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Netanyahu: Neither Hamas nor Abbas Will Rule Gaza After the War

Israeli tanks are seen in Gaza Monday. (Reuters)
Israeli tanks are seen in Gaza Monday. (Reuters)
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Netanyahu: Neither Hamas nor Abbas Will Rule Gaza After the War

Israeli tanks are seen in Gaza Monday. (Reuters)
Israeli tanks are seen in Gaza Monday. (Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday blocked Arab efforts to develop a plan for “the next day” in Gaza after the war ends, saying neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, will control the Strip in any future plan.

“As I promised, the day after the war in Gaza, neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority will be there,” according to a statement from the PM’s office.

His comments came in response to Arab efforts seeking to pressure Hamas to hand over Gaza to the PA and foil a US plan to take ownership of the territory and rebuild it into a “Riviera of the Middle East.”

They also came ahead of an Israeli Security Cabinet meeting to discuss the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal with Hamas.

Netanyahu had tried to prevent negotiations for the second phase. But following a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week, the PM agree to send a delegation to Egypt on Monday to resume talks with Hamas. But according to Israeli reports, the delegation had not been given a mandate to discuss anything substantive.

A senior Israeli security official familiar with the negotiations told Ynet news on Sunday that Netanyahu is working to prevent the implementation of the second phase of the hostage deal in order to achieve political goals at the expense of hostages’ lives.

The senior Israeli security official maintained that this amounts to a violation of the deal, which stipulates that the parties begin holding negotiations over phase two no later than the 16th day of the first phase, which was on February 3 — nearly two weeks ago.

Israel’s decision to send a delegation to Egypt followed a phone call between Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

Witkoff told Fox News on Sunday that he also spoke with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani and head of the Egyptian intelligence agency Hassan Mahmoud Rashad and agreed with them on the progression of the second phase of the hostage deal.

‘Them or us’

While Netanyahu faces mounting US pressure to move forward with the talks, he is under similar pressure from far-right members of his coalition to resume the war after the end of the first phase.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to quit Netanyahu’s ruling coalition if the war is not resumed after the end of the first stage.

Smotrich in a video statement said he “will demand a vote” by ministers on Trump’s plan and that Israel must “issue a clear ultimatum to Hamas — immediately release all hostages, leave Gaza for other countries and lay down your arms.”

“If Hamas refuses this ultimatum, Israel will open the gates of hell,” he warned.

“I call on the prime minister to declare that once the war resumes after phase one, Israel will, from the first day, seize 10% of Gaza’s territory, establish full sovereignty there and immediately apply Israeli law,” he said.

“It’s them or us. Either we crush Hamas, or God forbid, Hamas will crush us,” Smotrich said.

In return, other Israeli opposition leaders urged the government to complete the deal with Hamas and return all the hostages.

National Unity chairman Benny Gantz said: “We need to harness all the levers of pressure, all the means, and also be prepared for painful concessions and bring them home – down to the last hostage.”

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Arab World

Israeli Settler Kills 16-Year-Old Palestinian in West Bank, Mayor Says

Friends and family gather around the body of Ammar Yasser Sabbah, 16, ahead of his funeral at a morgue in Bethlehem on December 16, 2025, after he was killed by Israeli forces in the town of Tuqu’, east of Bethlehem during a military raid the day before. (AFP)
Friends and family gather around the body of Ammar Yasser Sabbah, 16, ahead of his funeral at a morgue in Bethlehem on December 16, 2025, after he was killed by Israeli forces in the town of Tuqu’, east of Bethlehem during a military raid the day before. (AFP)
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Israeli Settler Kills 16-Year-Old Palestinian in West Bank, Mayor Says

Friends and family gather around the body of Ammar Yasser Sabbah, 16, ahead of his funeral at a morgue in Bethlehem on December 16, 2025, after he was killed by Israeli forces in the town of Tuqu’, east of Bethlehem during a military raid the day before. (AFP)
Friends and family gather around the body of Ammar Yasser Sabbah, 16, ahead of his funeral at a morgue in Bethlehem on December 16, 2025, after he was killed by Israeli forces in the town of Tuqu’, east of Bethlehem during a military raid the day before. (AFP)

An Israeli settler shot dead a 16-year-old Palestinian in Tuqu' on Tuesday after the funeral of another teenager, the town's mayor said.

Violence has escalated in the West Bank since the beginning of the war in Gaza in October 2023. Attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank have increased sharply, with the UN reporting the highest number of attacks on record in October.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Muheeb Jibril's death on Tuesday.

"Today, after the funeral of 16-year-old Ammar Sabah, who was killed yesterday by the Israeli army in the town center, a number of youths were gathered by the main street when a settler shot 16-year-old Muheeb Jibril in the head," Tuqu' Mayor Mohammed al-Badan told Reuters by telephone.

Israeli forces killed Sabah on Monday during a military raid on the town, the Palestinian health ministry said. The military said the incident was under review. It said rocks were thrown at soldiers who used riot dispersal means and later responded with fire.

The West Bank is home to 2.7 million Palestinians who have limited self-rule under Israeli military occupation. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have settled there.

Most world powers deem Israel's settlements, on land it captured in a 1967 war, illegal, and numerous UN Security Council resolutions have called on Israel to halt all settlement activity.

Israel denies the illegality of the settlements, citing biblical and historical connections to the land.

Arab World

Family of Bondi Hero in Syria Says His Home Country Is Proud of Him

Uncle and cousin of Ahmed al-Ahmed, both named Mohammed al-Ahmed, look at the footage of Ahmed al-Ahmed, the bystander who disarmed a gunman during a shooting at a Hanukkah event at Sydney's Bondi Beach, in the town of Nayrab in the northwestern province of Idlib, Syria, December 16, 2025. (Reuters)
Uncle and cousin of Ahmed al-Ahmed, both named Mohammed al-Ahmed, look at the footage of Ahmed al-Ahmed, the bystander who disarmed a gunman during a shooting at a Hanukkah event at Sydney's Bondi Beach, in the town of Nayrab in the northwestern province of Idlib, Syria, December 16, 2025. (Reuters)
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Family of Bondi Hero in Syria Says His Home Country Is Proud of Him

Uncle and cousin of Ahmed al-Ahmed, both named Mohammed al-Ahmed, look at the footage of Ahmed al-Ahmed, the bystander who disarmed a gunman during a shooting at a Hanukkah event at Sydney's Bondi Beach, in the town of Nayrab in the northwestern province of Idlib, Syria, December 16, 2025. (Reuters)
Uncle and cousin of Ahmed al-Ahmed, both named Mohammed al-Ahmed, look at the footage of Ahmed al-Ahmed, the bystander who disarmed a gunman during a shooting at a Hanukkah event at Sydney's Bondi Beach, in the town of Nayrab in the northwestern province of Idlib, Syria, December 16, 2025. (Reuters)

As Australia's worst mass shooting in nearly 30 years unfolded, a Sydney shop owner was captured on camera charging at one of the gunmen and disarming him. Halfway around the world in Syria, a group of men watching the footage recognized a familiar face.

Ahmed al-Ahmed, 43, left his hometown in Syria's northwest province of Idlib nearly 20 years ago to seek work in Australia. On Sunday, he was wounded after wrestling a rifle away from a man attacking a Jewish holiday event at Sydney's Bondi Beach, in which 15 people were killed.

SYRIA IS 'PROUD OF HIM'

His uncle, Mohammed al-Ahmed, recognized him from footage circulating online.

"We learned through social media. I called his father and he told me that it was Ahmed. Ahmed is a hero, we're proud of him. Syria in general is proud of him," the uncle told Reuters.

The family hails from the town of Nayrab, which was bombed heavily during Syria's nearly 14-year war, which ended when longtime leader Bashar al-Assad was ousted in an opposition offensive launched from Idlib last year.

Ahmed said his nephew left Syria in 2006 after completing a degree at Aleppo University. He hasn't been back since.

"Since he was young, he was gallant and a hero," his uncle said, describing him as a happy and passionate person.

"He acted impulsively without thinking who the people were that were being killed - without knowing their religion, if they were Muslim or Christian or Jewish. That's what made him jump up and carry out this heroic act."

'PEACEMAKERS, NOT WARMONGERERS'

Ahmed, who now holds Australian citizenship and has two daughters, remains in a Sydney hospital with gunshot wounds. He has been hailed as a hero around the world, including by US President Donald Trump.

A GoFundMe campaign set up for him has raised more than A$2.2 million ($1.5 million).

Back at home, the Ahmed family home remains in ruins. Piles of smashed cinderblocks ring the concrete carcass of the two-storey house, whose walls are punctured by shelling.

"This is Ahmed's father's home. It got destroyed during the war. Bombing, bombing from planes, missiles - every type of weapon," Ahmed's cousin, who is also named Mohammad al-Ahmed, told Reuters.

He said his cousin "was the reason that many innocent people who did nothing wrong were saved."

"He will prove to the world that Muslims are peacemakers, not warmongers," said Ahmed.

Arab World

Barrack Presses Netanyahu to Accept a Turkish Role in Gaza

Photo of the meeting between the US Special Envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday (Israeli Government). 
Photo of the meeting between the US Special Envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday (Israeli Government). 
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Barrack Presses Netanyahu to Accept a Turkish Role in Gaza

Photo of the meeting between the US Special Envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday (Israeli Government). 
Photo of the meeting between the US Special Envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday (Israeli Government). 

Hebrew-language media reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Monday in Jerusalem with US envoy Tom Barrack, amid what were described as unusually blunt private messages from the administration of President Donald Trump ahead of a planned US–Israel summit later this month in Florida.

According to the reports, the talks focused on three files: Gaza, Syria and Netanyahu’s expected meeting with Trump.

On Gaza, Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth said Barrack sought to allay Netanyahu’s concerns about a Turkish role in any international force deployed to the enclave during a prospective second phase of a fragile ceasefire that began in October. Barrack, the paper reported, argued that Türkiye has the greatest leverage over Hamas and is best placed to persuade the group to disarm.

The newspaper said Barrack reminded Netanyahu that Ankara had endorsed the Trump administration’s ceasefire framework for Gaza and had pledged, on Hamas’s behalf, to provisions related to weapons handover. He reportedly said that Turkish participation would also encourage other hesitant countries to join an international force.

According to Yedioth Ahronoth, Barrack warned that excluding Türkiye would cause those states to step back, adding that Trump would not allow the initiative to fail. Netanyahu’s public statements questioning whether Hamas would ever relinquish its weapons — and his assertion that only Israel could enforce that outcome — were described by Barrack as “unacceptable” and as jeopardizing the plan.

Israel’s Channel 12 also reported that the White House delivered a “private and sharp” message to Netanyahu, asserting that the killing of a senior Hamas military figure, Raed Saad, constituted a breach of the ceasefire brokered with Trump’s mediation.

The channel cited growing tension between the Trump administration and Netanyahu’s government over moving to the deal’s second phase and over Israel’s broader regional policies.

Two US officials were quoted as saying that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, were “deeply frustrated” with Netanyahu’s conduct.

One senior US official was quoted as telling Israeli media that the message to Netanyahu was explicit: if he chose to damage his own credibility, that was his decision, “but we will not allow you to damage President Trump’s reputation after he mediated the Gaza agreement.”

US officials were also cited as expressing rising concern over settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and what they termed Israeli “provocations” that undermine Washington’s efforts to expand the Abraham Accords. The United States, one official said, was not asking Israel to compromise its security, but to avoid steps perceived in the Arab world as inflammatory.

On Syria, Israeli assessments quoted in the press said Barrack outlined US “red lines,” stressing Trump’s desire to see stability there and warning that frequent Israeli operations could risk destabilizing the country. Reports added that Washington favors reaching a security understanding and wants to avoid actions it views as undermining the Syrian leadership.

Regarding Lebanon, Trump was said to support continued pressure on Hezbollah through limited operations, while opposing a broader escalation.

Despite recent criticism by Netanyahu of Barrack — including remarks questioning his impartiality — the envoy’s visit went ahead. Columnist Nahum Barnea wrote in Yedioth Ahronoth that US officials increasingly believe Netanyahu is not serious about advancing Trump’s peace plan and is intent on prolonging the war, language he said has sparked intense anger inside the White House.

Israeli analysts suggested Netanyahu is unlikely to reject all US requests outright, instead seeking partial accommodation to ensure a successful meeting with Trump on December 29. Yet, in a show of independence, Israeli forces reportedly carried out an airstrike in Syria shortly before Barrack arrived.

Netanyahu also announced a trilateral summit with Greece and Cyprus, a move widely interpreted in Israel as a political signal directed at Türkiye.

At the close of the meeting, Barrack was quoted as saying the talks were a “constructive dialogue aimed at achieving regional peace and stability.”