Jan. 31: Nir Oz community holds its final hostage rally, after 120 weekly protests

Footage from fatal shooting in Lod shows black-clad man cocking rifle in broad daylight

Footage emerges from a fatal shooting earlier today that shows a man cocking his rifle in broad daylight in downtown Lod, before opening fire on three people in their car.

The shooting, which left one man dead and two others injured, is thought to have been spurred on by a blood feud between two families in the city, police say.

The slain man, 25-year-old Omar Taysir al-Shamali, was suspected of having shot and injured someone earlier this week as part of the same conflict, Ynet reports.

The shooting was preceded by a high-speed pursuit through the city’s downtown, in which the gunman, dressed entirely in black, is seen leaning outside the car’s window and shooting at another vehicle.

רצח לאור יום בלוד: אדם נורה למוות ועוד שניים נפצעו – אחד מהם במצב קשה. זהו הנרצח ה-27 בחברה הערבית מאז תחילת 2026 | תיעוד@hadasgrinberg
צילום: לפי סעיף 27 א' לחוק זכויות יוצרים pic.twitter.com/YBTNjN4F0Z

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) January 31, 2026

The fleeing car then crashed just two blocks away from the police station, allowing the armed man to approach the vehicle and open fire on the three men inside.

Shamali was killed on the spot, while the other two passengers, both his family members, were taken to the hospital to be treated for serious and mild injuries, respectively, according to the Magen David Adom emergency service.

Officers are investigating the shooting and currently conducting a “manhunt against the suspects in the act,” police say. No suspects have yet been arrested.

Shamali is the 27th Arab citizen to be killed violently in crime-related circumstances since the start of the year. He was shot dead as thousands of demonstrators convened in Tel Aviv for a protest against the violent crime besetting Israel’s Arab minority.

توثيق لجريمة القتل في مدينة اللد يظهر مطاردة مركبة استقلها الجناة لمركبة الضحية التي تدهورت واصطدمت بالقرب من مفترق بالمكان، ثم قام أحد الجناة بالترجل نحوها وإطلاق النار على من بداخلها

التفاصيل: https://t.co/h8WNhlPEt1 pic.twitter.com/dwsHACkEwN

— موقع عرب 48 (@arab48website) January 31, 2026

Trump: Iran ‘talking to us, and we’ll see if we can do something’

US President Donald Trump speaks before signing executive orders in the Oval Office in the White House in Washington, DC, on January 30, 2026. (Annabelle GORDON / AFP)

US President Donald Trump says Iran is “talking to” the United States, even as the Islamic Republic’s army chief warned Washington against launching military strikes.

“(Iran is) talking to us, and we’ll see if we can do something, otherwise we’ll see what happens…We have a big fleet heading out there,” he tells Fox News.

Ayman Odeh to ToI: Mixed Arab-Jewish protest over crime can be ‘turning point’

Thousands of people attend a protest against violent crime affecting the Arab community, in Tel Aviv on January 31, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Hadash-Ta’al chairman Ayman Odeh says that tonight’s massive anti-crime protest in Tel Aviv must serve as a “turning point” to unite Jewish and Arab Israelis.

“This should be a turning point, another important building block for the common struggles of Jewish and Arab society,” he tells The Times of Israel while picking up trash left in Habima Square after the demonstration.

The protest was organized by Arab leadership to demand that law enforcement curb violent crime in the community. Thousands of Jewish Israelis, many of them regular anti-government protesters, also took part.

Odeh says the demonstration could mark the start of Arab participation in protests against Israel’s current right-wing government.

“It is also an opportunity to call on Arab citizens to partake in protests against the coup,” referring to the judicial overhaul, and more broadly, the policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition. “This is a common struggle for all of us.”

Settlers said to chop down, burn olive trees in Palestinian village as it’s raided by IDF

Settlers chop down and set fire to olive trees in the Palestinian village of Turmus Ayya, north of Ramallah in the central West Bank, Palestinian media reports.

Unclear footage published by Palestinian outlets, reportedly from the area, shows flames flickering from afar in the dark.

مشهد يوثق إحراق المستوطنين لأشجار زيتون، في سهل بلدة ترمسعيا، شمال رام الله. pic.twitter.com/gwfwayzrvH

— القسطل الإخباري (@AlQastalps) January 31, 2026

WAFA, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency, says the arson took place in the village’s eastern plain while the IDF carried out a raid on the village’s western outskirts. No arrests are reported.

Separately, WAFA reports two minors wounded by IDF gunfire during clashes with the military in nearby Jalazon earlier this evening. According to the report, a 15-year-old was shot in the leg, and a 16-year-old suffered shrapnel wounds in his shoulder.

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

Nir Oz community holds its final hostage rally, after 120 weekly protests

Former hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen with two of his daughters at the final Kibbutz Nir Oz rally on January 31, 2026 (Uriel Even Sapir/Hostages Forum)

The Kibbutz Nir Oz community in Karmei Gat, where kibbutz members have been living for the last two years since October 7 — when one in four Nir Oz members was killed or abducted — holds its final Saturday night rally after the burial of Ran Gvili, the fallen police officer who was the remaining hostage in Gaza.

The Nir Oz community held Saturday night rallies for 120 weeks, says Renana Gome, whose two teenage sons were taken captive and released 52 days later, in November 2023. The father of her children, Yair Yaakov, was killed and his body taken captive and then released.

Gome takes note of the presence of Maj. Ben. (Res.) Nitzan Alon, who served as the IDF’s point man on hostage negotiations, and is present at the rally.

Other speakers include David Cunio and Ariel Cunio, two brothers from Nir Oz, who were released on October 13, 2025. Ariel Cunio’s girlfriend, Arbel Yehoud, was released from captivity in January 2025, and David Cunio’s wife and daughters, Sharon Aloni Cunio, Emma and Yuli Cunio, were released in November 2023.

Ariel Cunio thanks all those who rallied and protested, including the Nir Oz community.

“You are our home even when there is no longer a physical home.”

Only six homes were left standing in the kibbutz after the devastation of the October 7 Hamas attack. Cunio says that his home with Yehoud is gone, and that they are facing a long road of recovery.

“A path of relearning how to live without fear, how to sleep peacefully, how to build a future after the world has collapsed and the ground has been pulled out from beneath us.

Cunio adds that it seems to him that all of Israel is standing at the beginning of a process of recovery.

“And just as we will need to rebuild our home, the State of Israel also needs to be rebuilt, not only physically, but with mutual responsibility, compassion and the courage to choose together a path of repair,” he says.

His brother, David Cunio, thanks the army, the security forces and “our amazing nation,” says the elder Cunio brother. “We knew from the darkness that you were out there and it helped us hold on. We’ll never have enough words to thank you, you didn’t give up on us for a moment.”

Another Nir Oz family member, Noam Peri, whose father, Haim Peri, 80, was killed in Hamas captivity, offers a fierce condemnation of the government, asking the forgiveness of those from the kibbutz who were killed, for being abandoned by the government.

“You were abandoned on that Shabbat, and we’re still in the hands of the government that abandoned you,” says Peri. “Tens of citizens killed isn’t the price that should be paid during a war. Tens of hostages, mostly citizens who were taken, survived long weeks, despite a government policy that preferred military pressure to a deal. This policy that goes against everything that the state stands for, we have to fix that.”

Qatari PM meets Iran’s Larijani in Tehran, discusses easing regional tensions

Qatar's Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani speaks during the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos on January 20, 2026. (Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani met with top Iranian security official Ali Larijani in Tehran and reviewed efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region, Qatar’s foreign ministry said on Saturday in a statement.

Likud accuses ‘deep state’ of trying to topple Netanyahu

Activists protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside the District Court in Tel Aviv, where he was supposed to testify in his trial, December 23, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party issues a statement accusing the “deep state” of working to bring down the prime minister, accusing elements in the Israel Police, the State Attorney’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office of being involved.

“This witch hunt is intended to intimidate and instill fear among government ministers, Knesset members and senior officials, by creating a tightening noose around those close to the prime minister,” the Likud statement alleges.

The party’s accusations allude but do not directly reference ongoing investigations against a number of figures close to Netanyahu, including his chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, his aides Jonatan Urich and Eli Feldstein, as well as the criminal probe of Social Equality Minister May Golan.

The statement cites Judge Menachem Mizrahi of the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court — who has repeatedly ruled in favor of lifting restrictions on the premier’s aides, only to be overturned by a higher court – as saying that the case against them is like “flying camels.”

“All of this is done with the intention of preventing a democratically elected government from carrying out its duties, smearing it, and attempting to shorten its tenure through improper and unlawful means,” the statement adds.

Iran’s president: War wouldn’t be in interests of US, Iran, or the region

In this handout picture provided by Iranian presidency, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian (L), accompanied by Hasan Khomeni (R), the grandson of late supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and cabinet members, visit of the tomb of Khomeini, in Tehran on January 31, 2026, ahead of the 47th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. (Photo by Handout / Iranian Presidency / AFP)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says he told his Egyptian counterpart that Tehran is not seeking a conflict with the United States and any clash will do neither side any good.

According to a statement from the Iranian presidency, Pezeshkian held a call with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a Washington ally who has been invited to join US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace.”

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has never sought, and in no way seeks, war and it is firmly convinced that a war would be in the interest of neither Iran, nor the United States, nor the region,” he said.

US envoy: Trump respects Israel’s sovereignty, but is against PM’s prosecution

US President Donald Trump (R) shakes hands with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he listens to a question from a reporter at the end of a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, December 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The ongoing trial against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is very similar to the judicial difficulties faced by US President Donald Trump, according to US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.

Asked about his decision to attend a hearing last July during an interview with Channel 12, Huckabee says that while the US does not intend to interfere with the court, it does take a position about the trial.

“Americans are as blunt as Israelis when it comes to expressing ourselves,” the ambassador says. “Yeah, I think we were taking a position, but it was not a position in challenging the integrity of the Supreme Court, but it was recognizing that what was happening sure mirrored a whole lot of what we saw in the United States going against President Trump.”

Huckabee tells Channel 12 the embassy has not been in contact with President Isaac Herzog about whether he should grant a pardon to Netanyahu, and assures that Trump respects Israel as a sovereign nation with its own judicial system.

Asked whether Trump will try to openly support Netanyahu in the upcoming election that is set to take place in October 2026 at the latest, the ambassador says it won’t happen.

“I don’t think the President is going to get involved in the elections,” he noted.

At the same time, Huckabee says that Trump might visit Israel in May, when he will be awarded the prestigious Israel Prize.

Huckabee predicts Turkey won’t get F-35s, no role in governing postwar Gaza

US President Donald Trump, right, shakes the hand of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House, September 25, 2025, in Washington, DC. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Turkey is not going to be able to buy US F-35 strike fighters, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee says, despite what US President Donald Trump declared earlier this month.

In an interview with Channel 12, Huckabee explains that Israel and Turkey are not on equal footing as US allies.

“Anyone to think that there’s an equality here, that it’s friend A, friend B, it’s not like that at all,” he says.

“[Turkey] is not going to get them,” he says. “It has to go to the Senate, and it’s not likely to happen. And also, Turkey, by law, would not be able to get them unless they made major changes in the hardware that they have from Russia.”

The ambassador also says that Turkey and Qatar, whose presence on the Gaza Executive Board has concerned Israel, will not have a role in governing the Strip, but rather the hope is that they can help force Hamas to disarm.

Huckabee expresses confidence that the terror group will disarm.

“The president said they’re going to disarm; they’re not going to have any role in Gaza,” he says. “How that happens, when it happens, and who’s going to do it? There are some question marks as to the answers to those. I’m convinced that all of those things will happen.”

“You have every Arab country in the world to sign the agreement, saying this is going to happen. Hamas signed the agreement,” he adds. “I don’t trust Hamas to do anything, but I trust the rest of the world to say to Hamas, you signed it. You’re on the line for it. If you don’t fulfill it, the whole world is going to rise up and take you down.”

According to Huckabee, while Israel might have a role in this scenario, Hamas’s disarmament will not be left solely to Israel.

“It’ll be up to everybody,” he says.

Arab Israeli leader demands police action on violent crime, in rare Hebrew speech

Arab-Israeli community leader Jamal Zahalka speaks at a protest against violence in the Arab community, in Tel Aviv on January 31, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Speaking to Jewish and Arab protesters in Tel Aviv, Jamal Zahalka, head of the leading body representing Israel’s Arab minority, accuses the current government of fueling violent crime in the community.

It marks a rare instance in which Zahalka, who leads the High Follow-Up Committee, speaks in Hebrew before a large Jewish audience.

Though Arab and liberal Jewish MKs are in attendance, none have gone up to speak as organizers seek to keep the demonstration at a distance from party politics.

Zahalka calls the massive demonstration a “cry against crime and against the government feeding it,” accusing the state of “fueling crime organizations and criminals who murder, extort and threaten.”

“The false and racist argument that this [crime] is a cultural problem is not new,” he continues, saying the same argument has been used against Mizrahi Jews in Israel, as well as Black Americans.

“This argument collapses with a simple comparison… socially and culturally, we [Arab Israelis] are very similar to the West Bank and Jordan, where the number of murders is less than one for every 100,000 people,” he says.

Meanwhile, among Israel’s Arab citizens, the homicide rate is over 15 for every 100,000 people.

Zahalka blames law enforcement for the sky-high rate, accusing police of practicing a “policy of deadly restraint” when it comes to crime in Arab society.

He also decries National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir as the “minister of crime,” and is met with enthusiastic agreement from the crowd, jeering his name.

He briefly addresses the IDF’s strike in Rafah earlier today, saying that he “cannot ignore what happened in Gaza today” as a representative for Israel’s Arab minority.

“We condemn the ceasefire violations in Gaza, the continuing killing in Gaza and call on the government to guard over the ceasefire,” he says.

He ends his speech with a series of demands, urging law enforcement to “wring out” criminal organizations, round up guns from off the streets and solve murder cases in Arab society.

Iraq’s Shiite political alliance says PM choice is internal, reiterates backing for Maliki

Former Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki arrives to cast his ballot at a polling station in Baghdad on November 11, 2025 during Iraq's parliamentary elections. (Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP)

Iraq’s alliance of Shiite political blocs, the Coordination Framework, reaffirms its support for former premier Nouri al-Maliki to lead the next government, despite a warning from US President Donald Trump that Washington would no longer help Iraq if Maliki returned to power.

The bloc, which holds a majority in parliament, picked Maliki, Iraq’s first elected prime minister after a US-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, as its nominee for the post following an election.

“The choice of the prime minister is a purely Iraqi constitutional matter and should proceed without foreign interference,” the Coordination Framework says in a statement, adding that it seeks balanced relations with international partners based on mutual respect.

Trump’s threats are the starkest example yet of the Republican president’s campaign to curb Iran-linked groups’ influence in Iraq, which has long walked a tightrope between its two closest allies, Washington and Tehran.

US ambassador to Israel, on Iran: President Trump will keep his promise

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee speaks to Channel 12, in an interview that aired January 31, 2026. (Screenshot)

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee tells Channel 12 that US President Donald Trump will not disappoint the people of Iran who have been putting their lives on the line to protest the regime.

“This is a president who has made many promises; you’ll be hard-pressed to find one that he hasn’t kept,” Huckabee says. “He doesn’t make empty threats.”

“What I would say to [the people of Iran] is, note carefully what the president says, take him at his word. He will keep his promise.”

At the same time, Huckabee explains that no decision has been made about the US attack against Tehran, as Trump always hopes for a peaceful solution through which the regime stops threatening Israel and the US, and renounces its nuclear program.

“I would say that the decision still needs to be made,” the ambassador says. “President Trump is always hopeful for the best outcome. He is, in fact, let’s never forget, ‘the art of the deal.’ And if he can get that, then that’s ideal.”

“But if he can’t, he’s not afraid to do what he proved he would do last summer when he instigated [US June operation against Iranian nuclear sites] Midnight Hammer,” Huckabee adds.

Huckabee: Airline cancellations ‘caught us off guard,’ Israelis should go on with their lives

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee is seen during an interview in Jerusalem, August 20, 2025. (AP/Ohad Zwigenberg)

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee tells Channel 12 the embassy was surprised when some airlines canceled flights to Israel as a result of the tensions with Iran earlier this month.

“Last weekend, airlines from around the world started canceling their flights, and honestly, our reaction at the embassy was, ‘what’s that about?’,” he says in an interview.

“It completely caught us off guard,” he adds. “We are not seeing any reason. We are not telling our embassy employees to restrict themselves to your homes, don’t go anywhere.”

Huckabee says that he does not know the timeline for a potential US attack against Iran, nor if “Iran will decide to initiate something” against Israel.

But he stresses that at the moment, he is not hearing US President Donald Trump refer to a deadline or ultimatum on the decision, and says that Israelis should go on with their lives, “and if the sirens go off, respond.”

Last families flee Ras Ein al-Auja following repeated settler harassment, Bedouin rights group says

Palestinian residents of Ras Ein al-Auja village in the West Bank pack up their belongings and prepare to leave their homes after deciding to flee mounting settler violence, January 11, 2026. (AP/Mahmoud Illean)

The three last remaining families from the Bedouin community of Ras Ein al-Auja, north of Nablus in the northern West Bank, dismantled their homes and left the encampment this morning due to repeated settler harassment, Bedouin rights group al-Bidar says.

The livestock-based community was originally home to some 120 families who had lived there for decades, according to activists. Families began fleeing en masse this month after settlers in December established a new outpost less than 500 meters (547 yards), or within grazing distance, from the Bedouin community, according to left-wing Israeli group B’Tselem.

Israeli and Palestinian activists have recorded regular instances of settlers assaulting shepherds and activists, vandalizing property and bringing their own livestock to graze in Ras Ein al-Auja and other Bedouin shepherding communities across the West Bank.

In footage from today published by al-Bidar, a settler can be seen pushing an older female Israeli activist to the ground, apparently unprovoked, in the Bedouin community of Shakara, south of Nablus.

#شاهد| مستوطن يهاجم متضامنة بعنف خلال اقتحام تجمع شكارة شرق بلدة دوما جنوب نابلس pic.twitter.com/PZihVjkUIa

— شبكة فلسطين للحوار (@paldf) January 31, 2026

Yesterday, a father and son from an outpost in the Jordan Valley accosted a Bedouin shepherd as he took his livestock to graze in an open area near the encampment of Farsiyya, according to Jordan Valley Activists, an Israeli group that accompanies Bedouin shepherds in the area.

Footage shared with The Times of Israel shows that the older settler was armed and wearing an IDF uniform.

A spokesperson for the group says the settlers assaulted two activists who were recording the incident and also snatched the activists’ phones, at least one of which was later found in the field.

The spokesperson shares photos of one of the activists with bruises on his back and face after the settlers allegedly kicked him, broke his finger and cocked a gun at him. The activist was taken to a hospital, the spokesperson says, adding that police later arrived on the scene.

It was unclear if the police arrested anyone. Police and the IDF do not immediately respond to requests for comment.

MK Gilad Kariv denounces ‘racist government,’ as organizers estimate 40,000 at anti-crime protest

Thousands attend a protest against organized crime in the Arab community and call on the state to do more to stop it, in Tel Aviv. January 31, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90)

At a massive protest in Tel Aviv demanding police rein in violent crime in Arab society, The Democrats lawmaker Gilad Kariv says Arab and liberal Jewish groups are united in ousting the current coalition.

“We have a joint demand from [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu to fire [Itamar] Ben Gvir,” he tells The Times of Israel, referring to the national security minister who presides over law enforcement.

“And because we know that he’s not going to do it, our demand is to replace this racist government,” Kariv continues.

Organizers estimate some 40,000 Jewish and Arab protesters are in attendance tonight, as Arab leaders seek to bring the struggle against organized crime to the Israeli mainstream.

“If a mother in Umm al-Fahm or Sakhnin feels [too] insecure to allow her child to go to the playground in the afternoon, it means we cannot be safe and feel secure here in Tel Aviv,” Kariv says.

Gal Hirsch to ToI: Biden pressure ‘screwed up’ hostage talks, gave Sinwar hope he could drag out negotiations for 10 years

Gal Hirsch (right), the government's hostage point man, speaks to The Times of Israel correspondent Lazar Berman, January 30, 2026. (Prime Minister's Office)

Gal Hirsch, the government hostage pointman, tells The Times of Israel that public pressure on Israel from the Biden administration “screwed up” negotiations and gave Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar “exactly what he wanted.”

He also says that he was shocked that some Israeli demonstrations “amplified” Hamas propaganda during talks.

“The night I heard about the arms embargo — or ‘don’t you dare enter Rafah’, all those pressures — I had a call with a very senior American official while driving in the middle of the night from Jerusalem down here [to Bnei Brak],” Hirsch says.

“It was a very tough call. I told him, bluntly — I don’t usually speak this way —what are you doing? You have American hostages there — Israeli-American citizens. Do you understand you’re screwing up the negotiations? You’re giving Sinwar exactly what he wants. From his perspective, any daylight advances his political strategy from the October 7 attack to generate political achievements — you are doing that now.”

He says that Hamas “exploited the daylight between us and the US, the UN’s activity against us, Security Council moves against us, European states’ activity against us, the embargo against us.”

Hamas, says Hirsch, “acted to create a rift in Israeli society through very effective propaganda — and by creating the reverse picture — although they were stalling and not wanting to progress in negotiations and torpedoing deals, they pinned responsibility on us, that we were torpedoing negotiations and deals.”

The terror group, he argues, “called the Israeli public to demonstrations. Every Saturday afternoon, a video of a hostage — calling for protests: go out into the streets.”

“The way Hamas messages were received here in Israel and amplified was shocking,” says Hirsch.

He says that Sinwar’s strategy in talks was to drag them out for 10 years. “All the stories that we didn’t want to advance a deal — those are fairy tales and lies. The side that constantly canceled and delayed a deal within a 10-year negotiation strategy was Hamas. The change came when he was eliminated and Nasrallah was eliminated; the Iranian axis suffered; the Syrian army was destroyed; the Houthis were hit; the Iranians got the hint; in Beirut, we carried out effective actions; and we were in a deep maneuver inside Gaza.”

“At that stage, we began to understand Hamas was shifting toward a deal because it understood it had nothing to build on,” says Hirsch. “Until then, Hamas’s strategy was to exploit the political fallout of October 7 to derive political gains.”

Hirsch argues that the failed September 2025 strike on Hamas leaders in Doha was, in hindsight, a key factor in forcing Hamas to make a deal: “It’s clear to all of us that the fact Hamas understood it wasn’t immune anywhere, and the mediators understood Israel’s long arm reached everywhere, had a clear effect on achieving the deal and the return of everyone.”

Hirsch tells The Times of Israel that he knows that releasing terrorists for hostages will cost Israelis their lives in the future, but it still must be done.

Iranian official says work on framework for negotiations with US is progressing

Work on a framework for negotiations with the United States is progressing, top Iranian security official Ali Larijani says on X.

“Contrary to the atmosphere being created by artificial media warfare, the formation of a structure for #negotiations is underway,” Larijani writes, without giving further details.

برخلاف فضاسازی‌‌ِ جنگ رسانه‌ای تصنعی، شکل‌گیری ساختاری برای #مذاکرات در حال پیشرفت است.

— Ali Larijani | علی لاریجانی (@alilarijani_ir) January 31, 2026

US Border Patrol leader made quip about ‘chosen people’ after Jewish official wouldn’t meet on Shabbat – NYT

US Border Patrol field leader Gregory Bovino arrives for a news conference on January 20, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Gregory Bovino, the US Border Patrol field leader in Minnesota, used the term “chosen people” in a mocking way about US Attorney Daniel Rosen, after expressing frustration that the latter wouldn’t work on the Sabbath, The New York Times reports.

Bovino is also said to have “asked, sarcastically, whether Mr. Rosen understood that Orthodox Jewish criminals don’t take weekends off,” says the report, which cites people with knowledge of the call.

According to the newspaper, Bovino made the comments in a phone call on Monday, January 12, with one of Rosen’s deputies, and with several prosecutors listening in. He reportedly “complained that Mr. Rosen had been unreachable for portions of the weekend because of Shabbat,” then made the remarks.

Orthodox Jews, in accordance with religious law, abstain from work —  as well as other actions including cooking, writing and using cell phones or computers — from sundown on Friday through nightfall on Saturday. Unless a person’s life is at risk, there are few situations when an exception is permitted.

Neither Bovino nor the US Department of Justice responded to requests for comment, the Times says, while a Homeland Security spokeswoman accuses the press of “focusing on gossip.” Rosen declines to comment on the article.

Qatar condemns ‘repeated Israeli violations’ of Gaza ceasefire

Qatar condemns Israel for what the Gulf state calls repeated violations of the ceasefire in Gaza, after the Strip’s Hamas-run civil defense agency reports 32 people killed in Israeli strikes.

“The State of Qatar expresses its strong condemnation of the repeated Israeli violations of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip… in a dangerous escalation that will inflame the situation and undermine regional and international efforts aimed at consolidating the truce,” the Qatari foreign ministry says.

The Israel Defense Forces has said its strikes targeted four commanders in the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups, as well as a weapons depot, an arms manufacturing site and two rocket launching positions.

According to the military, the strikes were launched after eight gunmen emerged from a tunnel in southern Gaza’s Rafah on Friday. The IDF said at the time that three of the gunmen were killed in strikes and a fourth, described as a key Hamas commander, was captured.

Thousands of Arab, Jewish protesters march in Tel Aviv over violent crime epidemic

Thousands attend a protest against organized crime in the Arab community, in Tel Aviv. January 31, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90)

Thousands of Arab and Jewish protesters are marching from Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, calling on the government to act against violent crime in Arab society.

The demonstration comes amid growing criticism of law enforcement for its failure to curb the phenomenon. Arabic outlets claim the protest has reached some 10,000 participants.

Ra’am party chairman Mansour Abbas, being interviewed on Channel 12, claims that “tens of thousands” are present, noting the presence of Jews and Arabs alike.

Rallygoers waving black flags march to Habima Square. A banner at the front of the march reads in Hebrew: “Enough of the abandonment and crime, we want to live.”

צעדת הזעם נגד האלימות בחברה הערבית: ברגעים אלו המפגינים צועדים ממוזיאון תל אביב לעבר כיכר הבימה. על פי הערכות המארגנים, בהפגנה משתתפים כ-10,000 בני אדם. צילום: אבישי רייזנר

(אורלי אלקלעי) pic.twitter.com/nggaszfpsd

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) January 31, 2026

As protesters convene in Tel Aviv, first responders announce that a man has been shot dead in Lod, marking the 26th homicide in Arab society since the start of the year.

Explosion in Iran port city caused by gas leak, says local fire chief

An explosion at a residential building in the southern Iranian city of Bandar Abbas was the result of a gas leak, according to the local fire chief.

“The initial cause of the building accident in Bandar Abbas was a gas leak and buildup, leading to an explosion. This is the initial theory,” Mohammad Amin Lyaghat says, in comments broadcast on state television.

“Unfortunately, a four-year-old girl lost her life,” and 14 people were hospitalized, Mehrdad Hassanzadeh, director general of crisis management for Hormozgan province, of which Bandar Abbas is the capital, tells Mehr news agency.

Separate incidents have been reported elsewhere in the country today, but media outlets have quickly dismissed any connection to an attack or potential sabotage. Tensions are high as US President Donald Trump intensifies threats of military strikes against Iran.

With rumors circulating online, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) denies that any of the buildings belonging to its naval forces in the province were targeted, according to a statement carried by the Fars news agency.

The Tasnim agency also denies “assassination rumors” surrounding the commander of the Guards’ navy Alireza Tangsiri.

IDF says earlier strike on south Lebanon killed Hezbollah operative

The IDF says its airstrike in the southern Lebanese town of Markaba earlier today killed a Hezbollah operative involved in restoring the terror group’s infrastructure in the area.

The operative’s activities constituted a violation of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, the military adds.

The military issues footage of the strike.

צה"ל חיסל מחבל מארגון הטרור חיזבאללה שפעל לשיקום תשתיות צבאיות בדרום לבנון

צה"ל תקף מוקדם יותר היום (ש'), וחיסל מחבל שעסק בניסיון שיקום תשתיות צבאיות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב מרכבא שבדרום לבנון.

פעולותיו של המחבל היוו הפרה של ההבנות בין ישראל ללבנון.

צה"ל ימשיך לפעול על… pic.twitter.com/o5jPvHU0Jr

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) January 31, 2026

Egypt urges restraint ahead of Rafah Crossing opening, condemns IDF strikes as truce ‘violation’

Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike in the west of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip on January 31, 2026. (Bashar Taleb / AFP)

Egypt condemns Israel’s latest strikes on Gaza and urges all parties to respect the ceasefire ahead of the long-awaited reopening of the Rafah border crossing tomorrow.

In a statement from its foreign ministry, Egypt condemns Israel’s “repeated violations” of the truce after Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency said Israeli strikes killed 31 people on Saturday.

According to the IDF, the strikes targeted four commanders in the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups, as well as a weapons depot, an arms manufacturing site and two rocket launching positions. The military said the strikes were in response to what it called a “violation of the ceasefire agreement.”

After the attacks, Cairo urges all parties to “exercise the utmost restraint,” ahead of the expected opening of the Rafah Crossing.

Israeli forces are due to allow the border crossing between Egypt and Gaza to reopen tomorrow for the first time since the previous ceasefire ended last March.

Several arrested at London protest for Palestine Action support, ‘Globalize the intifada’ sign, police say

Protesters hold placards and wave Palestinian flags during a pro-Palestine protest in central London on January 31, 2026. (JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP)

Two people were arrested today in London on suspicion of supporting the banned Palestine Action organization at a protest in the capital, the Metropolitan Police says.

According to London police, the two were “spotted by officers carrying a banner with the words ‘We are all Palestine Action.'”

Two people have been arrested on suspicion of showing support for a proscribed organisation.

They were spotted by officers carrying a banner with the words “we are all Palestine Action”.

— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) January 31, 2026

The group was proscribed by the British government as a terrorist organization last year, and according to Amnesty International UK, police have since arrested over 2,700 people for alleged support of the banned organization.

Police also say officers arrested a 74-year-old man on suspicion of a public order offence for being seen carrying a sign reading: “Globalize the intifada.” A man was also arrested for “common assault” after confronting protesters, the force says.

A pro-Israel counter protest organized by Stop The Hate is taking place adjacent to the pro-Palestinian rally, police add.

Russian negotiator is in Florida for talks with US officials: source

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev is meeting US officials in Florida today, a source close to the matter said.

“The talks started early, at 8 a.m. EST (1300 GMT),” the source tells AFP on condition of anonymity.

Dmitriev said on social media earlier that he was “back in Miami,” without elaborating.

It is not clear which US officials were present at the meeting.

The meeting came just a day before Ukrainian and Russian negotiators were scheduled to meet in Abu Dhabi to discuss a US-backed plan to end the nearly four-year Ukraine war.

The US says both sides are close to a deal, but they have so far been unable to find a compromise on the key issue of territory in a post-war settlement, according to Kyiv.

Hamas civil defense updates death toll from today’s Israeli strikes in Gaza to 32

Palestinians mourn those killed in Israeli airstrikes, outside the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, January 31, 2026. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Hamas’s civil defense agency updates the death toll from the wave of Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip today from 28 to 32.

The IDF said it targeted Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad commanders as well as arms sites in response to a ceasefire violation in Rafah, where eight gunmen emerged from a tunnel yesterday.

The updated toll comes after first responders finished retrieving bodies from the site of the Hamas police station in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood that was struck by Israel this morning, the civil defense agency says.

The agency does not specify how many people were killed in that strike. Palestinian media puts the toll from the police station at 16, including officers and detainees.

Hamas’s interior ministry says the dead at the police station include civilians and at least five officers, including one with a rank equivalent to colonel, two of a rank equivalent to major and two of a rank equivalent to lieutenant. At least 15 police officers were wounded, the ministry says.

Turkey will not join Saudi-Pakistan defense agreement, sources say

Turkey will not join a mutual defense pact between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, a source close to the Saudi military tells AFP, after a Turkish official said earlier this month that they had entered talks aimed at entering the alliance.

Speculation has been rife that the three countries were intent on forming a powerful alliance amid soaring tensions in the region.

“Turkey won’t join the defense pact with Pakistan,” the source tells AFP, dismissing reports of negotiations.

“It’s a bilateral pact with Pakistan and will remain a bilateral pact.”

A Gulf official also confirms the information.

“This is a bilateral defensive relationship with Pakistan. We have common agreements with Turkey but the one with Pakistan will stay bilateral,” the official says.

India hosts Arab League foreign ministers in push to deepen trade, strategic ties

NEW DELHI — India hosted a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers today in a concerted push to deepen engagement in trade, energy and strategic cooperation as tensions rise in the Middle East.

India and the United Arab Emirates co-chaired the talks, with foreign ministers and senior officials from all 22 Arab League member states attending. It was the first such gathering in New Delhi that followed a decade-long hiatus since the inaugural forum was held in Bahrain in 2016.

India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar says in his opening remarks that the global order is undergoing a transformation for a variety of reasons, including conflicts. “Nowhere is this more apparent than in West Asia or the Middle East, where the landscape itself has undergone a dramatic change in the last year. This impacts all of us,” Jaishankar says.

An Indian analyst says New Delhi’s outreach to Arab nations reflected its efforts to position itself as a reliable economic and diplomatic partner at a time of geopolitical rivalries and disruptions to global supply chains.

“This is an effort by India to project a sense of partnership with the Arab world when regional fault lines are sharpening,” says Harsh Pant, vice president of foreign policy at New Delhi-based think tank the Observer Research Foundation.

India’s trade with Arab League countries exceeds $240 billion annually, driven largely by energy imports such as crude oil and liquefied natural gas.

Israeli officials deny involvement as two blasts rock Iran

Israel is not involved in a series of blasts that occurred in Iran earlier today, two Israeli officials tell Reuters.

According to Iranian state media, an explosion occurred at a residential building in the Gulf coast city Bandar Abbas, though it added that the cause of the blast was not yet known.

State television says the explosion occurred at an eight-story building, “destroying two floors, several vehicles and shops” in the area of Moallem Boulevard in the city.

Additionally, in Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan province, four people were killed in an apparent gas explosion that also took place today in the Kianshahr neighborhood of Ahvaz city.

State media says both blasts are being investigated, but gives no further information. Iranian authorities could not immediately be contacted for comment.

Balochi separatists kill 21, including civilians, in multiple attacks in Pakistan

Pakistani army soldiers and other security officials examine a site following militants attack with guns and grenades, in Quetta, Pakistan, January 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

QUETTA, Pakistan — Separatists from Pakistan’s Balochistan province claim responsibility for nearly a dozen coordinated attacks across southern Pakistan early this morning that targeted civilians, a high-security prison, police stations and paramilitary installations.

Eleven civilians, 10 security personnel and 67 insurgents were killed, authorities say.

Though Baloch separatists and the Pakistani Taliban frequently target security forces in Balochistan and elsewhere in the country, coordinated attacks on this scale are rare. Authorities say at least 108 militants have been killed across Balochistan over the past 48 hours, including 67 on Saturday.

The dead included 11 civilians, among them three women and three children, in the city of Gwadar in Balochistan, police official Ibad Khan says, adding that the dead civilians were ethnic Baloch. Khan says police quickly responded to the attack and killed all the attackers.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi says in a statement that 10 security officers were killed.

The Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, claims responsibility for the attacks, during which some of the banks were also robbed. It releases videos showing female fighters taking part in the attacks, apparently part of a propaganda to highlight the role of women among the militants.

Shahid Rind, a spokesman for the Balochistan government, says most of the attacks were foiled. They come a day after the military said security forces this week raided two militant hideouts in the country’s southwest, killing 41 insurgents in separate gunbattles.

IRGC denies rumors that recent Iran explosions targeted naval commander

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) denies that the recent explosion at a residential building in the coastal Iranian city of Bandar Abbas targeted an IRGC naval commander, according to a statement carried by the Fars news agency, refuting rumors on social media.

The semi-official Tasnim news agency also says that social media reports were “completely false.”

Iranian media says the blast is being investigated but gives no further information. Iranian authorities could not immediately be contacted for comment.

Meanwhile, in Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan province, four people were killed in a gas explosion that also took place today in the Kianshahr neighborhood of Ahvaz city.

Crews had begun clearing the debris from that blast to rescue those trapped under the rubble, state television reports.

IDF says it struck Hezbollah operative in south Lebanon

The IDF says it carried out an airstrike targeting a Hezbollah operative in the southern Lebanon town of Markaba a short while ago.

No further details are immediately given by the military.

Blast takes place in Iran’s Bandar Abbas; cause unknown

TEHRAN, Iran — An explosion took place at a building in the Iranian city of Bandar Abbas on the Gulf coast, state media reports, though the cause of the blast was as yet unknown.

State television says the explosion occurred at an eight-storey building, “destroying two floors, several vehicles, and shops” in the area of Moallem Boulevard in the city.

Rescue and firefighting teams were on site to provide assistance, it adds.

???????????? BREAKING: Multiple explosions were reported in a residential building in the Azadegan neighborhood of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran.

Initial reports indicating a gas leak as the cause. pic.twitter.com/B0MU3KWX41

— PLT Report (@pltreport) January 31, 2026

The official IRNA news agency quotes the director general of crisis management in Hormozgan province, Mehrdad Hassanzadeh, as saying the cause of the explosion was under investigation.

“Those injured in the incident are being transferred to hospital by emergency responders,” he adds, without reporting any fatalities.

Images carried by state TV show the building’s facade blown out, exposing parts of its interior, with debris scattered around.

Other Iranian media carry similar reports, also without providing details on the cause.

IDF says Gaza strikes targeted 4 Hamas, PIJ commanders and arms sites over ceasefire violations

Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike in the west of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip on January 31, 2026. (Bashar Taleb / AFP)

The IDF confirms carrying out a wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, saying it targeted Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad commanders and infrastructure in response to a “violation of the ceasefire.”

According to the military, the strikes were launched after eight gunmen emerged from a tunnel in southern Gaza’s Rafah on Friday. The IDF said that three of the gunmen were killed in strikes and a fourth, described as a key Hamas commander, was captured.

The IDF says the incident in Rafah was a violation of the ceasefire.

So far, the IDF says its strikes since last night have targeted four commanders in the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups, a weapons depot, an arms manufacturing site, and two rocket launching positions.

Hamas’s civil defense agency says it has retrieved the bodies of 28 people killed by the strikes in seven different locations in the Gaza Strip since this morning.

“The terror organizations in the Strip systematically violate international law, while brutally exploiting civilian institutions and operating in the presence of the local population,” the IDF says.

“The IDF and the Shin Bet view any violation of the agreement gravely and will continue to act against any attempt by terror organizations in the Gaza Strip to carry out terror attacks against IDF troops and civilians of the State of Israel,” the military adds.

Turkey blocks aid convoy to besieged Kurdish town in north Syria, NGO and MP says

Members of Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) arrive at the Kurdish-held city of Ain al-Arab, also known as Kobane, on January 23, 2026, after they withdrew from the Al-Aqtan prison in the Raqqa province of Syria. (AFP)

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish authorities have blocked a convoy carrying aid to Kobane, a predominantly Kurdish town in northern Syria encircled by the Syrian army, NGOs and a Turkish MP say.

They say the aid was blocked before it reached the Turkey-Syria border, despite an agreement announced on Friday between the Syrian government and the country’s Kurdish minority to gradually integrate the Kurds’ military and civilian institutions into the state.

Twenty-five trucks containing water, milk, baby formula and blankets collected in Diyarbakir, the main city in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeast, “were prevented from crossing the border,” says the Diyarbakir Solidarity and Protection Platform, which organized the aid campaign.

“Blocking humanitarian aid trucks carrying basic necessities is unacceptable, both from the point of view of humanitarian law and from the point of view of moral responsibility,” says the platform, which brings together several NGOs.

Earlier this week, residents of Kobane told AFP they were running out of food, water and electricity because the city was overwhelmed with people fleeing the advance of the Syrian army.

Kurdish forces accused the Syrian army of imposing a siege on Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab in Arabic.

Israeli strike reported in Gaza City amid wave of attacks since last night

Another Israeli airstrike is reported by Palestinian media in Gaza City.

Hamas’s civil defense agency says it has retrieved the bodies of 28 people killed by Israeli airstrikes in seven different locations in the Gaza Strip since this morning. The agency adds that there are still people missing under the rubble.

عاجل| غارة إسرائيلية تستهدف بناية سكنية شمال غرب مدينة #غزة. pic.twitter.com/In2razj7l5

— وكالة سند للأنباء – Snd News Agency (@Snd_pal) January 31, 2026

Of the 28 dead, a quarter are children, about a third are women, one is an elderly man and four are officers of the Hamas-run police, the civil defense agency says.

The Hamas-run health ministry reports another 30 people wounded, some in critical condition.

The tolls cannot be verified. The IDF has not commented on the strikes.

The strikes come a day after the IDF said that its forces identified eight gunmen emerging from a tunnel in Rafah, in southern Gaza. Three of them were killed and a fourth, whom it described as a key Hamas commander in the area, was arrested.

Israeli strikes reportedly kill at least 28 in Gaza since last night

At least 28 Palestinians have been reported killed in Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip since last night, according to Palestinian media reports.

The latest strike targeting a Hamas police station in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood killed 13, the reports say.

The IDF has yet to comment on the strikes.

Hamas interior ministry says Gaza City police station hit in IDF strike

A Palestinian man looks at the destruction inside a building following an Israeli strike on Gaza City on January 31, 2026. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Gaza’s Hamas-run interior ministry says the Sheikh Radwan police station was hit by an Israeli airstrike this morning.

First responders are retrieving the bodies, some of whom are still under the rubble, the ministry says.

The ministry says several officers and civilians were killed or wounded, without specifying how many. Palestinian media reports seven killed in the strike, including people who were detained at the station.

In a separate statement, Hamas says that the 12 people reported killed in overnight Israeli airstrikes in Gaza include six children, and that seven of the people killed were from a single family in a displaced peoples’ camp in Khan Younis.

Hamas says the strikes constitute a “blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement.”

The tolls cannot be verified. The IDF has not commented on the strikes.

Israeli strike reportedly kills three in west Gaza City

Palestinian media reports three dead in an Israeli airstrike near an UNRWA school in the Nasser district of western Gaza City.

More than 20 people have been reported killed in Israeli strikes across the Strip since last night, in what appears to be one of the highest death tolls since the October ceasefire agreement.

#شاهد| اللحظات الأولى بعد استهداف الاحتلال منزلاً مأهولاً بالسكان في حي النصر خلف مدرسة سعاد غرب غزة pic.twitter.com/IFgjGfUW5n

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) January 31, 2026

Seven killed reportedly in Israeli strike on Hamas police station in Gaza City

Seven people were killed and others were wounded in an Israeli airstrike targeting a Hamas police station in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, Palestinian media reports.

The tolls cannot be immediately verified.

The IDF has been conducting strikes across the Strip since Friday night, with reports of nearly 20 dead.

There has been no comment from the military yet.

Iran’s army chief says forces on high alert, nuclear program ‘cannot be eliminated’

Iran's army chief Maj. Gen. Amir Hatami speaks to military academy students in Tehran, Iran, in a photo released by the Iranian Army on January 7, 2026. (Masoud Nazari Mehrabi/Iranian Army via AP)

TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian army chief Amir Hatami warns the United States and Israel against an attack, saying his country’s forces were on high alert after Washington’s heavy military deployments in the Gulf.

“If the enemy makes a mistake, without a doubt it will endanger its own security, the security of the region, and the security of the Zionist regime,” says Hatami, according to the official IRNA news agency, noting that Iran’s armed forces were “at full defensive and military readiness.”

Hatami also says that Iran’s nuclear program could not be destroyed, even by force.

“The nuclear science and technology of the Islamic Republic of Iran cannot be eliminated, even if scientists and sons of this nation are martyred,” Hatami says, according to the official IRNA news agency.

Palestinian media reports additional Israeli strike in north Gaza

A new Israeli airstrike is reported by Palestinian media in northern Gaza City a short while ago.

There are no immediate reports of casualties.

The IDF has not yet commented on the strikes across the Strip, which have been ongoing since overnight.

The Hamas-run health ministry says 12 people were killed in the overnight strikes.

#عاجل| استهداف من الطائرات الحربية للاحتلال محيط منطقة المخابرات شمال مدينة غزة pic.twitter.com/sRbwRBoeLX

— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) January 31, 2026

Iran president says Trump, Netanyahu, Europe stirred tensions in recent protests

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian takes questions from the media at a press briefing in New York, September 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says that US President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Europe had stirred tensions in the recent protests that gripped the country and “provoked” people.

“In these events Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu and Europeans all sought to incite unrest, create division and provide support, drawing some innocent people into the streets,” he says, as quoted by the opposition Iran International outlet.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Fresh Israeli strike reported in Gaza’s Khan Younis after evacuation warning

Palestinian media reports a fresh Israeli airstrike in the Khan Younis area of the southern Gaza Strip.

According to the reports, the strike came following an evacuation warning from the IDF.

There are no immediate reports of casualties.

عاجل | الطيران الحربي الصهيوني يُغير على مبنى ادارة مخيم غيث للنازحين بمواصي خانيونس جنوب قطاع غزة. pic.twitter.com/7slDTzyXyP

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) January 31, 2026

The strike this morning comes after the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry reported at 12 dead in Israeli airstrikes in the Strip overnight.

The overnight strikes reportedly hit apartments in Gaza City and Jabalia in northern Gaza, a tent camp in the Khan Younis area, and other sites in the Strip’s center.

The IDF has not yet commented on the reports.

Moody’s boosts Israel’s credit outlook to stable as ceasefires in Gaza, Lebanon hold

A sign for credit agency Moody's, on August 13, 2010, in New York. (AP/ Mark Lennihan)

Moody’s upgrades Israel’s credit outlook from negative to stable, as geopolitical risks subside with ceasefires holding in Lebanon and Gaza.

However, the agency maintains Israel’s Baa1 credit rating.

While Moody’s praises Israel’s resilient economy upgrade in its report,  the change in outlook does not mean the credit agency is expected to upgrade the credit rating in the near future; rather, it means the country is not at risk of a further downgrade.

In September 2024, Moody’s cut Israel’s credit score by two levels from A2 to Baa1, citing the “diminished quality of Israel’s institutions and governance” in their ability to manage state finances, and increased spending needs during the war period.

Israeli strikes killed at least 12 Palestinians in Gaza overnight, hospital officials say

Tents housing displaced Palestinians in Gaza City on January 24, 2026. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

DEIR AL-BALAH — Israeli strikes killed at least 12 Palestinians in Gaza early this morning, hospital officials say.

Arabic media reports say children are among the dead, in what appears to be one of the highest reported death tolls in the Strip since the October ceasefire agreement.

The IDF has yet to comment on the reports.

Report: Pro-Palestinian groups urge Australia to arrest Herzog during upcoming visit

President Isaac Herzog speaks during a ceremony marking the lighting of the first Hanukkah candle at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, on December 14, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel organizations in Australia are calling on their government to arrest President Isaac Herzog upon his arrival in the country next week and to investigate him over alleged Israeli “crimes against humanity and genocide,” the Walla news site reports.

Herzog is expected to travel to Australia on February 8 for an official visit at the invitation of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Governor-General Sam Mostyn, and the Australian Jewish community, during which he is set to meet government officials, bereaved families and members of the Jewish community following the Hanukkah Bondi Beach terror attack.

According to the report, groups across Australia are also planning a “national day of protest” during the four-day visit.

Among those urging Australian authorities to open a criminal investigation or arrest Herzog upon his arrival are the Australian Centre for International Justice, the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, and several pro-Palestinian activist groups. Anti-Israel group Palestine Action and Amnesty International’s Australian branch have also joined the calls, Walla says.

The report adds that the Hind Rajab Foundation has submitted legal requests to Australian officials seeking an investigation into Herzog for alleged incitement to genocide and involvement in war crimes under Australian law.

While most mainstream Jewish organizations in Australia support the visit, the small, anti-Zionist, Jewish Council of Australia has called on the government to cancel Herzog’s invitation, arguing his statements since the outbreak of the Gaza war raise concerns of violations of international law, according to Walla.

Iran admits children arrested in crackdown on nationwide protests — report

In this photo obtained by The Associated Press, Iranians attend an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. (UGC via AP)

Iran acknowledges for the first time that children were among those arrested in recent weeks as part of a sweeping crackdown on nationwide protests, The New York Times reports.

The report cites statements made by Farshad Ebrahimpour, the deputy chairman of Iran’s parliamentary education commission, to the semiofficial Iranian Labor News Agency that a “number” of students under 18 were detained, though he did not specify how many or how long they would remain in custody.

According to The New York Times, rights groups monitoring the unrest say at least 300 children and adolescents have been arrested.

Iran’s National Security Council last week put the official death toll at 3,117, while the opposition-affiliated Iranian news site Iran International puts the number at over 36,000.

An Iranian teachers’ union condemned what it described as the “killing of students and teachers” and the “securitization of education,” calling for the immediate release of detainees, The New York Times reports. Some children have not been heard from since their arrest, the union said.

US approves potential $9 billion sale of Patriot missiles to Saudi Arabia

A Patriot missile mobile launcher is displayed outside the Fort Sill Army Post near Lawton, Oklahoma, on March 21, 2023. (AP/Sean Murphy, File)

The US State Department has approved the potential sale of Patriot interceptor missiles and related equipment to Saudi Arabia for an estimated cost of $9 billion, the Pentagon says.

The principal contractor for the sale of the missiles — Patriot advanced capability-3 missile segment enhancement missiles — will be Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon says in a statement.

The State Department approval follows a request by Saudi Arabia to buy 730 PAC-3 MSE missiles, the Pentagon says.

The proposed sale will not alter the military balance in the Middle East, and it will not result in any adverse impact on US defense readiness, the Pentagon adds.

US government shuts down, but quick resolution expected

The US Capitol is seen lit up hours before a partial government shutdown is set to take effect in Washington, DC, on September 30, 2025. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)

The US government enters a partial shutdown as a midnight funding deadline passes without Congress approving a 2026 budget, though disruption was expected to be limited with the House set to move early next week to ratify a Senate-backed deal.

The funding lapse followed a breakdown in negotiations driven by Democratic anger over the killing of two protesters in Minneapolis by federal immigration agents, which derailed talks over new money for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

In latest snub, Supreme Court chief not invited to event celebrating Knesset’s founding

Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, November 3, 2025. (Moshe Shai/FLASH90)

Supreme Court President Isaac Amit has not been invited to an upcoming event to mark the anniversary of the Knesset’s founding, the Kan public broadcaster reveals, marking the latest snub of Israel’s top judge as Justice Minister Yariv Levin refuses to recognize his authority and the coalition pushes to overhaul the judicial system.

A statement Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana’s office provided to the network confirms that Amit was not among the “limited” group of top officials invited, stating that “there is nothing new” as the chief justice also did not receive invitations to attend speeches by US President Donald Trump and several other world leaders.

Jewish student group decries revamp of statue of antisemitic Vienna mayor who inspired Hitler

A photo taken on November 22, 2022, shows the statue of antisemitic former Vienna mayor Karl Lueger smeared with black tar paint and defaced with a graffiti reading "Schande" ("Shame") at the Ringstrasse boulevard in Vienna. (Alex Halada/AFP)

VIENNA — The removal of a statue of an antisemitic former Vienna mayor to renovate it and then replace it at an angle drew protests this week.

The statue in downtown Vienna of Karl Lueger, who inspired Hitler, has drawn long-standing public debate and repeated vandalism, including paint thrown on it and “shame” sprayed on it with graffiti.

The statue was removed on Thursday to clean it and will be placed again on its pedestal titled by 3.5 degrees to “contextualize” it under an art project chosen in 2023.

But rights group Aufstehn says that the four-meter (13-feet)-high bronze statue should not be put back.

“Survivors of the Shoah and Jews have spoken out in favour of removing the monument,” the group says on Bluesky, referring to the Holocaust.

The project — for which the city has allocated a budget of 500,000 euros ($595,000) — is a “slap in the face” to the Jewish community, the Jewish Austrian Students (JoeH) says in a statement.

JOeH co-president Lia Guttmann says it’s incomprehensible to “polish” the image of a “declared antisemite” and primary “role model” for Adolf Hitler.

On International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Tuesday, unknown activists veiled the monument, which was erected in 1926, in black demanding its demolition.

Viennese artist Klemens Wihlidal, who came up with the project, says he wants to break the statue’s “heroic” aura through visual irritation.

Lueger, a social democrat who was Vienna mayor from 1897 until his death in 1910, employed systemic antisemitism as a central political strategy to mobilize voters and secure power, according to historians.

Hitler used Lueger as an early role model and cited him approvingly in “Mein Kampf.”

US okays over $6.5B in potential military sales to Israel, including Apache gunships

An Israeli Air Force AH-64 Apache attack helicopter flies over during an Israeli army raid in Jenin in the West Bank on June 19, 2023. (Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)

The US State Department has approved more than $6.5 billion in potential military sales to Israel in three separate contracts, the Pentagon says.

The US State Department approved a potential sale of Joint Light Tactical Vehicle and related equipment for an estimated cost of $1.98 billion, and another sale of AH-64E Apache Helicopters for $3.8 billion, the Pentagon says in separate statements.

A third military contract was also awarded for $740 million to provide Namer armored personnel carrier power packs, less transmissions and integrated logistics support.

The principal contractor for the first sale is AM General, while Boeing and Lockheed Martin are the contractors for the sale of Apache helicopters.

Two Palestinians said wounded by settler arson attack in West Bank

Dozens of Israeli settlers attacked the Bedouin Palestinian hamlet of Ma’azi Jaba’ in the West Bank, torching several buildings and wounding two men who were rushed to the hospital for treatment, Palestinian media reports.

The IDF does not immediately respond to a request for comment, and there are no reports of arrests.

Such attacks have been taking place across the West Bank on a near-daily basis, with almost complete impunity.

عاجل | مستوطنون يصيبون شابين ويضرمون النيران في مسكن داخل تجمع "معازي جبع" البدوي قرب بلدة جبع، شمال القدس المحتلة. pic.twitter.com/1WecCHcb5F

— قدس فيد (@quds_feed) January 30, 2026