"It was never in the cards," the premier told CNN's Jake Tapper.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin on Tuesday ruled out resettlement in the Gaza Strip after the war against Hamas.
“If you mean resettling Gaza...it was never in the cards, and I said so openly. And some of my constituents are not happy about it, but that's my position,” the premier said in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper.
Netanyahu reiterated his "day after" plan, whereby Israel will stay in charge of security in Gaza until insurgency and terrorism is completely rooted out, after which Gazans can take charge of the Strip.
“I think the only force that can prevent the resurgence of terrorism for the foreseeable future is Israel. At the same time, we want, I want a civilian administration that is run by Gazans who are neither Hamas nor committed to our destruction,” he said.
Netanyahu also said he wants to see a coalition of “moderate Arab states and the international community” that can assist in the reconstruction of Gaza.
The plan is not likely to be welcomed by some in his coalition.
The same day the interview aired, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir reiterated his own plan for after the war.
“Complete occupation of Gaza, everything is ours. Full Israeli control including Jewish settlement and voluntary encouragement of immigration. Not only in settlements that have been evacuated,” he told the Kikar HaShabbat website. Ben-Gvir also said he would be willing to live in Gaza.
During the interview, Tapper asked about the recent announcement by the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor that he would be seeking arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu.
The prime minister called the move “beyond outrageous," adding, "This is a rogue prosecutor that has put false charges and created false symmetries that are both dangerous and false. And the first false symmetry is, he equates the democratically elected leaders of Israel with the terrorist tyrants of Hamas.”
This, he said, was like “issuing the arrest warrants for FDR and Churchill, but also for Hitler, or I'm issuing arrest warrants for George Bush, George W. Bush, but also for [Osama] bin Laden. That's absurd.”
It turns out there are some people who still believe in the symbolism and power of full-page advertisements in The New York Times. Among them are a great many Jewish celebrities and rabbis who believe the institution that remains the most important forum for left-wing journalism is the right place to feature their views about the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs and President Donald Trump’s policies.
So it was to the print edition of the Times that these quintessential “as a Jew” types turned to vent their anger about Trump’s proposal to send Palestinian Arabs out of Gaza. To them, the idea of taking a population primarily composed of people who claim to be refugees out of an area that has been devastated by war and giving them an opportunity for a new and better existence represents “ethnic cleansing.”
It was signed by a variety of “a,” “b” and “c” list actors and celebrities, as well as a few hundred liberal rabbis. You’ve heard of some of them: actors Joaquin Phoenix, Wallace Shawn and Debra Winger and playwright/screenwriter Tony Kushner. The names of others, like Jonathan Glazer, who got his 15 minutes of fame by denouncing Israel at last year’s Oscars ceremony when accepting an award for a movie about the Holocaust, may also ring a bell. Still others have attained a degree of notoriety by being inveterate Israel-bashers and anti-Zionists like writers Peter Beinart, Judith Butler and Naomi Klein.
The rabbis are a mixed lot. Some are still trying to maintain a line between what we used to call “liberal Zionism” and the intellectually fashionable stance of those who are explicit about favoring the destruction of Israel. Some of them gave up that pretense and are among those who seek to give a dubious religious endorsement to a position opposing the defense of the one Jewish state on the planet against genocidal terrorists.
But wherever they fall on that spectrum, they are the contemporary public face of those who seem to think that the essence of Jewish identity is to be found in that disreputable stance.
They are the “as a Jew” Jews.
Full-page ads in the Times may still cost a lot of money, even in an era when the overwhelming majority of those who read news outlets do so digitally rather than in print or only on social-media platforms. But the choice to go that route is more about serving notice to the left-wing political ecosphere that many prominent Jews take the side of those who oppose Israel’s existence and against those, like Trump, who have made it clear that they wish to eradicate Hamas terrorists rather than the Jewish state.
From left: James Wilson, Leonard Blavatnik and Jonathan Glazer accept the Oscar for Best International Feature Film “The Zone of Interest” during the live “ABC” telecast of the 96th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on March 10, 2024. Credit: Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.
Can Trump succeed?
The feasibility of the president’s idea is debatable.
It’s not clear how it will be implemented, or if any Arab or Muslim nation is prepared to take in and absorb anything more than a token number of Palestinian Arabs, as Jordan’s King Abdullah was strong-armed by Trump to do in a visit to the White House this week. And there’s no doubt that Hamas and its many enablers in the West, as well as among nations in the region, are bitterly opposed to it. They’re against anything that will reduce their ability to use civilians as pawns in their ongoing efforts to turn back the clock to a point in time when the modern-day State of Israel didn’t exist.
If it is to happen, it would be predicated on a resumption of fighting in the Strip, presumably after the ceasefire-hostage release deal inevitably collapses. Despite the green light he received from Trump this week to return to the effort to eradicate Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prefers to stick to the terrible deal he was forced into accepting if it means that more of the remaining Israeli hostages are released. But given that Hamas will never agree to give up power in Gaza or its goal of returning the conflict to where it was on Oct. 6, 2023—meaning that it would be free to make good on its pledge to launch more Oct. 7-style atrocities—the war is bound to resume sooner or later.
The existential nature of the battle against Hamas is clear to almost all Israelis, including those who oppose Netanyahu. But it is of no interest to the “as a Jew” Jews, be they film industry figures, anti-Israel scribblers or liberal rabbis.
Their effort is spearheaded by a group calling itself “In Our Name.” Its website states a goal of raising money to help “organizations that support Palestinian-led efforts to build safety, dignity and self-determination in Palestine, and that support solidarity and other organizing among Palestinian and other Arab and Muslim communities in the United States.”
Ignoring the reality of Oct. 7
The language it employs is an effort to distinguish itself from the allegedly more avowedly anti-Israel groups like Not in Our Name, Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow. Even in the first days after the attacks on Jewish communities in southern Israel, members of this group were already fundraising and organizing to oppose Israel’s efforts to defend itself against those who had committed mass murder, rape, torture, kidnapping and wanton destruction on Oct. 7.
But any spin of In Our Name supporters as being somehow more principled or humane than those extremists is a distinction without a difference. Like those who have been demanding a cease-fire from the moment Hamas’s invasion of Israel was turned back, all of these people remain, at best, Hamas’s “useful idiots.”
Those who are raising funds to be employed in Gaza for the purposes stated are, whether they fully understand it or not, essentially propping up what is left of the rule of Hamas over the Palestinians. To speak of Palestinian “self-determination” in the context of the current war or to help bolster the network of pro-Hamas organizations that have spread the message of hatred for Israel in the United States should not be mistaken for neutrality about the terrorist movement that launched this war and seeks to keep it going until Israel surrenders or collapses.
While the supposed stated purpose is merely “humanitarian aid,” the world has seen in the last 16 months that most, if not all, of the money sent into Gaza is used in one way or another to bolster Hamas.
The signers of the letter might disavow any connection to antisemitism. But their willingness to stand behind the anti-Israel movement that has flourished on college campuses and in the streets of American cities is nothing less than an endorsement of the surge of Jew-hatred that has been mainstreamed on the left since Oct. 7.
Woke antisemitism
At the heart of this form of activism is more than the unrelenting hostility to Trump felt by many Jewish liberals and left-wingers. It’s also rooted in the toxic myths of critical race theory and intersectionality, as well as the associated woke catechism of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Trump is successfully opposing these terrible ideas as he seeks to roll back the hold that these leftist beliefs, which fuel antisemitism, have had on American society and governance.
The “pro-Palestinian” movement on the left isn’t a philanthropic effort to help Palestinian Arabs who have been used as props in the futile century-old war on Zionism. If it were, they’d be cheering Israel’s efforts to get rid of Hamas or the concept of resettling the descendants of the 1948 Arab refugees just as the even more numerous Jews who fled or were forced out of their homes in the Arab and Muslim world were long ago resettled.
This was made explicit by their statement in which they specifically support “Palestinian liberation.” They made clear that they don’t believe that working to destroy the Jewish state—something that could only be accomplished by the genocidal plans of Hamas—is antisemitic. They think that liberal Jews can only demonstrate their virtue by joining the left’s crusade to delegitimize Israel’s self-defense.
The push for Palestinian “self-determination” is a thinly veiled version of the idea that Israel is an illegitimate “settler-colonial” and “apartheid” state that should be dismantled. The notion that the conflict can be solved by a two-state solution is a myth that has been debunked repeatedly since 1948 as the Palestinian Arabs have rejected every offer of statehood and independence. They have told us again and again that they refuse to accept the legitimacy of a Jewish state, no matter where its borders might be drawn. To continue pushing for Palestinian statehood after those rejections is tantamount to acquiescence or endorsement of the struggle to destroy Israel, and has absolutely nothing to do with wanting peace.
Real ‘ethnic cleansing’
Moreover, the irony of Jews who think expelling hundreds of thousands of Jews in Judea and Samaria from their homes to create a Palestinian state is a virtuous cause expressing horror about “ethnic cleansing” is lost on the political left.
Equally important, those who claim the Palestinians must stay forever in Gaza aren’t interested in their welfare. Suffice it to say that the real “ethnic cleansing” movement is not the idea of resettling people who claim to be refugees someplace other than one run by terrorists whose only goal is to use it as a launching pad for unending war on the Jews. Ethnic cleansing of Jews from their ancient homeland isn’t just the goal of Hamas. It is inextricably tied up with Palestinian national identity and also backed by other supposedly more “moderate” Palestinian factions.
Post-Oct. 7, to refuse to see this isn’t just a matter of ignorance or deliberate blindness to the nature of a conflict that even most left-wing Israelis understand is about their existence. At this point, to ignore the truth about the political culture of the Palestinians is tantamount to supporting Jewish genocide.
The Times ad doesn’t express the views of a significant number of American Jews or even most liberal Jews. But it does provide a degree of intellectual cover and legitimacy to the antisemitic movement that seeks to label Israel as a pariah state. As such, it is part of the effort to complete the transformation of the Democratic Party into a bastion of anti-Zionism and antisemitism, as well as boost efforts to enshrine it as the orthodox position in left-wing outlets like the Times.
A line must be drawn
That is why the response of American Jewry to this latest iteration of the “as a Jew” phenomenon should not be complacency or ignoring it as insignificant.
As much as many Jews regard Trump as beyond the pale, they need to understand that whatever their feelings about him, opposing his pro-Israel policies and realism about the Palestinians isn’t routine partisanship or liberal idealism. We’ve come to the point that it must be seen as an expression of neutrality or even tacit support for a Nazi-style war against Jewish existence being waged by a bizarre red-green alliance of leftist ideologues and Islamists.
It’s time to tell these “as a Jew” renegades that we will not accept their claim to the moral high ground against Israelis or even Trump. Functional support for Palestinian “self-determination,” which means backing Hamas and its war, isn’t morally neutral or an expression of liberal Judaism’s universalist and humanitarian ideals. It is an immoral stance that puts its supporters on the side of 21st-century Nazis. Such persons deserve to be held up for opprobrium, not lauded for their supposed “courage” for opposing Trump, conservative Jews or Israel. It is they—and not Netanyahu or Trump—who must be treated by all decent persons, no matter their political affiliations, as pariahs who richly deserve our contempt.
Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS (Jewish News Syndicate). Follow him at: @jonathans_tobin.
A man in his 60s was attacked with an ax in his yard in the Gan Ner community in northern Israel's Gilboa region on Friday.
The victim, who sustained light wounds, was taken to Emek Medical Center in Afula, while the attacker fled the scene.
Residents of Gan Ner were instructed to stay indoors until further notice, as security forces searched for the attacker.
Initially suspicions indicate it was a terrorist attack, and the assailant is believed to be an Arab.
The community is located around 18 minutes from Jenin, where the Israel Defense Forces is carrying out "Operation Iron Wall" targeting terrorist infrastructure in northern Samaria. As part of the operation, Defense Minister Israel Katz has authorized the destruction of buildings tied to terrorist activities.
In a separate incident earlier on Thursday, a suspect was arrested near Tamra, an Arab city in the Lower Galilee, 12 miles east of Acre, with authorities investigating whether he was carrying an explosive belt.
The suspect, who appeared agitated and was uncooperative, was detained after police noticed a suspicious object on his person. The investigation is ongoing, with the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) involved.
For Palestinians, terrorism quite literally pays. While the international community continues to debate so-called obstacles to peace between Israelis and Palestinians—and even considers the Palestinian Authority as a potential governing body for Gaza, despite its deep unpopularity—one of the most glaring and dangerous barriers to the P.A.'s legitimacy is its systematic financial incentivization of terrorism.
This policy, commonly known as "pay for slay" or "the Martyrs Fund," rewards those who commit acts of violence against Israelis, ensuring that terrorism remains a profitable path rather than a deterrent to peace.
The P.A. hands out more than $300 million annually in stipends to terrorists and their families, a program that has been enshrined in Palestinian law, requiring 7% of the P.A.'s budget to be allocated to these payments.
Terrorists who murder Israelis receive higher salaries than Palestinian teachers and doctors. A terrorist serving a life sentence earns four times the average Palestinian salary and eight times the minimum wage. The more blood spilled, the greater the financial reward.
Headlines broke this week over P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas issuing a decree revoking the Martyrs Fund payments, leaving many shocked and surprised by the move. But for those who suspected it was too good to be true, they were likely right—because Abbas's so-called restructuring of these payments is nothing more than political theater.
The decree, which allegedly transfers these payments to a new "Palestinian National Foundation for Economic Empowerment," does not dismantle the terror stipend system; it simply rebrands it under a different name. Abbas still appoints the leadership of this new entity, and there is no transparency to ensure that payments will now be based solely on economic need rather than rewarding violence.
This latest maneuver is a desperate attempt to placate international donors while continuing the same heinous practice through alternative means.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry dismissed this announcement as a "fraudulent exercise," and American lawmakers from both sides of the aisle remain highly skeptical. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) pointedly stated, "It would be naive to think that after years of facilitating terrorism against Israelis and Americans, the Palestinian Authority would suddenly have a change of heart." Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) added, "I'll believe it when I see it."
Open defiance
The P.A. has a long history of defying international pressure and refusing to end "pay for slay." The United States attempted to curb the policy with the 2018 Taylor Force Act, cutting U.S. aid to the P.A. unless these payments ceased.
Abbas openly defied the law, increasing the terror stipends instead. Former Jenin Gov. Akram Rajoub doubled down in a recent interview, stating unequivocally, "The Palestinian Authority will not stop funding the families of our martyrs even if we are down to the last penny."
Despite this, Western countries continue to funnel money into the P.A.'s coffers. Just this week, the European Union announced an increased funding package of €296 million ($310 million) to the P.A.—money that will inevitably support terrorism.
Meanwhile, the P.A. spends more on terror stipends than on healthcare for its own citizens, further proving that its priorities do not lie with improving Palestinian lives but with sustaining a culture of violence and martyrdom.
The ramifications of "pay for slay" extend far beyond the financial aspect. This system has deeply embedded terrorism into Palestinian society. In schools, Palestinian children are indoctrinated with martyrdom culture, learning that attacking Israelis is a noble path rewarded both in the afterlife and by the P.A.'s bank account. The celebrations that erupt in Gaza, and Judea and Samaria after terror attacks are not spontaneous, they are the result of decades of systematic glorification of violence backed by financial incentives.
The international community cannot continue turning a blind eye. So long as the P.A. actively rewards terrorism, peace will remain an illusion. Real peace requires the dismantling of this blood-soaked economic model. Words and decrees from Abbas mean nothing without verifiable, transparent action. The United States and its allies must hold the P.A. accountable and ensure that "pay for slay" is truly abolished—not just rebranded.
Until then, the P.A.'s empty gestures should not be mistaken for progress.
President Donald Trump has announced a major trade corridor connecting India, Israel, Italy and the United States.
This ambitious project aims to reshape global trade with extensive investments in ports, railways and undersea cables.
The announcement came during a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House on Thursday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1TBAbMnevs
"We agreed to work together to help build one of the greatest trade routes in all of history. It will run from India to Israel to Italy and onward to the United States, connecting our partners by ports, railways and undersea cables. Many, many undersea cables. It's a big development. It's a lot of money going to be spent and we've already spent some, but we're going to spending a lot more," Trump said.
Any plan allowing Hamas to rule Gaza would be unacceptable to Israel and ineffective in resolving the conflict, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday.
President Donald Trump is willing to take the lead on rebuilding Gaza, as no other viable plans have been proposed, the American diplomat said during an interview on "The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show."
Rubio said that "if someone has a better plan—and we hope they do—if the Arab countries have a better plan, then that’s great. Then they say they do, they’re going to come up with it, we’re going to look at it, see what it’s regarding and what it does.
"Obviously, I can tell you that any plan that leaves Hamas there is going to be a problem, because Israel is not going to tolerate it. We’re going to be right back where we were. So—but we’re going to give them a chance to come up with a plan.
"I think they’re working in good faith—and not just to pay for it, by the way, because they’re not just—someone’s going to have to go on the ground. I mean, Hamas has guns. They have weapons. Someone has to confront those guys. Who’s that going to be? It’s not going to be American soldiers. If the countries in the region can’t figure that piece out, then Israel is going to have to do it, and then we’re back to where we’ve been. So that doesn’t solve the problem."
Rubio also mentioned ongoing diplomatic efforts, including meetings in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Egypt and Jordan, to explore alternative solutions for the Gaza Strip. He made it clear that the Trump administration is open to other proposals but, for now, its plan remains the only option on the table.
Middle East tour
Rubio will visit Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates from Feb. 15-18, Foggy Bottom confirmed on Wednesday.
“Secretary Rubio’s engagements with senior officials will promote U.S. interests in advancing regional cooperation, stability and peace,” State Department Spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said in a press statement.
“The trip will center on freeing American and all other hostages from Hamas captivity, advancing to Phase II of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, and countering the destabilizing activities of the Iranian regime and its proxies,” the statement continued.
Before his first Middle Eastern trip since his Senate confirmation on Jan. 20, the American diplomat traveled to Germany on Thursday to attend the annual Munich Security Conference and the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, both held in the Bavarian city.
His visit follows Trump’s proposal to relocate Gazans out of the Gaza Strip, after which the coastal area would be turned over to U.S. control for rebuilding. It also comes amid Israel’s tenuous truce with the Hamas terrorist group and the release of hostages held in the Strip.
The truce is “tenuous” because Hamas is a terrorist organization responsible for violence against civilians, Rubio told journalist Chris Cuomo by phone on NewsNation on Tuesday.
Rubio noted that Hamas does not operate according to international law, rendering the ceasefire uncertain.
“We’ll see what happens on Saturday. I think the President [Trump]’s been very clear he wants to see those hostages come—be released. He’s tired of this drip, drip every week. There’s some Americans there as well. He wants to see them released, and he’s made very clear that if that’s not the case on Saturday, then then all bets are off. And it’s not going to be good for Hamas,” the secretary of state said.
“But let’s hope that that resolves itself. I don’t think anyone wants to see a resumption of hostilities. But by the same token, we can’t have Hamas deciding what parts of the deal they’re going to live up to and what parts they’re not,” Rubio said.
Rubio on Monday described Hamas as an “evil” organization that must be wiped out.
During an interview on talk radio channel SiriusXM Patriot, he condemned the terrorist group for its treatment of hostages.
“This is an evil organization. Hamas is evil. It’s pure evil. These are monsters. These are savages. That’s a group that needs to be eradicated,” he said.
Azerbaijan has become the first Muslim-majority country to incorporate a definition of antisemitism into its textbooks, which offer positive portrayals of both Jews and Israel, a British think tank said on Thursday.
The findings in "Israel and Jews in Azerbaijani Education," a review of the educational system in the predominantly Shi’ite country, are the latest signs of the friendly relations between the South Caucasus nation and the Jewish state.
The report by IMPACT-se (the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education), an NGO based in London, highlights positive portrayals of Jews and Israel in the textbooks in Azerbaijan, as well as recognition of the Holocaust as mass genocide in which six million Jews were murdered.
The textbooks, which promote ideals of diversity and tolerance and a secular, inclusive national identity, have no signs of Islamism or radicalism and offer a balanced view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the study found.
The report, which evaluated 53 textbooks taught in the Azerbaijani national curriculum, revealed "promising progress and developments," with anti-Israel narratives notably removed in revisions made for the current 2024-25 school year.
Significantly, the Azerbaijani curriculum addresses antisemitism and teaches the Holocaust, unequivocally condemning both.
Antisemitism is explicitly defined in a grade 9 history textbook, marking the first Muslim-majority country to incorporate the definition in its curriculum, the study finds.
"The inclusion of historical events such as the Dreyfus Affair and Jewish persecution under Tsarist Russia further deepens students’ understanding of antisemitism," the report states.
The new textbooks also pointedly attribute the Israeli-Palestinian conflict’s roots to Arab rejection of the 1947 U.N. Partition Plan and critique Arab state military failures, citing corruption and technological inferiority.
Terms such as “occupied” have been replaced with “taken over” or “captured” when referencing territories under Israeli control.
“The textbooks demonstrate a clear rejection of the extreme Islamist values promoted by their near-neighbor Iran,” said IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff. “Instead, they promote tolerance, diversity and a heartfelt respect for Jews and Israel, which serves as an important model for many other majority-Muslim states.”
The Israeli Air Force carried out targeted strikes on Hezbollah military sites in Southern Lebanon on Thursday night.
These sites contained weapons and projectile launchers that posed a direct threat to Israel's security, the IDF said.
"Terrorist activity in these sites is a clear violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon," the military added.
"The IDF continues to operate to remove any threat to the State of Israel, remains committed to the understandings, and will operate to prevent any attempt of rearmament or rebuild of force by the Hezbollah terrorist organization," the statement concluded.
Lebanese sources confirmed two Israeli airstrikes near the Litani River, specifically around Yohmor al-Shakif. Additional targets were reported between the villages of Yatar and Zibqin.
IDF destroys weapon stockpiles
The IDF's 769th "Hiram" Brigade, operating under the 91st "Galilee" Division, is continuing to conduct searches in Southern Lebanon as part of operations aligned with the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, the army stated on Thursday.
During the searches, troops discovered weapons depots containing missiles, rockets, mortar shells, grenades, explosives and firearms. In forested areas, they also found concealed multi-barrel launchers aimed at Israeli territory.
All weapons were confiscated, and the terrorist infrastructure was destroyed by the brigade's engineering unit in controlled demolitions.
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri announced on Thursday that Beirut rejects Israel's plan to maintain a presence in five locations in Southern Lebanon after the Feb. 18 deadline for fully implementing a fragile ceasefire agreement.
According to Berri, the U.S., acting as a mediator, informed him that Israel would withdraw from certain villages but intended to remain in five strategic points. Berri, an ally of Hezbollah, stated that he conveyed Lebanon’s complete rejection of this proposal on behalf of President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
Hezbollah was severely weakened during the war, which it entered on Oct. 8, 2023, in solidarity with the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre. Israel killed Hezbollah’s top command as well as thousands of its terrorists. Hezbollah accepted a ceasefire, whose terms it had previously rejected, under which it would pull back north of the Litani River.
Under the ceasefire agreement, Israeli forces are to gradually withdraw from Southern Lebanon as the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) assume responsibility for ensuring Hezbollah remains disarmed south of the Litani River.
However, there has been growing concern in Jerusalem regarding the LAF’s ability to effectively curb Hezbollah’s presence. In response, the IDF continues frequent border operations to prevent the group from regaining strength, including intelligence gathering, reconnaissance and clearing terrain to disrupt terrorist movements.
The ceasefire, which took effect on Nov. 27, mandated an Israeli withdrawal within 60 days. However, the U.S.-monitored arrangement between Lebanon and Israel is set to continue until Feb. 18, according to a White House statement on Jan. 26.
Lebanon bans Iranian flights over Hezbollah funding
Lebanon has barred Iranian airlines Mahan Air and Iran Air from flying to Beirut, according to local reports.
The decision follows accusations by Israel's military that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force has been using civilian flights to smuggle cash to Hezbollah via Beirut International Airport.
Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, head of the Arab Media Branch in the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, said that these funds were intended to arm Hezbollah for attacks against Israel.
In response, Saeed Chalondari, CEO of Tehran's Imam Khomeini Airport, confirmed that flights to Beirut had been canceled due to lack of permission.
Following the announcement, images surfaced of Hezbollah supporters reportedly blocking roads to Beirut Airport in protest. Meanwhile, flights from Iraq to Beirut are now being inspected to prevent the transfer of funds to Hezbollah.
Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, head of the IDF Central Command, signed an order regulating the boundaries of the Judea and Samaria villages of Adorayim and Ahiya.
The legalization of the nascent communities—located in the South Hebron Hills of Judea and the Binyamin region of southern Samaria, respectively—allows for their further expansion and development, Arutz 7 reported on Thursday.
The military order that establishes the so-called "jurisdiction zone," or municipal boundaries, is the first step in legalizing the communities.
The next and final step is the issuing of an official "settlement symbol" by the Interior Ministry, after which the outposts will be considered legal Israeli communities for all intents and purposes.
Ahiya local committee head Shlomo Toledano told Arutz 7 on Thursday, "This is a great day for Ahiya and for the entire community. With our own eyes, we see [Isaiah's] prophecy fulfilled: 'They shall build houses and dwell in them; they shall plant vineyards and enjoy their fruit.'
"Precisely on Tu B'Shevat, we enjoy the sweet fruits of dedicating our souls to the Land of Israel," the local leader added, in reference to the Jewish New Year of the Trees, which was marked on Thursday.
A spokesman for Adorayim told the outlet, "The symbolic timing of receiving the announcement on Tu B'Shevat, a holiday of the Land of Israel and its holiness, is amazing and teaches us about our great mission to settle in all parts of our country.
"We hope that following the declaration of the jurisdiction, we will quickly receive the symbol of settlement and become an official community in the State of Israel," the spokesman concluded.
The Jewish population of the Judea and Samaria area grew by 12,297 in 2024, according to a report published last month by the Yesha Council umbrella group of Jewish communities. As of Jan. 1, 529,704 Israelis live in the territory, amounting to 5.28% of the population of the Jewish state.
Nearly 70% of Israelis want Jerusalem to extend its full legal sovereignty over the disputed area, according to a survey published late last month.
Satellite images indicating changes in Egyptian military deployment in the Sinai Peninsula have led security coordinators in Israeli border communities to paint a worrying picture of developments in the Land of the Nile.
Israeli political and security officials say that Egypt's shifting military presence in Sinai is closely monitored and periodically approved by the prime minister in Jerusalem.
However, sources familiar with Israel-Egypt relations acknowledge that such approvals are always given retroactively, after Cairo has already turned these violations of the 1979 Israel-Egypt peace treaty into routine occurrences.
A source with knowledge of the situation told Israel Hayom: "The images from Egypt raised concerns, prompting us to conduct checks with IDF Intelligence and Southern Command. Indeed, there are violations, but surprisingly, the situation is better than it was in the past."
Israeli soldiers stationed near the border note that, given it is a peaceful frontier, any action is taken with caution, with attention primarily focused on the smuggling routes from Sinai into Israel.
The IDF recently acknowledged the smuggling of long-range weapons into Israel via drones. Israeli assessments indicate that these weapons previously made their way from Sinai to the Hamas-held Gaza Strip.
However, with the IDF now deployed along the Philadelphi Corridor on Gaza's border with Egypt, a new client has emerged, Bedouin, who transfer the weapons to criminal organizations and to Arabs in Judea and Samaria.
On the Israeli side, smugglers wait on fast-moving ATVs and disappear within seconds. Since this is a relatively new smuggling route, Israeli authorities are still working to track where the weapons are being funneled.
Members of the Israel Border Police's Yamas special operations counter-terrorism unit on the border with Egypt on July 12, 2022. Photo by Nati Shohat/Flash90.
Concern over Egyptian military buildup
Ruth Wasserman Lande, a researcher at the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy and a former deputy ambassador to Cairo and Israeli lawmaker, has also voiced concern over developments and statements emerging from Egypt.
"Over a year ago, on Oct. 8, [2023], Egyptian President Abdel el-Sisi made unusually harsh statements, saying that if Israel approached southern Gaza [in the war against Hamas], it would be grounds for war. I said back then that this does not bode well. This is very serious, and I wouldn't dismiss it lightly,” she said.
“Over time, it has become evident that there is a significant increase in Egyptian military presence in the Sinai Peninsula, far beyond even the previous violations of the peace treaty that we had reluctantly accepted."
Wasserman Lande warns: "Not only are we allowing the buildup of forces on the other side, but we are also permitting it without receiving anything in return, in a way that does not align with the diplomatic language of the Middle East."
In recent days, the Egyptians' rhetoric has also touched on their concerns over the possible implementation of U.S. President Donald Trump's plan for relocating Gazans. El-Sisi has made clear in no uncertain terms that he will not allow this to happen, even postponing a planned visit to the White House as a declarative move.
"This was also what initially worried the Egyptians at the start of the war," Wasserman Lande explained. "They view this as a potential cause for war. They understand that Hamas embeds itself within the civilian population, and they do not want that scenario spilling over into Egypt.
“They reacted strongly when Israel was about to enter Rafah [on May 6, 2024]. While they ultimately did not launch a war, they have begun acting as though they are preparing for one," she said.
Regarding the likelihood of a conflict, Wasserman Lande said that war requires both capability and willingness: "Egypt has the capability, the roads, bridges, tunnels and fuel. The question is about their willingness. It may seem irrational because they know that Israel is militarily superior, especially now with strong U.S. support.
“However, there is a difference between willingness and motivation. Motivation can override rational considerations. This is where we often misread our adversaries, just as we underestimated Hamas's readiness to act. There are things more important to them than life itself, what we see as logical, they see as national honor."
Wasserman Lande concluded, "I believe there are those monitoring this situation closely, but given the multiple fronts, the pressure on the system, and Israel's internal challenges, not enough attention is being paid to this possibility."
Another former high-level Israeli diplomatic source interpreted the situation differently: "There are several actors, not necessarily official ones, who seem intent on spreading reports of Egypt's military buildup in Sinai. There is a long-standing Israeli-Egyptian military coordination mechanism in place.
“It may be necessary to scrutinize these exceptions more closely, but that is the responsibility of Israel's intelligence agencies, not the media. The media noise surrounding this issue is unhelpful and only fosters mutual hostility,” he said.
“A designated international force, the Multinational Force and Observers, is specifically tasked with overseeing Sinai's demilitarization, and vast sums are allocated for its maintenance.
“Egypt lost valuable time over the past decade due to political upheaval, and now they are trying to compensate for it by focusing on national development. Would a war with Israel serve that goal? Certainly not," he concluded.
Israeli soldiers patrol near the border with Egypt after a terrorist attack, Aug. 19, 2011. Photo by Nati Shohat/Flash90.
Satellite images reveal tanks in Sinai
Lt. Col. (res.) Eliyahu Dekel, who has monitored Egypt's adherence to the peace agreement since his military service immediately after the treaty was signed in 1979, continues to track the situation today.
Commenting on recent images from Egypt showing U.S.-built Abrams tanks in Sinai, he stated: "The presence of tanks near Israel's border is a blatant violation of the peace agreement, which stipulates that most of Sinai should remain demilitarized.
"There is indisputable satellite evidence that showed 100 tanks in El-Arish even before the war,” Dekel said. “These tanks are entirely prohibited in the area. Violations have been ongoing for decades.
“Initially, there were supposed to be 22,000 soldiers in the western part of Sinai, but now the agreement has been completely eroded, with four times that number permanently stationed there.
"Sinai is supposed to be free of all military forces. If the latest images are verified, the concern isn't just about forces in Sinai, the key issue is the type of tanks. The images show Abrams tanks, which are Egypt's premier battle tanks, reserved for elite units,” he added.
“The question arises: What are these special forces doing in Sinai? In recent years, three new airfields have been built in Sinai, and massive tunnels have been dug, blatantly violating the peace treaty. The treaty allows for military camps for 47 battalions; currently, there are camps for 180 battalions, four times the permitted amount. These are ongoing processes," Dekel said.
The IDF Spokesperson's Unit responded: "IDF forces are deployed along the border to protect Israeli communities and are actively fulfilling that mission. During the war, defensive efforts were reinforced, and rules of engagement were adjusted to allow soldiers to respond effectively and offensively to any threat along the western border.
“The public is regularly updated on developments across all sectors, in accordance with censorship and operational security considerations. The IDF continues to operate in line with security needs while respecting the peace agreement," the IDF said.