The Times of Israel liveblogged Sunday’s events as they happened.
Hamas said to only send overall number of live 1st-phase hostages; list doesn’t contain ‘surprises’

Hebrew media outlets report, citing unnamed senior Israeli officials, that a list Hamas has sent on the status of the hostages set to be freed in the ongoing first phase of the ceasefire only includes an overall number of captives who are alive rather than a specification regarding each abductee.
However, the sources say the number matches the intelligence Israel has and doesn’t contain “surprises.”
Reports have previously stated Israel believes 25 of the 33 hostages slated for release in the first phase are alive. With seven captives already released alive over the past week, this would mean that 18 of the remaining 26 hostages are alive while eight are dead.
Six of the captives are set to be released by the end of this week — three on Thursday and three on Saturday. The Prime Minister’s Office has said Thursday will see the release of civilian woman Arbel Yehoud, the remaining IDF lookout soldier Agam Berger, and a third unidentified captive.

NBC News has previously said Keith Siegel, 65, a US native, will be released in the coming week, though it’s unclear if this will happen on Thursday or Saturday.
White House: Deadline for IDF withdrawal from Lebanon extended until February 18
The White House announces that the deadline for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon has been extended from Sunday to February 18.
“The Government of Lebanon, the Government of Israel, and the Government of the United States will also begin negotiations for the return of Lebanese prisoners captured after October 7, 2023,” the White House says.
Qatar says Arbel Yehoud, two other hostages will be released before Friday this week
Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Hamas will release civilian hostage Arbel Yehoud before Friday this week, along with two other hostages, following intense negotiations over the past day with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which is believed to be holding her.
It does not name the two other hostages it says will be released along with Yehoud.
It says that the release of the three hostages will not replace the scheduled release of three others on Saturday, as per the terms of the agreement. This means that in total, six hostages will be released in the coming days.
The foreign ministry’s spokesman Dr. Majed Al Ansari says Hamas will also provide information on Saturday about the condition of the hostages scheduled for release during the first phase of the deal — which it had been required to do by the end of the day yesterday but did not.
It says that in return, Israel will open the Netzarim Corridor tomorrow morning to allow displaced Gazans to begin returning home to the north of the Strip.
There is no immediate comment from Israel.
Two killed in shooting at gas station in northern Israel; no terror motive suspected
Two people have been shot to death in a suspected double murder at a gas station near the entrance to the Israeli-Arab town of Zalafa in northern Israel, Hebrew media reports.
Hebrew media reports that a third man was seriously injured and taken to a local hospital. The victims are reportedly all men in their 30s.
Police say the incident is likely criminal in nature, indicating that they do not suspect any terror motive.
Qatari PM says two-state solution is only viable way forward, Doha supports Israel’s right to secure borders

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani tells Israel’s Channel 12 television network that it is impossible to speculate as to the future of the Hamas terror group without looking at the issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at large.
“It needs to be addressed as a whole. The whole issue is to find a sustainable path toward peace and where we can see Israel and Palestinians living side by side peacefully together and giving every assurance that both people will be secure,” he tells Channel 12’s Arad Nir in Paris.
He says Qatar believes the two-state solution to be the only viable way forward.
“Our region is not an easy region. It’s a very complex region. It’s turbulent, there are ancient wars, proxies, state actors, non-state actors and we’ve seen this go on and on…” Al-Thani says. “A two-state solution will be the only way forward [to have] a region that lives in peace together.
Responding to the fact that many Israelis are unwilling to live with the possibility that Hamas remain in charge of the post-war Gaza Strip, Al-Thani says he believes that the future of the Gaza Strip and its government “is a decision for the Palestinians to take,” but acknowledges that “the Israeli people also have the right to assurances of security on their border.”
“This is something we totally understand and will support,” he says.
He rejects accusations that Qatar is a partner to Hamas terrorism, arguing that Doha’s role as a regional mediator requires it to “have an open communication channel with everyone.”
By allowing Hamas’s political leadership to operate out of Doha, he says that Qatar has been able to “resolve conflict, to prevent conflicts from happening.”
Al-Thani also dismisses those who charge that Qatar has funded Hamas’s terror activity in Gaza by funneling money into the Palestinian enclave, and points out that the transfer of cash for humanitarian causes was fully coordinated with and supported by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government.
Since 2018 Qatar periodically provided millions of dollars in cash to pay for fuel for the Strip’s power plant, to pay Hamas’s civil servants and to provide aid to tens of thousands of impoverished families.
“When it comes to the criticism about Qatar and the propaganda around it, it’s unfortunate to see that our role, that we did for the good of the region and the stability of the region, being criticized by short-sighted people, politicians trying to exploit this for their own political advantage,” Al-Thani says.
“Those politicians criticizing our role — what did they do to bring them back?” he asks, referring to the hostages held by Hamas. “What did they do to ensure stability over there [in Gaza]? Besides talking and using us to score something politically.”
Regarding the possibility of future formal diplomatic ties between Doha and Jerusalem, Al-Thani is asked if he thinks he will ever visit Israel.
“It depends on [what] the way forward will be,” he says simply. “There are no conditions. We are talking about peaceful solutions, and whatever it takes to bring peace to the region, we will do it.”
PM holds first call with new US defense secretary Hegseth
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds his first phone call with new US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, his office says.
According to the prime minister, Hegseth expressed his long-standing support for Israel and years of friendship with Netanyahu, and promised that the US “will stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel, with an absolute commitment to its security.”
‘Despicable person’: Sa’ar slams Irish president for using Holocaust Memorial Day speech to criticize Israel
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar slams Irish President Michael D. Higgins for using a speech on International Holocaust Remembrance Day to criticize Israel’s conduct in Gaza.
“Even on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Irish President Michael Higgins failed to rise above himself and resorted to cheap and despicable provocation,” says Sa’ar of the Irish leader’s comments at a Holocaust memorial ceremony appearing to compare it to the war in Gaza.
Sa’ar points out that the “largest murderous attack on Jews since the Holocaust came from the jihadist Gaza Strip.” Nevertheless, he says, Higgins “chose to echo Hamas’s false antisemitic propaganda,” resulting in some Jewish audience members leaving the event in protest and others being forcibly removed.
“What a despicable person,” the foreign minister adds. “What a twisted policy.”
Qatari PM tells Channel 12: Hostage deal framework was ready by Dec. 2023, regrets lives lost by delays

In a sit-down interview with Israel’s Channel 12 television network, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani shares new details of the long months of negotiations that led to a ceasefire-hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.
For over a year, Qatar, along with the US and Egypt, spearheaded efforts to negotiate a deal that would end the fighting in Gaza sparked by the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror onslaught, and enable the release of the 251 hostages seized by the terror group from southern Israel on that day.
The phased ceasefire agreement that began last Sunday and has so far led to the release of seven hostages — three female civilians and four female soldiers — is only the second deal of the 15-month-old war after 105 hostages were released during a week-long truce in November last year.
Asked by Channel 12’s Arad Nir why it took so long for this deal to be finalized, Al-Thani says that it “Wasn’t an easy deal” to negotiate.
“It took us almost 15 months of negotiations, since the collapse of the first deal,” he says. “We had a lot of ups and downs throughout the negotiations, it was a very complicated process.”
“We’ve been saying since the beginning, since October 8, that we need to get this done as soon as possible. We have been through a very long process that has at some times, at many times, been very frustrating for us as mediators,” he recalls.
“What we really feel sad about is that it took [this long] to get to an agreement that we agreed on the framework of back in December 2023,” he says.
“So this is the same agreement that was agreed on then?” asks Nir.
“It’s almost the same,” Al-Thani agrees. “There are some details here and there… Everyone is saying it is the same agreement as May 27… The problem is that with every day we were delayed, we felt a sense of responsibility that [it] was costing a lot of lives, of the Gazans or of the hostages being held in Gaza.”
He says it took “a lot of persistence and hard work” to finalize the deal.
Asked who stands to benefit more from the deal, Hamas or Israel, the Qatari leader says that mediators believed the deal, in its final iteration, was the best way to ensure that the concerns of both sides were met.
“The ideal agreement [for us would be] to stop the war and get all the hostages in one phase and we’d be finished,” he says.
Asked why the deal couldn’t have been formulated that way, Al-Thani says it was prevented by “political requirements,” but does not elaborate further.
He says that the viability of the second stage of the deal, which is to formally start being negotiated on the 16th day of the first phase, depends on both Israel and Hamas. He said he hopes to start engaging with Israel next week on phase two.
“I believe that it’s very important we keep this deal until the last phase, to get everyone back and end the war permanently,” he says.
He says both the Biden Administration and the Trump Administration “played a vital role” in the agreement, and Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff also played a vital role in getting the deal over the finish line.
“The commitment of President Trump to end this was a very important element,” he says.
Asked about Trump’s threats of hell breaking out if there is no deal, he says he does not think it was threatening language that worked, but rather “the commitment … toward a solution.”
‘We will never forget,’ says EU chief ahead of Auschwitz commemoration
Europe has a duty to honor the memories of the victims of the Nazi Holocaust, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen says ahead of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
“Tomorrow marks 80 years since the liberation of the Nazi concentration and extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau,” she writes in a post on X.
“We will never forget the 6 million Jews murdered in cold blood and all the victims of the Holocaust,” she adds.
“As the last survivors fade, it is our duty as Europeans to remember the unspeakable crimes and to honor the memories of the victims.”
In Poland, former prisoners are expected to lay flowers at the Nazi death camp’s Wall of Death on Monday morning, at a ceremony attended by Polish President Andrzej Duda.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Olaf Scholz are both expected, along with Israel’s Education Minister Yoav Kisch.
Report: Islamic Jihad agrees to classify Arbel Yehoud as civilian, not soldier, paving way for release
The Kan public broadcaster reports that Palestinian Islamic Jihad has agreed to classify hostage Arbel Yehoud as a civilian rather than a soldier, paving the way for her release in the coming days.
Israel had demanded Yehoud, a civilian, be returned yesterday but instead, Hamas freed four female soldiers in what Israel called a violation of the ceasefire agreement.
A source in Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which is believed to be holding Yehoud, had told Al Jazeera that the 28-year-old was a soldier and would be “released according to the deal’s terms.”
The terror group has now dropped this claim, Kan reports, following intense negotiations with mediators over the past day.
The report adds that Yehoud will be released before Friday.
Diaspora minister Chikli forced to cancel EU visit due to security threats, PM’s office says
Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli has been forced to cancel a trip to the European Parliament in Brussels due to security threats, the Prime Minister’s Office says.
According to the PMO, the decision was made “in light of concrete warnings, and in accordance with the guidance of security officials.”
Chikli was slated to appear on Wednesday at the European Parliament for an event marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, as well as at an event in the Belgian capital the night before.
Several relatives of hostages asked for his participation to be reconsidered in light of his staunch opposition to the recently signed Gaza ceasefire-hostage release deal.
Eli Albag, Liri’s father, tells those who opposed the deal: ‘I despise you; the people will settle accounts’

Eli Albag, father of freed hostage Liri Albag, praises Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and those members of the coalition and opposition who supported the hostage-ceasefire deal, but denounces those who opposed it and those who voted against it, saying that he despises them and that the nation will “settle accounts” with them.
“I want to thank the citizens of Israel, thanks to whom the hostages are starting to come back,” Albag says, speaking to the press at Rabin Medical Center along with other families of the four hostages freed yesterday. “Don’t rest and don’t be silent until the last of the hostages comes home,” he implores.
He also appeals to Netanyahu and the Israeli leadership to make sure that all the hostages are returned: “I want to say to the prime minister and the members of the government, to the coalition and the opposition, to those who supported the deal, my heart is with you. Stick with the deal until the end.”
However, he goes on, “To the opponents, the people will settle accounts with you. When you saw my daughter and the three other surveillance soldiers emerge, smiling and proud, where were you, those of you who voted against the deal, when the whole of the nation stood and rejoiced?”
Netanyahu, he says, “took a brave stance.” By contrast, “I despise you, those of you who opposed [the deal].”

Albag mourns the loss of the 54 soldiers who fell defending the Nahal Oz base when Hamas attacked on October 7, 2023, and the surveillance soldiers who were killed.
He says his heart is with the families of all the soldiers who have fallen, calling them angels in heaven, and adding: “It is thanks to you that my Liri and all the hostages are coming home.”
Albag also thanks former president Joe Biden, President Donald Trump, Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, President Isaac Herzog and all the negotiators for their work so far.
“The work is not done,” he stresses. “There are 90 more members of my family there.”
“We can’t smile until the last one comes home,” he says.

Albag concludes: “I thank everyone — the people of Israel, my family, my daughters, my son, my wife the fighter — and Liri, [who is] somewhere up there [on a higher floor of the hospital].”
“I don’t know where [she is], but I love you,” he says to Liri.
“And I’m leaving you,” he says to the press, “and going to hug her.”
Levin declares he doesn’t recognize new Supreme Court president, vows to boycott him

Justice Minister Yariv Levin declares he does not recognize the election of Justice Isaac Amit as Supreme Court president, that he will boycott Amit as head of the court, and that he will refuse to cooperate on the essential business of the judiciary requiring the collaboration of the Supreme Court president and the justice minister.
Key appointments within the judiciary, such as presidents of district courts and crucial administrative positions, need the cooperation of the justice minister and the Supreme Court president but would be impossible to make as long as Levin continues to boycott Amit.
In a letter to Israel Courts Administration Judge Tzahi Ouziel who led Sunday’s hearing of the Judicial Selection Committee, Levin describes the process by which Amit was elected as having been conducted “by the authority of High Court orders, through the unlawful expropriation of my authority as chairman of the committee,” and as being “an illegal process, and illegitimate to its foundations.”
The justice minister also protests the vote to appoint Amit owing to recent allegations of misconduct against the justice, specifically that he presided over cases in which he had conflicts of interest.
Levin says that Amit’s appointment without a “thorough examination of all the allegations” was a “moral disgrace and an action in total contravention of proper administration, as well as norms established by the High Court itself in relation to candidates for public office. Amit has said that the allegations ignore key facts which excluded the possibility that he had a conflict of interest in them.
Levin had sought to further delay the appointment of a president to examine the claims against Amit, but the High Court on Friday said the relevant body to do so at present was the Judicial Selection Committee and ordered that the vote be held.
Levin has refused to appoint a new ombudsman for the judiciary who would ordinarily have investigated the allegations against Amit.
“I hereby announce unambiguously that I do not recognize Justice Isaac Amit as head of the Supreme Court, and the processes in which he was ‘elected’ are illegitimate to their foundation, and unlawful,” declares Levin.
Over the course of the last 16 months, Levin has refused to hold a vote for a new Supreme Court president since he wished to install a conservative to the position but lacked the votes on the Judicial Selection Committee to do so.
After nearly a year of such delays, the Supreme Court acting in its capacity as the High Court of Justice, ruled that although Levin as chairman of the committee has some discretion over when to call a vote he could not indefinitely refuse to make the appointment,. It further stated that this would give him a veto of the position which the law never intended to grant the minister.
It ruled in September last year that the appointment must be made “in short order,” then ordered Levin in December to do so by January 16, then in January that ordered him to make the appointment by January 26 after Levin sought more time to clarify the allegations against Amit, and then again this past Friday instructed him that the vote must be held on January 26 despite a new request for a delay.
Families of returned female soldiers thank Trump, envoy Witkoff for bringing loved ones home

The parents and siblings of the four returned hostages, Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Naama Levy and Daniella Gilboa, gather at Beilinson Hospital to share some thoughts about the release of their loved ones — all of them IDF surveillance soldiers abducted from the Nahal Oz outpost — and the ongoing struggle for the remaining 90 hostages in captivity in Gaza.
“There won’t be healing from the trauma until everyone is home,” says Yoni Levy, father of Naama Levy.
All mention Agam Berger, the fifth surveillance soldier, who was not released on Saturday with the others, as well as Arbel Yehoud and Shiri Bibas, the two remaining female captives who are meant to be released in these first stages of the hostage deal.
They all thank President Donald Trump for his role in finalizing the deal.
“If anyone can bring world peace, it’s definitely you,” says Orly Gilboa, mother of Daniella Gilboa, speaking about President Trump. “We are confident you will do whatever it takes to get us there.”
She says that even though Daniella returned from Gaza “thin, pale, and having suffered,” she is still ‘the same wonderful and talented girl she was when they stole her from us.”

The others, Yoni Levy, father of Naama Levy; Eli Albag, father of Liri; and Sasha Ariev, sister of Karina Ariev, praise Trump and his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff for the effort they put into finalizing the hostage deal.
“Dear Mr. Witkoff,” says Sasha Ariev, “your care was felt the whole way, it felt like we are your children.”
IDF: Vehicle with Hezbollah flags approached troops in south Lebanon, was ‘removed’
Earlier today, the IDF says a vehicle with Hezbollah flags approached Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon today.
The vehicle “posed a threat” to the troops, who operated “to remove it,” the military says.
Separately, the IDF says it fired warning shots to disperse dozens of protesters who posed a threat to troops.
At least one of the hostages freed yesterday asked to remain in captivity to be with colleague Agam Berger
At least one of the four female surveillance soldiers who were released by Hamas yesterday asked to be allowed to stay in captivity along with Agam Berger, their colleague who is still held hostage in Gaza, Channel 12 reports.
Berger, 21, is expected to be released in the next group of three hostages, scheduled for Saturday.
Berger, along with the four hostages who were released by Hamas yesterday, was among seven soldiers kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from the IDF’s Nahal Oz post on October 7, 2023, when the group launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, murdering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251 to Gaza.
One of the seven, Noa Marciano, was killed in Hamas captivity and her body was recovered by IDF troops. Another, Ori Megidish, was rescued by the IDF on October 30, 2023.
Fifteen surveillance soldiers were killed at the base, along with dozens of other soldiers.
The hostages released yesterday — Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, and Liri Albag — have told friends and relatives that it was very hard to leave Berger behind in captivity. They have said that they are now “waiting for Agam” and intend to stay with her in the hospital for several days as needed, to give her an envelope of support, the TV report says.
The report says Liri Albag was the last of the four to be told she was being released, and that this was only confirmed to her yesterday morning, shortly before they were freed.

The report says the four did not sleep at all overnight or during the day today, apparently running on adrenaline. Their blood and other tests are normal.
They have not separated from each other, eating and meeting friends and relatives together, the report says.
Family and friends have been told by the psychologists and social workers looking after the four not to press them for information on their captivity, and to let them detail what they went through at their own pace.
Justice Isaac Amit elected as Supreme Court President after months of delays

After an unprecedented 16 months without a permanent Supreme Court president, and in the face of the intense opposition of Justice Minister Yariv Levin, the Judicial Selection Committee elects Justice Isaac Amit to be the head of Israel’s top court.
Amit was elected after a five-hour hearing of the committee during which recent allegations of misconduct against the justice, who has served for the last four months as acting president of the Supreme Court, were heard and debated.
Levin, together with the other coalition representatives of the committee Settlements Minister Orit Strock and Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzhak Kroizer, boycotted the hearing in protest at the High Court of Justice order instructing him to hold a vote after refusing to do so for almost a year and a half.
Recent allegations against Amit that he presided over several cases in which he had conflicts of interest prompted Levin to seek further delays in making the appointment, but the High Court told him the relevant body to review the claims was the Judicial Selection Committee.
Levin did not himself convene today’s hearing despite the court order but appears to have permitted the director of the Israel Courts Administration Judge Tzahi Ouziel, who serves as the secretary of the committee, to convene the committee instead.
Levin says in response that it is “a sad day for democracy, and a sad day for our legal system,” saying Amit would not enjoy the public’s trust, and says he will “not stop working until we fix this disgraceful situation at its foundation.”
Leader of the Opposition Yair Lapid welcomes Amit’s election however, calling it “a victory for democracy and proper administration,” adding that the “unnecessary delay” to the appointment “has caused enormous damage to the rule of law in Israel.”
IDF says it operated against several suspects who ‘posed a threat’ in Gaza today
The IDF says it operated against several threats in the Gaza Strip today.
In southern Gaza, the military says troops eliminated a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s rocket unit after he “posed a threat.”
In central Gaza, the IDF says there were several gatherings of dozens of suspects who approached forces and “posed a threat.” The troops fired warning shots.
In Holocaust day speech, Irish president focuses on ‘horrific loss of life’ in Gaza, sparks protest

Irish President Michael D. Higgins uses his speech at Ireland’s Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony to discuss the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and praises the “long-overdue ceasefire,” in the Palestinian enclave, leading some to walk out of the room in protest.
Higgins says he believes that the ceasefire and hostage release deal has been welcomed by “those in Israel who mourn their loved ones, those who have been waiting for the release of the hostages,” as well as the “thousands searching for relatives in the rubble” of the Gaza Strip.
Appearing to draw a line between the murder of six million Jews during the Holocaust and the war in Gaza, which was sparked by the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror assault in southern Israel, Higgins says: “When wars and conflicts become accepted or presented as seemingly unending, humanity is a loser.”
“War is not the natural condition of humanity. Cooperation is.”
He says that world leaders should be made “acutely aware” of the “complicit actions of silence or the averted gaze of those who, by their indifference, allowed the Holocaust to be planned, prepared and to occur.”
As everyone knew he would, reprehensible troll-doll made Irish president, Michael Higgins, hijacked a Holocaust memorial event and made it about Gaza, even adding in the debunked Gaza famine blood libel. A blood libel at a Holocaust memorial…
He was begged by the tiny Irish… pic.twitter.com/U2Lc4AnABP
— Saul Sadka (@Saul_Sadka) January 26, 2025
Ireland notably maintained an official policy of neutrality throughout the Second World War.
Ireland’s RTE news outlet reports that several protesters stood with their backs facing Higgins throughout his speech, while others left the room in protest of his participation.
Several people, including an Israeli-Irish woman, were forcibly removed from the room as well, the Irish Times reports.
When the plans for Higgins to speak at the ceremony were announced last month, some of Ireland’s Jewish leaders said that he was an “inappropriate” pick for the event, due to his “grave insensitivity to Irish Jews.”
Higgins has repeatedly accused Israel of conflating criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with antisemitism and has rejected accounts from Irish Jews of skyrocketing anti-Jewish sentiment.
Some have accused Higgins of helping fuel antisemitism due to his harsh censure of Israel over the war in Gaza and unwillingness to tackle the issue.
Chair of Arab election campaign for Trump blasts president’s ‘wild’ call to relocate Palestinians

The chairman of a group that lobbied Arab and Muslim Americans to vote for Donald Trump in the recent election comes out strongly against the US president’s call yesterday for Jordan and Egypt to take in Palestinians from war-torn Gaza.
“We categorically reject the president’s suggestion that the Palestinians in Gaza be moved — apparently forcefully — to either Egypt or Jordan,” Arab Americans for Trump chairman Bishara Bahbah tells The Times of Israel.
“What the Palestinians need right now is a continuation of the ceasefire, more aid, a reconstruction plan, and for the Palestinian Authority to take over the Gaza Strip,” he continues.
“We don’t need wildish claims or statements relating to the fate of the Palestinians. The only resolution to the Israel-Palestine question is a two-state solution. Period,” adds Bahbah, who did not provide his organization’s size but insisted that it played a central role in electing Trump and represents a majority of the views of the 3.8 million Arab Americans.
After this story was published, Sam Yono, an Iraqi-American community activist asserted to The Times of Israel that Bahbah “only represents himself, not the Arab-Americans who worked with the Trump campaign in Michigan.”
Asked for his thoughts on Trump’s comments regarding Gaza, Yono acknowledged that he wasn’t particularly familiar with the issue but that he trusted the president’s judgement.
Trump did win a plurality of the Arab and Muslim vote in Michigan, flipping a swing state that former US president Joe Biden won in 2020.
While Trump told reporters yesterday that the relocation of Palestinians that he currently envisions could be temporary, Bahbah doesn’t buy that would be the case. “There is nothing that is temporary.”
“This is not what we voted for as Arab Americans for Trump,” he says.
“He promised us an end to the wars, a lasting peace in the Middle East, which is satisfactory to all parties,” Bahbah continues. “This might be satisfactory to Ben Gvir and Smotrich, but it’s not satisfactory to the Palestinians and the Arabs.”
Asked how the idea Trump raised may have come about, he speculates that Trump saw pictures of Gaza’s devastation and determined that it needed to be “swept from end to end.”
However, Bahbah argues the reconstruction process can be done gradually and that Palestinians need not be forced to leave the Strip in order for it to take place.
He claims that Trump’s advisers are far “more hawkish” than the president and are counseling him accordingly.
“They’re absolutely hawkish to the point where they’ve told me not to talk to them about a two-state solution and to come up with any other alternative. But there is none,” Bahbah asserts.
“The president has said to me that he supports a two-state solution. He has also said that he doesn’t care whether it’s one state or two states, but apparently, some of these advisors are getting to him and putting ideas in his mind,” he adds.
The Arab Americans for Trump chair speculates that pushback from Egypt, Jordan, the PA and the international community will lead to the shelving of that idea.
“But if he doubles down, the Arab world has money to make up for US aid,” Bahbah adds, referring to the massive amounts of aid that Washington provides to Egypt and Jordan that could well be used as leverage to coax them into taking in Palestinians.
PA’s Abbas rejects ‘any projects aimed at displacing’ Palestinians from Gaza
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemns “any projects” to relocate the people of Gaza outside the territory after US President Donald Trump suggested moving them to Egypt and Jordan.
Without naming the US leader, Abbas “expressed strong rejection and condemnation of any projects aimed at displacing our people from the Gaza Strip,” a statement from his office says, adding that the Palestinian people “will not abandon their land and holy sites.”
Lebanese health ministry raises death toll to 22 from Israeli fire in south of country
The Lebanese health ministry says 22 people have been killed and another 124 were wounded by Israeli fire in southern Lebanon since this morning.
The Israeli military says it opened fire on suspects who approached troops and “posed a threat.”
Israel said Friday its forces would remain in south Lebanon beyond today’s deadline for their departure.
Vandals scrawl ‘genocide cuisine’ on Israeli restaurant in NYC
Vandals deface an Israeli restaurant, Miriam, in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, local officials say.
New York City Council member Shahana Hanif, who represents the area, posts an image showing the restaurant with red paint splattered on its door.
“Israel steals culture” and “genocide cuisine,” the graffiti says, according to the image.
I condemn the vandalism at Miriam, a cherished local Park Slope restaurant. This hateful act threatens the safety of our community. My office is in contact with the 78th Precinct and the 5th Avenue BID. We're reaching out to Miriam’s owner. Acts of hate have no place in our city. pic.twitter.com/QxG1HemgO6
— Council Member Shahana Hanif (@CMShahanaHanif) January 26, 2025
Hanif says her office is in contact with police.
Other local officials condemn the vandalism.
“These kind of vile attacks are continuing after the ceasefire agreement,” Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine says on X. “This restaurant, Miriam, is a beloved Middle Eastern venue whose only offense appears to be that the owner is Jewish. Disgusting.”
Democrats MK Gilad Kariv: Israel has ‘no interest’ in sending Gazans to Jordan, Egypt
The Democrats MK Gilad Kariv is one of the first Israeli lawmakers to come out against US President Donald Trump’s call for Egypt and Jordan to take in Palestinians from war-torn Gaza.
“Israel has no interest in this happening, certainly not in relation to Jordan because the stability of the Hashemite Kingdom is a clear security interest of Israel,” Kariv tells 103FM radio.
Jordanian FM firmly rejects Trump’s suggestion that country should take in Gazans
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi says his kingdom firmly rejects any forced displacement of Palestinians, following remarks by US President Donald Trump suggesting Gazans should be sent to Egypt and Jordan.
“Our rejection of the displacement of Palestinians is firm and will not change. Jordan is for Jordanians and Palestine is for Palestinians,” Safadi says in a statement.
Islamic Jihad official says deal reached for release of Arbel Yehud; PM’s office: ‘Talks are ongoing’

A Palestinian Islamic Jihad official tells Reuters that mediators have reached an agreement regarding the release of civilian hostage Arbel Yehud.
The source says that she will be released before the next round of hostage releases on Saturday.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office says that “talks are ongoing” to secure Yehud’s release from Gaza, where she is believed to be held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Israel has said that Hamas’s refusal to release Yehud, a civilian, during yesterday’s hostage release was a violation of the ceasefire deal and therefore it has refused to open up the coastal road in the Netzarim Corridor to allow Gazans to return to the northern part of the Strip, another element of the deal.
Iran arrests 13 Baha’is, accusing them of proselytizing in recent crackdown on banned faith
Iran says it arrested 13 adherents of the banned Baha’i faith, accusing them of proselytizing to children and adolescents, local media reported, drawing condemnation from an international organization representing Baha’is.
A statement yesterday by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ intelligence unit, carried by state media, says the arrests were made in the central city of Isfahan.
It says the 13 arrested “were acting illegally and were indirectly promoting their ideological deviation by exploiting children and adolescents.” It does not elaborate.
The Baha’i International Community, which represents the faith worldwide, says in a statement that the arrested women “were facilitating simple children’s classes – arresting them is the equivalent of arresting people for teaching Sunday school.”
Simin Fahandej, representative of the Baha’i International Community to the UN in Geneva, describes the arrests as a senseless act against innocent women.
Last month a group of UN special rapporteurs expressed serious concern at what they described as a rise in systematic targeting of Baha’i women in Iran, including through arrests, interrogation and enforced disappearances. The Iranian government said in response that Baha’i women faced no restrictions.
The Islamic Republic considers the Baha’i faith a heretical offshoot of Islam.
Its faithful see Baha’i as an independent religion and its more than five million followers are spread across more than 190 countries.
Exiled Baha’i leaders say hundreds of followers have been jailed and executed since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979.
Israel is home to around 12,000 members of the Baha’i faith, and the spiritual and administrative center of the religion is located in the northern Israel cities of Haifa and Acre.
Ahead of UN speech, Herzog visits gravesite of Chabad rebbe in New York

President Isaac Herzog visits the gravesite of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the late leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement, in New York City.
Herzog is in New York for Holocaust Remembrance Day events at the United Nations tomorrow.
Schneerson’s resting place in Queens is a common pilgrimage site for members of the Chabad community, other Jewish and non-Jewish admirers, and political leaders.
Herzog visits with his wife, Michal Herzog, soon after arriving in New York, and leaves a customary prayer note at the gravesite.
Their prayer asks for the “swift return of all the hostages,” the victory and safety of IDF soldiers, the recovery of the wounded, and the return of evacuees to their homes, according to the president’s office.
Chabad Headquarters in New York says the visit is the couple’s first since Herzog took office.
During the visit, Herzog recalls joining his father, former president Chaim Herzog, at Schneerson’s synagogue in Brooklyn more than 50 years ago for the Simchat Torah holiday, Chabad says.
Katz interviews three senior generals for IDF chief position

Defense Minister Israel Katz has interviewed three senior generals he named as candidates for the next IDF chief of staff, his office says.
The candidates are Maj. Gen. Amir Baram, the current deputy chief of staff; Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir, the Defense Ministry director-general; and Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai, the former Ground Forces chief.
Katz told the three generals in separate interviews that the role of chief of staff “is first and foremost to lead an offensive policy of defeating the enemy in all combat theaters.”
The defense minister will choose one of the three candidates “soon, in coordination with the prime minister,” Katz’s office says.
IDF says troops destroyed bomb-making lab in West Bank’s Jenin
The IDF says troops destroyed a bomb-making lab in the West Bank city of Jenin during an ongoing counterterrorism operation there.
Operation Iron Wall was launched in the Jenin area on Tuesday.
Ben Gvir lauds Trump’s call to ‘transfer’ Gazans abroad, says Israel should implement plan now
In a video message, Otzma Yehudit party chairman Itamar Ben Gvir reiterates his support for US President Donald Trump’s proposal to move some of Gaza’s population to Jordan and Egypt, temporarily or permanently.
“I congratulate the president of the United States of America, Donald Trump, on his initiative to transfer residents from Gaza to Egypt and Jordan,” Ben Gvir declares.
“Over the past year, we in Otzma Yehudit have, time and again, called for encouraging voluntary emigration. I think that when the president of the world’s largest power himself raises this idea, then the Israeli government should implement encouraging emigration, now,” the far-right leader adds.
PM thanks Trump for lifting Biden-era hold on shipment of 2,000-lb bombs to Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issues a brief video thanking new US President Donald Trump for lifting a Biden-era hold on sending certain munitions to Israel.
“Thank you President Trump for keeping your promise to give Israel the tools it needs to defend itself, to confront our common enemies and to secure a future of peace and prosperity,” says Netanyahu.
Yesterday Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that after then-president Joe Biden blocked a shipment of 2,000-lb bombs to Israel, “We released them. We released them today. And they’ll have them. They paid for them and they’ve been waiting for them for a long time. They’ve been in storage.”
תודה לך הנשיא טראמפ, על שקיימת את הבטחתך לתת לישראל את הכלים הדרושים לה כדי להגן על עצמה, להילחם באויבינו המשותפים, ולהבטיח עתיד של שלום ושגשוג pic.twitter.com/ZL3UhFrbte
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) January 26, 2025
Islamic Jihad source says nearing breakthrough in negotiations for Arbel Yehud’s release
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad expects a breakthrough regarding negotiations for the release of Israeli civilian Arbel Yehud in the coming hours, a source within the Gazan terror group tells the Qatari-owned Al Jazeera news station.
Israel has accused Hamas of violating the terms of the ceasefire-hostage deal by not releasing Yehud on Saturday and instead releasing four female soldiers. The 28-year-old civilian is held by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and a variety of technical reasons have been cited for Hamas’s failure to release her.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, the PIJ source says the terror group is in contact with mediators to resolve the crisis, and that she may be released prior to the next hostage handover on Saturday.
Pope says ‘horror’ of Holocaust cannot be ‘forgotten or denied’
Pope Francis says during Sunday prayers that the horror of the Holocaust cannot be “forgotten or denied.”
Speaking on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, he calls on the entire world to “work together to eliminate the scourge of antisemitism as well as all forms of religious discrimination and persecution.”
Auschwitz-Birkenau has become the symbol of the murder of six million European Jews by Nazi Germany, one million of whom died on the site between 1940 and 1945, as well as more than 100,000 non-Jews.
On Monday, an official ceremony attended by around 50 survivors and 54 international delegations will mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the camp by Soviet troops.
Smotrich appoints Ilan Rom as new Treasury chief
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich appoints Ilan Rom as the new director-general of the Treasury. Rom will replace Shlomo Heisler.
Heisler informed Smotrich in December that he was resigning for personal reasons and was expected to end his tenure toward the end of January.
“We are appointing a manager with many years of experience in leading and streamlining processes, high management skills and proven experience in leading complex processes and deep structural changes,” said Smotrich.
For the past two and a half years, Rom served as the CEO of the Binyamina Regional Council, where he led changes in the areas of economic development, including the planning and accelerated development of five large industrial areas.
Previously Rom served in the Mossad secret service agency for 25 years and reached a rank equivalent to lieutenant colonel, the ministry said.
Heisler was appointed in January 2023 by Smotrich to lead the Finance Ministry, and oversaw the passing of five state budgets over two years, as well as spearheading tax reform efforts and settling labor disputes between unions.
13 Israelis injured in traffic accident in Laos, Foreign Ministry says
The Foreign Ministry says 13 Israelis have been wounded in a traffic accident in Laos.
The ministry says the crash occurred last night and its embassy in Vietnam has been working “around the clock” to transfer Israeli patients to Thailand for treatment.
According to local media, a bus carrying around 40 foreign nationals crashed between Vientiane and Pakse after veering off the road and hitting a tree.
IDF official says Hezbollah operatives were among those trying to return to south Lebanon

An Israeli military official says hundreds of Lebanese, among them Hezbollah operatives, tried to reach villages in southern Lebanon today while carrying out “provocations.”
The official says the IDF had prepared for civilians attempting to reach the border villages today — the end of the 60-day truce — by which time Israel was supposed to withdraw from south Lebanon.
“The IDF continues to operate, under the directives of the political echelon, in several areas of southern Lebanon,” the official says, noting that per the agreement, Israel does not need to withdraw on day 60 of the ceasefire, but rather only when the Lebanese army deploys to south Lebanon and Hezbollah withdraws to north of the Litani River.
The official says that discussions on extending the ceasefire to allow for the IDF’s gradual withdrawal to be completed are being held between Israeli political officials and the United States, and between the US and Lebanon.
The official says that the hundreds of Lebanese civilians and Hezbollah operatives who tried to reach the south Lebanon villages today are not near the Israeli border currently.
“IDF forces are deployed alongside the Lebanese Armed Forces, to prevent the return of enemy [combatants] and civilians beyond the agreed line,” the official says.
The IDF says troops fired warning shots and opened fire “to remove threats.” Soldiers also detained several suspects.
Lebanese authorities reported 15 dead, including a member of the Lebanese army.
The military official says it is aware of the claims, but the details regarding the killed Lebanese soldier are being looked into.
“The IDF continues to operate per the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon and is following attempts by Hezbollah to return to southern Lebanon,” the official adds.
Report: Polish-Palestinians file complaint against Israeli minister in Poland for Auschwitz liberation event
Several Palestinians with Polish citizenship have filed a complaint with Polish authorities calling for the arrest of Israeli Education Minister Yoav Kisch, who arrived in Poland over the weekend to attend a ceremony tomorrow marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
The complainants assert that Kisch, who served as an IDF fighter pilot during his mandatory IDF service and until his retirement from the reserves in 2016, is responsible for alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip, including the deaths of some of the complainants’ family members.
Kisch responds to the report, saying: “I am in Poland to represent the State of Israel at the ceremony marking 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz. Here, I will emphasize to world leaders our commitment to memory and the lessons of history.”
“The Palestinian attempts to spread lies and distort reality will not deter me from presenting the truth: the State of Israel will continue to defend its citizens against murderous terror and steadfastly fight for its right to security,” he adds.
PM’s office: Macron, Netanyahu discussed Israeli participation in Paris Air Show, situation in Gaza and Lebanon

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke today with French President Emmanuel Macron, his office says.
The Prime Minister’s Office says Macron assured Netanyahu that Israeli companies will be able to take part in the upcoming Paris Air Show slated for June.
The move appears to be an apparent reversal for Macron, who in October 2024 ordered Israeli firms banned from French defense shows, a decision that was then overruled by a French court, after which the government vowed to appeal.
There was no immediate readout of the call from the Elysee Palace, and it was not clear if the change in policy was linked to the current ceasefire in Gaza.
Netanyahu’s office says the pair also discussed a number of issues, including the “developments in Lebanon and Gaza.”
Judicial Selection Committee finally convenes to elect Supreme Court chief; Levin absent

Under contentious circumstances, the Judicial Selection Committee convenes with the election of a new Supreme Court president and vice president the only item on the agenda, after Justice Minister Yariv Levin refused to appoint a new president for almost 16 months.
All three government representatives on the committee, Levin, Settlements Minister Orit Strock, and Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzhak Kroizer, boycott the meeting in protest at the order by the Supreme Court, in its capacity as the High Court of Justice, instructing Levin to finally elect a new court president.
Levin opposes the appointment of Justice Isaac Amit, a liberal, who will likely be elected in the vote. The justice minister has sought since the beginning of his time in office to change the way the Supreme Court president is elected in order to appoint a conservative and take the court in a rightward direction.
The High Court has ordered Levin to convene the committee to elect a new president four times since September, ruling that the minister overstepped his authority in refusing to make the appointment for such an extended period of time.
Levin has nevertheless refused to convene the committee himself despite these orders, the latest of which came on Friday, and is not attending today’s meeting.
He does appear, however, to have allowed the director of the Israel Courts Administration Judge Tzahi Ouziel, who serves as the secretary of the committee, to convene the committee instead, in order to comply with the court’s ruling.
Levin has angrily rejected the authority of the court to order him to call a vote on electing a new president, accusing it of encroaching on his authority as justice minister.
He has also sought to further delay making the appointment in light of a slew of allegations against Amit that he served as a judge on cases in which he had conflicts of interest.
Amit has argued the allegations have ignored key facts regarding each case which excluded the possibility that he had a conflict of interest in them.
The Judicial Selection Committee in its meeting today is expected to review the allegations against Amit before holding a vote. In another fight between Levin and the judiciary, the justice minister has refused to appoint a new ombudsman for the judiciary who would ordinarily have investigated the allegations against Amit, leaving only the Judicial Selection Committee itself to review the accusations.
Levin and other members of the government have vowed to boycott Amit as head of the judiciary in protest at how the High Court has forced a vote to make the appointment.
Lebanese health ministry: Death toll from IDF fire rises to 15; Israeli military says suspects approached troops

The Lebanese health ministry says 15 people have been killed by Israeli fire in southern Lebanon since this morning.
Dozens have also been wounded, according to the ministry.
The Israeli military says it opened fire on suspects approaching troops. Images from a number of locations show protesters carrying Hezbollah flags.
Israel said Friday its forces would remain in south Lebanon beyond today’s deadline for their departure.
A ceasefire signed in late November that ended the 2023-2024 war between Hezbollah and Israel stipulated that Israeli forces would withdraw as the Iran-backed terror group’s weapons and fighters are removed from southern Lebanon and the Lebanese army deploys there.
But Israel said the terms had not been fully enforced by the Lebanese state, meaning Israeli troops would stay beyond today, without saying for how long.
Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, Doron Steinbrecher leave hospital a week after being freed by Hamas

The first three hostages to be released under the current ceasefire deal have been released from the hospital, Sheba Medical Center says.
Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher arrived at the central Israel medical facility a week ago upon being freed by Hamas after more than 15 months in captivity in Gaza.
Iranian hackers broadcast messages in Arabic, Persian songs over loudspeaker system in some kindergartens in Israel
A group of Iranian hackers broke into the loudspeaker and panic button system operated by a private company in a number of kindergartens and educational institutions, Hebrew media reports, without specifying where.
Songs in Persian and messages in Arabic were broadcast to the children and educational workers this morning, the reports say.
The Kan public broadcaster says the systems have now been disconnected from the wider network and the private company responsible for those units said it was taking steps to resolve the issue.
Dozens of Israelis also reported receiving text messages, apparently as part of the same cyberattack.
האקרים ערבים פרצו למערכות חירום המותקנות בגני ילדים ובמוסדות נוספים והשמיעו דרכם מסרים בערבית (ארז דסה). pic.twitter.com/wFwnQkAGKf
— זמן אמת – להתעדכן לפני כולם (@Hilelcohen10) January 26, 2025
Israel reiterates Gazans not permitted to move north until release of hostage Arbel Yehud is resolved

A diplomatic official tells Israeli reporters that Israel will not allow the return of Gazans to the north of the Strip until the release of hostage Arbel Yehud is resolved.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu stands firm on the decision he made not to allow the passage of Gazans northward through the Netzarim Corridor — until the issue of the return of Arbel Yehud is resolved,” the official says, without specifying what that would entail.
Israel had demanded Yehud, a civilian, be among the hostages freed yesterday, but instead Hamas freed four female IDF soldiers. Israel called the decision a violation of the ceasefire and has refused in turn to open the coastal road heading to north Gaza, where thousands of people have gathered today waiting to return home.

Earlier today, Hamas issued a statement saying that Yehud is alive and claimed that it had given “all the necessary guarantees for her release.” Last night the Prime Minister’s Office said Israel had not received any video proof from Hamas that Yehud was alive.
Israel has yet to publicly comment on the other Hamas violation of the deal — its failure to hand over a list stating which of the remaining hostages slated to be released in the first 42-day stage are still alive.
Lebanese health ministry: 11 killed, over 80 wounded by IDF fire in south Lebanon

The Lebanese health ministry says 11 people have been killed and some 83 have been wounded by IDF fire in southern Lebanon since this morning.
The Israeli military says it opened fire on suspects approaching troops, who are still deployed in southern Lebanon.
Israeli forces had been set to withdraw today from south Lebanon, but Israel said the terms of the ceasefire with Hezbollah had not been fully enforced by the Lebanese state, meaning Israeli troops would remain for an unspecified length of time.
IDF says it carried out drone strike near Nablus ‘to disperse a gathering in which there were gunmen’
The IDF says it carried out a drone strike in the Balata camp near the West Bank city of Nablus a short while ago.
The strike was intended to “disperse a gathering in which there were gunmen,” the military says.
UN: Conditions ‘not yet in place for safe return’ of Lebanese citizens to border villages

Residents cannot yet safely return to border areas in southern Lebanon, the UN says, after the Israel Defense Forces said troops opened fire at civilians and Hezbollah supporters trying to return to villages the Israeli military had not withdrawn from.
Lebanese officials have said four people have been killed, including a soldier, and more than 30 have been wounded by the Israeli fire.
“As seen tragically this morning, conditions are not yet in place for the safe return of citizens to their villages along the Blue Line,” Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon says in a joint statement with the head of the UN’s peacekeeping mission.
A ceasefire signed in late November that ended the 2023-2024 war between Hezbollah and Israel, sparked by the terror group, stipulated that Israeli forces would withdraw today as the Iran-backed terror group’s weapons and fighters are removed from southern Lebanon and the Lebanese army deploys.
But Israel said the terms had not been fully enforced by the Lebanese state, meaning Israeli troops would stay beyond today, without saying for how long.
IDF confirms troops opened fire as Lebanese civilians, Hezbollah supporters tried to reach villages where troops were deployed

The IDF confirms troops opened fire in southern Lebanon earlier today as Lebanese civilians and Hezbollah supporters tried to reach villages where the Israeli military is still deployed.
According to the military, troops fired both warning shots and opened fire to “remove threats” in several areas where suspects approached forces.
Lebanese officials have said four people have been killed, including a soldier, and more than 30 have been wounded by the Israeli fire.
Several suspects were detained after they approached an area where troops were operating and posed an “imminent threat,” the IDF says. They are now being questioned.
“The IDF remains deployed in southern Lebanon, continues to operate in accordance with the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon, and is monitoring Hezbollah’s attempts to return to southern Lebanon. The IDF will operate against any threat posed to IDF troops and the State of Israel,” the military adds, with no mention of the Lebanese soldier.
Lebanese army says soldier shot dead by Israeli military in south Lebanon; no comment from IDF
The Lebanese army says a soldier was shot dead and another was wounded by the Israeli military in southern Lebanon.
In a statement, the Lebanese Armed Forces says the soldier was killed on the Marwahin-Dhayra-Tyre road, while the wounded soldier was hit in the town of Mays al-Jabal.
The IDF has not yet commented.
In all, at least four people have been killed by Israeli fire in southern Lebanon today, according to Lebanese media and officials.
Hamas formally says hostage Arbel Yehud is alive, it ‘gave all necessary guarantees’ for her release

Hamas in an official statement says it has informed mediators that Israeli civilian hostage Arbel Yehud is alive “and gave all the necessary guarantees for her release.”
Israel has said it will not allow displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza until Yehud’s release is arranged, after she was supposed to have been freed over the weekend.
Hamas says it is discussing with the mediators Israel’s refusal to allow Palestinians to return to north Gaza, saying Israel’s actions “constitute a violation and breach of the ceasefire agreement.”
“The occupation (Israel) is stalling under the pretext of captive Arbel Yehud, even though the movement informed mediators that she is alive and gave all the necessary guarantees for her release,” the terror group says.
Hamas says it holds Israel “responsible for obstructing the implementation of the agreement,” and is working with the mediators to “reach a solution that leads to the return of the displaced” to northern Gaza.
Lebanon calls on civilians to ‘exercise self-restraint’ as they try to return to villages despite IDF presence

The Lebanese army calls on civilians to “exercise self-restraint” and follow its instructions as people begin to return to villages in south Lebanon, despite the IDF presence there.
In a statement, the Lebanese Armed Forces says it is accompanying civilians entering several villages in south Lebanon, “amid the Israeli enemy’s persistence in violating Lebanon’s sovereignty, its attacks on citizens, causing martyrs and wounded among them, and its refusal to abide by the ceasefire agreement and withdraw from the Lebanese territories it occupied.”
تواكب وحدات من الجيش دخول المواطنين إلى بلدات: عيتا الشعب – بنت جبيل، ودير سريان، عدشيت القصير، الطيبة، القنطرة – مرجعيون، إضافة إلى مناطق حدودية أخرى، وسط إمعان العدو الإسرائيلي في خرق سيادة لبنان، واعتدائه على المواطنين موقعًا بينهم شهداء وجرحى، ورفضه الالتزام باتفاق وقف إطلاق… pic.twitter.com/YuG7Jgfl8N
— الجيش اللبناني (@LebarmyOfficial) January 26, 2025
Health Ministry urges: Respect privacy of released hostages

The Health Ministry says that medical teams and professionals at Rabin Medical Center are “fully prepared” to provide comprehensive medical care, including psychological support, to the four hostages — Karina Ariev, 20, Daniella Gilboa, 20, Naama Levy, 20, and Liri Albag, 19 — released yesterday after 477 days of Hamas captivity in Gaza.
The ministry urges the public to respect their privacy as well as that of their families, which they say is “essential” for their transition from captivity to recovery and rehabilitation.
Sa’ar thanks Trump for lifting hold on delivery of certain munitions to Israel

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar thanks US President Donald Trump for lifting a Biden-era decision to block certain munitions from Israel.
“Thank you President Trump for yet another display of leadership by releasing the crucial defense shipment to Israel,” writes Sa’ar. “The region is safer when Israel has what it needs to defend itself.”
Yesterday Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that “we released them. We released them today. And they’ll have them. They paid for them and they’ve been waiting for them for a long time. They’ve been in storage.”
Thousands of Palestinians gather on Gaza coastal road, waiting to return to Strip’s north

Thousands of Palestinians are gathered on the coastal road in central Gaza, waiting to return to the Strip’s north, Palestinian media footage shows.
Under the deal, the IDF was to withdraw from part of the Netzarim Corridor, which bisects the Strip, and allow Palestinians to return to northern Gaza.
But Israel has said it will not allow Gazans to reach the north of the Strip until Hamas “arranges” the release of civilian Arbel Yehud, who was supposed to be freed over the weekend.
Additionally, Hamas has failed to provide a list of which hostages who are set to be freed in this stage of the ceasefire are alive.
The IDF has warned Palestinians against returning to the northern Gaza Strip from its south via the Netzarim Corridor, where troops are still deployed.
مشاهد جوية
الاف النازحين يتجمعون منذ يوم امس في مشهد كبير على شارع الرشيد حيث يصطفون بالسيارات ويفترشون الطرقات بالقرب من الشريط الساحلي على مقربة من محور نتساريم ينتظرون بلهفة وشوق العودة الى منازلهم شمال قطاع غزة pic.twitter.com/vghGSLALfw— حسن اصليح | Hassan (@hassaneslayeh) January 26, 2025
Yad Vashem chair responds to Musk: Failing to acknowledge Germany’s past is a clear danger to its democratic future

Dani Dayan, chair of Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, comes out against Elon Musk’s comment yesterday that there is “too much focus on past guilt” in Germany.
“Contrary to Elon Musk’s advice, the remembrance and acknowledgement of the dark past of the country and its people should be central in shaping the German society,” Dayan writes on X.
“Failing to do so is an insult to the victims of Nazism and a clear danger to the democratic future of Germany,” Dayan writes.
Addressing a rally for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Musk said he believed “there is too much focus on past guilt [in Germany], and we need to move beyond that.”
“Children should not feel guilty for the sins of their parents — their great-grandparents even,” Musk added, referring to World War II and the Holocaust.
Musk’s comments came days after he was accused of making a Nazi salute at an event celebrating US President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a message of support for Musk, saying he was “being falsely smeared.” Shortly afterward, Musk posted a series of Nazi jokes on X.
Tomorrow is International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Elon Musk tells an AfD rally in Germany: "I think there is too much focus on past guilt (in Germany), and we need to move beyond that. Children should not feel guilty for the sins of their parents – their great grandparents even" pic.twitter.com/xtFMfAYrIp
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) January 25, 2025
Hamas, Islamic Jihad terror groups oppose Trump’s proposal for Jordan, Egypt to take in Gazans

A senior Hamas official tells AFP that the Palestinian terror group opposes US President Donald Trump’s idea to relocate Gazans to Egypt and Jordan to “just clean out” the war-torn area and create a virtual clean slate.
“As they have foiled every plan for displacement and alternative homelands over the decades, our people will also foil such projects,” says Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, referring to Trump’s comments.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group also condemns Trump’s idea, calling it an encouragement of “war crimes.”
Describing Trump’s idea as “deplorable,” the terror group states: “This proposal falls within the framework of encouraging war crimes and crimes against humanity by forcing our people to leave their land.”
Trump said yesterday he’d like to see Jordan, Egypt and other Arab nations increase the number of Palestinian refugees they are accepting from the Gaza Strip.
The proposal has to date been a red line for Arab states, particularly Jordan and Egypt, which have viewed the mass migration of Palestinians to their countries as a potential existential threat. They have pointed to Israel’s refusal to publicly commit to allowing any Palestinians who leave the Strip to later return, and don’t want to be seen as complicit in an exile of Palestinians.
Syria says authorities seized weapons shipment heading to Hezbollah in Lebanon
Syrian authorities seized a shipment of weapons heading to the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon, the official SANA news agency says.
According to SANA, the shipment was heading to Hezbollah via smuggling routes on the Lebanon-Syria border, in the area of the border city of Sarghaya.
Images show several assault rifles, RPG launchers, and ammunition.
Earlier this month, Syrian authorities said they captured a shipment of rifles, Iranian-made drones, and other weapons that was heading to Hezbollah.
3 killed, some 31 injured by Israeli fire in south Lebanon — Lebanese health ministry

The Lebanese health ministry reports that three people have been killed and some 31 have been injured by Israeli fire in southern Lebanon.
The IDF had warned Lebanese civilians over the weekend not to approach areas where troops are still deployed.
Israel said Friday its forces would remain in south Lebanon beyond today’s deadline for their departure.
A ceasefire signed in late November that ended the 2023-2024 war between Hezbollah and Israel stipulated that Israeli forces would withdraw as the Iran-backed terror group’s weapons and fighters are removed from southern Lebanon and the Lebanese army deploys.
But Israel said the terms had not been fully enforced by the Lebanese state, meaning Israeli troops would stay beyond today, without saying for how long.
With Judicial Selection Committee to vote on Supreme Court chief, Likud minister says ‘dictatorship is here’

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi claims that “the dictatorship is here” as the Judicial Selection Committee is set to meet to select a Supreme Court chief justice.
The Likud minister says the meeting is being held as a result of “legal bullying,” citing allegations against the leading candidate, liberal acting Chief Justice Isaac Amit.
The High Court on Friday ordered Justice Minister Yariv Levin to convene the committee.
Adhering to the court order, the committee’s secretariat announced that members would convene at 2:30 p.m. today.
Levin has resisted filling the position for 15 months since the previous chief justice retired. Under the so-called seniority method, Amit, the longest-serving justice, is all but certain to be confirmed, and Levin does not have the votes in the Judicial Selection Committee to get a conservative candidate confirmed instead.
For his part, Levin intends to boycott the meeting.
Smotrich says Trump’s plan to move Gazans ‘excellent,’ will seek to advance it

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also welcomes the notion of removing Palestinians from Gaza, as floated by Trump.
“After 76 years during which the majority of Gaza’s population has been forcibly kept in harsh conditions to preserve the aspiration of destroying the State of Israel, the idea of helping them find other places to start new, better lives is an excellent idea,” he says in a statement.
“For years, politicians have proposed impractical solutions like dividing the land and establishing a Palestinian state, which endangered the existence and security of the world’s only Jewish state, leading only to bloodshed and suffering for many. Only out-of-the-box thinking and new solutions will bring about peace and security,” he adds.
“With God’s help, I will work with the prime minister and the cabinet to develop an operational plan to implement this as soon as possible.”
One killed, 10 wounded by Israeli fire in southern Lebanon’s Houla — Lebanese media
One person has been killed by Israeli fire in the southern Lebanon village of Houla, Lebanese media report.
The reports say that at least 10 others were wounded while trying to approach villages in south Lebanon, where the IDF is still deployed.
Footage posted by Lebanese media show people approaching Israeli military vehicles while carrying Hezbollah flags and photos of the terror group’s late leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in September.
ערוץ אל-ג'זירה מדווח על עשרה נפגעים מירי צה"ל בכפרים בדרום לבנון הבוקר. אגב, לפי שעה, זה נראה כמו יותר ניסיונות להראות למצלמות שהם חוזרים לבתיהם מאשר חזרה אמיתית לבתיהם. בעיקר למצלמות של הערוצים המזוהים עם חיזבאללה https://t.co/FGXMNjSzSl pic.twitter.com/b6tKaXbEbM
— roi kais • روعي كايس • רועי קייס (@kaisos1987) January 26, 2025
لبناني يحمل صورة الأمين العام الشهيد حسن نصرالله قرب الدبابة الإسرائيلية بعد عودته إلى قريته في جنوب لبنان pic.twitter.com/ufu7of2EoY
— فلسطين بوست (@PalpostN) January 26, 2025
Defense minister to interview the three candidates for next IDF chief

Defense Minister Israel Katz will today interview the three candidates for next IDF chief of staff, his office says.
They are Maj. Gen. Amir Baram, the current deputy chief of staff; Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir, the Defense Ministry director-general; and Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai, the former Ground Forces chief.
Current IDF chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi has said he will be resigning on March 6 over the military failures relating to the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023.
PM’s office says ‘significant efforts’ being made to address Hamas violations
The Hostages Directorate in the Prime Minister’s Office says it updated the families of captives this morning that Hamas committed two breaches of the ceasefire agreement yesterday: “Arbel Yehud has not yet been released, and the list detailing the condition of the hostages for phase 1 has not yet been submitted.”
It says that, as a result, “it has been decided that the passage of Gazans to northern Gaza will not be approved.”
At the same time, “significant efforts are being made with the US and mediators to facilitate Arbel’s return.”
The directorate notes, “It was anticipated that Hamas would create obstacles and continue psychological warfare maneuvers on the way to implementing the agreement. We are determined to secure the return of all hostages, both the living and the fallen. We will provide additional updates as much as possible.”
Lebanese media: IDF fire injures several as residents try to return to southern villages
Lebanese media report that several people were wounded by Israeli fire after they attempted to return to villages in southern Lebanon.
Two Lebanese men were also detained by IDF troops in Houla, the reports add.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
The IDF had warned Lebanese civilians over the weekend not to approach areas where troops are still deployed.
Israel has stayed in south Lebanon beyond the 60 days of the ceasefire deal, saying that the Lebanese army has not been deploying fast enough as per the ceasefire agreement.
بالفيديو.. الجيش الإسرائيلي يعتقل شابين من بلدة #حولا pic.twitter.com/aogRcFUSVu
— هنا لبنان (@thisislebnews) January 26, 2025
Ben Gvir lauds Trump’s suggestion to move Gazans: ‘Promote emigration now!’
Far-right Otzma Yehudit party leader Itamar Ben Gvir welcomes US President Donald Trump’s proposal to move some of Gaza’s population to Jordan and Egypt, temporarily or permanently.
“I commend US President Trump for the initiative to transfer residents from Gaza to Jordan and Egypt,” Ben Gvir writes on X.
“One of our demands from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to promote voluntary emigration. When the president of the world’s greatest superpower, Trump, personally brings up this idea, it is worth the Israeli government implementing it — promote emigration now!
Hamas has failed to provide Israel list with status of hostages to be freed
The Hamas terror group violated the Gaza ceasefire agreement a second time tonight, when it failed to provide Israel with a list detailing the status of the hostages set to be released throughout the remainder of the first phase.
Seven hostages of 33 have been released so far as part of the deal, in exchange for around 300 Palestinian security prisoners. According to the terms of the agreement, the Palestinian terror group was meant to let Israel know by the end of Saturday which of the remaining 26 hostages on the list, all of whom fall into the so-called “humanitarian” category of women, children, elderly individuals, and the infirm, are alive.
Senior Israeli officials quoted by Hebrew media sites confirmed that Jerusalem has not received the update, and that failure to provide it was a violation of the accord.
Earlier Saturday, Israel said that it would hold off on allowing displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza after it said Hamas violated the terms of the ceasefire-hostage deal by not freeing female civilian captive Arbel Yehud.
Hamas freed four female soldiers held hostage by Hamas for 477 days — Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag — despite the deal stipulating that all living civilian women would be freed before the soldiers.
Report: Exiled Palestinian prisoners released under Gaza truce deal arrive in Qatar
A group of Palestinian prisoners have arrived in Qatar after they were released by Israel yesterday and delivered to Egypt via Gaza’s Rafah Border crossing as part of the ceasefire deal with Hamas, Arabic media reports.
The prisoners, who had been serving life sentences for terror attacks that killed dozens of people, were greeted in Qatar by delegations of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad officials, the Qatari Al-Araby Al-Jadeed news outlet reports.
In total, 70 of the 200 Palestinian security prisoners released yesterday were deported abroad, while the others were returned to the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
Trump says Jordan, Egypt should take in more Palestinians from Gaza
US President Donald Trump says that Jordan and Egypt should take more Palestinians from Gaza, where Israel’s war against Hamas has caused a humanitarian crisis.
“I said to him I’d love you to take on more because I’m looking at the whole Gaza strip right now and it’s a mess, it’s a real mess. I’d like him to take people,” Trump says about his call with Jordan’s King Abdullah.
“I’d like Egypt to take people,” Trump tells reporters, adding he would speak to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday. “You’re talking about, probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say, ‘You know it’s, over.’”
He says of such a mass movement of Palestinians, “it could be temporary or long term,” adding that the area of the world that encompasses Gaza, “over centuries” has “had many, many conflicts.”
Jordan and Egypt have long rejected this option, and the previous administration under former president Joe Biden had accepted their refusal.
IDF tells Gazans not to return to north until ‘Hamas breach’ of hostage deal is resolved
The IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee warns Gazans against returning to the northern Gaza Strip from the south via the Netzarim Corridor, where troops are still deployed.
He says that the delay in reopening the route is due to “Hamas’s breach of the ceasefire agreement.”
The Prime Minister’s Office said yesterday that Israel will not allow Palestinians to return to the northern Gaza Strip until Hamas arranges the release of female civilian hostage Arbel Yehud.
According to Israel, Hamas has violated the deal by releasing female hostage soldiers before the living civilian women.
Adraee says on X that the Netzarim Corridor will not be reopened “until the release of Israeli civilian Arbel Yehud has been settled between the mediators and Israel.”
He warns Gazan civilians to follow the instructions issued by the IDF in order to keep themselves safe.
#عاجل ‼️إعلان عاجل إلى سكان قطاع غزة
🔴في ضوء خرق اتفاق وقف إطلاق النار من قبل حماس وبهدف منع الاحتكاكات وسوء الفهم:
⭕️كافة التعليمات القائمة لا تزال سارية المفعول وبالأخص حظر الاقتراب إلى محور نتساريم حتى الإعلان عن فتحه
⭕️محور نتساريم لن يفتح للانتقال حتى تسوية تحرير المواطنة… pic.twitter.com/otHYwapCtI— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) January 25, 2025
US State Department stresses ‘critical’ need for hostage deal to be implemented in full

The US State Department calls for the full implementation of the hostage deal, amid persistent calls from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners for Israel to return to fighting after the first stage.
“It is critical that the ceasefire implementation continues and that all of the hostages are freed from Hamas captivity and safely returned to their families,” the State Department says in a statement welcoming the release of the four Israeli hostages today.
“We continue to mourn the innocent lives lost at the hands of Hamas terrorism since October 7, 2023,” the statement adds, appearing to place all responsibility on the terror group for those killed in the war – an apparent change from the Biden administration, which also held Israel responsible for the deaths of Palestinian civilians in the fighting, arguing that Jerusalem needed to do more to prevent those deaths.
The United States celebrates the release of the four Israeli hostages held in captivity for 477 days.
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