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Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani declared that the situation in Gaza cannot be described as a true ceasefire, insisting that such a designation would require Israel to completely pull its forces out of the enclave. His remarks came during a panel at the Doha Forum, where he also emphasized that the region had reached a pivotal point in the diplomatic process. “We are at the critical moment,” Al Thani said, underscoring the fragility of the ongoing negotiations.

He pushed back firmly on the characterization of the current lull in fighting. “What we have just done is a pause. We cannot consider it yet a ceasefire. A ceasefire cannot be completed unless there is a full withdrawal of the Israeli forces, there is stability back in Gaza [and] people can go in and out, which is not the case today,” he maintained. His framing was later echoed by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who outlined Ankara’s conditions for carrying out the second phase of President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace initiative.

Under the truce that took effect on October 10, Israel repositioned its troops to the designated Yellow Line, splitting Gaza into eastern and western zones. However, Israel refrained from reopening the Rafah Border Crossing for more than a month, citing Hamas’s refusal to return the bodies of all fallen hostages. One of those still held is the body of slain police officer Ran Gvili.

This point was stressed by Gvili’s family, who issued a statement Saturday evening. “The first phase of the hostage deal is still not completed, while Rani hasn’t returned home. We demand that Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump pressure Hamas and Islamic Jihad to return Rani home immediately! We can’t move to the second phase of the deal without Rani here,” they said, in comments carried by Hebrew media.

Israel this week agreed to allow Rafah to open in one direction to let Palestinians exit the Strip, but Egypt rejected that arrangement and insisted the crossing must permit entry into Gaza as well. Meanwhile, Al Thani said the mediating countries — Qatar, Turkey, Egypt and the US — are “getting together in order to force the way forward for the next phase.”

A US official told The Times of Israel that Washington aims to formally introduce the transition to phase two within the next two weeks. That stage includes the establishment of a technocratic Palestinian government and an International Stabilization Force overseen by a Board of Peace chaired by President Donald Trump.

Al Thani stressed that Doha views this stage as an interim measure. He cautioned that “temporary” structures will not resolve deeper issues if they focus only on Gaza. “This conflict is not only about Gaza, but also the West Bank. It’s about the rights of the Palestinians for their state,” he said. “We are hoping that we can work together with the US administration to achieve this vision.”

He credited the Trump administration’s direct engagement — even with Hamas — for breakthroughs that made the October ceasefire possible. According to Al Thani, this willingness to communicate was essential for crafting agreements on both the truce and hostage releases.

When asked about resistance within Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s coalition to elements of the Trump plan, particularly those hinting at a future Palestinian state, Al Thani said Washington’s involvement will be central to ensuring Israeli compliance.

Pressed on Qatar’s hosting of Hamas leaders, Al Thani defended the arrangement, arguing it has been indispensable in securing every ceasefire and hostage deal throughout the war. He suggested that some of Qatar’s harshest critics rely heavily on Doha’s mediation — a thinly veiled reference to Israel. “Qatar provides a platform for those parties to talk. It doesn’t mean that we are taking one side or the other. Our role is to make sure that the dialogue is ongoing and the dialogue is coming out with a positive outcome… that ends conflicts,” he said.

{Matzav.com}

• The Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments on whether President Donald Trump can undo automatic citizenship for people born in the United States. • Trump, on his first day back in the White House on Jan. 20, issued an executive order that said babies born in the U.S. more than 30 days after that […]

Right-wing commentator Tim Pool reported Saturday morning that a vehicle pulled up near his home Friday night and opened fire. Pool said no one was injured in the incident. The report comes just days after Pool publicly split with Candace Owens, taking to social media to express sharp criticism.

Stephen Miller: “We believe that the Somali fraud operation in Minnesota is the single greatest theft of taxpayer dollars, through welfare fraud, in American history… and we believe that what we are going to uncover is going to shock the American people.”

Russia unleashed a major missile and drone barrage on Ukraine overnight into Saturday, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had a “substantive phone call” with American officials engaged in talks with a Ukrainian delegation in Florida, aimed at ending the nearly 4-year war. Russia used 653 drones and 51 missiles in the wide-reaching overnight […]

The Great 8 Giveaway: 8 Nights, 8 Incredible Prizes, Endless Excitement This Chanukah, Mechinas Ner Naftali invites you to join The Great 8 Giveaway, a one-of-a-kind raffle experience where every night brings a new reason to celebrate. Over eight unforgettable nights, we’ll be lighting up the season with eight extraordinary prizes, from luxury home items […]

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a newly published interview that although he appreciates President Donald Trump’s opinion regarding a possible pardon for Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, the ultimate decision will rest solely on what serves Israel’s national interest. He stressed that Israel’s sovereignty and its legal institutions—not external pressure—will determine the outcome.

“Everybody understands that any pre-emptive pardon has to be considered on the merits,” Herzog told Politico, pledging to “deal with it with utter seriousness.” He added that he holds Trump’s advocacy in high regard, noting the repeated appeals from the president to grant Netanyahu clemency. “I respect President Trump’s friendship and his opinion,” he said.

Herzog underscored why Trump’s views matter to him personally. “Why? Because as I tell many Israelis, it is the same President Trump we begged and asked to bring back our hostages and who led bravely an enormous step to bring back our hostages and get the UN Security Council resolution through. But Israel, naturally, is a sovereign country, and we fully respect the Israeli legal system and its requirements.”

After Netanyahu submitted a formal pardon request last Sunday—without admitting guilt—Herzog reiterated that his focus remains on the country’s welfare. “The well-being of the Israeli people is my first, second and third priority,” he told the outlet.

Netanyahu currently faces one bribery charge and three counts each of fraud and breach of trust across several corruption cases. Prosecutors allege he manipulated media coverage and received unlawful gifts in exchange for political favors. He has rejected the claims entirely, arguing the indictments were engineered by elements within the police and state prosecution attempting a political coup.

Herzog’s interview comes just ahead of his trip to New York, where political tensions have escalated following the election of socialist Zohran Mamdani as mayor. Mamdani has unsettled Jewish and pro-Israel communities with a series of radical stances. He initially refused to denounce chants like “globalize the intifada” or call for Hamas to disarm, positions he later softened only under significant backlash—stating he would “discourage” the slogan and that Hamas should lay down its weapons. While he now says he supports Israel’s right to exist, he has refused to affirm its identity as a Jewish state, opposing what he calls a “hierarchy of citizenship.”

Adding to the uproar, Mamdani has vowed to instruct police to arrest Netanyahu should he visit New York, citing an International Criminal Court warrant—despite U.S. law making such an arrest impossible. The warrant accuses Netanyahu of war crimes in Gaza, allegations Israel rejects in full.

“I’m extremely bothered by the statements of Mayor-elect Mamdani,” Herzog told Politico. “The rights of Jews, of the Jewish people, for self-determination and for independence, do not depend on Zohran Mamdani.”

Herzog contrasted Mamdani’s rhetoric with his own family’s history. He noted that his father, as Israel’s ambassador to the UN, famously tore up a now-revoked resolution branding Zionism as racism. “He also spoke about people throughout the ages, leaders who negated the Jewish people’s rights, and they’ve all disappeared, and their views disappeared,” Herzog said.

When asked if he would extend an invitation for Mamdani to visit Israel, Herzog replied that the mayor-elect should first better understand the very city he is about to lead. “I think Mayor-elect Mamdani should understand that in his own city, there are so many people who have Israel minted in their DNA, in their love of both America and Israel. He should study better and understand better their viewpoints and not show such disgust and hate.”

Herzog also expressed concern over the growing wave of anti-Israel sentiment in the United States, which he blamed partly on social media. He argued that the hostility “comes from TikTok, from a very shallow discourse of the current situation, pictures or viewpoints, and doesn’t judge from the big picture.”

While acknowledging the legitimacy of debate about Israel’s military actions, Herzog pleaded for honesty and context. “I respect the debate,” he said, “but all I’m asking is for fair reporting, not fake reporting, and not something superficial. You cannot just buy a TikTok message, which you know immediately blames Israel, without understanding what’s behind it. We are operating in self-defense according to international law and we are trying to defend our citizens.”

He ended with a stark warning about the scale of the misinformation campaign Israel faces. “There are billions and tens of billions of dollars poured into this brainwashing machine which doesn’t want to tell the real truth,” Herzog said. “And we may be all alone, but we will keep on saying the truth: We did not seek this war. We did not want this war.”

{Matzav.com}

A large fire broke out on Friday night, just as Shabbos began, in the well-known Kollel Halperin building in Bnei Brak. The blaze started in an apartment located directly beneath the kollel, where a dormitory for bochurim of Yeshivas Ponovezh is situated. Several bochurim were sleeping there at the time. B’Chadrei Chareidim reported that, in […]

Sen. John Kennedy tore into the massive COVID-era fraud case uncovered in Minnesota’s “Feeding Our Future” scandal, blasting it as one of the most staggering abuses of federal aid ever exposed. The Louisiana Republican didn’t hold back on the Senate floor, calling the situation “a clown world on steroids” and “deeply disgusting.”

Speaking about the scheme, Kennedy highlighted what federal prosecutors have described as an unprecedented theft of taxpayer funds. “For the last five years, there has been massive welfare fraud in the great state of Minnesota. Over one billion dollars of American taxpayer dollars has been stolen — just stolen. They can call it fraud, but a better term would be stealing. And this fraud has been centered in the Somali community in Minnesota,” he said, adding that learning how taxpayer dollars were misused makes him “angry.”
“It makes me want to knee someone in the groin,” Kennedy said, directing his fury at state officials and insisting on full accountability. “It just makes me furious and I think the American taxpayers feel the same way.”

Kennedy emphasized that his criticism was not aimed at every member of Minnesota’s Somali population. He noted that he does not wish to “criticize the 80,000 members of the Somali community” living in the state, while also stressing, “it is a fact that this one billion dollars in welfare fraud occurred almost exclusively in the Somali community.”

Reporting from the New York Times was the first to outline how the scheme proliferated within segments of Minnesota’s Somali community, with various individuals setting up entities that billed state agencies for social services that were never delivered. Some of those involved were connected to Feeding Our Future, a fraudulent nonprofit that claimed to provide meals to needy children and received $250 million through the Federal Child Nutrition Program.

According to the Times’ earlier reporting, “Federal prosecutors say that 59 people have been convicted in those schemes so far, and that more than $1 billion in taxpayers’ money has been stolen in three plots they are investigating. That is more than Minnesota spends annually to run its Department of Corrections.”

Peter Schweizer, head of the Government Accountability Institute, said the evidence makes the fraud unmistakable. “Hundreds of millions of dollars were diverted again by several dozen Somali nationals, who took the money they were supposed to be using to feed children. And in fact, we’re pocketing for criminal instances,” he said. “It was 125 million meals that this charity claimed that they were providing to children that were not provided at all.”

The White House has described the scandal as involving “a massive, complex network of nonprofits and affiliates” that purported to aid thousands of underprivileged children, serve the homeless, and offer therapy for autistic Somali youth. In reality, “Kickbacks were paid, lavish lifestyles were funded, and money was sent overseas — some of it even allegedly funneled to a terror group,” the administration said.

President Donald Trump weighed in sharply on the revelations, denouncing Minnesota as “a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity” and announcing he was ending Temporary Protected Status for Somali nationals in the state. He also made clear he opposed allowing additional Somali immigrants to remain in the U.S. “We can go one way or the other, and we’re going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country,” he said, arguing that the state had become a “hellhole” because of the community. “Somalians should be out of here,” he told reporters. “They’ve destroyed our country.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz fired back, condemning Trump’s remarks as inflammatory and beyond the bounds of any past presidential rhetoric. He said Trump had slurred an entire community — the largest Somali population in America — and insulted the state as a whole. “We’ve got little children going to school today who their president called them garbage,” Walz said, calling the comments “unprecedented for a United States president.”

Republican legislative leaders, while not embracing Walz’s rebuke of Trump, countered that the outrage now engulfing the state could have been avoided if the governor had acted sooner and more forcefully to prevent fraud within Minnesota’s welfare programs.

{Matzav.com}

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defended strikes on alleged drug cartel boats during remarks Saturday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, saying President Donald Trump has the power to take military action “as he sees fit” to defend the nation. Hegseth dismissed criticism of the strikes, which have killed more than 80 people […]

Governor Kathy Hochul made clear on Thursday that New York City’s incoming mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has no legal power to detain Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, directly contradicting Mamdani’s repeated claims that he would attempt to do so if Netanyahu sets foot in the city.

The governor’s comments came as she sought to distance herself from several of Mamdani’s hard-line positions on Israel ahead of his January 1 inauguration. While Hochul has consistently aligned herself with Israel, Mamdani has long been identified with anti-Israel activism and has drawn widespread concern from Jewish communities. Despite her differences with him on these matters, Hochul endorsed Mamdani during his campaign.

Speaking to reporters, Hochul addressed the mayor-elect’s declaration directly. According to Politico, when asked about Mamdani’s vow to arrest Netanyahu, she rejected the notion outright and added, “The New York City mayor does not have the power to do that.”

Mamdani has pointed to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant as justification for his threat, but the argument does not stand on firm legal ground. The ICC has no jurisdiction inside the United States, and federal law expressly forbids state or municipal authorities from cooperating with the court. Additionally, another federal statute protects foreign officials — including sitting heads of state — from detention or interference.

Legal specialists have echoed this assessment, noting that Mamdani’s threat carries no legal weight whatsoever.

Netanyahu, for his part, brushed aside the mayor-elect’s remarks, announcing Wednesday that he still intends to travel to New York. The prime minister traditionally visits the city each fall to address the United Nations General Assembly.

The controversy over the ICC warrant has intensified in recent weeks. The Wall Street Journal reported that prosecutor Karim Khan accelerated the issuance of the warrant for Netanyahu without carrying out a planned investigation, doing so after a subordinate accused him of misconduct. The report added that Khan then leveraged the warrants in an effort to pressure that accuser into abandoning the allegations.

{Matzav.com}

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth came under sharp questioning today over whether he intends to follow through on President Donald Trump’s public assurance that the full video of the controversial double-tap airstrike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean will be released.

Hegseth appeared at the Reagan National Defense Forum, where Fox News correspondent Lucas Tomlinson raised the issue directly during a Q&A. Referring to recent briefings that Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley delivered on Capitol Hill, Tomlinson asked, “After Admiral [Frank ‘Mitch’] Bradley’s meetings from Capitol Hill with joint chiefs, President Trump said he would have no problem if the full video of the strike is released. When can we see that video? When will you release it?”

Hegseth avoided making any commitment, saying only that the Pentagon is considering the implications. “We are reviewing it right now to make sure sources, methods — I mean, it’s an ongoing operation right now, TTPs,” he said. “We have operators out there doing this now. Whatever we decide, we have to be responsible and we are reviewing it.”

Tomlinson then referenced a Washington Post report alleging that Hegseth had instructed forces to kill everyone on the vessel, even survivors. The secretary immediately shot down the claim. “Is anybody here from The Washington Post? I don’t know where you get your sources, but they suck.”

He went on to reject the report entirely. “Of course not! Anybody that has been in this situation room, or has been in the war room there, the secretary’s office, know you don’t walk in and say, ‘Kill them all —’ It’s patently ridiculous. It’s meant to create a cartoon of me.”

Hegseth then offered a broader defense of the operation and the professionals carrying it out. “What people think is cavalier or cowboy about it is the opposite. These are the most professional Americans going through specific processes about what they can and cannot do, understanding all the authorities, all the laws of war, all the capabilities, and applying it to deter our adversaries.”

He intensified his argument by detailing the operational goals behind the missions. “And by the way, there are not many people getting in boats right now running drugs, which is the whole point. We want to stop the poisoning of the American people. The catch and release program of the ‘pat them on the head and release them so they can go back to the fight’ did not work in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it’s not gonna work in the Caribbean. So, we’re putting them at the bottom of the Caribbean, which forces them to change the way they operate, and hopefully it makes the American people safer — not hopefully, it will make the American people safer in the process.”

Tomlinson pressed again: “So, Mr. Secretary, you will be releasing that full video?”

Hegseth repeated his earlier line. “We are reviewing it right now.”

The reporter pushed for clarity: “Is that a yes or no?”

The secretary again declined to give a definitive response. “That is — We’re — The most important thing to me are the ongoing operations in the Caribbean with our folks that use bespoke capabilities, techniques, procedures in the process. I’m way more interested in protecting that than anything else. So, we’re reviewing the process and we’ll see.”
{Matzav.com}

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced Thursday that once he enters office in January, the city will halt all future clearings of homeless encampments — a dramatic reversal of one of the Adams administration’s defining enforcement strategies.

Speaking to reporters at an unrelated Manhattan press event, Mamdani dismissed the current policy as ineffective and fundamentally misguided. Pointing to the failure to place displaced individuals into long-term living situations, he argued, “If you are not connecting homeless New Yorkers to the housing that they so desperately need, then you cannot deem anything you’re doing to be a success.”

He said the city must pivot toward a strategy centered entirely on securing stable places to live for those on the streets. “We are going to take an approach that understands its mission is connecting those New Yorkers to housing,” Mamdani said.

The incoming mayor emphasized that all forms of housing should be on the table — supportive units, rental apartments, and other available options — while faulting the belief that homelessness is simply an unavoidable urban condition. “Whether it’s supportive housing, whether it’s rental housing, whatever kind of housing it is, because what we have seen is the treatment of homelessness as if it is a natural part of living in this city, when in fact, it’s more often a reflection of a political choice being made.”

Despite the sweeping shift he promised, Mamdani did not provide any concrete plan for how to resolve the sprawling encampment-related complaints that flood the city’s system. Between January and November 2025 alone, more than 45,000 311 calls were filed concerning makeshift camps.

Mayor Eric Adams made encampment removal a central policy goal early in his term, unveiling the push in March 2022 with a blunt declaration: “We cannot tolerate these makeshift, unsafe houses on the side of highways, in trees, in front of schools, in parks. This is just not acceptable, and it’s something I’m just not going to allow to happen.”

But the results were grim. A subsequent audit revealed that roughly 95% of the individuals displaced in these clearances ended up back on the streets soon after their shelters were dismantled.

City Hall rejected the comptroller’s findings, defending the policy as far more successful than critics claimed. In a separate statement Thursday, spokesperson Fabien Levy said, “Cherry-picking numbers and sharing them out of context paint a disingenuous picture as these cleanups have actually connected more than 500 New Yorkers to safe, stable housing.”

Levy also stressed the city’s broader achievements, adding, “New York City continues to have the lowest rate of unsheltered homelessness of any major city in the nation.”

{Matzav.com}

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa leveled a blistering accusation against Israel on Saturday, charging that Jerusalem is deliberately “exporting crises” to neighboring countries in an effort to divert international attention from what he called “horrifying massacres” in Gaza. Speaking during an onstage interview at the Doha Forum in Qatar, Sharaa claimed Israel is manufacturing regional instability […]

Israeli officials have informed mediators that members of Islamic Jihad possess direct knowledge of the whereabouts of Yasam officer Ran Gvili, who was seized amid the fighting in Gaza. According to the same message, Hamas is also believed to have the ability to access him.

Channel 12 News reported that Israel supplied mediators with intelligence pointing to Gvili’s potential location and is insisting on swift, forceful diplomatic engagement to secure his return. Israel has emphasized that any delay is unacceptable and expects concrete movement immediately.

An Israeli official told reporters, “The mediators are signaling that Hamas is showing interest in honoring the hostages-and-missing agreement and wants to move to the next stage, which includes disarmament and demilitarization of the Strip.”

The official added that Hamas is aware of its narrowing options. “Hamas already understands they have no choice but to move toward disarmament and demilitarization. Either they agree to it, or we will dismantle their weapons ourselves. We will not leave in Gaza a threat to the State of Israel.”

{Matzav.com}

Canada revealed Friday that it is taking Syria and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham off its roster of designated terrorist entities, marking a major shift in its approach to groups now tied to the interim authorities governing Syria following the fall of the Assad regime. The organization, once under the leadership of Syrian president Ahmad al-Sharaa, is now formally linked to the transitional government attempting to rebuild the country.

In a statement laying out the policy change, Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand emphasized that the move parallels steps made by key Western allies. She explained that the decision “is consistent with policy taken by Canada’s partners – the United States and the United Kingdom – and is part of a broader effort to promote stability in the Middle East and to combat global terrorist threats.”

Anand stressed that Canada has not softened its stance toward global jihadist networks, underscoring that Ottawa maintains a strict posture toward organizations such as al-Qaida and ISIS. She said Canada remains fully committed to countering these threats, even as it recognizes “positive steps taken by the interim government in Syria.” She added, “We stand with the Syrian people in their struggle for a future of stability and prosperity.”

Canada’s engagement with Syria over the past decade has included significant humanitarian investment. From 2016 to 2025, Ottawa allocated $4.7 billion to support relief efforts in Syria and in countries absorbing displaced Syrians. During the same period, more than 100,000 refugees fleeing the civil war were resettled in Canada as part of its national admissions program.

{Matzav.com}

Wildfires in Australia’s New South Wales have torn through thousands of hectares of bushland, prompting authorities to urge thousands of residents to evacuate.

A major gathering at Ancient Shiloh on Friday turned sharply political when Dr. Mike Evans, a prominent Evangelical figure and onetime adviser to President Donald Trump, publicly challenged remarks made by US Vice President JD Vance regarding Israel’s authority over Judea and Samaria.

The event, organized by Binyamin Regional Council head Israel Ganz, brought roughly 1,000 Evangelical leaders to the Binyamin region. From the podium, Dr. Evans confronted Vance’s recent comments head-on. “You said something, Mr. Vice President, that is not accurate. You said, ‘The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. That will continue to be our policy.’”

Evans stressed his admiration for America and for Vance personally, but insisted that biblical history and divine promise override political talking points. “Mr. Vice President- we love you. We love you and we love America. But there’s something you have to understand. The policy of the G-d who birthed America and the policy of the God who gave these people this land is, in fact that Judea and Samaria is Bible land.”

He invoked the deep historical roots of the area, emphasizing how central it is to Jewish identity. “Eighty percent of the Bible stories come out of Judea and Samaria, Mr. Vice President. And here in Shiloh was the spot. This was the capital of Israel. This is where the Samuel was and the Tabernacle was. It was all right here.”

Evans concluded with a pointed admonition to Washington to avoid pressuring Israel on territorial concessions. “We’re grateful that America is getting the illegals out of America. We’re supporting that. But don’t pressure Israel to give illegal, radical, Islam, Jew haters: Judea and Samaria.”

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump on Saturday presented medals to the 2025 Kennedy Center honorees during a ceremony in the Oval Office, hailing the slate of artists he was deeply involved in choosing as “perhaps the most accomplished and renowned class” ever assembled. This year’s recipients are actor Sylvester Stallone, singers Gloria Gaynor and George Strait, the […]

Israeli forces blocked what could have been a devastating assault in the Chevron region this evening, when IDF paratroopers stopped two attackers who tried to ram their vehicle into Israelis at a police checkpoint. One Israeli sustained only minor injuries in the incident.

According to the IDF, “a short while ago, two terrorists accelerated their vehicle toward IDF soldiers during an operational activity at a security checkpoint in Chevron.” Troops immediately opened fire, bringing the threat to an abrupt end. “The soldiers fired at the terrorists and eliminated them,” the statement added.

Following the clash, the IDF reported that an uninvolved Palestinian Authority Arab was also killed amid the gunfire exchange, noting that the circumstances are under review.

{Matzav.com}