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Israeli Security Cabinet Approves Gaza Ceasefire Deal

Supporters and family members of hostages kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, hold lit torches during a protest ahead of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Jan. 16, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Shir Torem

The Israeli security cabinet approved a ceasefire deal on Friday, paving the way for the return of the first hostages from Gaza as early as Sunday and bringing a halt to 15 months of conflict in the coastal strip.

The accord is still conditional on the approval of the full Israeli cabinet, which was meeting on Friday afternoon.

The war between Israeli forces and Hamas began when the Palestinian terrorist group invaded southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, murdering 1,200 people and kidnapping 251 hostages. Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.

If successful, a ceasefire could also ease hostilities in the Middle East, where the Gaza war spread to include Iran and its terrorist proxies — Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis, and armed groups in Iraq as well as the West Bank.

Under the six-week first phase of the three-stage deal, Hamas will release 33 Israeli hostages, including all women (soldiers and civilians), children, and men over 50.

Israel will release all Palestinian women and children under 19 detained in Israeli jails by the end of the first phase. The total number of Palestinians released will depend on hostages released, and could be between 990 and 1,650 Palestinians, including men, women, and children. The Palestinian prisoners were largely detained for involvement in terrorist activities.

The Israeli Justice Ministry on Friday released a list of 95 Palestinian prisoners to be freed in the first exchange on Sunday.

Hamas said in a statement that obstacles that arose on the terms of the Gaza ceasefire agreement have been resolved.

After a last-minute delay on Thursday that Israel blamed on Hamas, Netanyahu’s office in the early hours of Friday said Israel‘s security cabinet would meet to approve the ceasefire accord. Hamas on Thursday said it was committed to the agreement, which takes effect on Sunday.

ACCORD REACHED ON HOSTAGES

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was informed by the negotiating team that agreements have been reached on a deal to release the hostages,” his office said in a statement.

The deal faced strong opposition from hardliners in Netanyahu’s coalition, who said it was a capitulation to Hamas, which had controlled Gaza. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened to resign if it was approved. However, he said he would not bring down the government.

Following the security cabinet meeting, Ben-Gvir repeated his opposition to the ceasefire deal in a statement and called on members of the full cabinet to join him in voting against it.

His fellow hardliner, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, also threatened to quit the government if it does not go back to war to defeat Hamas after the first six-week phase of the ceasefire was completed.

HOSTAGE FAMILIES WANT SWIFT ACTION

Israel says 98 hostages are still being held in Gaza. About half are believed to be alive. They include Israelis and non-Israelis. Of the total, 94 were seized in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel and four have been held in Gaza since 2014.

For the first time, Israeli authorities have officially informed hostage families of the names of the first 33 to be released but it remains unclear how many of those on the list are still alive.

The ceasefire accord emerged on Wednesday after mediation by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, Israel‘s main supporter. As well as the release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners, the deal includes a gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

It also paves the way for a surge in humanitarian aid for the coastal strip, where the majority of the population has been displaced.

A World Health Organization official said on Friday it should be possible to scale up aid imports into Gaza massively to about 600 trucks a day under the terms of the deal.

The aid surge requires more than a 10-fold daily increase in lorries from the daily average of 51 that UN data shows entered the enclave in early January.

The post Israeli Security Cabinet Approves Gaza Ceasefire Deal first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Anti-Israel Bias in UK Hospitals Alarms Jewish Patients, Fueling Fears of Global Trend

University College London Hospital. Photo: Tagishsimon via Wikimedia Commons

Two recent incidents at hospitals in the UK fit a troubling pattern of Jews feeling unsafe due to medical professionals expressing antisemitism or even outright threats of death against Israelis.

The University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH Trust) has issued an apology following a patient’s complaints about the placement of anti-Israel posters at a facility.

“I’m an outpatient but God forbid in other circumstances to feel so vulnerable already and be surrounded by hostility would be so scary,” the unnamed female patient told the group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), fearful of receiving subpar treatment if the hospital staff discovered she was Jewish. “I shouldn’t have to remove my Star of David necklace to go to a hospital visit.”

The poster read:

Israel is starving and killing Palestinians in Gaza.

Children are being slaughtered beyond measure.

We have a voice, they don’t.

We are the generation that can influence the system & government.

Please do your own research and come to your own conclusions.  Do not let the mainstream media influence you. It is poison. Zionism is Poison.

People are being killed, just to show the world what is happening, see for yourself:

Instagram

@eye.on.palestine

@lowkeyonline @Wearethepeace

@hossam_shbat @anasjamal44

If you can’t lift the injustice, at least tell everyone about it.

Free Palestine.

End Zionism.

David Probert, chief executive of UCLH Trust, released a statement on Sunday to UKLFI.

“Firstly, I would like to apologize on behalf of UCLH for the distress and upset caused by these posters. At UCLH, we value diversity and inclusivity, and we are committed to providing a fair and non-discriminatory service to all individuals, regardless of background,” Probert stated. “Following receipt of your letter, I promptly made internal enquiries and was informed that the posters were initially noticed last week. This matter was immediately treated as an incident, and all the posters were removed without delay.”

Probert added, “Senior members of staff conducted a walk-around to ensure no further posters remained. Additionally, the department’s newsletter addressed the incident, reminding staff of the Trust’s policy against displaying political messages and encouraging vigilance in identifying and removing any similar materials. Security personnel have also been instructed to remain alert.”

Caroline Turner, director of UKLFI, said that her organization welcomed the hospital’s taking down of the posters.

“We welcome UCLH’s prompt, proactive, and constructive engagement with this issue. UCLH’s actions will help preserve dignity, equality, neutrality, and respect within NHS spaces, particularly for Jewish patients seeking medical care,” she said in a statement.

Another instance of anti-Israel rhetoric at UK hospitals involves midwife Fatimah Mohamied, who resigned from her position after UKLFI highlighted her anti-Israel social media posts. Mohamied has now filed a claim against Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, alleging a violation of her rights.

“I have been subjected to a concerted and targeted effort to intimidate, harass, and punish me into silence for my Palestinian advocacy and criticism of Zionism,” Mohamied said. “I am taking legal action against my former employer to finally seek accountability for a campaign of harassment against me in the midst of a live genocide perpetrated by the Israeli state — I will not accept the attempts to silence me and those like me.”

Mohamied added, “Health=care workers in the NHS have the right to critique a colonial political ideology that has upheld an illegal occupation for decades and is responsible for violating universal values of health.”

Examples of Mohamied’s posts include her declaration “hell yeah!!!” on Oct. 8, 2023, one day after the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel, as she reshared the statement “Palestinians have a right to resist their occupation-we have a right to support them. It’s that simple.”

She also wrote on Oct. 7, 2023, that “Palestinian women have birthed under blockade and seige [sic] This is apartheid and like all apartheid, no justice or dignity can be found.” The post was in response to another social media user defending Hamas’s atrocities as a justified response to Israeli actions.

In another online comment, Mohamied wrote, “The problem lies in using Jewish cultural safety as a smokescreen to propagate colonialism, occupation, apartheid, and genocide as somehow acceptable. The problem here are the Zionist speakers you hold no qualm or shame to platform. There is no neutrality in degradation, there is no balance in ignoring opposition to Zionists, there is no innocence in hosting Zionists.”

Liana Wood, a partner at the legal firm Leigh Day representing Mohamied, said that the trust’s “referrals against Fatimah, made a year after she had stopped working for them, were an entirely disproportionate response to her lawful expressions of belief on her personal blog and social media accounts.” She added that “Fatimah’s case, which has parallels with other cases we have seen recently in the NHS, highlights the need for employers to resist pressure from lobby groups in such cases, and to carefully consider any potential infringement on an individual’s rights before taking action against them.”

These instances in the UK track with other reports from Jews around the world expressing discomfort with health-care providers’ antipathy toward Israel manifesting as violent threats.

In the Netherlands, for example, police opened an investigation into Batisma Chayat Sa’id, a nurse who allegedly stated she would administer lethal injections to Israeli patients.

Sa’id denied making the comments. “It seems someone is pretending to be me, posting false and defamatory statements,” she said. “I want to make it clear — I hold no hatred toward Jews or any people, race, religion, or identity.”

Last year, however, an account under her name also posted threatening messages aimed at Jewish people, including “Your time will come — don’t spare anyone,” and another in which she described the burial of Israelis in Gaza as “a dream come true.”

The nurse’s alleged threat mirrors a similar incident in Australia, in which video showed two nurses — Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh — posing as doctors and making inflammatory statements.

The widely circulated footage showed Abu Lebdeh declaring she would refuse to treat Israeli patients and instead kill them, while Nadir made a throat-slitting gesture and claimed he had already killed many.

“Now they actually brag online about killing Israeli patients,” Shira Nussdorf, a US-born Jewish woman who moved from Israel to Australia six years ago, told The Algemeiner earlier this year when the video first emerged. “I don’t know how safe I would feel giving birth at that hospital.”

Following the incident, New South Wales authorities in Australia suspended their nursing registrations and banned them from working as nurses nationwide. They were also charged with federal offenses, including threatening violence against a group and using a carriage service to threaten, menace, and harass. If convicted, they face up to 22 years in prison.

A December 2024 study by the Data & Analytics Department of StandWithUs, a Jewish civil rights group, found that 40 percent of 645 Jewish American health-care professionals surveyed reported experiencing antisemitism in the workplace. A similar study of Canadian Jewish health workers conducted last year reached 80 percent.

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First Charter Aliyah Flight Since Hamas’s Oct. 7 Attack Brings 225 Newcomers to Israel

New olim disembark at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport on the first charter aliyah flight since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, arriving to begin new lives in Israel. Photo: The Algemeiner

NEW YORK/TEL AVIV — Defying the uncertainty of war, 225 Jews arrived in Tel Aviv on the first charter aliyah flight since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, determined to start new lives and contribute to the country they now call home.

On Wednesday morning, Nefesh B’Nefesh — a nonprofit that promotes and facilitates aliyah from the United States and Canada — brought its 65th charter flight from New York to Tel Aviv.

Aliyah refers to the process of Jews immigrating to Israel.

With the most children yet on a single flight, this historic aliyah brought 45 families to their new homeland — 125 children among them, ranging from the youngest at 9 months to the oldest at 72.

Migrating from across the US and Canada, these newcomers and families are settling throughout Israel to build communities and begin new lives of service to the Jewish state. Among them are professionals in fields such as medicine, journalism, education, law, accounting, engineering, and many others.

During a farewell ceremony in New York, Nefesh B’Nefesh chairman and co-founder Tony Gelbart commended those on the flight, holding them up as examples of Jewish resilience and unity in the face of adversity

“You’re fulfilling your dream, but I believe you’re doing something even more important at this time,” Gelbart said in his speech.

“Not only are you helping Israel; you’re showing the world that Jews everywhere stand together and care for one another,” he continued.

Israeli Minister of Aliyah and Integration Ofir Sofer, who traveled to the US to see off the new olim (immigrants who moved to Israel) on their historic flight, also praised them for embarking on this new chapter in Israel.

“I want to thank each and every person who made the decision to make aliyah during the war. It strengthens our resilience and our solidarity, and I am truly proud of them,” Sofer told The Algemeiner.

“Since Oct. 7, we’ve seen that most people want to support Israel … but the highest form of solidarity is choosing to make aliyah,” the Israeli official said. “These individuals want to be part of what’s happening in Israel, make a meaningful difference, and stand with their people.”

Founded in 2002, Nefesh B’Nefesh is dedicated to “strengthening the State of Israel by facilitating aliyah, advancing national service and development, and promoting Zionist education.”

Nefesh B’Nefesh, working alongside Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth, and the Jewish National Fund-USA, helps olim become fully integrated members of Israeli society.

To this day, they have assisted nearly 100,000 olim in establishing thriving lives in Israel, guiding them through the aliyah process.

Those who decide to make aliyah receive comprehensive support to help them transition smoothly into their new life, including guidance through the immigration process, access to community programs, health-care assistance, and employment resources.

The Israeli government also provides a range of support and resources to ease the transition and adaptation for those taking this significant step, including housing subsidies and higher education incentives for young olim and professionals pursuing studies in Israel.

“I believe we’ll see an increase in the number of people making aliyah in the coming years. It won’t happen overnight, but it will be a gradual process,” Sofer told The Algemeiner. “The trend is clear, and there is growing interest among many in taking this step.”

“We’re seeing numbers rise year by year, especially from Western countries like the UK, France, and North America, and I expect that trend to continue,” the Israeli minister said.

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‘Pat Buchanan in a New Guise’: Trump Aide Sebastian Gorka Slams Tucker Carlson Over Anti-Israel Stance

Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to the US president and senior director for counterterrorism at the White House National Security Council, at the Hudson Institute in Washington, DC, Aug. 19, 2025. Photo: Screenshot

A senior aide to US President Donald Trump on Tuesday repudiated controversial political commentator Tucker Carlson for promoting what he described as an isolationist foreign policy that’s hostile to Israel, suggesting that Carlson is “repackaging” the ideology of infamous paleoconservative intellectual Pat Buchanan.

Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism at the White House National Security Council, made the comments while appearing for an event at the Hudson Institute, a prominent think tank in Washington, DC.

Moderator Michael Doran, a Hudson senior fellow and Middle East expert, asked Gorka to address the growth of anti-Israel, antisemitic sentiment on right-wing podcasts and social media.

“This wing of isolationism is nothing new. We had this 100 years ago, and this is just a poor, substandard repackaging of neo-Buchananite isolationism,” Gorka said in response.

“The Tucker right wing is basically, you know, Pat Buchanan in a new guise. It is actually a shallower version. Pat is far smarter than this version of isolationism,” Gorka continued.

Carlson, a right-wing podcaster and former Fox News host, has repeatedly argued on his podcast that the US should withdraw from costly foreign entanglements and focus on domestic issues. That perspective has led him to sharply criticize US support for Israel, which he has framed as an unnecessary drain on American resources and a distraction from pressing challenges at home.

Carlson has often warned that Washington’s commitments to its allies, particularly in the Middle East, risk dragging the United States into wars that he believes serve little purpose for the average American family. His rhetoric has placed him at odds with more traditional conservatives who view support for Israel as central to US foreign policy.

In June, Carlson clashed with US Sen. Ted Cruzhttps://www.algemeiner.com/2025/06/18/ted-cruz-defends-aipac-foreign-influence-claims-accuses-tucker-carlson-antisemitism/ (R-Texas) over the latter’s support for Israel and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a lobbying group that promotes bipartisan support for a strong US-Israel relationship. During the tense interview, Cruz called out Carlson over his “obsession” with the world’s lone Jewish state.

“You’re asking, ‘Why are the Jews controlling our foreign policy?’” Cruz stated. “If you’re not an antisemite, give me another reason why the obsession is Israel.”

Carlson recently came under fire for interviewing Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian but not pushing back against his claims or challenging the leader on Iran’s nuclear program or human rights record.

Meanwhile, Buchanan regularly courted controversy with provocative statements depicting the so-called “Israel lobby” as a sinister force swaying US policy — even claiming Capitol Hill is “Israeli occupied territory.” He has also cast doubt on established Holocaust history, minimizing atrocities at Treblinka, and framed Jewish influence in ways many critics condemned as antisemitic. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) branded him an “unrepentant bigot” and claimed that he “repeatedly demonizes Jews and minorities and openly affiliates with white supremacists.”

Gorka dismissed the vocal chorus of isolationist, anti-Israel conservatives as “probably half a dozen very loud people on Twitter [now officially called X] and Rumble.” He emphasized that isolationist ideologues such as Carlson are not representative of the broader conservative political base. 

“I mean, you get out of the miasma, the cesspit that is social media and you talk to representative MAGA [Make America Great Again] of the 80 million that put the president back in the White House,” Gorka said. “They don’t think that we should pull down the shutters on the Pacific and the Atlantic coast. They don’t think that Israel is the reason for [Hamas’s attack on Israel on] October the 7th. They actually have a very special place in their heart for Israel, and they don’t think that hospitals being bombed in Ukraine is a good thing.”

Gorka added that the Americans people will not be easily swayed by the isolationist wing of the conservative movement. 

One of the most trenchant, indicative characteristics for me of the American people is common sense. They understand who was responsible for October the 7th. They understand who Vladimir Putin is,” Gorka said. 

Doran argued during the event that the anti-Israel wing of conservatism maintains “no hold” on Trump. 

“It’s clear that that President Trump is not listening to them, making decisions in a completely different way,” Doran said. “I mean, he basically signaled it with that Truth Social posting where he said, ‘Who’s going to tell kooky Tucker Carlson that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon?”

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