The International Committee of the Red Cross on Tuesday handed over to the Israel Defense Forces “findings” that had been transferred to it by Hamas, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.
The possible remains of a hostage were set to be sent to the Health Ministry’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir in Tel Aviv following a military ceremony with the participation of an IDF rabbi, it stated.
The PMO’s hostage and missing persons coordinator is in “continuous contact with the families of the two deceased captives, and in this difficult hour, our hearts are with them,” the statement continued.
“The effort to bring our hostages home continues without interruption and will not cease until the return of the last captive,” the PMO added.
The bodies of two hostages remained in the Gaza Strip: Israel Police counter-terrorism officer Master Sgt. Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak, who was working in Israel’s south when thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded on Oct. 7, 2023.
Under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire that went into effect last month, the Palestinian terrorist organization committed to returning for burial all 28 bodies it was holding, on Oct. 13.
However, Hamas has slow-walked the return of the deceased hostages.
The most recent handover took place on Nov. 25, when the terror group transferred the body of Dror Or. He was buried on Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s office said last week that Hamas must fulfill its obligation, vowing that Israel “will not compromise” until every captive is brought home. JNS
{Matzav.com}
The Trump administration showed no sign of shifting course on Monday, even as a newly filed discrimination lawsuit took aim at its personnel decisions. Hours after the suit hit federal court, eight immigration judges stationed at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan were dismissed, according to an official with the National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ).
The legal action was launched that same morning by Tania Nemer, who argued she was removed from her position as an Ohio immigration judge because she is a woman, because of her Lebanese citizenship, and because she had previously run for local office as a Democrat.
Her claims land in the middle of a sweeping workforce reduction initiative. According to the NAIJ official, about 200 immigration judges have either resigned or been pushed out under the Department of Government Efficiency’s campaign to cut costs and streamline operations. Of that total, roughly 100 were outright terminated.
Despite the deep cuts, the nation’s immigration courts are drowning in cases. Syracuse University’s TRAC Reports estimates a staggering backlog of 3.4 million unresolved matters — and that number continues to climb.
In an attempt to plug the staffing gap, the War Department announced in September its intention to temporarily deploy 600 military attorneys to the immigration courts. But the NAIJ official said that only 25 of those lawyers have completed the necessary training and begun adjudicating cases.
Meanwhile, Congress previously authorized the creation of 800 permanent immigration judgeships as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Yet so far, only 11 new judges have actually been appointed.
Nemer’s lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, DC, asserts that her firing on Feb. 5 stemmed partly from her unsuccessful political campaign earlier in her career — a move she argues infringed on her Constitutional right to participate in political activity.
The DOJ, however, countered in her earlier Equal Employment Opportunity proceedings that the Trump administration “has the right to fire employees” and that Nemer’s removal was a “lawful exercise” of that authority.
Nemer, who began serving on the bench in 2023 under President Joe Biden’s administration, is now seeking reinstatement to her judicial post.
{Matzav.com}President Trump’s senior advisers, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, walked into the Kremlin on Tuesday for a pivotal discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin, aiming to push forward the recalibrated U.S. peace outline for Ukraine. Although Putin remarked in recent days that “Trump’s plan could be the basis for negotiations,” he has also signaled little movement from his entrenched positions, casting uncertainty over whether the talks will yield meaningful progress.
The high-stakes Moscow mission follows two weeks of hurried diplomacy that included back-and-forth negotiations between Washington and Kyiv. The revised U.S. proposal — trimmed from 28 items to 19 — was slated to be formally presented to Putin during the Kremlin meeting. For Kushner, it marks his first direct involvement in talks with Putin; for Witkoff, it is his sixth such sit-down in Russia and the first time Trump’s representatives have met Putin face-to-face since August’s Alaska summit.
American officials intend to brief Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky immediately after leaving the Kremlin. Zelensky noted on Tuesday that he expects to speak with Witkoff and Kushner as soon as their meeting with Putin concludes. According to individuals familiar with the schedule, the two envoys are also set to see Zelensky in Europe on Wednesday to walk him through every detail of the Moscow discussions.
Much of the diplomatic wrangling centers on the future dividing line between Ukraine and Russian-held areas. Putin has repeatedly asserted that Russia will not halt its military campaign until it fully seizes the Donbas region. The U.S. has pushed Kyiv to contemplate territorial concessions to break the deadlock — a notion that would be agonizing domestically for Ukraine and potentially explosive politically.
On Sunday, Witkoff, Kushner, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Zelensky’s national security adviser, Rustem Umerov, leading a Ukrainian delegation in Miami. Zelensky later said that Ukraine’s top general updated the Americans “on the real situation at the front” and discussed “implementing various steps at the front…in the event of a ceasefire.” He added that the 19-point plan was “further revised” during the Miami session.
Witkoff continued discussions with Umerov late into Sunday evening and again on Monday morning before departing for Moscow. While Zelensky was in Paris on Monday, he and French President Emmanuel Macron held a joint call with Witkoff and Umerov. Afterward, Macron briefed Trump directly, emphasizing “the importance of the security guarantees required for Ukraine and our determination to work on them together with the U.S.,” according to a French official.
As Trump’s envoys arrived in the Russian capital, Zelensky convened his own negotiating circle in Dublin. He said afterward that they covered matters “that cannot be said over the phone.” The Ukrainian leader also expressed openness to a direct meeting with Trump if the Kremlin discussions move the process forward.
Zelensky voiced cautious optimism Tuesday, stating, “The chances now to end the war are better than ever. … There will be no easy decisions.”
{Matzav.com}
