Friday, January 31, 2025

Netanyahu Heads to US on Sunday—When Will He Meet Trump?

by Itamar Eichner ~ Ynetnews

Thursday, 30 January 2025 | A day after receiving an official invitation from US President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office released on Wednesday his itinerary for his upcoming trip to Washington.

Netanyahu, the first foreign leader to visit the White House during Trump’s second term, is set to depart for Washington early Sunday morning. Two days later, he will meet with the president in the Oval Office and is scheduled to return to Israel on Thursday.

In a statement sent to reporters, officials emphasized that the schedule is still subject to change, noting, “A final itinerary has not yet been confirmed. An updated schedule will be provided on Sunday before departure.”

Netanyahu’s visit comes exactly two weeks after Trump’s second inauguration. According to the preliminary schedule, Netanyahu is not expected to testify next week in his ongoing trial in Israel and has sought court approval to postpone the hearings.

On Tuesday, reports emerged that Trump is expected to host Netanyahu for a formal White House dinner. Sources close to the prime minister said his wife, Sara Netanyahu, will accompany him and return to Israel with him on the state aircraft Wing of Zion. In the official invitation, Trump wrote, “I look forward to discussing ways to achieve peace for Israel and its neighbors, as well as our joint efforts to confront shared adversaries.”

Meanwhile, Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, arrived in Israel on Wednesday. As part of his visit, he toured the Netzarim Corridor in Gaza and held preparatory talks ahead of the second phase of a planned agreement set to take effect 42 days after its initial implementation.

Israeli officials have voiced concerns over Qatar’s potential influence on Witkoff due to his extensive past business ties with the Gulf nation. In 2023, Qatar purchased the iconic Park Lane Hotel in New York for US $623 million from a real estate group led by Witkoff, which had owned the property for a decade. The deal was seen as a financial lifeline for the developer, who was facing challenges in maintaining ownership of the hotel.

Senior Israeli officials, speaking privately, have expressed fears that Witkoff’s close relationship with Qatari officials could allow them to sway his positions. At the same time, they acknowledge his deep personal connection to Israel and strong understanding of its security needs. There are also growing concerns in Jerusalem over Qatar’s potential influence on Trump and his inner circle.

Qatar’s role is expected to be critical as negotiations resume for the second phase of the hostage deal, set to begin on day 16 of the ceasefire agreement next week.

Israeli leaders are preparing for the talks, though several cabinet ministers remain skeptical about their success. Some are convinced that negotiations will ultimately collapse, leading Israel to resume military operations. They cite Hamas’s likely refusal to accept Jerusalem’s key demands, which include the demilitarization of Gaza, the expulsion of the terror group’s leadership and Hamas’s exclusion from post-war governance in the enclave.

Source: (This article was originally published by Ynetnews on January 29, 2025. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today. See original article at this link.)

Photo Credit: President.gov.ua/Wikimedia.org

Photo License: Wikimedia

Prayer Focus
Pray for Prime Minister Netanyahu’s meeting with US President Trump next week, asking that the Lord’s purpose will be accomplished. Pray that Israel’s leaders will stand firm in the knowledge that ultimately, its help is from the Lord although He may choose to use earthly governments and leaders to accomplish that. Pray also that President Trump will acknowledge the sovereignty of God in all matters that will be discussed.

Scripture

“With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

- 2 Chronicles 32:8

Israel Welcomes Four Female Hostages Home

by Janet Aslin ~ Bridges for Peace

Monday, 27 January 2025 | For the second weekend in a row, Israelis were glued to their screens as another group of Hamas hostages was released after 477 days of captivity in Gaza.

Around midday on Saturday, Liri Albag (19), Karina Ariev (20), Danielle Gilboa (20), and Naama Levy (20) were returned to Israel and reunited with their jubilant family members. The exchange did not take place without a certain amount of tension, mainly due to the failure of Hamas to comply with the terms of the ceasefire agreement.

The tension began on Friday afternoon as Hamas was set to release the names of the captives to be freed as well as the condition of the remaining 26 hostages to be released in Phase One. When they came, the four names were not those of civilian Arbel Yehoud, Sheri Bibas and her two children as specified by the agreement but rather four female soldiers. Israel decided to proceed although Hamas had violated the negotiated agreement.

The young women released this weekend are among the seven female IDF field observers brutally abducted from the Nahal Oz base on October 7, 2023. Of the remaining three, Ori Megidish was rescued by the IDF shortly after she was taken hostage, Noa Marciano was murdered while in captivity and Agam Berger is scheduled to be released this coming Thursday.

Before they were handed over to the International Red Cross for transfer to the IDF, the four women were forced to take part in a propaganda event staged by Hamas in Gaza City. Dressed in quasi-military uniforms, holding bags of gifts to commemorate their captivity, the four confidently walked beside their captors. One of the women told KAN TV news, “We showed them on the stage that we were not fazed. It had no impact on us. We are stronger than them.”

The IDF Medical Corps examined the women upon their release and found them in stable condition without need for special treatment. As was the case with the three women released previously, the four will receive the medical and psychological attention as needed under a protocol designed by the Health Ministry.

The first two weeks of Phase One have proven that implementation of the ceasefire agreement has not been easy. Hamas is a master at manipulation and psychological warfare. Israel’s leaders walk a fine line as they make decisions regarding when to allow the Hamas violations and when to stand firm and oppose them.

This weekend, Israel opted to forgo allowing the initial return of Gazans to the northern part of the Strip because Hamas substituted four female soldiers in place of the remaining women and children. Israel feared that the life of civilian Arbel Yehoud was at risk since she had not been released on January 25 as she should have been. As a means of putting pressure on the group, Israel decided not to open the Netzarim Crossing on Saturday evening. Beginning on Saturday, hundreds of Gazans crowded the road leading up to the crossing adding pressure to an already fragile situation.

In the end, Hamas agreed that two rounds prisoner releases will take place this coming week. On Thursday, Arbel Yehoud along with Agam Berger—the remaining female soldier—and one as-yet-to-be-identified hostage will be returned to Israel. Another three men will be released on Saturday.

The cost to Israel continues to be very high. Two hundred prisoners were released from Israeli prison on Saturday evening, including 120 who were serving life sentences for murder. Although Israel did not agree to the release of any terrorists who took part in the October 7 massacre, the list includes men like Mohammad Odeh (52) and Wael Qassim

(54), who were responsible for the deaths of nine people on the Hebrew University campus in 2002. By the completion of Phase 2 and 3, it is expected that up to 2,000 prisoners will be released.

The return of the hostages has been in the center of the hearts and minds of all Israelis since the government approved the ceasefire deal on January 17. We waited with bated breath for the first group of hostages to come home on January 19. And again on January 25. It will not truly be over until ALL the hostages have been returned, alive to resume their lives or dead to allow closure for their families.

CLICK HERE for a full view of the Gaza Ceasefire Fact Sheet!

Source: (Bridges for Peace, January 27, 2025)

Photo Credit: IDF Spokesperson/GPO

Photo License: Photo 1) Naama Levy

Photo License: Photo 2) Daniella Gilboa

Photo License: Photo 3) Liri Albag

Prayer Focus
Continue to cry out to the Lord on behalf of the hostages and their families—both for those who have been released, for those who remain alive in Gaza and for the families who will be receiving the bodies of their loved ones. Pray that the God of hope will comfort them and heal their wounds. Pray for Israel’s leaders as the agreement is implemented with Hamas attempting to force unapproved changes.

Scripture

May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble; may the name of the God of Jacob defend you; may He send you help from the sanctuary, and strengthen you out of Zion.

- Psalm 20:1–2

‘Israel Is Good,’ Thai Workers Who Survived October 7 Return to Negev Farms

by Etgar Lefkovits ~ JNS

Friday, 24 January 2025 | Kibbutz Alumim—aThai agriculture worker crouched on top of the refrigerator in the small room in the cowshed in the southern kibbutz [collective community] of Alumim, eyeing the removable ceiling panels for an emergency getaway.

It was October 7, 2023, and Hamas terrorists had stormed this agricultural community, less than 2.5 miles [4 km.] from the Gaza border, using guns, hand grenades and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher to attack a group of Thai foreign workers and Nepali agricultural students, killing 22 of them (12 Thai and 10 Nepalese citizens) and abducting others to Gaza. Their mobile caravan dormitories, nearest to the entry point of the terrorists, were adjacent to the cowshed. All had been set ablaze.

From his hiding place in the cowshed’s medicine room, Korawit Kaeokoed, 37, who had been milking the cows overnight before the attack got underway, messaged his wife in Thailand that he wouldn’t make it out alive.

Back to Thailand

Kaeokoed would remain hidden for the next 20 hours, using his sweatshirt, doused with a liquid solution normally used to prevent cows from becoming dehydrated, to cover his mouth to avoid breathing in the smoke that was spreading everywhere.

It was only early the next morning that he was rescued by kibbutz members who fought off the terrorist onslaught on this Orthodox village on that fateful autumn day 15 months ago. They managed to stop the invaders from reaching the kibbutz members’ living quarters and prevented a bigger massacre like those that took place in nearby communities.

Safe at last, Kaeokoed saw the scorched bodies of friends stretched on the ground outside the cowshed.

The following week, he was among 9,000 Thais who returned to their country, out of the nearly 30,000 who were employed in Israel’s agricultural sector before the war.

In all, 39 Thai citizens were killed in the October 7 massacres, the third-largest group after Israelis and Americans.

Return

Almost all of the Thai workers who left Israel right after the assault have since returned, some like Kaeokoed to the communities that came under attack on October 7. After less than three months at home, he was already back in Israel last January, even as the war against Hamas continued to rage.

“Israel good,” Kaeokoed told JNS on Wednesday at the newly rebuilt cowshed where he had his close encounter with death. “No work, no money in Thailand,” he added noting that he was glad to be back at the kibbutz supporting his family, who live in the impoverished north of the southeast Asian country.

He vividly remembers everything he went through, showing JNS where he hid and where he had urgently messaged his employer: “Gaza here, Gaza here,” when he first caught sight of the invader. The bullet marks left at the entrance to the rebuilt cowshed—and a remaining outer wall of the adjacent demolished dorm areas—are reminders of that black day.

“Now everything OK,” Kaeokoed said in his broken Hebrew.

Unfinished Story

Ten foreigners are among the more than 90 hostages, living and dead, still being held by Hamas in Gaza, including eight Thai workers as well as a Nepalese and Tanzanian student. Bipin Joshi, the 23-year-old Nepalese student who was abducted from this kibbutz, managed to pick up a terrorist grenade and throw it outside his bomb shelter, before being seized.

Last year, the community held a joint memorial for the slain workers and students, as well as the Israelis who were killed fighting off the intrusion, at the site of their former caravans.

‘We are Their Friends’

For war-scarred kibbutz members, the return of the Thai workers during the war was a heartwarming surprise.

“We were really shocked,” said Gilad Hunwald, 45, who runs the avocado sector at the kibbutz. “One day, all of a sudden I saw they had returned,” he said.

“I come back,” Kaeokoed told him.

“We are their [the Thais’] friends,” Hunwald told JNS.

Source: (This article was originally published by the Jewish News Syndicate on January 23, 2025. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today. See original article at this link.)

Photo Credit: Rafi Babayan/jns.org

Prayer Focus
Give thanks for all the foreign workers who know the truth about Israel and are not afraid to speak out. Pray for the healing of memories for those workers who survived the terrible massacre on October 7 and chose to return to the place where it happened. Pray that the farmers along the Gazan border will be able to bring their farms back into the place of abundance they had achieved before the tragedy of October 7, 2023.

Scripture

“I will plant them in their land, and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them,” says the LORD your God.

- Amos 9:15

Fear of a Security Escalation in Judea and Samaria following the Release of Terrorists

by Yoni Ben Menachem ~ JCPA

Friday, 24 January 2025 | Israel’s security cabinet, which recently convened to approve the hostage deal, also adopted measures to bolster security in Judea and Samaria. The cabinet decided to maintain IDF’s force levels in the region as they were before the outbreak of the war on October 7, 2023. A reduction in forces will require another cabinet decision.

According to Israel Security Agency Chief Ronen Bar, approximately 82 percent of terrorists released in the 2011 Shalit deal have returned to terrorism.

Senior security officials warn that the release of hundreds of terrorists into Judea and Samaria will serve as a significant boost to terrorist activities. Many of the released individuals are expected to join groups in northern Samaria, increasing the likelihood of attacks on IDF forces and Israeli citizens, as well as attempts to destabilize the Palestinian Authority [PA].

This process, officials caution, could unfold over several weeks.

Hamas’s Growing Influence

The release of these individuals is also expected to strengthen Hamas’s influence on the Palestinian street while further weakening the PA. To counter celebratory displays, the IDF plans to deploy additional forces to Judea and Samaria before the release.

In a high-level security discussion chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Bar recommended a major military operation in Judea and Samaria. The proposed operation would target “terror battalions” that have emerged in northern Samaria in recent years.

“Israel must learn from October 7 not to allow the strengthening of terrorist elements. A broad and reality-changing process must collapse the battalions in Judea and Samaria and restore freedom of action,” Bar stated.

Bar also noted that the apparent decline in attacks in Judea and Samaria is misleading, masking a broader trend of increasing sophistication in terrorist tactics. Since the 2021 “Guardian of the Walls” operation, terrorist groups have transitioned from firebombs to firearms and explosives.

Regional Security Challenges

Defense Minister Israel Katz recently convened local authority leaders in Judea and Samaria, warning them that the region is on the brink of a full-scale conflict. He disclosed that the October 7, 2023, attacks had initially included plans to target settlements in Judea and Samaria.

Security forces are also tracking efforts by terrorist groups to smuggle advanced weapons into the region, supported by both Iranian and radical Sunni Islamic networks.

The security establishment anticipates that terrorist organizations will exploit vulnerabilities in Judea and Samaria, particularly traffic routes, by conducting shooting attacks and planting explosive devices.

PA Concerns and Response

Senior PA officials have expressed concerns over the release of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists. One senior PA official criticized Israel’s decision, arguing that the terrorists should have been deported to Gaza, which is already a major terrorist hub.

To mitigate tensions, the PA recently negotiated a ceasefire with terrorist groups in the Jenin refugee camp.

Israeli security officials emphasize that the release of these terrorists represents a dual challenge: a security threat to Israel and a test of the PA’s resolve to combat terrorism, which also jeopardizes Mahmoud Abbas’s leadership. The coming weeks are expected to reveal the extent to which the PA and Israeli security forces can address these challenges.

Source: (This article was originally published by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs on January 5, 2025. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today. See original article at this link.)

Photo Credit: David Shakbone/Wikimedia.org

Photo License: Wikimedia

Prayer Focus
Pray that the increased number of IDF and security forces in Judea and Samaria, the biblical heartland of Israel, will have the intelligence information they need in order to prevent terror attacks. Pray for the safety of the area’s Jewish residents as they must often drive through radical Arab villages in their day-to-day routines. Give thanks for these brave Israelis who are putting down roots where their ancestors lived and worshipped God.

Scripture

Remember His covenant forever, the word which He commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac, and confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, to Israel for an everlasting covenant, saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan as the allotment of your inheritance.”

- 1 Chronicles 16:15–18

Qatar’s ‘Day After’ Plan for Gaza: Keeping Hamas in Power

by Khaled Abu Toameh ~ Gatestone Institute

Thursday, 30 January 2025 | Why does Qatar, the largest funder and sponsor of Hamas, have such a strong desire to restore the Palestinian Authority (PA) to the Gaza Strip? To guarantee Hamas’s continued domination of the Gaza Strip.

Qatar has no problem with the PA, which was expelled from the Gaza Strip by Hamas in 2007, taking up its duties there again as long as Hamas is permitted to maintain its grasp on power and preserve its security and military forces and capabilities.

Qatar wants the PA government to collect the garbage, rebuild destroyed houses, and pay salaries to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, while Hamas is busy rearming, regrouping and getting ready for the next attack on Israel.

Hamas has sustained enormous losses since the beginning of the war it started on October 7, 2023, when thousands of its terrorists and “ordinary” Palestinians invaded Israel, murdering 1,200 Israelis, wounding thousands, and kidnapping more than 250 others. The Qataris seem to realize that Hamas cannot undertake the task of rebuilding the Gaza Strip on its own. They also seem to understand that the international community will not agree to transfer funds to the Gaza Strip through Hamas. Qatar needs the PA in the Gaza Strip to facilitate the flow of millions of dollars in Western aid. The aid anyway should be supervised by international parties and donors, including the US, to make sure it is not stolen.

Two days after the announcement of the ceasefire-hostage agreement between Israel and Hamas, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Abdulrahman Al Thani said that Doha hopes for the return of the PA to the Gaza Strip. Lasting peace in the Gaza Strip, he added, depends on Israel and Hamas showing good faith: “If they proceed in good faith, this will continue, and hopefully lead to a permanent ceasefire.”

This statement by the Qatari official, whose country has long supported and hosted the leaders of the terrorist group, was not made out of affection for the PA. Qatar’s financial and political backing of Hamas has caused tensions between the PA and Qatar over the past two decades. PA officials have frequently criticized Qatar for backing their rivals in Hamas.

Earlier this month, the PA-Qatar crisis reached its peak when the PA government in Ramallah, the de facto capital of the Palestinians in the West Bank [Judea and Samaria], decided to suspend the broadcasts of the Qatar-owned Al-Jazeera television for supporting and promoting Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups. Israel and some Arab states had also shut down the broadcasts for the same reason.

According to a recent investigative report by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI):

“Among the Islamist terrorist organizations that Qatar and Al-Jazeera have supported over the years are the Muslim Brotherhood, Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Hezbollah, the Al-Nusra Front/ Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham, ISIS, Hamas, and even the Shiite proxies in Yemen, Ansar Allah (the Houthis)…”

If the PA is allowed to operate in the Gaza Strip while Hamas is still in power, another slaughter of Israelis, most likely worse than the October 7 carnage, will occur. The Qataris do not want the PA in the Gaza Strip to rein in Hamas and other terrorist groups, or to prevent attacks against Israel. Instead, they want the PA to act as a front to maintain Hamas’s hold on power—as a cover for keeping Hamas in power. That is the main reason Qatar has refrained from calling on Hamas to cede control over the Gaza Strip in the wake of the catastrophe the terrorist group brought on the two million residents there.

If it truly cared about the safety and well-being of the Palestinians, Qatar would have stopped supporting Hamas and insisted that the terrorist group relinquish control of the Gaza Strip. After all these years, however, Qatar chose to do the exact opposite. Hamas was able to expand and strengthen its hold on the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip thanks to Qatar’s political and financial backing.

If Qatar truly cared about the Palestinians, it would not have allowed Al-Jazeera to act as a mouthpiece for Hamas and other Jihadist groups responsible for the death of thousands of Israelis and Palestinians.

Qatar has one main purpose: to safeguard its friends in Hamas, continue promoting radical Islam, and deceive Westerners into believing that the Jihadists are a better alternative to the Arab world’s present regimes. Whether the new US administration will be as gullible as other Westerners in trusting Qatar remains to be seen.

Source: (This article was originally published by the Gatestone Institute on January 27, 2025. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today. See original article at this link.)

Photo Credit: Kremlin.ru/Wikimedia.org

Photo License: Wikimedia

Prayer Focus
Pray that Qatar’s underlying motives to support the idea of the Palestinian Authority’s governing of the Gaza Strip will be exposed for all the world to see. Pray that the new US administration will carefully look behind outward appearances to see that Qatar supports and promotes a radical version of Islam and has acted in ways to keep Hamas in place.

Scripture

He who speaks truth declares righteousness, but a false witness, deceit…The truthful lip shall be established forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.

- Proverbs 12:17, 19

How the IDF Cracks Down on Online Incitement

by Elisha Ben Kimon ~ Ynetnews

Thursday, 30 January 2025 | As part of the planned hostage deal, Israel is set to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners by the end of the week, many of whom will return to the West Bank [Judea and Samaria]. Despite efforts by the IDF’s Central Command to curb celebrations, images of terrorists rejoicing continue to circulate online.

A specialized counter-incitement unit, formed within Central Command at the outset of the war, has been at the forefront of efforts to combat public and online incitement. Led by military prosecutors in the West Bank Division, the unit operates in coordination with intelligence officers and operational teams under the command of Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth.

In 2024, the unit has filed 303 indictments for incitement offenses. In comparison, the West Bank Military Prosecution typically filed 60 to 70 such cases per year in the past. During the 2015 wave of lone-wolf attacks, that number peaked at around 150.

“There is no doubt we’ve seen a surge,” a senior official in the West Bank prosecution said. “Before the war, this issue fell through the cracks. It requires coordination between multiple agencies. Immediately after October 7, we saw a sharp rise in online incitement, particularly among women, with people praising martyrs and glorifying Hamas’s attack.”

The official outlined the challenges of enforcement, explaining that legal complexities often make it difficult to define incitement. “For example, someone wrote after October 7, ‘a great and glorious act.’ On the surface, it looks like incitement, but it could be interpreted differently. We have to consider context and the use of certain phrases rather than just their literal meaning.”

Investigators employ technological tools to track incitement but must go beyond simple screenshots. “Once we detect incitement on a Facebook post, for instance, we need to ‘capture’ the entire page,” the official said. “We scroll through past posts, gather as much evidence as possible to establish a pattern of incitement and link the page to a specific suspect. Then, we build an indictment under a defined legal provision.”

To aid prosecutions, the military commander of Central Command issued a minimum sentencing order after the war began, mandating at least one year in prison for incitement, with at least six months served behind bars.

Among those arrested by the counter-incitement unit were members of a Palestinian band called Al-Ibaa, which performed at various venues in the West Bank. According to an indictment, after October 7, the student council at An-Najah University in Nablus invited one of the band’s singers to perform at an event.

The singer agreed to a payment of 4,000 shekels. When the band arrived in early May, they realized the event was a memorial for “martyrs” and was decorated with Hamas flags. During the performance, the musicians sang, “Advance, O Hamas, you strike fear into everyone. May God grant you victory.”

In another case, prosecutors indicted a 50-year-old Palestinian woman from the village of Sanur in the northern West Bank for multiple inciting posts on social media. She allegedly shared an illustration of Hamas terrorists with the caption “Al-Aqsa Flood”—the name Hamas gave to its Octber 7 attack. In a separate post, she wrote, “Tel Aviv is burning. Praise be to God. May God guide our army’s fire,” accompanied by a green heart—Hamas’s signature color.

Israel’s counter-incitement efforts are expected to intensify as the war continues, with authorities closely monitoring online activity and taking legal action against those suspected of encouraging violence.

Source: (This article was originally published by Ynetnews on January 29, 2025. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today. See original article at this link.)

Photo Credit: Tiviet/Wikimedia.org

Photo License: Wikimedia

Prayer Focus
Pray for the continued success of Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth and members of the IDF’s counter-incitement unit as they monitor social media to discover those who are inciting violence against Israel through their posts. Pray that they will have wisdom to determine in what context the remarks are made and the understanding of which posts are dangerous to the security of the State of Israel.

Scripture

From where then does wisdom come? and where is the place of understanding?… God understands its way, and He knows its place.

- Job 28:20, 23

‘Very Serious Allegation,’ UN Says of Reports Hostages Held at its Sites in Gaza

by Mike Wagenheim ~ JNS

Friday, 24 January 2025 | Reports that freed Israeli hostages had been held in UN shelters in the Gaza Strip amount to “a very serious allegation,” Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, told JNS on Wednesday.

“We call on those who have information on this to share it formally with UNRWA [United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees] or other parts of the United Nations so that we can investigate it further,” Haq told JNS at the global body’s press conference in New York.

Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher, who were released on Sunday, said Hamas had held them in UN camps that the global body created during the war to protect Gazan civilians and to provide them with food and water.

It wasn’t clear from public records and reporting in which camps they were held, when and for how long. Israeli intelligence, taken from captured Hamas terrorists, assessed that several Israeli hostages were held at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, Fox News reported.

The United Nations and other global groups have criticized the Israeli military extensively for conducting military operations in and around shelters, UN camps and Gazan hospitals. The Israel Defense Forces has said that Hamas has a documented history of using such facilities for terror operations. Hamas is known to be embedded in civilian and humanitarian areas.

“As you know, any time we’ve received information on the misuse of facilities, we followed up with investigations,” Haq told JNS at the briefing. “It is unclear at this stage whether the shelters were among those that had been abandoned during the fighting, so we’d need further knowledge about that and other aspects of what happened.”

JNS also asked Haq about a scheduled meeting between Guterres and Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday—the first publicly known meeting between the two since the beginning of Israel’s war against Hamas.

Herzog plans to travel to New York at Guterres’s invitation to deliver the keynote address at a special assembly marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, held annually on January 27. Haq told JNS that Guterres “looks forward to meeting with President Herzog.”

“That is a solemn event, where we try to work together as a community to learn the lessons from the Holocaust and ensure that the sort of tragedy that happened as a result of this horrific event will not recur,” Haq said. (He added that he had no agenda for the meeting to release.)

Herzog’s office said on Wednesday that the meeting will “focus on advancing international efforts to secure the release of hostages held captive by Hamas terrorists in Gaza.” It added that the Israeli president plans to meet with other senior officials. (JNS sought comment from Herzog’s office.)

The Israeli president is scheduled to meet in New York with relatives of victims of Hamas’s October 7 attacks, and on Sunday evening, he is slated to attend the dedication of the Altneu, a new Orthodox synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

Guterres and the Jewish state have been at odds since the UN chief said in late October 2023 that Hamas’s terror attacks in southern Israel “did not happen in a vacuum.”

Eli Cohen, then the Israeli foreign minister, was at the United Nations that day for a Security Council session. Cohen immediately canceled his meeting with Guterres, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has since refused to take Guterres’s calls.

Herzog, whose role is outside the political sphere, is the only known Israeli official who has spoken to Guterres during the war, with the two talking on the phone several times. The two last met in July 2023, according to public information.

Source: (This article was originally published by the Jewish News Syndicate on January 23, 2025. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today. See original article at this link.)

Photo Credit: Eskinder Debebe/U.N. Photo/jns.org

Prayer Focus
Pray for a thorough investigation of the United Nations agency, UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees) with regard to its actions in Gaza. Specifically, pray that there will be an honest and unbiased review of the widespread infiltration of Hamas into all aspects of UNRWA operations in Gaza.

Scripture

I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.

- Jeremiah 17:10

Holocaust Museums in Muslim Countries: A ‘Small’ But ‘Very Important’ Light

by Joshua Spurlock ~ Mideast Update

Monday, 27 January 2025 | Three Muslim nations who either have or will have Holocaust museums or exhibits were highlighted as a promising development in the face of rising antisemitism by a Tel Aviv University (TAU) press release on Sunday, the day before International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

“Holocaust denial and the flourishing of antisemitic propaganda in the Muslim world are not just distortions of history but also encouragements to violence. The museums established and being established in the Muslim world are ‘a small amount of light,’ but this small amount is very important,” Professor Uriya Shavit, Head of the Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry, was quoted as saying in the TAU press release.

The “For A Righteous Cause” research report promoted in the press release include the permanent “We Remember” exhibition on the Holocaust and Righteous Among the Nations at the Museum of the Crossroads of Civilizations in Dubai. The exhibit has documentation of Nazi history and crimes against Jews, as well as information on Muslims who saved Jews during the Holocaust. Businessman and collector Ahmed Al Mansuri, who established the exhibit two years ago, told the TAU researchers that 2,500 people from the United Arab Emirates and other nearby states—and thousands of local school students—have visited.

Al Mansuri’s comments in the interview for the TAU report, paraphrased by the press release, “emphasized…the uniqueness of Nazi crimes and the importance of Arab educators teaching about the Holocaust and its lessons. He noted that following October 7, he has not received threats or demands to close the museum.”

Closure demands have faced local Rabbi Ya’akov Baruch on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, who established the “Indonesian Holocaust Museum” in the world’s largest Muslim nation two years ago. The TAU press release noted that Islamic leaders wanted the museum closed and even accused Baruch of “whitewashing” alleged Israeli “crimes”.

Despite the pressure, Baruch told the TAU researchers he clarified to those opposing him the museum was not connected to Israel and not only has kept the museum open, but it has had approximately 2,000 visitors. The museum includes documentation of Nazi atrocities and information on neo-antisemitism and Holocaust denial.

Two museums are being built in Albania—each in a different city—the Besa Museum and the Museum of the History of Albanian Jews. The TAU press release noted that the Besa Museum “celebrates the ancient Albanian moral code obligating the protection of neighbors and guests, which was central to Albania’s unique rescue efforts during the Holocaust.”

Following the October 7 terror massacre launched against Israel by the Palestinian Hamas terrorist organization, antisemitism has spiked worldwide amidst a disturbing wave of anti-Israel rhetoric and policies. Given diplomatic challenges between Israel and Muslim nations, who often have domestic pressure to back Palestinian terrorists against Israel, other nations will be key to support Holocaust education in the Islamic world.

Dr. Carl Yonker, Senior Researcher and Project Manager at the Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry, said in the press release, “Direct or indirect support from Israel for these museums would harm them, but it is appropriate for international institutions to offer such support and insist on eradicating Holocaust denial from educational institutions in Muslim countries, as everywhere else.”

Source: (This article was originally published by the Mideast Update on January 26, 2025. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today. See original article at this link.)

Photo Credit: McCoy Brown/bridgesforpeace.com

Prayer Focus
Pray that this encouraging development of Holocaust awareness and education in Muslim countries will grow. Give thanks for all those who have already established Holocaust museums in their countries and are courageously taking a stand against Holocaust denial.

Scripture

So that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding…If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.

- Proverbs 2:2, 4–5