News Digest — 1/16/25
Netanyahu Thanks Trump For Ending Suffering Of Hostages And Their Families
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Wednesday (15th) with US President-elect Donald Trump and with President Joe Biden. In a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), “Netanyahu complemented Trump and thanked the President-elect for his assistance in advancing the release of hostages and for helping Israel bring an end to the suffering of dozens of hostages and their families.”
The statement said that Netanyahu is committed to returning all of the hostages “however he can, and commended the US President-elect for his remarks that the US would work with Israel to ensure that Gaza will never be a haven for terrorism.” The statement went on to say that the two men agreed to meet in Washington soon, and ended by saying that Netanyahu also spoke with and thanked Biden for his help in advancing the deal.
President-elect Trump said he was pleased that the hostages would soon be returning home. “With this deal in place, my national security team, through the efforts of Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, will continue to work closely with Israel and our allies to make sure Gaza NEVER again becomes a terrorist safe haven. We will continue promoting PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH throughout the region, as we build upon the momentum of this cease-fire to further expand the Historic Abraham Accords. This is only the beginning of great things to come for America, and indeed, the world.”
Biden also expressed his pleasure at the agreement reached in Qatar in an announcement from the White House, “I laid out the contours of this plan on May 31, 2024, after which it was endorsed by the UN Security Council. It is the result not only of the extreme pressure that Hamas has been under and the changed regional equation after a ceasefire in Lebanon and weakening of Iran – but also painstaking American diplomacy. My diplomacy never ceased in its efforts to get this done.”
Hostage Deal: 30 Terrorists For Every Hostage, 50 For Every Female Soldier
Reuters on Wednesday (15th) published parts of the hostage and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
According to the report, Hamas will first release the living hostages and then the bodies of the deceased hostages. Israel will release 30 terrorists for every civilian hostage and 50 for every female Israeli soldier.
In addition, Israel will release all Palestinian Arab women and youths under the age of 19 who have been detained since October 7th before the end of the first phase.
The total number of released terrorists depends on the number of hostages who will be released and can reach between 990 and 1,650 Palestinian detainees, including men, women and youths.
The report also states that Qatar, Egypt and the US will supervise the implementation of the agreement.
As part of the first phase, 600 trucks of humanitarian aid will enter the Gaza Strip each day: 50 of them will be carrying fuel. 300 of the trucks will go to the northern Gaza Strip.
The first phase goes into effect Sunday (19th) at noon, including five Israeli soldiers to be released.
Negotiations on the second phase of the deal will begin before the 16th day of the first phase. The second phase is expected to include the release of the remaining live hostages, including soldiers, and a permanent ceasefire.
The third phase is expected to include the remaining bodies of the deceased hostages and the beginning of the rebuilding of Gaza, under Egyptian, Qatar, and UN supervision.
Hamas Leader Touts Ceasefire As A Defeat For Israel while Hailing Oct. 7 Atrocities
Senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya stated that Israel failed to achieve its goals in Gaza, as he declared the ceasefire-hostage deal that was announced shortly before he spoke Wednesday (15th) as a “historic moment” and described it as a defeat for the Jewish state.
“Our people have thwarted the declared and hidden goals of the occupation. Today we prove that the occupation will never defeat our people and their resistance,” al-Hayya was quoted as saying during a televised speech from Qatar by Germany’s DPA news agency.
He praised the Hamas-led massacres of Israelis on October 7, 2023, when Palestinian terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took 251 captives in the deadliest slaughter of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust, as a “military accomplishment” and “a source of pride for our people,” according to a New York Times translation of his remarks.
Al-Hayya who served as Hamas’ chief negotiator in the hostage talks, additionally hailed other Iran-backed organizations such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Houthi rebels in Yemen for launching solidarity attacks on Israel.
He indicated Hamas will continue to pursue Israel’s destruction, saying the Palestinian terrorist organization will continue to look toward Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque as a “compass.”
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Gaza’s second largest terror group after Hamas, similarly praised the ceasefire as “honorable.” Islamic Jihad also seized captives while taking part in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and have since been battling Israeli forces in Gaza alongside Hamas.
Israel Rebuffs ‘Imperialist Turkey’ After Erdogan Says It Must Withdraw From Syria
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday (15th) that Israel must withdraw its forces from Syria or it will cause “unfavorable outcomes for everyone.”
“The aggressive actions of the forces attacking Syrian territory, Israel, in particular, must come to an end as soon as possible,” he said during a meeting of his party in Ankara.
“Everyone should take their hands off Syria and we, along with our Syrian brothers, will crush the heads of Islamic State, the YPG and other terrorist organizations in a short time.”
Israel in response warned Ankara against “unnecessary threats.”
“Israel completely rejects the Turkish president’s statement,” the Foreign Ministry said. ”The aggressive imperialist actor in Syria (as well as in northern Cyprus, Libya, and other areas in the Middle East) is Turkey itself, and it is advisable for the Turkish president to avoid unnecessary threats. The State of Israel will continue to act to protect its borders from any threat.”
The IDF has said that its deployment to a buffer zone on the Syrian side of the border and strategic positions beyond the zone is a defensive and temporary measure amid the unstable situation in Syria since last month’s fall of Bashar al-Assad.
Meanwhile in the last month, Turkey has said repeatedly that it was time for the Kurdish YPG militia to disband. Ankara considers the group, which spearheads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as a terrorist organization.
Ankara has said the new Syrian administration must be given an opportunity to address the YPG presence but also threatened to mount a new cross-border operation against the militia based in northeast Syria if its demands are not met.
Erdogan said the YPG was the biggest problem in Syria now, and added that the group would not be able to escape its inevitable end, unless it laid down its arms.
“Regarding fabricated excuses like Islamic State, these have no convincing side anymore,” Erdogan said, referring to the US position that the YPG was a key partner against Islamic State in Syria and that it plays a vital role in guarding prison camps where the Islamist terrorists are kept.
“If there is really a fear of the Islamic State threat in Syria and the region, the biggest power that has the will and power to resolve this issue is Turkey,” he said.
As Israel and Hamas seemingly inched closer to signing a deal that would see hostages released in exchange for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons, Erdogan also commented on the potential ceasefire.
“With the establishment of a ceasefire in Gaza, where genocide and massacres have been ongoing for 15 months, an important opportunity will arise for lasting peace and stability across the entire region,” he said.
Erdogan has been a harsh critic of Israel, particularly over the last 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas, which broke out after the terrorist organization launched an unprecedented cross-border attack on southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023, murdering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.
The Turkish president has repeatedly accused Israel of genocide in the war, comparing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler, and even threatened Israel in July that Turkey could intervene militarily in support of the Palestinians if the war did not end.
‘Carve Up This Cancer:’ Trump’s Incoming National Security Adviser Addresses Hamas Role In Post-War Gaza
Hamas must be destroyed, and it must not have any role in a post-war Gaza, US President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said on the Call Me Back podcast with Dan Senor on Wednesday (15th).
“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 noted.
“Hamas cannot have a role. ISIS doesn’t have a role. Al Qaeda doesn’t have a role,” he stated, adding, “it astounds me that people try to put them in some kind of special category. These are hostage taking, murderous, rapist, torturers that never, ever, should have any role in governing.”
Waltz added that, “We’ll never get to a better future, we’ll never get to a truly stable region for all if we don’t carve up this cancer.”
“This is about imposing consequences for those who would do this type of horrendous act like we saw on October 7 who took Americans and allies hostage. I don’t like any deal with these sick evil sons of whatever, and we should never ever reward the horrendous acts of October 7,” he said.
“With regards to weapons supply to Israel, Waltz commented, “You’re not going to see this administration tapping the brakes on weapons supplies to Israel – we will make sure Israel can arm itself.”
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-837645
Precise And Sophisticated: IDF Introduces New ‘Bar’ Rocket To Replace ‘Romach’
The IDF has phased in the powerful new “Bar” guided rocket into the IDF Artillery Corps, replacing the “Romach” rocket, the army announced on Tuesday (14th).
Romach rockets, operational for the last decade, could strike targets of up to 35 km distance and in an accuracy range of under ten meters.
The IDF noted that the Bar rocket, which Elbit Systems produces, can reach greater lengths, is highly precise, and has a more sophisticated navigation mechanism that is adapted better to diverse combat environments.
“Guided rockets are designed for precise target strikes,” Captain S., commander of a battery in battalion 334 in the 282nd Division explained.
She further recounted how the use of the rocket aids the troops on the ground. “Take for example, a soldier in the Strip who spots a terrorist with an anti-tank missile on one of the floors of a certain building. From the moment he contacts us over the radio, within about seven minutes, a rocket hits that exact point, with minimal deviation.”
Captain S. recalled her first use of it during operations against Hezbollah terror targets in southern Lebanon.
“We fired at Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and successfully destroyed observation posts, anti-tank positions, weapons depots, and other terrorist infrastructures,” she noted.
“Not everyone gets the chance to introduce a new weapon into operational use in the IDF, and we had the privilege of making history twice – operating the first ‘Bar’ rockets and carrying out the first rocket strikes against terrorist targets in Lebanon since 2006,” the captain related.
