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In-Depth Issues:
Hamas Avoids Collapse of Ceasefire Deal but Seeks Concessions in Phase II - Ron Ben-Yishai ( Ynet News)
Hamas' decision to halt the scheduled hostage release on Saturday appears to be a pressure tactic aimed at pushing Israel into advancing negotiations for the second phase of the hostage-ceasefire deal.
Hamas is likely not looking to collapse the agreement but rather to extract concessions from Israel.
Israel cannot afford to concede to Hamas's demands beyond what is already outlined in the agreement, as doing so would invite continuous extortion throughout the negotiation process, further delaying hostage releases.
Video: Trump's Bold Plan for Gaza and the Middle East - Former U.S. Special Envoy Jason Greenblatt interviewed by Dr. Dan Diker ( Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs)
Jason Greenblatt, former Special Envoy to the Middle East under President Trump, discusses the failures of traditional diplomacy and the need for innovative solutions.
Greenblatt highlights Trump's pragmatic approach to Gaza, emphasizing the necessity of addressing Hamas before any political agreements can be reached.
He also sheds light on Trump's strong ties with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar, and how these relationships could reshape the region's future.
Netanyahu, Trump Effigies Paraded in Cages through Tehran - Lior Ben Ari ( Ynet News)
Tens of thousands of Iranians on Monday marked the 46th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, with celebrations featuring effigies of President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu depicted as prisoners in a cage.
Thousands of demonstrators marched through Tehran chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Israel."
A delegation from Hamas, led by senior official Khalil al-Hayya, attended the event.
Syria Accuses Hizbullah of Attacks, Sponsoring Cross-Border Smuggling ( AFP)
The new Syrian authorities said Monday that Lebanon's Hizbullah has launched attacks on Syrian security forces and is sponsoring cross-border smuggling gangs.
Lt.-Col. Moayed al-Salama said, "Most smuggling gangs on the Lebanese border are affiliated with the Hizbullah militia, whose presence now poses a threat at the Syrian border because it sponsors drug and weapon smugglers."
"We have developed a comprehensive plan to fully control the borders."
Salama said Syrian forces seized "farms, warehouses and factories for the production and packaging of hashish and captagon pills."
They also found presses that specialized in printing counterfeit currency.
IDF Attacks Tunnel between Syria and Lebanon Used by Hizbullah to Transfer Arms -
Elisha Ben Kimon ( Ynet News)
The Israel Air Force struck an underground tunnel between Syria and Lebanon that was used by Hizbullah to smuggle weapons, the IDF said Sunday.
The IAF also struck several Hizbullah sites containing munitions and rocket launchers in Lebanese territory.
The IDF said it "will operate to prevent any attempt of rearmament" by Hizbullah.
44 Percent of Young Gazans Considered Emigrating Even Before the War - Itamar Marcus ( Jerusalem Post)
A poll taken just prior to the war by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that 44% of Gazan youth aged 18-29 were considering emigrating, while 31% of the entire population considered emigrating.
The writer is director of Palestinian Media Watch.
Freed Israeli Hostage Faces Complex Surgery to Restore Paralyzed Hand - Dr. Itay Gal ( Jerusalem Post)
Romi Gonen, 23, who was shot in the hand at the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, will undergo a lengthy and intricate operation in an attempt to restore the function of her hand which was paralyzed and untreated for 471 days, her mother revealed on Monday.
Palestinian Authority Restructures "Pay-for-Slay" Policy for Terrorists ( Jerusalem Post)
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas issued an order on Monday to restructure laws and regulations related to paying families of Palestinians linked with terrorist activity, known as "pay for slay," according to Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Families previously benefiting from the former system will now be subject to the same eligibility criteria as other families enrolled in social protection and welfare programs for Palestinian families in need.
Gazans Need the Freedom to Leave - Joseph Epstein ( Newsweek)
It's unclear whether President Trump's plan for Gaza is serious or setting the stage for negotiations, but he makes some good points. Most importantly, Palestinians who want to leave demolished Gaza should have the right to do so.
Over the past 15 years, conflicts in Syria and Ukraine alone created around 14 million refugees living mainly in Europe. Millions more came from Afghanistan and Sudan.
Yet while these millions were accepted by the international community and resettled, Gazans have been expected to build new lives amid the rubble.
The writer is a research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies.
Who Really Wants "Ethnic Cleansing" in the Middle East? - Brendan O'Neill ( Spiked-UK)
A new definition of chutzpah is people thinking they can spend 16 months crying "Crush the Zionist entity!" and then wring their hands over the threat of "ethnic cleansing."
It's an activist class consumed by a burning hatred for the very idea of a Jewish homeland thinking it can lecture its opponents on the importance of respecting other people's homelands.
I can stomach some hypocrisy, but I draw the line at pontifications on "forced removal" from a political set that dreams of removing the Jewish State from the family of nations.
We need to take down the idea that Trump has unforgivably put "ethnic cleansing" on to the agenda for the Middle East, for the truth is that the West's influential Israel-loathers did that long ago.
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
- Trump Says "All Hell Is Going to Break Out" If Hamas Doesn't Release All Hostages by Saturday - Kevin Liptak
After Hamas threatened to postpone the next hostage release scheduled to take place on Saturday,
President Donald Trump said Monday, "As far as I'm concerned, if all of the hostages aren't returned by Saturday at 12 o'clock...I would say, cancel [the ceasefire deal] and all bets are off....If they're not returned - all of them, not in drips and drabs, not two and one and three and four and two...all hell is going to break out."
When asked if Palestinians would have a right to return to Gaza under his plan, Trump told Fox News, "No, they wouldn't. Because they will have much better housing. Much better - in other words, I'm talking about building a permanent place for them."
Trump told reporters on Sunday, "I think that it's a big mistake to allow people - the Palestinians, or the people living in Gaza - to go back yet another time, and we don't want Hamas going back....We're going to bring stability to the Middle East." (CNN)
See also Hamas Suspends Israeli Hostage Releases - Yuval Barnea
Hamas announced on Monday that it is canceling the release of hostages on Feb. 15 until further notice, claiming that Israel is violating the ceasefire agreement. An Israeli official told the Jerusalem Post that Hamas's allegations of Israeli violations are "fake." (Jerusalem Post)
See also below Observations - Secretary of State Marco Rubio: Hamas Is "Pure Evil," "Needs to Be Eradicated" (U.S. State Department)
- Hizbullah Compensation for War Damage Described as Stingy or Slow - Malaika Kanaaneh Tapper
Hizbullah, long Lebanon's most powerful political and military force, is reeling from its worst ever defeat. In more than a year of conflict before a ceasefire in November, Israel not only killed thousands of fighters and decimated its senior leadership, but caused enormous destruction in Shia-majority communities from which Hizbullah draws support. The fall of ally Bashar al-Assad in neighboring Syria dealt another blow, cutting off vital supply chains between Hizbullah and its patron Iran.
According to pro-Hizbullah daily al-Akhbar, the party has distributed $400 million in compensation payments to 140,000 people. Those who lost their entire homes receive $12,000 to $14,000, meant to cover a year of rent elsewhere and destroyed furniture. But in the Hizbullah heartlands of the Bekaa Valley, southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs, people described stingy or slow practices in appraising damage and compensating them.
The war caused at least $3.4 billion in physical damage, according to the World Bank.
Many say that Hizbullah and its patron Iran lack the means to lead reconstruction this time. (Financial Times-UK)
- At USAID, Funding for Terror-Tied Groups and Internal Hostility toward Israel Goes Back Years - Adam Kredo
Current and former U.S. officials who worked closely with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) say they watched for years as it funneled millions of dollars to anti-Israel advocacy groups and entities linked to terrorism. "For those who believe in a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, elements of USAID have been problematic for years," said a former State Department official who worked with USAID during the Biden administration. "There was even a lack of embarrassment among some USAID staffers about being associated with terrorist organizations."
In November 2022, USAID awarded $100,000 to a Palestinian activist group whose leaders hailed the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a designated terror group. Just before Hamas's Oct. 7 assault on Israel, USAID handed $900,000 to a terror charity in Gaza involved with the son of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
"It's more than just problematic grants to anti-Israel organizations," the former official said. "It's also their role in the internal approval processes and statements within the administration. There's an entire bureaucratic process they're a part of. They carry out their obstructionist ideology on that front as well." (Washington Free Beacon)
News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
- Hostages Faced Severe Torture in Hamas Captivity
Hostages Ohad Ben-Ami, Or Levy, and Eli Sharabi, who were released from Gaza on Saturday, endured severe torture under Hamas captivity, Israel's Channel 11 reported. Their captors interrogated them using brutal physical abuse. They were choked, bound, gagged with cloth to the point of suffocation, hung upside down, and burned with a hot object. They were deliberately starved, receiving only a rotten pita every few days, which they had to share with other hostages.
One of the freed hostages revealed he had been chained for 15 months. "I was shackled inside a dark tunnel, with no air or light. I couldn't walk or stand, and only before my release did my captors remove the chains, forcing me to learn to walk again," his family told Channel 12.
At times the captors ate in front of the hostages and denied them food, and sometimes forced the hostages to choose who would eat and who wouldn't. The hostages were only able to bathe once every few months and remained barefoot throughout their captivity.
(Ha'aretz)
- Netanyahu: President Trump Came with a Completely Different Vision for "the Day after" in Gaza
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Israeli Cabinet on Monday:
"I have just returned from an historic visit in Washington with President Trump....President Trump commended all of our achievements, especially the breaking of the Iranian axis."
"We agreed that all of the objectives that we set for the war must be completed: The elimination of Hamas, the return of all of our hostages, ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel, returning all of the residents in both north and south, and, of course, preventing Iran from attaining nuclear weapons."
"President Trump came with a completely different vision [for 'the day after' in Gaza], much better for the State of Israel, a revolutionary and creative vision, which we are discussing. He is very determined to carry it out. This also opens many possibilities before us." (Prime Minister's Office)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:
Observations:
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reacted to the video of the latest Israeli hostages released by Hamas on SiriusXM Patriot 125 radio on Monday:
- "You look at these images of what they - first of all, the humiliation that they have to go through. Just put aside for a moment the horrifying conditions they were kept in and the horrifying things that happened to some of those hostages, on top of the fact that these were innocent civilians. I mean, none of these were soldiers. These are not combatants. These are just people that were abducted for purposes of being used as leverage. And they're getting, what, 200 certified killers in exchange for one innocent hostage. But it reveals who Hamas is."
- "Look at the humiliation they put them through before they're released, where they do these big public displays of force. Do any of those Hamas fighters look like they've been skipping meals?...And then the conditions they're held in. So, it's incredibly revealing about what we're dealing with. This is an evil organization. Hamas is evil. It's pure evil. These are monsters. These are savages. That's a group that needs to be eradicated."
- "If they still are the dominant power in Gaza when all this is done, there is not going to be peace in the Middle East, as long as a group like Hamas physically controls territory and is the most dominant power in Gaza or anywhere in the Middle East. And I hope people can see who these people actually are, in the condition of these hostages."
- "The big challenge for this whole two-state solution has not been Israel. It's been: Who's going to govern that second state? Who's going to be in charge of it? If the people in charge of it are Hamas or Hizbullah or anybody like that, these are groups whose goal is the destruction of the Jewish state."
- "I don't know how you're going to have peace if you're turning over territory to a group whose stated purpose is the destruction of the Jewish state. Why would any country in the world agree to create a second state on their border that is governed by armed elements who kidnap babies and murder babies and rape teenage girls and abduct innocents and whose stated goal and purpose for existing is your destruction? Who would agree to that?"
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