[IMPORTANT] Hamas launches foot assault against settlements.

Post Reply New Topic

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said, as U.S. officials race to reach a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal before Biden leaves office on Jan. 20.

Biden and Netanyahu discussed efforts underway to reach a deal to halt the fighting in the Palestinian enclave and free the remaining hostages there, the White House said in a statement after the two leaders spoke by telephone.

Biden “stressed the immediate need for a ceasefire in Gaza and return of the hostages with a surge in humanitarian aid enabled by a stoppage in the fighting under the deal,” it said.

Netanyahu updated Biden on progress and on the mandate he has given his top-level security delegation now in Doha in order to advance a hostage deal, Netanyahu said in a statement.

The two leaders also discussed “the fundamentally changed regional circumstances following the ceasefire deal in Lebanon, the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, and the weakening of Iran’s power in the region,” the White House said.

Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN’s “State of the Union” program earlier on Sunday that the parties were “very, very close” to reaching a deal, but still had to get it across the finish line.

He said Biden was getting daily updates on the talks in Doha, where Israeli and Palestinian officials have said since Thursday that some progress has been made in the indirect talks between Israel and militant group Hamas.

“We are still determined to use every day we have in office to get this done,” Sullivan said, “and we are not, by any stretch of imagination, setting this aside.”

He said there was still a chance to reach an agreement before Biden leaves office, but that it was also possible “Hamas, in particular, remains intransigent.”

Vice President-elect JD Vance told the “Fox News Sunday” program in an interview taped on Saturday that he expects a deal for the release of U.S. hostages in the Middle East to be announced in the final days of the Biden administration, maybe in the last day or two.

Vice president-elect J.D. Vance revealed the true meaning behind President-elect Donald Trump’s threat that “all hell will break loose” if the hostages are not released by Inauguration Day on January 20, in an interview with FOX News on Sunday.

“It means enabling the Israelis to knock out the final couple of battalions of Hamas and their leadership,” Vance told FOX News.

He added, “It means very aggressive sanctions and financial penalties on those who are supporting terrorist organizations in the Middle East. It means actually doing the job of American leadership, which Donald Trump did very well for four years, and he’s gonna do very well for the next four years.”

Former U.S. officials lamented the Biden administration's policies toward Israel amid the Gaza war during a 60 Minutes segment focused on disillusioned officials.

The complaints from the former officials centered around Israel's disproportionate use of force and failure from the U.S. to hold Israel sufficiently accountable under U.S. and international law.

Andrew Miller, the former State Department point person on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict who did not resign in protest, said "Israel does get the benefit of the doubt. There is a deference to Israeli accounts of what's taken place." He acknowledged it is hard to obtain information in real time in a combat zone concerning Israel's adherence to international law, "but I would also say we didn't exactly work very hard to try to acquire the information."

"There is a danger that if the U.S. was not providing support to Israel, Hezbollah, Hamas, Iran would see that as an opportunity to go after Israel," Miller continued. "However, we could have said, we are taking this step because we believe this class of weapons ... is being used inappropriately. But if you use this moment to accelerate your attacks against Israel, then we are going to immediately lift our prohibition."

Miller added the U.S. did not impose any red lines, leaving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the message that "he was the one in the driver's seat, and he was controlling this, and U.S. support was going to be there, and he could take it for granted."

Former diplomat Hala Rharrit noted she was "basically berated" by a superior for including images of children that starved to death, with her reports on Arab views on the U.S. role in the war suspended after just three months.

She noted the Biden administration's positions have led to significantly deteriorated U.S. standing in the Arab world, which "is very significant because we worked so hard after the war on terror to strengthen ties with the Arab world."

As 2024 came to a close, the anxiety in the Bedouin village of Ras Jrabah only worsened. About six months ago, a court ordered the village to be demolished on December 31 to make room for the expansion of the nearby city of Dimona – and the villagers just couldn't let that happen.

Ras Jrabah was founded before Dimona, which is famous as the home of Israel's nuclear research center. Aerial photographs filed in court show that the village was already there in 1956. Early last week the villagers felt a bit of relief when the Supreme Court granted their appeal to delay the demolition.

The stay is only for 30 days, but even that is encouraging considering the current government's resolve to demolish unrecognized villages in the southern Negev region and replace them with Jewish communities.

Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-right government has demolished the unrecognized villages Wadi Khalil and Umm al-Hiran, a neighborhood in the town of Arara and two neighborhoods in the unrecognized village of Umm Matnan – and the efforts are still in full swing. Also, the ministerial committee for Bedouin affairs has been shown data indicating that last year saw a five-fold increase in the carrying out of demolition orders in the south.

In that same session, the committee approved the expansion of a "zoning plan" crafted by hard-line minister Amichai Chikli. This blueprint seeks to cram residents of unrecognized villages into a few Bedouin towns and ignores land-ownership claims.

The government is also moving ahead with a plan to allow the relocation of thousands of Bedouin from unrecognized villages to trailer parks. The parks will be set up in recognized communities where the infrastructure is substandard.

The villagers are due to live there for a maximum of five years, but the plan has no requirement to develop permanent infrastructure. Opponents say the plan is designed to allow rapid evictions and transform the northern Negev into a region of displaced people suffering inadequate living conditions.

Attempts to evacuate unrecognized villages or establish communities to hem them in aren't unique to the current government. But resolutions by previous governments were often left on paper. In fact, not since the evacuation of the unrecognized village of Al-Arakib – which was evacuated in the '50s, rebuilt, demolished in 2010 and rebuilt dozens of times – have so many demolition operations been carried out. And, a few decades ago, whenever the authorities asked Bedouin to leave their villages, the two sides agreed on the alternative housing.

For example, six weeks ago, the government evacuated Umm al-Hiran without reaching an agreement with the people, ahead of the establishment of the Jewish community of Dror. Most evicted residents relocated to the Hura local council nearby; some managed to build new houses there. Others are living in improvised housing that may also face demolition orders.

With the razing of Umm al-Hiran, 35 unrecognized Bedouin villages remain in the Negev, 10 of which are slated for demolition: Al-Bakia, Umm al-Badun, Ras Jrabah, Tel Arad, Atir, Albat, Umm Ratam, Dahia, Karkur and Alsir. The government plans to replace some of them with either a new Jewish community or the expansion of an existing one.

In other places, the idea is to replace demolished villages with infrastructure such as roads, or to expand industrial zones. Either way, this is done as part of a long-standing policy to stifle the recognition of Bedouin villages and block their natural expansion.

The goal is to strengthen the Jewish presence in the Negev and attract Jews from the center of the country. As the government designates large areas for new Jewish communities, it's shrinking the living space of Bedouin.

Left out of town
Ras Jrabah is likely to be next for demolition. This village of 500 people was founded on land that once belonged to the Alhwashla clan and is now designated as public land. It's east of Dimona, where a new Jewish neighborhood is planned. The villagers received their eviction orders in 2019.

In response, the residents asked to become a neighborhood within the Dimona East plan, like certain Arab neighborhoods in other Jewish towns. Rights groups like Bimkom and Adalah helped draw up one such blueprint, but the Authority for Development and Settlement of the Bedouin in the Negev objected.

The authority offered residents to relocate to the Bedouin community of Qasr al-Sir northwest of Dimona, but they refused because other Bedouin had claimed ownership of the land. A Be'er Sheva court then granted the Israel Land Authority's claim that Ras Jrabah's residents weren't interested in accepting proposals and ruled that, unless the people left the area by the end of 2024, the land authority could evict them.

But the court didn't rule on the possibility of integrating Ras Jrabah's residents into a new Dimona neighborhood. They appealed to the Supreme Court, which delayed the village's demolition and ordered the land authority to respond within 30 days. Meanwhile, the Dimona East plan was approved.

In addition to Ras Jrabah, the government also seeks to raze the villages of Atir and Tel Arad; the latter would be replaced by Mevo'ot Arad, a name for five new communities, one of them Bedouin. Tel Arad has thousands of people, not all of whom are expected to find a spot in the planned Bedouin community. About 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from Atir, the government plans to build the community of Yatir for Chabad Hasidim.

Atiya Alassm, director of the Regional Council for Unrecognized Villages in the Negev, says the government plans to "seize land from Bedouin citizens and prevent them from starting families. This is evident in their razing of entire villages, not allowing construction and not planning new housing even in recognized communities.

"There are around 30,000 Bedouin residents in recognized communities, but the government only allows the construction of four new houses a year. In the end, the government wants to fight Bedouin demography."

A political decision
Over the last decade, the government has approved the establishment of 18 new communities in the Negev, (16 of them intended for Jewish Israelis): five communities in Mevo'ot Arad, five along Route 25, two urban communities for the ultra-Orthodox and six more communities around the Negev. The government has also recognized the Bedouin villages of Khasham Zana, Abda and Rahma.

But the decision to build a new community doesn't ensure that this will happen; often political maneuvering is involved. In fact, the vast majority of planned communities in the Negev haven't reached the initial phase at the district planning and building committee.

Also, the Planning Administration and the Finance Ministry object to the establishing of new communities, which is expensive. They consider this a waste of public funds that will damage open spaces and weaken existing cities in the Negev.

The worst potential flash point is the string of planned communities along Route 25 between Be'er Sheva and Dimona; nearly all are set to go up on the land of unrecognized Bedouin villages or immediately next to them, with the current residents sent to live in existing Bedouin communities. Ownership claims will not be considered.

According to planners and activists, this move is political and ignores the opinions of professionals who support investment in existing cities rather than the building of suburbs.

Maigal Alhwashla, a field coordinator for the Regional Council for Unrecognized Villages in the Negev, says the council does not object to the establishment of new Jewish communities. "There's enough room in the Negev for everybody. We're against uprooting Bedouin villages and replacing them with Jewish communities," he says.

"We've drawn up an alternative plan, in cooperation with experts on unrecognized villages, and filed it with all the authorities in Israel. We filed it for the first time in 1999, revised it four years ago and filed it again. We've received no response."

Meanwhile, the communities earmarked to go up along Route 25 have received temporary names: Nevatim South, Omrit, Givot Adarim, Telem, Talma and Talia. The government plans for the newcomers to be well-off; some of the communities will be for both secular and religious Israelis, some for just one community.

Omrit, for example, is slated to be built on the land of the unrecognized village of Al-Zarnug (population 5,500), including schools, a preschool compound and a clinic. Talia is planned for the site of Umm Ratam (population 1,900), and Talma and Telem for land near the village of Umm Mitnan (population 1,500).

Alassm, the director of the Regional Council for Unrecognized Villages in the Negev, calls the planning of new Jewish communities on Bedouin land "the height of racism. You uproot people who have been on the ground since before the establishment of Israel just for being Bedouin, while looking for Jews to settle in their place.

"I don't know if something like this could happen in another democratic country, but in Israel with this government, I guess everything is allowed – racism, uprooting people, demolishing houses, and all this just to the Bedouin."

'How can this happen?'
Among the communities earmarked along Route 25, some are clearly planned to prevent the expansion of recognized Bedouin villages. One planned community is Nevatim South, due to be built near the Segev Shalom area and the village of Hashem Zana, which was recognized in 2023.

"This is another method of telling those Bedouin villages, 'You can't stay here because a Jewish community is about to be built,'" Saporta says. "They put up those Jewish communities to block the development of Bedouin communities."

She adds: "The road where at least five Jewish communities are to be established is just 20 kilometers long. Around 20,000 Bedouin live there in unrecognized villages, and together with recognized villages and towns, around 80,000 residents live along this road. Now they want to introduce 20,000 residents who will live in Jewish communities along Route 25. In terms of planning – infrastructure, roads, traffic jams – how can this happen? Obviously, this is a political decision."

The recognized village of Hashem Zana, whose street plan is still being drawn up, already faces an obstacle: The establishment of Jewish community Nevatim will halt its development. In fact, Hashem Zana is hemmed in on all sides. Route 6 will pass east of it, Route 25 is north of it and Nevatim South will be built to the southeast. The village will thus have no land for natural growth. Nevatim South will also limit the development of Segev Shalom.

"There was a small parcel of land for development between Hashem Zana and Segev Shalom, but they chose to locate Nevatim South there, for some unclear planning reason," Saporta says.

The same holds for Givot Adarim, which is planned for the site of the unrecognized village of Al-Madbah between recognized villages Abu Tlul and Abu Qrenat. According to Saporta, this was done to prevent the development of Abu Tlul and Abu Qrenat, including their possible merger.

For its part, the Construction and Housing Ministry said that "the decision for establishing new communities and their location is made by the government. Not a single community mentioned is planned for land designated, or under the process of designation, for Bedouin. Work is being done in complete coordination with the Bedouin authority and its plans."

Regarding the possibility of integrating Bedouin into the planned new towns, the ministry said: "These communities are designated for specific communities; the same rules will apply to them as to rural communities in the Negev and the Galilee. A community in Mevo'ot Arad is slated for the Bedouin, and another community will have a neighborhood for the local Bedouin."

The Authority for Development and Settlement of the Bedouin in the Negev said that it is "not responsible for establishing Jewish communities but for settling the status of the Bedouin population living illegally both inside and outside communities.

"As for the possibility of integrating Bedouin into Jewish communities, this is not the authority's role, nor is it within its power. In addition to Marva, to be established as part of the Mevo'ot Arad communities, it was decided in 2015 to establish Wadi al-Na'am, while in 2022 it was decided to establish Rahma, Abda and Hashem Zana. Also, in 2006 it was decided to establish Alfura'a."

The authority added that "about two decades ago, it was decided to establish a number of communities within the (then) regional council of Abu Basma. Some have been left undeveloped because of objections by residents, particularly some who claim ownership, so that, as of today, huge communities stand empty mainly due to the conduct of the Bedouin population.

"The policy of concentrating a population into recognized communities is designed mainly to allow better services for that population, from basic infrastructure to education and welfare services, which cannot be done under the wide geographic dispersal today."

Negotiators were meeting in Qatar on Tuesday hoping to finalise details of a plan to end the war in Gaza, after U.S. President Joe Biden indicated a ceasefire and hostage release deal was imminent.

Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari told a news conference that talks on the final details were underway and this was the closest point to a deal reached over the past months.

Hamas said the talks had reached the final steps and that it hoped this round of negotiations would lead to a deal. A Palestinian source close to the talks told Reuters he expected the deal to be finalised on Tuesday if "all goes well".

An Israeli official talks had reached a critical phase although some details needed to be hammered out: "We are close, we are not there yet".

Qatari mediators had given Israel and Hamas a final draft of a text for a ceasefire and release of hostages agreement on Monday, an official briefed on the negotiations said, after what he described as a midnight breakthrough in talks in Doha.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's incoming Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Biden's envoy Brett McGurk have both attended the talks hosted by Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. Israel is represented by David Barnea, director of spy service Mossad, and Ronen Bar, director of the Shin Bet internal security agency.

"The deal ... would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to Israel and allow us to significantly surge humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians who suffered terribly in this war that Hamas started," Biden said on Monday.

Israel would recover hostages from among around 100 who still remain in captivity from the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas that precipitated the war, in return for freeing Palestinian detainees.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the ball was in the court of Hamas. He is due to present a post-war plan for Gaza on Tuesday, Axios reported.

An Israeli official said the deal's first stage would see the release of 33 hostages, including children, women including some female soldiers, men above 50, and the wounded and sick. Israel would gradually and partially withdraw some of its forces.

The Palestinian source said Israel would free 1,000 Palestinian prisoners during the first phase, which would last for 60 days.

FIGHTING STILL RAGES
Gaza health officials said on Tuesday Israeli strikes killed at least 27 Palestinians in the past day, including one Gazan journalist. One of those attacks killed 10 people in a house in Khan Younis south of the enclave. Another killed nine people in a tent encampment in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza.

The Israeli military made no immediate comment.

Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration is now widely seen as a de facto deadline for a ceasefire agreement. Trump has said there would be "hell to pay" unless hostages held by Hamas are freed before he takes office, while Biden has also called for a final push for a deal before he leaves.

Blinken said negotiators wanted to make sure Trump would continue to back the deal on the table, which made the presence of Trump's Middle East envoy Witkoff alongside Biden administration officials "critical".

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir sparked outcry Monday when he claimed he had repeatedly foiled a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas over the past year, while calling on Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to join him in thwarting an emerging agreement.

Ben Gvir’s remarks provoked sharp criticism from the relatives of a number of hostages and opposition lawmakers who have long accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of balking at a ceasefire agreement in order to preserve his coalition. Ben Gvir and Smotrich have said they would bring down the government rather than accept a deal that ends the war against the Palestinian terror group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

In a post on X, together with a video in which he called on far-right ally Smotrich to join him in telling Netanyahu that they would bolt the coalition if the current hostage deal proposal went through, Ben Gvir said that they have managed to stop previous efforts to reach an agreement.

“In the last year, using our political power, we managed to prevent this deal from going ahead, time after time,” he wrote.

However, Ben Gvir said he now lacks the power to stop what he termed the “surrender deal” because Netanyahu expanded the coalition by bringing in Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope party in September last year.

“Recently other actors who support the deal have joined the government and we no longer hold the balance of power,” he lamented.

his post, Ben Gvir listed his reasons for opposing the proposed three-phase deal, which would see the freeing of dozens of hostages held in Gaza, both alive and dead.

In his post Ben Gvir said the deal, which will include the release of hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners from Israel, would enable the rehabilitation of terror groups in Gaza and bring back the threat to residents in border areas. He also warned that the current deal does not immediately ensure the release of all hostages held in Gaza, claiming it “seals the fate of the rest of the hostages who are not included in the death deal.”

The two far-right parties ran together in the last election, but operate independently.

Ben Gvir’s comments on thwarting deals quickly sparked outrage.

“He is openly admitting that he stopped a deal with his own hands for political gain,” said Gil Dickmann, a relative of Carmel Gat, who was killed by her captors in a Gaza tunnel last year. “If it were not for him, Carmel would be alive today.”

Dickmann called on Netanyahu and Smotrich to not cave to Ben Gvir’s “bloodsucking.”

The IDF has assessed that Hamas guards murdered Gat along with five other captives last September as IDF troops closed in on the location.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says Ben Gvir’s comments prove his claims that the government had failed to make a deal for political reasons. Netanyahu and the government have long denied the allegations, blaming Hamas for the lack of agreement.

The Kan public broadcaster reported that Smotrich was to meet with Netanyahu later in the day about the hostage deal.

Israel is obstructing a UN investigation into alleged sexual violence committed during the Hamas-led 7 October attacks, according to a report by Haaretz.

The Israeli media outlet said that officials opposed an investigation as it would also look into allegations of sex crimes against Palestinians by Israelis.

Pramila Patten, the UN under secretary-general for sexual violence in conflict, requested that Israeli detention centres be investigated as condition for an inquiry into purported sexual crimes on 7 October 2023.

The request, which was rejected by Israel, would have allowed the UN access into Israeli prisons to conduct investigations into the treatment of Palestinians held there.

Palestinian Authority officials had initially made the request to Patten.

Any discovery of violations could have meant Israel being placed on a UN blacklist for sexual crimes, representatives of the Israeli Women's Lobby who are familiar with Patten's team told Haaretz.

"The clear concern is that Israel will be the one to be added to the blacklist of entities and countries that engage in sexual violence in conflicts, while the terrorist organisation Hamas will actually remain off the list," Mia Schocken, director of the international department of the Women's Lobby, told Haaretz.

Rape and torture in detention centres
Since Israel's war on Gaza began in October 2023, many Palestinians detained by Israeli forces have said they were sexually abused by troops at Sde Teiman, a facility in southern Israel's Negev desert.

Torture, rape and murder have all been reported as rife at the facility, one of several prisons where Palestinians have been mistreated for decades.

However, no one had been arrested for the abuse until 29 July, when military police raided the facility, clashed with the soldiers and took them into custody.

Late in June of last year, nine Israeli soldiers were arrested for the alleged rape of a Palestinian detained in Sde Teiman. Five of those detained were released to house arrest on Tuesday, pending a potential decision by the army to file indictments.

The incident created a backlash in Israel, with a far-right mob, which included an MP and minister, storming the detention centre and a military court in an attempt to pressure authorities to release the alleged rapists.

The Institute for National Security Studies later revealed in a poll that 65 percent of Israeli Jews thought that the five should be punished internally by the army and not face criminal charges.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir confirmed that conditions inside Israeli prisons "have indeed worsened" since the war on Gaza began, adding: "I am proud of that.”

After more than 15 months of war that has left Gaza in ruins, killed tens of thousands of people and made most of the enclave's population homeless, Palestinians were this week craving an end to fighting. But many had no idea what the future holds.

Like many Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Muad Zakariy al-Kahlout was anxiously awaiting news of whether a ceasefire deal that would bring an end to more than a year of deadly fighting in the enclave would be confirmed.

“I used to have many plans for the day after the war,” al-Kahlout, a translator, told NBC News at the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. “But now, I really don’t know what to do.”

"I don't know what the day after they stop this war, how the day will look like," al-Kahlout told NBC News' crew on the ground in Gaza on Monday shortly after President Joe Biden said negotiators were “on the brink” of a truce.

For many in Gaza, including thousands of Palestinians killed and hostages who have died in Hamas' captivity, any ceasefire deal now will come too late. "We have lost too many," al-Kahlout said. "It’s really important to stop this bloodshed."

Under the current ceasefire proposal, the first hostages held by Hamas would be released 48 hours after a ceasefire is announced and in place, U.S. officials have told NBC News. Meanwhile, Israeli troops would withdraw from populated areas of Gaza to the Israeli border, with desperately needed aid also expected to flow into Gaza.

Even if the fighting ends, though, the toll of the war will be felt in the enclave for years to come. Much of Gaza's infrastructure has been destroyed and, while tens of thousands have been killed there, thousands more have suffered life-altering injuries.

Speaking with NBC News' crew on the ground in Nuseirat, surrounded by rubble, Hassan Sharif said he was unlikely to have much to return to once the war ends, having been displaced from Rafah, "which is now nothing but a collection of massive destruction." "I have nothing to do but stay optimistic about the current negotiation round for the ceasefire," said Sharif, who said that he was studying at the University of Palestine before the war and had hoped to become a clinical pharmacist.

"The first thing that I'm going to do when the war ends is to start to look for my life again," he said. "To replan my future."

As negotiators neared a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas on Tuesday, the families of hostages held for 15 agonizing months in the Gaza Strip said that they “remain hopeful” that their loved ones will be released.

Still, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was facing political backlash Tuesday even before a potential truce with Hamas had been inked.

For those whose loved ones have remained in captivity through a succession of false dawns, a deal can't come soon enough.

After months of fiercely criticizing Israel's government and leading mass protests, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum — an advocacy group that represents many of the hostages' families — said in a statement that “any deal, even a limited one, represents an important first step toward a comprehensive agreement.”

They added that they remained “hopeful that each step brings us closer to bringing everyone home.”

Of the 251 hostages kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, 94 people are still being held in Gaza — 34 of whom have died. Four other hostages in Gaza predate Oct. 7, and two of them have also died.

Daniel Lifshitz, 36, whose 84-year-old grandfather was taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel, told NBC News on Monday that he was “optimistic” about the deal but felt like he was on a “roller coaster.”

Lifshitz, whose 85-year-old grandmother Yocheved Lifshitz was freed in October 2023, said President-elect Donald Trump’s tough language had helped to make the negotiations easier for mediators.

“I think now both sides need to prove that they are going to do what Trump said. I trust it,” he said.

Netanyahu, who has been the focus of many of the hostage families' protests, invited family representatives for a meeting Tuesday in conjunction with the hostage deal, a spokesperson for the organization told NBC News on Monday. He is yet to comment on the negotiations or the contents of a potential deal.

But even as the two sides neared a deal, a large section of a missile fired by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels was being cleared by Israeli police after it hit a home in the village of Mevo Beitar, around 10 miles south of Jerusalem.

And others view the emerging agreement as too little, too late.

Before the apparent breakthrough over the weekend, Aviva Siegel, herself a former hostage who was held in Gaza for 51 days, said she feared the deal was too late “because we know the conditions” the hostages are held in.

“It’s the closest that it’s ever been since I’ve been released,” she told NBC News earlier this month. “This deal has to come true. It just has to come true.”

US President Donald Trump has revoked the executive order signed a year ago by his predecessor to impose sanctions against violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

For years, Israeli authorities largely ignored the phenomenon and the problem has only gotten worse under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest government. Outgoing National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has dismissed the attacks as a non-issue and the top officer overseeing the West Bank is currently under investigation by the Justice Ministry for allegedly ignoring settler violence in order to please his boss and get promoted.

Through the executive order signed by Biden, 17 individuals and 16 entities were designated in eight separate batches over the past year.

Those sanctions have now all been lifted.

Notably, the move comes hours after another settler rampage in the northern West Bank village of al-Funduq.

Hours after President Donald Trump rescinded American sanctions on far-right settler groups and individuals accused of involvement in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, Israel’s military said it had launched a “significant” operation in the territory.

Israeli forces moved into the northern city of Jenin in an offensive that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said was launched to “defeat terrorism.” Health authorities in the region said at least seven people were killed and dozens injured.

It came after his military said “Israeli civilians,” some of them masked, had attacked a Palestinian village Monday night before they turned on their own soldiers.

Introduced by the Biden administration in February, Executive Order 14115 saw sanctions imposed on “persons undermining peace, security, and stability in the West Bank.”

But in a major policy reversal, the White House website said Monday that Trump had done away with the measures, which barred Americans from dealing with both Israeli settlers and entities associated with them while freezing their U.S. assets.

Within hours of Monday's announcement from the White House, the Israeli military said in a statement that dozens of “Israeli civilians,” some of them masked, raided the Palestinian village of Al-Funduq. There, they “instigated riots, set property on fire and caused damage,” the statement said.

Troops were dispatched to the scene where they were attacked by Israelis, some of whom threw rocks, the statement added.

A joint investigation into the incident had been opened by the Department of Internal Police Investigations and the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division, the statement said.

Asked Tuesday whether any of those involved were arrested and charged, the IDF referred NBC News to the Israel Police. The police force did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Netanyahu said in a statement Tuesday that the IDF, police and the country’s domestic security agency known as the Shin Bet had launched an "extensive and significant military operation” to “defeat terrorism” in Jenin, a city in the West Bank’s north, calling the offensive "Iron Wall."

Palestinian health officials said in a statement that at least seven people were killed and around 35 injured as a result of the operation.

Referring to the region as Judea and Samaria, the biblical names for the West Bank, Smotrich said in a separate statement that the operation would help to “change the security perception” about the region.

The operation was launched after the United Nations Human Rights Office said in a statement Monday that it was “alarmed by a wave of renewed violence perpetrated by settlers and Israeli security forces in the Occupied West Bank.”

“This has been accompanied by increased restrictions on Palestinians’ freedom of movement across the West Bank, including complete closure of some checkpoints and installation of new gates, effectively confining entire communities,” it added.

Israel’s defense minister said on Wednesday forces were applying lessons learned in Gaza as a major operation continued in Jenin, which the military said was aimed at countering Iranian-backed militant groups in the volatile West Bank city.

A military spokesperson declined to give details but said the operation was “relatively similar” to but in a smaller area than one last August, in which hundreds of Israeli troops backed by drones and helicopters raided Jenin and other flashpoint cities in the occupied West Bank.

It was the third major incursion by the Israeli army in less than two years into Jenin, a longtime major stronghold of militant groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which said its forces were fighting Israeli troops.

Residents reported constant gunfire and explosions and Palestinian health services reported at least four wounded, after 10 people were killed a day earlier.

Israeli military spokesperson Nadav Shoshani said the militants’ increasing use of roadside bombs and other improvised explosive devices were a particular focus of the operation, which included armored bulldozers to tear up roads in the refugee camp adjacent to the city.

As the operation continued, many Palestinians left their homes in the camp, a crowded township for descendants of Palestinians who fled or were driven from their homes in the 1948 war around Israel’s creation.

“Thank God, we were at home, we went out and asked an ambulance to take us out,” said a woman who gave her name as Um Mohammad.

Before the raid, which came two weeks after a shooting attack blamed by Israel on gunmen from Jenin, roadblocks and checkpoints had been thrown up across the West Bank in an effort to slow down movement across the territory.

As the raid began, Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces pulled out after having conducted a weeks-long operation to try to reassert control over the refugee camp, dominated by Palestinian factions that are hostile to the PA, which exercises limited governance in parts of the West Bank.

The operation came just two days after the launch of a ceasefire deal in Gaza and exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, with Israeli troops pulling back from their positions in many areas of the enclave.

On Wednesday, the military said troops in several areas in Gaza engaged a number of armed suspects it said posed a threat and fired warning shots at masked individuals who approached them. It called on Palestinians to avoid approaching troops.

“The IDF is determined to fully maintain the terms of the agreement in order to return the hostages,” it said in a statement, adding that it was prepared for any scenario and would take “all necessary actions” to overcome threats.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said the Jenin raid marked a shift in the military’s security plan in the West Bank and was “the first lesson from the method of repeated raids in Gaza.”

When Walid Abu Libdeh returned to Rafah with his young daughter, the 61-year-old engineer felt as though he were “in a horrible film” as he moved through the rubble-strewn streets, trying to figure out where his home once stood.

“Where are the houses? Where are the trees? Where are the animals? Where are the people we love?” he told NBC News’ ground crew in the southern Gaza city on Wednesday.

What has happened in Rafah feels like “Hiroshima or Nagasaki,” Libdeh added.

Six months ago, Rafah, on the Gaza-Egypt border, was home to well more than a million Palestinians who had been forcibly displaced from the war in the Gaza Strip, according to United Nations estimates. Now, the picture looks drastically different as Palestinians wade through rubble and debris to see what is left standing in their city.

Months of Israeli aerial bombardment have hammered the city and caused “almost total devastation,” Khaled Mohamed Al-Sheikh Eid, an engineer heading the debris removal and roads opening committee for the municipality of Rafah, told NBC News’ ground crew Wednesday.

“We were very surprised by the extent of the destruction and debris on the roads,” Al-Sheikh Eid added. “It has become evident to us that the level of destruction is enormous.”

Since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire went into effect late last week, almost 3,000 aid trucks have so far entered Gaza to help the city begin to rebuild, U.N. spokesperson Adnan Abu Hasna told NBC News.

In Rafah's Al-Shawka area, NBC News video footage captured hundreds of trucks carrying food and fuel entering through the Kerem Shalom crossing Wednesday.

Armed guards and masked men — some of them Hamas militants and others ordinary Palestinian merchants to protect trucks — supervised their safe passage to ensure their distribution.

With a ceasefire deal now in place and Israeli hostages and Palestinians held in Israeli prisons starting to return to their homes, Israeli officials have agreed to allow at least 600 truckloads of aid into Gaza daily during the deal's initial six weeks.

That aid is much needed: The U.N. has estimated that around 60% of Gaza’s infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, has been destroyed. That has left around 90% of Gaza’s population — almost 1.9 million people — displaced from their homes.

In Rafah, Al-Sheikh Eid said that preliminary estimates indicated around 70% of the buildings had been partially or completely destroyed, adding that all communication networks, water systems, sewage systems and electricity infrastructure had also been demolished.

Given the urgent need to rebuild, a plan has been devised dividing streets into three sections: “main roads, secondary roads and smaller streets within neighborhoods,” Al-Sheikh Eid said.

With the daunting task of removing the piles of rubble and rebuilding smaller roads requiring heavy machinery, the focus will remain on opening main roads by pushing debris to the roadside to allow vehicles to pass through, he added.

Standing on a dusty road with his daughter, Libdeh pointed to the remains of demolished buildings. “This street, it was a very beautiful street,” he said. Now, “it’s just a mountain of concrete blocks.”

U.S. President Donald Trump said Jordan and Egypt should take in Palestinians from war-ravaged Gaza, a suggestion rejected by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that runs the enclave, and apparently rebuffed by Jordan and Egypt.
Asked if this was a temporary or long-term solution for Gaza, where Israel's military assault has caused a dire humanitarian situation and killed tens of thousands, Trump said on Saturday: "Could be either."

Jordan is already home to several million Palestinians, while tens of thousands live in Egypt. Both countries and other Arab nations reject the idea of Palestinians in Gaza being moved to their countries. Gaza is land that Palestinians would want as part of a future Palestinian state.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has repeatedly called for the return of Jewish settlers to Gaza, welcomed Trump's call as "an excellent idea" and said he would work to develop a plan to implement it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected such notions, advocated by Smotrich.

A Hamas official echoed long-standing Palestinian fears about being driven permanently from their homes.
Palestinians "will not accept any offers or solutions, even if (such offers) appear to have good intentions under the guise of reconstruction, as announced in the proposals of U.S. President Trump," Basem Naim, a member of the Hamas political bureau, told Reuters.

Another Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, urged Trump not to repeat "failed" ideas tried by his predecessor Joe Biden.
"The people of Gaza have endured death and refused to leave their homeland and they will not leave it regardless of any other reasons," Abu Zuhri told Reuters.

Jordan also appeared to reject Trump's suggestion, with its Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi telling reporters that the country's stance against any displacement of Palestinians from Gaza remains "firm and unwavering".
Egypt's foreign ministry followed suit, saying it categorically rejects any displacement of Palestinians from their land, be it "short term or long term".

Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Trump's remarks. "Our people will remain steadfast and will not leave their homeland," said a statement published by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Palestinian analyst Ghassan al-Khatib said Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, as well as the Jordanians and Egyptians, would reject Trump's plan: "I don't think that there is a place in reality for such an idea."

'IT'S A REAL MESS'
Referring to a call he had on Saturday with Jordan's King Abdullah, Trump told reporters: "I said to him I'd love you to take on more because I'm looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now and it’s a mess, it's a real mess. I'd like him to take people."

He added, "I'd like Egypt to take people," and said he would speak to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday.
"You’re talking about a million and half people, and we just clean out that whole thing," Trump said.
The population in the Palestinian enclave prior to the start of the Israel-Gaza war was around 2.3 million.
Washington had said last year it opposed the forcible displacement of Palestinians. Rights groups and humanitarian agencies have for months raised concerns over the situation in Gaza, with the war displacing nearly the entire population and leading to a hunger crisis.
Washington has also faced criticism for backing Israel but has maintained support for its ally, saying it is helping Israel defend itself against Iranian-backed militant groups like Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
"It's literally a demolition site, almost everything is demolished and people are dying there, so I'd rather get involved with some of the Arab nations and build housing at a different location where they can maybe live in peace for a change," Trump said on Saturday.

'NEW AND BETTER LIVES'
Smotrich, who said only "out-of-the-box thinking" could achieve peace, said Trump's plan would give Palestinians "the opportunity to build new and better lives elsewhere".

"With God's help, I will work with the prime minister and cabinet to develop an operational plan to implement this as soon as possible," he said.

In a post on X, Francesca Albanese, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, said: "Ethnic cleansing is anything but an 'out-of-the-box' thinking, no matter how one packages it. It is illegal, immoral and irresponsible."

Most of Gaza's population has been internally displaced by the war. On Sunday, many of them rejected Trump's suggestion.

"If he thinks he will forcibly displace the Palestinian people (then) this is impossible, impossible, impossible. The Palestinian people firmly believe that this land is theirs, this soil is their soil," said Magdy Seidam.
"No matter how much Israel tries to destroy, break, and to show people that it had won, in reality it did not win."

Israeli forces killed 22 people in south Lebanon on Sunday as a deadline for their withdrawal passed and thousands of people tried to return to their homes in defiance of Israeli military orders, Lebanese authorities said.

Israel said on Friday it would keep troops in the south beyond the Sunday deadline set out in a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that halted last year's war with Hezbollah, saying Lebanon had not yet fully enforced terms requiring south Lebanon to be free of Hezbollah arms and the Lebanese army to be deployed.

Lebanon's health ministry said 22 people were killed and another 124 wounded in numerous locations in the south, as a result of what it described as Israeli attacks on citizens while they were trying to enter their still-occupied towns.
The Israeli military said that its troops "operating in southern Lebanon fired warning shots to remove threats in a number of areas where suspects were identified approaching the troops". It also said "a number of suspects ... that posed an imminent threat" were apprehended.

Hezbollah's al-Manar television, broadcasting from several locations in the south, showed footage of residents moving towards villages early on Sunday, some holding the group's flag and images of Hezbollah fighters killed in the war.
An Israeli military spokesperson, addressing the people of south Lebanon in a post on X, accused Hezbollah of trying to "heat up the situation" and said the Israeli army would "in the near future" inform them of places to which they can return.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said Lebanon is committed to the ceasefire deal but that Israel had turned against it with U.S. support. The White House said on Friday that a short, temporary ceasefire extension was urgently needed.

Hezbollah has put the onus on the Lebanese state to ensure Israel's withdrawal.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said Lebanon is committed to the ceasefire deal but that Israel had turned against it with U.S. support. The White House said on Friday that a short, temporary ceasefire extension was urgently needed.

PRESIDENT URGES SOUTHERNERS TO TRUST ARMY
"What is happening in the border villages is a liberation by the power of the people, and our people will not be broken by the Israeli army," he told Reuters. "We want the state to play its full role, and the army to be deployed in the villages."
"We cooperate with it to facilitate its mission."

The top U.N. official in Lebanon and the head of the U.N. peacekeepers in the south said conditions were "not yet in place" for the safe return of Lebanese citizens to villages near the border. "The fact is that the timelines envisaged" in the ceasefire "have not been met", they said in a statement.

The agreement set out a 60-day timeline for implementation.

President Joseph Aoun, Lebanon's army commander until parliament elected him head of state on Jan. 9, called on the people of the south to exercise self-restraint and trust in the Lebanese military.

"‎Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity are non-negotiable, and I am following up on this issue at the highest levels to ensure your rights and dignity," he said in a statement.

Israel has not said how long its forces would remain in the south, where the Israeli military says it has been seizing Hezbollah weapons and dismantling its infrastructure.

Hamas released four Israeli hostages in Gaza early Saturday in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners to be released later in the day. It was the second release to occur as part of the ceasefire agreement that began last weekend. Israel followed with the release of 200 Palestinian prisoners.

A large crowd gathered in Palestine Square in northern Gaza to witness the handover of the hostages to the Red Cross. A number of armed Hamas militants in uniforms gathered for the release, surrounding a podium displaying Hamas slogans. Drones could be seen dropping small packages, which Israeli media reported contained candy, to the crowd.

Karina Ariev, 20; Daniella Gilboa, 20; Naama Levy, 20; and Liri Albag, 19, were captured in Hamas' Oct. 7 2023 terrorist attack that ignited the Israel-Hamas war. Around 1,200 people were killed in Israel, and over 47,000 have since been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run ministry of health.

The four female soldiers were kidnapped from the Nahal Oz military base, on the border with northern Gaza, when Palestinian militants overran it on Oct. 7. They had been serving in a lookout unit there.

Ahead of their release, members of the Red Cross were brought up on the podium in Palestine Square, where they signed documents alongside Hamas militants.

The four Israeli women arrived in the square in cars. They emerged wearing military-style uniforms and were brought onto the podium as well, where, smiling, they gave thumbs up gestures and waved to the crowd. They then got into Red Cross vehicles and began their journeys out of Gaza.

In Tel Aviv, crowds gathered to celebrate the hostages' return to Israel after 476 days of captivity.

Over 60 other soldiers were killed at the Nahal Oz base during the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, and one other female soldier was taken hostage from the same unit, though she was not included in Saturday's release.

Liri Albag's family has said she had managed to pass messages back to them through other hostages who had been released previously.

According to the terms of the ceasefire and hostage release agreement, civilian hostages were to be released ahead of soldiers, and Yehoud was expected to be among the four released on Saturday.

U.S. Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked a Republican-led effort to sanction the International Criminal Court in protest of its arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister over Israel's campaign in Gaza.

The chamber voted 54-45 in favor of the bill, meaning the measure could not get the 60 yes votes needed to advance to a vote on passage in the 100-member Senate.

Senator John Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote with Republicans to advance the measure. Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff did not vote.

The "Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act" would have imposed sanctions on any foreigner who investigates, arrests, detains or prosecutes U.S. citizens or those of an allied country, including Israel, who are not members of the court.

It passed the House of Representatives earlier this month 243-140, as 45 Democrats joined majority Republicans in favor.
In the Senate, Democrats said they agreed with much of the bill, but it was too broad, and risked alienating important U.S. allies and imposing sanctions on lower-level workers at the court in the Netherlands.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, said the party had tried to reach a compromise with Republicans, but could not do so.

Republicans had said they hoped the bill would pass in time for President Donald Trump to sign into law soon after being inaugurated on Jan. 20, especially with Netanyahu due to visit him at the White House on Feb. 4.

White House officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Trump would use an executive order to impose sanctions.

'ANTI-ISRAEL BIAS'
Urging colleagues to vote no, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer accused the ICC of having "an anti-Israel bias that cannot be ignored." However, he said the bill was poorly crafted and also could target U.S. companies, such as those whose products help protect the court from foreign hackers.

The ICC is a permanent court that can prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression in member states or by their nationals.

The court has said its decision to pursue warrants against the Israeli officials was in line with its approach in all cases, based on an assessment by the prosecutor that there was enough evidence to proceed, and the view that seeking arrest warrants immediately could prevent ongoing crimes.

Congressional Republicans have been denouncing the ICC since it issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his ex-defense chief Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict. Israel denies the allegations.

Urging support for the bill, Senator Jim Risch, the Republican chairman of the foreign relations panel, accused the ICC of pursuing the Israeli leader for political reasons.

"It’s just another example of politicization and antisemitism that’s become endemic among a number of international organizations," he told reporters.

The war crimes tribunal has taken measures to shield staff from possible U.S. sanctions, paying salaries three months in advance, as it braces for financial restrictions.

Hamas has released a provocative video that it claims shows the execution of Israeli forces allegedly linked to an operation targeting its leader, Yahya Sinwar. The footage, shared on Hamas-affiliated channels, depicts masked gunmen claiming responsibility for retaliatory measures against individuals reportedly behind the assassination. The release has sparked widespread reactions, with Israeli officials dismissing it as psychological warfare and propaganda. Meanwhile, tensions between the two sides remain high as such incidents escalate the ongoing conflict.

Israel’s ban on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees went into effect Thursday in a move that the world body has warned will jeopardize humanitarian aid efforts in the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem.

The move comes as 2 million Palestinians living in those areas are grappling with the destruction wrought during the 15 months of the Gaza war and its timing — coming at an especially vulnerable moment for the Palestinian territories — has alarmed the international community.

The Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank, believes the ban will further stoke tensions between Palestinians and Israelis in the occupied West Bank and in Gaza, where a fragile ceasefire remains in place.

Israel, which claims that Hamas members have infiltrated UNRWA, argues that the agency’s absence will depoliticize humanitarian aid, make delivery more efficient and help keep it out of Hamas’ hands.

UNRWA Director-General Philippe Lazzarini has warned of “disastrous” consequences if Israel bans the aid organization from the Palestinian territories.

The ban comes into effect less than two weeks after a Gaza ceasefire deal allowed for a surge in humanitarian aid into the enclave with the expected weekly entry of 4,200 trucks of aid.

Because they claim that UNRWA has exaggerated the proportion of Gaza’s aid it provides, Israeli officials say that other aid bodies, other UN agencies and municipal departments will step in to fill the gap left by UNRWA.

What does cancellation mean?
As dictated by a motion approved in October by its parliament, Israel is canceling the 50-year-old agreement with the U.N. under which it allows UNRWA to operate in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

While services in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon will not be impacted, that means Israel will no longer communicate with UNRWA staff, issue visas for its international workers or recognize existing visas — meaning many foreign staff will have to leave the occupied Palestinian territories.

Initially, the ban will be felt most in east Jerusalem, where UNRWA has been ordered to vacate its premises, while some of its operations in the West Bank will likely be wound down more gradually.

The three women released from Hamas captivity on Sunday shared their first testimonies of their captivity with the media.

Doron Steinbrecher, Romi Gonen, and Emily Damari relayed that they were initially held together but were later separated. They revealed that they were only informed of their release on Sunday morning: "We couldn’t believe it when we were told we were about to go home."

According to their testimonies, they were at times housed in humanitarian shelters designated for displaced Gazans.

Even though the women did sometimes receive medical help or medications, they spent significant stretches of time without daylight, confined to underground spaces, N12 added.

One of the women underwent a medical procedure without anesthesia. She told the interviewer she thought she would die in Gaza.

The women said they spent 15 months cooking and supporting each other.

They also added that throughout their 471 days in Gaza, they were exposed to television and radio broadcasts and could follow their families’ struggles for their release.

“We saw your fight; we heard our families battling for us,” they recounted.

This meant they also learned of the October 7 massacre.
One of the women told N12, “We understood that our families survived, but we discovered we had lost many friends.”

Final moments in captivity
They also spoke of their terror in the final moments of captivity as they were transferred to the Red Cross. “We were terrified during the transition from the terrorists’ hands to the Red Cross,” they said and mentioned being surrounded by the hostile Gazan crowd.

The testimonies also revealed new details about Emily Damari’s time in captivity. Emily spent significant amounts of time with Romi Gonen, being transferred together dozens of times between various hiding places, both above and below ground.

Romi, a trained medic, provided critical medical care to Emily’s wounds, including the two lost fingers from being shot during the October 7 massacre and a leg injury.