News Digest — 1/29/26
IDF Warns Hamas Significantly Strengthening, Thanks To Humanitarian Aid
The IDF warned on Thursday morning (29th), that the Hamas terrorist organization is strengthening significantly due to the volume of humanitarian trucks entering the Gaza Strip daily, as well as thanks to smuggling carried out through additional routes into the Strip.
Official data published by the IDF shows that during the period of the war in Gaza, several extensive humanitarian initiatives were completed, including the entry of 112,000 aid trucks, the arrival of 5,000 international humanitarian personnel to the Strip, and the airdrop of 13,000 food pallets.
In addition, 600,000 children were vaccinated against polio, and several aid crossings were operated during the war. The humanitarian effort also included the entry of medical equipment in impressive volumes of 55,000 tons and 1,000,000 tons of food.
In Phase A of the ceasefire agreement, 60,000 aid trucks, 900,000 tons of food, and 9,600 tons of medical equipment were brought in. Significant achievements were accomplished without a prominent humanitarian crisis during a high-intensity war, as a functioning aid system operated over time.
Today, approximately 600 trucks enter Gaza per day, and approximately 4,200 trucks per week. This is an enormous volume, four times the volume required for the Strip according to UN standards, which state that the humanitarian need is 80,000 tons of food per month equalling approximately 134 rucks per day.
The IDF notes that the smuggling of materials such as tobacco, electrical products, phones, and dual-use agricultural materials enter not only through aid trucks, but through the crossings and through the Strip’s border, under the cover of Israeli security activity taking place, including through civilian contractors.
Ahead of the expected opening of the Rafah crossing this coming Sunday (Feb.1st), senior IDF officials are recommending to the political echelon to insist that the crossings serve only for the movement of people,and not for the entry of goods from Egypt to Gaza, as was the case before Oct.7. The IDF emphasizes that until the war broke out, the main military strengthening of Hamas was done through the entry of goods from the Rafah crossing. Thousands of trucks entered annually through the crossing, and despite warnings from the defense establishment about Hamas’ military strengthening through the crossing, the crossing continued to operate.
The IDF believes that Hamas is not troubled by the technocrat committee established to manage the Strip and that it is possible the organization will agree to transfer control of Gaza to the committee’s hands but will continue to actually control from a security standpoint.
Additionally the IDF points out that even after the committee begins to manage the Strip’s affairs, most of the civil service personnel who will work under it – including mayors, hospital directors and more – are Hamas members who have served in recent decades as Hamas officials. The IDF notes that the senior civil service layer must be replaced.
In the context of Syria, the IDF published data showing that Israel assisted in transporting civilian aid, including the entry of medical equipment, baby products, and diesel fuel ammunition, with approximately 370,000 liters of diesel and 13 water tankers brought into the security zone.
Meanwhile, approximately 300 patients from Syria are being evacuated for medical treatment in Israel. Additional aid will include training doctors and establishing medical centers.
‘Leave Lebanon Alone:’ Lebanese MP Slams Hezbollah, Qassem Over Allegiance To Iran
Lebanese Parliament Member Samy Gemayel criticized Hezbollah’s public support for Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on social media this week, urging the group to stop dragging Lebanon into Tehran’s conflicts.
“If you want to defend your guardian (Ali Khamenei), go to him… but leave Lebanon alone” Gemayel wrote.
In a recent statement, Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Naim Qassem stated the terrorist organization would gather “in solidarity and support for the Islamic Republic of Iran and for the inspiring leader,Imam Sayyid Ali Khamenei.”
“When Trump or others threaten Imam Khamenei with murder, it means that he is threatening tens of millions, if not more, and this is something that cannot be ignored.”
The statements come after weeks of a deadly crackdown against protestors in Iran who are calling for the end of the Islamic Republic, and rising tensions between the US and Iran.
On Monday (26th), Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem warned that the terror group “will not stand idly by in the face of any attack against Iran,” stating any attack on the Supreme Leader would be “the elimination of stability and the status quo in the region and the world.”
“The narrative of arrogance from the U.S. Israel and their partners, is based on consent to the rule of the oppressive and criminal strongman. The war on Iran this time could ignite the region,” he warned.
“Iran has helped us for 43 years, and is still fighting to liberate the land,” he concluded.
Qassem’s comments come after the head of the Lebanese delegation to the ceasefire and disarmament committee, Simon Karam, stated earlier on Monday (26th) that Hezbollah has not given any information about its weapons and facilities to the Lebanese Armed Forces, Al-Arabiya cited.
In April 2025, after the Lebanese Army took control of most Hezbollah military sites in southern Lebanon, Gemayel called on Hezbollah to disarm and hand security control over to the Lebanese state.
He is a long-time critic of Hezbollah’s military wing, accusing Hezbollah of “wanting to implement an Islamic State in Lebanon,” after the 2006 Lebanon war.
In a December 2024 interview, Genayel said, “ Hezbollah lost its power and right to be called a resistance movement once it took part in supporting the Syrian government,” calling them “an Iranian tool who are sacrificing Lebanon’s future for the sake of Iran’s interests,”
Tunisia’s Schoolbooks Celebrate Hitler, Omit Holocaust, Research Finds – IMPACT-se
Adolf Hitler has been celebrated in a Tunisian textbook for his role of turning Germany into “a great economic and military power,” while the Holocaust is largely absent from the texts, according to new research published by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se) on Tuesday (27th).
The grade 11 literature textbook also recognized Hitler as “one of the most important figures in the world of politics and warfare in the 20th century.”
Marcus Sheff , the CEO of IMPACT-se, shared, “Today’s Tunisian curriculum champions modern enlightened values. It loudly celebrates gender equality, condemns racism, and encourages civic duty, tolerance and peaceful dialogue. These are strong signals of a society moving forward. However, these values cannot be selectively applied. It is entirely unacceptable that anti-Semitic imagery and rhetoric remain across subjects, and that violence against Israel is at times justified and even glorified. If Tunisia sees itself as an example of progress in the region, then this underbelly of discrimination must be addressed.”
Analyzing 80 textbooks from the national school curriculum spanning grades 1-13 in humanities subjects, IMPACT-se researchers found that while most texts celebrated diversity and tolerance, anti-Semitic stereotypes and commentary persist in Tunisian education.
Where Nazi atrocities are touched upon, such as book burnings or the use of concentration camps, the IMPACT-se report noted that a neutral tone was employed and there was no mention of Jews. As the only Arab country formally occupied by the Nazis, the report assessed that the neutral tone was unusual.
Though it was acknowledged that several influential figures, including Albert Einstein, fled Nazi persecution, their Jewish identities went largely unmentioned.
Grade 13 students were also introduced to the French philosopher and famed Holocaust denier RogerGaraudy, though they were told his trial was for exposing “the false claims of Zionist thought,” rather than denying the murder of 6,000,000 Jews.
Pointing to a specific case of anti-Semitic imagery, the IMPACT-se report pointed to a grade 11 Arabic language textbook that contained a story portraying a Jewish merchant as greedy and deceitful. The textbook claims that the Jewish merchant is emblematic of all Jews “who are always like that.”
Despite notable instances of anti-Semitism, some textbooks seemed to promote peace between Islam and other religions. In one grade 9 Islamic education textbook, it is encouraged for Muslim students to learn about other faiths, and it was asserted that Islam should play a role in bringing about peaceful coexistence with Jews and Christians.
The report also highlighted cases of significant hostility toward Israel, with most curriculum maps labeling the entirety of the Jewish state as Palestine.
Though the textbooks were found to acknowledge that anti-Semitism played a role in the mass migration of Jews during the British Mandate, it presents Zionism as exploiting the persecution.
A similar amount of attention was also found to have been paid to the Arab-Israeli conflict though IMPACT-se found that the information given in the textbooks were biased against Israel, and Zionism is depicted as a European colonial project and an expansionist ideology.
Beyond textbooks delegitimizing the state of Israel, researchers warned that the curriculum praises terror operations. In a grade 13 history textbook, the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre was labeled as the “Fedayeen Operation,” Fedayeen is Arabic for “self-sacrificers.”
Man Arrested For Attack On Queens Rabbi On Holocaust Day
A man was arrested for an anti-Semetic attack on a Queens rabbi in Forest Hills on Tuesday (27th), Holocaust Remembrance Day, reported the Queens Daily Eagle.
The 52-year-old suspect is accused of carrying out an unprovoked attack on the rabbi.
According to the Queens district attorney’s office, between 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday (27th), the accused approached the victim at the intersection of Queens Boulevard and Yellowstone Boulevard in Forest Hills.
The man said a derogatory statement about Jews and then punched the rabbi in the face and chest, causing him to fall to the ground.
“I was shocked,” the rabbi told the Daily News. “It was a regular day – I was just walking along, looking at the street, when this guy in a black hoodie and black pants came out of nowhere, started cursing at me and struck me.”
He said they fought for several minutes, rolling in the snow and clarified that he was singled out because he was visibly Jewish.
“I don’t know if he is unhealthy in his mind or not, but he chased me because I was Jewish. I wear Jewish apparel in the streets. He chose me. It was simple. I was his target,” the rabbi said.
The suspect fled the scene and was later located inside the Forest Hills Continental Avenue subway station by a Queens Shomrim patrol, which responded to the incident. He was subsequently arrested on a subway train by the NYPD.
He was charged Wednesday (28th) with assault in the third degree as a hate crime and aggravated harassment in the second degree.
The attack was condemned by local leaders.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said, ”On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, New Yorkers were confronted with a painful truth: anti-Semitism is not a thing of the past. It is a present danger that demands action from all of us. There is no place for anti-Semitism in our city. My administration is committed to rooting out this hatred,” he said.
New York has seen a sharp uptick in incidents of anti-Semitism since Oct. 7, 2023. Data released by the New York City Police Department on the day before the mayoral election in November, won by Mamdani, who has come under fire for his anti-Israel views, revealed that Jews were the victims of 67% of all hate crimes reported last month, with 29 anti-Semitic incidents out of a total of 47.
On the very day that Mamdani was elected, swastikas were sprayed on the Magen David Yeshiva in Brooklyn.
Just last week, two teenagers were arrested after spray-painting dozens of swastikas and other anti-Semitic messages throughout a Brooklyn playground frequented by Jewish children.
Hamas’ Actual Position On Disarmament, Trump’s Board Of Peace – Khaled Abu Toameh
Hamas is clearly unfazed by President Trump’s repeated demands that it must give up its weapons. It maintains that Israel is the one that needs to be disarmed. Hamas and many Palestinians also have significant reservations about Trump’s Board of Peace. They view it as a “new round of colonization” in the Middle East by the U.S. and other Western powers.
Hamas may put on a show by handing over some of its light weapons to impress Trump and his Board of Peace. However, it will never surrender all its weapons, especially the thousands of rockets it manufactured and stockpiled over the past two decades.
Hamas knows that the moment it loses all its weapons, it will cease to exist both as a political and military entity. It needs the weapons to maintain control over the residents of Gaza and protect its future viability against its political rivals, such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad , as well as the Palestinian Authority.
Hamas, meanwhile, appears satisfied with Trump’s decision to allow Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to play a role in the future management of Gaza. The participation of Arab and Islamic countries “that have clear positions in support of the Palestinian cause can be viewed positively,” said Hazem Qassem, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza. (Gatestone Institute)
