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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has nixed a Turkish initiative to mediate between Israel and Hamas “on the Gaza situation,” according to a report in Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Citing a senior Hamas source, the Qatari-owned, London-based pan-Arab news outlet went on to claim that Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) Director Ronen Bar conducted an undisclosed visit to Turkey on Saturday, where he met with Turkey’s intelligence director to discuss the status of hostages in Gaza. According to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Bar’s presence at the meeting was primarily to evaluate the Turkish proposal.

A senior Israeli diplomatic official told Israel Hayom that Netanyahu had authorized Ronen’s Turkey visit to explore potential hostage release arrangements and discuss bilateral relations.

The United States vetoed a U.N. Nations Security Council resolution calling for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire on Wednesday morning, citing its failure to condition a halt in hostilities directly to the release of the hostages, whom Hamas continues to hold in the Gaza Strip.

“We could not support an unconditional ceasefire that failed to release the hostages,” Robert Wood, deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the council.

Wood accused Hamas—and not Israel—of blocking a negotiated ceasefire and cited Israel’s reference for a temporary ceasefire and a phased release of hostages.

Washington cast the lone vote against the measure among the 15-member body. It is one of five permanent members of the council that has veto power.

President-elect Donald Trump and his new administration are “uniquely positioned” to stabilize the Middle East, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel said on Wednesday.

“President Trump has strategically surrounded himself with a team of seasoned leaders who possess a deep understanding of the Middle East’s complex dynamics and the grave threats Israel faces from its enemies,” Haskel told JNS. “Supported by this powerhouse team, President Trump is uniquely positioned to stabilize the region and secure a better, more prosperous future—one that serves not only the safety and security of Israel, but also the strategic interests of the United States and democracies worldwide,” she added.

The partnership between Israel and the United States is built on a foundation of shared values, democratic principles and mutual interests, said Haskel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Tuesday to hunt down terrorists who hurt hostages being held in the Gaza Strip, speaking during a visit to the Netzarim Corridor that splits the coastal enclave between north and south.

“To those who are holding our hostages: Whoever dares to harm our captives—his blood is on his own head. We will pursue you, and we will get you,” warned the Israeli leader in a video in Hebrew recorded on Gaza’s beach alongside the Mediterranean Sea.

At the same time, “whoever brings us a hostage will be given a safe way, for him and his family, to leave. We will also give a reward of $5 million for each kidnapped person. You choose—the choice is yours—but the result will be the same. We will return everyone,” he added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting on Monday that Israel will review its ability to act against Iran once the new U.S. administration takes over.

At the start of the discussion, the prime minister said that while the war is being waged on seven fronts, “It has one source—Iran … [whose] goal is the destruction of the State of Israel,” according to a Knesset readout.

Netanyahu detailed three threats from Iran: its proxies, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, its ballistic missiles and its nuclear program.

“Our ability to act against these three threats will be evaluated in the near future together with the incoming administration in Washington,” he said.

(photo: I24 News.tv)

A senior U.S. mediator said on Tuesday there was a "real opportunity" to end the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and that gaps were narrowing, signalling progress in Washington's efforts to clinch a ceasefire.

White House envoy Amos Hochstein spoke in Beirut after talks with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a day after the Lebanese government and Iran-backed Hezbollah agreed to a U.S. ceasefire proposal, although with comments on the content.

"I came back because we have a real opportunity to bring this conflict to an end," Hochstein told a press conference after the meeting. "It is now within our grasp. As the window is now, I hope the coming days yield a resolute decision."

Hochstein's mission marks a last-ditch attempt by the outgoing U.S. administration to broker a ceasefire in Lebanon.

The Biden administration has sanctioned Amana, the settlement movement’s main development organization.

While the impact of the move was likely blunted by this month’s election of Donald Trump, who may well reverse such sanctions, it still sends a signal to other Western countries that have followed the US in imposing similar sanctions against Israelis in the West Bank for the past year.

Amana has maintained ties with individuals and outposts that have already been sanctioned by the US for perpetrating violence in the West Bank, the Treasury Department says in its announcement.

If the International Criminal Court and its prosecutor Karim Khan don’t reverse their “outrageous unlawful actions to pursue arrest warrants against Israeli officials, the Senate should immediately pass sanctions legislation, as the House has already done on a bipartisan basis,” Senate Majority Leader-elect John Thune (R-S.D.) wrote on Sunday.

If the outgoing Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) “does not act, the Senate Republican majority will stand with our key ally Israel and make this—and other supportive legislation—a top priority in the next Congress,” Thune added.

In June, the House passed a bill calling on the U.S. president to sanction those who assist the ICC in its investigation, arrest, detention or prosecution of “a protected person” and sanctions and imposes visa bans on those people and their families.

US special envoy Amos Hochstein will travel to Beirut on Tuesday for talks on a truce between the Hezbollah terror group and Israel, a Lebanese political source told Reuters Monday, amid reports that Lebanon had responded positively to a ceasefire proposal submitted by the US.

Lebanon’s LBC media network reported Monday that a “positive” response to the US ceasefire proposal had been submitted to the US embassy in Beirut, and would be reviewed by Hochstein ahead of his visit to the region.

A leaked draft of the US proposal published by the Kan public broadcaster earlier this month showed that the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah would include the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, the establishment of an international oversight committee and the deployment of some 10,000 Lebanese Armed Forces troops along the border with Israel.

Iran publishes a picture of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei today after widespread unsourced reports on social media that he was either in a coma or had died.

The image shows him in his office talking to Iran’s Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani, who was injured in Beirut in Israel’s September pager attacks against the Hezbollah terror group.

Multiple reports on social media claimed in recent days that Khamenei was in a coma. Other reports claimed that he had died or that he had nominated his son as his successor in a recent secret meeting.

President Biden has authorized Ukraine's military to use U.S.-provided long-range missiles on targets inside Russian territory, senior U.S. officials confirmed to Fox News on Sunday. 

The senior U.S. official said the weapons will mostly focus on the Kursk region of Western Russia. The decision was first reported by The New York Times.

According to the official, Biden's decision was spurred by the Russian decision to invite 10,000 North Korean soldiers into the fight against Ukraine in Kursk. A second official told Fox that it is unclear if Biden plans to approve the use of the missiles outside the Kursk region.

A Hezbollah rocket struck a synagogue in Haifa on Saturday, just one hour after the end of a prayer service.

The Avot Ubanim synagogue complex suffered major damage from the strike, but no one was hurt. 

“This is divine providence,” Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav told Israel Hayom. 

Five people were lightly injured on the way to shelters in various areas of Haifa during the barrage.

US President-elect Donald Trump’s administration is preparing to reinstate its "maximum pressure" strategy against Iran, targeting Tehran’s economic stability and its ability to support militant proxies and nuclear development, The Financial Times reported on Saturday, citing sources close to the transition team.

The sources revealed that the administration plans to impose stricter sanctions, particularly on Iran’s oil exports, which serve as a critical revenue source. 

The anticipated sanctions could drastically reduce Iranian oil exports, which currently exceed 1.5 million barrels per day, up from a low of 400,000 barrels per day in 2020. Experts suggest that these measures would severely impact Iran’s economy. Bob McNally, an energy consultant and former US presidential adviser, indicated that reducing exports to a fraction of current levels would leave Iran in a far worse economic position than during Trump’s first term, Financial Times reported.

Former White House senior adviser Jared Kushner is reportedly expected to play a key role in the crafting and implementation of his father-in-law’s Mideast policy over the next four years, even though he won’t be formally part of the administration.

CNN on Friday cited several regional diplomats and Trump allies who voiced this expectation. Sources familiar with Kushner’s thinking similarly said he was unlikely to take a job in the administration but will likely be an outside adviser.

“No one on the incoming team has what Jared has, and that is trust. Jared earned it, he didn’t have it at the beginning. He earned it. That takes time to build,” said a regional diplomat.

Brian Hook said that Trump’s peace plan to resolve Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians — his so-called “deal of the century” — would likely be back on the table in a second Trump presidency, though he noted that the appetite for a two-state solution has diminished, following Hamas’s October 2020 attack that sparked the ongoing Gaza war.

The Israeli airstrikes on Iran last month destroyed a secret nuclear weapons research facility in Parchin, 19 miles southeast of Tehran, Axios reported on Friday.

The clandestine site held sophisticated equipment used for testing explosives needed to detonate nuclear devices, the report read, citing three U.S. officials, one current Israeli official and one former Israeli official.

The Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security acquired high-resolution satellite imagery of the facility, which showed that it was completely destroyed in Israel’s Oct. 26 attack.

Amid escalating tensions between Hezbollah and Israel, President-elect Donald Trump has promised to lift all restrictions and delays on the supply of military equipment and ammunition to Israel immediately after his inauguration, Israeli Channel 12 News reports.

The assurance from Trump’s team came as Israel is considering a 60-day cease-fire with Hezbollah, which would provide a window until Trump takes office and implements the promised changes.

Sources indicate that this commitment from Trump’s administration clarifies Israel’s willingness to temporarily halt military actions, with the understanding that support will resume without delay once Trump is in office.

(photo: Flash90)

Israel expects the incoming US administration of Donald Trump to take a hard line against Iran and its nuclear ambitions, which will create an opportunity for more peace deals with Arab neighbors, a senior member of Israel’s security cabinet said on Thursday.

Energy Minister Eli Cohen, in an interview with Reuters, also said that Israel is closer than ever to reaching an agreement to end fighting in Lebanon and push Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah away from the border, while insisting that Israel maintains the right to act military should it be violated.

Cohen said that incoming president Trump has been appointing senior staff who “certainly support determined action against Iran.”

The Israel Air Force allegedly struck one of Iran's secret nuclear research facilities as part of an operation that took place at the end of October, according to a Friday Axios report that cited former and current US and Israeli officials.

According to the report, the attack caused significant damage to the site in the Parchin military complex, about 20 kilometers southeast of Tehran.

The strike dealt a severe blow to Iran’s nuclear development efforts, the officials cited in the report claimed.

The facility was allegedly part of the Iranian Amad nuclear weapons program until 2003. It was then used for testing explosives needed to set off a nuclear device, the report added, citing the Institute for Science and International Security.

IAEA chief, in Tehran for talks about Iran’s atomic program, urges against attacks on Iranian nuclear installations, calls for diplomacy to resolve outstanding issues.

Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to Israel, has expressed his readiness to support the annexation of the West Bank. 

In an interview with Galei Tsahal on Wednesday, Huckabee [stated], “This is an extraordinary day, and I’m honored that the president wants to give me this role,” Huckabee said, reflecting on his decades-long relationship with Israel, which began nearly 52 years ago. “It’s an extraordinary opportunity to represent my country in a land that I first fell in love with.”

When asked about the potential for annexation under the Trump administration, Huckabee emphasized his frequent visits to the West Bank, reiterating his belief in Israel’s right to a secure state. “I believe that the citizens of Israel deserve a secure state, and anything I can do to help achieve that goal will be a tremendous privilege,” he stated. However, he acknowledged that while he can influence outcomes, he does not set policy, as that responsibility ultimately lies with the president.

A U.S. official working overseas has been indicted for leaking highly classified information about Israel’s earlier plans to attack Iran, according to court papers filed on Wednesday.

CIA operative, Asif William Rahman, was arrested by the FBI this week in Cambodia and scheduled to make his first court appearance on Thursday in Guam.

Rahman was charged in a federal court in Virginia on two counts of violating the Espionage Act by disclosing classified U.S. documents about Israel’s plans for a retaliatory strike against Iran.

The indictment shows Rahman gained access to a classified document marked “top secret” and “secure compartmented information” on Oct. 17 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and delivered the document to someone who wasn’t authorized to receive it.

Jerusalem is rushing to advance a ceasefire plan in Lebanon as a “welcome gift” to president-elect Donald Trump, TheWashington Post reported on Wednesday. This would hand the Republican an early diplomatic victory upon his return to the White House.

Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer conveyed this message to President-elect Trump during a visit to his Florida estate on Sunday.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director Rafael Grossi cautioned on Thursday against striking Iran’s nuclear sites, after Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz suggested they may be targeted.

“I say this with regards to Iran …, nuclear installations should not be attacked,” Grossi said during a news conference in Tehran, according to AFP. 

Katz said on Monday that Iran was “more exposed than ever to strikes on its nuclear facilities. We have the opportunity to achieve our most important goal—to thwart and eliminate the existential threat to the State of Israel.”

President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump [met] in the Oval Office, resuming a tradition that Trump himself flouted in 2020.

The two men, seated by a roaring fire, shook hands. Biden spoke first, calling for a "smooth transition" and telling Trump he will do "everything we can to make sure you're accommodated."

Trump followed by thanking Biden.

"Politics is tough, and it's, in many cases, not a very nice world but it is a nice world today," Trump said. "And I appreciate it very much. A transition that’s so smooth, it'll be as smooth as it can get, and I very much appreciate that, Joe."

(photo: Fox News)

Senate Minority Whip John Thune will be the new Republican Senate leader and the majority leader of the upper chamber in the new Congress.

In January, he will succeed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who is the longest-serving party leader in Senate history.

"I am extremely honored to have earned the support of my colleagues to lead the Senate in the 119th Congress, and I am beyond proud of the work we have done to secure our majority and the White House," Thune said in a statement. "This Republican team is united behind President Trump's agenda, and our work starts today."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted that the IDF would hit Iranian oil fields should Tehran make good on its threat to launch another ballistic missile attack on Israel. “Another attack on Israel would simply cripple Iran’s economy,” Netanyahu said in an unusual English-language message he directed at the Iranian people.

(photo: Flash 90)

Israel would reject any ceasefire that does not push Hezbollah back behind the Litani River, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday amid reports that such an agreement was near.

"We will not agree to just any cease-fires, we will not take our foot off the gas, and we will not accept any agreement that does not include the achievement of the war goals,” Katz said as he visited the Northern Command.

This includes “the disarmament of Hezbollah, its withdrawal beyond the Litani [River], and creating the conditions for the residents of the north to return to their homes in safety,” Katz said as he laid out Israel’s conditions for such a deal.

An Israeli government spokesperson reiterated to JNS on Tuesday that Hamas remains the main impediment to securing the release of the 101 men, women and children who have been held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

“It is Hamas who keeps throwing in conditions that are unreasonable and impossible, and it is Hamas that has delayed the negotiations and the release of our people,” David Mencer told JNS in a press briefing on Tuesday.