Russia shipped a diesel cargo to the Syrian Arab Republic onboard a tanker under US sanctions, the first known such direct supply to the Middle Eastern country in more than a decade. The Barbados-flagged vessel Prosperity was loaded with about 37,000 metric tons of ultra-low sulfur diesel. The tanker is anchored near the Syrian port of Banias (Read more Arab News).
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) was involved in a collision with the merchant vessel Besiktas-M at approximately 11:46 p.m. local time, Feb. 12, while operating in the vicinity of Port Said, Egypt, in the Mediterranean Sea. There are no reports of injuries, nor is there flooding, aboard the carrier, which carries a crew of 5,000 sailors, and the incident is under investigation. The aircraft carrier and its strike group had been operating in the Red Sea since mid-December as part of the mission to thwart Houthi militant attacks launched from Yemen at commercial vessels transiting the vital waterway (Read more at ABC News).
The trip will center on freeing American and all other hostages from Hamas captivity, advancing to Phase II of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, and countering the destabilizing activities of the Iranian regime and its proxies (Read more at State Department Website).
The US says it has shouldered the burden of Syria camps for too long. The US urges countries to quickly repatriate nationals. Al-Hol camp is widely viewed as a breeding ground for extremism (Read more at Reuters).
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russia's sovereign wealth fund chief Kirill Dmitriev were involved in negotiations over the release of U.S. teacher Marc Fogel from a Russian prison. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who visited Saudi Arabia in 2023, said last September that he was grateful to Mohammed bin Salman for his role in the previous exchange (Read more at AOL).
In remarks made during the World Government Summit in Dubai, the UAE ambassador to the US, Yousef Al-Otaiba acknowledged the complexity of the situation, stating, “But at the end of the day, we’re all in a solution-seeking business, we just don’t know where it’s going to land yet.” During the same summit, UAE President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan engaged in discussions with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, emphasizing the importance of a two-state solution (Read more at Roya News).
US sanctions on Russia, and Iran tighten oil tanker availability. Iran floating storage at over one-year high, January exports up for 2nd month. Iran's crude discount shrinks to the narrowest in several years. Russian oil on water jumps after January 10 sanctions (Read more at Reuters).
Egypt has said Trump had extended an open invitation to Sisi to visit the White House earlier this month. Egypt’s President, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, will not travel to Washington for talks at the White House as long as the agenda includes US President Donald Trump’s plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza. Jordan’s King Abdullah appeared uncomfortable during a meeting with Trump at the White House on Tuesday, at which Trump discussed his Gaza plan (Read more at Middle East Monitor).
Among other attendees poised to attend the Miami summit are TikTok CEO, Shou Zi Chew, Oracle CEO Safra Catz, as well as Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the $925 billion Saudi Public Investment Fund, according to the FII website. The public website does not list Trump as an attendee (Read more at Middle East Monitor).
Speaking alongside the Arab country's ruler in the White House, Trump signalled he would not budge on his idea that involves moving the Gaza Strip's shell-shocked residents. Trump has infuriated the Arab world by saying that Palestinians would not be able to return to their homes under his proposal to redevelop the enclave. King Abdullah said later that he reiterated to Trump Jordan's "steadfast position" against the displacement of Palestinians (Read more at Business Standard).
Sitting alongside King Abdullah of Jordan in the Oval Office, in true Trumpian fashion, he still insisted he would take over the Gaza Strip using an unspecified “US authority.” “I think we have to keep in mind that there is a plan from Egypt and the Arab countries,” Abdullah said when prompted to speak by the president. “We're being invited by [Crown Prince] Mohammed bin Salman to discussions in Riyadh. I think the point is, how do we make this work in a way that is good for everybody? Obviously, we have to look at the best interests of the United States, of the people in the region, especially to my people of Jordan.” The king praised Trump for his work on ensuring the ceasefire came to fruition and said as an immediate humanitarian gesture, Amman will accept 2,000 children from Gaza who have cancer or other pressing ailments for treatment (Read more at Middle East Eye).
Any act of aggression will have severe consequences, Iran's UN ambassador has asserted, in response to Trump's recent remarks to the New York Post (Read more at Almayadeen).
Egypt's foreign ministry said Abdelatty, in a meeting in Washington, stressed the importance of achieving "a just and lasting peace that ensures Palestinians’ rights, including the establishment of an independent state on their entire national territory”. A statement by the US State Department after the meeting did not explicitly mention Trump's plan but added that Rubio "reiterated the importance of close cooperation to advance post-conflict planning for the governance and security of Gaza" and said "Hamas can never govern Gaza again" (Read more at Middle East Eye).
“Trump says, 'We want to talk', and then he signs in a memorandum all the conspiracies to bring our revolution to its knees,” Mr Pezeshkian said, referring to Mr Trump's reinstatement of sanctions against Tehran this month. “If the US were sincere about negotiations, why did they sanction us?” he added, saying it was Israel, not Iran, destabilising the Middle East. "They spread propaganda that the country has been weak. We are strong. We never bow to the foreigners." (Read more at The National)
President Trump on Sunday said he was losing patience with the cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas after seeing footage of the Palestinian terrorists releasing Israeli hostages over the weekend, whose appearance he compared to Holocaust survivors. “They look like Holocaust survivors. They were in horrible condition. They were emaciated,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on his way to New Orleans to attend the Super Bowl. “I don’t know how much longer we can take that … at some point we’re going to lose our patience.” (Read more at AOL)
US president says other countries in the Middle East could be tasked with rebuilding parts of the war-ravaged enclave (Read more at Aljazeera).
Trump made similar comments on his social media portal Truth Social, saying that wants Iran to “peacefully grow and prosper.” “Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens, ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED,” he posted (Read more at JNS).
The rial plunged to 892,500 to the dollar on the unofficial market on Saturday. Facing an official inflation rate of about 35%, Iranians seeking safe havens for their savings have been buying dollars, other hard currencies, gold or cryptocurrencies, suggesting further headwinds for the rial. The dollar has been gaining against the rial since trading around 690,000 rials at the time of Trump's re-election in November amid concerns that Trump would re-impose his "maximum pressure" policy against Iran with tougher sanctions and empower Israel to strike Iranian nuclear sites (Read more at USNews).
U.S. credit card giant American Express identified and closed 30 consumer accounts in 2024 that it said could have had ties to the Government of Iran. The accounts were only used for personal expenses, AmEx said in a regulatory filing on Friday. It also ended its relationship with a third-party ATM network provider, which was connected to an Iranian bank sanctioned by the U.S. government (Read more at Market Screener).
The Department of Defense announced that the State Department had approved a package for Israel worth an estimated $6.75 billion that included munitions, guidance kits and fuses with Boeing Co among the principal contractors. Democratic lawmakers requested that the sale be paused until he received more information (Read more at Ammon News).
President Donald Trump and officials close to him recently expressed interest in pulling U.S. troops out of Syria, leading Pentagon officials to begin drawing up plans for a full withdrawal in 30, 60 or 90 days (Read more at NBC News).
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei has strongly condemned a new round of sanctions imposed by the United States on a dozen people and firms that Washington says facilitate Iranian oil shipments. Baghaei said the new sanctions were “entirely illegitimate” and “in contravention of international rules and regulations.” (Read more at IRNA)
“Negotiating with America will solve no problem. Proof? [Past] experience!” Ayatollah Khamenei said. “The Americans did not comply with that very agreement. The very same person who is now in office [in the United States] tore up the agreement,” he said. “The agreement was meant for America’s sanctions to be removed. They were not removed! America’s sanctions were not removed.” (Read more at IRNA)
Egypt said it had been in contact with Arab partners including Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to firm up the region's rejection of any displacement of Palestinians after U.S. President Donald Trump said they should go from Gaza (Read more at AOL).
Hezbollah slammed the remarks by US Deputy Special Envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus as "blatant interference", as Lebanon's prime minister-designate struggles to form a government amid political pressure from the Iran-backed group. "We have set clear red lines in the United States that they (Hezbollah) won't be able to terrorise the Lebanese people, and that includes by being a part of the government," Ortagus said after meeting President Joseph Aoun (Read more at France 24).
SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami warned of the potential consequences of such a move, emphasizing that “ISIS and other malicious actors are closely watching for an opportunity to exploit a U.S. withdrawal, aiming to regain their foothold and return to the 2014 situation.” (Read more at Kurdistan 24).
The U.S. State Department has approved the potential sale of military-related design and construction services to Kuwait for an estimated cost of $1 billion, the Pentagon said (Read more USNews).
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that Gaza currently is "not habitable" due to dangers such as unexploded weapons, and that people would have to live elsewhere while the area is rebuilt (Read more at Yahoo News).
US President Donald Trump’s proposal to take over the Gaza Strip and resettle Palestinians elsewhere brings to mind an earlier suggestion by his son-in-law Jared Kushner about the potential value of “waterfront property” in the enclave. Kushner, a former aide to Trump, suggested last year that Israel should remove the population out of the Gaza Strip while it “cleans up” the area (Read more at Anadolu Ajansı).
“On the question of Gaza, the definition of insanity is attempting to do the same thing over and over and over again,” Mr Hegseth said before the start of his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Pentagon. “The president is willing to think outside the box, look for new and unique, dynamic ways to solve problems that have felt like they were intractable ... We’re prepared to look at all options.” (Read more at Straits Times).
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, at a meeting with OPEC Secretary-General Haitham al-Ghais, urged OPEC members to unite against possible US sanctions on the major oil producer after US President Donald Trump said he would seek to drive Tehran’s oil exports to zero (Read more at Aljazeera).
He will discuss raising funds with Abu Dhabi investment group MGX. Altman's Abu Dhabi stop comes at a key moment for the ChatGPT maker as established U.S. firms face a new challenge from cheaper Chinese alternative DeepSeek. The UAE, a wealthy oil producer and longtime security partner of the U.S., is in a race to become an AI leader amid rising competition from neighbouring Qatar and Saudi Arabia (Read more at Market Screener).
U.S. concerns about Iran developing nuclear weapons are not a complicated issue and can be resolved given Tehran's opposition to weapons of mass destruction, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said. "If the main concern is that Iran should not pursue nuclear weapons, this is achievable and not a complicated issue. Iran’s position is clear: it is a member of the Non Proliferation Treaty, and the Supreme Leader’s fatwa has already clarified our stance [against weapons of mass destruction]," Araqchi said (Read more at Reuters)
Israel's former public security minister and far-right politician Itamar Ben Gvir said in a post on X that "encouraging" Gazans to migrate from the enclave was the only correct strategy at the end of the war in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. He urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to adopt that policy "immediately". (Read more at AOL)
Russia’s RIA Novosti cited a senior Hamas official as saying, "In the past, we did not object to contact with the administration of (former US president Joe) Biden, Trump or any other US administration, and we are open to talks with all international parties." (Read more at Staits Times)
Hamas calls Trump’s idea a ‘recipe for generating chaos’ and says the people of Gaza will not allow their displacement. Secretary-General Hussein al-Sheikh said the PLO rejects all calls for the displacement of the Palestinian people from their homeland. While Trump claimed that Riyadh was not demanding a Palestinian homeland, Saudi Arabia said it would not normalise ties with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state. “He’s totally lost it,” Murphy, a Democrat, said on X. “A US invasion of Gaza would lead to the slaughter of thousands of US troops and decades of war in the Middle East. It’s like a bad, sick joke.” “Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people, not the United States, and President Trump’s call to expel Palestinians from their land is an absolute non-starter,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations said (Read more at Aljazeera and France 24).
Australia's prime minister restated Australia's "longstanding" support for a two-state solution but repeatedly refused to offer a view on Mr Trump's remarks. "I'm not going to, as Australia's prime minister, give a daily commentary on statements by the US president. My job is to support Australia's position," he told reporters at Parliament House on Wednesday (Read more at ABC News).
"Gaza MUST BE FREE from Hamas. As @POTUS shared today, the United States stands ready to lead and Make Gaza Beautiful Again," Rubio said on X. "Our pursuit is one of lasting peace in the region for all people." While Trump had floated suggestions of Palestinian displacement since Jan. 25, statements issued since by Rubio's State Department on its websites after the top U.S. diplomat's subsequent calls with regional leaders did not explicitly mention Trump's suggestion (Read more at AOL).
President Donald Trump’s moves to freeze spending on foreign aid and overhaul, maybe even end, the U.S. Agency for International Development has been lauded in Iranian state media. The reports say the decisions will halt funding for opponents of the country’s Shiite theocracy — pro-democracy activists and others supported through programs as part of the U.S. government’s efforts to help democracy worldwide (Read more at AP).
President Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be permanently resettled outside the war-torn territory and proposed the U.S. take “ownership” in redeveloping the area into “the Riviera of the Middle East.” (Read more at AP)
Some of the strongest criticism came from Rand Paul, the Kentucky senator who said “The pursuit for peace should be that of the Israelis and the Palestinians. I thought we voted for America First,” (Read more at Guardian)
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday Israel would hand over Gaza to the United States after fighting was over and the enclave's population was already resettled elsewhere, which he said meant no U.S. troops would be needed on the ground. (Read more at USNews)
Johnson called Trump's proposal "a bold move – certainly far bolder than what's been done before" and said "we'll stand with the president on his initiative." He added, "I think you have to do something to eradicate the threat to Israel. Here's the problem. If you leave Gaza in its current form, there's always a risk of another October seventh" (Read more at NPR)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the Republican's clear plan to help rebuild the war-torn strip saying it will "change history". He also said how America "will do a job with it" if they own the Gaza Strip and take full responsibility for dismantling it safely after years of torment for the people of Palestine (The U.S. Sun).
“I don’t think people should be going back to Gaza,” he added. “Gaza is not a place for people to be living, and the only reason they want to go back, and I believe this strongly, is because they have no alternative. … If they had an alternative, they’d much rather not go back to Gaza and live in a beautiful alternative that’s safe.” (Read more at The Hill)
As he signed the memo, Trump described it as very tough and said he was torn on whether to make the move. He said he was open to a deal with Iran and expressed a willingness to talk to the Iranian leader (Read more at Armen Press).
Five Arab foreign ministers and a senior Palestinian official sent a joint letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio opposing plans to displace Palestinians from Gaza, instead demanding Palestinians be involved in the reconstruction process. Trump's repeated comments about moving Palestinians from Gaza alarmed many Arab countries who see that as a threat to the stability of Egypt and Jordan (Read more at Axios).
The United Nations and the UNRWA have not commented on the development, however, the decision is poised to coincide with the visit of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the US who has earlier accused UNRWA of running anti-Israel incitement and its staff of being “involved in terrorist activities against Israel.” (Read more at Indian Express)
The US Justice Department formed a multi-agency task force on Feb 3 to fight anti-Semitism, with its first priority “rooting out” anti-Semitic harassment in schools and universities. The Department of Education said it was investigating five universities for allegations of anti-Semitic harassment (Read more at Strait Times).
Sharaa, declared Syria’s interim head of state last week, also noted that US troops were in Syria without government approval, adding that any such presence should be agreed with the state. He described US sanctions still imposed on Syria as “the gravest risk” to the country. “I believe that President Trump seeks peace in the area, and it is a top priority to lift the sanctions. The United States of America does not have any interest in maintaining the suffering of the Syrian people,” Sharaa said (Read more at Middle East Monitor).
The planned weapons sales include 4,700 1,000-pound bombs, worth more than $700 million, and armored bulldozers built by Caterpillar, worth more than $300 million (Read more at MSN).
During his trip, Netanyahu is expected to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Gaza, hostages held by Hamas, and the confrontation with Iran and its regional allies (Read more at MSN).
But some Russian diplomats and intelligence officials reportedly oppose holding the summit there due to the countries’ close ties with the U.S. military and intelligence services. While Saudi Arabia and the UAE have not joined Western sanctions or criticized Russia’s invasion, their leaders have maintained diplomatic ties with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Neither country is a member of the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for Putin in 2023 over alleged war crimes. Putin visited both Saudi Arabia and the UAE later that year. Russia has already ruled out NATO member Turkey as a potential summit venue, citing its role in failed peace talks held in Istanbul in March 2022 (Read more at Moscow Times).
The decision comes as negotiations on the second phase of the deal set to begin Monday. Additionally, Netanyahu reportedly canceled a planned meeting with Mossad chief David Barnea, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and other senior negotiators, instead sending his military secretary, Roman Gofman, to inform them of the delay (Read more at Anadolu Agency).
Jordan’s King Abdullah II will meet with US President Donald Trump on February 11 at the White House. The visit comes as Trump’s controversial call for the relocation of Palestinians from Gaza to Jordan and Egypt continues to face strong opposition across the region. Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi reaffirmed Amman’s opposition to any displacement of Palestinians, saying on January 26 that the country’s position remains “firm and unwavering.” (Read more at Media Line)
The release includes U.S. and Israeli dual citizen Keith Siegel, 65, Yarden Bibas, 35, and Ofer Kalderon, 54. Kalderon also holds French citizenship. The three men were handed over Saturday morning to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza, who transferred them to Israeli troops for the drive across the border into Israel. Bibas and Kalderon were handed over in Khan Younis, in Gaza's south; Seigel in Gaza City in the enclave's north (Read more at NPR).
Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias said that in an interview with Fox News on Friday, warning of Turkey’s expansionist ambitions. Speaking to Caitlin McFall of Fox News, Dendias voiced concerns over Turkey’s geopolitical actions in the Mediterranean, Aegean and Black seas, suggesting that some in Turkey aspire to restore Ottoman-era influence over parts of Greece, Syria, Iraq, Iran and the Caucasus. He described this as a challenge to NATO stability and international law (Read more at Turkish Minute).
Foreign ministers and officials from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League said Trump’s proposed move would threaten stability in the region, spread conflict and undermine prospects for peace (Read more at Aljazeera).
Sisi expressed confidence that Trump could bring peace to the region. He invited Trump to visit Egypt. Egypt said the two leaders had a positive dialogue that stressed the importance of fully implementing the first and second phases of the ceasefire. The White House statement on the call did not refer to the ceasefire (Read more at Global South World).
Members of the the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence quizzed the former four-term Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii about her week-long, 2017 trip to Syria and Lebanon, as she seeks to become U.S. director of national intelligence. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) asked Gabbard why she met with Syrian Grand Mufti Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun, who threatened the United States and Europe with suicide bombers in 2011 if they attacked Syria or Lebanon. Gabbard said she was unaware of the grand mufti’s threat until Heinrich asked her about it on Thursday. “I made it a point to meet with different religious leaders, both Muslim leaders as well as various Christian and Catholic leaders who were there in the region,” Gabbard testified. “I did that both in Syria and in Lebanon to hear from them about what their concerns or thoughts were with regard to the war that was being raged at the time.” (Read more at JNS)
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) Forces conducted a precision airstrike in Northwest Syria targeting and killing Muhammad Salah al-Za’bir, a senior operative in the terrorist organization Hurras al-Din (HaD), an Al-Qaeda affiliate (Read more at Centcom).
The unusually direct US intervention in Lebanon's sectarian politics appears aimed at capitalizing on shifts in the power balance in Lebanon and the wider Middle East. U.S. officials have passed on messages to Salam and to Lebanese President Joseph Aoun - who enjoyed U.S. support as army commander and was elected president in early January - that Hezbollah should not be included in the next cabinet (Read more at Daily Observer).
Several parties called for the demonstration, most notably the Union of Arab Tribes, headed by Egyptian businessman Ibrahim al-Organi, who is reportedly close to Egyptian intelligence services (Read more at New Arab).
Iran will respond immediately and decisively if its nuclear sites are attacked, which would lead to an “all-out war in the region”, Tehran’s Foreign Minister said. Araqchi suggested that the United States could free blocked Iranian funds as a first confidence-building step between the two hostile countries (Read more at Middle East Monitor).
New information suggests the money went to Mozambique's Gaza Province. On his second day in office, Trump signed an executive order suspending all foreign aid programmes, slamming the previous Biden administration for funding what he claimed was unnecessary assistance (Read more at New Arab).
Trump has conditioned the pullout on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan restoring ties with Israel. Turkey has long opposed the US military presence in Syria due to Washington’s support for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The US has recently doubled its troop presence in Syria, increasing the numbers from 900 to around 2,000, following the December 8 ousting of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (Read more at Turkish Minute).
The PA’s plan envisions the Gaza Strip ruled by a committee whose majority is from outside of the enclave. The plan was presented on Tuesday to Steve Witkoff during a meeting in Riyadh by Hussein al-Sheikh, a senior Palestinian official who has been floated as a successor to octogenarian Palestinian President Mohammad Abbas (Read more at Middle East Eye).
The Trump administration wants to see the ceasefire continue and Gaza stabilized so it can move forward with its ambitious plans for the Middle East, which include getting a peace agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel and trying to get a deal with Iran on its nuclear program (Read more at Axios).
Currently, UNRWA does not receive any aid from the United States, so there is no direct impact from the recent decisions concerning the United Nations system for UNRWA. U.S. aid to UNRWA was suspended last year and until March 2025, following an agreement between U.S. lawmakers. This decision follows Israel's accusation that 12 of the 13,000 UNRWA employees in the Gaza Strip participated in the deadly attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 (Read more at LOrient Today).
In an executive order signed on Wednesday, Trump said the federal government would use “all available and appropriate legal tools” to prosecute and remove perpetrators of “unlawful anti-Semitic harassment and violence”. “Jewish students have faced an unrelenting barrage of discrimination; denial of access to campus common areas and facilities, including libraries and classrooms; and intimidation, harassment, and physical threats and assault,” Trump’s order said. Under US immigration law, foreign nationals can be deemed “inadmissible aliens” under a range of scenarios apart from being convicted of a crime (Read more at Aljazeera).
Israeli news organizations reported that the country's military took Witkoff to inspect the Netzarim Corridor, which it created during the war to split the Gaza Strip in two (Read more at NPR).
Trump on Saturday floated a plan to "clean out" Gaza, where Israel's war has killed tens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis, in comments that echoed long-standing Palestinian fears of being permanently driven from their homes. The suggestion by Trump was not mentioned in the U.S. State Department statement released on Tuesday after the call between Rubio and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty (Read more at AOL).
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to become the first foreign leader to meet with President Donald Trump during his second term. “I look forward to discussing how we can bring peace to Israel and its neighbors, and efforts to counter our shared adversaries,” Trump wrote in a letter to Netanyahu (Read more at NBC News).
the Trump administration floated a similar withdrawal plan in 2018-2019, though it did not fully materialize. Observers note that the security landscape in Syria has changed since that time, with regime change in Syria eliminating the Russian and Iranian presence. A US departure from eastern Syria could reshape alliances, affect Kurdish-held areas and open the door for possible moves by Turkish-backed forces (Read more at Turkish Minute).
The Democratic former US senator Bob Menendez was sentenced in federal court on Wednesday to 11 years in prison over his 2024 conviction for taking bribes, including receiving gold bars in exchange for doing favors for Egypt and for New Jersey businessmen (Read more at Guardian).
It also includes related elements of logistics and program support for an estimated cost of $625 million. The Government of Egypt has requested to buy equipment and services including four (4) Component Based Total Ship System, 21st Century (COMBATSS-21) combat management systems to modernize its four fast missile craft (FMC) (Read more at Global Defense Aerospace Post).
The U.S. military transferred around 90 Patriot air defense interceptors from storage in Israel to Poland this week in order to deliver them to Ukraine. This is the most significant delivery of weapons from Israel to Ukraine since the Russian invasion almost three years ago (Read more at Axios).
Democrats in the United States Senate have blocked the passage of a bill. The vote on Tuesday saw the bill gain 54 votes in favour and 45 opposed, falling short of the 60 votes needed to advance to a final vote. But many of the Democrats who voted against the measure still accused the court of taking unfair actions against Israel by issuing warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant (Read more at Aljazeera).
The US envoy to the UN has said that they support Israel’s “sovereign decision” to shutter UNRWA in Jerusalem and that the agency is “exaggerating” the impact of an Israeli ban that experts and UN officials have said would have catastrophic impacts on humanitarian support for Palestinians (Source: MTV).
Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, took part in a phone call on Tuesday with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss the continuation of their joint mediation efforts in Gaza, the Qatari foreign ministry said. The men expressed hope that a ceasefire deal reaches its second phase and turns into a permanent ceasefire (Read more at Reuters).
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday he had had a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss bilateral matters. "We also discussed maintaining close contact with partners, particularly the United States and President Trump," he said on X (Source: Yahoo News).
“The Secretary and King Abdullah discussed implementation of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, the release of hostages, and creating a pathway for security and stability in the region,” the State Department said in a statement. Trump’s weekend remarks were not mentioned in the statement. “Secretary Rubio thanked Jordan for supporting the ceasefire through its integral role in providing humanitarian assistance through the Jordan Corridor,” the State Department added (Read more at Middle East Monitor).
He called it "ethnic cleansing" and a "war crime" and called on others to censure Trump for making the suggestion. Trump's comments received little outrage from leading progressives and puzzled some of his Republican allies (Read more at Middle East Eye).
The Harvard Management Company reinvested $150 million in Booking Holdings Inc., a company under fire for its operation in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. In 2018, Human Rights Watch found that Booking.com connects travelers to rental properties in the Palestinian territories and alleged the company is complicit in human rights abuses against Palestinians. The student governments of at least three graduate schools — Harvard Law School, Harvard Divinity School, and the Harvard Graduate School of Design — passed resolutions urging the HMC to divest from institutions and companies that “aid the ongoing illegal occupation of Palestine.” (Read more at Crimson)
Brian Hughes, the spokesman for the National Security Council of the White House, said on Friday that a “short, temporary ceasefire extension” was “urgently needed.” “The government of Lebanon, the government of Israel and the government of the United States will also begin negotiations for the return of Lebanese prisoners captured after Oct. 7, 2023,” the White House stated (Read more at JNS).
Speaking at a press briefing in Berlin, Foreign Ministry spokesman Christian Wagner said that Germany maintains its commitment to the international consensus regarding Gaza's status. “There is a common position shared by the EU, our Arab partners and the United Nations, which is very clear: The Palestinian population cannot be expelled from Gaza, and Gaza must not be permanently occupied or resettled by Israel,” he said (Read more at Anadolu Ajansı).
“Good place, good leader, too,” Trump said during a meeting with ambassadorial nominees. Trump’s comments reinforced investor expectations that Ankara would face little international political pressure in response to the crackdown. The Turkish lira, which plunged following İmamoğlu’s detention, was trading largely unchanged early Wednesday, as markets showed signs of stabilizing (Read more at Turkish Minute).
A Pentagon readout states that the two men “discussed the importance of advancing mutual security interests and priorities, especially in the face of persistent threats.” Hegseth stressed that the United States “is fully committed, under President Trump’s leadership, to ensuring that Israel has the capabilities it needs to defend itself. “ (Read more at JNS)
“Thank you President Trump for keeping your promise to give Israel the tools it needs to defend itself, to confront our common enemies and to secure a future of peace and prosperity,” the premier said in a video message (Read more at JNS).
“We released them. We released them today. And they’ll have them. They paid for them and they’ve been waiting for them for a long time. They’ve been in storage,” Trump told reporters (Read more at Guardian).
Washington “celebrates the release of the four Israeli hostages held in captivity for 477 days. It is critical that the ceasefire implementation continues and that all of the hostages are freed from Hamas captivity and safely returned to their families,” according to a statement from the State Department (Read more at JNS).
"I'd like Egypt to take people," Trump said. "You're talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say, 'You know, it's over.'" Trump said he complimented Jordan for having successfully accepted Palestinian refugees and that he told the king, "I'd love for you to take on more, cause I'm looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now, and it's a mess. It's a real mess." (Read more at NPR)
The Lockheed Martin company will integrate mission systems and equipment designed according to IAF specifications and build a separate production line exclusively for modifying each aircraft. Sikorsky is currently assembling the CH-53K fleet at its Stratford, Connecticut, headquarters as part of Israel’s $2-billion foreign military sales order from the US in 2021 to replace its CH-53 Yas’ur helicopters, which have been operational since 1969 (Read more at Defense Post).
The intelligence indicates a similar number of Hamas fighters have been killed during that period, the sources said. The latest official U.S. estimates have not been previously reported (Read more at AOL).
Two US lawmakers said Friday that the United Arab Emirates has violated its promises and kept arming Sudan's Rapid Support Forces, which Washington has accused of genocide. The two Democrats last month agreed to lift objections to a $1.2 billion arms sale to the UAE by the then administration of fellow Democrat Joe Biden after the White House said the Gulf power assured it was "not now transferring any weapons" to the paramilitary group (Read more at Barrons).
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Friday from Damascus that his country was engaged in an active dialogue with Europe and the U.S. to help lift economic sanctions imposed on Syria (Source: Yahoo News).
The Biden administration alienated traditional Middle Eastern allies like Egypt and Saudi Arabia by punishing them for human rights concerns. The Trump team seems to be signaling a return to friendlier ties. Egypt has been a bit of a spoiler recently, turning a blind eye to Hamas smuggling that helped fortify the terrorist group in Gaza. Perhaps the new administration’s carrot and stick approach will yield positive results (Read more at JNS).
In a statement, National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said President Donald Trump is committed to ensuring Israeli citizens can safely return to their homes in northern Israel, and also supported Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and the new Lebanese government. "All parties share the goal of ensuring Hezbollah does not have the ability to threaten the Lebanese people or their neighbors," said Hughes (Read more at Anadolu Ajansı).
But he appeared to suggest that this was a possibility if the Islamic Republic does not accept a deal on its nuclear program. “We’ll have to see. I’m going to be meeting with various people over the next couple of days. Hopefully, that can be worked out without having to worry about it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, when asked about the possibility of an Israeli strike (Read more at JNS).
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, said that the move, which will impose harsher economic penalties than the Biden administration had applied to the Houthis, was “an excuse to apply anti-human sanctions against the Yemeni people” (Read more at Middle East Monitor).
Judicial sources and lawmakers confirmed that those convicted of attacks against American forces in Iraq could benefit from the law. Sunni blocs in the Iraqi parliament have been pushing for the law (Read more at Arabnews).
On his first day in office this week, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order which reinstated an earlier executive order that could serve as a legal basis for future sanctions against the ICC and its personnel. No specific sanctions have been announced yet. In a statement, the ICC’s governing body said that sanctions against the Court and its personnel – and anyone assisting them – could severely hamper ongoing investigations (Read more at Middle East Monitor).
The stakes for Netanyahu are high -- keeping his coalition government on the one hand and on the other, satisfying U.S. President Donald Trump who wants to use the ceasefire momentum to expand Israel's diplomatic ties in the Middle East (Read more at MSN).
The commitment comes from President Donald Trump’s first call with a foreign leader in his second term. “I’ll be asking the crown prince, who’s a fantastic guy, to round it out to around one trillion,” Trump said. “And I think they’ll do that because we’ve been very good to them.” (Read more at SAN)
Rubio underscored that “maintaining the United States’ steadfast support for Israel is a top priority for Trump,” the State Department said in a statement. The Secretary also conveyed that he looks forward to addressing the threats posed by Iran and pursuing opportunities for peace,” the State Department said (Read more at The Print).
The Biden administration revoked the designation on 16 February 2021. “It is the policy of the United States to cooperate with its regional partners to eliminate Ansar Allah’s capabilities and operations, deprive it of resources, and thereby end its attacks on US personnel and civilians, US partners, and maritime shipping in the Red Sea,” said the White House statement (Read more at Middle East Monitor).
The contractors are poised to help secure a key zone that splits Gaza in two and is known as the Netzarim corridor. The contractors are intended to screen vehicles ferrying Palestinians from the enclave’s south for weapons (Read more at New York Times).
"We did not know about October 7... We were supposed to have a meeting with the Americans on JCPOA renewal on October 9, which was undermined and destroyed by this operation," Zarif said at the World Economic Forum in Davos (Read more at Barrons).
'I'm going to be a part of an inspection team at the Netzarim corridor, and also at the Philadelphia corridor,' Steve Witkoff says. The team’s role is to verify that those entering the areas are not armed and pose no threat (Read more at Anadolu Ajansı).
A senior Hamas official has told Newsweek that the Palestinian movement was surprisingly encouraged by the comments made by President Donald Trump during his inaugural speech and expressed hope he would commit to lasting peace and stability in the Gaza Strip. "It is striking that Israel was not mentioned in the president's inauguration speech, which is unusual, and that the president does not want wars and seeks to achieve peace," Hamas Political Bureau member and spokesperson Basem Naim said (Read more at Newsweek).
Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud also said in Davos that he hoped President Trump's approach to Iran would be met with a willingness by Tehran to positively engage with the U.S. administration and address the issue of its nuclear programme (Read more at USNews).
US President Donald Trump has rescinded sanctions on far-right Israeli settler groups and people accused of being involved in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, the new White House administration said (Read more at The National).
A Muslim imam from Dearborn, Michigan, who was scheduled to deliver a prayer at President Donald Trump’s inauguration has been pulled out of the event without explanation, following criticism from at least one American Jewish group (Read more at Tempo).
U.S. President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden have provided Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with an official missive confirming that “the State of Israel will be able to return to the war on day 43” if talks fail during the 42-day first phase of the agreement, Smotrich said, speaking at a meeting of his Religious Zionism Party in the Knesset in Jerusalem (Read more at JNS).
“We are confident that he is the leader to bring peace to the Middle East and restore stability to the region,” Ahmed Al-Sharaa said (Read more at Arabnews).
The vice president of Yemen's U.N.-recognised government on Tuesday welcomed Donald Trump's return as U.S. president, saying it was a decisive turning point to curb the Iran-backed Houthis, who he said threaten regional stability and maritime security. Aidarous al-Zubaidi told Reuters that Trump's strong leadership and willingness to employ military strength were in sharp contrast to the Biden administration, which he said had allowed the Houthis to consolidate power, bolster their military capabilities and extend their reach beyond Yemen (Read more at MSN).
The pro-settler Smotrich, in a message to Trump on Tuesday, called the move an “expression of your deep connection to the Jewish people and our historical right to our land.” (Read more at Arabnews)
“It’s not our war. It is their war. I am not confident. But I think they’re very weakened on the other side,” he said in response to a question in the Oval Office while signing orders in the first hours of his presidency. Asked about the future governance of the Gaza Strip, the president said he believed “you certainly can’t have the people that were there,” in an apparent reference to the Iranian-backed Hamas terror organization. “Most of them are dead, by the way, right?” continued Trump. “But they didn’t exactly run it well. Run viciously and badly. You can’t have that.” (Read more at New York Post)
“This week, I met with an Israeli hostage family who had been released from Gaza,” tweeted Cruz. “The beautiful children drew pictures for President Trump, and they asked me to deliver them.” (Read more at JNS)
B’nai B’rith International cited collaborating on “combating antisemitism, safeguarding Jewish communities, ensuring Israel’s security, strengthening the vital U.S.-Israel alliance and other key policy priorities.” AIPAC stated that it looks forward to working with Trump to “strengthen and expand the U.S.-Israel relationship.” The Republican Jewish Coalition wrote that “America’s new Golden Age begins now. America is back.” (Read more at JNS)
Some 25% of Democrats and 19% of Republicans favor Islamists over the Jewish state and 82% back the ceasefire. The 25-34 age group showed the highest support for Hamas, with nearly a third favouring the organisation over Israel (Read more at Middle East Eye).
A large delegation representing the Yesha Council has been invited to attend Trump's inauguration. Moreover, the Yesha Council umbrella group of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria launched a campaign in Times Square on Sunday to celebrate President-elect Donald Trump’s support of the biblical heartland (Read more at JNS).
Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of Israel's strongest allies, says Saudi Arabia and the UAE "want Hamas gone at least as much as you do." In response to a question about what course Trump should take regarding Iran, Graham was unequivocal. “While I don’t speak for the administration, I believe we face an unprecedented opportunity to diminish Iran’s power in a way I’ve never witnessed before,” he said. “Israel and Trump’s America must act decisively to eliminate Iran’s nuclear facilities permanently.” (Read more at JNS)
Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, prior to attending President Donald Trump’s inauguration “We are very excited today ... He’s a friend of Israel.” The members of the Trump administration with whom Danon met told him that “we are here to support Israel. Be strong.” Danon thinks that the new White House will focus largely on domestic issues in its opening days and weeks. But he believes that Trump understands what’s happening in Israel’s neighborhood and will be responsive (Read more at JNS).
President Biden's decision to halt the delivery of one shipment of 2,000-pound bombs last May triggered one of the biggest crises the U.S-Israel relationship has faced during the 15-month war in Gaza. Israel expects President Trump to lift the Biden administration's hold on the supply of 2,000-pound bombs in his first days in office, outgoing Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Mike Herzog said (Read more at Axios).
As part of ceasefire agreement, the U.S. began to partially lift the arms embargo it had imposed on Israel; As part of this, 70 D9 bulldozers will leave the United States for Israel in the coming days. These heavy engineering tools play a critical role on the battlefield, as they can open traffic routes, pave roads for the fighting forces, and expose explosives (Read more at JFeed).
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, plans to be a near-constant presence in the region in an attempt to prevent the deal from unraveling. For now, a top concern for Trump’s envoy is a rogue incident sparked by inevitable day-to-day interfacing between Israelis and Palestinians on the ground in and near Gaza, even given the ceasefire agreement (Read more at NBCNews).
The State Department said in a statement that it had convened a “virtual donors meeting” on Thursday “with partners and allies to discuss critical security assistance needed for Lebanon to fully implement the cessation of hostilities.” It said the new assistance to Beirut would support both the country’s armed forces and internal security forces “as they work to assert Lebanese sovereignty across the country.” Lebanon has struggled for years to finance its public institutions including the army following a 2019 economic crisis (Read more at Defense Post).
He also added that if Hamas rejects the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, the United States will support Israel "in what it has to do." (Read more at RBC-Ukraine)
He said, “There’s a one in trillion chance you’ll degrade the Iranian nuclear program through diplomacy...There’s a 90% chance you’ll degrade it through military action by Israel, supported by the United States. So the next topic I will be engaging in with President Trump is to take this moment in time to decimate the Iran nuclear program because they’re so exposed.” (Read more at Politico)
Palestinian Americans across the United States, including Rep. Rashida Tlaib, celebrated a ceasefire between Hamas and Israeli fighters in Gaza that went into effect Sunday. Tlaib, the only Palestinian American serving in the U.S. Congress, made a post on Sunday condemning the "genocide" in Gaza and noting that she voted against banning TikTok, a platform where users had shared strong support for Palestinians that went dark Sunday (Read more at Yahoo News).
Both President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump have given Israel full backing to resume the war in Gaza if Israel concludes that talks with Hamas on the second phase of the ceasefire agreement prove “futile,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday night. “As soon as he was elected, President Trump joined the mission of freeing the hostages. He talked to me on Wednesday night. He praised the agreement and rightly emphasized that the first step of the agreement is a temporary ceasefire. This is what he said—‘a temporary ceasefire,’” the prime minister continued (Read more at JNS).
The mother of American journalist Austin Tice, who was taken captive during a reporting trip to Syria in August 2012, arrived in Damascus on Saturday to step up the search for her son and said she hopes she can take him home with her (Read more at Arabnews).
Several journalists who are outspoken critics of American support for Israel loudly lambasted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken over the war in Gaza on Jan 16, repeatedly interrupting his final press conference as he sought to defend his handling of the 15-month-old conflict (Read more at Strait Times).
The U.S. Education Department on Thursday noted concerns about discrimination against Muslim, Arab and Palestinian students at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia and reached a settlement with the institution to resolve the issue. The university agreed to revise its nondiscrimination policies and procedures, including pertaining to protests and a definition of harassment that includes harassment based on actual or perceived shared ancestry (Read more at AOL).
Mr. Biden spoke with the MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell in his last television interview while in office and said, in the days after the war in Gaza began, He pushed Netanyahu to prevent civilian deaths during the Gaza war. He also defended his steadfast support for Israel (Read more at New York Times).
President-elect eyes Joe Kent, a right-wing former congressional candidate, to head the country's top counterterror agency. Kent has been publicly vocal about his views on foreign policy regarding the Middle East and has called on the US to withdraw its forces from the region. "We've gotta get serious, and we've gotta just get our troops out of there," Kent said in a podcast in response to a question about an attack on US forces at a base in Jordan (Read more at Middle East Eye).
Biden’s last day as president, on 19 January, is also the first day of the planned Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal that was reportedly pushed to the finish line by the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump. This has raised more significant criticism of Biden’s role in Israel’s bombing campaign on Gaza, with the US providing $17.9bn in military aid since 7 October 2023 (Read more at Middle East Eye).
Washington announced the measures just a week after imposing sanctions on Burhan’s rival in the two-year-old civil war, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Two sources with knowledge of the action told Reuters one aim of Thursday’s sanctions was to show that Washington was not picking sides. Speaking earlier on Thursday, Burhan was defiant about the prospect that he might be targeted. Washington also issued sanctions over the supply of weapons to the army, targeting a Sudanese-Ukrainian national as well as a Hong Kong-based company (Read more at NBCNews).
The Gaza Strip ceasefire should begin on Sunday (Jan 19) as planned, despite the need for negotiators to tie up a "loose end" at the last minute, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said (Read more at CNA).
The South Carolina Republican added that “Israel has the right under this deal, as I understand it, to go back in if they need to.” “There’s no such thing as a perfect deal,” Graham said (Read more at JNS).
He has pleaded guilty to leaking secret documents about Israel’s plans to strike Iran last year during a period of escalating regional tensions linked to Israel’s war on Gaza and Lebanon. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 15 and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison (Read more at Aljazeera).
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is sanctioning Yemen-based Yemen Kuwait Bank for Trade and Investment Y.S.C (Yemen Kuwait Bank) for its financial support to Ansarallah, commonly known as the Houthis. The designation builds on previous Treasury sanctions that have targeted Houthi-affiliated exchange houses and international finance networks (Read more at U.S. Department of the Treasury).
Sala, 29, a freelance reporter for Il Foglio newspaper and a podcaster at Chora News, returned to Italy last week after being released by Iran following her arrest in Tehran on December 19 (Read more at ANSA).
The U.S. Department of Justice vigorously opposed at a French court hearing in December the release of a Lebanese militant jailed for attacks on American and Israeli diplomats in France more than 40 years ago, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The former head of the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Brigade (LARB), Georges Ibrahim Abdallah was sentenced to life in 1987 for his role in the 1982 murders in Paris of U.S. military attache Charles Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov, and the attempted murder of U.S. Consul General Robert Homme in Strasbourg in 1984 (Read more at USNews).
There has been much shock and awe among many Arabs in recent weeks at the brutal repressive campaign dubbed "The Protection of the Homeland" that the Palestinian Authority (PA) has launched against Palestinian resisters to the Israeli occupation in the West Bank. The campaign's ultimate failure led the Israelis to intervene again this week by bombing the Jenin refugee camp, killing around 12 Palestinians (Read more at Middle East Eye).
In the wake of November’s election, the Trump and Biden teams began working together. “I think a lot of progress has been made. The fact that you have an outgoing and an incoming administration that have worked hand in hand to make the case for urgency, I think, has been noticed by all parties,” the ambassador said (Read more at The Hill).
Days before he handed over his duty to Donald Trump, U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday issued a directive to boost his country's aid to Greek Cypriots by issuing a memorandum that makes the southern side eligible to receive American defense articles, military sales and training (Read more at Daily Sabah).
Trump had dispatched his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, to join the negotiations in Doha, and Witkoff was there for the last 96 hours of talks leading up to the deal. A senior Biden administration official, in a briefing with reporters, credited Witkoff with helping deliver the deal, working alongside Biden's envoy, Brett McGurk, who has been in Doha since 5 Jan (Read more at Business Standard).
Joe Biden will hand over to Trump. U.S. State Department officials have identified hundreds of potential incidents of civilian harm during Israel's military operations in Gaza involving U.S.-furnished weapons, but have not taken further action on them. the State Department spokesperson said, "But I can tell you that the obligation that the State Department has to investigate potential violations of international humanitarian law through the use of U.S. weapons are not obligations that expire on Jan. 20th. They are obligations that carry over from this administration into the next administration." (Read more at USNews)
Chuck Schumer: “It couldn’t have happened without steadfast diplomacy and until the potency of Hamas was radically reduced.” John Barrasso: “I think that the world is seeing Donald Trump coming into power in the United States, and we're seeing changes around the world to reflect a new strength in America." Hakeem Jeffries: “This long-overdue agreement will secure the release of many of those hostages, set the stage for others to come home.” Bernie Sanders: “Both sides must honor the deal and implement it as quickly as possible… The United Nations and other aid organizations must finally be allowed unfettered access to all areas of the Gaza.” Claudia Tenney: "After Biden's repeated failure to free the Israeli & American hostages being held by Hamas, President Trump has already negotiated a deal to release the hostages, & he hasn't even been sworn in yet. The world is a safer place with President Trump as America's Leader." (Read more at USNews)
Biden said. “I’ve worked on foreign policy for decades. This was one of the toughest negotiations I’ve ever experienced. We reached this point because to the pressure Israel built on Hamas, backed by the United States.” (Read more at The Hill)
Trump, who repeatedly threatened there would be "hell to pay" if hostages were not released ahead of his Jan. 20 inauguration, said he was "thrilled American and Israeli hostages will be returning home". "With this deal in place, my National Security team, through the efforts of Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, will continue to work closely with Israel and our Allies to make sure Gaza NEVER again becomes a terrorist safe haven," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform (Read more at AOL).
Asked whether Iran is willing to promise that there will be no attempt on Trump’s life, Pezeshkian said, “We have never attempted this to begin with, and we never will.” (Read more at NBC News).
U.S. prosecutors argued on Tuesday that an engineer could flee to Iran if he was granted bail while awaiting trial on charges related to a deadly drone attack on a U.S. military base in Jordan carried out last year by Iran-backed militants (Read more at MSN).
Member of the Knesset Benny Gantz, the former Israeli military chief of staff, and former defense minister praised President-elect Trump’s strategic approach to global challenges, expressing confidence in his leadership. “Now, President Trump has a very full metastrategic plate … but I know he will succeed. Why? Because he naturally differs between what’s good and what’s bad and he will choose the good.” (Read more at Media Line)
Speaking at the Atlantic Council in Washington in his final days as the U.S. top diplomat, Blinken said Washington envisioned a reformed Palestinian Authority leading Gaza and inviting international partners to help establish and run an interim administration for the enclave. A security force would be formed from forces from partner nations and vetted Palestinian personnel (Read more at AOL).
Outgoing ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew says US public's pro-Israel views could change in coming years, with Israel facing a 'generational' problem. American public opinion “is still largely pro-Israel” but that could shift in the next decades as a result of the war in Gaza (Read more at Middle East Eye).
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Israel 'must accept' Gaza Strip and West Bank united under Palestinian Authority. Blinken’s remarks provide a rare window into US intelligence assessments of Hamas’s strength, which is likely to ruffle Israel’s positioning after a potential ceasefire, given its stated objective of “total victory and the eradication of Hamas” (Read more at Middle East Eye).
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and US President Joe Biden emphasized Tuesday the importance of overcoming obstacles and showing flexibility to secure a cease-fire agreement in Gaza. The remarks were made during a phone call between the two leaders (Read more at Anadolu Ajansı).
The head of an American organisation focused on hostage releases said on Monday he believes U.S. journalist Austin Tice was still being held in Syria by people loyal to toppled leader Bashar al-Assad in order to do an exchange or a deal (Read more at Reuters).
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said there’s a “distinct possibility” that Israel and Hamas will be able to reach a ceasefire deal before President Joe Biden leaves office in a week. “The pressure is building for Hamas to come to yes,” (Watch more at Bloomberg).
Netanyahu updated Biden on progress in the talks and on the mandate he has given his top-level security delegation now in Doha in order to advance a hostage deal. During their call, Netanyahu also thanked Biden for his lifelong support of Israel and "the extraordinary support from the United States for Israel’s security and national defense" (Read more at Reuters).
The world must return to a policy of "maximum pressure" against Iran to turn it into a more democratic country, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's incoming Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg told an Iranian opposition event in Paris on Saturday (Read more at MSN).
“We are very hopeful that the incoming [U.S.] administration will put an end to the lack of accountability and lawlessness that the Iraqi government is allowed to get away with,” Emma Tsurkov told JNS on Saturday. Emma’s sister Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton University researcher, has been held captive in Iraq by Shi’ite militia Kata’ib Hezbollah since 2023 (Read more at JNS).
A senior Syrian Kurdish official indicated that talks are underway on the possibility of US and French troops securing a border area in northern Syria. Ankara has warned it will carry out a cross-border offensive in northeast Syria against the Kurdish YPG militia if the group does not comply with Turkish demands (Read more at Atalayar).
The war games take place as Iranian leaders face the risk that Trump could empower Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to attack Iran's nuclear sites, while further tightening U.S. sanctions on its oil industry through his "maximum pressure" policy (Read more at Reuters).
He met with President-elect Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, in what was described as a “surprise visit” to discuss the multilateral negotiations with Hamas for the release of Israeli hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza. Channel 12 cited a “senior Israeli” saying that Trump has been personally involved in the matter over the last couple of days, expressing his desire to urgently cement a deal before he enters office on Jan. 20 (Read more at JNS).
Turkey's chief diplomat has ruled out French military support in Syria after accusing France of ignoring Ankara’s security needs, saying it preferred partnering with the United States to diffuse Kurdish tensions in the country’s northeast (Read more at France 24).
But it is not enough to seal a deal. "We're making some real progress," Biden told reporters at the White House. "I'm still hopeful that we'll be able to have a prisoner exchange," he said, adding Hamas was getting in the way of that. The president said he met with negotiators. a Palestinian official close to the mediation effort said the absence of a deal so far did not mean the talks were going nowhere and this was the most serious attempt so far. However, Israel still insists on keeping a 1 km landscape along the eastern and northern borders of the Gaza Strip, which will restrict the return of residents to their homes and represent a retreat from what it (Israel) had agreed upon in July (Read more at Reuters).
Yakuza leader Takeshi Ebisawa and a co-defendant had previously been charged in April 2022 with drug trafficking and firearms offences, and both were remanded. The military weaponry to be part of the arms deal included surface-to-air missiles (Read more at Guardian).
Abedini is wanted by the United States on suspicion of involvement in a drone strike against U.S. forces in Jordan. Iran has denied involvement and said last week the detention of the Iranian national amounted to hostage-taking (Read more at DeccanHerald).
Turkish officials will tell U.S. Under Secretary of State John Bass during talks in Ankara this week that Syria needs to be rid of terrorist groups to achieve stability and security. The YPG spearheads the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which played an important role in defeating Islamic State in Syria (Read more at Reuters).
Legislators in the lower chamber of the US Congress passed the “Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act” by an overwhelming margin, 243 to 140, on Thursday in a signal of strong support for Israel. 45 Democrats joined 198 Republicans in backing the bill. No Republicans voted against it. The legislation proposes sanctions for any foreigner who helps the ICC in its attempts to investigate, detain or prosecute a US citizen or citizen of an allied country that does not recognise the authority of the court. The bill now heads to the Senate, where a Republican majority was sworn in earlier this month (Read more at Aljazeera).
Sebastian Gorka, the president-elect's deputy assistant on national security, suggested the UK-US relationship had been weakened. It signals the incoming Trump administration aims to apply greater pressure on its allies. "Any nation which wishes to be seen as a serious ally and friend of the most powerful nation in the world should act in a fashion that reflects that serious commitment," he said. Around 70 Britons are thought to be held by US-backed Kurdish-led forces in detention camps - including 20 women and up to 40 children (Read more at Middle East Eye).
A prominent American Quaker organisation has cancelled its advertising with the New York Times (NYT) after the newspaper refused to allow an advertisement referring to Israel’s aggression in Gaza as genocide (Read more at Middle East Monitor).
In separate notices sent to Congress, the State Department said it was moving $95 million in military assistance intended for Egypt and $7.5 million for Israel toward supporting the Lebanese army and its government (Read more at AP).
"I welcome the recent issuance of a new temporary General License by the United States government. But much more significant work in fully addressing sanctions and designations will inevitably be necessary," the U.N. special envoy on Syria, Geir Pedersen told the Security Council (Read more at USNews).
The university has agreed to review its anti-harassment policies and to provide training to staff and students on addressing discrimination and harassment based on ancestry and ethnicity. The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights said Johns Hopkins University received 99 complaints of harassment based on shared ancestry from October 2023 through May 2024 (Read more at USNews).
The U.S. Department of Defense is expected to finalize an agreement for the delivery of 32 F-35 Lightning IIs, at an estimated cost exceeding $17 billion over 45 years, covering both procurement and maintenance. If confirmed, this acquisition would expand the Royal Moroccan Air Force’s inventory, which is currently centered on fourth-generation F-16 aircraft (Read more at Army Recognition).
Emirati billionaire Hussain Sajwani promised a $20 billion investment in the booming U.S. data center industry in the coming years, he and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump announced on Tuesday at Trump's home in Palm Beach, Florida. The investment by DAMAC Properties in the United Arab Emirates is intended to highlight Trump’s personal ability to attract new money for big projects (Read more at AP).
“Well, I think we’re making a lot of progress, and I don’t want to say too much because I think they’re doing a really good job back in Doha,” Witkoff said at a Trump press conference in Palm Beach, Florida (Read more at Arabnews).
Hamas says it will free its remaining hostages only if Israel agrees to end the war and withdraw all its troops from Gaza. Israel says it will not end the war until Hamas is dismantled and all hostages are free (Read more at Arabnews).
The United Arab Emirates has discussed with Israel and the United States participating in a provisional administration of post-war Gaza until a reformed Palestinian Authority is able to take charge (Read more at USNews).
U.S. President Joe Biden's administration slashed the prisoner population at Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba by nearly half on Monday, sending 11 detainees to Oman (Read more at AOL).
it is issued for six months after the end of Bashar al-Assad's rule in an effort to ease the flow of humanitarian assistance. The exemption, known as a general license, also allows some energy transactions and personal remittances to Syria until July 7. The action did not remove any sanctions (Read more at Reuters).
In Riyadh meeting, US and Saudi Arabia agreed they had 'once in thirty-year opportunity' to sideline Hezbollah with election of new president. The US has told Lebanese officials that Saudi Arabia is prepared to deploy hundreds of millions of dollars to reconstruct their war-torn country if Lebanese army commander Joseph Aoun is elected president (Read more at Middle East Eye).
It led to the death of a non-U.S. coalition soldier and wounded two other non-U.S. personnel. U.S. officials have said Islamic State is hoping to stage a comeback in Syria following the fall in December of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (Read more at Reuters).
Hochstein’s statement on Monday came as Israel was withdrawing its forces from Naqoura in the western sector of the border, with the Lebanese army deploying in the area. However, the US official did not specify a timetable for the Israeli withdrawal (Read more at Aljazeera).
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Monday for a final push for a Gaza ceasefire before President Joe Biden leaves office, after a Hamas official told Reuters the group had cleared a list of 34 hostages as first to go free under a truce (Read more at Globe and Mail).
The Palestinian Authority (PA) asked the United States to approve a four-year $680m plan to boost the training of its special forces and bolster its supply of ammunition and armoured vehicles. The US delegation expressed satisfaction with the campaign in Jenin and pledged to deliver armoured vehicles and ammunition (Read more at Middle East Eye).
Armed clashes between militants affiliated with the Assad regime and policemen affiliated with the new administration took place last week in the city of Tartus. Fourteen policemen and several militants were killed, according to the Syrian Interior Ministry (Read more at Axios).
Huthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam called the strikes "an American aggression" and "a blatant violation of the sovereignty of an independent state and a blatant support for Israel." (Read more at Tribune)
The US supplied 78% of Israel's arms from 2019 to 2023, with deliveries totaling 50,000 tons of weapons by August 2024 (Read more at Anadolu Agency).
Ridah Bin Saleh al-Yazidi was transferred to his home country after being held without charge since the detention facility opened in January 2002. The 59-year-old appeared in one of the detention centre’s most iconic photographs, showing detainees kneeling in the open-air compound of Camp X-Ray (Read more at Guardian).
Official tells The National Washington wants to see new Syria rebuilt 'in spirit' of UN Security Council Resolution 2254 and Syria's elections “should be free and fair, and carried out in a transparent and inclusive manner”. The response comes after Mr Al Shara stoked concerns at the weekend when he told Al Arabiya that Syria would not hold elections for another four years, and that it may not ratify a constitution for three years (Read more at The National).
“In recent years I had the pleasure of calling him and thanking him for his historic efforts to bring together two great leaders, [Menachem] Begin and [Anwar] Sadat, and forging a peace between Israel and Egypt that remains an anchor of stability throughout the Middle East and North Africa many decades later,” wrote Herzog on X (Read more at JNS).
“In this moment of sorrow, I extend my heartfelt condolences to the family of former American president Jimmy Carter, as well as to the president and the people of the United States of America,” El-Sisi wrote on his social media accounts (Read more at Al Ahram).
According to the US paper of record, Israel never intended to ‘erase the Gaza Strip from the face of Earth’ – it simply ‘weakened its [nonexistent] system of safeguards meant to protect civilians (Read more at Aljazeera).
Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa is using media appearances to spell out well-scripted scenarios ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Sharaa seemed to be speaking from professionally-prepared talking points as he relaxedly answered even tough questions trying to reassure his domestic and foreign audiences while at the same time making no secret of his intent to cement his hold on power for the time being (Read more at Arab Weekly).
The US military convoy, including 50 trucks carrying armored vehicles, military equipment, and logistics, is on its way to one of the US military bases in the east and north of Syria through the Al-Waleed border crossing (Read more at News.AZ).
