KOENIG

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday evening delivered an emotional national address ahead of Monday’s scheduled release of hostages held by Hamas, calling it “an evening of tears, an evening of joy.”

“Tomorrow, children will return to their own land,” Netanyahu said. “This is a historic event that blends sorrow over the release of murderers and joy over the return of hostages.”

The prime minister said the achievement reflected the steadfast belief of Israel’s soldiers and citizens. “Some did not believe this day would come. But our fighters believed. Many among the people believed. And I believed,” he declared.

US President Donald Trump on Friday said he expects the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will hold because “they’re all tired of fighting,” after Israeli forces pulled back in Gaza as part of the first phase of the deal he brokered.

“It’s a great deal for Israel, but it’s a great deal for everybody,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “I can tell you that I saw Israel dancing in the streets, but they were dancing in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, many, many countries.”

Trump noted the hostages are due to be released on Monday following the IDF’s completion of a partial withdrawal, with Hamas “getting them now” before they are freed from the Gaza Strip.

A powerful tropical wind and rainstorm will evolve along the mid-Atlantic coast with major coastal flooding, power outages and significant travel delays. Storm surge could rival that of Sandy in some areas.

(photo: AFP)

US President Donald Trump plans to attend a summit of world leaders focused on Gaza during his visit to Egypt next week, Axios reports, citing four sources familiar with the matter.

The summit, organized by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, reportedly aims to build international support for Trump’s Gaza peace plan, as talks continue over critical issues such as post-war governance, security and reconstruction.

According to the report, invitations have reportedly been extended to leaders or foreign ministers from Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Qatar, the UAE, Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Indonesia.

Trump is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Monday morning, deliver a speech at the Knesset and meet with families of hostages. That evening, he will travel to Egypt to meet with President Sissi and participate in a signing ceremony with the three guarantors of the Gaza deal: Egypt, Qatar and Turkey.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announces that the Pentagon recently agreed to host the Qatari air force at a new joint facility in the US, as part of President Donald Trump’s newly signed executive order declaring US commitment to guaranteeing Qatar’s security.

“Today, we’re announcing a letter of acceptance in building a Qatari Emiri Air Force facility at the Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho,” Hegseth says.

The base “will be host to a contingent of Qatari F-15s and pilots to enhance our combined training, increase lethality, interoperability,” Hegseth adds. “It’s just another example of our partnership.”

U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff on Friday credited the Israel Defense Forces and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for facilitating the ceasefire deal between his country and Hamas.

Kushner and Witkoff said this at a joint conference in Jerusalem with Netanyahu and Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, shortly after the Jewish state’s Cabinet voted in favor of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal that would return to Israel 20 living hostages taken to Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, and the bodies of about 30 others.

“Obviously, bringing the hostages home has been a priority for President Trump for a very, very long time and we’ve all worked very tirelessly to do that,” said Kushner, a former senior adviser to Trump who has been working on the agreement alongside Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East peace envoy.

(photos: Reuters)

Israel has received US guarantees that it will be allowed to take military action in response to any violations of the hostage and ceasefire deal that endanger its security.

According to Israeli and American diplomatic officials, the understanding is that if Hamas, or any of the other terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip, seriously breaches a key principle of the Trump plan in a way that poses a security threat, Israel will be able to respond militarily, with US support.

This understanding constitutes a side agreement between Jerusalem and Washington that aligns with the Trump plan's framework. Both the mediators and Hamas have been informed of this agreement. According to the officials, the participation and signatures of Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the Sharm el-Sheikh negotiations are significant, as it will be harder for Hamas to shift blame to "rogue factions."

(photo: Flash90)

Israel and Hamas negotiators on Thursday signed a deal in Egypt to secure the return of all 48 hostages held by terror groups in Gaza, of whom some 20 are believed to be alive, in exchange for some 2,000 Palestinian security prisoners, a partial Israeli withdrawal, and a ceasefire.

“The final draft of phase one was signed this morning in Egypt by all parties to release all of the hostages,” said a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

The security cabinet convened around 6:30 p.m., after an unexplained hour-and-a-half delay, for a briefing about the deal, to be followed by a full cabinet vote. The deal is expected to handily pass, despite some opposition from the far right.

The Finnish Presidential office clarified that the talks will focus on bilateral relations between Finland and the United States, trade and economic cooperation, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Trump took to Truth Social on Wednesday to make the announcement: "I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan. This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace. All Parties will be treated fairly!

This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!"

Two hundred and fifty of the remaining 303 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences in Israeli jails will be released, along with 1,700 Palestinians who have been detained in Gaza since October 7, 2023.

The leaders of the so-called change bloc met Wednesday and called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to implement US President Donald Trump’s proposal to end the war in Gaza and return the hostages, rallying behind Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s offer of a political “safety net” to ensure Israeli backing.

The bloc is an alliance of right-wing, centrist and left-wing parties that seek to oust Netanyahu and his hard-right coalition, and have been working on creating a mechanism for coordinating their efforts to show the public that they can provide a workable alternative.

It comprises Lapid, former prime minister Naftali Bennett, Blue and White-National Unity chief Benny Gantz, Yisrael Beytenu party chairman Avigdor Liberman, “Yashar! With Eisenkot” chief Gadi Eisenkot, and The Democrats head Yair Golan. Bennett and Gantz had stayed away from a previous meeting last month.

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Abdulrahman Al Thani will head to Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Wednesday morning to join the ongoing indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas on US President Donald Trump’s proposal for ending the war in Gaza.

Al Thani’s participation “comes at a critical stage of the talks, reaffirming the determination of the mediators to reach an agreement that would bring an end to the catastrophic war in the Gaza Strip,” Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari says in a statement.

Separately, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reports that a Turkish delegation led by intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin will also join the negotiations tomorrow.

Then-Vice President Joe Biden in 2015 told the CIA he would "strongly prefer" an intelligence report documenting Ukrainian officials’ concerns with his family’s ties to "corrupt" business deals in the country "not be disseminated" — and so it wasn’t, according to a newly declassified email and records made public by the agency. 

CIA Director John Ratcliffe declassified the heavily redacted records, which he said he believes is an example of "politicization of intelligence."

Fox News Digital obtained the declassified documents, which were discovered during a CIA review of historical agency records.

Delegations from Hamas and Israel on Monday began indirect talks in Egypt on US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza, Egyptian state-linked media reported, as officials said mutual distrust could complicate the negotiations.

Al-Qahera News, which is linked to state intelligence, said the delegations in the Sinai resort town of Sharm el Sheikh “are discussing preparing ground conditions for the release” of the remaining 48 hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians, including 250 life-term terrorists.

“Egyptian and Qatari mediators are working with both sides to establish a mechanism” for the exchange, the network reported, as officials indicated Hamas was wary of giving up its leverage by freeing the hostages early.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have been placed on their highest level of readiness ahead of the Sukkot holiday, following directives from Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, who convened a high-level security assessment on Monday morning.

Zamir met with members of the General Staff Forum to evaluate the current situation across all fronts.

At the conclusion of the meeting, he instructed the military to raise its alert level to the maximum and to prioritize defensive measures throughout the holiday period. 

The move comes as Israel braces for potential security challenges while large public gatherings are expected nationwide.

The plan, formulated by a team associated with Blair's office and American-Israeli circles close to the Trump administration, proposes an international governmental framework that would operate in Gaza for 3 to 5 years, until control is transferred to a "reformed" Palestinian authority.

The document, titled "Gaza International Transitional Authority" (GITA), details the proposed governmental structure, identifies the key figures expected to fill senior positions, and outlines the accompanying economic and security plan.

At the heart of the plan stands the establishment of an international board of directors comprising 7 to 10 members, including businesspeople, diplomats, and economic experts. Tony Blair would head the board as general coordinator or executive president, and it would be responsible for making all central decisions regarding policy, security, and economy in the Strip.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned on Sunday that if Hamas refuses to release the 48 hostages from Gaza immediately, the Israel Defense Forces “will once again step up the intensity of fire.”

“We now expect the first phase [of the Trump peace plan] to be carried out in the near future, including the immediate release of all the hostages,” Katz said during a ceremony marking the 52nd anniversary of the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

“The IDF is in the heart of Gaza City and is ready for any possibility,” he continued. “If Hamas refuses to free the hostages, the IDF will once again step up the intensity of fire until its defeat and all captives are freed.”

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) clarified in a Sunday press briefing that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an agreement with the U.S. administration, has limited the duration of talks “to a few days maximum, with no tolerance” for delays by Hamas.

Within two to three days from the start of negotiations in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, it will become clear whether a hostage deal is in the making, an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post.

“[US President Donald] Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, are not coming to play games,” the official said. “We’ll know very quickly – by the end of the week – whether Hamas is heading toward a deal or not.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Sunday with bereaved families from the Gvoura Forum, setting a firm condition for implementing Donald Trump’s Gaza plan: all other steps, including the plan’s 21 articles, will only proceed after the release of all hostages, living and dead, without exception. 

“As long as the last hostage has not returned, we will not move forward on any other point,” Netanyahu said.