HOSTAGE UPDATE: Hostage deal reached; first group expected to be freed on Sunday.
Remember that way back on December 23, 2023, a deal fell through because Hamas refused to release female Israeli hostages.
>30 hostages were killed in captivity in the last 15 months.
U.S. State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller reports that out of the 7 American hostages in Gaza, only 3 are believed to be alive, while the remaining 4 are confirmed dead.
On Tuesday, we learned that after over 470 days...
1) Israel, America, Egypt, Qatar and Hamas have agreed on the details of an agreement (3 phases)
2) Many Hamas terrorists will be freed. This means we would be trading the lives of future victims of terror attacks that would be perpetrated by those released in exchange for the lives of the current hostages.
3) Saudi outlet Al-Hadath reported Tuesday evening that Hamas had started dividing the hostages into groups, ahead of their expected release.
4) After all the women are released, the Rafah/Egypt border will be opened and Gazan "civilians" permitted to return to their towns (Israel's southern border)
5) President Biden finalized the cease-fire agreement proposed 10 months ago.
>The fact that both Trump’s representative and Biden’s were in Doha together was an exceptionally rare example of bipartisan cooperation on a seemingly impossible issue.
>The Gevura Forum, consisting of families of soldiers who have fallen in battle, is speaking out against the deal. This forum, along with the Tikva Forum, consisting of some families of those whose relatives are hostages,held a demonstration against the deal
>Millions of Israelis support this deal. Hostages and Missing Families Forum — an advocacy group that represents many of the hostages' families — said in a statement that “any deal, even a limited one, represents an important first step toward a comprehensive agreement.” Many believe the 2nd phase of the agreement will never be reached.
Arabs across the Middle East are celebrating not because of the ceasefire, but claiming victory, despite Hamas' massive losses in Gaza. It is estimated that $60 billion will be needed to rebuild Gaza. Foreign governments are already committing funds to this effort despite the fact that Hamas terrorists will still be in control. Hamas steals the aid from residents and will use the funds to rebuild its terrorist army.
Argentina's President Javier Milei has been selected as the 2025 Genesis Prize Laureate.
Azerbaijan Foils Iranian Plot to Kill Senior Jewish Community Figure (Jerusalem Post) The Azerbaijani secret service (DTX) thwarted an Iranian-backed terror attack targeting a prominent member of the Jewish community
Iran Increases Military Presence in Venezuela with Drone Factory - (Latin Times)
Iranian army takes delivery of 1,000 new drones. (Reuters) The drones are built by the Iran Aviation Industries Organization, a subsidiary of Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics. See more details here: https://www.newsweek.com/iran-gets-major-drone-boost-amid-growing-tensions-israel-2013837
ICJ President Nawaf Salam wins support to become next PM of Lebanon. • The Good News: Hezbollah wanted the other guy. • The Bad News: Salam is a longtime supporter of Ayatollah Khamenei, Fidel Castro & Bashar Assad. • The Unethical News: He was heading ICJ in multiple cases targeting Israel while campaigning to be prime minister of a country that in 2024 attacked Israel with 20,000 rockets.
Major shift at ICJ as pro-Israel Judge Julia Sebutinde poised for presidency https://www.jns.org/major-shift-at-icj-as-pro-israel-judge-poised-for-presidency/
Hamas is responsible for the delays in the hostage deal. Experts believe that Hamas was ready to reach an agreement now because senior terrorists, allies, and battalions have been eliminated. (e.g., Sinwar, Haniyeh, Nasrallah, Assad). Hamas leaders and Gaza residents are publicly celebrating their "victory" and stating they would like to repeat the atrocities of 10/7. Hamas has spent the past week conducting public executions of those that opposed it. In a show of strenghth, they're putting their uniforms back on. Reminder: There was a ceasefire in effect on 10/6/2023 and Hamas has never adhered to a ceasefire. In 2005, with Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, administrative control was given to the PA. By 2007, Hamas had violently driven the PA from Gaza and assumed control. Now Abbas is demanding the “right” to again assume control of Gaza.
Documents Reveal Hamas’s Goal: To Deepen the Rifts in Israeli Society https://jcpa.org/documents-reveal-hamass-goal-to-deepen-the-rifts-in-israeli-society/
Abbas’ Fatah to gangs: Attack Israelis; Don’t attack the Palestinian Authority
Palestinians Are Souring on Hamas – and They Want an End to the War There's the bad news – apocalyptic destruction in Gaza, rampant poverty, utter despair about the Palestinian Authority – and there's more bad news: Over half of Palestinians still back the October 7 attack. But recent polls show that's not the whole story https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-12-30/ty-article-magazine/.premium/palestinians-are-souring-on-hamas-and-they-want-an-end-to-the-war/00000194-18c8-d468-a7b5-99fc12570000
Syrian Defense Ministry requires course in Sharia for joining the new Syrian army. https://jihadwatch.org/2025/01/syrian-defense-ministry-requires-course-in-sharia-for-joining-the-new-syrian-army
Turkish Hyper-Activity Reverberates throughout the Middle East (Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs)
Tell Congress to Stop Turkish Incursions in Syria and stand behind the SDF, a key U.S. ally in the fight to defeat ISIS https://middle-east-forum.quorum.us/campaign/save-syria/
CBS is at it again: 60 Minutes on Sunday aired a misleading segment featuring members of rabidly anti-Israel organizations (CAIR and Dawn MENA). They ended the story by saying “the war is over when Netanyahu says so” Not when the hostages are released, nothing about HAMAS. https://honestreporting.com/cbs-60-minutes-platforms-anti-israel-voices-in-skewed-segment/ and https://www.camera.org/article/strong-words-feeble-reporting-60-minutes-on-us-support-for-israel/
A Hezbollah supporting Imam from Michigan and Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, President, Yeshiva University, will deliver Benedictions at Trump’s inauguration.
