The Times of Israel is liveblogging Sunday’s events as they unfold.
Government approves new boss at directorate tasked with rehabilitation of south Just days after the State Comptroller criticized the lack of a full-time boss at the Tekuma Directorate, the government approves the appointment of Aviad Friedman, a former Housing Ministry director general it says has led strategic processes in infrastructure, housing, and public services in senior positions in government and the private sector. The directorate, established after the deadly invasion of southern Israel by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023, is tasked with the region’s rehabilitation. The Tekuma directorate has been without a full-time director and deputy since August, when Brig. Gen. (Res) Moshe Edri and his deputy left their posts. Yossi Shelley, director of the Prime Minister’s Office, was sent to run it in addition to his regular duties. In November, it was announced that he had been appointed ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. That same month, responsibility for rehabilitating the Gazan border in the south and the Lebanese one in the north was moved from the Prime Minister’s Office to the Finance Ministry. MK Ze’ev Elkin was appointed a minister there with overall responsibility for both regions.
Egypt says Gaza reconstruction plan completed, will be presented at Arab summit this week Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty says the Egyptian Gaza reconstruction plan, which ensures Palestinians remain in the enclave, is ready and will be presented to the emergency Arab summit on Tuesday. The Egyptian reconstruction plan, according to Abdelatty, will not be purely Egyptian or Arab but will seek international support and funding to ensure its successful implementation. “We will hold intensive talks with major donor countries once the plan is adopted at the upcoming Arab Summit,” Abdelatty says in a press conference with the European Union Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Šuica. Abdelatty says Europe’s role, especially in the economic aspect of rebuilding the war-torn enclave, is critical. According to reports, the proposal calls for establishing “secure areas” within Gaza where Palestinians can live initially while Egyptian and international construction firms remove and rehabilitate the Strip’s infrastructure. The plan comes after an international uproar over US President Donald Trump’s call for the removal of Gaza’s population of some two million Palestinians. Trump suggested the United States would take over the Gaza Strip and rebuild it into a “Riviera of the Middle East,” though Palestinians would not be allowed back. Palestinians have widely said they will not leave, while Egypt, and Jordan, backed by Saudi Arabia, have refused Trump’s calls for them to take in Gaza’s population. Rights groups have widely said the plan amounts to forced expulsion, a potential war crime. European countries have also largely denounced Trump’s plan. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised the idea and says Israel is preparing to implement it. As the hostage-ceasefire deal hangs in the balance, any reconstruction plan will be impossible to implement without a truce, including an agreement on who will govern Gaza in the long term. Israel demands the elimination of Hamas as a political or military force in the territory, and international donors are unlikely to contribute to any rebuilding if Hamas is in charge.
Sa’ar calls new Syrian government an unelected ‘bunch of jihadists’ Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar calls Syria’s new government led by interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa “a bunch of jihadists” who were “not elected… by the Syrian people.” Israel has repeatedly declared its mistrust of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist faction that led the campaign that toppled Bashar al-Assad and that emerged from a group that was affiliated to al-Qaeda until it cut ties in 2016. At a press conference in Jerusalem, Sa’ar affirms Israel’s determination to protect the Druze community in southern Syria, saying that Syria’s new leadership has “no right to initiate hostilities toward minorities, whether it is the Druze, Kurds, or others.” His remarks come after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz announced yesterday that Israel may take action to protect the Druze near Damascus after an outbreak of deadly violence involving regime forces and Druze fighters. Sa’ar stresses that “it is important that the new rulers of Damascus respect the rights of minorities,” noting that “we also have a Druze community here in Israel.”
Herzog at funeral of slain hostage Shlomo Mantzur: ‘I ask for forgiveness that we did not save you’ Speaking at the funeral of slain hostage Shlomo Mantzur, President Isaac Herzog apologizes that the country did not protect him. “As a public envoy of the entire State of Israel, I ask you for forgiveness for not being able to protect you in the place that was supposed to be your fortress,” Herzog says, according to Hebrew-language media reports. “Forgiveness from you, from your family, from Kissufim and from the people of the entire western Negev, for not saving you on that bitter day,” Herzog says. Herzog also calls for a state commission of inquiry to be established as soon as possible. “There is no other way [for the country] to repair and heal other than to investigate and find out in depth everything that caused the terrible massacre other than taking responsibility and carrying it, with the full weight of its significance, to ensure that such a terrible disaster is never experienced again,” Herzog says. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly put off the establishment of a state commission of inquiry, the body that enjoys the broadest powers under Israeli law, to investigate the government’s failures ahead of the devastating October 7, 2023, Hamas-led onslaught in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage. Authorities said last month that Mantzur, 85, was murdered during his abduction from Kibbutz Kissufim on October 7, 2023. Born in Baghdad in 1938, he survived the Farhud pogrom in Iraq and immigrated to Israel in 1951 at age 13, becoming one of the founders of Kibbutz Kissufim, where he worked for years in the chicken coop, as well as at an eyewear factory, and learned carpentry as a hobby. He is survived by his wife, Mazal, five children, 12 grandchildren, and five siblings.
PM: Israel is fully coordinated with Trump on proposal to extend 1st phase of ceasefire Israel is “fully coordinated with President Trump and his staff” on the proposal to extend the first phase of the ceasefire with Hamas for another 50 days, says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting. Last night, Netanyahu’s office declared that it was endorsing what it described as a proposal by US President Donald Trump’s special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, which would see the first phase of the ceasefire with Hamas extended through Ramadan and Passover, during which all hostages could potentially be released. Netanyahu says that Witkoff proposed the extension after he understood there was no way to bridge Israeli and Hamas positions on moving to the second phase of the deal. “He even defined his proposal as a corridor for negotiations on phase two,” says the prime minister. “Israel is ready for this.” If Hamas agrees to the extension, Israel will immediately enter into talks, says Netanyahu. “If Hamas thinks that it will be possible to continue the ceasefire, or to enjoy the conditions of phase one, without us receiving hostages – it is very mistaken,” he warns. As his office did last night, Netanyahu offers a veiled threat that Israel is permitted to return to fighting in Gaza “if it is convinced that the negotiations are ineffective,” and that a US letter affirms this claim. “Despite this, we agreed to the Witkoff outline because we are committed to returning our hostages,” says Netanyahu, adding that Israeli still assesses that Hamas is holding 59 hostages — up to 24 alive, and at least 35 dead. On Israel’s decision to halt aid moving into Gaza, Netanyahu says that “Hamas is currently taking control of all supplies and goods sent to the Gaza Strip. It is abusing the Gazan population who are trying to receive the aid, it is shooting at them, and is turning humanitarian aid into a terrorist budget directed against us.” He threatens “additional consequences” if Hamas doesn’t release more hostages, but doesn’t lay them out.
Sa’ar: Israel open to phase 2 talks in exchange for release of hostages, US ‘accepts and understands’ decision to halt Gaza aid Israel is willing to engage in negotiations on phase two of the ceasefire deal with Hamas in exchange for the release of hostages, says Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, after the Prime Minister’s Office announced it was barring the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Israel is “prepared to continue negotiations, including on phase two, according to our principles, in exchange for the release of hostages,” Sa’ar says in a Jerusalem press conference. Referring to the suspension of aid going into the Strip, Sa’ar says the US “accepts our stance and recognizes it.” “Israel is implementing the principle of ‘no free meals,” the foreign minister says. Israel is unwilling to negotiate a second phase of the ceasefire “for free” without Hamas agreeing to continue the release of Israel’s remaining captives in Gaza, says Sa’ar. He says that a side letter from the previous US administration specified that there would be no automatic transition between phases of the deal, and since the first phase ended over the weekend, Israel is therefore not required to allow aid in. “Negotiations without the release of hostages… is not something we accept,” he stresses. For now, he says, Israel is insisting on a 50-day extension of the first phase of the ceasefire, a proposal Israel says was put forward by US special envoy Steve Witkoff. Addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement earlier today warning that Hamas will face “further consequences” should the terror group not relent, Sa’ar says, “You saw the first [consequence] today,” and that “you will see what will be the further consequences.” The foreign minister additionally claims that Israel has met all commitments to the ceasefire “until the very last day.” However, the agreement stated that talks on phase 2 of the deal would begin “no later than day 16.” Israel has not engaged in indirect talks with Hamas on the second phase of the agreement. Additionally, the IDF didn’t start withdrawing its forces from the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border yesterday, despite the deal requiring Israel to start this process on day 42. Asked how Israel would respond if Gazans face starvation as a result of barring the entrance of aid trucks, Sa’ar calls the starvation of Gazans “a lie during this whole war,” and that “we saw that when our hostages were released, the terrorists and the crowd looked perfectly fine. The only ones that looked that they were starved were our hostages.”
Iran’s parliament impeaches the country’s economy minister and votes to remove him from office, amid growing concerns over the crashing rial and accusations of mismanagement. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf announces that 182 out of 273 lawmakers voted to dismiss Abdolnasser Hemmati, just six months after President Masoud Pezeshkian’s government took office. Pezeshkian, who defended Hemmati, emphasizes that the government is locked in a tough battle with the West. He calls for greater unity and cooperation from Parliament to face these challenges. The decision comes amid rising tensions over Iran’s nuclear program and worsening relations with the West. Iran’s economy has been severely affected by international sanctions, especially after the US withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal. In 2015, the rial was worth 32,000 to the dollar, but by the time Pezeshkian took office in July, it had plummeted to 584,000 to the dollar. Recently, it dropped even further, with exchange shops in Tehran trading 930,000 rials for each dollar.
IDF says it has completed security preparations for reopening of Hermon in north Israel The military says it has completed security preparations for the reopening of the Mount Hermon ski resort in northern Israel. The military shut down the site on October 7, 2023, with the start of the devastating Hamas attack on southern Israel amid concerns the Hezbollah terror group could attempt a similar invasion in the north. The Iran-backed terror group began firing missiles and drones at Israel on October 8, 2023. While the site will reopen, skiing will reportedly not be permitted due to damage to the ski lifts by Hezbollah rocket fire. “Over the past few months, forces have conducted ongoing situation assessments, alongside defense activities in cooperation with security and civilian elements, in order to maintain a high level of readiness while dealing with daily challenges in the field,” the military says. “As part of the operational preparations, security conditions were achieved that allow visitors from all over the country to come to the Hermon site,” the IDF statement reads. The military says troops will be deployed in the area to maintain security. Mount Hermon drew 400,000 visitors in the winter of 2022-23.