Hundreds of Israelis, including families of soldiers slain during the war in Gaza, protested at the Knesset in Jerusalem on Thursday ahead of an expected government vote on the ceasefire deal with Hamas terrorists.

Protests were also held outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office in the capital.

Eliyahu Libman, one of the founders of the Tikva Forum for Families of Hostages and whose son Elyakim was murdered during Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, attack, told Hakol Hayehudi at the protest, "And Samuel said to him, 'The Lord has this day torn the kingship over Israel away from you.' [1 Samuel 15:28]"

"Starting today, you are directly responsible for all the blood that will be shed," Libman said in remarks addressed to the Israeli government. "For the most terrible national humiliation and encouragement of terrorism! The blasphemy of God cries out to heaven; we will never forgive you."

Wally Wollfstal, the father of Capt. (res.) Ariel Mordechay Wollfstal, who was killed in central Gaza on Jan. 22, 2024, told Arutz 7: "There will be the price for this deal: hundreds more dead soldiers. If we return after they released a million people who were in southern Gaza and allow them to return to the northern Strip, we will receive more coffins.

"From the protest camp in Jerusalem, we call on Cabinet members not to approve this reckless deal, which will release thousands of terrorists and cause many more dead IDF soldiers," added Wollfstal.

On Thursday night, the Tikva Forum and the Heroism Forum, which represents families of soldiers and security personnel who died in the Swords of Iron war, are planning major protests against the deal at intersections across Israel.

"[President Donald] Trump's entry [into office] marks the time to move from a slow and faltering war, using failed raids, to victory, decisiveness, the occupation of Gaza and a complete victory over Hamas," the organizers stated in the announcement. "Now is definitely not the time to surrender to Hamas.

"No to signing a surrender deal—now is the time for victory! It is time to win the war and return all the hostages!" the announcement concludes.

Thirty-three hostages, living and dead, out of the 98 held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza are set to be freed during the first phase of the deal, in exchange for 1,000 Gazan terrorists held by Israel.

(The 33 freed captives are to include nine ill and wounded hostages who will be released in exchange for the release of 110 Palestinian terrorists serving life sentences.)

Israeli forces are to withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor along Gaza's border with Egypt. The withdrawal is to begin on the 42nd day of the first phase, after the release of the final (33rd) hostage for the phase, and is to be completed by the 50th day.

An Israeli Cabinet meeting scheduled for Thursday morning, in which the agreement was set to be approved, was reportedly postponed after Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism Party signaled it could exit the government in protest of the agreement.

However, according to the Prime Minister's Office, the Cabinet vote was delayed because Hamas reneged on parts of the deal. "The Israeli Cabinet will not convene until the mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement," the PMO stated.

The home of one of the terrorists who carried out a deadly attack in Jaffa in October will be demolished, the Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday.

"The military commander announced yesterday his intention to seize and demolish the apartment in Hebron where the terrorist Muhammad Masak lived," the IDF said. "On Oct. 1, 2024, Masak carried out a terror attack at a Jaffa light rail station, killing seven people, both Israelis and foreigners, and injuring 15 others."

Masak, 19, was killed at the scene by police officers, municipal security and armed civilians, who also severely wounded another attacker, Ahmad Himoni, a 25-year-old man also from Hebron.

Himoni was indicted on terrorism charges in November.

The charges against Himoni include seven counts of aggravated murder as a terrorist act, 12 counts of attempted murder as a terrorist act, illegal entry into Israel and jointly carrying weapons for terrorist purposes.

Murdered in the attack were Revital Bronstein, Shachar Goldman, Victor Samson Green, Jonas Krosis, Ilya Nozadze, Inbar Segev-Weigder and Nadia Sokolenco.

According to the indictment, they illegally entered Israel carrying bags labeled in Hebrew to avoid suspicion. The bags contained disassembled M-16 rifles, ammunition storage magazines, ammunition and knives.

The terrorists used a company based in eastern Jerusalem, Hamoudi Transportation Ltd., to take them to Jaffa. When they arrived at Bloomfield Stadium, they asked if there was a soccer match as they had planned to carry out a large-scale attack in a crowded area of Tel Aviv-Jaffa.

A driver told them that there were no matches due to a possible Iranian missile attack that evening. The attackers later entered a mosque, assembled their weapons in the ablution room after prayers and used threats to make the worshippers stay inside while they went out to carry out their attack.

Around 7 p.m., the two terrorists saw a light rail train heading toward a station at Jerusalem Boulevard and ran toward the platform. Masak opened fire on the passengers on the platform and then inside the train while Himoni stabbed several victims.

“The attackers acted with extraordinary brutality, targeting elderly individuals, women and children, ignoring their screams. Himoni reportedly stated during interrogation that he would have used an explosive device on Jews if he had one,” according to the news portal Tel Aviv Online.

Masak’s rifle then jammed and they headed into a barbershop to fix it before returning to the platform. Masak resumed shooting at the departing train while Himoni stabbed more victims.

Himoni attempted to stab a passerby who then pulled out a gun and shot him. Masak was killed on the spot.

“The indictment highlights the attackers’ nationalistic motives, citing Himoni’s admission during interrogation and their deliberate targeting of defenseless civilians, including a mother shielding her infant on the train,” Tel Aviv Online reported.

Additionally, charges were filed against Hamoudi Transportation Ltd. owner Muhammad Abd al-Nabi, 31, for negligently facilitating their illegal entry into Israel. Two drivers were charged—Kazem Muzaffar, 31, and Yazan Nashashibi, 35. They face charges of reckless manslaughter, aggravated harm and facilitating the illegal transport of foreign residents.

The prosecution has requested the detention of all those charged until the end of legal proceedings, “citing the severe and calculated nature of the crimes.”

Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya repeated the terrorist organization's commitment to the destruction of Israel in his first public remarks since green-lighting the truce deal with the Jewish state on Wednesday night.

According to al-Hayya, the terrorist group during negotiations succeeded in thwarting Israel's "declared and hidden goals."

"Today, we prove that the occupation will never defeat our people and their resistance," he said in a televised address from Doha which ran for some 18 minutes.

Jerusalem "only secured its captives through an agreement with the resistance to stop the war and aggression, along with an honorable prisoner exchange deal," al-Hayya claimed.

Al-Hayya described the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of 1,200 people in Israel as a "miraculous" achievement, declaring the atrocities would "remain a source of pride" for Palestinians, "passed down through generations."

The terrorist attack "struck the heart of the enemy and will lead, Inshallah ['God willing'], to the restoration of all our rights," the Hamas leader said.

Hamas terrorists "will expel the occupation from our land and from Al Quds [Jerusalem] at the earliest time possible," al-Hayya promised, adding: "Our enemy will never see a moment of weakness from us."

Al-Hayya mourned slain Hamas chiefs Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh, Saleh al-Arouri, "the martyred leaders whose bodies were torn apart in this battle," and extended his gratitude to the Palestinian terrorist groups that fought alongside it during the war.

"We also recall the illuminating stances of many countries that stood with us across various fields," said the terrorist leader, praising the support from Turkey, South Africa, Algeria, Russia, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Belgium, Spain and Ireland, "as well as the free people of the world."

"We also remember the efforts of the brothers in the Islamic Republic of Iran, who supported our resistance and our people, engaged in the battle, and struck at the heart of the entity in the two operations," he said, referring to Tehran's April 1 and Oct. 1 missile assaults on the Jewish state.

"We thank everyone who supported us with words, pens, voices, images, marches, demonstrations, the weapon of boycotts, political and diplomatic efforts, legal action and by raising their voices against aggression and oppression," he added.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that Israel and Hamas had approved the ceasefire and hostage release agreement.

"This epic ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our historic victory in November, as it signaled to the entire world that my administration would seek peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans and our allies," Trump stated in a post on Truth Social.

Al Jazeera reported that Hamas delegations, on the orders of al-Hayya, had delivered the group's formal approval to mediators in Qatar and Egypt.

As news of the impending ceasefire broke, mass celebrations broke out across Gaza, Judea and Samaria, according to reports in local media.

Armed Hamas terrorists emerged from tunnels to celebrate, RT reported. The Russian state outlet published footage of a Hamas terrorist who vowed to "remain on the ground" following the ceasefire agreement.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the second-largest terrorist group in the Gaza Strip after Hamas, hailed the deal as "honorable."

"Today, our people and their resistance imposed an honorable agreement to stop the aggression," PIJ stated on Wednesday, vowing to "remain vigilant to ensure the full implementation of this agreement."

Posting to social media in Hebrew, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed the Tehran-backed "resistance" had succeeded in forcing the Jewish state to "retreat," adding: "It will be written in books that there was a mob who once killed thousands of children & women in Gaza."

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps likewise hailed the deal as "a clear victory and a great victory for Palestine and a bigger defeat for the monstrous Zionist regime."

A total of 33 hostages, out of the 98 held by Hamas in Gaza, are set to be released during the first phase of the deal. The agreement reportedly specifies that nine sick and injured captives will be exchanged for 110 Palestinian terrorists serving life sentences in Israeli prisons.

In addition, the Israel Defense Forces is to reduce its military presence in the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border during the first stage of the deal. The IDF would begin to withdraw from the corridor on the 42nd day of the first phase, after the release of the final hostage for the phase, and complete the withdrawal by the 50th day.

FireDome, a startup founded in Israel in 2024, is developing an AI-driven defense system to combat wildfires such as those currently ravaging the Los Angeles area. The system is inspired by Israel's Iron Dome missile defense technology.

The system utilizes eco-friendly fire retardants and AI technology to form protective barriers and extinguish spot fires caused by wind-blown embers. Initially designed to protect 100-acre areas, FireDome aims to expand its coverage to larger regions.

Testing is set to begin in Israel in 2025, with U.S. pilot programs planned for 2026.

With $3 million in seed funding and advisory support from Iron Dome co-founder Pinchas Yungman, FireDome seeks to enhance firefighting efforts and reduce the significant damage caused by wildfires, which cost the United States up to $900 billion annually.

American technology giant NVIDIA announced on Wednesday that it is establishing a new artificial intelligence research and engineering data center in Israel.

The Santa Clara, California-based corporation said that the $500 million, 10,000 square meter facility will be one of the largest and most advanced data-center labs in Israel.

The data center, which is currently under construction near the northern Israeli city of Yokneam, focuses on advancing next generation data technologies, including networking hardware, software, CUP design and AI applications.  

It is set to begin operations in the first half of the year.

The company has a large R&D presence in Israel, where thousands of employees run seven labs.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden has included Israel in a restrictive category of countries for the export of advanced graphics processors, in a blow for the industry.

The move, which was taken during the last week of his administration and is due to take effect in 120 days, seeks to balance U.S. national security concerns with economic interests, and could hamper 120 countries, including Israel, from competing in AI.

NVIDIA on Monday condemned the move as "sweeping overreach" by the administration.

The Lufthansa Group of airlines will resume service to Israel next month, it announced on Thursday.

The move by the global aviation group, which includes Lufthansa, Swiss International Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, ITA Airways and Eurowings, comes as an increasing number of foreign airlines are renewing flights to Ben-Gurion International Airport as regional tensions de-escalate.

British Airways and Air France are expected to follow suit.

The three major U.S. legacy carriers are still not flying to Israel.

United and American Airlines suspended flights to Israel indefinitely, while Delta is scheduled to resume flights to Tel Aviv in April. United and Delta sought to restart flights to Israel periodically over the last year, only to extend the suspension of service following flareups in the war, while American has stayed away entirely. A United spokesperson told JNS on Wednesday that the company had no news to offer yet on the renewal of flights.

Lufthansa will operate daily flights between Frankfurt and Munich, and Israel, starting on Feb. 1, Swiss will operate daily flights to Zurich, Austrian Airlines will run daily service to Vienna, Brussels Airlines will run three weekly flights, and Eurowings will fly twice weekly to Düsseldorf. The gradual resumption of flights is expected to accelerate in the spring.

Renewed service by major European airlines follows the resumption of service by popular low-cost carriers.

Hungary-based Wizzair has already resumed it flights, while Ireland's Ryanair is due to renew service this spring, returning to a full schedule in the summer.

January and February are typically the slowest months for travel to Israel. Some 48,000 passengers passed through Ben-Gurion International Airport on Thursday on more than 300 international flights, including 25,600 departing Israel and 22,400 arriving, according to the Israel Airports Authority.

A 16-year-old from southern Israel was arrested in December for planning to join Islamic State and engage in terrorist activities, according to a joint statement released on Thursday by the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and Israel Police.

An investigation revealed that the young man intended to travel abroad to join the group, and had considered forming a terrorist cell in Israel to carry out attacks, according to the statement.

He had also allegedly started manufacturing bombs, and was in possession of documents detailing various kinds of terrorist activity.

An indictment for security offenses has been filed against him.

At a confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said that as state secretary he’d belong to “perhaps the most pro-Israel administration in American history,” pushing Israeli-Saudi normalization and lifting sanctions from Jews in Judea and Samaria, among other actions.

The emerging ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, Rubio said, was “a foundation to build upon” in working toward peace between Israel and Palestinians and normalization of Israeli-Saudi ties as an extension of the Abraham Accords.

“We’re still going to have some issues with [United Arab Emirates] and with Saudi Arabia, but we also have to be pragmatic enough to understand what an enormous achievement it would be if, in fact, you not just get a ceasefire but that leads to the opportunity of a Saudi-Israeli partnership and joint recognition,” Rubio, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for state secretary, said in response to question about the accords by Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.)

In 2020, during Trump’s first term, Israel entered the Abraham Accords with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

“There are opportunities now in the Middle East that did not exist 90 days ago,” said Rubio. “There are now factors at play in the Middle East that I think we can build upon and may open the door to extraordinary and historic opportunities, not just to provide for Israel’s security but ultimately begin to confront some of these other factors,” he added.

Rubio said “yes” after he was asked during the hearing before the  Senate Foreign Relations Committee whether under him, the Department of State would lift sanctions on Israelis living in Judea and Samaria, which the Biden administration extended this week by an executive order. Rubio did not say when this would happen.

The sanctions, first imposed in February, concern 17 individuals and 16 entities that are alleged to have perpetrated or orchestrated violent acts against Palestinians. The sanctioned parties have denied the allegations.

The International Criminal Court’s allegations of genocide against Israel had created a false “moral equivalency” between Hamas and the Jewish state, Rubio said in response to another question.

“I think the ICC, if they don’t drop this, will find its credibility globally badly damaged and I think the United States should be very concerned, because I believe this is a test run for applying it to American service members and American leaders in the future,” he said.

He also advocated a tougher line on Iran.

“Any concessions we make to the Iranian regime we should anticipate that they will use, as they have used in the past, to rebuild their weapons and to try to restart their sponsorship of Hezbollah and other related entities around the region because they seek to become the dominant regional power. That’s their stated goal and it's been clear by the actions that they’ve taken,” said Rubio.

To come up for a vote in the Senate, nominees must first be confirmed in the Senate committees before which they appear. Senate confirmation vote dates have not yet been announced.

There is a famous Yiddish saying, der dreydl dreyt zikh, which literally translates to “the dreidel turns.” It is an age-old and apt adage, especially now, for the alternating rise and fall of people’s fortunes.

There can be no better illustration of this than President-elect Donald Trump’s triumph over his political nemeses in Washington, D.C., the media, big corporations, universities and pretty much everywhere else. The victory of common sense in the 2024 presidential elections ushered in a new guard to fill positions on local, state and national levels.

Perhaps one of the most consequential new nominations is that of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as the newly appointed U.S. ambassador to Israel. As a longtime vocal supporter of Israel, he is an obvious pick for Trump. He is a fierce advocate for Israel’s sovereignty and security, championing the historic right of Jerusalem as its capital and the right of Jews to live in all parts of their ancestral homeland.

Huckabee is a frequent visitor to the Jewish state, having traveled there nearly 100 times, starting as a teenager in 1973. He has led dozens of delegations to Israel and has participated in many missions to Israel with organizations, notably the Israel Heritage Foundation.

IHF hosted a dinner in Huckabee’s honor the other night in recognition of the governor’s support for the Jewish state and in anticipation of future backing in his role of ambassador. Held at the U.N. Plaza Grill, more than 80 participants came to congratulate Huckabee, including Danny Danon, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, and Bruce Blackman, executive of Nassau County, N.Y.

IHF executive director Rabbi David Katz lauded Huckabee’s “passion and love for Israel,” and related that on his last trip there, the two new chief rabbis of Israel and members of Knesset expressed their wish to meet with the new ambassador.

Katz underscored the importance of Huckabee’s efforts at achieving peace in the region. “If there is peace in Israel, then there is peace in the world.”

Dr. Joseph Frager, IHF executive vice president, echoed Katz’s sentiments and added the need for Israel to defeat its enemies. “We have to totally defeat Hamas and Iran,” Frager said. “That is essential for our existence.”

Other speakers, including IHF honorary chairman Jonathan Burkan and IHF executive president Dr. Stephen Soloway, praised Trump for picking Huckabee. There were also calls for regime change in Iran by author Kenneth Abramowitz and Harley Lippman, CEO of Genesis10. Before introducing Huckabee, Lippman stressed that the need to “cut off the head of the snake [Iran]” is in America’s interest since Iran “wants to destroy America.”

Lippman also relayed the story of how Huckabee landed in Israel in June 2014, right after the three Israeli teen boys were kidnapped. Huckabee went straight from the airport to visit their parents. “This tells you what kind of mensch this person is,” Lippman said.

Huckabee’s own words at the dinner were his biggest endorsement. He called his nomination as ambassador to Israel, “The greatest thrill and joy and culmination of an entire lifetime of having a love for the land of Israel and for the Jewish people.” He said that when he and his wife, Janet, relocate to Israel, it will be “not for a tour but for a task.”

Huckabee spoke of the transformation of the “sleepy, dusty, barren desert” of Israel in 1973 to “a land where the desert bloomed.”

“Many Americans are unaware of the gifts Israel gives to us in terms of technology, medical advancement, and agricultural capacity, things that we take for granted and probably arrogantly we think we created," he said. "The truth is we took them from our ally, Israel. And our lives are better because Israel’s life is better.”

He also pointed to how people do not credit Israel for “protecting the rights of all faiths to go to holy sites in Israel. … Many people in the world have never been told that the Israeli government protects Muslim holy sites as vigorously as they protect the sites that Jewish and Christian people embrace.”

As to regime change in Iran, Huckabee is firmly convinced of its necessity, “whether it comes at the hands of the Iranian people or from forces perhaps that are gathered from all throughout the Middle East.”  He believes it will lead to the recognition that “Israel is no threat to Saudia Arabia or the UAE or any Middle Eastern country. It simply wants to be able to live with peace, security for its families and its future, and to be left alone.”

A man of faith, Huckabee points out that over the years and battles, Israel “didn’t win them because they had superior military, artillery capacity or air power,” he said. “They won them because they fought as if they knew that if they lost, they didn’t lose some real estate, they lost their lives, their families, their culture, their country and the land that God had given them 3,500 years ago. Because they did, I am convinced that God, Himself, intervened on behalf of His people in His land.”

His views on the “irrational, insane antisemitism” are also shaped by his religious outlook. He advised Jews to “take it as a badge of honor” because it reflects a hate that people have for God who established “a law … establishing clear standards of what’s right, what’s wrong, what’s moral, what’s immoral.” Consequently, he said, these same people “hate those who follow that code.”

Huckabee shared his simple conviction with those at the IHF dinner, saying: “The God you love and serve intimidates, frightens, and, frankly, completely challenges those who are their own god. We believe that we put our knee to God. We didn’t create Him; He created us. And we are obligated to follow His law rather than to invite Him to follow some law that we have foolishly created for ourselves.”