News Digest — 1/7/26
Israel Keeps Rafah Crossing Closed Until Hamas Returns Remains Of Final Israeli Held In Gaza
Israel is keeping the Rafah Border Crossing shut until Hamas and its Iran-backed allies return the remains of master Sgt. Ran Gvili, the final Israeli hostage still held in Gaza, according to Israeli media reports.
The decision turns Rafah into more than a border gate. It becomes leverage, a signal that Israel won’t normalize postwar arrangements while Hamas still holds an Israeli hero as a bargaining chip.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has publicly backed the stance arguing the crossing should not open until Gvili is brought home for burial.
The issue is also tied to broader understandings being discussed with Washington.
Israeli reporting indicates the reopening of Rafah and any future “day after” steps are being linked to hard conditions: the last hostage returned, and Hamas disarmed.
In parallel, US President Donald Trump has been told directly by the family that this is the line Israel cannot cross.
In an interview relayed by Ynet, Gvili’s father said Trump promised Gaza would not be rebuilt until Ran is returned, telling the family, “I will bring your son home.”
Rafah is the only Gaza crossing that directly interfaces with Egypt, making it strategically and politically charged.
Egypt shut the crossing after Israel seized the Gaza side of Rafah in May 2024, and the question of reopening has been wrapped up in fears of weapons smuggling, population movement, and who controls screening on the Gaza side.
Israeli outlets have reported planning for an Israeli-run inspection capability on the Gaza side if Rafah reopens, designed to monitor who enters and exits and prevent terrorist exploitation of the corridor.
Even if Rafah eventually reopens, Israeli reporting indicates it would be primarily for the involvement of people, npt a free-flow aid pipeline.
Humanitarian shipments have largely been routed through Kerem Shalom , where Israel conducts security checks – an agreement Israel argues is necessary given Hamas’ repeated diversion and exploitation of dual-use goods.
The hostage angle is also reshaping Israeli public sentiment. The Main Hostages and Missing Families Forum has declared its mission nearly complete – because only one hostage remains in Gaza, Ran Gvili.
The forum’s statement underscores the national mood:Israel isn’t “done” until the last family gets closure and the last captive is home.
If Hamas wants Rafah – and any broader relief or reconstruction conversation – it now faces a blunt Israeli demand: return the last hostage remains immediately.
Israel, for its part, is signaling that no amount of diplomatic pressure will override the basic covenant with its fallen and their families.
For Hamas, this is the endgame tactic: hold on to a body to extract concessions. For Israel, it’s the opposite: no concessions while the final hostage is still being used as a trophy.
Israel and Syria Agree To US-Supervised Communication Cell For Military De-escalation
Israel, Syria and the United States agreed to establish a joint “fusion mechanism” to serve as a communication cell for intelligence sharing, military de-escalation, diplomatic engagement, and commercial issues, according to a Tuesday statement (6th).
The announcement came following a round of meetings between senior Israeli and Syrian officials in Paris, and clarified that the US will supervise the mechanism and that it will “address disputes promptly,” to prevent misunderstandings.
Furthermore, it was agreed to begin talks between Jerusalem and Damascus in civilian areas, including medicine, energy, and agriculture. The Jerusalem Post has learned, officials did not provide a timeline for implementation.
According to the statement, the Israeli delegation included Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter, the prime minister’s Military Secretary Roman Gofman, and acting National Security Council head Gill Reich.
Foreign Minister Assad al-Shabani and Intelligence Chief Hussein Sa’arneh represented the Syrian side. The American team comprised envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and Tom Barrack, described as the envoy for Syria.
The communication cell is presented as a standing channel to manage sensitive exchanges between Jerusalem and Damascus. It would coordinate security messages, facilitate diplomatic follow-up, and explore commercial opportunities under US oversight, with the stated aim of reducing friction and preventing misunderstandings.
The talks were hosted and mediated by the United States, the statement said. Washington “commended these positive steps” and pledged support for implementation as part of wider regional diplomacy linked to US Donald Trump’s regional plan, the statement added.
The Paris session follows months of US-brokered contacts between the sides. Recent reporting by the Post has noted quiet Israel-Syria meetings in Paris under US oversight, plans for additional US mediated talks, and an intensifying American role via envoy Tom Barrack. Syrian officials have also signaled openness to resuming negotiations, according to regional reports cited by the Post.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar Makes Historic Visit To Somaliland
Nearly two weeks after Israel became the first United Nations Member to formally recognize Somaliland as an independent, sovereign country, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar arrived Tuesday (6th) for a historic visit, the first by an official Israeli delegation since the announcement.
Sa’ar is expected to meet with Somaliland President Dr. Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullah later in the day, a senior official in Somaliland confirmed. The Foreign Ministry declined to comment.
Israel’s recognition of Somaliland on December 26 marked a diplomatic milestone, formalized through a joint declaration signed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Abdullah. The agreement includes plans for the establishment of full diplomatic ties, including the opening of embassies and the appointment of ambassadors.
The move sparked significant international backlash. Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt condemned the recognition, warning it could destabilize the region. Somalia’s federal government, which considers Somaliland a breakaway region, denounced the recognition as a “flagrant aggression”against its sovereignty.
Behind the scenes, Israel’s decision followed months of quiet diplomacy. Foreign Minister Sa’ar, along with Mossad officials and then national security adviser TZachi Hanegbi, led backchannel talks withSomaliland leaders. Joint teams made reciprocal visits, and Somaliland officials were hosted discreetly in Israel. Final deliberations were held in October, with Netanyahu giving the green light.
According to diplomatic sources, other countries may soon follow Israel’s lead. Potential candidates include the United Arab Emirates, India, Ethiopia, Morocco, and Kenya.
The joint declaration between Israel and Somaliland was completed in advance, but held back to await the right moment for release. Somaliland reportedly requested a delay to prepare for possible hostile actions from the Houthi rebels in Yemen, located to the north. Only after these preparations were finalized did the two sides move forward with the public recognition.
Exiled Crown Prince: Iranians, Not The US Will Oust Regime, Eyes ‘Cyrus Accord’ With Israel
Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi says Iranians, not the United States, will bring down the Islamic Republic, rejecting speculation that Washington might attempt a military extraction of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei or engineer a handover of power, as US President Trump has done in Venezuela.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Pahlavi said the country’s protest movement has reached a point where, in his view, “the regime is collapsing” and outside intervention is neither necessary nor desirable.
Pahlavi argued that nationwide unrest has created what he called a rare alignment of circumstances that could finally trample the ruling system.
He described the current moment as one in which “the conditions are right in many levels for the regime to collapse,” adding the demonstrations now go beyond economic frustration and openly call for an end to the clerical rule.
Asked whether he envisioned a formal position for himself if the government fell, he said his contribution would be focused on repairing a country battered by decades of repression.
“Healing a society that has been hurt, repressed, demoralized, cheated, lied to,” he said, “would take precedence over pursuing a specific executive role.”
Pahlavi repeated his long-standing argument that accountability for regime leaders should come from inside Iran. “It will be far more appropriate for this to be solely in the hands of the Iranian people,” he said, while urging international governments to support Iranians seeking to free themselves.
He also criticized past US administrations, saying the Green Movement in 2009 was abandoned and that the Biden administration’s approach allowed Tehran access to “over $200 billion of oil revenue.”
That money, he said, was used to reinforce regional proxy groups rather than ease domestic conditions, a dynamic he connected to the Oct. 7 massacre.
Pahlavi praised Israel’s government and current US leadership, saying Israel has “a very strong prime minister” and that President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are pursuing a markedly different policy toward Tehran.
Looking ahead, Pahlavi predicted a strategic realignment after the Islamic regime falls, saying Iran would seek a “Cyrus Accord” with Israel – an elevated version of the Abraham Accords. He cited historic ties dating back to Cyrus the Great and noted that Israel water-management-expertise could help Iran confront severe environmental challenges. He said many Iranians envision a future built on cooperation with Israel and Arab states, arguing that Tehran’s hard-line rulers resisted regional normalization precisely to block that trajectory.
Hamas’ Quest To Destroy Israel Thwarts Trump’s Peace Plan – Peter Berkowitz
Few Israelis think near-term success is in store for the Trump administration’s plan to have donor countries invest $112 billion in Gaza. Israelis doubt that the Hamas dominated half of Gaza can be rehabilitated without Hamas’ removal and doubt that Hamas, which the IDF has severely weakened,can be removed without further fighting. Moreover the Israelis remember the first Trump administration’s failed effort to fashion a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at a price tag of $28 billion.
Israelis also remember that while their governments were open to Obama administration and George Bush administration peace efforts, Palestinians flatly rejected them. Israelis recall that Palestinians have been dismissing plans for partitioning the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea since before Israel was established.
No peace will come to Gaza unless Hamas departs or renounces the war of annihilation against Israel that its 1988 charter declared an Islamic imperative. Because of their beliefs, Hamas has as much chance of desisting from seeking Israel’s annihilation and concluding a durable peace agreement with the Jewish state as a leopard has of changing its spots. Inattentiveness to Hamas’ beliefs thwarts responsible diplomacy and intensifies the danger not only to the Jewish state but also, given Hamas’ Muslim Brotherhood ties, to the US and the West.
The writer, former director of the Policy Planning staff at the US State Department, is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. (RealClearPolitics)
Understanding And Defeating The Assault On Jewish Moral Self-Confidence – Ruth R. Wise
A false conception based on understanding and downplaying the enemies’ intentions is the natural temptation of a peaceful people. The Jews of Poland, the most peaceful population imaginable, could not have imagined that the Germans intended to wipe them out. Yet Jews do ultimately respond to reality.
When it became too obvious to deny that they were marked for extermination, two Jewish underground organizations formed in the Warsaw ghetto. When the Germans entered the ghetto in 1043 to begin rounding up the remaining Jews and sending them to their deaths, the two organizations fought in an uprising that lasted from April 19 until May 16, the first urban anti-German uprising in Europe. They fought like lions.
The present war against Israel resembles the Nazi one in its aims and methods, and makes us realize how much the fate of the Jews remains subject to the depravity of others. Jews expected coexistence with the people around them. Jews do not aspire to expand territorially through conquest or demographically by evangelizing. But the nations they live among were constituted very differently.
Coexistence requires reciprocity which cannot be willed into being. Ascribed where it does not exist invites escalating aggression of which the Hamas attack of October 7 is but the most recent demonstration. Hamas entrapped Israelis into the war they had done everything to avoid by surrendering Gaza in 2005.
Israel’s enemies are the same forces that threaten America. This creates a congruence of loyalties. We are not in the position of the American Muslims who may feel torn between the priorities of Mecca and Washington. The Hebraic roots and deepest values of America and Israel are one and the same.
All of America should be behind us, and the best already are. It is now our task to help reorient the rest. To keep being Jews in the world means to overcome our disappointment in the failings of our enemies, the cowardice of some of our friends, and the difficulties of resistance. To mobilize is the best way to overcome despair.
The writer is professor emerita of Yiddish and comparative literature at Harvard.
