Jan. 25: IDF says Hezbollah commander killed in Lebanon strike

Israel says Rafah Crossing to reopen when IDF finishes current search for last hostage body

Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid on the Egyptian side of the Rafah Border Crossing wait to cross into the Gaza Strip, early on October 15, 2025. (AFP)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announces that Israel will reopen the Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt after it completes a military operation launched Sunday to recover the body of the last deceased hostage, Master Sgt. Ran Gvili.

The announcement follows a security cabinet meeting on the issue, and as Israel has faced significant international pressure to reopen the Rafah Crossing.

While the statement from Netanyahu’s office does not give a specific timeline for how long the IDF operation seeking to recover Gvili’s body will take, a US official tells The Times of Israel that Washington expects the search to last several days, allowing for the reopening of Rafah by the end of this week.

The IDF confirmed earlier this evening that it is searching for Gvili’s body in a cemetery in the northern Gaza Strip. The IDF said that while it is credible that Gvili’s remains are located at the cemetery, there are other potential intelligence leads on where his body could be.

The chief commissioner of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza and the Gaza envoy for the NCAG-overseeing Board of Peace already announced on Thursday that Rafah would reopen this week for the first time in nearly one year.

Netanyahu’s office says in a statement that the opening of the only crossing between Egypt and Gaza was conditioned “on the return of all living hostages and on Hamas making a 100% effort to locate and return all slain hostages.”

October 9’s Israel-Hamas deal on the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s broader Gaza peace plan provided for the return of all hostages within 72-hours of the October 10 ceasefire commencement, but it left open the possibility that the recovery of bodies from underneath Gaza’s rubble might take longer and did not explicitly condition Rafah’s reopening on the return of all captives.

The PMO statement says that the IDF is right now conducting “a focused operation to fully utilize all intelligence obtained in the effort to locate and return” Gvili.

When that operation is complete, “and in accordance with what was agreed on with the United States,” Israel will reopen the crossing, Netanyahu’s office says.

Netanyahu’s office stresses that Israel is committed to Gvili’s return and will do everything it can to bring his body back.

While it was also used for goods throughout the war, the Rafah Crossing’s intended use is for pedestrians.

17-year-old shot dead in south, 16-year-old moderately wounded

A 17-year-old was shot dead near the Negev’s Shoket Junction, while a 16-year-old was moderately wounded.

Medics treated the two victims at the scene, with the 17-year-old initially in serious condition. They were rushed to Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center, where the older teen died.

Police are investigating the suspected murder.

UN Palestinian refugee agency says demolished HQ set on fire

Machinery demolishes a structure inside the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem on January 20, 2026. (Ilia Yefimovich / AFP)

The United Nations’ agency for Palestinian refugees says that its partially demolished headquarters in East Jerusalem was set on fire.

The agency, UNRWA, does not offer details on the cause of the incident at their premises, which Israeli authorities seized and began dismantling last week after banning the organization from operating in the country in 2025.

“After having been stormed and demolished by the Israeli authorities, the UNRWA Headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem has now been set on fire,” the agency says in a statement.

It describes the blaze as part of an “ongoing attempt to dismantle the status of Palestine Refugees.”

The fire and rescue service said early Sunday that it responded to a call at the facility, where it worked to “extinguish the blaze and prevent it from spreading,” also without offering a cause.

The UN had slammed last week’s seizure and demolitions, and UNRWA insisted that its property remained protected by the privileges and immunities of the UN, a view it repeated on Sunday.

UNRWA was created specifically for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced during the creation of Israel in 1948, and provides refugee status registration and health and education services.

Israel alleges that more than 10 percent of UNRWA’s staff in Gaza have ties to terrorist factions and that educational facilities under the organization’s auspices consistently incite hatred of Israel and glorify terror.

Israel had been extremely critical of UNRWA long before the Hamas invasion and slaughter in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, saying that its near uniqueness in the world — granting refugee status not just to the first generation of refugees but to their descendants — perpetuated the conflict and created a culture of dependence among Palestinians.

Iran judicial chief says protest instigators to receive no leniency

The head of Iran’s judiciary warns that those behind a recent wave of anti-government protests could expect punishment “without the slightest leniency.”

What began earlier this month as demonstrations against the high cost of living boiled over into a broader protest movement that represented the gravest challenge to the Islamic Republic’s clerical leadership in years.

The protests have abated following a deadly government crackdown, carried out under an internet blackout that left the country largely cut off from the outside world.

“The people rightly demand that the accused and the main instigators of the riots and the acts of terrorism and violence be tried as quickly as possible and punished if found guilty,” judicial chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei is quoted as saying by the official Mizan online news portal.

He goes on to say that “the greatest rigor must be applied in the investigations,” but insists that “justice entails judging and punishing without the slightest leniency the criminals who took up arms and killed people, or committed arson, destruction and massacres.”

IDF launches fresh airstrikes on Hezbollah sites in Lebanon

The IDF says it has launched a new wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah military sites in several areas of Lebanon.

The strikes come after the military earlier today said it killed two Hezbollah operatives and targeted other infrastructure belonging to the terror group.

Jewish graves desecrated in Barcelona cemetery

Vandals desecrated a number of Jewish graves in a Barcelona cemetery this weekend, Spanish police say, provoking outrage from Jewish groups and politicians.

Spain’s Jewish community reported Saturday’s incident in the Jewish section of Les Corts graveyard in Barcelona.

“We are aware of the incident and have opened an investigation,” a Catalan police spokesperson says, without specifying how many graves were defaced. But a spokesperson for Spain’s Federation of Jewish Communities (FCJE) tells AFP that more than 20 graves were desecrated.

We strongly condemn the vandalism of Jewish graves in a cemetery in Barcelona.

What we are seeing is not isolated. It is part of a wider escalation that begins with words, continues with targeting and intimidation and ends in acts like this. When hate is normalized in public… pic.twitter.com/f3KLVIkGvO

— European Jewish Congress (@eurojewcong) January 25, 2026

In a statement, the FCJE condemns the “despicable antisemitic act,” calling on the authorities to “show the utmost resolve in confronting antisemitism.”

It links the incident to a map — created by pro-Palestinian activists and since removed from the internet — that marks Jewish or Israeli-linked places and businesses in Barcelona.

“With these events, the level of antisemitism takes an alarming leap, moving from words to actions, from incitement to direct attack,” says the FCJE.

Barcelona mayor Jaume Collboni denounces the incident in a statement on social media, adding that the authorities are “working to identify those responsible.”

Northern Command chief: IDF prepared on all fronts if a US attack on Iran sparks retaliation

IDF chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (right) speaks at an assessment alongside Northern Command chief Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo, August 31, 2025. (IDF)

IDF Northern Command chief Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo says the military is preparing for the possibility that a US strike on Iran could trigger Iranian retaliation against Israel, Channel 12 reports.

“We don’t know where this is heading,” Milo says in remarks broadcast by the network, as tensions continue to mount. “We see the force buildup the Americans are carrying out, both in the Persian Gulf and throughout the Middle East.”

Milo says the military is on heightened alert for any escalation should Washington decide to attack Tehran.

“We are prepared and ready, so that if the US decides to strike Iran, we understand it could affect Israel, with part of the Iranian response possibly reaching here,” he says.

He adds that Israel is also closely watching whether Hezbollah could join a wider confrontation, saying, “We are very alert, very prepared, and ready both in strong defense and in preparing offensive responses.”

Milo also raises concerns about what he describes as a growing “extreme Sunni axis” in the region, citing Turkey and Qatar as “a very big problem.”

Turning to Syria, he says the arena remains “challenging and complex,” warning of the “jihadist tendencies” of the country’s leadership, in an apparent reference to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s past ties to al-Qaeda.

“Therefore, we are now determined not to go backward… to continue a strong defense with full freedom of action in Syria,” Milo says.

Lapid says a union of opposition parties is advancing

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid leads a meeting of his Yesh Atid faction at the Knesset in Jerusalem, January 19, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

A union of opposition parties ahead of the next election is advancing, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid declares, less than a week after Yashar! party chairman Gadi Eisenkot proposed a merger with Lapid’s Yesh Atid and Naftali Bennett’s new party.

Addressing party members at a Yesh Atid conference in Karmiel, Lapid says, “We need to go into the elections in an optimal way, with the right unions. We’re working on it, and it’s moving forward.”

Channel 12 news said both Lapid and Bennett have courted Eisenkot to join their slates, but he wants to bring them both together in a joint platform he believes could net some 40 seats in general elections later this year, overtaking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud as the largest Knesset faction.

A recent Zman Yisrael poll found that a merger of the three parties would yield the biggest Knesset party, far surpassing the ruling right-wing Likud, but that it would not significantly boost the overall anti-Netanyahu bloc or deliver it a majority when compared to a scenario in which they ran separately.

Speaking with The Times of Israel last July, after Eisenkot quit the Knesset, his political ally Matan Kahana said that he had been in touch with Bennett and would try to broker a political alliance.

Civil aviation chief warns foreign airlines of ‘sensitive period’ amid Iran tensions

Amid heightened tensions with Iran, Civil Aviation Authority head Shmuel Zakai warned foreign airlines that the region may be entering a “more sensitive period” by the end of the week, according to a letter obtained by Channel 12.

In the message, Zakai says the security situation remains “dynamic,” and stresses that Israel could again move to close its airspace if necessary — as it did in the Iranian conflicts of April and October 2024 and in June 2025 — while authorities continue to monitor and adjust based on developments.

Channel 12 reports that Zakai issued a clarification to airlines after the letter was published, claiming he was referring to last weekend, though the letter itself included explicit references to the upcoming weekend.

Meanwhile, El Al, Arkia, and Israir are easing the terms under which passengers can cancel tickets if necessary, Channel 12 reports. It says many passengers are contacting the airlines amid fears that their flights might be canceled. As things stand, the TV report stresses, Ben Gurion Airport is functioning as normal.

IDF says Hezbollah artillery commander killed in earlier airstrike in south Lebanon

A Hezbollah artillery commander who moonlighted as a school teacher was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon earlier today, the military says.

The strike in the town of Bazouriye, close to Tyre, killed Muhammad al-Husseini, who the IDF identifies as the chief of Hezbollah’s artillery forces in the village of Arzoun.

“At the same time as his activity in the Hezbollah terror organization, the terrorist worked as a teacher at a Lebanese school in the village,” the army says.

According to the IDF, Husseini was involved in advancing numerous attacks on Israel during the war, and recently attempted to restore Hezbollah’s rocket capabilities in southern Lebanon.

בתקיפה מדויקת בדרום לבנון: צה"ל חיסל את אחראי הארטילריה של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בכפר ארזון

צה"ל תקף מוקדם יותר היום במרחב אל בזוריה וחיסל את המחבל מוחמד אלחסיני, אחראי הארטילריה של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בכפר ארזון שבדרום לבנון. במקביל לפעילותו בארגון הטרור חיזבאללה, עבד המחבל… pic.twitter.com/T1JnOomO00

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) January 25, 2026

Additionally, the IDF confirms that its strike earlier today against a Hezbollah weapons manufacturing site in the southern Lebanese village of Bir el-Sanasel killed one operative, named Jawad Basma.

Report: Israel delayed operation to recover Ran Gvili’s remains in Gaza as it sought more specific intel

Israel has held intelligence for some time on the supposed location of the remains of the last remaining hostage, Ran Gvili, and delayed a recovery operation several times, as it sought more specific intel, Channel 12 reports, after the IDF confirmed it is searching for Gvili’s remains in a Muslim cemetery northern Gaza.

Security officials believe the operation could last anywhere from several hours to a few days.

Parts of the effort are taking place near Gaza’s Yellow Line, including in areas under Hamas control, and Channel 12 says officials cautioned government ministers there is no guarantee of success, describing the operation as highly complex.

The report adds that the unfolding developments may delay an expected cabinet decision in the coming days on opening the Rafah Border Crossing, a step the US has been pressing Israel to implement as part of the ceasefire framework.

Top Gaza envoy Mladenov to travel to Israel for talks on phase two

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

The top Gaza envoy for the Board of Peace Nickolay Mladenov is slated to arrive in Israel early this week for talks with top officials on the implementation of phase two of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the Gaza war, a source familiar with the matter tells The Times of Israel.

Mladenov will then proceed to Cairo for additional talks with Gaza deal mediators and the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, the source says.

Mladenov confirmed plans to reopen the Rafah Crossing this week, so talks are likely to touch on that issue, in addition to efforts to decommission Hamas’s weapons.

IDF confirms it is currently searching for body of Ran Gvili in northern Gaza Strip

Police officer Master Sgt. Ran Gvili.(Courtesy)

The IDF confirms it is searching for the remains of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last remaining hostage held in Gaza, on the Israeli side of the ceasefire line in the Strip’s north.

The search operation began over the weekend, based on intelligence information that his body was buried at a Muslim cemetery in eastern Gaza City, near the neighborhoods of Shejaiya, Daraj, and Tuffah.

Troops and forensic experts, including dentists, are operating in the area in an attempt to locate and identify Gvili’s remains and bring them back to Israel for burial, according to the army.

The intelligence on Gvili’s body possibly buried at the cemetery had been known to the IDF for a while, though recently the information was made clearer, both following IDF operations and information provided by Hamas to Israel via mediators.

Contrary to Hamas’s claim of providing Israel with the intelligence on the location, the IDF says that the terror group only confirmed information that the military already had.

While the IDF says it is credible that Gvili’s remains are located at the cemetery, there are other potential intelligence leads on where his body could be.

The operation could last several days at most, according to IDF estimates.

In a separate statement confirming the operation, the Prime Minister’s Office says that the search effort in northern Gaza for Gvili’s body will “continue as long as necessary.”

Iran said to be falsely labeling slain protesters as Basij members attacked by opposition

Iranian regime operatives have been forcing protesters and their families to falsely say that individuals killed by security forces in the recent wave of protests were members of the regime’s Basij paramilitary force who were attacked by demonstrators, according to three unverified accounts shared with The Times of Israel.

The accounts were shared by two Iranian monarchist activists based in the United Kingdom who have been working to get Iranians’ stories out amid the regime’s internet shutdown and violent repression of protesters.

One account centers on Saeed, a 32-year-old man from Shahrud in northeastern Iran, who was shot on January 9 during the nationwide protests. While receiving medical care for his wounds, they said, security forces raided the hospital he was in to arrest injured protesters, but Saeed escaped to his mother’s home. Days later, armed forces stormed the house, took Saeed outside, beat him, and pressured him to sign papers falsely stating that he was a member of the Basij, so that the regime could accuse protesters of attacking him rather than government forces. When he refused, the activists claimed, he was shot in the head and back.

The activists provided multiple graphic images of Saeed’s badly bruised body, which appear to show bullet wounds in his right eye and torso.

Another account relayed by one of the activists was about Mohammad Zareh, 40, from Isfahan, who was allegedly shot with live ammunition by regime forces on suspicion of acting against the regime. Iranian state media later labeled Zareh as a “martyr,” falsely reporting him as a Basij member killed during the protests, one of his relatives told the activist.

A third piece of testimony came from a resident of Tehran, who said in a Farsi-language voice message sent to one of the activists and shared with The Times of Israel that “the regime is trying to make everything look normal and say nothing is happening, but the reality is very different.”

The Tehran resident also claimed that victims’ families were being forced to lie, as well as other consequences: “Families are forced to pay for the bullets used [to kill their relatives], or they are told when and where they can bury the body, or even forced to lie on state TV, claiming the victim was a Basij member killed by protesters.

“This post-mortem cruelty is even more painful than the killings themselves,” the man said, adding, “The people of Iran urgently need external support. Every hour of delay means more arrests, torture, and killings.”

Reports of Iranian authorities forcing such false confessions were also cited in a Friday report by the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Hamas claims Israel currently searching for last hostage’s body based on info it gave

A spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, says in a statement that Israel is conducting searches for the body of the last remaining hostage in Gaza, Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, based on information that Hamas gave mediators.

Israel does not immediately comment on the statement.

“We affirm that we have conveyed to the mediators all the details and information that we have regarding the location of the prisoner’s body,” says the spokesman.

“What confirms this is that the enemy is currently searching in one of the locations based on information given the mediators by the Qassam Brigades,” he adds, without specifying where.

Searches for Gvili’s body have taken place intermittently in eastern Gaza City. Israel has publicly refused to make further concessions as part of the Gaza ceasefire before the body is returned, but is reportedly under US pressure to do so.

US entertainment company apologizes for canceling Israeli comedian’s show

Screenshots from a mock video tour of Gaza created by Israeli comedian Guy Hochman, uploaded in November 2023. (YouTube)

A US entertainment company apologizes for canceling a show by Israeli comedian Guy Hochman.

Hochman’s show at the Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills, California, was canceled yesterday.

The theater had posted a statement on social media announcing the cancellation, saying it had received complaints about Hochman, and could not “find any proof of the accusations,” but asked Hochman to make public statements saying that he “did not support the genocide, rape, starvation and torture of Palestinian civilians.”

Hochman refused and was banned from the facility, the statement said, adding that the company “is not political and does not ask the political beliefs” of its renters and that “we don’t support genocide.”

The statement was posted by the theater, but signed by Michael Hall, the president of the Screening Services Group, a company that operates screening rooms in the US. The relationship between the theater and the company was not immediately clear.

In a follow-up statement, the theater shares a statement from Hall apologizing for canceling Hochman’s show.

“I want to apologize, especially to the Jewish community, for my statement and for how this situation was handled. I understand that my decision caused harm and distress,” Hall says.

He adds that, ahead of the event, he and the theater were inundated with messages, including “threats of violence,” causing him to cancel the show.

“It was wrong to ask any artist to make political or ideological statements as a condition of appearing. Imposing a litmus test of any kind was a mistake,” he says.

The Israeli-American Council says it mobilized in support of Hochman, sending over 200 messages to the theater and meeting with the theater director.

Hochman’s tour of North America has been plagued by controversies due to a campaign by anti-Zionist activist groups that shared videos of Hochman joking about the war in Gaza and staged protests against him.

He was reportedly held at a Toronto airport for six hours for questioning after the Hind Rajab Foundation, an anti-Zionist activist group, filed a complaint against him.

Days later, in New York City, a venue canceled Hochman’s show after protests from anti-Zionist groups.

Court orders Kan to provide police, suspect with raw materials from Feldstein interview

Eli Feldstein, a former media adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and one of the suspects in the so-called Qatargate investigation, and a defendant in the Bild leak scandal, speaks to the Kan public broadcaster in an interview aired December 23, 2025. (Screenshot: Kan)

The Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court has instructed Kan news to provide police with the full materials from its interview with Qatargate suspect Eli Feldstein, rejecting the news outlet’s position against such action. The court has also instructed Kan to provide the materials to the attorney of fellow suspect Jonatan Urich.

Feldstein’s bombshell interview with Kan last month, in which he made fresh allegations against Urich as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, led police to seek to investigate his latest claims. Kan objected to providing the raw materials from the interview, calling it “a violation of journalistic sources and a violation of privacy.”

There is no immediate word on whether the network will appeal the decision.

Hamas says two killed in Israeli drone strike on Gaza City; no comment from IDF

Hamas’s civil defense agency tells Arabic media that two people were killed and several wounded in an Israeli drone strike on Gaza City’s eastern Tuffah neighborhood. According to Palestinian media, the strike hit the Hamas-controlled side of the Gaza ceasefire line in Tuffah this morning.

The IDF does not immediately comment on the reports. It has said such strikes are in response to ceasefire violations.

Palestinian media reports that the wounded and the body of one of the people killed were taken to Gaza City’s al-Ahli Baptists’ Hospital. Footage published by Palestinian outlets shows mourners surrounding the body of the person killed, who is identified as Mahmoud Qassem. His age is not specified, but he is described as a young man.

مشاهد لوصول شهيد وعدد من المصابين إلى مستشفى المعمداني إثر قصف إسرائيلي في حي التفاح شرق مدينة #غزة#فيديو pic.twitter.com/NWqCQfpNEO

— قناة الجزيرة (@AJArabic) January 25, 2026

The body of the second person killed was reportedly retrieved a short while later and sent to Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital. The person is not immediately identified in Palestinian media.

The Hamas civil defense agency accuses Israeli artillery and snipers of having prevented first responders from immediately tending to the bodies and wounded in Tuffah.

Meanwhile, the Hamas-run health ministry says Gaza hospitals received eight people wounded and the bodies of three people killed by the IDF over the past 24 hours.

The statement does not identify the people, say where they were killed or wounded, or specify the severity of the wounds.

Palestinian media reported last night that 26-year-old Nur Farid Abu Sitta was shot dead on the Israeli-controlled side of the Gaza ceasefire line south of Khan Younis, in the Strip’s south. The military has not commented on the reports.

Abu Sitta’s body was reportedly brought to Khan Younis’s Nasser Hospital, where a funeral service was held for him today, according to footage published by Palestinian media.

تغطية صحفية|| فلسطينيون يشيعون جثمان الشهيد نور فريد أبو ستة في مجمّع ناصر الطبي، بعد ارتقائه بنيران جيش الاحتلال "الإسرائيلي" بمدينة خان يونس، في جنوبي قطاع #غزة #غزة_الآن pic.twitter.com/HGth555BPL

— بوابة اللاجئين الفلسطينيين (@refugeesps) January 25, 2026

Germany nabs Lebanese man suspected of plotting terror attacks in Europe for Hamas

German police arrested a Lebanese national on Friday evening on suspicion of being a Hamas member who planned terror attacks in Europe, according to an official press release.

The man, identified by German authorities as Mohammad S, was arrested at Berlin’s Brandenburg Airport after arriving from Beirut.

Federal prosecutors said he is suspected of having helped procure 300 rounds of ammunition in August last year, in coordination with one of three men arrested in Germany in October on suspicion of being foreign operatives for Hamas, preparing to attack Jewish or Israeli targets inside the country.

He is due to be brought before a federal judge, who will decide whether he will be held in pretrial detention.

Tamra residents protest outside police station after shots fired near elementary school

Protesters demonstrate against violent crime. A banner reads: 'It is the government's responsibility to uproot crime,' outside an elementary school that was in the vicinity of a shooting in the northern Arab city of Tamra on January 25, 2026. (Screenshot/Panet)

Arab residents of Tamra protested outside a police station in the city today after shots rang out near an elementary school in the northern city, as Arab citizens continue to take to the streets to demonstrate over what they say is a failure to enforce against violent crime.

The shooting occurred while school was in session this morning, alarming students and teachers. No injuries were reported.

In footage of the incident picked up by a security camera, the assailant appears to have been targeting a car passing nearby.

The school’s parents association held a demonstration outside the institution shortly after the incident, which soon turned into a march to the local police station in Baqa al-Gharbiya.

ירי וחיסולי חשבונות פליליים הבוקר ליד ביה"ס בטמרה. בתגובה תחנת המשטרה שלחה עוד ניידת תגבור לבית של שיקלי בחנתון. pic.twitter.com/tMXYQi4Bnm

— אור רביד | Or Ravid (@OrRavid) January 25, 2026

Around a hundred parents and children stood on the side of the road demanding law enforcement put more effort into curbing daily shootings, as two boys held a banner that read in Arabic: “It is the government’s responsibility to uproot crime.”

Lama Diab Othman, a member of the parents association, calls the shooting a “red line” and says that such violence cannot go unchecked.

“When the gunfire reaches the school gates, where our children from first to sixth grade are present, we cannot go on with our normal lives. The danger has become present even within educational institutions,” she tells the Arab48 news outlet.

Since the beginning of the year, 21 Arab citizens have been killed in criminal violence, including a 37-year-old man who was shot dead last night in Nazareth.

The past week has seen intensifying protests over the issue, including a march through Sakhnin that drew over tens of thousands to the northern city.

Israeli, US airlines cancel Tel Aviv-New York flights due to snowstorm

A Delta flight takes off at Ben Gurion International Airport, outside of Tel Aviv, October 25, 2021. (Yossi Aloni/FLASH90)

Israeli and US airlines are canceling direct flights from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport to New York airports, citing the snowstorm on the East Coast.

El Al has canceled most of its flights between Tel Aviv and John F. Kennedy and Newark airports for today, and one leaving from JFK on Monday. Other flights leaving from New York and Boston today were rescheduled to earlier departures, Israel’s flag carrier says.

“We are working to find an alternative flight for you as soon as possible,” El Al says. “If you received a notification that your flight was canceled, we will update you shortly with the details of your alternative flight.”

Israel’s Arkia is also expected to suspend some of the flights on its route between Ben Gurion and JFK. Arkia operates three weekly flights on the route, which take off on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. The carrier has not yet provided a detailed update on flight cancelations.

US carrier Delta canceled its scheduled flight route leaving Sunday afternoon from JFK to Ben Gurion, and Monday’s return flight from Tel Aviv to JFK. Similarly, United Airlines canceled some flights on its route between Tel Aviv and Newark airports scheduled for Sunday and Monday.

Submarine affair state commission finds ‘systemic failings’ endangered state security

An Israeli submarine sails during Independence Day celebrations marking 70 years since the founding of the state in 1948, in Tel Aviv, April 19, 2018. (AP/Ariel Schalit)

The State Commission of Inquiry into the submarine affair finds “systemic failings” in Israel’s acquisition of naval vessels under a Benjamin Netanyahu-led government, as well as in the sale of naval vessels to Egypt by Germany with Israel’s approval, which it says endangered national security.

The so-called submarine affair, also known as Case 3000, revolves around allegations of a massive bribery scheme in the multibillion-shekel state purchase of the naval vessels from German shipbuilder Thyssenkrupp in the early 2010s. The case led to a number of indictments against close confidants of Netanyahu but not the premier himself.

The State Commission of Inquiry was established in 2022 under the short-lived government of Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid to examine submarine and naval vessel purchases that occurred under Netanyahu’s government, and the sale by the German Thyssenkrupp company of submarines and naval vessels to Egypt, with Netanyahu’s apparent approval.

The commission now issues its findings, saying Israeli governments failed to establish clear policies and strategy, made case-specific decisions and ignored the broader picture of the country’s security requirements “in a manner that endangered state security.”

“Decisions by the political echelon must be made through an organized process, in which professional agents participate and considerations — political and professional — are taken into account… This was not the case in the naval vessel affair,” the commission finds.

The current document of recommendations does not include an analysis of personal responsibility for the failings, and the formulation and publication of those findings will only happen once petitions filed to the High Court of Justice by those who were warned by the commission about their possible culpability, including Netanyahu, have been adjudicated.

NY Times: Khamenei instructed regime forces to ‘crush’ protests, ‘show no mercy’

This handout photograph provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shows him speaking in Tehran on January 17, 2026. (KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)

The New York Times reports that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei instructed security forces on January 9 to “crush” the mass demonstrations in the country “by any means necessary.”

Citing two unnamed Iranian officials with knowledge of the leader’s instructions, the paper says forces were told to “shoot to kill and to show no mercy.”

The report emerges as several new reports claim the death toll in the brutal crackdown of January 8-9 surpassed 30,000.

Iran International estimates regime killed over 36,000 people on January 8-9

Footage posted to social media shows thousands of Iranian protesters in Tehran on January 8, 2026. (X; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Opposition-affiliated Iranian news site Iran International now reports that over 36,000 people were killed by the regime during protests earlier this month, numbers similar to those previously reported by Time magazine.

The outlet says its estimate for the death toll in the brutal repression of January 8-9 is based on extensive data it compiled from “classified documents, field reports, and accounts from medical staff, witnesses, and victims’ families.”

It says the numbers make the killings the “bloodiest massacre of civilians during street protests, over a two-day period, in history.”

Beyond the mass killings at protests, the outlet says it received evidence, including photos, that some people were executed by security forces while receiving treatment for injuries at hospitals.

“The organized killings across Iran indicate the brutal crackdown was carried out with the agreement and cooperation of state institutions and on the orders of the highest authorities of the Islamic Republic,” it says.

Times magazine’s report had cited two unnamed senior officials in the country’s Ministry of Health.

So far, the the Iranian government has acknowledged a toll of 3,117, including some members of security services.

Witkoff: US and Israel working together ‘in close partnership’ on Gaza

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff attends a meeting with Ukrainian officials, November 30, 2025, in Hallandale Beach, Florida. (AP/Terry Renna)

Top White House aide Steve Witkoff says his meeting last night in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “focused on the continued progress and implementation planning for Phase 2 of President Trump’s 20-Point Plan for Gaza.”

Witkoff says the US and Israel “are advancing together in close partnership” on Gaza and other regional issues.

Witkoff was joined by senior advisers Jared Kushner, Aryeh Lightstone, and Josh Gruenbaum.

“The United States and Israel maintain a strong and longstanding relationship built on close coordination and shared priorities,” Witkoff writes on X. “The discussion was constructive and positive, with both sides aligned on next steps and the importance of continued cooperation on all matters critical to the region.”

Among other disagreements on the next steps in Gaza, the US is pushing Israel to agree to the opening of the Rafah Crossing before the body of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili is returned.

Commander of Haredi brigade to become adviser to IDF chief on ultra-Orthodox affairs

Col. Avinoam Emunah speaks to ultra-Orthodox soldiers enlisting in the IDF’s new Haredi brigade, known as the Hasmonean Brigade, January 5, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The outgoing and first commander of the IDF’s Hasmonean Brigade for Haredi troops, Col. Avinoam Emunah, will be appointed to a new role as an adviser to the chief of staff on ultra-Orthodox affairs, the military says.

The IDF says that Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir spoke today with Emunah and agreed with him that he will continue to serve in the IDF as the chief of staff’s adviser on Haredi affairs.

Emunah is expected to be promoted to the rank of brigadier general upon entering the new role.

The creation of the new role comes as the IDF is preparing to issue a General Staff order formalizing arrangements that will make it easier for ultra-Orthodox troops to serve.

The order comes amid an ongoing debate in the Knesset over legislation that would exempt yeshiva students from the draft, despite the IDF warning that it faces a manpower shortage. Advocates for the bill say it will add significant numbers of Haredi men to the IDF’s ranks.

Emunah was the inaugural commander of the Hasmonean Brigade, beginning with the unit’s inception in late 2024. He is set to be replaced by Col. Shemer Raviv shortly.

PA: Palestinian not actually killed in West Bank, in ‘very critical’ condition in Israeli hospital

The Palestinian Authority retracts an earlier statement that Nablus resident Amar Hijazi was killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank this morning, saying instead that he is severely injured and in a hospital in Israel.

Israel Police say traffic officers were alerted that a car was speeding down Route 60, a central West Bank artery. Officers who arrived on the scene ordered the driver to stop, and when one officer approached the car, the driver accelerated toward him, police say. The officer fired at the car, and the driver, trying to flee, crashed into a concrete roadblock, according to police.

The PA’s General Authority for Civilian Affairs says Hijazi, 34, is not dead but rather hospitalized in “very critical” condition at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Hospital. The agency says its latest statement comes after Israel withdrew information previously conveyed to the PA that Hijazi had been killed.

Half million without power, nearly 10,000 flights canceled ahead of US monster storm

Planes move on the tarmac at the Nashville International Airport during a winter storm, January 24, 2026. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

More than 500,000 customers in the US as far west as Texas are without power and more than 9,600 flights are expected to be canceled today ahead of a monster winter storm that threatens to paralyze the country’s eastern states with heavy snowfall.

Forecasters said snow, sleet, freezing rain and dangerously frigid temperatures would sweep the eastern two-thirds of the nation today and into the week.

Calling the storms “historic,” US President Donald Trump yesterday approved federal emergency disaster declarations in the states of South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, and West Virginia.

Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have declared weather emergencies, the US Department of Homeland Security said.

The number of outages continued to rise. As of 7:23 a.m. EST (2:23 p.m. Israel time), more than 500,000 US customers were without electricity, according to PowerOutage.us, with more than 100,000 each in Mississippi, Texas, and Tennessee. Other states affected included Louisiana and New Mexico.

More than 9,600 US flights scheduled for today were canceled, according to flight tracking website FlightAware, with over 4,000 flights canceled yesterday.

Major US airlines warn passengers to stay alert for abrupt flight changes and cancellations.

One reported dead in Israeli strike in Lebanon that IDF said targeted Hezbollah site

Lebanon’s health ministry says an Israeli airstrike near the southern Lebanese village of Kherbet Selem killed one person and injured another.

The IDF said the strike targeted a group of Hezbollah operatives at a weapons manufacturing site in the area.

Police: Palestinian killed in West Bank after driving at cop, crashing; PA: Israeli forces killed him

A Palestinian man was killed in an altercation with Israeli forces this morning near the central West Bank village of Ayoun al-Haramiya, north of Ramallah.

Israel Police say the man crashed into a roadblock after accelerating toward one of its officers. The Palestinian Authority’s General Authority for Civilian Affairs says the man was killed by Israeli forces.

The PA agency identifies him as Amar Hijazi, 34, of Nablus, and says his body is being held by Israel.

#صورة | الشهيد الشاب عمار ماجد حسن حجازي (34 عامًا) من مدينة #نابلس، ارتقى برصاص الاحتلال واحتجز جثمانه، بعد إطلاق النار عليه الاحتلال قرب منطقة عيون الحرامية صباح اليوم. pic.twitter.com/SBpVas6mmT

— قبس – Qabas (@ShehabPalestine) January 25, 2026

Police say traffic officers were alerted that a car was speeding down Route 60, a central West Bank artery. Officers who arrived on the scene ordered the driver to stop, and when one officer approached the car, the driver accelerated toward him, police say.

The officer fired at the car, and the driver, trying to flee, crashed into a concrete roadblock, according to police.

IDF says Central Command conducting exercise testing readiness for ‘extreme scenarios’

IDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth speaks with soldiers in the West Bank, in a handout photo provided on November 12, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF’s Central Command launched a pre-planned exercise this morning aimed at improving its readiness for “extreme scenarios,” the military says.

The Central Command is responsible for the West Bank and most of the border with Jordan.

The IDF says the drill involves several divisions and the Civil Administration — a branch of the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which manages civilian affairs in the West Bank.

In addition to improving readiness, the military says the drill is also examining “the optimal execution of operational processes from the command level up to the General Staff.”

IDF says it carried out another airstrike on Hezbollah operative in Lebanon

The IDF says it carried out an airstrike against a Hezbollah operative in the southern Lebanon town of Bazouriye, close to Tyre.

No further details are given at this stage.

Judge bars Qatargate and Bild suspect Urich from PM’s office until early March

Jonatan Urich arrives for a court hearing at the Rishon Lezion Magistrate's Court, January 14, 2026. (Jonathan Shaul/ Flash90)

The Lod District Court rules that restrictions barring Jonatan Urich from the Prime Minister’s Office will remain in place until at least the beginning of March. Urich is a key suspect in the Bild and Qatargate investigations,

The Bild probe involves the leak of classified material. Qatargate surrounds allegations that PMO staffers, including Urich, simultaneously worked for the wealthy Gulf state.

The ruling once again overturns a decision by the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court regarding restrictive conditions for suspects in those investigations.

Judge Jacob Spasser writes that there is a “reasonable suspicion” that Urich transferred classified information which should have been kept secret to preserve state security, and on some occasions “did so intentionally to harm state security.”

“The apparent scene of the alleged offense is the respondent’s previous place of employment,” writes Spasser, referring to the PMO. “I do not see at this stage the possibility of returning the respondent to the scene of the crime, the unique sensitivity of which requires no explanation, and there is no choice but to remove him from the Prime Minister’s Office.”

The judge also rejects arguments that “there are no claims” Urich has tried to obstruct the investigation into the matter, pointing out that Urich got a new phone the day after Eli Feldstein, who has been indicted over the Bild case, was arrested.

The harm to Urich’s right to freedom of employment in barring him from the Prime Minister’s Office is outweighed by the possibility that he might once again leak classified documents and obstruct the investigations, Spasser rules.

Urich is therefore barred from the Prime Minister’s Office for 60 days, although that period is applied retroactively to begin on January 4, and will therefore expire on March 4, unless police request an extension.

He is also banned from contacting anyone connected to the investigation; from leaving the country; and from working for the Perception communications company, whose owner, Israel Einhorn, is also a suspect in the Bild and Qatargate affairs.

Government approves NIS 6.2 billion plan to expand benefits, aid for reservists

Reservists of the Jerusalem Brigade operate in the northern Gaza Strip, in a handout photo issued by the military on January 17, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

The government approves a wide-ranging NIS 6.2 billion ($2 billion) compensation and support framework for IDF reservists in 2026, including grants, tuition subsidies and expanded mental health assistance, as the military seeks to reduce the overall burden of reserve duty.

The plan, backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, is designed to tailor compensation to on the intensity and risk of reservists’ service, giving top priority to combat reservists under a new tiered model.

Under the framework, the IDF will implement new measures in its use of reservists. Those serving in battalions can expect to be called up for a maximum of 55 days, subject to operational needs, and the average number of reservists serving each day will be capped at 40,000, down from 60,000.

The package includes giving reservists a digital wallet worth up to NIS 5,000 ($1,600) to be used for leisure, welfare purposes and the payment of government fees, as well as annual grants for commanders, expanded vacation assistance to families, up to 100% tuition coverage for student reservists in combat roles, and broader eligibility for mental health treatments for reservists and their families.

The proposal received initial approval last week from the Ministerial Committee for Legislation before being brought to the cabinet.

“Reservists give everything, and we must give them everything,” Netanyahu says. “They stand at the front line – and we stand with them and will continue supporting them.”

IDF says Lebanon airstrikes targeted Hezbollah infrastructure, operatives at weapons site

An Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon a short while ago targeted a group of Hezbollah operatives at a weapons manufacturing site, the IDF says.

The military says that it had recently detected activity by Hezbollah operatives at the building, in the southern Lebanese village of Bir el-Sanasel, next to Kherbet Selem, which it says was used by the terror group to manufacture arms.

According to Lebanese media reports, the strike caused several injuries.

צה"ל תקף מחבלים מארגון הטרור חיזבאללה שפעלו באתר לייצור אמצעי לחימה בדרום לבנון

צה"ל תקף לפני זמן קצר מבנה ממנו פעלו מחבלים מארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב ביר א-סנסל שבדרום לבנון.

בתקופה האחרונה צה"ל זיהה פעילות של מחבלי הארגון במבנה, ששימש כאתר ייצור אמצעי לחימה עבור ארגון הטרור… pic.twitter.com/ewyAOd2hDU

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) January 25, 2026

In a separate strike in Lebanon’s eastern Beqaa Valley, the IDF says it struck other Hezbollah military infrastructure. Lebanese media reports that the strike hit the outskirts of the village of Nabi Chit, just south of Baalbek.

“The activity of Hezbollah terrorists at these sites constitutes a violation of the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon and pose a threat to the State of Israel,” the IDF adds.

Policewoman whose promotion is blocked by Ben Gvir tells court situation is ‘unbelievable’

Police Supt. Rinat Saban arrives at the Jerusalem District Court for a hearing on National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir's refusal to sign off on her promotion on January 25, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Supt. Rinat Saban, a police detective whose promotion is being blocked by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, speaks out on the matter for the first time, calling it “unbelievable” that she has been made to fight for her promotion in court.

The far-right minister and Saban arrived at the Jerusalem District Court for a first hearing on the matter this morning.

Ben Gvir has for months been preventing the advancement of Saban — who was involved in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial — against the counsel of senior police brass.

“For an entire year I did not speak because it’s forbidden for an officer to comment, but it is important for me to speak,” Saban says, according to Walla. “It’s unbelievable that I have to stand here in court and explain why I should be promoted.”

She then turns to Ben Gvir and asks him: “Is there a threat here, minister?” accusing him of conveying a message to officers that they will pay a professional price for being involved with certain cases. “This is a heavy personal price that I am bearing here,” she says, according to the outlet.

At the start of the trial, Ben Gvir speaks to the press and accuses Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who has been demanding the far-right minister sign off on Saban’s promotion, of behaving like a member of a criminal gang.

“What you are seeing is behavior that is very much like that of a mafia… they are threatening me that if I don’t promote this officer, they’ll fire me,” he says, referring to the Attorney General’s Office.

Police chief Danny Levy has been seeking to promote the superintendent and argued in a court filing that Ben Gvir’s refusal to give the final signature “could sow fear among police officers who testify in criminal investigations.”

Ben Gvir signed off on Saban’s promotion in December 2024, conditional on her completing the police command and staff course. She completed the course in April 2025, a month after testifying against Netanyahu in court. Then, in a reversal, he blocked the promotion.

Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon results in injuries — report

Lebanese media reports injuries in an Israeli airstrike targeting the southern Lebanon town of Khirbet Selm.

The IDF has not yet commented.

متابعة.. غارتان عنيفتان من الطيران الحربي استهدفتا المنطقة بين بئر السلاسل وخربة سلم#ملحق pic.twitter.com/kuhxZcAQR6

— Mulhak – ملحق (@Mulhak) January 25, 2026

Israel to found 5 new towns in Negev, including one named for final slain hostage Ran Gvili

Former hostage Segev Kalfon speaks at a Friday afternoon gathering in honor of the last hostage in Gaza, Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, whose portrait is on display, at Tel Aviv's Hostages Square on January 23, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces during today’s cabinet session that one of five new communities to be established in the Negev will be named after the final slain hostage held in Gaza, Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, according to Hebrew media reports.

The reports say that the premier announced that five new communities will be built along the Beersheba–Dimona corridor in Israel’s south.

“I have decided that one of the communities in the Negev will be called ‘Renanim’ (‘rejoicing’) in memory of an Israeli hero, the last hostage, the late Ran Gvili,” Netanyahu is quoted as saying.

Netanyahu’s office has not yet confirmed the decision.

In recent months and years, the government has approved several plans to promote development and new construction in southern Israel, including a 2022 plan to establish five new communities in the Negev. It was not immediately clear whether the communities Netanyahu referred to are part of that existing proposal or represent a separate initiative.

Government spent more than NIS 90 billion on war effort in 2025, fueling rising debt

Finance Ministry accountant general Yali Rothenberg speaks to manufacturers and high tech firms in Tel Aviv, March 20, 2023. (Sivan Farig/Courtesy)

Israel spent about NIS 91 billion ($29 billion) on military, defense, and civil needs in 2025 to support the war effort, which increased government borrowing and fueled the country’s debt burden, according to a first estimate by the Finance Ministry’s accountant general.

The ratio of public debt to gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 0.9% to 68.6% at the end of last year, from 67.7% in 2024. Israel’s debt-to-GDP ratio is still lower than the euro bloc’s 87.8%, 125.1% in the US, and 229.6% in Japan, the ministry says, citing International Monetary Fund data.

The government budget deficit in 2025 was 4.7% of GDP, amounting to approximately NIS 98.6 billion ($31.5 billion).

In 2025, Israel raised NIS 207 billion ($66 billion) in government debt. From the outbreak of war with the Hamas terror group on October 7, 2023, until the ceasefire in October 2025, the state raised a total of NIS 524 billion ($167 billion) in government debt.

“Over the past two years, we have raised significant amounts of debt, and the high and stable demand [for the country’s debt] is a reflection of the markets’ confidence in the Israeli economy,” says Accountant General Yali Rothenberg. “Once conditions stabilize, steps must be taken to restore the fiscal path in a way that will enable the debt-to-GDP ratio to return to a declining trajectory.”

Security cabinet meeting on Gaza plan’s phase two, Rafah crossing to begin at 6 p.m.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with his security cabinet on the second phase of the ceasefire in Gaza will take place this evening at 6 p.m., the office of one of the ministers in the forum tells The Times of Israel.

Netanyahu met yesterday with top White House advisers Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner regarding Gaza.

Police shut art show at leading East Jerusalem Palestinian theater, saying it backed terror

Police Deputy Commissioner Avshalom Peled at the Israel Police Independence Day ceremony at the National Headquarters of the Israel Police in Jerusalem May 9, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Officers shuttered an art exhibition at a leading Palestinian theater in East Jerusalem last night, police announce.

The order affixed to the entrance of al-Hakawati Theater claims the planned exhibition aimed to “promote and support the activities of a terrorist organization,” without specifying which terror group.

The exhibition was an initiative of the “Jerusalem Ambassador” program for Palestinian young adults, which, in its own words, is meant to “promote community work with a youth vision” and prepare “highly skilled young people to be a true voice for Jerusalem and its people.” It is unclear what the exhibition would have showcased.

The order to nix the exhibition was signed by Deputy Commissioner Avshalom Peled, the newly minted commander of the Jerusalem District police. It is part of a sweeping operation meant to “strengthen sovereignty” in East Jerusalem, police say.

The operation, dubbed “Shield of the Capital,” was announced shortly after Peled, an ally of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, took over as district commander from Amir Arzani, amid reports the minister had grown frustrated with Arzani over his refusal to implement his policies on the Temple Mount.

On Thursday evening, police shut down a screening of “Palestine 36” — a historical drama that deals with the 1936-39 Arab revolt — at the Yabous Center, another cultural institution in East Jerusalem.

Government said pushing measure that would let it advance bills, take action without AG’s approval

Deputy attorney generals Avital Sompolinsky (left) and Gil Limon (right) attend a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, December 28, 2025. (Noam Moskowitz, Office of the Knesset Spokesperson)

The government is planning to approve a cabinet resolution that would allow it to carry out executive actions and advance legislation without input and approval from the Attorney General’s Office, according to Hebrew media reports and a letter from Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon.

The reported resolution would be the latest salvo in the government’s ongoing effort to sideline, as well as outright dismiss, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who has opposed some of the government’s signature initiatives and refused to defend some of its actions in court.

Ynet reports that the resolution is scheduled to be brought for a vote in the cabinet today. A spokesperson for Justice Minister Yariv Levin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Limon writes in a letter to Levin that the resolution would essentially mean the government would not need to act in accordance with the law and represents a “foundational change” in processes to ensure the proper running of government and the rule of law.

“This would do severe harm to the public and create a wide opening for illegal action by the government, for abusing governmental power, and unlawful use of government budgets,” warns Limon.

The deputy attorney general also writes that election years, when the government is under greater pressure, demand greater stringencies in preventing misuse of power “for achieving goals that are not for the benefit of the entire public.”

Writes Limon, “The implications [of the resolution] … lead to the government’s renunciation of its obligation to act in accordance with the law,” which he said would “remove guarantees intended to ensure the proper functioning of the public service and the rule of law.”

86 arrested after breach of London prison grounds for pro-Palestinian hunger striker

Supporters of hunger-striking prisoners being held on remand charged with offenses related to activism on behalf of Palestine Action hold a press conference calling on the government to intervene and consider their demands in London on December 18, 2025. (HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)

Eighty-six people were arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass after protesters breached the grounds of a London prison in support of a pro-Palestinian hunger striker, UK police say.

The group were “protesting in support of a Palestine Action prisoner on a hunger strike” late yesterday and then refused to leave the prison grounds when ordered to do so, London’s Metropolitan Police said on X.

“They allegedly blocked prison staff from entering and leaving, threatened police officers and a number managed to get inside a staff entrance area of a prison building,” police said, adding “all those involved” were detained.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson described the incident as “deeply concerning.”

UPDATE: 86 people were arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass following last night's incident at HMP Wormwood Scrubs. https://t.co/Ul5qtfvJcE

— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) January 25, 2026

The incident took place outside HMP Wormwood Scrubs in West London, where a man named Muhammad Umer Khalid is being held and has been on hunger strike for over two weeks, according to the campaign group Prisoners for Palestine.

He is one of several people who have been on hunger strike at various points in recent months as they await trial for an alleged break-in and criminal damage on behalf of the Palestine Action campaign group before the group was banned under anti-terrorism laws.

Khalid and the others deny those charges and have called for them to be dropped.

Israeli forces nab 2 Bedouin Israelis suspected of smuggling NIS 250,000 worth of hashish

Hashish seized by IDF and police forces during the arrest of two men suspected of drug smuggling in Israel on January 24, 2026. (Israel Police)

Army and police forces arrested two Bedouin Israelis on suspicion of smuggling a load of hashish worth a quarter-million shekels (roughly $80,000), the IDF and police say.

The two suspects belong to the Azazme Bedouin tribe. Forces in the IDF’s Yoav Brigade spotted the men carrying duffel bags south of the Dead Sea near the border with Jordan, raising the suspicion of drug smuggling.

They were apprehended by IDF forces and were found to have been carrying 53 kilograms (117 pounds) of hashish. The men were transferred to the Arad police station for interrogation.

Saudi Arabia postpones 2029 Asian Winter Games at futuristic NEOM project on Red Sea

An illustration of the planned Neom city in Saudi Arabia, unveiled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on July 25, 2022. (Neom.com)

Saudi Arabia’s Olympic Committee and the Olympic Council of Asia have agreed to indefinitely postpone the 2029 Asian Winter Games, which were to have been held in a mountain resort in Saudi Arabia’s futuristic city project NEOM.

In a statement released yesterday, the Olympic Council of Asia said the two bodies had agreed “to an updated framework for future hosting” of the games, which will be postponed “to a later date to be announced in due course.” It did not provide a reason.

Instead, Saudi Arabia will host a series of standalone winter sports events in coming years, the statement said.

The games were to have been held in Trojena, planned as a year-round ski resort in the mountains of NEOM, a $500 billion project to build a new city in Saudi Arabia’s western desert on the Red Sea, southeast of Eilat.

The kingdom is slated to host a series of major events in the coming years, which require tens of billions of dollars in infrastructure investments, including the 2030 World Expo in the capital, Riyadh, and the 2034 FIFA World Cup.

The events are part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s sweeping Vision 2030 project that aims to modernize Saudi society and its economy, build a sports hosting portfolio and help diversify the economy from its reliance on oil. At its core is spending on sports by the $900 billion sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund.

But with oil trading at around $60 a barrel as global demand slows, affecting the kingdom’s revenues, the postponement of the Asian Games was an indication that the ambitious projects are coming under pressure.

The decision to award the Asian Winter Games to Saudi Arabia had come under criticism from those who noted the environmental impact of hosting a winter sports event in a location naturally poor in water and precipitation.

Cars torched, graffiti sprayed in West Bank Palestinian town in reported settler attack

Cars were torched in the West Bank Palestinian town of Atara overnight in an apparent attack by masked Israeli settlers, who allegedly also sprayed graffiti there.

The graffiti in the central West Bank village reads, “Regards to Zini from Har Hamor,” in a reference to Shin Bet chief David Zini, the Haaretz outlet reported. Har Hamor is an ultraconservative yeshiva where Zini studied.

Another instance of graffiti reads “Happy Ramadan holiday,” referring to the Muslim holy month that begins in February. A Star of David was tagged next to the phrase.

רעולי פנים מציתים כלי רכב בכפר עטארה שבגדה, הלילה סעיף 27א pic.twitter.com/DGW07L36Wf

— הארץ חדשות (@haaretznewsvid) January 25, 2026

Protest over Arab crime wave briefly blocks traffic on Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway

Protesters with the left-wing Standing Together movement block traffic on Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv on January 25, 2026. (Courtesy of Standing Together)

Dozens of protesters and relatives of homicide victims blocked traffic on Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv this morning in a demonstration over the spike in violent crime besetting Arab society.

The demonstrators had been protesting against the “abandonment of Arab society to violence and crime” by the government, the left-wing Standing Together movement, which organized the protest, says.

They were quickly dispersed by police. No arrests were reported.

“The police have the tools to deal with the situation and we are demanding that they make a decision to end the protection [racketeering] and the criminal organizations,” the movement says in a statement.

The protest is held as frustration mounts in Arab society over deadly criminal violence that has claimed 21 lives less than a month into 2026.

One of the protesters on the highway is seen holding a sign with the face of Abdallah Awad, a pediatrician from the northern village of Mazra’a who was killed last year at a clinic in Kafr Yasif. The sign reads, “The blood of Abdallah cries out.”

IDF soldier said arrested for faking the kidnapping of a Palestinian and demanding ransom

Illustration: A military police officer speaks with imprisoned Israeli soldiers at Prison Four, Israel's largest military prison, located at the Tzrifin military base on April 26, 2018. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

An IDF soldier from the Military Police has been arrested on suspicion of fabricating the kidnapping of a Palestinian and demanding a ransom for his release, Army Radio reports.

According to the report, the Palestinian had been arrested while attempting to illegally enter Israel from the West Bank, and he was taken to an army detention facility.

At the detention facility, a Military Police guard photographed the Palestinian detainee and sent the footage to his family, claiming that he had kidnapped him, the report says.

Army Radio says the soldier demanded that the family of the Palestinian send hom money in exchange for the release of their son.

According to the report, the Palestinian’s family contacted the police. Israeli security bodies initially believed the incident to be a matter of Jewish terrorism, but it later emerged that the Palestinian’s phone was located at an IDF detention facility.

The soldier involved in the case served in the Military Police — the IDF body that normally investigates soldiers — so the case will be handled by the military’s Internal Investigations Unit.

The IDF confirms the incident, saying an investigation has been launched, but adds that it “will not elaborate on the details of the investigation while it is ongoing.”

IDF says it demolished 4-kilometer Hamas tunnel with weapons, barracks in Gaza

A Hamas tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip was demolished recently by combat engineers, the military says.

According to the IDF, the tunnel was four kilometers (2.5 miles) long, contained weapons, and had several rooms where operatives would reside. Work on its demolition began a year ago and was completed in recent days, the army says.

This footage published by the IDF on January 25, 2026, shows the demolition of a tunnel network in the southern Gaza Strip. (Israel Defense Forces)

In addition, the IDF says that after last week’s exchange of fire with terror operatives in Rafah during which six gunmen were killed, troops located military gear, bomb-making instructional booklets, and at least one explosive device in the area.

At another location in Rafah, the military says troops located five disused rocket launchers.

Security cabinet to meet today, due to discuss Rafah crossing ahead of expected reopening

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a security cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on December 11, 2025. (Ma’ayan Toaf/GPO)

The security cabinet will meet this morning to discuss the Rafah Border Crossing in Gaza, following an announcement on Thursday that the crossing was to reopen in both directions this week.

The meeting comes after reported Israeli criticism of the US push to open the crossing between Gaza and Egypt. On Thursday, Ali Shaath, the chief commissioner of a newly formed Palestinian technocratic committee set to run Gaza, announced that the crossing would open.

Nikolay Mladenov, the Gaza envoy for US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, confirmed that the crossing would reopen soon.

On Saturday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with US officials Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to discuss the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire, which Trump kicked off last week and which is meant to establish longer-term security and governance frameworks in the Strip.

Israel is reportedly angry that the crossing is to reopen before the body of the final Israeli deceased hostage held in Gaza, Ran Gvili, has been returned.

US storm leaves 160,000 without power as snow pounds much of country

A monster winter storm has already cut power to more than 160,000 electricity customers across the US as far west as Texas, and threatens to paralyze the country’s eastern states with heavy snowfall.

The storm has forced thousands of flight cancellations nationwide.

Forecasters say snow, sleet and freezing rain, accompanied by dangerously frigid temperatures, will sweep the eastern two-thirds of the US today and into next week.

Calling the storms “historic,” US President Donald Trump yesterday approved federal emergency disaster declarations in South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, and West Virginia.

“We will continue to monitor, and stay in touch with all States in the path of this storm. Stay Safe, and Stay Warm,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have declared weather emergencies, the Department of Homeland Security says.

“We do have tens of thousands of people in affected states in the South that have lost power. We have utility crews that are working to restore that as quick as possible,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said late yesterday afternoon.

The number of power outages continues to rise. As of 10:17 p.m. EST Saturday (5:17 a.m. Sunday Israel time), more than 160,000 US customers had no electricity, the bulk of them in Louisiana and Texas, according to PowerOutage.com.

IDF: Zamir’s meeting with US CENTCOM chief aided countries’ ‘close strategic relationship’

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (left) meets with US CENTCOM chief Adm. Brad Cooper at the Israeli military's headquarters in Tel Aviv, January 24, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

In a statement, the IDF says yesterday’s meetings between US Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other top Israeli military officers enhanced the “close strategic relationship” between the sides.

The military does not specify the topics of the meetings. But Cooper’s visit to Israel comes amid heightened tensions with Iran and a reported disagreement between Israeli and US officials over the next steps in the Gaza ceasefire.

Cooper and Zamir first held an “extended one-on-one meeting,” which was followed by one with other Israeli generals, the IDF says.

“This engagement serves as another expression of the relationship between the commanders and constitutes an additional step in enhancing the close strategic relationship between the IDF and US military and in strengthening defense cooperation between the two nations,” the statement says.

The IDF has been on high alert and has carried out preparations in recent weeks after US President Donald Trump threatened military action against Iran, against the backdrop of the regime’s killing of protesters.

Israel giving Gaza’s anti-Hamas militias weapons, intel, food, medical care — report

Ghassan al-Dahini, the new commander of the Abu Shabab militia, inspects troops in a video released by the group on December 5,. 2025. (X screenshot)

Israel has continued to support anti-Hamas militias operating in the Gaza Strip, the Wall Street Journal reports, providing them with weapons, support from drones, intelligence, food and cigarettes.

It has also airlifted wounded militia members into Israel for medical care, the report says.

The Journal highlights Israel’s support for one of the militias, led by Hussam Al Astal, who said his group killed a police officer in the half of Gaza controlled by Hamas. The militia reportedly has dozens of members who are based in the part of the enclave controlled by Israel.

Supporting the groups is a way for Israel to back maneuvers against Hamas despite limitations imposed on it by the ceasefire in the Strip, the Journal reports. Videos have showed the militia members with Israeli gear, according to the report.

Israel has previously acknowledged its support for militias fighting Hamas in the enclave. Israel has been reported to back the Popular Forces, a militia founded by an anti-Hamas armed Bedouin leader, Yasser Abu Shabab. Abu Shabab was killed in December in what the group described as a family feud.

More than 30,000 may have been killed in Iran protests, officials say — report

In this photo obtained by The Associated Press, Iranians attend an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, January 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

Iranian officials say 30,000 people may have been killed over just two days of the nationwide protests earlier this month, Time magazine reports.

The figure, quoted to Time by two unnamed senior officials in the country’s Ministry of Health, is the highest estimated death toll so far. It is far larger than the toll of  3,117 that the Iranian government publicized in recent days.

Time says it is unable to independently verify the figures but that the estimate of 30,000 accords with reports from doctors and other first responders on the ground during the protests.

The magazine reports that, according to the health officials, 30,000 people were killed just between January 8 and 9, in the heat of weeks-long anti-regime protests that spread across the country. Time cites the officials as saying that the country used 18-wheeler trucks instead of ambulances at that time, and ran out of body bags.

Fire breaks out at East Jerusalem UNRWA HQ recently demolished by Israel

A fire has broken out at the East Jerusalem UNRWA headquarters facility that was demolished recently by Israel, the Fire and Rescue Service says in a statement.

The statement says teams have been called in following a report about a blaze that started in the razed site, and are working to contain it and put it out.

Officials are also searching the ruins to rule out the presence of people trapped by the fire.

There is no word about a potential cause.

Israeli official said to slam Witkoff: ‘He’s become a lobbyist for Qatari interests’

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff attends a meeting with Ukrainian officials, November 30, 2025, in Hallandale Beach, Florida. (AP/Terry Renna)

After the Saturday meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US officials Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to discuss the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire, an Israeli official reportedly voices sharp criticism of Witkoff.

According to the Ynet news site, there has been anger in Jerusalem as the White House envoy pressures Israel to open the Rafah Border Crossing between Gaza and Egypt this week, even if Hamas fails to return the remains of Ran Gvili, the last hostage held by the Palestinian terror group.

“We hope Ran Gvili is returned this week and we can go forward,” the unnamed Israeli official is quoted as saying by the outlet, going on to attack Witkoff.

“Witkoff pushed for placing our big rival Turkey on the border. The clock is ticking backwards to the confrontation with Turkey, which will be a tangible danger to our security,” the official is quoted as saying.

“Witkoff has become a lobbyist for Qatari interests,” the official charges.

NYC Council investigating pro-terror event after ToI reporting

Screenshots show items supporting terrorist groups on display at a youth center, in New York City, January 18, 2026. (Screenshot/Instagram)

Lawyers for New York City are investigating an event that sold merchandise in support of terrorist groups, a spokesperson at the New York City Council says.

Vendors sold keychains, stickers and pins in support of US-designated terrorist groups during a fundraiser at the Muslim American Society youth center in Brooklyn last weekend, in an incident first reported by The Times of Israel.

The merchandise had the logos of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and images of the late terrorist leaders Yahya Sinwar of Hamas and Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah.

Other items said “Death to the IDF” and “Let’s go bomb Tel Aviv,” showed PFLP plane hijacker Leila Khaled, or had inverted red triangles, a Hamas symbol.

The New York Post reports that the Muslim American Society’s New York branch has received $265,000 in discretionary funds from the New York City Council since 2023.

A spokesperson for New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin tells The New York Post that the council will block $80,000 in funds to the Muslim American Society pending an investigation by city lawyers, and may ban future funding to the group.

“The City Council has zero tolerance for violations of our standards,” the spokesperson says. “Funding to this organization is being paused pending a comprehensive internal review. Any nonprofit found to be supporting organizations that threaten the United States government is unacceptable and incompatible with City Council funding.”

Syrian government extends ceasefire with Kurdish forces by 15 days

A four-day ceasefire agreement between the Syrian government and Kurdish forces, which expired on Saturday night, has been extended by 15 days, Syria’s defense ministry says.

The extension was decided to support a US operation to transfer Islamic State prisoners from Syria to Iraq, the ministry adds in a statement.