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Hamas Remains Obstacle to Gaza Ceasefire, Israel Has Moved in a ‘Significant Way,’ US Says
Israeli soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terror group Hamas, in this handout picture released on Jan. 2, 2024. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS
Hamas is the barrier to a ceasefire being implemented in Gaza, according to US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
Israel moved in a “significant way” to submit a reasonable and “incredibly significant” proposal in the ongoing talks to reach a ceasefire and release the Israeli hostages still in Gaza, Miller told reporters during a press briefing on Monday.
“There was a deal on the table that would achieve much of what Hamas claims it wants to achieve, and they have not taken that deal,” Miller added. “The bottom line is that they have rejected it, and if they did accept it, it would allow for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza of at least six weeks, which would benefit the Palestinian people whom they claim to represent. It would also allow us to continue improvements in the delivery of humanitarian assistance.”
Miller said the US is still pursuing a deal that would implement a ceasefire lasting at least six weeks, allow more aid into Gaza, and secure the release of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas during the Palestinian terrorist group’s Oct. 7 invasion of southern Israel. The Hamas atrocities, including the massacre of 1,200 people, launched the current war in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which borders Israel.
The US, Egypt, and Qatar have been mediating ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas. Over the past few months, Hamas has rejected all ceasefire offers, while Israel agreed to a deal that would end fighting for six weeks and release 700 Palestinian terrorists from jail, in exchange for 40 hostages seized during Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.
More recently, Hamas rejected the latest Israeli proposal that had been discussed over the past week.
Israel has said any truce must include the release of all remaining hostages and be temporary, warning that a long-term truce would allow Hamas to regroup and strengthen its position to continue attacking the Jewish state. Hamas leaders have pledged to carry out massacres against Israel like the one on Oct. 7 “again and again.”
Meanwhile, Hamas has demanded that any truce must include a permanent ceasefire and full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. Hamas has reportedly presented its own hostage release proposal to mediators in which it demands a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, implemented over three six-week phases. The proposal suggests that Israel would need to observe a six-week ceasefire before receiving any of the roughly 130 hostages still held by the terrorist group since Oct. 7 — a likely non-starter for Jerusalem.
According to Miller, the onus is on Hamas to explain why it didn’t accept the latest Israeli proposal.
“The bottom line is Hamas needs to take that deal, and they need to explain to the world and to the Palestinian people why they aren’t taking it because it is Hamas right now that is the barrier and the obstacle to a ceasefire in Gaza,” he said.
The post Hamas Remains Obstacle to Gaza Ceasefire, Israel Has Moved in a ‘Significant Way,’ US Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Noa Tishby Releases Free Passover Cookbook in Collaboration With Jewish Chefs, Social Media Food Influencers
Ben Soffer and Noa Tishby holding up plates of kosher-for-Passover BBQ potato chip-crusted chicken with pickled coleslaw and ranch dressing. Photo: YouTube screenshot
Israeli actress, author, and activist Noa Tishby released a mini cookbook for Passover on Wednesday that features seven recipes from Jewish chefs and social media food influencers ahead of the Jewish holiday that begins this weekend.
Tishby’s cookbook includes recipes for breakfast foods, soups, main dishes, snacks, and desserts. The two-time New York Times best-selling author, who is also Israel’s former special envoy for combating antisemitism, teamed up with Jewish foodies who include cookbook authors Jake Cohen and Eitan Bernath, celebrity private chef Brooke Baevsky, who goes by the Instagram handle Chef Bae, and recipe developer Sivan from Sivan’s Kitchen.
Ben Soffer, better known by his social media handle BoyWithNoJob, shares the recipe for his barbecue potato chip-crusted chicken with pickled coleslaw and homemade ranch dressing, while chef, cookbook author, and restauranteur Beejhy Barhany gives step-by-step directions of how to make Ethiopian, gluten-free matzah. Writer and producer-turned-food-traveler Phil Rosenthal, from the Netflix docuseries “Somebody Feed Phil,” also joins Tishby and her sister as the three of them make Tishby’s “favorite childhood matzah cake.”
Tishby is privately messaging Instagram users a link for the free Passover cookbook after they comment “Passover” on her posts about the various recipes. She filmed videos with each recipe developer, as they cooked together dishes from the book, and she is now sharing those clips on her Instagram page and YouTube. She posted on Thursday a video of her cooking with Soffer, and he talks about a childhood memory of never finding the afikomen on Passover, as well as what he loves the most about the Jewish holiday.
The post Noa Tishby Releases Free Passover Cookbook in Collaboration With Jewish Chefs, Social Media Food Influencers first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Says External Threats Could Lead It to Suspend Cooperation With UN Nuclear Watchdog
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi meets with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Tehran, Iran, Nov. 14, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iran may suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog if external threats continue, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader said on Thursday, after US President Donald Trump again warned of military force if Tehran does not agree to a nuclear deal.
Iranian and American diplomats will visit Oman on Saturday to start dialogue on Tehran’s nuclear program, with Trump saying he would have the final word on whether talks are reaching a breakdown, which would put Iran in “great danger.”
“Continued external threats and putting Iran under the conditions of a military attack could lead to deterrent measures like the expulsion of IAEA inspectors and ceasing cooperation with it,” Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, published on X, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“Transferring enriched material to safe and undisclosed locations in Iran could also be on the agenda,” he wrote.
While the US insists that the talks with Tehran will be direct, Iran has stressed the negotiations will be indirect with intermediation from Oman’s foreign minister.
During his first 2017-2021 term, Trump withdrew the US from a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers designed to curb Iran‘s sensitive nuclear work in exchange for sanctions relief. Trump also reimposed sweeping US sanctions.
Since then, Iran has far surpassed that deal’s limits on uranium enrichment, according to the IAEA.
Western powers accuse Iran of having a clandestine agenda to develop nuclear weapons capability by enriching uranium to a high level of fissile purity, above what they say is justifiable for a civilian atomic energy program.
Tehran says its nuclear program is wholly for civilian energy purposes.
The post Iran Says External Threats Could Lead It to Suspend Cooperation With UN Nuclear Watchdog first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US Immigration Agency to Monitor Social Media for Antisemitism When Approving ‘Permanent Resident Status’
Prisoners stand looking out from their cell as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks while touring the Terrorist Confinement Center, in Tecoluca, El Salvador, March 26, 2025. Photo: Alex Brandon/Pool via REUTERS
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Wednesday that it will monitor social media platforms for antisemitic speech and conduct as a basis for denying permanent residency status and immigration benefits.
The agency announced that the new policy is set to take effect immediately and will be applicable to both green card applicants and international students.
USCIS will specifically search for expressions of support for terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and the Houthis — all of which regularly call for the killing of Jews and the destruction of Israel. Social media posts that reflect, promote, or endorse “antisemitic activity” will be considered in the discretionary evaluation process for immigration benefits.
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has emphasized issuing punishment and deportation for non-citizens who support antisemitic violence and terrorism, according to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.
“The United States has no tolerance for those who sympathize with terrorists from around the globe, and we are not required to allow them entry or permit them to remain in our country,” McLaughlin stated.
“Secretary Noem has made it clear that anyone who thinks they can come to America and hide behind the First Amendment to advocate for antisemitic violence and terrorism – think again. You are not welcome here,” McLaughlin added.
In addition, the agency says that it will consider social media posts it deems as “endorsing, espousing, promoting, or supporting” antisemitic conduct or terrorist organizations.
In the months following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, universities in the US have emerged as hubs of anti-Israel activism. Last spring, anti-Israel students and faculty erected so-called “Gaza solidarity encampments,” occupying sections of campus and refusing to leave unless the school agreed to a boycott of Israel. Many Jewish students have reported incidents of bullying and exclusion because of their religious identity and support for Israel during the protests.
During his 2024 presidential campaign, US President Donald Trump vowed to deport non-citizens who express support for Hamas and other antisemitic organizations. He has also promised not to import refugees from “terror-infested” parts of the world, deeming them hotbeds of antisemitism and anti-American sentiment.
“We will deport the foreign jihad sympathizers, and we will deport them very quickly. And Hamas supporters will be gone,” Trump said. “If you hate America, if you want to eliminate Israel, then we don’t want you in our country. We really don’t want you in our country.”
Nico Perrino, executive vice president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, condemned the new directive from the Trump administration.
“Surveillance of protected speech shows the Trump administration is trading the country’s commitment to free and open discourse for fear and silence,” Perrinon said. “Unfortunately, that chill appears to be the administration’s aim.”
During his initial months in the White House, Trump. has issued a series of directives aimed at reining in antisemitic conduct. The White House has withheld federal funds from universities that it claims have failed to protect Jewish students from discrimination. In addition, the White House has moved to deport non-citizens who have participated in anti-Israel demonstrations or spread antisemitic rhetoric.
According to recent polling data from Harvard-Harris, most Americans, 63 percent, believe that the Trump administration should “deport” foreign students who “voice support” for terrorist groups like Hamas, while a slightly higher 67 percent want such deportations for non-citizens on campuses who “actively support” such terrorist groups.
The post US Immigration Agency to Monitor Social Media for Antisemitism When Approving ‘Permanent Resident Status’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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