JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER. 1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
PHASE 2 OF THE PEACE PROCESS IS READY TO START.
FINALLY THE EUROPEAN UNION IS TALKING ABOUT HAVING THEIR OWN ARMY.AND IT MUST HAPPEN.
REVELATION 19:16-21
16
And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of
Kings, And Lord Of Lords.(JESUS RETURNG TO EARTH LITERALLY ON A WHITE
HORSE WITH THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS 7 YEARS EARLIER)
17 And I saw an
angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all
the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves
together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the
flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men,
and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of
all men, both free and bond, both small and great.(2ND TIME GOD-JESUS
TELLS THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS TO GET READY TO EAT HUMAN
FLESH.THE FIRST TIME WAS WHEN GOD TOLD THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING
BIRDS-TO EAT RUSSIA,GERMAN,ARAB, MUSLIM BODIES FOR 7 MONTHS IN EZEK 38 @
39.
19 And I saw the beast,(E.U WORLD LEADER) and the kings of the
earth, and their armies,(HERE IT SAYS THE E.U WILL HAVE ITS OWN ARMY)
gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, (JESUS)
and against his army.(RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
20 And the beast (E.U
WORLD LEADER) was taken, and with him the false prophet (POPE FRANCIS)
that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had
received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image.
These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21
And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the
horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were
filled with their flesh.
Zephaniah 2:1-15
1 Gather together, yes, gather,O shameless nation,
2
before the decree takes effect[a] -before the day passes away like
chaff—before there comes upon you the burning anger of the Lord, before
there comes upon you the day of the anger of the Lord.
3 Seek the
Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands;[b] seek
righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of
the anger of the Lord.
4 For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ashkelon
shall become a desolation; Ashdod's people shall be driven out at noon,
and Ekron shall be uprooted.
5 Woe to you inhabitants of the
seacoast, you nation of the Cherethites! The word of the Lord is against
you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines; and I will destroy you until no
inhabitant is left.
6 And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures, with meadows[c] for shepherds and folds for flocks.
7
The seacoast shall become the possession of the remnant of the house of
Judah, on which they shall graze, and in the houses of Ashkelon they
shall lie down at evening. For the Lord their God will be mindful of
them and restore their fortunes.
8 “I have heard the taunts of Moab
(JORDAN) and the revilings of the Ammonites, how they have taunted my
people and made boasts against their territory.
9 Therefore, as I
live,” declares the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Moab shall become
like Sodom, and the Ammonites like Gomorrah, a land possessed by nettles
and salt pits, and a waste forever.The remnant of my people shall
plunder them, and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”
10 This shall be their lot in return for their pride, because they taunted and boasted against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11
The Lord will be awesome against them; for he will famish all the gods
of the earth, and to him shall bow down, each in its place, all the
lands of the nations.
12 You also, O Cushites, shall be slain by my sword.
13
And he will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy
Assyria,(SYRIA) and he will make Nineveh a desolation, a dry waste like
the desert.
14 Herds shall lie down in her midst, all kinds of
beasts;[d] even the owl and the hedgehog[e] shall lodge in her
capitals; a voice shall hoot in the window; devastation will be on the
threshold; for her cedar work will be laid bare.
15 This is the
exultant city that lived securely, that said in her heart, “I am, and
there is no one else.” What a desolation she has become, a lair for wild
beasts! Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.Sa'ar: No
free meals; talks possible if more hostages freed Israel halts aid into
Gaza, citing Hamas refusal to extend first phase of truce
Footnotes-a
-Zephaniah 2:2 Hebrew gives birth, b-Zephaniah 2:3 Or who carry out his
judgment, c-Zephaniah 2:6 Or caves, d-Zephaniah 2:14 Hebrew beasts of
every nation, e-Zephaniah 2:14 The identity of the animals rendered owl
and hedgehog is uncertain
DANIEL 2:37-45
37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
38
And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and
the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made
thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
39 And after
thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third
kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
40 And
the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh
in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these,
shall it break in pieces and bruise.
41 And whereas thou sawest the
feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom
shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron,
forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
43
And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle
themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to
another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
44 And in the days of
these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never
be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it
shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand
for ever.
45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of
the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the
brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known
to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is
certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
DANIEL 7:17-26
17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.
18 But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.
19
Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from
all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his
nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue
with his feet;
20 And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of
the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn
that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was
more stout than his fellows.
21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;
22
Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of
the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
23
Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,
which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole
earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
24 And the
ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and
another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first,
and he shall subdue three kings.
25 And he shall speak great words
against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High,
and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his
hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.
THE WORLD IN 10 WORLD TRADE BLOCS LEAD BY THE EUROPEAN UNION THE WORLD LEADER, NOT AMERICA.I PREDICT.
THE EUROPEAN UNION AND REVIVED ROMAN WORLD GOVERNMENT
DANIEL 2:31-33,36-43, DAN 7:3-8,17
First From Daniel Chapter 2
1 EGYPT
2 ASSYRIA
3 BABYLON (HEAD OF GOLD) DAN 2:31-32,36-38, DAN 1:1
4 MEDO-PERSIANS (CHEST & ARMS OF SILVER) DAN 2:32,39, DAN 9:1
5 GREECE (WAIST & HIPS OF BRONZE) DAN 2:32,39, DAN 11:2
6 ROME (2 LEGS OF IRON) DAN 2:33,40, ROM 1:6
7 REVIVED ROME (EU) (FEET IRON & CLAY) DAN 2:33,41-43,10 TOES
Now From Daniel Chapter 7
1 EGYPT
2 ASSYRIA
3 BABYLON (LION WITH EAGLES WINGS) DAN 7:4, DAN 1:1
4 MEDO-PERSIANS (BEAR ON HIND LEGS) DAN 7:5, DAN 9:1
5 GREECE (LEOPARD 4 WINGS, 4 HEADS) DAN 7:6, DAN 11:2
6 ROME (HUGE IRON TEETH) DAN 7:7 (10 HORNS), ROM 1:6
7 REVIVED ROME (EU) DAN 7:8,19-20,23-25 10 HORNS, 10 KINGS
REV
17:9,12, 10 HORNS, 10 KINGS, 7 HILLS ROME. REV 13:1 BEAST WITH 7 HEADS.
THE E.U LEADER OF WORLD GOVERNMENT DAN 2:40-45, 7:7-8,23-25,27, 8:23,
REV 13:3,7,8,12,14,16
REVELATION 17:10-12
10 And there are
seven kings (7TH WORLD EMPIRE IN HISTORY) five are fallen, (EGYPT,
ASSYRIA, BABYLON,:MEDO-PERSIAN,GREECE and one is,(IN POWER IN JOHNS
DAY-ROME) and the other is not yet come; and when he
cometh,(FUTURE-REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE-EUROPEAN UNION TODAY) he must
continue a short space.(7 YEARS OF WORLD DOMINATION-BUT 3 1/2 YEARS OF
NEW WORLD ORDER OR ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT)
12 And the ten horns (10
WORLD TRADE BLOCS OR REGIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which
have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour
with the beast.
REVELATION 17:12-13
12 And the ten horns (10
WORLD TRADE BLOCS-NATIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have
received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the
beast.
13 These have one mind,(WORLD SOCIALISM) and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
We
shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only
question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or
consent.James Paul Warburg appearing before the Senate on 7th February
1950
Like a famous WWII Belgian General,Paul Henry Spock said in
1957:We need no commission, we have already too many. What we need is a
man who is great enough to be able to keep all the people in subjection
to himself and to lift us out of the economic bog into which we threaten
to sink. Send us such a man. Be he a god or a devil, we will accept
him.And today, sadly, the world is indeed ready for such a man.
DICK
MORRIS-This truly creates a global economic system. From now on, don’t
look to Washington for the rule making, look to Brussels.
THE CLUB OF ROME FOUNDER AURELIO PECCEI WANTS THE WORLD IN 10 REGIONAL TRADING BLOCKS.
REVELATION 16:1-2
1
And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels,
Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the
earth.
2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth;
and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the
mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.
REVELATION 13:16-18
16
And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor,
free and bond, (SLAVE) to receive a mark in their right hand, or in
their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the
beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred
threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM
I KNOW THIS MARK WILL
BE A MICROCHIP IMPLANT UNDER THE SKIN. LETS LOOK UP WHAT THE WORD MARK
SAYS IN REVELATION 13:16-18, 14:9,11, 15:2, 16:2, 19:20, 20:4-ALL THESE
VERSES FROM THE BOOK OF REVELATION SPEAK OF THIS DICTATORS MARK. NOW
LETS SEE WHAT IT MEANS FROM STRONGS EXAUSTIVE CONCORDANCE OF THE BIBLE.
UNDER MARK PAGE 684.MARK UNDER MARK. THE OLD TESTAMENT IS UNDER HEBREW
AND THE NEW TESTAMENT IS UNDER GREEK. SO WHEN WE LOOK UNDER REVELATION
13:16-17 WE SEE IT IS UNDER GREEK, SO WE GO TO GREEK IN THE BACK SECTION
AND GO TO 5480 TO SEE WHAT IT SAYS THIS MARK WOULD BE. SO LETS GET TO
IT.MARK IN STRONGS GREEK 5480 XAPAYUA CHARAGMA, KHAR-AG-MAH: FROM THE
SAME AS 5482: A SCRATCH OR ETCHING, I.E STAMP (AS A BADGE OF SERVITUDE),
OR SCULPTURED FIGURE-(STATUE):-GRAVEN, MARK FROM 5482 XAPAE CHARAX,
KHAR-AX; FROM XAPAOOW CHARASSO (TO SHARPEN TO A POINT; AKIN TO 1125
THROUGH THE IDEA OF SCRATCHING); A STAKE, I.E (BYIMPL.) A PALISADE OR
RAMPART (MILITARY MOUND FOR CIRCUMVALLATION IN A SIEGE): - TRENCH FROM
1125 YPAPOE GRAPHO, GRAF-0; A PRIM. VERB; TO "GRAVE", ESPEC. TO WRITE;
FIG. TO DESCRIBE:-DESCRIBE, WRITE (-ING, -TEN).G5516-GO TO G4742-666 -
STRONGS NT 4742: στίγμα - στίγμα, στιγματος, τό (from στίζω to prick;
(cf. Latinstimulus, etc.; German stechen, English stick, sting, etc.;
Curtius, § 226)), a mark pricked in or branded upon the body. According
to ancient oriental usage, slaves and soldiers bore the name or stamp of
their master or commander branded or pricked (cut) into their bodies to
indicate what master or general they belonged to, and there were even
some devotees who stamped themselves in this way with the token of their
gods (cf. Deyling, Observations, iii., p. 423ff); hence, τά στίγματα
τοῦ (κυρίου so Rec.) Ἰησοῦ, the marks of (the Lord) Jesus, which Paul in
Galatians 6:17 says he bears branded on his body, are the traces left
there by the perils, hardships, imprisonments, scourgings, endured by
him for the cause of Christ, and which mark him as Christ's faithful and
approved votary, servant, soldier (see Lightfoots Commentary on
Galatians, the passage cited). (Herodotus 7, 233; Aristotle, Aelian,
Plutarch, Lcian, others.)
THE INVENTOR OF THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT-CARL SANDERS MICROCHIP ENGINEER LEADER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgH9D6n4ZWo
THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT IN YOUR RIGHT HAND OR FOREHEAD.
LEVETICUS 19.28
Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
HERES WHAT THE WORLD WOULD LOOK LIKE (SINCE THERE WILL BE WORLD GOVERNMENT IN THE FUTURE)-UPDATED VERSION (10 WORLD TRADE BLOCS)
01 CANADA, U.S.A, MEXICO
02 EUROPEAN UNION,WESTERN EUROPE
03 JAPAN
04 AUSTRALIA,NEW ZEALAND, S AFRICA, ISRAEL AND PACIFIC ISLANDS
05 EASTERN EUROPE
06 SOUTHERN, CENTRAL AND LATIN AMERICAS
07 NORTH AFRICA, AND MIDEAST (MOSLEMS)
08 CENTRAL AFRICA
09 SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
10 CENTRAL ASIA
THE
CLUB OF ROME WANTS A WORLD CHARISMATIC DICTATOR (EITHER RELIGIOUS,
POLITICAL OR SCIENTIFICAL) TO HEAD THIS WORLD GOVERNMENT. REV 13:3,7-8,
DAN 7:23-24
WORLD POWERS IN THE END TIME
NORTH - RUSSIA EZEK 38:1-2, 39:1-2
SOUTH - EGYPT DAN 11:42
EAST - CHINA DAN 11:44,REV 16:12
WEST - EUROPEAN UNION DAN 7:23-24 (NOT THE U.S.A)
http://israel7777777.blogspot.ca/2012/03/10-world-trade-blocs-one-world.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2006/09/how-eu-takes-world-control.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2012/05/one-world-religion-crislam.html
FINALLY THE EUROPEAN UNION IS TALKING ABOUT HAVING THEIR OWN ARMY.AND IT MUST HAPPEN.
REVELATION 19:16-21
16
And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of
Kings, And Lord Of Lords.(JESUS RETURNG TO EARTH LITERALLY ON A WHITE
HORSE WITH THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS 7 YEARS EARLIER)
17 And I saw an
angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all
the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves
together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the
flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men,
and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of
all men, both free and bond, both small and great.(2ND TIME GOD-JESUS
TELLS THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS TO GET READY TO EAT HUMAN
FLESH.THE FIRST TIME WAS WHEN GOD TOLD THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING
BIRDS-TO EAT RUSSIA,GERMAN,ARAB, MUSLIM BODIES FOR 7 MONTHS IN EZEK 38 @
39.
19 And I saw the beast,(E.U WORLD LEADER) and the kings of the
earth, and their armies,(HERE IT SAYS THE E.U WILL HAVE ITS OWN ARMY)
gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, (JESUS)
and against his army.(RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
20 And the beast (E.U
WORLD LEADER) was taken, and with him the false prophet (POPE FRANCIS)
that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had
received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image.
These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21
And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the
horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were
filled with their flesh.
COUNCIL FOR EUROPE ON DEFENCE
https://defence-industry-space.ec.europa.eu/document/download/6d6f889c-e58d-4caa-8f3b-8b93154fe206_en?filename=SAFE%20Regulation.pdf
US
promises 'demilitarization,' though Hamas hasn't agreed-US launches
Gaza plan’s 2nd phase as Palestinian technocratic government
unveiled-Last hostage’s mom says move jeopardizes efforts to return her
son, as Witkoff warns Hamas on matter, Netanyahu says ‘declarative’ move
to stage 2 won’t harm repatriation efforts By Jacob Magid,Noam Lehmann,
Lazar Berman and AFP 14 January 2026, 10:23 pm
US special envoy
Steve Witkoff on Wednesday announced the launch of phase two of
President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the war in Gaza,
including the establishment of a new technocratic Palestinian
administration for the Strip.Witkoff said in a statement that this new
phase will consist of “moving from ceasefire to demilitarization,
technocratic governance and reconstruction.”“Phase two establishes a
transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in Gaza — the
National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) — and begins
the full demilitarization and reconstruction of Gaza, primarily the
disarmament of all unauthorized personnel,” Witkoff said.“The US expects
Hamas to comply fully with its obligations, including the immediate
return of the final deceased hostage. Failure to do so will bring
serious consequences,” the US envoy added.“Importantly, phase one
delivered historic humanitarian aid, maintained the ceasefire, returned
all living hostages and the remains of 27 of the 28 deceased hostages,”
Witkoff said, thanking fellow mediators Egypt, Turkey and Qatar “for
their indispensable mediation efforts that made all progress to date
possible.”Israel pushed back on transitioning to phase two before Hamas
had given up its weapons and returned the body of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili.
Top US officials told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his
Mar-a-Lago meetings last month that Washington is committed to those two
goals, but doesn’t want to condition the commencement of phase two on
either, a US official and two sources familiar with the matter told The
Times of Israel last week.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with
Gvili’s parents after the announcement, telling them that Gvili’s return
“is at the top of Israel’s priorities, and that the declarative move to
establish a committee of technocrats [to manage Gaza] will not affect
in any way the efforts to bring Ran back for burial in Israel.”Netanyahu
also said that Israel is insisting that information on Gvili’s
whereabouts provided by the mediators “be immediately translated into
effective actions on the ground.“Hamas is required to comply with the
terms of the agreement and make a 100 percent effort to return all
fallen hostages, until the very last one — Ran Gvili, a hero of Israel,”
Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.Gvili’s mother, Talik, said in a
statement that the declaration will not impact her campaign for her son
but emphasized her opposition to the implementation of phase two until
he is returned.“Moving to phase two at this moment, while the efforts to
return Ran have yet to be exhausted, is a loss of the most significant
leverage and may be a sentence of eternal disappearance for Ran. Until
Ran is returned, the State of Israel will not be able to close its most
bloody wound and will not be able to begin the rehabilitation and
healing that it so desperately needs. Phase two must not be implemented
as long as Ran has not returned home,” she said.Notably, Witkoff’s
announcement does not include the unveiling of the Board of Peace, which
is supposed to be made up of world leaders who will oversee the
NCAG.The US had initially planned to reveal the Board of Peace’s members
last month, but has struggled to rally international support around its
plan amid heavy skepticism that Hamas will agree to disarm or that
Israel will agree to further withdraw from the Strip and allow for its
reconstruction.Nonetheless, the US is still aiming to hold the first
meeting of the Board of Peace on the sidelines of the World Economic
Forum in Davos next week.While Witkoff’s statement spoke of
demilitarization, no agreement has been reached yet on how that will be
executed.The US has been in talks with Mideast mediators Egypt, Qatar
and Turkey, which have assured Washington that Hamas will agree to a
gradual disarmament plan that would begin with the terror group giving
up its heavy weaponry and the launch of a “buy-back” program for lighter
weapons, according to the US official and two Arab diplomats, who said
the goal is to begin implementing the program in the coming weeks.It is
not clear whether this framework will be sufficient for Israel, and
Hamas officials have publicly asserted that the organization will only
agree to give up its weapons in a negotiated process that results in the
establishment of a Palestinian state. For its part, the US has claimed
that Hamas agreed to disarm during a meeting between top officials from
each side hours before phase one of the ceasefire was inked in
October.That deal has barely held in the nearly three months since, with
mutual allegations of violations and over 400 Palestinians killed,
according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which doesn’t differentiate
between civilians and combatants.While aid has increased significantly
during this period, humanitarian groups say Israeli restrictions have
hampered their efforts to serve the people of Gaza, where hundreds of
thousands are displaced in often flimsy tents at the peak of winter.Arab
world, Palestinian factions welcome new committee-Mediating states
Egypt, Qatar and Turkey issued a joint statement welcoming the formation
of the technocratic committee, and confirmed that the committee will be
headed by former Palestinian Authority deputy transportation minister
Ali Shaath.“This step… will contribute to stability and improve the
humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip,” the mediators said,
expressing their hope that it will also pave the way for further
implementation of the Trump plan’s second phase.“The mediators stress
the need for all parties to commit to the full implementation of the
agreement in order to achieve a sustainable peace and create the
appropriate conditions for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip in a
manner that meets the aspirations of the brotherly Palestinian people
for security, stability, and a dignified life,” the statement
added.Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty
announced that “a consensus has been reached on the members” of the
committee to govern Gaza.The PA had hoped that it would control the
panel and that one of its ministers would serve as its chairman. But
that demand was vetoed by Israel, which has blocked efforts to allow the
PA to gain a foothold in Gaza.“We hope that following this agreement,
the committee will be announced soon… and will then be deployed to the
Gaza Strip to manage daily life and essential services,” he said,
indicating that all Palestinian factions back the members of the new
committee.Abdelatty stressed that despite the formation of the new
technocratic body tasked with managing Gaza for an interim period, Egypt
will not allow for the enclave to be separated politically from the
West Bank, stressing the importance of a two-state solution.The Egyptian
foreign minister expressed his hope that an announcement would soon be
made revealing the 15 members.Some of the members of the technocratic
committee are located in Gaza, while others are outside the Strip. The
Haaretz daily reported that the panel will initially be based in Cairo,
though this would likely require Israel to reopen the Rafah
Crossing.It’s still unclear when the committee will be able to begin
operating.The members of the new panel have not yet been formally
announced, but they have received official letters from the Board of
Peace High Representative Nickolay Mladenov to serve on the transitional
committee.The PA’s President Mahmoud Abbas expressed his support for
the new technocratic committee on Wednesday.The statement from Abbas’s
office welcoming the new panel lauded Trump’s efforts to stabilize Gaza,
in an apparent effort to maintain working ties with Washington in the
hope that this will allow for the PA to gradually restore its role in
the Strip.Abbas’s office stressed the importance of not separating Gaza
from the West Bank and urged countries to take actions to prevent the
further tightening of Israel’s grip on the latter territory.The US State
Department welcomed the PA’s support in a statement.The majority of
Palestinian factions also offered their support for the technocratic
committee.In a statement, Palestinian factions, including terror groups
Hamas and Islamic Jihad, said they had agreed “to support the mediators’
efforts in forming the Palestinian National Transitional Committee to
administer the Gaza Strip, while providing the appropriate environment”
for it to begin its work.The statement also vowed to “continue to work
for national unity,” called for an independent Palestinian state, and
urged mediators to pressure Israel to withdraw from Gaza. There was no
mention of Hamas’s weapons, which the terror group must surrender to
international forces under Trump’s plan.The statement came after a Hamas
delegation met with representatives of other Palestinian factions in
Cairo in the afternoon to discuss the transition to the second phase of
the Gaza ceasefire deal, according to Egyptian outlet al-Qahera, which
is considered close to Egyptian intelligence.Other outlets reported that
the meeting did not include representatives of the PA and its dominant
faction, Fatah.
We want to see Israel and Turkey rebuild their
relationship'US bullish as bodies tasked with replacing Hamas take
shape, despite disarmament hurdle-Trump aides insist Hamas is indicating
it’s prepared to give up weapons and say they’re committed to bringing
back last hostage’s body, but will not wait to advance Gaza peace
place-By Jacob Magid-Today, 6:10 am-JAN 15,26
A pair of US
officials expressed significant optimism about the chances for
stabilizing Gaza, during a Wednesday briefing held shortly after
Washington announced the start of a new phase of President Donald
Trump’s plan to end the war in the coastal enclave.“For the first time
in Gaza in almost a long time, there’s no Palestinian Authority and
there’s no Hamas governing it. This really has the potential to be the
beginning of a new era,” one of the US officials said, speaking to a
group of reporters on condition of anonymity.Hours earlier, Egypt
announced the establishment of a transitional Palestinian technocratic
committee that will be tasked with running daily affairs in the Gaza
Strip in place of Hamas. It is one of several bodies that the US is
establishing as part of the second phase of Trump’s plan, after a phase
one ceasefire was inked on October 9.Since then, intensive Israeli
military operations in the Strip have largely halted; the IDF withdrew
to a new demarcation known as the Yellow Line, leaving it in control of
roughly 53% of Gaza; all 20 living Israeli hostages were returned in
exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners; 27 of the 28 bodies of
deceased Israeli hostages have also been handed over; and a surge of aid
has entered the enclave, alleviating an ongoing humanitarian crisis as
winter peaks.While Trump within days of the October ceasefire declared
that phase two of his plan had already begun, the US struggled to make
that announcement a reality amid mutual allegations of ceasefire
violations, and widespread skepticism that Hamas will agree to disarm or
that Israel will agree to further withdraw from the Strip as envisioned
by Trump’s plan.Unmoved by those concerns, US special envoy Steve
Witkoff announced on Wednesday the “launch of phase two,” where the goal
will be “moving from ceasefire to demilitarization, technocratic
governance and reconstruction.”The US officials briefing reporters hours
later acknowledged heavy doubt in Jerusalem over the prospect of Hamas
disarming, but they insisted that the terrorist group has indicated its
readiness to do so.“We’ve talked to a number of Hamas people, and we’re
hearing throughout the Arab world that people don’t want to be at war
anymore. They want peace. They want a better economic future for their
families. They want credible homes,” said a second US official on the
briefing. “They want what everybody else in this world wants — just a
good life, and a good life doesn’t occur through military means.”The
officials proceeded to offer status updates on the other bodies that
will be established as part of the second phase, including the Board of
Peace, which will oversee the entire operation and the International
Stabilization Force, which in turn will help secure the Strip in place
of the IDF. While officials familiar with the matter have told The Times
of Israel in recent weeks that Washington has struggled to recruit
allies abroad to serve on either forum, the two Trump aides briefing
reporters insisted that Washington has received more than enough
assistance to move its Gaza plan forward.Committed to finding Gvili, but
won’t hold up phase two-The US official touted the humanitarian
operation since the ceasefire and phase one of Trump’s plan came into
place in October, saying 53,120 trucks of aid — two million pallets
worth — have entered the Strip since and that cooperation between Israel
and the UN has increased.While basic food supplies have indeed
increased significantly, lack of sufficient shelter has become a major
issue, with aid organizations lamenting Israeli restrictions on metal
polls necessary to stabilize tents that have been widely filmed falling
apart amid the winter winds. Israel says those materials could be used
by Hamas for weapons and therefore has not allowed them into Gaza, where
hundreds of thousands are living in tents.The US official said that
progress has also been made in destroying tunnels, with 50 kilometers
worth already demolished and several tons of rubble cleared making room
for several square kilometers of space to build new temporary housing
for Gazans. The first such project is planned to go up on the ruins of
the southern Gaza city of Rafah, officials have told The Times of
Israel.Israel had pushed back on advancing to phase two of Trump’s Gaza
plan before Hamas has handed over Israel Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili’s
body along with its weapons. But top US officials informed Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to Florida last month that
they did not want to hold things up any longer and would continue the
search for Gvili along with efforts to disarm Hamas simultaneously with
the operationalization of phase two, officials told The Times of
Israel.A “very good channel of communication” is operating to find
Gvili’s remains and there are several potential sites where his body may
be located, said the first US official during the briefing.“We will not
consider this mission completed until the last body is found. With that
being said, we are not going to hold up going to phase two for that
because both parties have agreed to continue working in good faith,”
said the US official.The US official also argued that Wednesday’s launch
of the Palestinian technocratic committee, along with continued
progress on Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan, would boost the chances of
locating Gvili’s body.Hamas ‘indicating’ readiness to disarm-Despite
the optimism regarding the prospect of disarming Hamas, the first US
official indicated that conversations on the topic with the terror
organization are only in their initial stages.“We will be engaging in
conversations with Hamas on the next phase, which is demilitarization
and [we will be engaging] with Israel on what amnesty program can be
given to Hamas [fighters] if they do this,” he said.“There’s clearly not
a lot of trust between both sides after decades of conflict, but…
believe that there is a good chance that everyone will try to keep their
word in the agreement, and we will be able to move things forward,” the
US official said.The official went on to claim that Hamas officials
“are indicating that there’s a real possibility that [demilitarization]
will happen, so we’re pushing very hard to make it happen.”Offering some
more detail on what demilitarization might look like, the first senior
US official said all terror infrastructure in Gaza will be destroyed and
“heavy weaponry, like RPGs, rocket launchers and missiles” will “need
to be put into a place where they’re not being used.”He notably made no
mention of light weapons, which Israel is also insisting be part of the
disarmament program, arguing that AK-47s are what Hamas uses to maintain
its control of Gazans in the Strip.“Gaza needs to have basic policing
so that they can keep control of their populations. People should be
able to make sure that it’s a place free of crime, where people can live
freely and safely,” the US official said.The US has been in talks with
mediators Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, which have assured Washington that
Hamas will agree to a gradual disarmament plan that would begin with the
terror group giving up its heavy weaponry and the launch of a
“buy-back” program for lighter weapons, according to the US official and
two Arab diplomats told The Times of Israel last week, who said the
goal is to begin implementing the program in the coming weeks.It was not
clear whether this framework will be sufficient for Israel. Hamas
officials have publicly asserted that the organization will only agree
to give up its weapons in a negotiated process that results in the
establishment of a Palestinian state.Board of Peace invites go out-While
talks on disarmament will likely take time, the Trump administration is
moving ahead with the establishment of the Board of Peace, with the
first US official revealing during the briefing that invitations to
serve on the panel went out to world leaders on Wednesday-The US
official declined to divulge which countries’ leaders were invited to
take part, but The Times of Israel reported last month that the US had
informed interlocutors that it secured commitments from Egypt, Qatar,
the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany to have
their leaders join Trump on the Board of Peace.The US is hoping to more
than double that number, but has had limited success to date, a senior
Arab diplomat said last week, adding that Washington is considering
filling spots on the panel with the heads of the World Bank,
International Monetary Fund and World Economic Forum.But briefing
reporters on Wednesday, the first US official was bullish about the
Board of Peace’s makeup, saying that Trump was personally involved in
selecting who would receive an invitation to join him on the panel. The
official added that invitations were sent out earlier in the day to “a
lot of countries” and that “there has been a very overwhelming
response.”“The goal here is to create the alternative to Hamas that
wants peace and to figure out how to empower them,” the US official said
of the Palestinian technocratic committee, adding that its full list of
participants would be unveiled later this week.“Our job at the Board of
Peace is to be supporting them, giving them all the best practices of
what’s being done in the region and find ways to give them every
opportunity to be successful,” the US official said.The Board of Peace
will also have an executive committee that will effectively be headed by
Nickolay Mladenov. The former UN envoy to the Mideast has been given
the title of Board of Peace high representative. Also serving on the
executive committee will be former UK prime minister Tony Blair, and
Trump’s top aides Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, officials have told
The Times of Israel.The executive committee will work more closely with
the technocratic committee, than the Board of Peace, which will only
meet a handful of times each year and largely play a symbolic role that
will offer legitimacy for the initiative as it needs to fundraise a
significant amount of cash.Will Turkey join the International
Stabilization Force? Also being established as part of phase two of
Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan is an International Stabilization Force that
will be tasked with providing security in the Strip.The US has struggled
to get countries on board amid heavy speculation that Hamas will
disarm. One of the two countries Washington had publicly touted,
Azerbaijan, announced earlier this month that it would not be
participating.But the US official briefing reporters downplayed the
challenge, insisting that enough countries have volunteered to
contribute troops to allow the initiative to move forward.Moreover, he
appeared to confirm The Times of Israel’s reporting on the shrinking of
the ISF mandate to more limited tasks such as securing borders and
humanitarian aid, rather than kinetic activity to disarm Hamas.“A lot of
the work inside Gaza will be done by the local Palestinian police
forces, which we think is the most important element of this plan, so
we’ve been putting a lot of time into that,” the US official said.He
said more information regarding the ISF will be released in about two
weeks, indicating that it is not at the top of the administration’s
priorities.People are in a celebratory mood. The fact that this
coincides with Davos feels a little bit like it was meant to be,” the US
official said.Asked whether Turkey will take part in the ISF amid
fierce Israeli pushback, the US official avoids answering directly,
while touting Ankara’s productive role.“Turkey has played a very
integral role in getting to the ceasefire, and President Trump is very
grateful to President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan and (his team)…. They’ve
done an incredible job really working with us, and we think it’s very
important to have them involved, as they have influence with Hamas,” the
US official said.“We want to see Turkey and Israel start to rebuild
their relationship,” he said, adding that sustained calm in Gaza will
create more space for that to occur.“President Erdogan has a big heart
for the people of Gaza — hopefully we can get both sides to start
deescalating their rhetoric, start focusing on their interests and
seeing that there’s a lot of benefit that both countries can have in
working together,” the US official said.The first meeting of the Board
of Peace is slated to take place on the sidelines of the World Economic
Forum in Davos next week, and a second US official on the briefing said
announcements will likely be made at the gathering.“People are in a
celebratory mood. The fact that this coincides with Davos feels a little
bit like it was meant to be,” the US official said.
Former
deputy PA minister to lead technocratic committee slated to administer
Gaza-Ali Shaath, a Gazan native and longtime civil servant, touts his
plans for rebuilding Strip after 2 years of war, including pushing
rubble into sea in order to reclaim land By AFP Today, 4:35 am-JAN 15,26
Gaza
native and former Palestinian Authority deputy minister Ali Shaath will
head the new technocratic committee set to administer the devastated
Gaza Strip, mediating countries announced on Wednesday.A seasoned civil
servant largely unknown to the wider public, Shaath was born in the
southern city of Khan Younis in 1958, later leaving to study in Cairo, a
family member told AFP.He became a civil engineer, and previously
served as the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority’s deputy minister of
planning and international cooperation, as well as undersecretary for
the ministry of transportation and communications, among other
portfolios.In a technical and detail-oriented interview on Palestinian
Basma Radio on Wednesday, Shaath spoke at length on rebuilding the Gaza
Strip, ravaged by more than two years of war and intensive bombing.“We
are not talking about ‘reconstruction’ but construction anew,” he said,
highlighting the immediate need for shelter for Gaza’s 2.2 million
residents, almost all of whom have been displaced at least once during
the war.“We will set plans for water, well rehabilitation, water
purification, and treated water — water is the secret to health,
education, hospitals, all of which were destroyed,” he added.On the
question of the vast amounts of rubble left from Gaza’s destroyed
buildings, Shaath floated the idea of pushing it into the adjacent
Mediterranean Sea to reclaim land.He told the broadcaster he had been
contacted about the post by Bulgarian diplomat and politician Nickolay
Mladenov-Under US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, Shaath’s
committee would operate under the supervision of a so-called “Board of
Peace,” expected to be led on the ground by Mladenov and chaired by
Trump himself.‘Brains’, not weapons-Regarding his jurisdiction, Shaath
said that under the terms of the US-brokered agreement, his committee
would gradually take over 50 percent of Gazan territory currently under
Israeli control, before expanding to cover the entirety of its area.He
added that security and coordination with armed groups were not part of
the committee’s mandate.“The commission is not an army; it is 15
Palestinian experts in reconstruction, assisted by staff — brains more
than weapons,” he said.Gaza’s technocratic committee will meet for the
first time Thursday in Cairo, a Palestinian official told AFP.Five
members of the committee currently in the Gaza Strip will travel via the
Rafah Border Crossing to bordering Egypt for the meeting, another
Palestinian official said.Palestinian factions including PA President
Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party and its rival Hamas expressed their support
for the committee’s composition.Hamas has said it does not seek a role
in any future governing authority in Gaza, and would limit its role to a
monitoring capacity, but has not agreed to handover its weapons.One
employee of an international organization working in the Palestinian
territories, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that given his
relatively low profile Shaath “didn’t strike me as an obvious
choice.”Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
IDF
says 6 gunmen killed Tuesday in Rafah firefight after ‘serious
violation’ of truce-Weapons found on bodies of suspects after they
approached forces on the Israel-controlled side of the Yellow Line,
sparking a clash and airstrikes in the area By Stav Levaton,Noam
Lehmann, Lazar Berman and Agencies 14 January 2026, 8:01 pm
The
Israel Defense Forces said on Wednesday that all six of the gunmen
identified during a clash in western Rafah on Tuesday were killed during
the exchange of fire.In a statement, the military said troops from the
7th Armored Brigade had eliminated the six suspects. Searches were
carried out in the area and various weapons were found on their
bodies.The incident unfolded on the Israeli-controlled side of the
Yellow Line in the southern Gaza Strip after troops identified six armed
individuals near their positions. Tanks moved in and opened fire,
prompting the gunmen to return fire and triggering a firefight along
with Israeli airstrikes.In the immediate aftermath of the clash, the IDF
confirmed that it had killed at least two of the armed suspects and
said it was searching the area for the remaining gunmen.The military
reiterated its comments from Tuesday in the Wednesday statement, saying
that the incident constituted a “serious violation” of the October
ceasefire agreement, and said it would continue to act against any of
the attempts by terror groups in Gaza to attack Israeli forces or
civilians.Since October 10, a fragile US-sponsored truce in Gaza has
largely halted the fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas, but both
sides have alleged frequent ceasefire violations.Three IDF soldiers have
been killed during the same period.The IDF published footage of
Tuesday’s clash, in which gunmen could be seen firing at IDF tanks, with
troops returning fire.The military also published photos of the weapons
that were found on the suspects’ bodies after the clash.The flare-up in
violence came even as Israel and other countries prepared for the onset
of the Gaza ceasefire’s second phase, which the US publicly launched on
Wednesday.Phase two is meant to establish longer-term governance and
security frameworks for the enclave. But Israel is insisting that Master
Sgt. Ran Gvili, the final deceased hostage held in Gaza, be returned
before the deal advances, and on Tuesday reiterated that it rejects
claims by the Gaza terror groups that they can’t locate his body.Israel
is “working every day, all day and night,” to return Gvili’s body to
Israel, a senior government official said on Tuesday.“The efforts are
being made through the negotiating team, and contacts with the
mediators, also through connections with the Americans, as well as
intelligence actions,” the official said.“There are those in the Islamic
Jihad who know where Ran Gvili is,” the official continued, referring
to the last slain hostage held in Gaza.“We are not going to give up on
this. Information we have given to the mediators multiple times,
including recently, must be translated into effective actions to bring
him back,” said the official. “That message has been communicated.”Last
week, multiple sources had told The Times of Israel that US President
Donald Trump was aiming to begin the second phase of the ceasefire, even
as Gvili remains held in Gaza. Trump is set to announce the Board of
Peace, which will supervise Gaza’s on-the-ground government.Trump’s move
comes as other key pieces of the ceasefire have yet to occur, such as
Hamas’s disarmament, which the terror group has rejected, and the
opening of the Rafah Border Crossing between Gaza and Egypt.
US
could declare shift to phase 2 of peace plan on Wednesday-Palestinian
technocrats invited to join transitional Gaza governing committee —
sources-Former deputy PA minister to head panel; Gaza Chamber of
Commerce head, who will also be a member, tells ToI he is ‘eager to
start work to alleviate suffering of Gazans’By Jacob Magid-14 January
2026, 4:24 am
Roughly a dozen Palestinians received official
invitations on Tuesday to serve on the technocratic committee slated to
manage Gaza’s daily affairs in place of Hamas, an Arab diplomat and a
Palestinian official told The Times of Israel.The letters were signed by
the Board of Peace’s designated high representative, Nikolay Mladenov,
two of the technocrats who received the letters said.Mladenov, a
Bulgarian diplomat who previously served as the UN special envoy to the
Middle East, will be tasked with directly overseeing the technocratic
committee on behalf of the Board of Peace. He held meetings last week
with senior officials in Israel and the Palestinian Authority in
preparation for the transition to phase two of US President Donald
Trump’s peace plan for the Gaza Strip, which could be announced as early
as Wednesday, the Arab diplomat said.Inked in October, phase one saw
the start of a fragile ceasefire along with a hostage-prisoner swap.
Phase two is supposed to see the disarmament of Hamas, the completion of
Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, the reconstruction of the Strip and the
establishment of the various transitional bodies tasked with running the
enclave before it is handed off to a reformed PA.One of those bodies is
the Board of Peace, a panel of world leaders headed by Trump that will
oversee the Palestinian technocratic committee, formally called the
National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCACG). Washington
had aimed to unveil the Board of Peace last month, but that announcement
has been delayed as its foreign policy priorities have shifted between
Gaza, Venezuela and Iran.The US has also struggled to recruit
international support for the plan, with the Arab diplomat citing heavy
skepticism that Hamas will agree to disarm or that Israel will agree to
further withdraw from the Strip and allow for its reconstruction.While
the Trump administration had hoped to announce this week the world
leaders joining Trump on the Board of Peace, those plans are up in the
air, said a senior Arab diplomat.The US informed interlocutors last
month that it secured commitments from Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab
Emirates, the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany to have their leaders
join Trump on the Board of Peace, four officials familiar with the
matter revealed at the time.Washington still aims to hold the first
meeting of the Board of Peace on the sidelines of the World Economic
Forum in Davos, Switzerland, next week, the Arab diplomat said on
Tuesday.With the invitations sent out to the members of the Palestinian
technocratic committee, the public unveiling of the panel could come as
soon as Wednesday in Cairo, where several Palestinian factions are
already gathered for talks on phase two.Those factions include Hamas,
whose team headed by senior leader Khalil al-Hayya arrived in Cairo on
Tuesday, according to a statement from the terror group.Hamas announced
earlier this week that it had instructed its agencies to prepare to cede
power to the US-backed technocratic committee.Notably absent in Cairo
were officials from the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority, which had
hoped to play a more prominent role in the formation of the
technocratic committee.However, Mladenov met with PA Vice President
Hussein al-Sheikh last week in Ramallah, days after the latter traveled
to Cairo along with PA intel chief Majed Faraj for talks with top
Egyptian officials involved in the formation of the technocratic
committee.The technocratic committee will be headed by Ali Shaath, who
previously served as the PA’s deputy transportation minister, the Arab
diplomat and Palestinian official said. Shaath is from Gaza but
currently based in the West Bank.Gaza Chamber of Commerce chairman Ayad
Abu Ramadan was also among those who received a letter from Mladenov on
Tuesday. He said he has been asked to serve as the technocratic
committee’s commissioner for Economy, Trade and Industry.Abu Ramadan
said he is “eager to start working to alleviate the suffering of the
people in Gaza.”Despite The Times of Israel being an Israeli news
outlet, Abu Ramadan agreed to speak on the record, a stark contrast from
the policy of Gaza’s current Hamas rulers.He said his apartment in Gaza
City is one of the few that has not been completely destroyed in the
war and that his building is surrounded by tents, where hundreds of
thousands of displaced Palestinians are living.“The people in Gaza are
suffering immensely. They are living in inhumane conditions in a big
jail,” he continued. “We’re looking forward to ending all of this, to
starting recovery and reconstruction and to holding the world to its
commitment to peace.”“Now, it’s President Trump’s turn to execute his
plan, which we’re ready for and thrilled that it’s finally starting,”
Abu Ramadan said before stressing that the “proper environment is needed
for reconstruction and recovery” to move ahead.An Arab diplomat said
that the US is working to coax Israel to agree to a series of steps that
will give an initial boost to the technocratic committee’s legitimacy,
including the reopening of the Rafah Border Crossing with Egypt.Israel
has pushed back on allowing Palestinians to return to the enclave,
arguing that Hamas must first return the body of the last Israeli
hostage, Israel Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili.The Trump administration
told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the latter’s visit to the
US late last month that it is committed to both bringing back Gvili and
disarming Hamas, but is not prepared to condition the commencement of
phase two of its peace plan on either, a US official and two sources
familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel last week.Jerusalem
has pushed back on proceeding with phase two before Hamas returns Gvili
and hands over its weapons.The US has been in talks with mediators
Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, which have assured Washington that Hamas will
agree to a gradual disarmament plan that would begin with the terror
group giving up its heavy weaponry and the launch of a “buy-back”
program for lighter weapons, according to the US official and two Arab
diplomats, who said the goal is to begin implementing the program in the
coming weeks.It was not clear whether this framework will be sufficient
for Israel. Hamas officials have publicly asserted that the
organization will only agree to give up its weapons in a negotiated
process that results in the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Analysis-Israel’s
recognition of Somaliland brings danger and opportunity to a rough
region-‘It is a mutually beneficial friendship,’ says breakaway region’s
FM, though al-Shabab threats, Houthi risks and Middle East power games
make the new ties with Jerusalem precarious By SAM METZ and Omar Faruk
14 January 2026, 10:30 am
AP — Israel’s recognition of Somaliland
has thrust the breakaway territory into the international spotlight,
causing an uproar in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East as a
surprise new factor in regional power struggles.For Israel, the decision
reignites questions about the contentious proposal raised last year by
American and Israeli officials for Somaliland to take in Palestinians
displaced from Gaza. Israel also could use Somaliland as a base to more
closely respond to attacks from Iran-backed Houthis rebels in Yemen,
just across the Gulf of Aden.Israel also would get a diplomatic win.
Somaliland’s foreign minister told The Associated Press that it aims to
join the Abraham Accords, bilateral agreements between Israel and Arab
and Muslim-majority countries.“It is a mutually beneficial friendship,”
Foreign Minister Abdirahman Dahir Adan said in an interview. In return,
“Somaliland gains open cooperation with Israel in trade, investment and
technology.”But the first international recognition of Somaliland as an
independent nation also could make it a target. Analysts warn that its
ties with Israel could become a rallying cry for Islamic extremists,
destabilizing an already volatile region in which Somaliland has prided
itself as an oasis of relative calm.Al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabab, based
in Somalia and the key challenge to that country’s stability, is already
making threats. The group has rarely carried out attacks in Somaliland,
which broke away in 1991 as Somalia collapsed into conflict.“Members of
the movement reject Israel’s attempt to claim or use parts of our land.
We will not accept this, and we will fight against it,” al-Shabab
spokesperson Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rageal said in an audio message posted
on one of the group’s sites.Strategic location-Somaliland sits along one
of the world’s busiest maritime corridors. It has drawn interest from
foreign investors and military powers who see it as a potential
alternative to neighboring Djibouti, which is home to the premier
African bases for the American and Chinese militaries, and those of
several other nations.Somaliland lies less than 100 miles (160
kilometers) from Yemen, where the Houthis have been targeting commercial
and other ships in response to the Israel-Hamas war. The attacks have
upended shipping in the Red Sea, through which about $1 trillion of
goods pass annually. The Houthis also fired scores of missiles and
drones at Israel during the war in Gaza, triggering long-range strikes
by Israel’s air force.“If you are trying to watch, deter or disrupt
Houthi maritime activity, a small footprint (in Somaliland) can provide
disproportionate utility,” said Andreas Krieg, a military analyst at
King’s College London.Shortly after Israel’s recognition, the Houthis
threatened Somaliland.‘No limits’ to cooperation-Israeli Foreign
Minister Gideon Sa’ar visited Somaliland last week, and Somaliland’s
president is expected to visit Israel soon.“This is a natural connection
between democratic countries — both in challenging regions,” Sa’ar said
in defending Israel’s recognition.Israel and Somaliland have said their
new ties would include defense cooperation, but officials declined to
elaborate. Somaliland’s foreign minister said that details would follow
his president’s visit to Israel.“There are no limits as to what areas we
can work with,” Adan said.He expressed hope that Israel’s recognition
would bestow new legitimacy on Somaliland and prompt others to recognize
its sovereignty, even as Somalia has angrily rejected it.“Before
Israel’s recognition, we were worried so much that other powers like
Turkey and China would squeeze us,” Adan said, mentioning two of
Somalia’s top benefactors. “I’m very hopeful that in the near future
there will be many other countries that will follow Israel.”But the
foreign minister insisted there has been no discussion with Israel about
taking in Palestinians from Gaza. US and Israeli officials told the AP
last year that Israel had approached Somaliland about the
proposal.Warnings of violence-Israeli recognition of Somaliland has
pushed the region into uncharted waters, said Mahad Wasuge, director of
Somali Public Agenda, a think tank.“It could increase violence or bring
proxy wars, particularly if the Israelis want to have a presence in the
port of Berbera to counter threats in the Red Sea,” he said, referring
to Somaliland’s largest port.The 57-nation Organization of Islamic
Cooperation, and the African Union continental body, have condemned
Israel’s recognition.Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has said it
threatens his country’s sovereignty. He said that Somalis wouldn’t
accept their nation being used by a foreign power accused of harming
civilians — meaning Palestinians in Gaza — and warned that the
establishment of foreign military bases would further destabilize the
region.Somali territory “cannot be divided by a piece of paper written
by Israel and signed by [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu,” Mohamud
said in a televised address.Adan dismissed the criticism from Mogadishu,
calling Somalia a “failed state.”Great power rivalries-Already,
Israel’s recognition has rocked the balance of powers in a region where
rich Gulf countries and others have a growing interest.On Monday,
Somalia annulled its security and defense agreements with the United
Arab Emirates, a key regional ally of Israel that has long invested in
Somaliland’s Berbera port, saying it was meant to safeguard “unity,
territorial integrity, and constitutional order.”For the UAE, the area
is important for its proximity to Sudan, where it has been accused of
funding and arming the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in that
country’s civil war. And last week, Saudi Arabia accused the UAE of
using Somaliland as a transit point to smuggle the leader of a
separatist group out of southern Yemen.Asher Lubotzky, an analyst with
Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said that Somaliland
is one of several examples of the emerging alliance between Israel and
the UAE, which have sought to align with US foreign policy and shown a
willingness to eschew international norms while countering extremist
groups.“We know the Israeli interest is with the Houthis, but Somaliland
also has an interest in some kind of an external protection,” he
said.Others put on alert by Israel’s recognition are Turkey, Somalia’s
largest investor and a rival to Israel, and China, which has long viewed
Somaliland with suspicion over its ties with Taiwan. A rare visit to
Somalia by China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, set for last week did not
occur as the Chinese embassy cited “scheduling reasons.”Closer to home,
landlocked Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous country, sees
Somaliland next door as a key route to the sea. It has remained silent
on Israel’s recognition — perhaps scrambling, like many other countries,
to understand what might come next.
Trump reiterates desire for
Greenland following high-stakes diplomatic meeting-US Secretary of State
Rubio and VP Vance meet with Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers,
but Washington’s position remains unchanged; Greenland stresses its
unity with Denmark-By Nandita Bose, Simon Lewis and Jacob
Gronholt-Pedersen Today, 1:03 pm-JAN 14,26
WASHINGTON/NUUK
(Reuters) — US President Donald Trump reiterated on Wednesday that the
US needs Greenland and that Denmark cannot be relied upon to protect the
island, even as he said that “something will work out” with respect to
the future governance of the Danish overseas territory.The remarks,
which came after a high-stakes meeting between US, Danish and
Greenlandic officials, indicate that there are still fundamental, if not
intractable, differences between how Washington, Copenhagen and Nuuk
see the political future of the island.“Greenland is very important for
the national security, including of Denmark,” Trump told reporters in
the Oval Office. “And the problem is there’s not a thing that Denmark
can do about it if Russia or China wants to occupy Greenland, but
there’s everything we can do. You found that out last week with
Venezuela,” he said.After meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio
and Vice President JD Vance at the White House on Wednesday, Danish
Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart
Vivian Motzfeldt said the US and Denmark would form a working group to
discuss a broad array of concerns regarding the island that could meet
in the coming weeks.Greenland ‘not for sale,’ Copenhagen and Nuuk
say-But they also made clear that Washington had not budged on its
position that it must acquire Greenland, an autonomous territory of
Denmark that is strategically located and rich in minerals. Rasmussen
and Motzfeldt described such an outcome as an unacceptable breach of
sovereignty.“We didn’t manage to change the American position,”
Rasmussen told reporters outside the Danish embassy in Washington. “It’s
clear that the president has this wish of conquering over
Greenland.”Trump has not ruled out taking Greenland by force. Before the
two-hour meeting, he argued on social media that NATO would become far
more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the US.
“Anything less than that is unacceptable,” he wrote.In recent weeks, he
has frequently repeated longstanding claims that acquiring Greenland is a
national security imperative and that Denmark is not capable of warding
off Russian and Chinese influence in the Arctic region.Greenland and
Denmark say the island is not for sale, that threats of force are
reckless and security concerns should be resolved among allies.
Prominent EU countries have backed Denmark, a member of the NATO
alliance.Ahead of the meeting, Greenland and Denmark said they had begun
to increase their military presence in and around Greenland in close
cooperation with NATO allies, as part of their promise to beef up Arctic
defense.Late on Wednesday, a Danish Air Force plane landed at Nuuk
airport and personnel in military fatigues disembarked, footage showed.
The Danish military will support the preparation of exercise activity,
according to the nation’s Joint Arctic Command.Germany, Sweden and
Norway have also announced that they would send military personnel to
the island.The increased military presence would include a range of
exercise activities throughout 2026, according to the Danish defense
ministry.Avoiding a Zelensky moment at the White House-In their remarks
to reporters, Rasmussen and Motzfeldt called the meeting respectful and
emphasized that Denmark shared US concerns about Arctic security. But
they firmly rejected the idea of the island becoming American.While
Trump has at times portrayed the island as besieged by Russian and
Chinese ships, Rasmussen rejected that characterization, saying “it is
not a true narrative that we have Chinese warships all around the
place.”The meeting presented an opportunity for Copenhagen and Nuuk to
de-escalate the crisis and find a diplomatic path to satisfy US demands
for more control, analysts said.Noa Redington, an analyst and former
political adviser to previous Danish premier Helle Thorning-Schmidt,
said concerns were high in Denmark and Greenland that Motzfeldt and
Rasmussen could be treated in the same way as Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky, when he suffered a public humiliation in a meeting
with Trump and Vance at the White House in February 2025.“This is the
most important meeting in modern Greenland’s history,” he told
Reuters.Denmark and Greenland had originally sought a meeting with
Rubio, hoping to have a discussion among top diplomats on resolving the
crisis between the two NATO allies. But Denmark’s Rasmussen said Vance
had also wanted to participate.European diplomats had said the White
House had for months brushed off Denmark’s attempts to engage on
Greenland at a high level. Wednesday’s meeting was the first
principal-level encounter between US and Danish officials on the
issue.Anxiety has been high in Greenland.“I have been sleeping very,
very badly, really,” said Liv Aurora Jensen, a craftswoman and designer
in Nuuk, right before she watched the Motzfeldt and Rasmussen press
conference on television.“I was talking to my sister yesterday and I
told her: ‘I’m trying not to get a panic attack.'”Greenlandic leaders
appear to be shifting their approach to handling the diplomatic crisis.
Until recently, they were stressing Greenland’s path to independence,
but now their public statements put more emphasis on Greenland’s unity
with Denmark.“It’s not the time to gamble with our right to
self-determination, when another country is talking about taking us
over,” Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen told Greenland
daily Sermitsiaq in an interview published on Wednesday.“That doesn’t
mean that we don’t want something in the future. But here and now we are
part of the kingdom and we stand with the kingdom,” he said.Motzfeldt
had a similar message.“We choose the Greenland we know today – as part
of the Kingdom of Denmark,” she said in a statement released by the
Danish ambassador to the US late on Tuesday.Trump’s desire for Greenland
contrasts with Americans’ opposition to annexation of the Arctic
island, according to a new poll.Just 17 percent of Americans approved of
Trump’s efforts to acquire Greenland, and substantial majorities of
Democrats and Republicans opposed using military force to annex the
island, the Reuters/Ipsos poll found.Some 47% of respondents disapproved
of US efforts to acquire Greenland, while 35% said they were unsure, in
the two-day poll which concluded on Tuesday.
Israeli official:
US has decided to intervene, scope unclear-Some US personnel told to
leave Qatar base as Iran touts ‘peak readiness’ for conflict-Official
says move is ‘posture change’; Tehran signals fast trials and executions
for protesters as official death toll in crackdown passes 2,500, though
actual number may be much higher By Agencies, Lazar Berman and ToI
Staff 14 January 2026, 4:52 pm
Amid concerns of a new round of
fighting with Iran, some personnel were advised to leave the US
military’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar on Wednesday and Israel’s official
state plane was briefly flown out of the country, as Iran said it was
at “peak readiness” for potential conflict.Tehran has said it will
attack Israel and US military bases in the Middle East if US President
Donald Trump were to carry out strikes in response to Iran’s mass
killing of anti-government protesters.According to an Israeli
assessment, Trump has decided to intervene, although the scope and
timing of this action remains unclear, an unnamed Israeli official told
Reuters.Three diplomats told the news agency that some personnel had
been advised to leave the US military’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.One
of the diplomats described the move as a “posture change” rather than an
“ordered evacuation.”There was no sign of a large-scale movement of
troops off the base to a nearby soccer stadium and shopping mall, as
took place last year in the hours before Iran targeted the base with
missiles in retaliation for US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear targets.The
US embassy in Doha had no immediate comment and Qatar’s foreign
ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Al Udeid
is the Middle East’s largest American base, housing around 10,000
troops. Ahead of the US airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear program in June,
some personnel were moved off US bases in the Middle East.Also on
Wednesday, Israel’s state Wing of Zion plane took off from the Nevatim
Air Force base near Beersheba and headed out over the Mediterranean,
landing in Greece’s Crete.The plane had departed Israel ahead of past
rounds of fighting with Iran to avoid it being targeted by Iranian
missiles, sparking speculation that this was the case.However, the plane
returned to Israel hours later, after unnamed Israeli officials cited
by Hebrew-language media said it was engaged in a regularly scheduled
training mission.On June 13, hours after Israel launched its attack on
Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile sites, Wing of Zion took off from
Ben Gurion Airport. Prior to Iran’s April 13, 2024, missile and drone
attack on Israel, Wing of Zion was flown out from Nevatim Airbase, which
was later targeted.Trump has been openly threatening to intervene in
Iran for days, though without giving specifics.In an interview with CBS
News on Tuesday, the US president vowed “very strong action” if Iran
executes protesters. “If they hang them, you’re going to see some
things,” he said. He also urged Iranian to keep protesting and take over
institutions, declaring “help is on the way.”Relatives of 26-year-old
Erfan Soltani, who was detained last week, have said they have been
informed he would be executed on Wednesday. A relative said that a court
had issued a death sentence “in an extremely rapid process, within just
two days.”Hengaw, an Iranian Kurdish human rights group, told Reuters
on Wednesday it had not been able to confirm whether the sentence had
been carried out.Protests have taken place across all of Iran’s 31
provinces, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
It said Wednesday that at least 2,571 people had been killed and more
than 18,100 had been arrested in the more than two weeks of protests.
The Mossad is said to believe the death toll is more than twice as
high.On Wednesday, a funeral ceremony was held in Tehran for over 100
members of the security forces killed in the wave of protests.The
ceremony, attended by thousands of people waving flags of the Islamic
Republic, began with prayers being read out for the dead outside Tehran
University, according to state media.Meanwhile, Revolutionary Guards’
Aerospace Commander Majid Mousavi claimed that Iran’s stockpile of
missiles has increased since its 12-day war with Israel last year, and
that the Islamic Republic was at “peak readiness” ahead of the potential
fighting.“We are at the peak of our readiness,” Mousavi was quoted as
saying by state media, adding that wartime damages have been repaired
and output in various areas by the Guards’ aerospace forces is higher
than before June 2025.Last month, NBC reported that Israeli officials
were concerned about Iran’s growing ballistic missile program, with one
source warning that, left unchecked, the country’s production could
climb to as many as 3,000 missiles per year.Another report has suggested
that Israel believes Iran currently possesses some 2,000 ballistic
missiles, roughly the same number it had on the eve of the 12-day war.
Analysts are said to have concluded that the damage Israel inflicted on
Iran’s ballistic missile program during the conflict with the Islamic
Republic was “less severe” than initially assessed.
4.2-magnitude earthquake recorded in southern Israel; no reports of injuries-JAN 15,26
The
earthquake that set off alerts in the Dead Sea and southern Negev
regions measured 4.2 on the Richter scale, the European-Mediterranean
Seismological Centre says.The epicenter of the quake was near Dimona, it
says.The Magen David Adom emergency service says it has not received
any reports of injuries as a result of the earthquake.
4hr
ago-Earthquake alerts activated in Dead Sea, southern Negev areas-The
Home Front Command publishes an earthquake warning for the Dead Sea area
and the southern Negev Desert.Residents of the areas report feeling the
earthquake.
JEREMEIAH 49:35-37 (IN IRAN AT THE BUSHEHR OR ARAK NUKE SITE SOME BELIEVE)
35
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of
Elam,(IRAN/BUSHEHR NUCLEAR SITE) the chief of their might.(MOST
DANGEROUS NUKE SITE IN IRAN)
36 And upon Elam will I bring the four
winds from the four quarters of heaven,(IRANIANS SCATTERED OR MASS
IMIGARATION) and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there
shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.(WORLD
IMMIGRATION)
37 For I will cause Elam (IRAN-BUSHEHR NUKE SITE) to be
dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life:
and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger,(ISRAELS NUKES
POSSIBLY) saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I
have consumed them:(IRAN AND ITS NUKE SITES DESTROYED)
38 I will set My throne in Elam,And will destroy from there the king and the princes,’ says the Lord.
39 ‘But it shall come to pass in the latter days:I will bring back the captives of Elam,’ says the Lord.”
Ezekiel 32:24
24
There [is] Elam and all her multitude round about her grave, all of
them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into
the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of
the living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to
the pit.
JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23 Concerning Damascus.(SYRIA)
Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they
are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea;(WAR SHIPS WITH NUKES
COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24 Damascus is waxed feeble,
and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and
sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25 How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26
Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of
war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27 And I
will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it
shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN
DAMASCUS)
UN Security Council to meet on demonstrations-Iran’s
nationwide protests appear smothered, with fate of potential US action
unclear-Oil prices fall as chance of conflict seems to recede; Tehran
says protester’s execution called off; Iran’s airspace reopens after
closing for several hours By Agencies and ToI Staff Today, 1:21 pm-JAN
15,26
The nationwide protests challenging Iran’s theocracy
appeared to be smothered Thursday, a week after the regime shut the
country off from the world and escalated a bloody crackdown that
activists say killed thousands.In Tehran, witnesses say recent mornings
saw no new signs of bonfires lit the night before or debris in the
streets. The sound of gunfire, which had been intense for several
nights, has faded.Meanwhile, Iranian state media announced wave after
wave of arrests by authorities, targeting those it calls “terrorists”
and also apparently looking for Starlink satellite internet dishes, the
only way to get videos and images out to the internet.“Since January 8,
we saw a full-fledged war and anybody who was in the gathering since
then is a criminal,” said Justice Minister Amin Hossein Rahimi,
according to a report Wednesday from the judiciary’s Mizan news
agency.But there are multiple indications that the threat of mass
executions after the protests is receding. Iranian state media on
Thursday reported that Essam Soltani, 26, a man who was due to be
executed, would not be given the death sentence. US President Donald
Trump said he had been told that killings in the regime’s crackdown were
subsiding.Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday
there would not be any “hanging today or tomorrow,” despite earlier vows
from Tehran to fast-track trials for protesters. He said that the
regime was back in “full control.”The activity followed days of
speculation over whether Trump would follow through on threats to strike
Iran in response to the killings of thousands of protesters. Trump’s
comments about the easing of killings may have implied a hold-off on
military action, even as the US evacuated some of its personnel from a
military base in Qatar that Iran bombed last year. An NBC report, citing
a US official, said Trump would want any strike to be “definitive.”Amid
the uncertainty, Iran closed its airspace to commercial flights for
hours on Wednesday night, but reopened it Thursday morning.The apparent
receding of chances for a strike prompted a fall in oil prices.The UN
Security Council was due to meet over the demonstrations later Thursday,
as countries in the region urged stability.Estimates of the death toll
range from under 3,000 to over 12,000. A days-long shutdown of the
internet by the Iranian regime meant that information about the protests
and violence was hard to access and verify. Iran and its Western foes
have both described the unrest as the most violent since the 1979
Islamic Revolution that installed Iran’s system of Shiite clerical
rule.Earlier this week, rights organization Hengaw reported that the
protester, Soltani, arrested in connection with demonstrations in the
city of Karaj, was due to be executed on Wednesday. However, on
Thursday, Iranian state media said that while Soltani was being charged
with “colluding against the country’s internal security and propaganda
activities against the regime,” the death penalty does not apply to such
charges if they are confirmed by a court.The human rights group said
there were “serious and ongoing concerns” regarding Soltani’s life.In an
interview with Fox News, Araghchi said on Wednesday that “there is no
plan” by Iran to hang people “today or tomorrow,” when asked about the
protests.“There is no plan for hanging at all,” he said. “Hanging is out
of the question,” he added.Araghchi claimed in the interview, without
citing evidence, that the violence surrounding the protests was the
result of an “Israeli plot.”Earlier Wednesday, Gholamhossein
Mohseni-Ejei, Iran’s judiciary chief, had said the government must act
quickly to punish more than 18,000 people who have been detained,
through rapid trials and executions. Mohseni-Ejei’s comments about rapid
trials and executions were made in a video shared by Iranian state
television.“If we want to do a job, we should do it now. If we want to
do something, we have to do it quickly,” he said. “If it becomes late,
two months, three months later, it doesn’t have the same effect. If we
want to do something, we have to do that fast.”Tensions escalated on
Wednesday, as Iran said it had warned neighbors it would hit American
bases in the region in the event of US strikes, and a US official said
the United States was withdrawing some personnel from bases in the
region. Several Western officials had said US military intervention
could be imminent.The NBC report also said that Trump was due to be
presented that day with different military options designed to achieve
goals that he had outlined during a briefing with his national security
team a day earlier.Qatar said drawdowns from Al Udeid air base, the
biggest US base in the Middle East, were “being undertaken in response
to the current regional tensions.” Iran launched missiles at Al Udeid
last year in response to US airstrikes on its nuclear installations
during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran.But Trump then said he’d
learned that the killings were being halted.“We have been informed by
very, very important sources on the other side, and they said the
killing has stopped, and the executions won’t take place,” Trump
said.Trump said it was possible the government in Tehran could fall due
to the protests, but that in truth “any regime can fail.”“Whether or not
it falls or not, it’s going to be an interesting period of time,” he
said.Trump’s comments on Wednesday led oil prices to retreat from
multi-month highs, and gold eased from a record peak on
Thursday.According to the report in NBC News, Trump told his top
national security aides that he wanted any military action against Iran
to deal a swift and decisive blow to the regime while not triggering an
extended conflict that lasts for weeks or months.Citing a US official
and people familiar with the matter, the broadcaster said that Trump’s
advisers had not been able to guarantee that the Islamic Republic would
swiftly fall if struck by the United States, and also cited concerns
that they don’t have the military assets in place across the Middle East
to defend against an Iranian response.Therefore, if Trump does decide
to attack, he could initially greenlight more limited strikes on Iran,
while keeping open the possibility of later escalation, according to the
report, which described the situation as quickly evolving and stressed
that no decision had been made.The sources quoted in the report
emphasized, however, that Trump is prepared to follow through on his
repeated pledge that the US is coming to the aid of anti-government
protesters.“If [Trump] does something, he wants it to be definitive,”
one of the people told NBC.The UN Security Council scheduled an
emergency meeting on Iran at the request of the United States on
Thursday afternoon.Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan held a
phone call with Araghchi on Thursday to discuss regional developments
and ways to support security and stability in the region, Saudi state
media reported.And Turkey’s top diplomat on Thursday called for dialogue
to resolve the crisis. “Hopefully, the United States and Iran will
resolve this issue among themselves — whether through mediators, other
actors, or direct dialogue,” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told
journalists in Istanbul.Iran’s airspace closure began overnight
Wednesday and ran for over four hours, according to pilot guidance
issued by Iran, which lies on a key east-west flight route.
International carriers diverted north and south around Iran, but after
one extension, the closure appeared to have expired and several domestic
flights were in the air just after 7 a.m. Thursday (5:30 a.m. Israel
time).Around midday, Iranian state television carried a statement from
the country’s Civil Aviation Authority saying that the nation’s “skies
are hosting incoming and outgoing flights, and airports are providing
services to passengers.” It did not acknowledge the closure.Iran
previously shut its airspace during the 12-day war against Israel in
June, and when it exchanged fire with Israel during the Israel-Hamas
war.Website SafeAirspace said that, nonetheless, the situation continued
to affect aviation.“Several airlines have already reduced or suspended
services, and most carriers are avoiding Iranian airspace,” said the
site, which provides information on conflict areas and air travel. “The
situation may signal further security or military activity, including
the risk of missile launches or heightened air defense, increasing the
risk of misidentification of civil traffic.”
Hezbollah warns
Beirut that expanded disarmament push could cause ‘chaos, civil
war’Terror group official says forcing it to fully give up arms would be
‘the biggest crime,’ day after Lebanese FM says IDF has right to strike
in country as long as Hezbollah holds weapons By Reuters and ToI Staff
14 January 2026, 12:27 pm
A senior Hezbollah official has warned
Lebanon’s government that pressing on with efforts to disarm the group
throughout the country would trigger chaos and possibly civil war,
according to comments circulated by the terror group on
Wednesday.Lebanon has pledged to bring all arms in the country under
state control, in line with a 2024 agreement that ended a devastating
war between Hezbollah and Israel, and Beirut’s foreign minister admitted
Tuesday that the deal permits Israel to continue striking in the
country as long as the Iran-backed group refuses to give up its
arms.Hezbollah insists that deal only applies to the southernmost region
of Lebanon that borders Israel and has refused to relinquish its
arsenal elsewhere.In an interview with Russian state media outlet RT,
senior Hezbollah political official Mahmoud Qmati said pursuing a state
monopoly on arms further north would be “the biggest crime committed by
the state.”“The path taken by the Lebanese government and state
institutions will lead Lebanon to instability, chaos and perhaps even
civil war,” Qmati said, though he added that Hezbollah would not be
dragged into a confrontation with Lebanon’s army.The Lebanese government
claimed last week to have disarmed Hezbollah south of the Litani River —
around 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border — in line with
the deadline it had set for itself, saying it had “achieved the
objectives of the first phase” of its plan in an “effective and tangible
way.”’It said it has extended operational control over the south,
except for the handful of areas still controlled by Israeli troops.
Hezbollah, which has rejected efforts to disarm, did not immediately
comment.Israel sounded a cautious note on the announcement, saying the
efforts from Beirut to disarm the terror group were “encouraging” but
insufficient, and adding in a second statement that “Hezbollah is
rearming faster than it is being disarmed.”Hezbollah has said that
Israeli troops must withdraw from five hilltop positions they still hold
in southern Lebanon, halt near-daily airstrikes on Lebanon and release
detained Lebanese before any further disarmament is discussed.“There
will be no talk or dialogue about any situation north of the Litani
River before Israel withdraws from all Lebanese territory, liberates the
South and the prisoners, and stops its violations against Lebanon,”
said Qmati.While Hezbollah considers Israel’s frequent strikes in
Lebanon to be a violation of the ceasefire, Lebanese Foreign Minister
Youssef Rajji on Tuesday disputed this, saying that the agreement allows
for Israeli strikes as long as Hezbollah continues to hold onto its
arms.“The ceasefire agreement stipulates that the Lebanese government
will disarm Hezbollah,” Rajji said in an interview with Sky News Arabia.
“As long as Hezbollah still holds weapons, Israel, regrettably, has the
right to continue its attacks against them.”Rajji’s comments appeared
to be the first admission from a Lebanese government official that
Israel’s strikes on Hezbollah targets in the country are approved by
Beirut.Since the ceasefire, the IDF has killed around 400 operatives and
struck hundreds of additional Hezbollah-linked targets. The IDF has
repeatedly asserted that the activity at the targeted sites constitutes a
violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.The conflict
began on October 8, 2023, when Hezbollah started firing rockets and
drones at northern Israel, one day after its fellow Iran-backed terror
group Hamas launched a shock assault on southern Israel, sparking the
war in Gaza.
