a highly controversial bill sponsored by Likud MK Ariel Kallner to set up a politically appointed probe instead of an independent state commission of inquiry, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has opposed for more than two years.

“There is only one type of commission of inquiry in Israeli law: a state commission of inquiry,” says Labor MK Gilad Kariv, a member of the Constitution Committee.

He calls the government’s proposed commission “political whitewashing” intended to obscure their responsibility for the attacks.

“Ariel Kallner, who said in 2018 that “We have a strategic interest in Hamas ruling Gaza,” has good reasons to sabotage a state commission of inquiry. The opposition will not lend a hand to this charade,” Kariv says.

Rothman, citing ‘need for order,’ limits entry to panel discussion on political Oct. 7 inquiry

Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee Chair MK Simcha Rothman is limiting the number of people admitted into the committee room discussing the government’s proposed politically appointed commission of inquiry into October 7, due to the large amount of protestors demanding an independent state investigation.

“Given the room’s capacity and the need to maintain order, a certain number of people can be admitted,” says Rothman.

Demonstrators are gathered outside of the committee room, including relatives of those murdered and abducted during the attacks, to protest the advancement of a highly controversial bill to set up a politically appointed probe instead of an independent state commission of inquiry, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has opposed for more than two years.

“It is absolutely clear to me that among us are bereaved families and people whose worlds have been shattered, and that among them are those who hold opposing views,” Rothman says.

“Investigating the October 7 massacre is important to the bereaved families, but also to the entire people of Israel, to soldiers, to civilians, and to anyone who wants to prevent the next disaster. The issue is not the exclusive property of anyone in Israel. We will allow the discussion to proceed, but I will not allow outbursts intended to disrupt the legislative process, regardless of positions or personal opinions. As committee chair, I will firmly enforce the rules of procedure and will not allow organizations that have announced that their goal is to blow up the discussion to do so,” he continues.

The committee says it has approved the participation of one representative from each organization that registered for the discussion, and that, if space permits, they will admit those who didn’t register in advance.

Opposition lawmakers are boycotting the deliberations.

Protests at Knesset as committee holds discussion on political Oct. 7 commission of inquiry

Protestors gather at the Knesset to demand the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the Hamas-led invasion on October 7, 2023, and to protest the proposed politically appointed commission of inquiry under discussion by the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.

Last month, the coalition voted in favor of a preliminary reading of a highly controversial bill to set up a politically appointed probe instead of an independent state commission of inquiry, in a move largely opposed by hostage families and relatives of those murdered on October 7.

A number of bereaved families hold photos of their loved ones in a silent vigil outside the room where the committee is meeting on the bill.

משפחות, מפגינים וח״כים במחאה שקטה מחוץ לוועדת החוקה שתקיים הבוקר דיון ראשון בהצעת החוק של קלנר להקמת ועדת חקירה פוליטית לטבח 7.10. pic.twitter.com/d4dthVSl3G

— דפנה ליאל (@DaphnaLiel) January 19, 2026

Outside the Knesset, protesters hold photos of hostages who were abducted alive and killed in captivity.

“For two years, members of the government have repeatedly claimed that a state commission of inquiry would be appointed at the end of the war. Now they are still evading responsibility and are trying to appoint a committee of their own, whose members they can control and whose conclusions they can steer,” says the group in a statement.

“Those who were the decision-makers and office-holders at the time of the disaster on [October 7], and throughout two years of abandonment; those who thwarted deals time and again and caused the deaths of hostages and their abandonment to torture, starvation, abuse, and the danger of disappearance, cannot continue to lead the country,” it continues.

“Senior commanders in the IDF and the security services took responsibility and resigned, but the government of massacre and abandonment refuses to accept responsibility and make way. We demand a state commission of inquiry, not a political one – an independent body that will investigate the failures and ensure that such a disaster never happens again,” the group demands.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes the formation of a state commission and has resisted pressure to do so throughout the more than two years since the deadly Hamas onslaught. Netanyahu has claimed that, because a state commission is appointed by the judiciary – whose powers his government has sought to curb – it would be biased against the government.

The opposition is boycotting all deliberations on the coalition bill to establish the committee.

Death toll in high-speed Spanish train crash said to reach 39, with 152 injured

The death toll from a collision yesterday in southern Spain between a derailing high-speed train and an oncoming train has risen to 39, with 152 people injured, Spanish broadcaster RTVE reports, citing police sources.

The accident happened at 7.45 p.m. local time (1845 GMT) on Sunday near Adamuz in the province of Cordoba, about 360 km (223 miles) south of the capital Madrid.

Video from the scene shared on social media yesterday showed rescuers pulling passengers from twisted carriages lying on their side under the glare of floodlights. Some passengers climbed out of smashed windows, while others were wheeled away on stretchers.

There were around 400 passengers on the two trains, most of them Spaniards traveling to and from Madrid after the weekend.

Kazakhstan’s Tokayev accepted invitation to join Trump’s Board of Peace – report

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has been invited to join the Board of Peace proposed by US President Donald Trump and Tokayev has agreed, the Tengri news outlet quotes the Kazakh president’s press secretary as saying.

The Board of Peace, which will act as an umbrella oversight body for Gaza and which Trump will chair, will largely be made up of heads of state from around the world. Leaders from a range of countries in the Middle East and across the world have been invited.

The board would be chaired for life by Trump and would start by addressing the Gaza conflict and then be expanded to deal with other conflicts, according to a copy of the letter and draft charter seen by Reuters.

Member states would be limited to three-year terms unless they pay $1 billion each to fund the board’s activities and earn permanent membership, the letter states.

Diplomats warn the plan could harm the work of the United Nations.

Man found dead in Ofakim; woman shot and killed in Al-Atrash, husband arrested

Police say they opened an investigation after a man was found dead in the southern town of Ofakim.

Law enforcement says the man’s body had signs of violence.

In an unrelated incident overnight, a woman in her 40s was killed by gunfire in the Bedouin village Al-Atrash in the south.

The victim’s husband has been arrested, police say.

Crime rates are steadily climbing in Israel, with murders spiking, despite the fact that far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, whose ministry is in charge of policing, ran on a platform of increasing personal safety.

Thousands march in Los Angeles to denounce Iranian ‘genocide in the making’

Thousands march in Los Angeles to denounce the Iranian government’s deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters.

The city is home to the world’s largest Iranian diaspora.

Several hundred also rally in New York City.

Protesters can be seen carrying signs condemning a “New Holocaust,” a “genocide in the making,” and the “terror” of the Iranian government.

Australia parliament returns with moment of silence for victims of Bondi Hanukkah terror attack

Australia’s parliament returns early with speeches and a moment of silence for those killed in the terror attack that targeted a Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach, as victims’ families watched from the public gallery.

Two terrorists who police allege were inspired by Islamic State opened fire at the event last month, killing 15 people in the country’s worst such incident in decades.

The attack shocked the nation and led to calls for tougher action on antisemitism and gun control.

“As we offer our love, sympathy and solidarity to everyone bearing the weight of trauma and loss, we make it clear to every Jewish Australian, you are not alone,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese tells parliament.

Lawmakers had been due to return from their Southern Hemisphere summer break next month, but Albanese recalled parliament two weeks early to commemorate victims and begin debate on gun control and hate speech reforms.

Federal parliament has honoured the 15 victims of last month's terror attack at Bondi Beach. After a minute of silence, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese read each victim's name and passed a condolence motion for them. pic.twitter.com/lyUScHYKGS

— 7NEWS Adelaide (@7NewsAdelaide) January 19, 2026

IDF announces launch of a ‘wide-scale’ counter-terrorism operation in Hebron

The IDF says it launched a “wide-scale” counter-terrorism operation in the West Bank city of Hebron overnight.

The raid being conducted in the city’s Jabal Johar neighborhood is aimed at “thwarting terror infrastructures, removing illegal possession of weapons, and strengthen security in the area,” the army says.

The IDF says the operation is expected to last several days.

Two high-speed trains derail in Spain, police sources say 21 people killed

A high-speed train derailed and smashed into another oncoming train in southern Spain, pushing the second train off the tracks and down an embankment in a collision that police sources confirm to Reuters killed at least 21 people.

The cause for the crash is not yet known, Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente tells reporters at a press conference at Atocha station in Madrid, adding it was “really strange” that a derailment should have happened on a straight stretch of track. This section of track was renewed in May, he adds.

The accident happened near Adamuz, in Cordoba province, about 360km (223 miles) south of the capital Madrid. A regional health chief says 18 injured people have already been transferred to hospital, some with life-threatening wounds.

State broadcaster Television Espanola reports that the driver of one of the trains, which was travelling from Madrid to Huelva, was among those who died, and that a total of 100 people have been injured, 25 seriously.

NFL’s Azeez Al-Shaair fined for ‘Stop the genocide’ message

The NFL fined Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair for writing “Stop the genocide” across his eye black, an apparent reference to Gaza, ESPN reports.

He drew the $11,593 fine for a violation of NFL uniform and equipment rules after displaying the message during last week’s 30-6 AFC wild-card win at Pittsburgh, per the report.

In spite of the fine, Al-Shaair could be seen wearing the same message in his eye black before Houston’s AFC divisional playoff game at the New England Patriots on Sunday. Later during the game, he was observed with the message removed.

Al-Shaair, 28, has long been a vocal pro-Palestinian advocate. In December 2023, as a member of the Tennessee Titans, Al-Shaair chose to support the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund through the NFL’s “My Cause, My Cleats” program.

Pennsylvania’s Shapiro: Harris team asked if I’d ever been ‘a double agent for Israel’

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro says in a new book that during his vetting by Kamala Harris’s team as a potential vice presidential candidate for the 2024 US election, he was asked whether he had at any time “been a double agent for Israel.”

Excerpts from Shapiro’s book “Where We Keep the Light” were reported on by The New York Times and The Atlantic.

The Jewish Shapiro recalls being highly offended by the question (“Was she kidding?”) and intensely uneasy with the general process, which included more questions regarding his positions that have been generally supportive of Israel.

He says that the fact he was asked this “said a lot about some of the people around [Harris].”

“I wondered whether these questions were being posed to just me — the only Jewish guy in the running — or if everyone who had not held a federal office was being grilled about Israel in the same way,” he says.

“These sessions were completely professional and businesslike,” Shapiro says. “But I just had a knot in my stomach through all of it.”

Harris eventually picked Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate, and the two went on to lose the general election to Donald Trump.