On Monday the Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, signed an additional lien of 320 million shekels from the Palestinian Authority’s liquidation funds in favor of the families of terror victims.

This is the latest in a series of liens on funds from the Palestinian Authority, which prevents it from using the funds and designates the authority’s funds for victims of terrorism and their families.

“This is a necessary step in our national struggle against terrorism and against the Palestinian Authority that encourages it,” Smotrich declared.

Source:
Smotrich freezes additional PA funds, by Israel National News, February 17, 2025

 

UNRWA remains operational in eastern Jerusalem despite its outlawing there and throughout Israel last month, an Israeli radio station reported on Sunday.

Senior UNRWA staff have left Israel and Judea and Samaria because the outlawing of the agency risked compromising their freedom of movement, Kan 11 reported. The organization’s two headquarters in Jerusalem have also closed down.

But schools and other UNRWA facilities in eastern Jerusalem and beyond remain open and operational, according to the report.

“This is inconceivable,” Shai Glick, CEO of the human rights group b’Tsalmo wrote on X. “We will physically come there and close the place down no matter what happens! We will not allow terrorism free range in Jerusalem,” he added.

Source:
Report: UNRWA illegally operational in Jerusalem, by JNS Staff, February 17, 2025

 

 

During a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Tuesday, President Donald J. Trump reiterated his plan for the United States to take control of Gaza while the Arab residents would be relocated to Jordan and Egypt. The proposal, which the King argued would create political instability in his country and the region, came as Trump issued a stern warning to Hamas, threatening that “all bets are off” if it does not release all remaining Israeli hostages by Saturday.

After almost a full week of Trump threatening that all hell will break loose if all the hostages are not released, late yesterday, a Hamas official said that they will release hostages as planned on Saturday under the agreement already signed.

In his meeting with King Abdullah Trump reiterated his stance that the United States would take control of Gaza. “We’re going to take it, we’re going to hold it, we’re going to cherish it,” he told reporters.

King Abdullah carefully avoided engaging in the discussion. The king had to be cognizant of the $1.5 billion in annual aid to Jordan that President Trump is expected to dispense over the next four years. However, with all the eyes in the Middle East on him, including the “Palestinians” who constitute some 80% of his own country, Abdullah could not agree publicly to Trump’s demand that Jordan take in a million Gazans.

As a gesture of goodwill, King Abdullah told Trump his country would take in some 2,000 sick children from Gaza. “I think one of the things that we can do right away is take 2,000 children, cancer children who are in a very ill state, that is possible,” Abdullah told the president.

The Trump effect is in action. He is calling for ALL hostages to be released by Saturday at noon and Hamas has relented but only to abide by the agreement now in place which means releasing another drip of hostages which is far short of Trump’s demand. Can we look forward to a favorable outcome for all the U.S. and Israel? Be sure to stay tuned to this developing story.

Sources:
Trump Does Not Take No for an Answer on Gaza in Meeting with Jordanian King, by David Israel/Jewish Press, February 12, 2025

Hamas official: Hostage release to go on as planned, by Israel National News, February 12, 2025

On Monday, enforcement was carried out on about nine illegal building clusters in Firing Range 918 in South Hebron Hills, near the Israeli communities of Carmel and Maon.

The demolition concludes a long process that began with demolition orders issued in the 1990s, continued with legal petitions against the expulsion lasting over twenty years, and finally, a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court in June 2022 declaring the building illegal and must be demolished.

Roi Drucker, Coordinator of Judea and Samaria for Regavim, said: “After more than three decades of state procrastination, we are witnessing determined action to restore justice, even within a complex reality and heavy international pressures. The State of Israel is taking responsibility for its assets, law, and mainly security, doing what it should have done a long time ago. Besides the Ministry of Defense’s activity, action from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is required against BDS organizations exploiting the situation for delegitimizing the IDF and the State of Israel as a whole.”

Source:
Illegal construction demolished near Hebron, by Israel National News, February 11, 2025

 

A data analyses of some 1,500 articles about the October 7 massacres and subsequent Israel-Hamas war published by the New York Times revealed that the media outlet presented a narrative to its readership that downplayed Israeli suffering and focused little on Hamas atrocities.

The study was conducted independently by Edieal Pinker, a professor and deputy dean at the Yale School of Management, and published in SSRN, a journal for research papers that have not yet undergone peer review.

Ninety-one percent of the articles published by the Times on the conflict did not mention Israeli casualties sustained after October 7, glossing over the fact that dozens of civilians were murdered in terror attacks and by Hezbollah and Hamas bombings.

Not surprisingly, the Times statement did not directly acknowledge or address any of the data-based points around its coverage that were highlighted in the study.

We can’t expect a serious turnaround for the foreseeable future from the ‘Gray Lady,’ the nickname for The New York Times that dates back to the early 20th century. The ‘Gray Lady’ came to symbolize the newspaper’s commitment to delivering accurate, unbiased, and reliable news to its readers. Not anymore. They’ve come a long, long way from being a trusted news source, at least as far as we’re concerned when it comes to the truth about Israel.

Source:
NY Times’ Oct. 7 war coverage ‘distorted, imbalanced’ – Study, by World Israel News Staff, February 11, 2025

 

Israel conveyed a message to mediating parties regarding the emaciated condition of Or Levy, Eli Sharabi, and Ohad Ben Ami, the released hostages on Saturday.

“Following the severe condition of the three hostages and Hamas’ repeated violations, Prime Minister Netanyahu has directed not to let this pass and to take appropriate action.”

Noya Ziv, a protester at the Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, told TPS-IL: “They returned thin, emaciated, we must do everything to get them out. Those who returned told us that they prepared animal cages for them, that they were kept in animal cages, we must do everything to release them and for the world to wake up already.”

The released three hostages, who were held for 491 days in Hamas captivity, appeared thin and pale – though able to stand. They struggled with exposure to sunlight but were forced to cooperate and answer Hamas’ questions in Hebrew.

In response to the condition of the hostages, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said, “This is what a crime against humanity looks like!”

Despite the images of the released hostages’ condition, the release of terrorists from the Ofer Prison has begun. The Israel Prison Service was preparing to release 183 Palestinian terrorists, including several serving life sentences for murder. They have been brought to the main reception centers in the ‘Ofer’ and ‘Ktziot’ prisons where Red Cross representatives will identify each one.

You can be assured that every terrorist prisoner Israel releases received adequate treatment by Israeli prison staff. They are not going home emaciated or showing signs of having been viciously and brutally treated like Ohad, or, and Eli. The American Red Cross was nowhere to be found to provide and report on treatment for our Israeli hostages. Every rational minded and peace-loving individual who claims they have true concern about the human condition must demand total eradication of Hamas and an investigation into the accountability of the American Red Cross’s inactions. Then we can advocate for shutting down the doors of the American Red Cross. better yet, let’s ask President Donald J. Trump to execute a gut rehab job on this organization. Accept nothing less.

Source:
‘Crime Against Humanity’: Hostages Returned in Emaciated Condition, by TPS-IL, February 10, 2025

 

Likud ministers sent an urgent letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, urging him to apply Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria. Their appeal followed Netanyahu’s diplomatic visit to the White House, where President Donald Trump suggested that the coming four weeks would be a critical period for deciding on the region.

The ministers’ letter was titled “Implementing Sovereignty in Judea and Samaria – Preventing the Next Massacre.” The initiative was spearheaded by Yesha Council Chairman Yisrael Gantz, Yossi Dagan, and Yesha Council Director General Omer Rahamim.

The ministers asserted that full Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria is not only an expression of Israel’s natural right to its land but also the only way to prevent future atrocities like those of October 7 from occurring in cities such as Afula, Hadera, Kfar Saba, Modi’in, Jerusalem, and Beersheba.

The only unresolved issue that remains about applying sovereignty over Judea and Samaria is this: What are we waiting for? SOVEREIGNTY NOW!

Source:
Likud Ministers to Netanyahu: Time to Apply Sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, by David Israel/Jewish Press, February 10, 2025

 

President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order last Thursday authorizing stringent economic sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC), condemning its actions as “illegitimate and baseless” for targeting the United States and Israel.

The order grants the president broad authority to impose financial and visa restrictions on ICC officials and their family members if they are found to be involved in investigations or prosecutions of US citizens and US allies.

This move follows the ICC’s November decision to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel has no better friend than that of President Donald J. Trump and we thank him for defending Israel in the very Israel-hating International Criminal Court.

Source:
Trump Sanctions ICC for ‘Illegitimate and Baseless’ Attacks on US, Israel, by David Israel/Jewish Press, February 7, 2025

 

US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday evening held a press conference following their meeting at the White House.

On the key issue of Gaza, the President once again spoke of his plan to relocate Gazans to several sites where they will be “able to live in comfort and peace. The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all the dangerous and unexploded bombs and other weapons, and get rid of the destroyed buildings, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.”

Netanyahu told Trump, “I believe that your willingness to puncture conventional thinking, your willingness to think outside the box with fresh ideas, will help us achieve all these goals. You see things others refuse to see. You say things others refuse to say, and after the jaws drop, people scratch their heads and say, ‘You know what? He’s right.’”

Here’s what key voices are saying about President Trump’s plan for Gaza and the application of sovereignty over Judea and Samaria:

“…for the first time, an American president is essentially declaring the end of the Palestinian dream to destroy Israel either through Gaza or through establishing a Palestinian state in the heart of the Land of Israel.” ~Israel Gantz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council and Chairman of the Yesha Council

Israel Ganz: ‘The Palestinian vision is over, Israel must apply sovereignty’, by Israel National News, February 5, 2025

Trump’s statements on Gaza “…are unprecedented and show that he is serious. I don’t remember such a thing in history.” ~Amit Segal, Journalist

Amit Segal: ‘We couldn’t have hoped for anything better’, by Israel National News, February 5, 2025

“President Trump’s statement is clear and moving – both in regard to the encouragement of immigration from Gaza and the strategic importance of the State of Israel.” ~Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council

Yossi Dagan: ‘Now is a rare opportunity to apply sovereignty in Judea and Samaria’, by Israel National News, February 5, 2025

Those screaming about a “forced evacuation” obviously don’t understand the landscape. I know, from many direct conversations, that most people in Gaza wanted to leave even before 10/7, but no one would take them in. Now, the issue is both amplified and academic: there simply is no physical option to remain in Gaza. ~Former Ambassador David Friedman

New Gaza will be a monument to the defeat of radical Islamism, by Ambassador David Friedman/Israel National News, February 5, 2025

We have no reason to believe that President Trump is not serious about his proposal to take over Gaza and create the Riviera of the Middle East, which will surely undergo developments in the weeks to come. Still, tough questions remain to be answered from Arab states’ opposition to relocating Gazans to the enormous cost for American taxpayers and the major challenges on the path to implementing his plan. There are many in the Jewish world who would prefer to see Gaza back in Israeli hands and the Arab community needs to ask tough questions too. The Israeli government is certainly taking this seriously with Defense Minister Israel Katz saying today that the IDF will prepare a detailed plan that will enable the implementation of President Trump’s vision for the immigration of Gazans. Buckle up!

Source:
Trump: The US will take over the Gaza Strip, by Yoni Kempinski, Washington/Israel National News, February 5, 2025

 

On Tuesday, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order to reinstate a “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran.

The preamble is clear and direct. Since its inception in 1979 as a revolutionary theocracy, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has declared its hostility to the United States and its allies and partners. Iran remains the world’s leading state sponsor of terror and has aided Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, the Taliban, al-Qa’ida, and other terrorist networks. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is itself a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.

The memorandum defines the US policy towards Iran, and is aimed at far more than stopping the regime from pursuing a nuclear weapon. It also aims to deny Iran nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles; that Iran’s network and campaign of regional aggression be neutralized; that the IRGC and its surrogates be disrupted, degraded, or denied access to the resources that sustain their destabilizing activities; and to counter Iran’s aggressive development of missiles and other asymmetric and conventional weapons capabilities.

Source:
Trump’s Executive Order on Iran is even better than being reported, by Elder of Ziyon, February 5, 2025