Jan. 6: US shifts some military aid to Lebanon from Egypt, letter says

France to remember Charlie Hebdo attacks 10 years on

France is set to mark Tuesday 10 years since an Islamist attack on the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper that shocked the country and led to fierce debate about freedom of expression and religion.

President Emmanuel Macron and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo are set to lead commemorations at the site of the weekly’s former offices, which were stormed by two masked al-Qaeda-linked gunmen with AK-47 assault rifles.

Macron and Hidalgo will also remember Ahmed Merabet, a Muslim police officer guarding the offices who was executed at point-blank range as he begged for his life in one of the most shocking images recorded of the tragedy.

Twelve people died in the attacks, including eight editorial staff, while a separate but linked hostage-taking at a Jewish supermarket in eastern Paris by a third gunman on January 9, 2015, claimed another four lives.

The bloodshed signaled the start of a dark period for France during which extremists inspired by Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group repeatedly mounted attacks that set the country on edge and raised religious tensions.

Military says Air Force strikes armed cell in Jordan Valley

The Israeli Air Force carried out an airstrike in the West Bank a short time ago, the army says, hitting an armed terrorist cell in the Tamun area of the Jordan Valley.

It says further details will follow.

Bidens honor terror attack victims in New Orleans

US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden lay flowers as they pay their respects to victims of the January 1 truck attack at a makeshift memorial in Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 6, 2025 (ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP)

President Joe Biden, accompanied by his wife Jill, has visited Bourbon Street to honor the victims of a New Year’s truck-ramming attack that killed 14 people in New Orleans.

The presidential couple stopped to pay their respects at a makeshift memorial near the popular tourist party area in the Big Easy, where suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove his pick-up truck through a dense crowd.

After the first lady laid flowers at the site, the pair bowed their heads for a moment of silence. The president, a lifelong Catholic, made the sign of the cross before departing the site.

The first couple met with survivors, relatives of the dead, and law enforcement impacted by the attack, before heading into the city’s St. Louis Cathedral for an interfaith memorial service.

US shifts some military aid to Lebanon from Egypt, letter says

US President Joe Biden’s administration will divert $95 million in military aid allocated for Egypt to Lebanon, which faces threats from Hezbollah and other non-state actors and is enforcing a ceasefire with Israel, according to a document seen by Reuters.

The State Department notification to Congress of the planned shift calls the Lebanese armed forces “a key partner” in upholding the Nov. 27, 2024, Israel-Lebanon agreement to cease hostilities and to prevent Hezbollah from threatening Israel.

The move comes after some of Biden’s fellow Democrats in Congress expressed deep concerns about Egypt’s human rights record, particularly the arrests of thousands of political prisoners.

The State Department and the Egyptian embassy in Washington do not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Venezuela says 125 foreigners, including one Israeli, arrested on suspicion of being US mercenaries

Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello says that 125 foreign citizens have been arrested, including one Israeli and at least one Argentinian, on suspicion of serving as mercenaries for the US with the aim of causing a coup in the country, according to local news agency Agencia AJN.

The Venezuelan minister is quoted as saying, “We will guarantee peace. Rest assured that this will be the case; we are committed to peace. And a healthy recommendation to those who think they can: They will crash very badly. We will be implacable in this matter. We will be very forceful and extremely severe.”

Then-Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez broke off ties with Israel in 2009 after Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. Chavez and his successor, Nicolas Maduro, have both been strident critics of Israel, and some Jewish community leaders have expressed fears of the government stoking anti-Semitism.

Agencies contributed to this report. 

IDF: Two soldiers killed, two seriously injured during fighting in northern Gaza today

Two IDF soldiers were killed and two others were seriously wounded during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip earlier today, the military announces.

One of the slain soldiers is named as Cpt. Eitan Israel Shiknazi, 24, a deputy company commander in the Nahal Brigade’s 932nd Battalion, from Eli.

Cpt. Eitan Israel Shiknazi, 24, killed fighting in the Gaza Strip on January 6, 2024. (Courtesy)

The name of the second slain soldier will be released later, the military says.

The IDF adds that two other soldiers of the 932nd Battalion were seriously wounded in the same incident in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun.

5.5 magnitude quake, followed by two slightly smaller tremors, hit southern Iran, near nuclear power plant

An earthquake measuring 5.5 magnitude has struck southern Iran, according to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ).

The epicenter in Firuzabad in the Fars province, is located some 200 kilometers (15 miles) from Bushehr, the home of Iran’s only operating nuclear power plant.

The quake hit at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), GFZ says.

A short while later, two slightly smaller earthquakes, measuring 4.8 and 4.9 on the Richter scale and with a depth of 10 km, are registered nearby.

Iran reported a substantial earthquake of 5.2 on the Richter scale earlier today in the city where a nuclear facility is located, Bushehr in southern Iran.
Via: @inside_IL_intel pic.twitter.com/sgB7zDv76y

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) January 6, 2025

‘We don’t want no Zionists here’: Anti-Israel activists protest against New York City hospital

Anti-Israel protesters at the NYU Langone Health Center, New York City, January 6, 2025. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)

Several hundred anti-Israel protesters demonstrate outside the NYU Langone Health Center in New York City.

They chant: “Say it clear, say it loud, Gaza you make us proud” and “Say it loud, say it clear, we don’t want no Zionists here.”

Banners in the crowd include Palestinian, transgender, anarchist and Lebanese flags.

Protesters carry signs that say “Abolish Israel” and “Right of return.”

Some hold flyers with photos of Gaza healthcare workers.

The protesters gather in the frigid cold on the sidewalk across the street from the hospital’s main entrance.

🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸 Currently outside of NYU Tisch Hospital at 550 1st Avenue in Manhattan. Join healthcare workers, medics and New Yorkers as we take to the streets for Gaza and to demand the release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and the 450+ healthcare workers who have been abducted by israeli… pic.twitter.com/kMSAtcF8bS

— Within Our Lifetime (@WOLPalestine) January 6, 2025

Around a dozen pro-Israel counterprotesters hold US flags. The two sides trade insults across a metal barricade, with the pro-Palestinian activists hurling expletives and the pro-Israel crowd calling them “terrorists.”

“You don’t matter, you’re irrelevant,” one of the Israel demonstrators says.

“You guys are protesting at a hospital. What the fuck is wrong with you?” a passerby shouts.

Police officers stand between the two groups and hospital officials stand on the sidelines.

“Get your best insults in, just stand three feet apart. You can scream at each other all you want,” a police officer says.

The protest is organized by Within Our Lifetime, a hardline group that echoes Hamas rhetoric and calls for Israel’s destruction.

Netanyahu might appoint deputy FM as next envoy to London to win her vote on Haredi draft, budget — report

MK Sharren Haskel in the Knesset, Jerusalem, on June 28, 2023. (Oren Ben Hakoon/ Flash90/ File)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering appointing Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel as the next ambassador to London, according to Haaretz.

Netanyahu is concerned that Haskel won’t support the draft law and state budget the coalition is trying to pass and wants to guarantee her vote, Haaretz reports, citing three sources close to the prime minister.

Current Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely’s five-year term ends in August.

Netanyahu’s office and Haskel deny the report.

Haskel, a former Likud MK, bolted the party in 2020 to join Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope faction. Sa’ar is expected to rejoin the Likud with two other MKs, but Haskel is not likely to follow suit, according to Channel 12.

If the Haaretz report is accurate, Netanyahu has to appoint her after the votes, because New Hope ran in the latest elections as part of Benny Gantz’s National Unity party, which would fill her spot with Gantz’s loyalist Eitan Ginzburg.

Settlers raid Palestinian village in West Bank in apparent retaliation for deadly terror shooting

Israeli settlers have raided the northern West Bank Palestinian village of Hajja in apparent retaliation for a shooting attack nearby earlier today in which three Israelis were killed and eight others were wounded.

Footage from Hajja shows residents trying to put out a fire set by settlers that has torched a vehicle in the town.

Earlier this evening, a message was posted on a WhatsApp group for young Israeli extremists in the West Bank, known as Hilltop Youth, in which members were encouraged to “erase” the village of al-Funduq where the alleged assailants of the earlier shooting attack were from.

Funduq is located just south of Hajja and settlers are expected to target the latter village next.

There are no reports of any arrests by Israeli security forces who have long been accused of granting impunity to settler extremists who carry out attacks on Palestinians.

عاجل | مستوطنون يحرقون مركبة في بلدة حَجّة شرق قلقيلية. pic.twitter.com/iSvVxeQkDv

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) January 6, 2025

Two Druze rebel groups say they’re ready to join new Syrian national army

DAMASCUS — Two rebel groups from Syria’s Druze minority say they’re ready to join a national army after Islamist-led opposition fighters toppled president Bashar al-Assad last month.

The new Syrian authorities face the mammoth challenge of rebuilding state institutions shaped by the Assad family’s repressive five-decade rule, including the army and security apparatuses that have all but collapsed.

“We, the Men of Dignity movement and the Mountain Brigade, the two largest military factions in Sweida, announce our full readiness to merge into a military body… under the umbrella of a new national army whose goal is to protect Syria,” the groups from south Syria’s Sweida province say in a joint statement.

They add, however, that they will categorically reject “any factional or sectarian army used as a tool in the hands of the authorities to suppress the people, as was the case with Bashar al-Assad’s army.”

The new leadership last month unveiled a plan to dissolve the myriad of armed groups operating in Syria and integrate them into the military.

The Druze, who also live in Lebanon and Israel, make up about three percent of Syria’s population, around 700,000 people.

IDF says instructions to soldiers ‘sharpened’ after shots fired at UN aid convoy in central Gaza

The IDF says its instructions for soldiers have been “sharpened” after troops opened fire on a UN World Food Programme convoy in the central Gaza Strip yesterday.

The WFP said that the convoy of three vehicles with eight staff members came under fire by Israeli soldiers “despite having received all of the necessary clearances from Israeli authorities.”

At least 16 bullets struck the convoy, and none of the staff were injured, according to WFP.

The convoy was traveling from southern Gaza to the Strip’s north and returned south following the incident.

In response to a query by The Times of Israel, the IDF says that “the incident was investigated, the instructions were sharpened, and the lessons will be drawn from the investigation.”

“The IDF continues to act in a targeted manner against the terror organizations in the Gaza Strip and does everything in its power to prevent harm uninvolved [civilians], and via COGAT will continue to work to enable and facilitate humanitarian assistance to the residents of the Gaza Strip,” the military adds.

After Trudeau resigns, Trump says Canada should merge with US: ‘Together, what a great Nation it would be!!!’

US President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, December 16, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump marks Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation announcement by doubling down on his unlikely proposal that the country should merge with the United States.

“If Canada merged with the US, there would be no Tariffs, taxes would go way down, and they would be TOTALLY SECURE from the threat of the Russian and Chinese Ships that are constantly surrounding them,” incoming president Trump posts on social media.

“Together, what a great Nation it would be!!!” he adds.

IDF to expand HUMINT unit in light of its extensive activities against Hamas, Hezbollah and on Syrian front

The IDF says it’s expanding the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504, which specializes in HUMINT, or human intelligence, in light of the unit’s extensive activities during the war.

As part of expanding the unit, its commander has been promoted to the rank of brigadier general.

“Throughout the war, Unit 504 operated intensively in the various fronts and led the effort in which thousands of Hamas terrorists, as well as from Hezbollah and the Syrian front, were arrested and interrogated,” the military says.

The IDF says Unit 504 also carried out surveillance missions, which led to targets being struck and handled agents in enemy states.

During the war, Unit 504 reopened a unit that handled agents in the Gaza Strip, more than a decade after it was closed, which the IDF says led to a massive increase in work.

As a result, the military says it has been drafting additional officers to Unit 504, to activate and handle agents in order to prepare for special operations in enemy territory.

The IDF says the unit “will significantly expand its intelligence-gathering functions.”

The tenure of Unit 504’s command has been extended, and he has been promoted, for the military to implement the new changes.

Top US diplomat visits Israel to expedite probes into Palestinian Americans killed by IDF in West Bank

A senior US State Department official is in Israel this week to urge the government to wrap up ongoing investigations into Palestinian Americans killed by Israeli troops in the West Bank and improve treatment of Palestinian Americans at border crossings in order to maintain membership in the US Visa Waiver program.

“During her visit, Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Rena Bitter will meet with US Embassy staff in both cities to tour consular operations and meet with US citizens in Israel and the West Bank impacted by the Israel-Hamas conflict,” the State Department says.

“Bitter will also engage with Israeli officials to emphasize the need to complete investigations into the recent killings of US citizens in the West Bank, ensure fair and reciprocal treatment of US citizens traveling to and through Israel, and reinforce continued cooperation in providing consular assistance to US citizens,” the US readout adds.

Four years after capitol riots, Congress certifies Trump’s 2024 election victory

US Vice President Kamala Harris (L) announces that the votes are certified as Speaker of the House Mike Johnson looks on during of a joint session of Congress to certify the results of the 2024 Presidential election, inside the House Chamber at the US Capitol on January 6, 2025, in Washington, DC.(Saul Loeb/AFP)

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump caps a historic political comeback as Congress certifies his election victory, in a remarkable turn from four years ago, when a mob he had summoned to Washington ransacked the US Capitol.

The US president-elect spent much of his campaign facing prosecution over the 2021 insurrection when his supporters — fueled by his false claims of voter fraud — rioted to halt the certification of his defeat to Joe Biden.

But Trump, 78, was voted back into office in November and today’s ceremony goes much more smoothly, even with a major winter storm blanketing the capital and much of the country in snow.

“Donald J Trump of the state of Florida, has received 312 votes. Kamala D Harris of the state of California has received 226 votes,” Harris herself declares to assembled lawmakers after the counting was complete.

Harris — who oversaw the certification as part of her vice-presidential duties — says the official count “shall be deemed a sufficient declaration” for Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance to take their oaths of office on January 20.

Houthis claim to have fired four drones at Israel today; IDF unaware of launches; no impacts reported

The Houthis in Yemen claim to have launched four drones at Israel today.

In a statement, the Iran-backed terror group says it targeted a “military target” in the Tel Aviv area with two drones and a “vital target” near Ashkelon this afternoon, as well as another target near Tel Aviv this evening.

The IDF is unaware of any drones reaching Israel from Yemen today, and there have been no reports of impacts.

The Houthis also claim to have targeted the American aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman with several missiles in drones in the Red Sea.

3 Israeli snowboarders reported stranded on mountain in central Japan; rescue efforts underway

Illustrative -- Ski lifts at the Alts Bandai Snow Park Resort in Bandai Town, Fukushima prefecture, February 16, 2023. (Kazuhiro Nogi/ AFP)

Three Israeli men in their 20s have been stranded on a mountain near Hakuba in central Japan, Hebrew media reports, amid efforts to rescue them from sub-zero temperatures at the ski resort.

The Ynet news site quotes a source as saying that given the weather conditions, only a Japanese military helicopter can reach the mountaintop to rescue them.

The men are said to be “freezing cold” and the batteries on their cell phones are running low.

The Foreign Ministry says it’s working with local authorities to rescue the snowboarders.

‘Significant progress’ in Doha talks on plan to ensure armed Palestinians don’t return to north Gaza — report

Protesters call for action to secure the release of hostages in Gaza, outside the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv on January 4, 2025. (Jack GUEZ / AFP)

As talks to secure a hostage-ceasefire deal in Gaza continue in Doha, Channel 12 reports that an important gap between Israel and Hamas has been closed — the issue of a mechanism to ensure armed Palestinians do not return to the northern Gaza Strip to regroup.

The outlet reports “significant progress” has been made in agreeing on a mechanism under which Palestinian men, women and children will be able to return to their homes in northern Gaza after passing a security check by international forces.

The report is approved by the military censor, Channel 12 adds, without giving further details on the mechanism.

Negotiators are looking to achieve a halt to the 15-month-old war, together with the release of 100 hostages still held captive by Gazan terror groups, 96 of whom were kidnapped on October 7, 2023.

But despite “cautious optimism” in Israel that an agreement could be close, the network cites unnamed senior officials as saying that Hamas has been hardening its demands on issues such as ending the war in Gaza — a condition that Jerusalem has repeatedly rejected.

Without citing sources, the television news report says that the positive outlook stems from indications from Israeli mediators that Hamas leaders both in the Strip and abroad want a deal — though Yahya Sinwar’s brother Muhammad, who has been operating as the de facto leader of the terror group’s military wing in Gaza, has been slowing things down.

US envoy Hochstein says IDF troops have begun withdrawal from south Lebanon border town Naqura

US special envoy Amos Hochstein (L) attends a meeting with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, in Beirut on January 6, 2025. (AFP)

Visiting US envoy Amos Hochstein says Israeli forces have begun to withdraw from the south Lebanon border town of Naqura, more than halfway into a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

“The Israeli military started its withdrawal from Naqura…and back into Israel proper today, south of the Blue Line. These withdrawals will continue until all Israeli forces are out of Lebanon completely, and as the Lebanese army continues to deploy into the south and all the way to the Blue Line,” Hochstein tells reporters, referring to the UN-demarcated boundary between the two countries.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF on the pullout.

IDF Spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani has said Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanese towns has been slower than anticipated because of a lack of Lebanese army troops ready to take over.

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

‘We’ve known for years that Iran is our greatest threat’: PM reacts to report on IDF budget, force design

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and other officials attend a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, January 6, 2025. (Ma'ayan Toaf/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich receive the report of the Nagel Committee, tasked with examining the defense budget and IDF force design, at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem.

“We have known for years that Iran is our greatest threat, both directly and through its proxies,” says Netanyahu. “We made sure of course to damage the axis, in a very serious way.”

“But we see that it still exists, and that additional forces are entering the field, and we must always be prepared for what is to come.”

The committee began its work in August.

Committee chairman Brigadier General (Res.) Jacob Nagel presents several key findings — Israel must defend itself by itself; Israel’s security will always rely on its qualitative advantage; and war is largely decided in the force-building phase.

The report also backs cultivating Israel’s human capital and makes recommendations for how to attract and keep top-flight talent in the army, and reduce the burden on reservists. It calls for all Israeli citizens to serve equally.

It also urges a move from a pre-October 7 concept of containment and defense to “prevention and readiness,” and building capabilities for preemptive strikes and even preemptive wars.

International flights from Ramon Airport to restart next month with flights to Athens

An Israir plane lands at the new Ramon Airport, named in memory of Ilan and Asaf Ramon. January 21, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

International flights from Ramon Airport in southern Israel will restart next month, according to Hebrew media.

Israir announces that it will begin operating direct flights from Eilat to Athens on February 7, 2025, with prices starting at NIS 299 ($82) for a round-trip ticket.

Routes to additional European cities will be added soon, the low-cost carrier says.

IDF says it’s probing Dec. 2024 raid in which troops used ambulance to enter West Bank refugee camp

The IDF says it is investigating after troops used an ambulance to enter the Balata camp in the northern West Bank during a counterterrorism raid there last month.

Footage posted by Palestinian media yesterday showed a group of soldiers emerging from a vehicle marked as an ambulance.

The incident was said to have taken place on December 19, 2024.

On that day, the Palestinian Authority health ministry reported the death of an 80-year-old woman, along with a 25-year-old man who was claimed as a member of Hamas.

The military says the investigation “will examine the use of the vehicles seen in the video and the allegations of harm to uninvolved [civilians] during the exchange of fire between the terrorists and our forces.”

“The IDF is committed and acts in accordance with international law,” the army adds.

بعد فيديو استخدام قوات الاحتلال الخاصة مركبة إسعاف في اقتحام مخيم بلاطة… المفوضة الأممية في الأراضي الفلسطينية المحتلة، فرانشيسكا ألبانيز: إساءة استخدام الوضع المحمي للمركبات الطبية والعاملين في المجال الطبي يعد انتهاكًا صارخًا لاتفاقيات جنيف وقد يشكل جريمة غدر، ومن خلال… pic.twitter.com/mdZenEyVoN

— القسطل الإخباري (@AlQastalps) January 6, 2025

IDF chief says ‘clock is ticking’ for terrorists who carried out deadly West Bank shooting today

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi (left) speaks with the commander of the Efraim Regional Brigade, Col. Netanel Shamaka, at the scene of a deadly terror shooting in the West Bank village of al-Funduq, January 6, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Speaking to officers at the scene of the deadly terror shooting in the West Bank village of al-Funduq, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi says “the clock is ticking” for the terrorists who carried out the attack.

“We are in an intensive and wide fight against terrorism in Judea and Samaria [West Bank]. We will increase and continue this fight. For the terrorists who carried out this attack, the clock is ticking. We will find out who carried out this attack; we will reach them,” Halevi says.

Two women in their 70s and an off-duty police officer were killed and at least eight other Israelis wounded when Palestinian terrorists opened fire on vehicles in the northern West Bank this morning.

Lebanese army says it has deployed to some areas in southern Lebanon after IDF withdrawal

The Lebanese army says it has deployed to some areas in the western sector of southern Lebanon after the IDF withdrew.

In a post on X, the Lebanese Armed Forces says its troops deployed to areas surrounding the border town of Naqoura, in coordination with UNIFIL.

The LAF says it will soon begin surveying the town to remove any unexploded ordnance left behind from the fighting between the IDF and Hezbollah.

تمركزت وحدات الجيش حول بلدة الناقورة – صور وبدأت الانتشار فيها بالتنسيق مع قوة الأمم المتحدة المؤقتة في لبنان – اليونيفيل، وبالتزامن مع انعقاد اجتماع اللجنة الخماسية للإشراف على اتفاق وقف إطلاق النار (Mechanism) في رأس الناقورة في حضور كبير مستشاري الرئيس الأميركي جو بايدن، السيد… pic.twitter.com/aHiBO73EGo

— الجيش اللبناني (@LebarmyOfficial) January 6, 2025

World Food Programme accuses Israel of firing on aid convoy in Gaza; no comment from IDF

The UN’s World Food Programme accuses Israel of firing on one of its aid convoys in the Gaza Strip, saying at least 16 bullets hit the clearly marked vehicles but no staff were injured.

Condemning the “horrifying” and “unacceptable” incident, the WFP calls again for “all parties to respect international humanitarian law, protect civilian lives, and allow safe passage for humanitarian aid.”

There is no immediate comment from the IDF on the alleged strike.

Canada’s Justin Trudeau announces his resignation as PM and Liberal party leader

OTTAWA — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces his resignation, saying he will leave office as soon as the ruling Liberal party chooses a new leader.

“I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister,” Trudeau, who has been in power since 2015, tells reporters in Ottawa following a protracted political crisis that saw top Liberal allies urge him to quit.

BREAKING: Justin Trudeau announces that he will resign as Canada's prime minister and leader of its Liberal Party, after the party selects a new leader through a "robust, nationwide competitive process."

"It has become clear to me that if I'm having to fight internal battles, I… pic.twitter.com/R3CO39bnMd

— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 6, 2025

Likud’s Afef Abed sworn in as MK to replace former defense minister Gallant

New Likud MK Afef Abed speaks during his swearing in ceremony at the Knesset in Jerusalem, January 6, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The Likud party’s Afef Abed is sworn in as a member of Knesset, replacing former defense minister Yoav Gallant, who resigned last week.

Abed, a representative of the Druze minority, received the 44th spot on the Likud list in the 2022 Knesset election. He is the only Druze lawmaker in the governing coalition.

According to the Kan public broadcaster’s Arabic-language service, the 50-year-old resident of the northern village of Yarka has been a Likud member for 20 years and was previously a deputy head of the party’s youth wing.

Kan also reports that Abed is close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Abed’s replacement of Gallant has sparked speculation in some corners that passing a bill enshrining ultra-Orthodox military exemptions would now be easier, because Gallant was one of the coalition’s major opponents of the measure.

IDF: Two soldiers seriously wounded in fighting in northern Gaza, evacuated to hospital in Israel

Two IDF soldiers with the Nahal Brigade’s reconnaissance unit were seriously wounded during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip earlier today, the military says.

The troops were taken to a hospital in Israel for treatment.

Ben Gvir said to leave MK who broke party discipline out of weekly Otzma Yehudit faction meeting

Otzma Yehudit MK Almog Cohen at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, July 1, 2024 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir holds his far-right Otzma Yehudit party’s weekly faction meeting without MK Almog Cohen, who last week broke party discipline to vote with the coalition on a key budget-related bill.

According to Hebrew media reports, the meeting was held in the National Security Ministry but Cohen was not informed, instead remaining behind in the Knesset while the rest of his party attended the gathering.

Retweeting a post by Army Radio journalist Shahar Glick breaking the news, Cohen writes simply, “The Summer of Almog,” a reference to a popular Israeli movie from the 1980s in which a young girl waits for people to arrive at her birthday party and no one turns up.

Asked by one social media user how he could not have been informed if his party has a parliamentary WhatsApp group, Cohen confirms that he did not receive an update but dismisses the incident as “no big deal.”

Responding to another online commenter who recommends he jump ship to Likud, Cohen tweets that he is “not engaging in politics when our holy soldiers are dismantling the enemy.”

Asked by the Knesset Channel if he and fellow Otzma Yehudit MK Zvika Fogel planned on splitting the party and striking out on their own, Cohen replies that he is “not involved in such an event.”

Yesterday, coalition whip Ofir Katz announced that legislation sponsored by Otzma Yehudit would be removed from the Knesset agenda due to the party’s pledge to continue voting against the government.

State comptroller accuses IDF of ‘intimidating’ senior officers interviewed in Oct. 7 probe

State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman issues a strongly worded letter of criticism to IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi over the military’s conduct during Englman’s investigation into failings of the army leading up to and during the October 7 Hamas invasion, accusing the army of “intimidating” senior officers who have been interviewed by his office.

Englman is conducting a broad investigation into the October 7 failings, including into certain aspects of the IDF’s conduct after the High Court of Justice gave him leeway to do so despite the objections of the army and the attorney general.

The state comptroller in his letter says that a representative of the deputy IDF chief of staff’s administration is present in every meeting his office conducts with senior IDF officials and that these representatives have secretly recorded such meetings without informing the participants.

Englman also alleges that one of the IDF officers who was interviewed by state comptroller officials said that he signed a nondisclosure document that limited what he could say, and that another officer indicated that he had been briefed as to how to respond during the interview.

“The IDF’s behavior sends an implicit message of deterrence and intimidation toward officers in the field and officers subordinate to the high command, and may lead to suspicions of [a lack of] full cooperation with the State Comptroller’s Office, and to thwarting the disclosure of the truth to the state comptroller, and as a result, to extremely serious harm to the state comptroller procedures,” Englman tells Halevi in the letter.

He adds that if the IDF does not remove the obstacles he said the army has placed in the way of his investigation he will summon witnesses to the State Comptroller’s Office through the force of the law, “to ensure that investigation processes can be conducted in the manner required.”

Englman concludes,”It is necessary for the IDF cooperate, in accordance with the agreed-upon outline, in a manner that enables the ongoing fight for the citizens of Israel and the defense of our state against all our enemies, alongside the implementation of state comptroller procedures that get to the root of the truth.”

The military responds to the state comptroller’s claims by saying that “the IDF always acts in accordance with the law and cooperates fully and transparently with the state comptroller.”

“The State Comptroller addressed the IDF with a number of claims. The IDF is studying all of the comptroller’s claims and will respond to them in a matter-of-fact manner as soon as possible,” the IDF says, adding that it will “continue to conduct the dialogue directly with the comptroller.”

Trump reiterates his threat to Hamas: ‘Those hostages have to get out, they have to get out now’

US President-elect Donald Trump reiterates his warning to Hamas to release the hostages it is holding in Gaza, in a radio interview with conservative radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt.

Asked what he meant when he said previously that there would be “hell to pay” if the hostages aren’t released before he takes office on January 20, Trump says: “Exactly what it says — if those hostages aren’t released by the time I get office there will be hell to pay.”

“I don’t think I have to get into it… But it won’t be the word ‘don’t,’ you know,” he adds, referring to a warning made by US President Joe Biden on October 10, 2023, in a speech pledging support for Israel in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 atrocities.

“There will be hell to pay,” he repeats, “Those hostages have to get out, they have to get out now.”

Earlier in the interview Trump says, “I’m with Israel. I think that’s pretty obvious to everybody… I do have to add, I’m also for peace. It’s time. This fight’s been going on for a long time, longer than people would understand.”

‘Don’t leave any hostage behind’: Families beg Trump, government to close deal to bring all 100 captives home

Meirav Leshem Gonen, mother of hostage Romi Gonen, speaking at a hostage family press conference in Tel Aviv on January 6, 2025. Behind her is a list of the names of all 100 hostages held captive in Gaza. (Screenshot: Hostages Forum)

Meirav Leshem Gonen, whose daughter Romi Gonen was taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, from the Nova rave, begs Israel’s government and US President-elect Donald Trump to make sure that any hostage deal includes all 100 hostages still held in Gaza.

Speaking in English at a press conference at the Hostages Forum headquarters in Tel Aviv, Leshem Gonen directs her comments to Trump:

“You are the most powerful leader in the world… Make sure that the first hostage will come out and also the last one. Please don’t leave any hostage behind, please make sure all hostages are coming back home.”

The press conference comes after a list of 34 names of Israeli hostages held in Gaza who could be released in the first, so-called humanitarian stage of an elusive ceasefire agreement with Hamas was published by a Saudi news outlet earlier today.

Israel swiftly downplayed the roster, saying that it had in fact provided the same list to the mediating countries in July. Hamas has refused to provide information on the state of the hostages, which Israel insists on getting before any agreement moves forward.

The Hostages Families Forum publishes and tweets a list of all 100 hostages held in Gaza, headlined: “The real list of humanitarian hostages is revealed”:

100 חטופים.
100 שמות.
כולם הומניטריים. #עדהחטוףהאחרון#מחזיריםאותםהביתהעכשיו#הגיעהזמן#אתכולםעכשיו pic.twitter.com/8Ec53xe9sA

— מטה המשפחות להחזרת החטופים והנעדרים (@BringThemHome23) January 6, 2025

Yotam Cohen, brother of Nimrod Cohen, an IDF soldier taken captive to Gaza on October 7, compares the idea of a hostage list to the actions of the Nazis during the Holocaust.

“My brother Nimrod and the other men are fighting to stay alive. No one has any right to make them stay and suffer; there should be no selection here of who gets to live or die,” says Cohen.

“We are all living beings. There’s no question of who’s worth more,” he says. “Everyone who was taken hostage has to be given back.”

Netanyahu holds situation assessment after deadly West Bank shooting, approves raid to capture terrorists

Israeli security forces gather at the site of a deadly terror shooting near the West Bank village of al-Funduq, January 6, 2025. (Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP)

After three Israelis were killed in a terror shooting earlier today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a situation assessment on the West Bank, his office says.

He is joined by Defense Minister Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, and other senior security officials.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu approves “the operations to capture the terrorists and bring them to justice, and also approved a series of additional defensive and offensive operations in Judea and Samaria.”

‘This is a crossroads’: Four hostage families call for deal with Hamas to free all hostages, dead and alive

Ayelet Goldin, sister of Hadar Goldin, whose body is held by Hamas in Gaza since 2014, speaks at a press conference in Tel Aviv on January 6, 2025. (Screenshot: Hostages Forum)

As Hamas purports to name 34 hostages to be freed in a potential ceasefire deal, four hostage family members hold a press conference at the Hostages Forum headquarters in Tel Aviv, calling on the government to bring home all hostages, both alive and dead.

Ayelet Goldin, whose brother Hadar Goldin was killed in Gaza during 2014’s Operation Protective Edge and whose body has never been returned, weeps as she begs the government not to continue its abandonment of the hostage families, and to refrain from picking and choosing which of the remaining 100 hostages would be released in a deal.

“It’s been 3,811 days,” said Goldin, counting since August 1, 2014, when her brother, an IDF soldier, was shot and kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

“This is a crossroads. Understand that there is one goal here, a Jewish, Israeli, international goal to bring them all back and take advantage of this opportunity. Otherwise, all the remaining hostages will become Ron Arad and Hadar Goldin,” referring to her brother and Arad, a still-missing IDF pilot who was taken captive in Syria in 1986.

Goldin and three other hostage family members who speak are standing in front of a list of the hostages bearing their names and ages.

Yaron Or, whose son Avinatan Or, 30, was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from the Nova rave on October 7, 2023, speaks directly to his son, telling him that the government is leaving him behind, because the fathers, young men and soldiers are not priorities in the hostage lists under discussion.

“There won’t be another deal,” yells Or. “It’s either they all get out now, or Hamas will play with us for years, like they played with Hadar Goldin and other hostages.”

3 young women sentenced for trying to smuggle over NIS 2 million worth of drugs from Europe

Four women suspected of trying to smuggle 15 kg 933 pounds) of cocaine and ketamine from Germany into Israel, arrive for a court hearing in Lod on February 2, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

The Lod District Court sentences three young women for attempting to smuggle over NIS 2 million ($550,000) worth of cocaine and ketamine from Europe.

The so-called “Pink Suitcase Affair” involves four young women — Arbel Mizrahi, 24, Idan Tsauber, 24, Orel Ben Haim, 24, and Lee Poni, 22 — who attempted to smuggle some 15 kilograms (33 pounds) of contraband into Israel from Berlin and Budapest in 2022-2023.

The three sentenced today — Mizrahi, Tsauber and Poni — receive considerably lighter sentences than the prosecution had demanded, as part of a plea bargain signed last year.

Presiding Judge Merav Greenberg also takes into account the defending attorneys’ claims that their clients expressed remorse for their actions and agreed to undergo rehabilitation and treatment.

The fourth defendant, Ben Haim, refused to agree to a rehabilitation process in her plea deal and is currently serving 34 months at the Neve Tirza women’s prison in Ramle.

Greenberg sentences Mizrahi, who is already set to spend 11 months in jail after being thrown out of the treatment facility she enrolled in as part of her plea deal, to 22 additional months.

Tsauber and Poni are sentenced to nine months in jail alongside community service, and were each fined NIS 33,000 ($9,000).

Gabi Pe’er of the Central District Attorney’s Office is considering appealing the sentence, the Ynet news site reports.

High Court to hear petition against Netanyahu’s appointment of Roi Kahlon as acting civil service chief

Attorney Roi Kahlon (Shelly Padan)

The High Court of Justice agrees to hear a petition against the appointment of attorney Roi Kahlon as acting civil service commissioner, after he was appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the position yesterday despite the attorney general’s position that he was not qualified for the job.

Conservative justice Noam Sohlberg sets an urgent hearing for the petition, filed by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, for January 13, and orders the state to respond to the motion by January 12.

“The decision to hold an urgent hearing demonstrates the importance of the issue and the urgency in assessing the legality of the appointment,” says attorney Rotem Bavli Dvir of the Movement for Quality Government, describing the appointment as “illegitimate” and a step that she said would do “severe damage” to the civil service.

The Attorney General’s Office told Netanyahu last week that Kahlon did not meet the criteria for the position, that Kahlon had claimed in his resumé to have far greater management experience than he actually had, and that there was therefore a legal impediment to his appointment.

Netanyahu ignored the attorney general’s position and said he had received “warm recommendations from senior figures in the public service and the law enforcement system” for Kahlon’s appointment.

The High Court usually takes a dim view of government decisions that are taken in opposition to the attorney general’s position.

Report: Top Netanyahu aide met Trump in Nov., came out thinking he’d back a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities

Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer reportedly came out of a November meeting with US President-elect Donald Trump thinking that the latter would back an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities or even order a US attack, according to two sources quoted by the Axios news site.

The sources are said to have spoken to Dermer, a close associate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after his meeting with Trump.

According to the Axios report, while some senior advisers to US President Joe Biden have been privately encouraging him to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities before leaving office, such conversations are now off the table.

The report comes amid rising concern that Iran could move toward pursuing a nuclear weapon as it is increasingly pushed into the corner following a series of devastating blows, coupled with the looming inauguration of Trump, who maintained a hawkish stance toward Tehran his last time in office.

Speculation has also arisen that Israel may strike Iran in response to recurring ballistic missile attacks launched against Israel by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who receive arms and other support from the Islamic Republic.

Last week, Iranian Foreign Minister Iran Abbas Araghchi said that Iran was prepared for any future Israeli attacks and warned that such action could spark a wider conflagration.

Police, Shin Bet arrest four minors on suspicion of involvement with attacks on Israeli forces in West Bank

The Israel Police and the Shin Bet security agency arrested four minors on suspicion of terrorism and filed indictments against them today, says a police spokesperson.

After joint investigations into two separate incidents over the past few weeks, the Central District Police’s intelligence and investigations unit reports arresting three of the minors, residents of the predominantly Arab Triangle region of Israel, for their alleged involvement in attacks against Israeli security forces in the West Bank. Police suspect that one of the minors was involved in arms dealing with a West Bank resident.

Police say the three suspects were affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group and had been in regular contact with “terrorist operatives active in the Nur Shams refugee camp.”

The second joint investigation led to the arrest of another minor, also a resident of the Triangle, on the suspicion that he intended to “carry out terrorist activity inspired by ISIS.”

The minor reportedly consumed ISIS-related content online, attempted to make contact with a member and swore allegiance to the group, but later regretted it. Police say the minor also purchased a gun illegally, and later sold it.

The Central District Attorney’s Office filed indictments against the four minors today.

Bank of Israel moderately raises growth outlook for 2024, 2025 citing lower risk premium after Lebanon truce

The Bank of Israel moderately raises its growth outlook for 2024 and this year citing a significant decline in the country’s risk premium following a ceasefire reached in November with Hezbollah after more than a year of fighting.

The central bank now expects the economy to have grown by 0.6 percent in 2024, 4% in 2025, and 4.5% in 2026, assuming that the “direct economic impact of the war will continue until the end of the first quarter of 2025.” That forecast was revised from a previous growth projection in October of 0.5% in 2024 and 3.8% in 2025.

The central bank says that “in view of geopolitical developments, the recovery in economic activity continues at a moderate pace.”

“Geopolitical developments since the October forecast have reduced the risk of a situation in which growth will be markedly lower than the forecast,” the central bank says. “The government’s approval of the budget, and the Knesset’s passage of the package of tax measures, have moderated the risks that the debt will grow out of control and that the risk premium will increase as a result.”

Back in October, the central bank slashed its growth outlook for 2024 and 2025 as the prolonged war with Hamas and intensified fighting with Hezbollah continued to take a heavy toll on the country’s finances.

Alongside the revised growth forecasts, the central bank decides to hold the benchmark interest rate at 4.5% for an eighth consecutive meeting, citing tax changes that came into effect on January 1, “particularly the increase in VAT, along with continued supply constraints and excess demand, that are expected to raise the inflation rate in the first half of the year.”

The decision is in line with forecasts by most economists.

Knesset speaker invites hostage mother Einav Zangauker to discuss her being banned from parliament

Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, stands outside the Knesset in Jerusalem, after she was banned from entering to the building, on January 6, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana invites Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, to meet with him to discuss her having been banned last week by the Knesset Guard from entering the parliament building due to what the Knesset Spokesperson’s Office called “serious violations of order.”

The meeting is scheduled to take place tomorrow.

Ohana’s invitation to Zangauker comes after opposition members of the Knesset Presidium, a key decision-making organ of the legislature, chastised the Knesset speaker for backing the Knesset Guard’s decision to bar Zangauker from the building.

“What terrible cruelty, a mother who sees that her son is not on the lists [for a proposed hostage release agreement],” says Deputy Speaker Orit Farkash-Hacohen.

“What if it were your son? And they weren’t allowing you to have your voice heard for him?” she demands.

At the end of a stormy meeting, Ohana said he would reevaluate the issue, followed shortly afterward by his call to Zangauker to invite her to meet with him.

“The phone call was conducted in a good and respectful atmosphere,” Ohana’s office says.

Reports: Police to ask AG’s office for OK to check potentially criminal activities of Minister May Golan

Social Equality Minister May Golan attends a Knesset debate on July 17, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Israel Police is reportedly planning to ask the Attorney General’s Office for approval to carry out an initial check into alleged criminal activities by Equality Minister May Golan, following an exposé aired yesterday on Channel 12 News.

The Hebrew media reports come after Channel 12 charged that Golan gave spurious ministerial jobs to close associates in return for donations to the anti-immigration nonprofit she manages, misrepresented the nonprofit as a charitable organization, and mistreated her parliamentary assistants.

Upon entering the Knesset in 2020, Golan reportedly retained her salaried position managing the anti-immigration nonprofit she founded, “The Hebrew City,” in violation of nonprofit law. It is further unclear whether the organization actually works toward its stated aims, according to Channel 12.

Golan was also said to have falsely represented the nonprofit as a charitable organization to Taiwanese embassy representatives while giving them a tour through south Tel Aviv. The embassy donated $20,000 to her organization following the tour, but it is unclear where the money went as the nonprofit has not submitted financial reports for three years.

Ynet reports that Golan’s office denies the allegations against her.

“Since being appointed as a member of Knesset, May Golan has not held a position in the ‘Hebrew City’ organization, has not solicited donations, and has not forced assistants to become members of the organization. She has worked to raise awareness of the situation in south Tel Aviv through tours and outreach,” her office responds.

A spokesman for the attorney general tells The Times of Israel that the police have not yet reached out regarding a potential initial check into the allegations, and will weigh the issue when the time comes.

Blinken calls for final push to get Gaza hostage-truce deal over ‘finish line’ before Biden leaves office

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves before he boards a plane at the Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek on January 6, 2025. (Lee Jin-man/Pool/AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken calls for a final push for a Gaza hostage-ceasefire deal before President Joe Biden leaves office, after a Hamas official told Reuters the terror group had cleared a list of 34 hostages as first to be released from captivity in Gaza under a truce.

“We very much want to bring this over the finish line in the next two weeks, the time we have remaining,” Blinken tells a news conference in South Korea, when asked whether a deal was close.

Israel has sent a team of mid-ranking officials to Qatar for talks brokered by Qatari and Egyptian mediators. Some Arabic media reports said Mossad chief David Barnea, who has been leading negotiations, was expected to join them. The Prime Minister’s Office did not comment.

US President-elect Donald Trump has said there will be “hell to pay” in the Middle East if hostages held by Hamas are not freed before his inauguration on January 20, now viewed in the region as an unofficial deadline for a truce deal.

It is believed that 96 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.

Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.

Two women killed in West Bank terror shooting named as Rachel Cohen and Aliza Raiz

Rachel Cohen (L), 73, and Aliza Raiz, 70, were killed in a terror shooting attack in the West Bank village of al-Funduq on January 6, 2025. (Courtesy)

The two women killed in this morning’s terror shooting attack in the West Bank village of al-Funduq are identified as Rachel Cohen and Aliza Raiz.

Cohen, 73, and Raiz, 70, from the settlement of Kedumim, were driving together on Route 55 when Palestinian terrorists opened fire on their vehicle, killing them. The two are said to be friends.

The terrorists also opened fire on a bus and another car in the attack, killing police officer Master Sgt. Elad Yaakov Winkelstein, 35, a resident of Ein Hanatziv.

Report: Suspect in foiled attack on Taylor Swift concert originally considered Israeli embassy as target

FILE - Taylor Swift performs at Wembley Stadium as part of her Eras Tour on Friday, June 21, 2024 in London. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP, File)

The main suspect in the foiled plot to attack Taylor Swift concerts in Austria in August had initially considered a number of alternative targets including the Israeli embassy in Vienna, the Washington Post reports.

According to the report, Beran Aliji briefly considered carrying out attacks on a Shiite mosque, Kurdish diplomats or the embassy before settling on the concert.

Austrian officials have said the main suspect, a 19-year-old Austrian man, was inspired by the Islamic State group.

He allegedly planned to attack outside the stadium, where upwards of 30,000 fans were expected to gather, with knives or homemade explosives. Another 65,000 fans were likely to be inside the venue.

Investigators discovered chemical substances and technical devices during a raid of the suspect’s home.

Lapid: IDF reservist narrowly escaping arrest in Brazil shows government failure to manage foreign relations

Opposition leader and head of the Yesh Atid party MK Yair Lapid leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on January 6, 2025 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The fact that an IDF reservist who survived the Nova festival massacre recently only narrowly escaped arrest for alleged war crimes while traveling in South America highlight’s the government’s absolute failure to manage foreign relations and public diplomacy during the war, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid charges.

Following a complaint by the Belgium-based anti-Israel Hind Rajab Foundation, a Brazilian federal court over the weekend ordered police to investigate whether an IDF soldier who was traveling in the country was responsible for “war crimes” in Gaza.

“He is not the first. There have been previous cases in Thailand, Norway, and other places,” Lapid tells reporters during his Yesh Atid party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.

“A few hours later, the Australian Ice Hockey Association announced that it was canceling a tournament so that it would not have to invite the Israeli team to Australia. This is happening after the violent pogrom in Amsterdam, where Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were attacked, after Slovenia began a movement to boycott Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest, after 97% of Moroccan residents expressed support for the October 7 massacre. After Spain unilaterally announced recognition of a Palestinian state,” Lapid continues.

Lapid blames this “antisemitism” on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, calling it “the most terrible, most absolute, and above all the most unnecessary failure of Israeli foreign policy in all the years of the state.”

The government is “destroying our standing in the world to the core, and its answer to every disaster is for Trump to come and save us.”

“Donald Trump is a great lover of Israel, but he won’t manage our foreign relations or Israeli public diplomacy for us,” Lapid says.

“This failure could have been prevented. Maybe not completely, but certainly correct management could have prevented the complete collapse that we are seeing,” Lapid claims, arguing that if the government had established a state commission of inquiry it could have headed off arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant at the Hague as well as against “arrest warrants and investigations against Israeli officers and soldiers who are fighting to protect us.”

Lapid says that at the same time, the government should have prevented ministers from making statements with international implications: “They shouldn’t suggest dropping an atomic bomb on Gaza on the radio, and they shouldn’t talk on television about starving children.”

Visiting Metula, Liberman calls for establishment of south Lebanon buffer zone

Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman visits Metula on January 6, 2025 (Image courtesy of spokesperson for Liberman)

Speaking in Metula following a tour of the northern city, Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman calls for the establishment of a buffer zone in southern Lebanon, arguing that “any other step is a Band-Aid on a bleeding wound.”

The ceasefire agreement currently being implemented by Israel in Lebanon “endangers the residents of the north,” Liberman declares, arguing that “the Lebanese army has no control over the area between the Litani River and the Israeli border, and has no intention of disarming Hezbollah.

“In practice, Hezbollah is strengthening again, returning forces to the line of contact, producing missiles inside Lebanon and continuing smuggling weapons,” he asserts, adding that only a security zone will be able to “prevent anti-tank fire and tunnels.”

“Hezbollah will continue to grow stronger, and the citizens of Israel will continue to live under constant threat. The time has come for action, not talk,” says Liberman.

1st victim of West Bank terror shooting named as police officer Elad Yaakov Winkelstein

One of the victims of this morning’s terror shooting attack in the West Bank village of al-Funduq is named by police as Master Sgt. Elad Yaakov Winkelstein from Ein HaNatziv.

Winkelstein, 35, a father of two, was an investigator at the Ariel police station.

Two other Israelis were killed in the attack.

IDF says 3 Palestinian gunmen from Jenin area carried out deadly West Bank terror attack

Screen grab from CCTV video shows Palestinian terrorists who carried out deadly shooting attack in the West Bank village of al-Funduq on January 6, 2025 (Screen grab/X)

The IDF says three Palestinian gunmen from the Jenin area in the northern West Bank carried out this morning’s deadly terror shooting attack in the village of al-Funduq.

According to an initial IDF probe the terrorists, armed with assault rifles, first opened fire at a civilian car from a close range, killing two women in their 60s. Then, the gunmen fired at a bus further away, injuring eight people.

As the terrorists were shooting at the bus, an armed civilian opened fire with a handgun at the gunmen, causing them to get back in their car and flee.

While the terrorists were fleeing, they opened fire on another car, killing a police officer in his 40s, according to the IDF’s investigation.

The military says two of the gunmen are known to the defense establishment and have been wanted for involvement in terror activity, while the third is still unidentified. A manhunt is underway.

Macron: Iran’s nuclear program nearing point of no return

French President Emmanuel Macron delivers his speech to French ambassadors posted around the world, on January 6, 2025 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. (Aurelien Morissard / POOL / AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron says Iran is the main strategic and security challenge in the Middle East, citing the acceleration of its nuclear program and support for Russia’s war against Ukraine.

“Iran is the main strategic and security challenge for France, the Europeans, the entire region and beyond,” Macron says in a speech to ambassadors, adding the issue would be a key subject of discussion with the new administration of US President-elect Donald Trump.

“”The acceleration of the nuclear program leads us nearly to the point of no return,” Macron says.

He additionally says the West must not be naive about the new authorities in Syria after the ousting of Bashar al-Assad and promises France will not abandon Kurdish fighters.

“We must regard the regime change in Syria without naivete,” Macron says, adding France will not abandon “freedom fighters, like the Kurds” who are fighting extremist groups in Syria.

IDF launches probe into alleged assault of troops during arrest of reservists accused of abusing Palestinian

The IDF Military Police has launched an investigation into the alleged assault of its members during the arrest of reservists accused of abusing a Palestinian detainee at a detention facility in July.

The Haaretz daily says members of Force 100 — a Military Police reserve unit tasked with guarding terror suspects at the Sde Teiman base — “violently attacked” Military Police officers who came to detain 10 of them on July 29.

The newspaper says the soldiers who came to arrest the suspects were attacked by members of Force 100 with pepper spray, and some were threatened at gunpoint to release the detainees.

The IDF confirms the report, saying that the Military Police’s Investigatory Unit has launched an investigation. “The IDF views any incident of violence gravely,” the military adds.

‘Hamas list’ is Israel’s original 40-name July list of hostages for release, minus 4 murdered in tunnel, elderly man killed in captivity, 1 rescued

A picture of slain Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg Polin hang on a building in Jerusalem, December 3, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The list of 34 hostages Hamas sent to a Saudi outlet was merely the list of 40 hostages Israel submitted in July for release in the first phase of a hostage deal, minus five hostages since killed in Gaza and one who was rescued. The Prime Minister’s Office tells The Times of Israel it does not specify which of the 34 are alive, and indeed includes no information on the status of the 34.

The July 27 list included Farhan al-Qadi, who was rescued in August.

Relatives and friends of rescued hostage Farhan al-Qadi welcome him as he returns to the southern village of Khirbet Karkour, near the Bedouin city of Rahat, August 28, 2024. (Ahmad Gharabli / AFP)

It also included four of the hostages murdered in late August – Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Carmel Gat, and Almog Sarusi. Ori Danino and Alex Lobanov were killed alongside the four others, but were not on the July list of “humanitarian” hostages because they were “healthy” young men. Hamas deems all Israeli men of military age to be soldiers.

This combination of six undated photos shows hostages, from top left, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi; from bottom left, Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lobanov, and Carmel Gat. They were murdered by their Hamas captors in Gaza in August 2024. (The Hostages Families Forum via AP)

Also on the list was Avraham Munder, kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz. On August 20, 2024, the kibbutz announced he had been killed while in captivity in Gaza and his body had been brought back from the Strip by the IDF.

Avraham Munder (Courtesy)

“They haven’t said who is alive and who is not. They haven’t sent any list,” says the PMO official. “So, as far as we stand, there isn’t any progress.”

FBI: New Orleans attacker used Meta smart glasses to scout French Quarter

An Islamic State flag lies on the ground rolled up behind the pickup truck that Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

The man who drove a truck into a crowd of people in New Orleans on New Year’s Day, killing 14, had previously scouted the French Quarter and recorded video with his Meta smart glasses, the FBI says.

On Oct. 31, Shamsud-Din Jabbar recorded video with the glasses as he cycled through the French Quarter and plotted the attack, says Lyonel Myrthil, FBI special agent in charge of the New Orleans field office.

Jabbar also wore the glasses, which are capable of livestreaming, during the attack, but did not activate them.

A spokesperson for Meta, the parent company of Facebook, declines to comment.

This undated passport photo provided by the FBI on Wednesday, January 1, 2025, shows Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, who died after killing 14 people celebrating New Year’s on New Orleans’ Bourbon Street. (FBI via AP)

Lapid meets barred hostage mom Einav Zangauker outside Knesset, says Ohana won’t take his call on matter

Standing outside the Knesset with Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid accuses Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana of refusing to take his call to discuss her Knesset ban.

Lapid says he does not know of another incident of the Knesset speaker refusing to take the opposition leader’s call, describing it as a “disgrace.”

Last week, Zangauker was prevented from entering the Knesset, with the Knesset Spokesperson’s Office saying that she had “despite her repeated promises, continued to seriously violate order.”

When Zangauker showed up at the Knesset accompanied by opposition lawmakers this morning, she was prevented from entering the Knesset for a second time.

לפיד עם עינב צנגאוקר בכניסה למשכן הכנסת pic.twitter.com/r6vhuMwiAS

— Niv Dimor (@dimor_niv) January 6, 2025

Biden bans offshore drilling across large area of US coastal waters before Trump takes office

US President Joe Biden pauses during a photo opportunity with Medal of Valor recipients in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday, January 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

US President Joe Biden bans offshore drilling across an immense area of coastal waters, weeks before Donald Trump takes office pledging to massively increase fossil fuel production.

The ban encompasses the entire Atlantic coast and eastern Gulf of Mexico, as well as the Pacific coast off California, Oregon and Washington, and a section of the Bering Sea off Alaska.

A White House statement says the declaration protects more than 625 million acres (253 million hectares) of waters.

“As the climate crisis continues to threaten communities across the country and we are transitioning to a clean energy economy, now is the time to protect these coasts for our children and grandchildren,” Biden says in a statement.

“In balancing the many uses and benefits of America’s ocean, it is clear to me that the relatively minimal fossil fuel potential in the areas I am withdrawing do not justify the environmental, public health, and economic risks that would come from new leasing and drilling,” he adds.

The ban does not have an end date and could be legally — and politically — tricky for Trump to overturn.

Biden is taking the action under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953, which gives the federal government authority over the exploitation of offshore resources.

The law, however, does not expressly provide for presidents to unilaterally reverse a drilling ban without going through Congress.

During his campaign, Trump pledged to “unleash” domestic fossil fuel production in a bid to lower gas costs, despite the country already seeing record high extraction rates.

CCTV footage shows Palestinian terrorists opening fire at Israeli vehicles in West Bank attack

Screen grab from CCTV video shows Palestinian terrorists who carried out deadly shooting attack in the West Bank village of al-Funduq on January 6, 2025 (Screen grab/X)

Surveillance camera footage shows this morning’s deadly terror shooting attack in the West Bank village of al-Funduq.

The video shows the Palestinian terrorists stopping their car on the side of the highway that passes through the village.

One of the terrorists is seen getting out of the car and opening fire on oncoming Israeli vehicles.

A second terrorist can also be seen in the clip. Both get back into the car and drive off, the footage shows.

The IDF has launched a manhunt for the gunmen.

מחבל יוצא מהרכב, יורה ונמלט: תיעוד מהפיגוע בכפר פונדק@carmeldangor pic.twitter.com/tE1iayttr9

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) January 6, 2025

Sderot home damaged in rocket attack was hit on two previous occasions

Emergency services and officials at the Sderot home hit by a rocket fired from Gaza on January 6, 2025 (Sderot Muhniciplity)

The home hit in this morning’s rocket attack from Gaza had already been damaged by projectiles on two previous occasions, the Ynet news site reports.

The owners tell the site that they had not yet finished repairing the damage from the most recent impact.

Today’s attack caused light damage to the property in the town close to the Gaza border. Another rocket was intercepted while a third hit open ground.

Rocket fired from Gaza hits Sderot home, no injuries reported

Three rockets were launched from the northern Gaza Strip at the southern border city of Sderot a short while ago, the military says.

One of the rockets was intercepted, while another struck the city, causing slight damage to a home. The third rocket apparently hit an open area, without causing major damage.

There are no reports of injuries in the attack.

Large explosions heard in southern Israel before the rocket fire were caused by heavy IDF strikes in northern Gaza.

הירי מעזה: פגיעה במבנה בשדרות
(צילום: אבריימי אמזל) @Itsik_zuarets pic.twitter.com/VPFY3ViDWV

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) January 6, 2025

PM after West Bank terror attack: We will bring the ‘despicable murderers’ to justice

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the assembly hall of the Knesset in Jerusalem, on December 31, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

After three Israelis were killed in a West Bank terror attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outs out a statement offering condolences to the families of the victims.

“We will reach the despicable murderers and bring them to justice, along with everyone who helped them,” he says. “No one will be spared.”

Rocket sirens sound in Gaza border towns

Sirens sound in a number of communities close to the Gaza border, warning of incoming rocket fire.

The past few days has seen an uptick in rocket fire from the Strip.

Ben Gvir calls for ending PA cooperation, urges ‘as many checkpoints as possible’ in West Bank after terror attack

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir in the Knesset on November 13, 2024. (Chaim Goldbergl/Flash90)

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir calls for an end to cooperation with the Palestinian Authority following this morning’s terror shooting in Al Funduk in the northern West Bank in which three people were killed.

Ben Gvir says Israel should stop believing it has a partner in the PA. “Remember that the PA supports terror, stop all cooperation with it, place as many checkpoints as possible and close roads [because] the settlers’ right to life outweighs PA residents’ freedom of movement,” he says.

“I hope that my position will be accepted by the cabinet this time,” he continues.

“Those who seek to halt the war in Gaza will receive war in Judea and Samaria,” he says, using the Biblical term for the West Bank.

Likud’s Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi demands an “immediate and uncompromising return to war” against terror.

In a letter to cabinet secretary Yossi Fuchs, Karhi says that “Jewish blood is being spilled like water [and] innocent civilians are being slaughtered on the roads of Judea and Samaria, while terrorists roam freely, armed from head to toe, strengthening themselves in poisonous terror nests – while the Palestinian Authority, which supports terrorism, allows them dangerous freedom of action.”

“This grave security reality reminds us of the dark days of the Oslo governments – and it cannot exist under a national right-wing government,” Karhi writes, asking if the government will “wait for another terrorist attack before we wake up?”

“I demand an urgent discussion in the government on this issue – no more weak responses, but a hair-raising, immediate and uncompromising return to war,” he says. “After the great achievements in the south and north, the time has come to act forcefully against the front that is on fire in the heart of our country.”

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi at an Economic Affairs committee meeting at the Knesset on December 18, 2024 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Smotrich: Nablus, Jenin need to resemble Gaza’s Jabalia after deadly West Bank terror attack

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich leads a faction meeting of his Religious Zionist party at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, December 23, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

After three people were killed in a terror shooting in Al Funduq in the northern West Bank, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says that the Palestinian village, along with the cities of Nablus and Jenin, should be treated like the Gazan city Jabalia in order to prevent further attacks.

“Al Funduk, Nablus and Jenin need to look like [Gaza’s] Jabalia so that Kfar Saba does not become Kfar Aza, God forbid,” he says, naming a central Israel town and a Gaza border community hit hard on October 7, respectively.

“The terrorism in Judea and Samaria and the terrorism from Gaza and Iran is the same terrorism – and it must be defeated,” he says, using the Biblical term for the West Bank. “Those who trust the Palestinian Authority to maintain the security of Israeli citizens are waking up to a morning when terrorists are again slaughtering Jewish residents.”

Smotrich demands that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convene “an urgent cabinet meeting today to discuss a change in outlook and the real eradication of terrorism in Judea and Samaria.”

Israel’s failed pre-October 7 security “concept is still here and it is being paid for with precious blood,” the far-right minister declares in the statement.

According to a December report in the Haaretz daily, the IDF estimates that around 70 percent of the buildings in Jabalia in north Gaza have been destroyed during the ongoing military operation there.

Rubble surrounds a home after it was hit in an Israeli strike in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, on November 7, 2024 (AFP)

10th outbreak of bird flu identified in Israel, Agriculture Ministry says

The tenth outbreak of bird flu is discovered at Kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek, in the Jezreel Valley, northern Israel, at a broiler chicken coop housing 39,000 59-week-old birds in three buildings.

During the current season, the Agriculture Ministry has identified 10 outbreaks of avian influenza, first in northern Israel, then spreading to the center.

Hostage mother Einav Zangauker barred from Knesset for 2nd week

Einav Zangauker speaks at a press conference held by families of the hostages, in Tel Aviv on December 28, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker and a prominent voice in the fight to secure a deal for the release of those held captive in the Gaza Strip, is prevented from entering the Knesset for a second week.

She arrives at the Knesset in Jerusalem accompanied by opposition lawmakers but is not permitted to enter.

In a statement, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum demands Zanguaker be permitted to enter the parliament.

“Every family member must be allowed to cry out for themselves and their family members in front of the decision-makers and elected officials who are responsible for the fate of the 100 hostages,” the forum says.

Last week, the Knesset Spokesperson’s Office said Zangauker has, “despite her repeated promises, continued to seriously violate order.”

הכנסת אוסרת את כניסתה של עינב צנגאוקר שבוע שני ברציפות https://t.co/Qy4Hv7shMA pic.twitter.com/aETuyZRLDB

— Tal Shalev (@talshalev1) January 6, 2025

At least 2 Palestinian terrorists carried out deadly West Bank shooting attack

The scene of a deadly terror shooting attack in the West Bank village of al-Funduq on January 6, 2025 (Magen David Adom)

At least two Palestinian terrorists carried out the deadly shooting attack in the West Bank village of al-Funduq, a military source says.

The terrorists opened fire on a bus and two cars that were traveling along Route 55 — which passes through the village — before fleeing the scene in a car.

The IDF has dispatched a large number of forces to search for the gunmen.

Three civilians were killed and seven others were wounded, including the 63-year-old bus driver who is in serious condition, medics say.

PM’s office stresses published hostage list was given by Israel to mediators in July 2024

A protester holds a placard with a dove carrying a yellow ribbon, symbolizing solidarity with the hostages taken by Hama-led terrorists during the October 7, 2023 attack, during a demonstration calling for their release outside the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv on January 4, 2025 (Jack GUEZ / AFP)

After a Saudi outlet publishes a list it received from Hamas of 34 hostages it says would be freed in the first phase of a potential hostage-ceasefire deal, the Prime Minister’s Office puts out a statement stressing that the document is merely an Israeli list given to the mediating countries in July 2024.

“To date, Israel has not received any confirmation or comment from Hamas regarding the status of the hostages on the list,” says the PMO.

3 killed, 6 injured in West Bank terror shooting; IDF says manhunt underway for attackers

The scene of a terror shooting attack on a bus in the West Bank on January 6, 2024 (Magen David Adom)

Three people were killed in a terror shooting attack near Al Funduk in the northern West Bank, the Magen David Adom emergency service says.

Eli Bin, the head of the emergency service, says six additional people were injured in the attack.

The Israel Defense Forces says in a statement that troops are searching for the perpetrators of the attack, with roadblocks set up in the vicinity of the attack and a number of villages surrounded.

The military says gunmen opened fire at a bus and civilian vehicles. The attack was carried out near Kedumim.

2 critically wounded, 4 moderately in terror shooting near Kedumim in West Bank

The scene of a terror shooting attack on a bus in the West Bank on January 6, 2024 (Magen David Adom)

The Magen David Adom emergency service says at least six people were injured in a terror shooting attack near the West Bank settlement of Kedumim.

Two of the victims – women aged around 60 — are in critical condition.

The four other victims are moderately wounded, Magen David Adom says.

According to reports, a gunman opened fire at a bus and fled the scene. A manhunt is underway.

4 injured in shooting attack near West Bank settlement of Kedumim, medics say

At least four people were injured in a shooting attack near the northern West Bank settlement of Kedumim, medics say.

The Magen David Adom emergency service says it appears a gunman opened fire at vehicles.

The Israel Defense Forces says it is looking into the reports of an attack.

Israeli official: Published hostage list was one sent by Israel to Hamas in the past

Protesters hold candles and cutout portraits of hostages held captive in Gaza during a demonstration calling for action to secure their release, outside the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv on January 4, 2025 (Jack GUEZ / AFP)

The list of hostages circulating this morning is an Israeli list sent to Hamas in the past, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.

“Hamas hasn’t sent any list,” says the official, adding that Israel hasn’t received formal approval of the list.

Earlier this morning a Saudi outlet published a list of 34 hostages to be freed in the first phase of a potential hostage-ceasefire deal. An unnamed Hamas official said that it would take time for the terror group to determine who was alive.

Hostage forum calls for a comprehensive deal that will see all captives freed

People protest for the release of hostages held in Gaza outside the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, January 5, 2025 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

After a Saudi outlet publishes a list of the 34 hostages to be freed in the first phase of a potential deal, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum calls for an agreement that will see all of the captives released.

“The families of the hostages are shaken and upset by the list published this morning,” the forum says. “We call on the media and the public to show sensitivity and responsibility regarding the publication of this and other such things until a deal is signed, and also during it.”

“The time is ripe for a comprehensive agreement that will return all the hostages – the living for healing, and the murdered and fallen for a proper burial. We are leaving no one behind!” the group says.

The list published by a Saudi outlet this morning does not detail who is alive.

Saudi outlet publishes list of hostages to be freed in potential deal; Hamas official: Time needed to determine who is alive

Israelis protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Saudi daily al-Sharq publishes what it says is the list of the 34 hostages to be freed in the first phase of a potential hostage-ceasefire deal.

Hamas has refused to say who on the list is alive.

According to the report, an official from the terror group says it will take around a week to determine the condition of each of the hostages.

The list includes two children, 10 women, 11 older men and 11 men aged under 50.

The outlet says the following individuals would be released if a deal were to be reached.

Romi Gonen
Emily Damari
Arbel Yehud
Doron Steinbrecher
Ariel Bibas
Kfir Bibas
Shiri Silberman Bibas
Liri Albag
Karina Ariev
Agam Berger
Danielle Gilboa
Naama Levy
Ohad Ben-Ami
Gad Moshe Moses
Keith Siegel
Ofer Calderon
Eli Sharabi
Itzhak Elgaret
Shlomo Mansur
Ohad Yahalomi
Youssef Ziyadne
Oded Lifshitz
Tsachi Idan
Hisham Al Sayed
Yarden Bibas
Sagui Dekel-Chen
Iair Horn
Omer Wenkert
Alexander Troufanov
Eliya Cohen
Or Levy
Avera Mengistu
Tal Shoham
Omer Shem-Tov

BBC: 2 kids, 10 women, 11 older men on list of 34 hostages to be freed in potential deal

A rally calling for the release of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, December 21 2024 (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

The BBC says it has seen the list of 34 hostages to be released in the first phase of a potential ceasefire deal.

The British broadcaster says the list was shared by an unnamed senior Hamas official. The Palestinian terror group is refusing to detail who on the list is alive.

The outlet does not publish the list, but says it features 10 women and 11 older male hostages aged between 50 and 85, in addition to two children, presumably Ariel and Kfir Bibas.

The outlet says the list also includes a number of hostages Hamas says are sick.

South Korea’s military says North Korea fired missile into eastern sea as Blinken visits Seoul

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired a ballistic missile that flew 1,100 kilometers (685 miles) before landing in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, South Korea’s military says, extending its heightened weapons testing activities into 2025 weeks before Donald Trump returns as US president.

The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff say the missile was fired from an area near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang and that the launch preparations were detected in advance by the US and South Korean militaries. It denounces the launch as a provocation that poses a serious threat to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

The joint chiefs say the military is strengthening its surveillance and defense posture in preparation for possible additional launches and sharing information on the missile with the United States and Japan.

The launch came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting Seoul for talks with South Korean allies over the North Korean nuclear threat and other issues.

Blinken’s visit comes amid political turmoil in South Korea following President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law decree and subsequent impeachment by parliament last month, which experts say puts the country at a disadvantage in getting a steady footing with Trump ahead of his return to the White House.

Blinken ‘confident’ Gaza hostage-ceasefire deal will be achieved, either under Biden or after

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a meeting with Civil Society on the sidelines of the 31st Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Ministerial summit, in Ta'Qali, Malta, December 5, 2024. (Alberto Pizzoli/Pool Photo via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken voices confidence that a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal will come together, but possibly after US President Joe Biden leaves office on January 20.

“If we don’t get it across the finish line in the next two weeks, I’m confident that it will get its completion at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later, and when it does, it will be on the basis of the plan that President Biden put forward,” Blinken tells reporters in Seoul.

Yesterday, Hamas was said to have agreed with Israel on a list of 34 hostages to be released in the first phase of a potential ceasefire deal, but the Palestinian terror group was refusing to detail who of them was alive, according to multiple reports citing Hamas and Israeli officials.

The Walla news site reported, citing an unnamed senior Israeli official, that Hamas had approved the list in exchange for an “appropriate price” — meaning the number of Palestinian security prisoners to be freed as part of the deal — but by refusing to say who was alive and who wasn’t, made it impossible to determine which price would be appropriate.

IDF to test sirens in two northern localities today

The military says it will carry out a test of rocket sirens in two areas today.

Sirens will sound at 10:05 a.m. in Sakhnin, and at 1:05 p.m. in the Beit Jann Regional Council.

In the case of an actual attack, the sirens will sound twice, according to the IDF.

Golden Globes: Adrien Brody wins best actor for Jewish role in ‘The Brutalist,’ Kieran Culkin nabs best supporting actor for ‘A Real Pain’

US actor Adrien Brody (L) poses with the Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture -- Drama award for "The Brutalist," alongside British actress Felicity Jones (C) and Australian actor Guy Pearce in the press room during the 82nd annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, California, on January 5, 2025. (Photo by Robyn BECK / AFP)

US actor Adrien Brody wins a Golden Globe for best actor in a drama for his role as a Hungarian Jewish architect who survives the Holocaust and emigrates to the United States in period epic “The Brutalist,” which also wins best drama film and best director for Brady Corbet, in a successful evening for the movie as one of the night’s top winners.

Brody beats Timothee Chalamet for his role in “A Complete Unknown,” Daniel Craig for “Queer,” Colman Domingo in “Sing Sing,” Ralph Fiennes for papal thriller “Conclave,” and Sebastian Stan for Donald Trump biopic “The Apprentice.”

In winning best drama film, “The Brutalist,” which clocks in at more than 3.5 hours, bests Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” papal intrigue “Conclave,” sci-fi epic “Dune: Part Two,” race-infused reform school piece “Nickel Boys” and “September 5,” which charts the massacre of Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Kieran Culkin wins best supporting actor for Jesse Eisenberg’s awkward road trip comedy “A Real Pain,” about mismatched American cousins retracing their family’s Holocaust history.

In the best comedy or musical film, the winner is surreal narco-musical “Emilia Perez,” about a Mexican drug lord who undergoes surgery to live life as a woman, beating “Anora,” “Challengers,” “A Real Pain,” “The Substance,” and “Wicked.” Jacques Audiard’s genre-defying work wins four trophies overall.

The gala features Gal Gadot, who presents an award shortly after posting on Instagram about the plight of Liri Albag and the other hostages. There are several minor pro-Palestinian gestures in an Artists4Ceasefire pin worn by Australian actor Guy Pearce and American screenwriter Justin Halpern.

US actor Kieran Culkin poses with the Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture award for ‘A Real Pain’ in the press room during the 82nd annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, California, on January 5, 2025. (Robyn BECK / AFP)

US to ease aid restrictions for Syria in limited gesture to new government — WSJ

The Biden administration plans to announce Monday that it will ease restrictions on US humanitarian aid for Syria, speeding delivery of basic supplies without lifting sanctions that restrict other assistance to the new government in Damascus, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The step, approved by the administration over the weekend, authorizes the Treasury Department to issue waivers to aid groups and companies providing essentials such as water, electricity and other humanitarian supplies, the WSJ reports, citing officials.

Canadian PM Trudeau to announce resignation as early as Monday — report

File - Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a meeting of the North Atlantic Council with Partner Nations at a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, July 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to announce as early as Monday that he will resign as Liberal Party Leader, The Globe and Mail reports, citing three sources.

The sources tell the Globe and Mail that they don’t know definitely when Trudeau will announce his plans to leave but say they expect it will happen before a key national caucus meeting on Wednesday.

The Canadian prime minister’s office does not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.

It remains unclear whether Trudeau will leave immediately or stay on as prime minister until a new leader is selected, the report adds.

Car in Sydney hit with antisemitic graffiti, drawing condemnation

A car in Sydney has been spray-painted with an antisemitic message, in the latest incident of hate toward Jews to rock Australia in recent weeks.

A vehicle in Queens Park, one of the city’s Eastern Suburbs that have a heavily Jewish population, was hit with “Fuck the Jews” graffiti.

Sydney. Again. Another suburb with a large Jewish community and multiple Jewish communal facilities. No one just vandalises a car with a racist slogan. It is the product of endless incitement, demonisation and a belief that such attitudes are freely permitted, even celebrated. pic.twitter.com/KPxRTpf1bK

— Alex Ryvchin (@AlexRyvchin) January 5, 2025

David Ossip, president of the Jewish Board of Deputies in the New South Wales state, tells local media he is “appalled and saddened” about the latest incident.

“It is unacceptable that Jewish Australians and Australians of all backgrounds have had to wake up yet again and see messages of hate prominently displayed in their neighborhood,” he says. “It is intolerable that Australians are having to go to bed fearful that their cars or properties will be defaced overnight with antisemitic hate speech.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reacts, saying: “There is no tolerance for antisemitism in Australia, from my government, nor should there be tolerance from anyone else. Antisemitism is a scourge, and any event such as this, targeting people because of who they are, is not the Australian values that I hold dear, and the Australian values that are held dear by overwhelmingly Australians.”

Police forbid anti-war protest, citing expected speeches ‘weakening security forces’

Police have blocked a planned rally in the north demanding an end to the war, for reasons that include expected speeches featuring “incitement” and “weakening the security forces.”

According to Haaretz, the far-left Communist Party of Israel (Maki) filed a request to hold a three-kilometer march in the Arab city of Sakhnin, urging an end to the war and a stronger fight against violent crime in the Arab community.

However, police refused to authorize the demonstration since Israel is in a state of war, since the road where it was set to take place is used by emergency army vehicles and is close to “sensitive security sites,” since intelligence indicated more than the requested 1,000 people were set to attend, and since no municipal approval was presented.

In addition, the police letter stated that “police have material indicating expected speeches of an inciting nature that weakens the security forces.”

It warned the organizers that they would be criminally liable if the protest ended up going ahead.

Report: 60 terror suspects arrested in Gaza raid were treated in Israeli hospitals

Suspected Palestinian terror operatives are detained by troops near northern Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital, in a handout photo issued by the military on December 29, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Following last week’s IDF operation at Gaza’s Kamal Adwan hospital, in which forces said they arrested 240 terror suspects, a report claims that 60 of the detainees received treatment in Israeli hospitals following their arrest.

Channel 12 news reports that 60 members of the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups required medical attention that couldn’t be given at the Sde Teiman detention facility, since its field hospital was closed in October citing a low number of patients.

Citing unnamed sources in the healthcare system, the network says that the terror suspects were taken to hospitals including Ichilov in Tel Aviv, Barzilai in Ashkelon, Assuta in Ashdod, Wolfson in Holon, and Shaare Zedek in Jerusalem.

It quotes an unnamed health official as reiterating past warnings that the closure of the field hospital would cause terrorists to get treatment at hospitals around the country — presumably posing security risks and potentially leading to public criticism — adding that this “could have been avoided” and calling for a designated facility.