KOENIG

U.S. President Donald Trump said that the United States will “take over” and rebuild the Gaza Strip during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.

“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too,” Trump said. “We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous, unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings. “

Trump said in the explosive press conference, which ran about 40 minutes, that the reconstruction of Gaza would create economic development and supply “unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.”

U.S. President Donald Trump called for “permanently” resettling Palestinians outside Gaza on Tuesday, as he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took questions from reporters at the White House.

Trump did not say whether he thought Palestinians would have a “right” to return to Gaza but asked why they would want to return given the level of destruction.

“I don’t think people should be going back to Gaza,” Trump said.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday restored his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran that includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero in order to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday if Iran carries out [an] assassination [on him], advisers will ensure that country is "obliterated." While signing an executive order imposing maximum pressure on Tehran, the president said he left instructions if something were to happen to him.

"That would be a terrible thing for them to do," Trump said. "If they did that, they would be obliterated. That would be the end. … There won't be anything left."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to concede on annexation of the West Bank in favor of advancing a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia, Israeli coalition officials told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.

The officials, who spoke to the Post on the condition of anonymity, spoke of fears that Netanyahu will use a delay in annexation as a compromise in attempts to sway Riyadh away from demanding a pathway to a Palestinian state.

The prime minister, who will meet US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, has previously stated his intent to expand the Abraham Accords and reach a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia. In return, the Saudis demand an end to the war in Gaza and a pathway to a Palestinian state, two diplomatic sources told the Post.

A prominent member of Congress has voiced opposition to including Palestinian statehood in any Saudi-Israeli normalization agreement, aligning with recent statements from Israeli leadership. Representative Andy Harris of Maryland's First District conveyed this position in a letter of support to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before the prime minister's scheduled meeting with President Donald Trump.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich expressed support for expanding the Abraham Accords on Monday, including with Saudi Arabia, while warning that such an agreement must not “come at the expense” of eliminating Hamas. ... Smotrich has in the past spoken against normalization with Saudi Arabia if it requires the establishment of a Palestinian state.

In Washington [on Monday], DC, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with the US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, as well as with Trump's special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff. After the meeting, reports said Israel is preparing to send a delegation to Doha, Qatar, at the end of this weekend to discuss technical details related to the continued implementation of the ceasefire agreement. Netanyahu is expected to meet Trump later on Tuesday.

A day before his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House, US President Donald Trump noted that Israel is a “small country” when asked about the possibility of backing West Bank annexation.

“I’m not going to talk about that. It certainly is a small, it’s a small country in terms of land,” the president said when asked about the topic by a reporter.

“See this pen?” he continued, holding up the pen he was using to sign executive orders in the Oval Office. “This wonderful pen on my desk is the Middle East, and the top of the pen — that’s Israel.”

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that talks with Israel and other Middle Eastern countries were “progressing,” emphasizing that “some very big meetings” are on tap for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House on Tuesday.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office noted that Netanyahu was welcomed at Blair House, the White House’s official and historic guest residence. The director of the residence, who greeted the Israeli leader, noted that this was Netanyahu’s 14th visit—the highest number of visits by any foreign leader since the residence’s establishment in the 19th century.

Netanyahu was scheduled to hold a high-level meeting on Monday with Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, ahead of his meeting with Trump. It will be the president’s first meeting at the White House with a foreign leader since his Jan. 20 inauguration.

Netanyahu on Saturday night spoke with Witkoff and the two agreed to begin negotiating the second stage of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal in Washington.

Among the top issues for the visit are maintaining a fragile ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas; taking steps toward brokering ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia; and confronting the threat from Iran.

Netanyahu will meet evangelical leaders at 5:00 p.m. local time [Monday], at the Blair House in Washington, DC, his office announces. At 6:30 p.m., he is slated to meet US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff.

Netanyahu will meet Trump at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, followed by a joint press conference and an off-the-record briefing for Israel journalists.

On Wednesday, at 11:00 a.m., Netanyahu will meet National Security Adviser Michael Waltz. He is scheduled to meet Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at 3:00 p.m., at the Pentagon.

Netanyahu will be on Capitol Hill on Thursday. At 10:00 a.m., he will meet Senate Majority Leader John Thune, followed by a meeting with other Senate leaders. He is slated to meet US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson at 1:00 p.m., followed by a joint statement to the press. He will then meet other senior lawmakers.

Phase 2 of the deal is intended to call for a permanent ceasefire and the return of all living hostages. Phase 3 would see all bodies returned and rebuilding efforts commence. Israel will likely be pressed to release even more murderers in exchange for the remaining hostages in both phases.

It is strongly believed that Netanyahu will impress upon Trump the need to resume fighting in Gaza. The surreal scenes of the hostage transfers so far demonstrate that Hamas remains in charge in Gaza, retaining a potent albeit heavily diminished fighting force.

Yet, many warn that Trump may not be onboard with an Israeli sovereignty push. He famously rejected Netanyahu’s effort to declare sovereignty in the Jordan Valley toward the end of his first term.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been welcomed at Blair House [the President's guest house across from the White House] in Washington on Sunday evening ahead of his meeting with US President Donald Trump.

"The fact that this would be President Trump’s first meeting with a foreign leader since his inauguration is a testimony to the strength of the Israeli-American alliance. It’s also a testimony to the strength of our personal friendship," he added.

Netanyahu said he would discuss with the president Israel's war against Hamas, the release of all the hostages, and the Iranian terror axis.

The prime minister also said he would discuss normalization with Saudi Arabia. “I will look to broaden the circle of peace and achieve a remarkable era of peace through strength,” Netanyahu said.

Prominent Israeli-American columnist and JNS senior contributing editor Caroline B. Glick is returning to the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem to serve as International Affairs Adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Glick, who worked with Netanyahu over a quarter century ago before becoming a widely-read columnist, took up her new position on Sunday, almost three years after the first episode of her record-breaking “The Caroline Glick Show” premiered on JNS TV in 2022.

Seventy-one percent of Israelis oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria. Nearly 70% want to extend Israeli sovereignty over the area, according to a poll conducted on Jan. 29.

The survey comes on the background of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s departure on Sunday to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Saturday that he spoke in the evening with Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, and that the two agreed to begin negotiating the second stage of the hostage deal in Washington next week.

Netanyahu’s office said that discussions would take place on Feb. 3, on the 16th day of the agreement, “within the framework of which they will discuss the Israeli positions.”

“Later in the week, Witkoff will speak with the prime minister of Qatar and senior Egyptian representatives,” per Netanyahu’s office. “He will then discuss with the prime minister steps to advance the negotiations, including dates for the departure of delegations to the talks.”

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and US President Donald Trump agreed on the need to consolidate the Gaza ceasefire deal in a phone call on Saturday, the Egyptian presidency said, but it was unclear if they discussed Trump's call for the transfer of Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan.

The presidency said in a statement they had a positive dialog which stressed the importance of fully implementing the first and second phases of the ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, and the need to step up humanitarian aid shipments to Gaza.

The Iranian Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said it unveiled a new underground base housing cruise missiles “designed to target destroyers in strategic southern waters,” Iranian state media said on Saturday.

The report was made on the same day as the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, celebrated “Islamic Revolution Guards Day.”

The unveiling of an underground “missile city,” as Iran terms these types of bases, is not new. Iran has unveiled them in the past and emphasized different capacities for these underground facilities.

This is the third underground missile base unveiled by the IRGC in less than a month.

A twin-engine medevac jet crashed in a neighborhood in northeast Philadelphia Friday night, causing a fiery explosion, according to authorities and video from the scene.

The Learjet 55 with six people on board crashed around 6:30 p.m. ET after departing from Northeast Philadelphia Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration told CNN.

The private business jet was en route to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri, the FAA said. Radio audio from air traffic control describes the downed Learjet as a “medevac” flight.

A person in a car was the seventh fatal victim of the fiery crash of an air ambulance onto a busy Philadelphia street, authorities said Saturday, as investigators sifted through burned cars, damaged homes and charred debris for clues to determine why the aircraft plummeted shortly after takeoff.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff met in Jerusalem on Thursday with Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Shas Party leader Aryeh Deri to discuss the implementation of the Israel-Hamas hostage deal.

Following his arrival in Israel, the U.S. envoy first traveled to the Netzarim Corridor, which divides northern from southern Gaza, to review the implementation of the truce and inspect Palestinian vehicles driving northward.

On Sunday, Witkoff described the agreement he helped broker between Israel and Hamas as “the most worthy thing I could ever do in my life.”

Israel is in a “precarious position,” as China has demonstrated a “clear inclination” to align with Iran and its proxies after Oct. 7, Zineb Riboua, a research fellow and program manager at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East, told JNS.

Beijing opposes not only the Jewish state but also U.S. allies in the region, according to Riboua. “This has been evident both rhetorically and practically,” she said.

“Rhetorically, Beijing has framed the United States as the primary culprit for instability in the Middle East, reinforcing anti-American narratives,” she told JNS. “Practically, by continuing to purchase Iranian oil, China has provided Tehran with critical financial resources, indirectly enabling its network of regional proxies.”

Only one-third of British Jews believe that Jews have a long-term future in the United Kingdom, and half have considered leaving Britain in the past two years due to antisemitism, according to a new survey published by the Campaign Against Antisemitism.

The survey of 4,078 British Jews, conducted in June 2024, was released Monday to coincide with International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Respondents were required to self-identify as Jewish and confirm that they lived in the United Kingdom, and were contacted through other Jewish organizations. Campaign Against Antisemitism conceded that it is possible that the numbers include duplicate responses.

The US is applying pressure to get as many hostages out as possible and “as quickly as possible," a senior diplomatic source told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

The source added, “This is what the Americans want [more hostages in shorter periods of time], and I hope it happens.”

An additional source approved that the US is actually in negotiations on the issue.

"A PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet collided in midair with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter while on approach to Runway 33 at Reagan Washington National Airport around 9 p.m. local time," the agency said.

"PSA was operating Flight 5342 as American Airlines. It departed from Wichita, Kansas,'" it said.

All flights at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, were halted on Wednesday night after a military Black Hawk helicopter collided with a regional jet, according to the White House.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump is aware of the situation, adding that it "tragically appears a military helicopter collided with a regional jet."

There were 60 passengers and four crew aboard a PSA CRJ700 regional jet, American Airlines Flight 5342 that collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter, with three service members on board, on short final for Reagan National Airport. ... There have been no reports of survivors.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday that a two-state solution is the only path to regional stability ... Sisi emphasized "the necessity of working to implement the two-state solution and establishing an independent Palestinian state on the lines of June 4, 1967..."

Safadi and Fidan discussed, over the phone, consolidating the ceasefire in Gaza ... The top diplomats reiterated that establishing an independent and sovereign Palestinian state on June 4, 1967, lines with east Jerusalem as its capital is the only viable path to achieving just and lasting peace in the region.

A normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia is closer than ever before, [said] Israel’s new ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter ... Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Riyadh on Tuesday, meeting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as well as a high-ranking official of the Palestinian Authority, Axios reported.

The question of whether Israel will fulfill Saudi Arabia’s demand to agree to the establishment of a Palestinian State, or at least commit to a “roadmap,” has reportedly been among the most significant obstacles in the normalization talks.

A Qatari official has told Newsweek that the country at the center of the recently established ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement will support President Donald Trump in pushing both sides to adhere to the truce.

"Qatar will continue to work alongside the United States to support the negotiations, applying pressure to uphold the agreement's terms, and helping to move to its second and third phases," he continued, "which aim to secure the release of all hostages, enable delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians, and ultimately reach a sustainable peace in Gaza."

Trump's envoy, Witkoff, arrived in Israel after visiting Saudi Arabia to push for normalization between the two countries. Alongside private pressure from the White House, Trump is publicly working to strengthen his relationship with Netanyahu.

The Trump administration is working to prepare the ground for major negotiations starting next week over the second stage of the hostage deal.

President Trump released his Peace to Prosperity two-state plan on January 28, 2020. Exactly five years later on January 28, 2025, Trump's Middle East Envoy met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

U.S. President Donald Trump invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit the White House on Feb. 4, the Prime Minister’s Office stated on Tuesday.

The reported visit wasn’t mentioned at the Trump administration’s first White House press briefing on Tuesday, and the administration hasn’t commented on it publicly.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) told JNS that he is “very glad to see my friend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of Israel and our greatest ally in the Middle East, slated as the first state visit to Trump’s White House.”

Steve Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump’s special Middle East envoy, is currently meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials in Jerusalem to discuss the implementation of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

Witkoff landed in Tel Aviv on a direct private flight from Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, according to reports in Israeli media.

Witkoff has also requested to meet with the seven Israeli hostages who have been released by Hamas since the ceasefire went into effect on Jan. 19, reports said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office is planning for the premier to travel to Washington next week to meet with US President Donald Trump, two sources familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel on Monday.

The trip has not been finalized and will depend on Netanyahu’s health, as he recovers from prostate surgery, but the plan is for him to depart on Sunday and return on Wednesday.

Netanyahu’s spokesman, Omer Dostri, posted on X that the prime minister had not yet received an official invitation to the White House.

The new U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has issued a stern warning to the Taliban, threatening to place a large bounty on their leaders. This statement came after Rubio claimed that the Taliban are holding more American hostages than reported. He posted on X (formerly Twitter) that if these reports are accurate, the U.S. would consider offering a bounty on their top leaders, potentially even larger than the one placed on Osama bin Laden.

The new U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has issued a stern warning to the Taliban, threatening to place a large bounty on their leaders. This statement came after Rubio claimed that the Taliban are holding more American hostages than reported. He posted on X (formerly Twitter) that if these reports are accurate, the U.S. would consider offering a bounty on their top leaders, potentially even larger than the one placed on Osama bin Laden.

Shaheen said, “In the face of pressure and aggression, the jihad of the Afghan nation in recent decades is a lesson that everyone should learn from.” His words hint at the Taliban’s long history of withstanding U.S. military campaigns and their readiness to resist new threats.

US President Donald Trump dug in his heels Monday over a controversial suggestion that large numbers of Gazans take refuge in Egypt and Jordan, shrugging off wall-to-wall opposition to the proposal from Arab leaders.

Fresh off what he said were calls with Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi and Jordan’s King Abdullah, Trump insisted both leaders would take in Palestinians from the war-ravaged territory and said the issue would be discussed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the two meet sometime soon, amid speculation in Israel that Trump’s gambit was being coordinated with Jerusalem.

Egyptian media on Tuesday cited government sources as saying that Trump and Sissi had yet to speak. If they did, Sissi’s office would issue a readout, the Egyptian officials told local media.