KOENIG

President-elect Donald Trump is demanding the immediate release of the Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza, saying that if they are not freed before he is sworn into office there will be “HELL TO PAY."

“Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity," Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social site.

He added that, "Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!”

US President-elect Donald Trump dined Sunday night with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife Sara at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida.

A photo of the pair was posted on X by Trump’s deputy director of communications.

Netanyahu is in Miami for several weeks to visit her son Yair who has been living in Florida for over year. Her trip will apparently keep her out of the country during the beginning of the prime minister’s scheduled testimony in his criminal trial on corruption charges.

Iranian-backed Iraqi militias have deployed to Syria to back President Bashar Assad’s counteroffensive against Sunni jihadi insurgents who have captured large portions of northwestern Syria, including most of the city of Aleppo.

An Iraqi military official who spoke on condition of anonymity said that Iraqi militias in Syria have already been deployed to the war effort and that additional forces have crossed the border, the Associated Press reported on Monday.

Some 200 Iraqi militants on pickup trucks crossed into Syria overnight on Sunday through the strategic Al-Qa’im border crossing, near Abu Kamal in Deir ez-Zor Province, said the Syria Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based opposition war monitor.

President Bashar Assad's Palace in Aleppo was invaded by Syrian rebels on Sunday evening, according to Arab media reports.

The take overcomes after Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebels swept into the city of Aleppo on Saturday, nearly encircling the remaining SAA pro-Regime forces, leading to a reinforcement by SDF-Kurdish forces.

The Palace was captured along with the nearby Aleppo Military Academy, during which they claimed to capture Russian air defense systems.

If the choice is sovereignty in Judea and Samaria or a peace deal with Saudi Arabia, he would choose sovereignty, Israeli Energy and Infrastructure Minister Eli Cohen says.

“It is important for me to say that between the Jordan River and the Sea, there will only be one state,” Cohen told Makor Rishon in an interview on Friday.

“The path of the ideological right has proven to be the correct one, and we must take advantage of [U.S. President-elect Donald] Trump’s rule to apply sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” he continued. “We are already preparing the ground for annexation in Judea and Samaria.”

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump stated on Sunday morning that his mechuten [co-father-in-law] Massad Boulos, a Lebanese-born billionaire whose son Michael is married to Trump’s daughter Tiffany, will be his senior adviser on Arab and Middle East affairs.

“Massad is an accomplished lawyer and a highly respected leader in the business world, with extensive experience on the international scene,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He has been a longtime proponent of Republican and conservative values, an asset to my campaign and was instrumental in building tremendous new coalitions with the Arab American community.”

Israeli Air Force jets on Saturday attacked terrorist infrastructure along the Syria-Lebanon border that Hezbollah was “actively using” to smuggle arms.

“The strike was conducted after identifying the transfer of weapons to Hezbollah from Syria to Lebanon, even after the ceasefire agreement, constituting a threat to the State of Israel and a violation of the terms of the truce,” the IDF said.

The military accused the Iranian proxy, with the backing of the Assad regime, of smuggling weapons through civilian crossing points.

“The IDF will continue to act to eliminate all threats to the State of Israel that contravene the terms of the ceasefire agreement,” the army said.

Britain, France and Germany have agreed to continue nuclear negotiations with Tehran following a meeting on Friday in Geneva and amid threats by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to reinstitute a “maximum pressure” campaign on the Islamic Republic once he assumes office in January.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister and senior nuclear negotiator Majid Takht-Ravanchi met with top diplomats from the European nations, known collectively as the E3.

The talks came after the European countries joined the United States to have Iran censured by the U.N. atomic watchdog for its lack of cooperation.

Saudi Arabia has abandoned its pursuit of an ambitious defence treaty with Washington in return for normalising relations with Israel and is now pushing for a more modest military cooperation agreement, two Saudi and four Western officials told Reuters.

In a drive to get a wide-ranging mutual security treaty over the line earlier this year, Riyadh softened its position on Palestinian statehood, telling Washington that a public commitment from Israel to a two-state solution could be enough for the Gulf kingdom to normalise relations.

But with public anger in Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East at fever pitch over Israel's military actions in Gaza, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has again made recognition of Israel conditional on it taking concrete steps to create a Palestinian state, two Saudi and three Western sources said.

Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu is still eager to secure normalisation with the Saudi powerhouse as a historic milestone and a sign of broader acceptance in the Arab world, Western diplomats said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a security meeting Friday evening to discuss the developments in Syria, as well as the ceasefire with Lebanon, Israeli media reported Friday.

In the meeting, Israeli intelligence officials will focus on the rebel attempt to capture the city of Aleppo, its regional implications, and the potential domino effect these events could trigger in the Middle East.

Ukraine says it accepts that it cannot join the alliance until the war is over but extending an invitation now would show Russia's Putin that he could not prevent Kyiv from becoming a NATO member.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has urged his NATO counterparts to issue an invitation to Kyiv at a meeting in Brussels next week to join the Western military alliance, according to the text of a letter seen by Reuters on Friday.

The letter reflects Ukraine's renewed push to secure an invitation to join NATO, which is part of a "victory plan" outlined last month by President Volodymyr Zelensky to end the war triggered by Russia's 2022 invasion.

In his first interview since the start of the ceasefire in Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that if Hezbollah were to violate the agreement, there would be “intensive war.”

The prime minister said he had given the Israel Defense Forces instructions that in the case of a “massive violation of the agreement,” the response would extend beyond “surgical operations like we’re doing now.”

Meanwhile, a day after the ceasefire took effect, the IDF’s Home Front Command lifted all restrictions on gatherings south of Haifa. The restrictions, which limited the number of people allowed at indoor and outdoor gatherings, were put in place amid heavy rocket fire from Hezbollah.

A confidential clause in the U.S.-Israel side agreement to the Lebanon ceasefire deal focuses on the Islamic Republic, Hebrew media reported on Wednesday.

Dubbed the “Iranian clause” by Israeli officials, the provision is part of a two-and-a-half-page letter the full contents of which have not been fully disclosed, according to Channel 12 News.

“The U.S. commits to working with Israel to prevent Iran from destabilizing the region, establishing a foothold in Lebanon, or undermining the principles of the agreement—either directly or through its proxies,” the letter states, according to the report.

By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor-- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be-- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation--for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war--for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed--for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted--for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions-- to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually--to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed--to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord--To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us--and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Go: Washington

Washington issued a proclamation on October 3, 1789, designating Thursday, November 26 as a national day of thanks. In his proclamation, Washington declared that the necessity for such a day sprung from the Almighty’s care of Americans prior to the Revolution, assistance to them in achieving independence, and help in establishing the constitutional government.

In the hours before a ceasefire with Hezbollah came into effect early Wednesday, Israeli fighter jets destroyed the terror group’s largest underground precision-guided missile manufacturing site in Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The military released footage of the airstrikes from the night before on the site, which was hidden in a subterranean complex that stretched for 1.4 kilometers (less than a mile) near the town of Janta in eastern Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, very close to the Syrian border.

Fighter jets pounded the location for over four hours, according to the military, dealing “a blow to the Hezbollah terror organization’s ability to produce weapons.”

Israel will appeal the decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Israeli media reported on Wednesday.

Netanyahu made the decision at the last minute, as Israel had to respond to the court by midnight on Wednesday regarding appealing the arrest warrants, a Ynet report noted.

The ICC's decision also implies that Netanyahu and Gallant will be unable to travel to countries that are a part of the court's 120-plus member states, which includes most of Europe. They will still be able to travel to the US, which is not a member, and to some other Middle Eastern countries.

The nascent Sanhedrin in Jerusalem has made an official ruling, calling on Jews outside of Israel to come home.

“We are the beis din (rabbinic court) of Yerushalayim (Jerusalem), and we have poskened (officially ruled) that all Jews around the world have an obligation and chiyuv (religious requirement) right now to do whatever is in your power, to come to Eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel), and that is the mitzvah of Torah (Biblical requirement). And that is the mitzvah of today, especially because of what’s happening around the world and the dangers that all the Jews are in around the world. It’s necessary now more than ever to come to Eretz Yisrael, and we as a beis din have poskened that all the Jews have to come as soon as they can back to eretz Yisrael.”

The Sanhedrin’s ruling was intended for Jews worldwide, so it was recorded in English, Hebrew, Yiddish,French, and Spanish.

A ceasefire to end hostilities between Israel and Lebanon will protect Israel from the threat of Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah and create the conditions for a “lasting calm,” US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron say.

“The announcement today will cease the fighting in Lebanon, and secure Israel from the threat of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations operating from Lebanon,” the two leaders say in a joint statement, adding that the deal “will create the conditions to restore lasting calm.”

Israeli troops reached the Litani River on Tuesday, for the first time since the Israel Defense Forces’ withdrawal from Southern Lebanon on May 24, 2000, the IDF reported.

Soldiers from the 91st Division carried out intelligence-driven raids on Hezbollah targets, engaged in close-quarters combat with terrorists and uncovered and destroyed dozens of rocket launchers, thousands of rockets and missiles, as well as concealed weapons storage facilities, according to the military.