The White House is aware of eleventh-hour issues with the Hamas-Israel hostage agreement but remains confident that the ceasefire can still be implemented on Sunday, U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told NBC’s "Meet the Press" in an interview on Thursday.

"We’re aware of these issues that the prime minister has raised today, this afternoon, their time, and we’re working through that," the Biden administration official said of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement that Hamas reneged on parts of the deal.

Said Kirby, "Our team on the ground is actually working with him and his team to iron all this out and flatten it and get it moving forward.

“Obviously, this has got to get approved by the Israeli government, and Prime Minister Netanyahu knows that," said Kirby, adding that the premier was "working through that process as well, but we're confident that we'll be able to solve these last-minute issues and get it moving, and that this ceasefire can take place starting on Sunday."

Earlier on Thursday, the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem accused the Palestinian terrorist organization of backtracking on parts of the deal signed on Wednesday, "in an effort to extort last-minute concessions.

“The Israeli Cabinet will not convene until the mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement,” the PMO said.

Government spokesman David Mencer told reporters on Thursday afternoon that hostage families were informed that Hamas “added further demands that contradict the agreement with the mediators.

“As of this time, the details of the agreement have not yet been finalized, and the negotiation team is continuing its efforts to reach a solution,” said Mencer in his remarks. “The Israeli negotiating team is still in Doha, as befits Israel’s willingness to finalize the hostage release agreement.”

He added, “To be clear, the government wants to finalize an agreement, and we hope that the details will be finalized. If this agreement to release our hostages is finalized, it will demonstrate Israel’s strength, Israel’s humanity and Israel’s unwavering commitment to its citizens.”

Hamas Political Bureau member Ezzat al-Rishq was quoted by Israel's Channel 12 News, responding to the statement from the PMO: "Hamas is committed to the ceasefire agreement announced by the mediators."

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.

The Israeli Defense Ministry and Haifa-based Rafael Advanced Defense Systems signed a contract on Thursday to expand the production of Iron Dome interceptors, marking the first procurement under a U.S. aid package worth $8.7 billion.

The aid, approved in April 2024, includes $5.2 billion for strengthening Israel's missile defense systems.

The Iron Dome, developed in Israel with U.S. support, has shown exceptional performance in protecting civilians from missiles.

The Defense Ministry said that the contract will enhance Israel’s defense capabilities and further solidify the strategic partnership with the U.S.

The signing ceremony took place at Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv, attended by key officials including Brig. Gen. (res.) Daniel Gold, Brig. Gen. Eyal Harel and senior leaders from Rafael. The agreement was reached after extensive negotiations led by Moshe Patel, director of the Israel Missile Defense Organization, in collaboration with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.

"The signing of the Iron Dome contract is a central component in an unprecedented scope of effort, led by the IMOD together with Rafael and other defense industries, for force build-up and strengthening while fighting," said Defense Ministry Director General Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir.

"This is made possible thanks to the U.S. aid package, whose details we recently finalized in Washington, and for this, we thank the senior U.S. administration officials," he continued.

Rafael CEO Yoav Tourgeman expressed confidence in the continued success of Iron Dome and David’s Sling systems, reiterating Rafael’s commitment to supporting Israel’s security through advanced air defense solutions.

In October 2021, almost two years to the day before Hamas’s brutal and heinous Oct. 7 attack on Israel, I published an article on JNS on the need for the establishment of a Gaza protectorate to replace Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, that camouflages its barbaric terror by making the world think it is “resisting” Israel. In the article, I argued that Gaza’s residents deserve governance focused on peace, prosperity and dignity. Since then, tragic developments, including Oct. 7, have reinforced the urgent need for international intervention.

Beyond the horror of Hamas’s terrorist actions, recent geopolitical shifts and policy debates about the future of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) further highlight the growing necessity of dismantling Hamas’s reign of terror and replacing it with responsible governance that prioritizes the needs of Gaza’s people. The bitter dispute between Israel and the United Nations over the fate of UNRWA reveals a deeper problem. The concern is not only about Hamas’s terror against Israel, but about the international community’s long-standing refusal to hold Hamas accountable for the suffering of Gaza’s residents. The people of Gaza remain trapped between Hamas’s terror-driven leadership and outdated international frameworks like UNRWA that purport to educate and provide relief, but, which, instead, perpetuate their dependency and grievances. UNRWA operates under the guise of providing aid to the people, yet Hamas has used UNRWA schools and buildings as cover for their wrongful and terror-supporting conduct.

What I previously proposed and reassert here, is the need for key countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Israel, and the United States, to provide the leadership in establishing a provisional governing framework for Gaza to build a better future for the residents of Gaza and her neighbors, including Israel. Fortunately, the UAE is providing leadership in this area and has recently proposed with the United States and Israel the formation of a provisional governing authority for Gaza that would take over once Hamas is finally removed from power. The UAE has suggested that a reformed Palestinian Authority could eventually assume governance, but only after significant internal reforms are made. I disagree on that point as I do not believe that the Palestinian Authority is capable of doing that given that it promotes terror with impunity.

The UAE has proposed using private military contractors as part of a peacekeeping force in Gaza during the transitional period, recognizing that Gaza’s governance cannot simply be handed over without safeguards. To be sure, the failure of the Palestinian Authority to assert control after Israel’s left Gaza in 2005 and the Hamas takeover of the strip in 2007, along with the passage of time under the tyranny of the terror group, demonstrate the need for an international coalition to oversee the transition.

Given Hamas’s ongoing determination to harm the people of Gaza as it continues to try and assault Israel and her citizens, and the unconscionable taking and keeping of hostages for some 16 months, if it wasn’t clear in 2021, it is now an unquestionable fact that the people of Gaza need a protectorate. A transitional governing authority of responsible and experienced countries can, and will, provide the necessary leadership to rebuild Gaza, provide essential services, guarantee security and create a path to peace and prosperity.

The following contains portions of what I wrote in 2021, which I reassert here:

The horrible history of terror committed by Hamas brings into focus the tragic lack of accountable leadership that has befallen the people of Gaza. Since taking control of the enclave in 2007, the U.S. State Department-designated Foreign Terror Organization (FTO) has proven wholly incapable of serving as a positive governing body for Gazans.

The dream and determination of then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, when he led Israel’s disengagement from Gaza in 2005, has been destroyed, but it can be and must be rebuilt. However, this cannot be accomplished with Hamas, which uses terror and control as its methodologies for governance and diplomacy, remaining in control of Gaza and the innocent residents there who deserve a better life.

What is needed is the establishment of a Gaza protectorate to replace Hamas.

Hamas, the Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement, has spent donated aid on the missiles and incendiary devices it has been launching for decades into Israel, as well as on building terror tunnels. It has ripped sewer pipes out of the ground to create rocket-engine bodies, and repurposed fiberglass for rockets, although the materials had been sent to repair and upgrade fishing boats.

Moreover, when Israel has in the past sent trucks with humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, the convoy was often greeted by a barrage of Hamas mortar shells at the Erez border-crossing terminal. As a new form of terror during the past few years, Hamas has launched incendiary balloons over the Gaza border fence, to torch Israeli forests, recreation areas, schools and communities.

Hamas puts terror, not people, first. This behavior has not only deprived Gazans of much-needed food, clean water and air, electricity, quality education, a wholesome life and hope; its misfired rockets and use of human shields against Israeli counterstrikes has led to the death of Gazan children and the destruction of their homes.

Hamas is essentially in full control of Gaza, notwithstanding its past fake pronouncements with the Palestinian Authority to relinquish governmental oversight and to turn over its weapons. The notion that the P.A. can play a positive role in governing Hamas or Gaza is also a fiction.

With Hamas and other Islamic resistance organizations controlling lives, educational curricula, young minds, money and a climate of terror dedicated to the destruction of its neighbor, the State of Israel, it is clear that the freedom-loving world must step in now, before more lives are destroyed along with any hope for a bright future for the women, children, men and families currently held hostage.

The United States must lead the international community in establishing a true Gaza protectorate of countries that care about education, quality of life and a brighter future.

Egypt, Jordan, Israel, the European Union, the U.S., the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and others who have proclaimed their commitment to democracy, freedom, security, education, self-dignity, human rights and creating a better day for all the people of Gaza have the opportunity and the ability to end Hamas’s reign of terror, hate and injustice and focus on the needs of the people.

Throughout history, protectorates have served to transition regional communities towards autonomy: empowering the people to take ownership over domestic affairs, thus offering limitless potential for more features of self-governance that necessarily can only come with the eradication of extremism.

It is not enough to send in engineers to rebuild what has been destroyed; it is time to truly build a quality life in Gaza. A possible component to consider is the establishment of a “New Gaza City,” on land to be leased from Egypt in the Sinai, and to which non-terrorist families can relocate from their war-torn disaster zone. New Gaza City, with the help of donor nations, can build apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, religious institutions and even government centers and new or revitalized forms of mass transit designed to give people voice, hope, freedom of movement and a future.

In doing so, people from Gaza [should be] willing to at least temporarily relocate from Gaza to New Gaza City. Distanced from the blinding oppressive fabrications imposed upon them by Hamas, they can watch international institutions and builders work together to deconstruct Hamas’s reign of terror and reconstruct their homeland of and in Gaza—one building and one neighborhood at a time.

When the new communities in sections of Gaza are rebuilt and security without fear or control by Hamas is established, the people of Gaza can safely relocate back to Gaza with a sense of purpose and dignity, and on the path that we all share and know to be within reach for the region: peace, economic integration and prosperity.

Is the dream of a better future for the people of Gaza realistic?

The greenhouses destroyed by Hamas after Sharon’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, when Israelis were forced to leave their homes, synagogues and livelihoods in Gush Katif, can be rebuilt, allowing flowers to again bloom, livelihoods to be established, economic development to be realized, clean water to flow and 24/7 electricity to be turned on.

The often-discussed Gaza seaport, and potential for gas exploration off the coast of the enclave, could lead to economic stability for all the people of Gaza, with benefits to its neighbors, Egypt and Israel. A carefully structured Gaza protectorate can stop terror, the launching of missiles, the teaching of hate and mandate the return of the deceased Israeli soldiers and live citizens being held by Hamas and its henchmen, in violation of international law …

Perhaps a protectorate—and a new day—can be realized.

Whether Israel's sworn enemies or its staunch allies, the world welcomed the news of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas announced on Wednesday.

Israel's foes treated the ceasefire as a victory against the Jewish state. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday hailed the "Palestinian resistance for showing fortitude and forcing the Zionist regime to retreat."

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also praised the agreement.

"Today, the end to the war and the imposition of a ceasefire on the Zionist regime are a clear victory and a big triumph for Palestine and a greater defeat for the demoniacal Zionist regime," it said in a statement on Thursday.

Hamas was jubilant over the agreement. Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya, in his first public remarks since green-lighting the truce deal, repeated the terrorist group’s commitment to the destruction of Israel on Wednesday night.

Al-Hayya described the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of some 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.

South Africa, which filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice in the Hague on Oct. 29, 2023, accusing Israel of genocide, praised the ceasefire.

"The ceasefire must lay the basis for a just peace, which should include the establishment of a contiguous, independent and viable Palestinian state," said South African government spokesman Vincent Magwenya.

Moscow greeted news of a agreement with "cautious optimism," Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday, “as the dire humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza continues to worsen. A ceasefire and truce are urgently needed for the residents who remain in Gaza, enduring unimaginable hardships.”

European countries also welcomed news of a cessation of hostilities.

“This is a major, positive breakthrough toward ending the violence,” stated Kaja Kallas, the E.U. high representative for foreign affairs and security policy. “It is now time to deliver this agreement for all hostages and their families, the people of Gaza and the people of the region."

Keir Starmer, the British prime minister, paid tribute to “those who won’t make it home—including the British people who were murdered by Hamas.”

London and its allies “will continue to be at the forefront of these crucial efforts to break the cycle of violence and secure long-term peace in the Middle East,” he said.

The German Federal Foreign Office said that “in these hours, there is hope that the hostages will finally be released and that the deaths in Gaza will come to an end. All those who bear responsibility should now ensure that this opportunity is seized.”

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp welcomed the “positive news about a ceasefire in Gaza.”

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday, “This deal will halt the fighting in Gaza, surge much-needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians and reunite the hostages with their families after more than 15 months in captivity."

President-elect Donald Trump said, “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."

Although Biden ridiculed the idea that Trump had helped with a ceasefire, Netanyahu thanked Trump in a Wednesday call for helping to forge the ceasefire-for-hostages-and-terrorists-release deal with Hamas.

Thirty-three hostages out of the 98 held by Hamas in Gaza are set to be released during the first phase of the deal, in exchange for 1,000 Gazan terrorists. This includes nine sick and injured captives who are to be exchanged for 110 Palestinians serving life sentences in Israeli prisons, including those with blood on their hands.

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

The Rafah Crossing to Egypt will be prepared for civilian and medical evacuations immediately after the agreement is signed.

However, Channel 12 News reported on Thursday that according to a “senior government source,” Israel will not withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor in the first stage, and the second stage will not proceed unless Hamas agrees to relinquish control of Gaza.

A last-minute crisis emerged on Thursday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announcing that "Hamas has reneged on parts of the agreement reached with the mediators and Israel in an effort to extort last-minute concessions.

"The Israeli Cabinet will not convene until the mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement," the Prime Minister's Office said.

Hamas Political Bureau member Ezzat al-Rishq, quoted by Channel 12 News, said in response that “Hamas is committed to the ceasefire agreement announced by the mediators.”

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism Party signaled on Thursday it would likely exit Netanyahu’s coalition over the ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

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.