Wednesday, January 15, 2025

01/15 Links Pt1: Israel-Hamas Reach Second Ceasefire and Hostage Deal After 15 Months of War; Trump and Israelis may regret the hostage deal he wanted … and got

From Ian:

FDD: ‘Hamas Finally Agreed’: Israel-Hamas Reach Second Ceasefire and Hostage Deal After 15 Months of War
Latest Developments
Hostage Deal Finalized: President Joe Biden announced on January 15 that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a finalized ceasefire deal that would see the release of some Israeli hostages in exchange for significantly more Palestinian prisoners. During a televised speech, Biden said that the deal was a result of U.S. and Israeli pressure on Hamas. “After more than 15 months of war, Hamas’s senior leaders are dead, thousands of Hamas fighters are dead, and their military formations have been destroyed,” Biden said. “With nowhere to turn, Hamas finally agreed to releasing hostages.” The deal is still subject to a vote by Israel’s security cabinet, expected to occur on January 16. Hamas fighters flooded the streets of Gaza in celebration ahead of the deal’s implementation, which Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said would start on January 19.

Three Stages of the Deal: The agreement includes three phases. The first would see Hamas release 33 hostages, all women, children, and men over 50. In return, Israel would release 100 Palestinian prisoners with life sentences from Israeli jails, 1,000 other Palestinian prisoners, and an additional unspecified number of prisoners that would be released abroad or in Gaza. The second phase would include the release of the remaining living hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. The return of remaining hostage bodies and reconstruction plans for the Gaza Strip are expected to be negotiated as part of the third phase.

Biden and Trump Welcome Development: The agreement was based on a plan introduced by Biden in May, but incoming Trump administration Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff actively worked to push the agreement through. President-elect Donald Trump said that his administration would work with Israel to ensure that “Gaza never becomes a terrorist safe haven” again, adding that the ceasefire would help build upon the Abraham Accords deal brokered during his first term between Israel, Bahrain, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates.

FDD Expert Response
“Israel has not promised to end military operations, and the incoming U.S. president strongly supports Hamas’s destruction. Bringing the hostages home is urgent for the soul of the country and must be done ahead of any future operations.” — Mark Dubowitz, CEO

“Biden is right that Israeli military operations played an important role in finally reaching this point. It is a valuable reminder regarding the role of military power in strengthening leverage in negotiations. We might have reached this point sooner if Biden had spent more time imposing consequences on Hamas for refusing to release the hostages, less time slow-rolling weapons to Israel, and less time publicly criticizing our best ally in the Middle East as it confronted our common enemies.” — Bradley Bowman, Senior Director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power

“The deal is flawed. Jerusalem made major concessions to get their citizens back, and it will be divisive in Israel. Nevertheless, every Israeli will also breathe a sigh of release to see hostages come home alive, many of whom — especially the women and the children — have become familiar names and faces to millions of Israelis.” — Enia Krivine, Senior Director of FDD’s Israel Program and National Security Network

“By agreeing to a ceasefire deal, Israel is making significant strides toward one of its primary wartime objectives: securing the release of hostages who have been held captive for more than 15 months. However, this progress comes at a considerable cost. Israel faces the difficult decision of releasing members of terrorist organizations and individuals convicted of violent acts. Furthermore, without a comprehensive strategy, Hamas and its allies in the Gaza Strip will regroup, perpetuating a cycle of violence that could emerge once again in the future.” — Joe Truzman, Senior Research Analyst and Editor at FDD’s Long War Journal
Jonathan Tobin: Trump and Israelis may regret the hostage deal he wanted … and got
Falling short of his goal
First of all, the reported terms that Witcoff pushed on Netanyahu and Hamas, and its allies, fall far short of what Trump demanded. All of the hostages are not being released by Jan. 20.

During the first phase of the agreement, only 23 of the remaining women, children, elderly and severely ill who are alive are to be released in exchange for about 1,000 Palestinian terrorists. In addition, Israel will partially withdraw from Gaza while being obligated to facilitate the entry of more humanitarian aid into the Strip, though it is far from clear that most of it won’t again be stolen by Hamas or other Palestinian criminals rather than going to civilians. The remaining approximately 60 hostages, who may or may not be still alive, will only be released if a second-stage deal for a permanent end to the fighting can be negotiated with the bodies of others still in Hamas’s possession and will only be handed over during a theoretical third phase.

What price will Hamas try to exact for going along with a second or third phase? It will almost certainly be a demand for a return to the status quo ante of Oct. 6, 2023, when the Islamist group governed Gaza as an independent Palestinian state in all but name.

Anyone who thinks this won’t correlate to the terrorists rearming and reorganizing their military forces, which were destroyed during the war, is dreaming. And that will ensure a future in which Israelis will be expected to return to a steady diet of rocket and missile barrages from Gaza, as well as an ever-present threat of cross-border terrorist attacks. In other words, all of the sacrifices of blood and treasure Israel made to ensure that Hamas can never repeat the atrocities of Oct. 7 will have been for naught.

This would not only be a tragedy for Israel. It would put Trump in a position where he will have to choose, as Biden did, between full-throated support for the inevitable Israeli counter-attacks into Gaza to once again try to eradicate Hamas and a policy of pressuring Jerusalem to simply endure the pain of terrorism as their due.

The rhetoric coming out of the Trump team, such as U.S. Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth, about support for Israeli efforts to stamp out Hamas and other Iranian-funded terrorists, is encouraging. And it’s probably fair to assume that Witcoff has assured the Israelis that Trump will have their back if, as is likely, Hamas’s intransigence derails the second phase of the agreement. But if the Trump team believes in a policy that opposes handing Gaza back to Hamas (and there’s no reason to doubt it), why have Trump and Witcoff pushed for a ceasefire that will lead to just such an outcome? Wouldn’t Israel and the United States be better off avoiding doing anything to re-empower Hamas?

A Biden-like blunder?
There may indeed be a ceasefire in Gaza on Jan. 20. Still, Trump needs to understand that the price he is asking Israel to pay for freeing only some of the hostages will hand Hamas and Iran an undeserved victory. There is no denying that this is how the Palestinians and much of the world will perceive this deal. In doing so, Trump is making it more than likely that another round of vicious fighting in the Strip, during which more Israelis and Palestinians will die, will soon follow. Along with that come more decisions where the president will be forced to choose between letting Iran off the hook for its behavior and armed conflicts possibly involving U.S. forces.

This is exactly the sort of mistake that Biden made time and again, as well as the sort of strategic blunder Trump avoided in his first term.

There is much for friends of Israel and those who are deeply troubled by the surge in American antisemitism that took place during the Biden presidency to look forward to once the new administration takes over. And there is every reason to believe that Trump’s first day in office will see him signing executive orders that will begin the effort to end the reign of woke diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) racial discrimination and the “progressive” war on the West that is inextricably tied to Jew-hatred. But by starting his second term with a deal that is a gift to Hamas and Iran, he will be setting himself up for new problems because of an unforced error that Americans and Israelis may have to pay for in blood.
Richard Kemp: If Hamas accepts a ceasefire, it won’t be because of Biden
What is more, a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, if it does occur, may not turn out to be exactly what it seems to the man in the Oval Office for the next few days. In fact, it is likely to be one part of a wider strategy for the Middle East already agreed between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Trump. That plan will have several far-reaching elements but a primary objective is undoubtedly to destroy Iran’s nuclear programme, which represents an existential danger to Israel and threatens the Middle East and the world. It looks unlikely that Trump would send in US forces for this mission, but that isn’t strictly necessary. What is needed is for the US to give Israel the military assistance and diplomatic cover it requires, which Biden refused to do.

There has never before been a better time to eliminate this threat. And doing so could also lead to the demise of the ayatollahs’ regime with its regional and world-wide violent aggression. Israel has largely neutralised both Iran and Syria’s air defences, clearing the way for a major strike against Tehran’s nuclear installations. Another significant obstacle to such an operation was Hezbollah, whose vast armoury of missiles in Lebanon existed to deter and if necessary launch a counter-strike against the Israeli population in the event of an attack on Iran’s nuclear programme. Hezbollah’s offensive capability has now also been largely neutralised by Israel’s masterful decapitation of its leadership and devastating assaults against missiles and launch sites.

This is where the potential Gaza ceasefire comes into play. Israel has been working to free the remaining hostages for the last 15 months as a principal war aim. But despite its best efforts, ninety-four of them remain captive, some of whom are still alive. There is every probability that Hamas might murder the hostages in retaliation for a major attack on its sponsors in Tehran. It would therefore be desirable to get as many as possible out before that. There is another consideration also. Although Israel could launch an attack on Iran while continuing to fight in Gaza, there may be advantages in the proposed three-month cessation that could release important military assets.

It is therefore paradoxical that Biden’s pressure for a ceasefire might end up working against his rigid determination to prevent Israel attacking the Iranian nuclear programme. Such a move would have run counter to his four year long appeasement of the ayatollahs aimed at resurrecting Obama’s dangerously flawed nuclear deal which Trump did away with. Thankfully in this case, that has been yet another Biden foreign policy failure.
Daniel Greenfield: The Hamas Surrender Deal Sets Up Trump to Fail
Let’s be clear about two things
1. The Hamas Surrender Deal is the same deal the Biden administration has been pushing all along which consists of Israel giving Hamas everything it wants in exchange for the release of living or dead hostages.

The final terms haven’t yet been made public, but a leaked draft calls for exchanging live terrorists for dead hostages, an Israeli withdrawal, and Qatar being allowed to ‘reconstruct’ Gaza. Attempts to ‘sell’ the deal hinge on such details as whether Israel will be able to go back into Gaza which will be subject to interpretation. Based on past history, the interpretation that will be followed is the one that forces an end to the fighting.

2. The Hamas Surrender Deal puts the Trump administration in charge of then enacting and managing a policy crafted by the Biden administration and Qatar. The consequences when it inevitably falls apart will be on Trump.

Only so much can be known from outside, but Steve Witkoff appears to have been taken for a ride by longtime pros like Secretary of State Blinken and Brett McGurk and is enjoying the flattering media stories about him ‘intimidating’ and ‘cursing out’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Witkoff is being taken for a ride and the Trump administration is being taken for a ride with him. He didn’t succeed, he failed miserably at extracting meaningful concessions from Hamas, and went right back to Biden’s policy of pressuring Israel. Instead of delivering a win for Trump, he delivered one for Biden.

Instead of crafting its own foreign policy, the Trump administration is being stuck with Biden’s policy of pandering to Islamic terrorists.

And that’s a disaster not only for Israel. but for America.


IDF readying for hostages’ return in ‘Operation Wings of Freedom’
Preparations have started for the return of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza for 467 days, the Israel Defense Forces announced following President-elect Donald Trump’s confirmation that a deal had been reached in Qatar.

The name given to the preparations is “Operation Wings of Freedom,” or “Kanfei Dror” in Hebrew, the IDF said in a statement.

Trump announced on Wednesday that Israel and Hamas had agreed to a ceasefire and hostage release deal during talks in Doha.

“This epic ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our historic victory in November, as it signaled to the entire world that my administration would seek peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans and our allies,” Trump wrote in a statement.

An Israeli source told the country’s Channel 12 News that the terrorist organization committed to the deal in writing, and Al Jazeera reported that a Hamas delegation, led by senior official Khalil al-Hayya, delivered the formal approval to mediators in Qatar and Egypt.

Preparations are reportedly underway in Jerusalem to convene the Security Cabinet, which consists of senior ministers, and the full government to approve the agreement on Thursday at 11 a.m.
Gaza hostage deal: How phase one of ceasefire deal will be implemented
Following announcements that a ceasefire and hostage deal had been reached on Wednesday, Arab media published the alleged provisions of the deal.

According to the reports, the agreement will include supervision by Qatar and Egypt over the return of refugees from the southern Gaza Strip to the north, and simultaneously, the withdrawal of the IDF from the Netzarim corridor will be completed in stages.

Hamas demanded that the mediators determine the time frame in which the IDF will withdraw, using a timetable.

President Joe Biden said that the "foundations" of the deal had been proposed as early as June 2024.

Phase one
The first phase of the deal will last 42 days, and implementation of the agreement will begin two or three days after its signing.

The IDF will withdraw from the Netzarim corridor and all populated areas of the enclave to about 700 meters from the border, except in five specified areas, where it will be 400 meters.

The IDF will reportedly reduce its presence on the Philadelphi corridor and then withdraw from it completely over the course of the first 50 days.

Rafah border crossing
Israel agreed to open the Rafah border crossing a week after the agreement is implemented, and the agreement will include a protocol regarding humanitarian aid during the first phase under the supervision of the mediators.

Israel is expected to begin preparations to begin the movement of aid through the crossing immediately.

Israel will open the crossing to civilians after the release of all the women, both civilians and soldiers, from Hamas captivity.

All wounded and sick Palestinian civilians will be allowed to leave through Rafah Crossing following its reopening to civilians.

Hamas will be permitted to transfer 50 wounded operatives to Egyptian hospitals each day. However, each operative is subject to approval by both Israel and Egypt.

The crossing will remain jointly operated by Israel and Egypt.

The return of Gazan refugees
Israel will begin allowing unarmed refugees to return to the north of the Gaza Strip on foot, subject to searches in the first week.

Following the first week, unarmed refugees on foot will be permitted to return North without search via the coastal Al-Rashid street. Two weeks later, they will be permitted to return via the central Salah al-Din road.

Following the first week, refugees will be permitted to return to the North via vehicles, which will be inspected by a private company to be determined by the mediators in coordination with Israel.

Hostage release
The Prime Minister of Qatar confirmed that 33 hostages will be released: the women and children first, followed by the female soldiers, then men over the age of 50, and young men who are defined as "humanitarian cases."

In exchange, Israel will release about 2,000 convicted terrorists, including about 250 who were sentenced to life imprisonment. In addition, Israel will release about a thousand terrorists captured after October 7.

Nine sick or injured hostages are to be released in exchange for the release of 110 convicted terrorists serving life sentences.

Israel will release 1,000 prisoners from Gaza, all of whom were arrested after October 8, 2023, and none were directly involved in October 7. No terrorists involved in October 7 will be released in the deal, as previously reported by The Jerusalem Post.

Elderly hostages over the age of 50 are being released at a ratio of 27 life-sentence prisoners and 31 other prisoners per elderly hostage.

Avera Mengistu, held since 2014, and Hisham al-Sayed, held since 2015, will both be released at a ratio of 30 prisoners per person, plus 47 additional prisoners. Both entered the Gaza Strip while suffering from longstanding mental health issues, raising fears over their well-being.

The mediators promised to issue a UN Security Council resolution supporting the declaration of a ceasefire to ensure that the parties comply with the agreement.


Praise that Israeli hostages are coming home, but a deal that keeps Hamas in power is a bad one
The cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas is meant to be a first step, and we don’t know what happens next, or the promises that were made behind the scenes.

It is possible that President-elect Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have agreed on this move merely as a tactical prelude to a set of far-reaching measures that will yet transform the Middle East.

And, most importantly, the idea of dozens of Israelis — including toddlers — returning home after more than a year in purgatory is enough to dull even the most hawkish observer’s concerns.

Yet it is very hard to observe this deal and see it as anything other than an utter and complete disgrace — and an embarrassment for America.

First, and most devastating, Hamas remains in power. Greatly weakened, true, and hampered by increased Israeli military presence in Gaza, but able to claim ultimate victory.

Because a terror organization, as the old chestnut goes, wins just as long as it doesn’t lose, and forcing Israel to cease fire, release terrorists, and succumb to a long list of demands in order to receive the rest of its hostages is a major victory for Hamas.

And not a symbolic one, at that: Mahmoud Abbas, the corrupt and despotic president of the Palestinian Authority, is 89 years old and ailing.

A deal that keeps Hamas in power now almost certainly means that when Abbas dies, the organization will be in position to seize the mantle of leadership in the West Bank as well, growing its power and influence.

Just as troubling is what the deal suggests about the political machinations in Washington, DC.

Why would Trump, who repeatedly said there would be “hell to pay” if the hostages weren’t released before he takes office, put his weight behind a deal that, with very few and very minor details, is the exact same one peddled, unsuccessfully and for many months now, by the Biden administration?

To hear Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, praise Qatar, one of Hamas’ chief financiers and enablers, as “doing God’s work” suggests that anyone who was bullish about the incoming administration’s approach to the region should curb their enthusiasm.

It isn’t easy trying to figure out what would make Trump support such a flawed deal, one that doesn’t even return all the hostages at once and leaves Hamas plenty of leverage in the coming weeks and months.
Seth Frantzman: Make no mistake: Hamas wants to be underestimated by Israel, West
Taking large numbers of hostages – including women and children – was key to the Hamas plan. Hamas has seen that Israel’s leadership – which hadn’t changed much for two decades – didn’t mind waiting to do a deal for a male soldier: Five years for Shalit, 10 years, and nothing was done for the two soldiers’ bodies kidnapped in 2014, and for Mengistu and Sayed.

It knew that Israel wouldn’t trade for male soldiers or male civilians, but it might be encouraged to do a deal for hundreds of hostages, many of them women, children, and elderly.

Hamas assumed Israel wouldn’t abandon IDF women in Gaza, babies, or elderly Holocaust survivors. A country founded on “never again” would likely want to save Holocaust survivors or Jewish children.

After October 7, Hamas chose to follow its usual tactic of hiding in schools and hospitals and changing into civilian clothes, vanishing among the population. Hamas knew Israel wouldn’t replace it in Gaza because it saw how Israel left the region in 2005 and how the country was worried about getting stuck in Gaza again.

Hamas assumed if Israel did stay in Gaza, it could engage in a slow insurgency to weaken the country while it made plans to take over the West Bank.

Hamas knew that holding hostages would also keep it in power because the IDF wouldn’t want to engage in risky rescue operations. It knew it wasn’t facing Ariel Sharon or the kind of Israelis who went to Entebbe; it was facing a known quantity of Israeli leaders who had waited five years to bring Shalit home.

Hamas knew, under these circumstances, it would have to massacre a huge number of people to launch a massive history-shifting war and that it would need to take a large number of hostages to keep Israel in Gaza for years to come via endless hostage talks.

Now, Hamas is preparing for a new phase where it hopes to be underestimated. It knows Israel will need to sell any hostage deal to its public, and it hopes that part of the narrative Israel’s leaders tell people will be that Hamas is “defeated” again. Hamas will thrive as Israel portrays it as having only “two battalions” of fighters left. Yet, the terror group has far more than two battalions. It continues to easily control most of Gaza and knows there is no plan to replace it.

Hamas is ready to be portrayed as defeated and deterred again. It will then rebuild its forces and begin the process of trying to take over the West Bank. Its leaders live in Doha and there they will begin to angle for reconstruction funds to strengthen the terror group. New leaders will emerge.

Hamas has thrived for 40 years on being underestimated, and it assumes this will happen again. It assumes as well that it can kill large numbers of Israelis and kidnap as many people as it wants, and get away with it – it has done this in the past and has always been rewarded.

It knows that Israel’s leadership does not view it as a threat.

The only question that Hamas may be asking itself is if it will have to kill more than 1,000 people and kidnap more than 250 in the next massacre since it already killed more Jews than at any time since the Shoah, and Israel continues to underestimate it.
Hamas made last-minute demand before agreeing to Gaza hostage deal, Israeli official says
Hamas made new last-minute demands regarding the Philadelphi corridor moments before they told Qatari mediators they agreed to the hostage-ceasefire deal, a senior Israeli political source told The Jerusalem Post.

The Israeli negotiating team was recently informed that Hamas decided at the last minute to make new demands - this time regarding the Philadelphi corridor, in contrast to the maps that have already been approved by the cabinet and American mediators.

Israel strongly opposed any changes to these maps, the source said.

An informed source told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that Hamas found a "loophole" in the agreed-upon deal, with Egypt agreeing to amend the deal and "close the loophole" based on Hamas's demands in the latter stages and in coordination with the Israeli team, as per the Arab media report.
Seth Frantzman: Trump Doctrine 2.0: What It Means for the Middle East
Countries across the Middle East are making moves and preparing for President Donald Trump’s incoming United States administration. Many of the region’s leaders were in power during the first Trump administration and will seek to achieve their goals by working with the White House over the next four years. It is essential to bridge relations because countries have come to expect flexibility and innovative policy decisions from Trump and his team.

On the other hand, some countries may also seek to exploit the changeover to push for major shifts in US policy.

Incoming Trump Administration and Foreign Relations
Leaders in the Middle East who recall the first administration will remember a time when personal relationships with Trump and flexibility to shift US policy quickly were hallmarks of the 2016-2020 era. These efforts resulted in the Abraham Accords peace deals between Israel, the UAE, and Bahrain.

However, it also resulted in risk-taking by Ankara in Syria, which led to multiple crises between Turkey and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. Countries will look to see which type of Trump doctrine emerges right out of the gate when the new team takes office.

Relations with Isreal
Trump has indicated that at the top of the list of priorities may be the winding down of the war in Gaza. This war began with the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which Hamas massacred more than 1,000 people and took 250 hostages. The group continues to hold 100 hostages. Trump has warned Hamas that it must release the hostages, including American hostages it holds, or “all hell will break out.”

Israel perceives the incoming administration as a close and supportive partner. There will be expectations that any criticism that emanated from the Biden team, or any slowdowns in munitions deliveries for Israel, will now end. Ostensibly, this will give Israel more flexibility to operate on multiple fronts, such as against the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen or to pressure Hezbollah to adhere to a ceasefire, which expires in late January. In the West Bank, increasing terror attacks by groups such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad risk escalating into a wider conflict.

It’s possible that under a new Trump administration, Israel will feel more free rein to clamp down on threats in the West Bank. It’s not clear how that will play out with the Palestinian Authority, whose security forces have been backed and trained by the US over the last decades. The PA, supported by other friends of the US, such as Jordan and key Gulf states, would likely want the Trump administration to help it remain intact over the next several years. The PA’s aging leader, Mahmoud Abbas, will need to find a successor and guarantee stability if things are to remain stable in the West Bank.
Is the Incoming Trump Administration Pressuring Israel or Hamas?
Information about a supposedly near-finalized hostage deal continued to trickle out yesterday. While it’s entirely possible that by the time you read this a deal will be much more certain, it is every bit as likely that it will have fallen through by then. More likely still, we will learn that there are indefinite and unspecified delays. Then there are the details: even in the best of scenarios, not all the hostages will be returned at once, and Israel will have to make painful concessions in exchange, including the release of hundreds of hardened terrorists and the withdrawal from key parts of the Gaza Strip.

Unusually—if entirely appropriately—the president-elect’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, has participated in the talks alongside members of President Biden’s team. Philip Klein examines the incoming Trump administration’s role in the process:

President-elect Trump has repeatedly warned that there would be “all hell to pay” if hostages were not returned from Gaza by the time he takes office. While he has never laid out exactly what the specific consequences for Hamas would be, there are some ominous signs that Israel is being pressured into paying a tremendous price.

There is obviously more here than we know. It’s possible that with the pressure from the Trump team came reassurances that Israel would have more latitude to reenter Gaza as necessary to go after Hamas than it would have enjoyed under Biden. . . . That said, all appearances are that Israel has been forced into making more concessions because Trump was concerned that he’d be embarrassed if January 20 came around with no hostages released.

While Donald Trump’s threats are a welcome rhetorical shift, part of the problem may be their vagueness. After all, it’s unlikely the U.S. would use military force to unleash hell in Gaza, or could accomplish much in doing so that the IDF can’t. More useful would be direct threats against countries like Qatar and Turkey that host Hamas, and threats to the persons and bank accounts of the Hamas officials living in those counties. Witkoff instead praised the Qatari prime minister for “doing God’s work” in the negotiations.”


Caroline Glick: CEASEFIRE: Has Trump adopted Biden’s failed Israel policy? w/ Victor Davis Hanson
The latest ceasefire deal with Hamas leaves Israel supporters with lots of questions about what to expect from the new Trump administration. Has President Trump changed course and adopted the failed policies of President Biden? Caroline Glick hosts political commentator and expert Victor Davis Hanson to answer these questions and more on today’s episode of the Caroline Glick Show!


Israeli leaders say they overwhelmingly support emerging hostage deal
Israeli leaders from both sides of the political aisle came out in favor of a hostage deal announced on Wednesday, which the terror group Hamas has committed to in writing, according to reports.

A Hamas delegation, led by senior official Khalil al-Hayya, delivered the formal approval to mediators in Qatar and Egypt, Al Jazeera reported.

Preparations have already started for the return of the hostages, held captive in the Gaza Strip for 467 days by Hamas, the Israel Defense Forces announced.

Yair Lapid, leader of the opposition and chairman of the Yesh Atid Party, said: “An entire country isn’t breathing tonight. We are all waiting, and we are all praying. But we cannot stop now, and the deal cannot end in its first part.

“I promise as I promised in the past a safety net until the last moment, until the last hostage, everyone must return home,” he added.

Israel Gantz, chairman of the National Unity Party, stated that “securing the release of the hostages from the arms of the murderous terror organization Hamas is a top moral and strategic imperative. It is simply the only way forward.”

He extended thanks to the negotiators in Israel, Egypt and Qatar; to outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden; and to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

“As President Trump said, we must now ensure Gaza never again rebuilds as a terrorist haven and continues to threaten the State of Israel,” Gantz said.

Yitzhak Goldknopf, Minister of Housing and Construction, and leader of the ultra-Orthodox Agudat Yisrael Party, tweeted: “Pikuach Nefesh [‘saving a life’] pushes aside the entire Torah. Our sons and daughters who are dying in Hamas tunnels, cry out to us and beg for their lives.

He added that “with God’s help, I will be able to fulfill tomorrow once again the incomparable commandment of ransoming captives and to support the deal that the prime minister is leading responsibly, while safeguarding Israel’s security interests.”
In Israel, thousands rally for and against hostage deal
Thousands of Israelis demonstrated on Tuesday night at two separate rallies in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, respectively in favor and against the emerging ceasefire deal with Hamas.

According to the details of the agreement so far revealed, it would only secure the return to Israel of 33 hostages, dead and alive, in return for a 42-day ceasefire and the release of 1,300 Palestinian prisoners, including killers serving life sentences, as well as the return of hundreds of thousands of Gazans to the northern Gaza Strip. More hostages—Hamas has 98 of them, according to Israel—are to be released after the 42-day first phase of the ceasefire.

Israel’s Ministerial Committee on National Security Affairs, also known as the State Security Cabinet, and the broader cabinet are set to vote on the deal. Hamas has not yet given its final answer on it, either, according to Israeli media reports on Wednesday.

Tzvika Mor, whose son Eitan is among the captives, came to the Jerusalem rally after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who held meetings with several families of hostages.

Mor argued against the creation of different tiers of hostages in the framework of the deal. The benefits Hamas will draw from the first tier will incentivize it to hold on to the following ones, he said.

“I don’t understand how my son will return after the first wave of residents returning from the south to the north of the Gaza Strip, and humanitarian aid trucks, will strengthen Hamas,” he told Israel’s Channel 12 News.

“The selection my grandparents went through saved them from the Nazis,” Mor said, referencing how Nazis would let some Jews live while sending others to their deaths. “But the selection being made now could, God forbid, determine the fate of my son.”


European leaders welcome Gaza deal
The European Union and the United Kingdom welcomed the ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas on Wednesday.

“This is a major, positive breakthrough towards ending the violence,” stated Kaja Kallas, the E.U. high representative for foreign affairs and security policy.

“It is now time to deliver this agreement for all hostages and their families, the people of Gaza and the people of the region,” Kallas added.

Kallas met with relatives of hostages held in Gaza on Wednesday who told the top Brussels diplomat that a deal “will only launch a process which needs to be monitored and kept moving forward from one phase to the next until all hostages are back home,” per her office.

Keir Starmer, the U.K. prime minister, paid tribute to “those who won’t make it home—including the British people who were murdered by Hamas.”

“We will continue to mourn and remember them,” he said. “For the innocent Palestinians, whose homes turned into a warzone overnight and the many who have lost their lives, this ceasefire must allow for a huge surge in humanitarian aid, which is so desperately needed to end the suffering in Gaza.”

London and its allies “will continue to be at the forefront of these crucial efforts to break the cycle of violence and secure long-term peace in the Middle East,” he added.

The German Federal Foreign Office stated that “in these hours, there is hope that the hostages will finally be released and that the deaths in Gaza will come to an end. All those who bear responsibility should now ensure that this opportunity is seized.”


BREAKING: Is Israel being forced to accept the latest hostage agreement? | Israel Undiplomatic
Israel today is torn between those who support the latest Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal and those who oppose it. Many are asking why Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suddenly accepted this seemingly bad deal which doesn’t even promise to free all the hostages. Was Bibi coerced into by Washington or were concessions promised to Israel that will become apparent in the future? Join journalist Ruthie Blum and Amb. Mark Regev as they weigh in on all the latest developments on today’s episode of Israel Undiplomatic!


Trump national security pick says Hamas must be ‘destroyed,’ play no role in postwar Gaza; US to dramatically up support for Israel
US President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for national security adviser Mike Waltz says that Hamas must be destroyed and have no role at all in postwar Gaza.

Speaking in an interview on the Call Me Back podcast with Dan Senor, Waltz also says the incoming administration’s relationship with Israel will be much more supportive than the Biden administration’s was.

“We’ve been clear that Gaza has to be fully demilitarized, Hamas has to be destroyed to the point that it cannot reconstitute, and that Israel has every right to fully protect itself,” Waltz says. “Hamas cannot have a role. ISIS doesn’t have a role. Al Qaeda doesn’t have a role.”

“These are hostage-taking, murderous, rapist, torturers that never should ever have any role in governing,” he says.

Waltz indicates that Israel is currently better placed strategically, with Hezbollah and Iran’s threats diminished, because Jerusalem ignored pressure from Washington for restraint.

“I think we’re in a very good place because the Israeli government didn’t listen sometimes to the not-so-good advice coming out of this administration,” Walz says.

“And now we are where we are, where Iran is in the worst position it’s been. And that’s not to say this administration didn’t help with shooting down the missiles, [or that] they didn’t help with arms, but they also tapped the brakes as well in a way that I just did not find rational.”

He also says the US under Trump will not hold back on weapons supplies like the Biden administration did when it withheld the supply of 2,000-pound bombs.

“You’re not going to see this administration tapping the brakes to make sure Israel can arm itself,” he says.
Call me Back Podcast: Trump’s National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
As we wait in anticipation of a hostage deal, we welcome President Trump’s incoming National Security Adviser, Rep. Mike Waltz, to the podcast, to discuss the possible hostage deal, and his thoughts on the U.S.-Israel relationship.

Congressman Mike Waltz is a Colonel (Ret.) in the National Guard, and the first Green Beret to be elected to Congress. He worked on counter-terrorism in the Bush White House and was a policy advisor at the Pentagon, serving under Secretaries Rumsfeld and Gates, and a Congressman from Florida. As President Trump is sworn in as president - this upcoming Monday, January 20th, inauguration day - so will Mike Waltz, as the president’s National Security Advisor.

Mike graduated from the Virginia Military Institute with Honors and served 27 years in the U.S. Army and National Guard. After being commissioned as an Army lieutenant, Mike graduated Ranger School and was selected for the elite Green Berets, serving worldwide as a Special Forces officer with multiple combat tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa. For his actions in combat, Mike was awarded four Bronze Stars, including two for Valor.

Mike is the author of the books, “Warrior Diplomat: A Green Beret’s Battles from Washington to Afghanistan” and “Hard Truths: Think and Lead Like a Green Beret”.


What the rule says and Biden means
Is the Biden administration computer illiterate? Is it technology-innovation-unaware? Is it malicious when it comes to Israel? The third seems to be the case.

On its way out, the administration’s “Interim Final Rule on Artificial Intelligence Diffusion,” announced on Jan. 13, would place new limits on how many artificial-intelligence chips companies, including Nvidia, Intel and AMD, can send to different countries without making special arrangements with the U.S. government. Israel is one of the countries for which they will have to get permission.

Nvidia will be impacted the most, given that it produces an estimated 90% of the world’s AI chips. Stephen Bryen, a technology specialist (also my husband), adds: “Nvidia owns significant properties in Israel including Run:ai, an Israeli startup that has built software to help developers and businesses manage complex AI workloads and computing resources on a single platform.”

Nvidia’s second-largest development center outside of the United States is in Israel, with 3,300 employees, including residents of the West Bank and Gaza, representing 13% of its global workforce. Nvidia recommitted to its Israel operation in March.

Regarding Intel, Bryen points out that it is one of the largest employers in Israel’s high-tech industry, and one of its major development centers is in Israel, accounting for much of what Intel designs. “Years ago, the co-founder of Intel told me that his investment in Israel had turned out brilliantly. In addition, Israel’s NeuReality is slashing the high hardware costs and energy consumption required for AI processing. It has partnership agreements with IBM, AMD and other computing powerhouses and is set to transform the AI landscape.”

So, Israel needs special U.S. government permission to use what it works to develop and build?
NVIDIA launches 10,000 sq.m. R&D, Data center in Israel
Technology giant NVIDIA announced on Wednesday that it will expand its research and development operation in Israel and build a new research and engineering data center facility.

The facility will include 10,000 square meters of AI data center infrastructure and will be among the largest and most powerful data center labs in Israel, the company said.

The facility will go into production in the first half of 2025, the company said, adding that the company’s product and engineering teams will use it to develop “next-generation data center technologies – networking hardware and software technologies, CPU design, AI software, and more.”

The facility will be powered by hundreds of liquid-cooled Blackwell and Grace Blackwell Superchip-based systems, BlueField-3 SuperNIC, Spectrum-X800, and Quantum-X800 switches.

“The new research and engineering data center facility will empower NVIDIA Israel’s existing teams and many new hires to continue developing technologies that drive AI, the most important technological force of our time,” said senior vice president of Software Engineering and NVIDIA Israel site leader Amit King.


Israeli airstrikes target Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza
Israel carried out airstrikes on key Hamas terrorist figures and infrastructure in Gaza overnight Tuesday, including a senior terrorist in a former school in Daraj Tuffah used as a command and control center, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives in Khan Yunis and Deir al Balah were also targeted.

Over the past 24 hours, more than 50 terrorist targets were struck across Gaza, including weapon caches, underground infrastructure and Hamas military sites.

Precautions were taken to minimize civilian casualties, the IDF emphasized.


IDF has seized more than 3,000 weapons in Syria since Dec. 8
Israel Defense Forces soldiers operating in Syria have confiscated more than 3,000 weapons and other gear belonging to the former Syrian Armed Forces since the fall of the Assad regime on Dec. 8, the army stated Wednesday.

Among the 3,300 assets seized from Syrian territory, the Technological and Logistics Directorate’s Intelligence and Technical Haul Collection Unit seized firearms, anti-tank missiles and RPG systems, mortar shells, explosive devices, observation equipment and two tanks, the army said.

Since the start of the current war, which was sparked by the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border massacre of 1,200 people in southern Israel, IDF troops have seized more than 170,000 hostile assets from the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria, according to the IDF.

Forces of the IDF’s 210th “Bashan” Division continue operations inside Syria to “provide security and protection for the residents of Israel and the Golan Heights in particular,” Wednesday’s IDF statement noted.

Since the fall of the Iranian- and Russian-backed Assad regime, Israeli forces have taken up positions inside and beyond the Golan buffer zone, including on the strategic Syrian side of Mount Hermon. The Israeli Air Force has conducted hundreds of strikes on former Assad military assets to prevent them from falling into the hands of hostile forces.


Professor warns of potential Gaza ceasefire pitfalls
Bar-llan University Professor of Politics Gerald Steinberg has discussed the “concern” that comes with a potential ceasefire being declared in Gaza imminently.

“The Israeli government is being relatively quiet, unofficially off the record they’re saying there’s movement and optimism but there’s also a great deal of concern,” Mr Steinberg said.

“We’ve had four or five ceasefires or fake ceasefires with Hamas since 2009 … they’ve all been violated.

“There’s also that weariness, Hamas is still alive, they’re still kicking and they’ve got support from what’s called the international community.”


Israeli Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister discusses imminent ceasefire deal
Israeli Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Sharren Haskel has discussed the ceasefire and hostage deal talks between Israel and Hamas.

“They [Hamas] know all the demands,” Ms Haskel told Sky News host Sharri Markson.

“We’re just waiting for them to confirm it and to give us the answers and to advance with the process.”


Hamas remnants will ‘rebuild’ if they are allowed to remain in Gaza
Former adviser at the Israeli Prime Minister's office and author of ‘To Hell in a Handbasket’ Ruthie Blum claims Hamas will “rebuild” if remnants of the Palestinian militant group are allowed to remain in Gaza.

The Israeli government and Hamas say they are in the final stages of indirect talks over a deal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

“If remnants of Hamas are allowed to remain in Gaza, Hamas will rebuild,” Ms Blum told Sky News Australia.

“There is no guarantee Israel will be safe.”


‘On the brink of happening’: Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal imminent
A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas is “on the brink of happening”, reveals The Australian’s Foreign Editor Greg Sheridan.

“It will be fascinating to look at the final print,” Mr Sheridan told Sky News host Peta Credlin.

“Who do the Israelis have to release to let this happen?”


'We want all of them back home': Calls for release of every last hostage
Yoav Engel, whose son Ofir was released from captivity in the November hostage deal has spoken out about the hope and uncertainty of a ceasefire-hostage deal between Hamas and Israel.

"We are excited and we hope that something is going on and the deal is close," Engel told Sky News host Sharri Markson.

"We speak about all the 98 hostages that are still there, and we want all of them back home ... live or dead, but we want all of them back to the families.”




Calls mount for ‘complete change’ to how Australia handles antisemitism
Australia's special envoy on antisemitism Jillian Segal calls for a “complete change” in Australia’s approach to combatting antisemitism.

“We are talking about a big social issue here, a social problem,” Ms Segal said.

“I want to see a complete change in our community.”


Anthony Albanese ‘rejecting calls’ for ‘meaningful and tougher action’ on antisemitism
Sky News host Sharri Markson says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is “rejecting calls for more meaningful and tougher action” into Australia’s “antisemitism emergency”.

“At the moment this racism against Jews is being tolerated, it's getting out of hand and I'm starting to despair that it can't be put back in the box,” Ms Markson said.

“Instead of supporting these very basic demands, stronger penalties and a national cabinet to deal with the ugly racism, Albanese shrugged it off once again.”






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This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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