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Hostage’s Mother Vows to Hold Netanyahu to Account If Son Dies

A demonstrator wearing a mask depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with an elongated nose, evoking the literary character Pinocchio, poses during an anti-government protest organized by the families of the Israeli hostages taken captive in the Gaza Strip since the October 2023 calling for action to secure their release and a ceasefire in the war against Hamas, outside the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv, on August 23, 2025. (AFP)
A demonstrator wearing a mask depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with an elongated nose, evoking the literary character Pinocchio, poses during an anti-government protest organized by the families of the Israeli hostages taken captive in the Gaza Strip since the October 2023 calling for action to secure their release and a ceasefire in the war against Hamas, outside the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv, on August 23, 2025. (AFP)
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Hostage’s Mother Vows to Hold Netanyahu to Account If Son Dies

A demonstrator wearing a mask depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with an elongated nose, evoking the literary character Pinocchio, poses during an anti-government protest organized by the families of the Israeli hostages taken captive in the Gaza Strip since the October 2023 calling for action to secure their release and a ceasefire in the war against Hamas, outside the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv, on August 23, 2025. (AFP)
A demonstrator wearing a mask depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with an elongated nose, evoking the literary character Pinocchio, poses during an anti-government protest organized by the families of the Israeli hostages taken captive in the Gaza Strip since the October 2023 calling for action to secure their release and a ceasefire in the war against Hamas, outside the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv, on August 23, 2025. (AFP)

The mother of an Israeli hostage vowed Saturday to seek the prosecution of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if his planned new offensive in Gaza leads to her son's death in captivity.

"If Netanyahu chooses to occupy the Gaza Strip instead of the current outline for a deal, it will be the execution of our hostages and dear soldiers," Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, said.

Earlier this month, Hamas agreed to a framework for a truce and hostage release deal in the Palestinian territory, but Israel has yet to give an official response.

"Netanyahu, if my Matan returns in a coffin, not only will he and I pay the price, I will personally ensure that you are charged with premeditated murder," she told a rally in Tel Aviv demanding the safe return of the hostages.

Matan Zangauker was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz along with his Israeli-Mexican girlfriend Ilana Gritzewsky, as they tried to shelter in their safe room during Hamas's October 2023 attack that triggered the war.

Gritzewsky was released in November 2023, during the first of only two truces during nearly 23 months of fighting.

Einav Zangauker has since become a key figure in the campaign for the safe release of the hostages.

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World

Vatican Says It Will Not Participate in Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ 

Pope Leo XIV speaks after leading a Mass during a visit to the parish of Santa Maria Regina Pacis in Ostia Lido, Rome, Italy, February 15, 2026. (Reuters)
Pope Leo XIV speaks after leading a Mass during a visit to the parish of Santa Maria Regina Pacis in Ostia Lido, Rome, Italy, February 15, 2026. (Reuters)
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Vatican Says It Will Not Participate in Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ 

Pope Leo XIV speaks after leading a Mass during a visit to the parish of Santa Maria Regina Pacis in Ostia Lido, Rome, Italy, February 15, 2026. (Reuters)
Pope Leo XIV speaks after leading a Mass during a visit to the parish of Santa Maria Regina Pacis in Ostia Lido, Rome, Italy, February 15, 2026. (Reuters)

The Vatican ‌will not participate in US President Donald Trump's so-called "Board of Peace" initiative, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's top diplomatic official, said on Tuesday while adding that efforts to handle crisis situations should be managed by the United Nations.

Pope Leo, the first US pope and a critic of some of Trump's policies, was invited to join the board in January.

Under Trump's Gaza plan that led to a fragile ceasefire in October, the board was meant to supervise Gaza's temporary governance. Trump thereafter said the board, with him as chair, would ‌be expanded to ‌tackle global conflicts.

The board will hold its ‌first ⁠meeting in Washington ⁠on Thursday to discuss Gaza's reconstruction.

Italy and the European Union have said their representatives plan to attend as observers as they have not joined the board.

The Holy See "will not participate in the Board of Peace because of its particular nature, which is evidently not that of other States," Parolin said.

"One concern," he said, "is that ⁠at the international level it should above all ‌be the UN that manages ‌these crisis situations. This is one of the points on which we have insisted."

The ⁠Gaza truce has been repeatedly violated with hundreds of Palestinians and four Israeli soldiers reported killed since it began in October.

Israel's assault on Gaza has killed over 72,000, caused a hunger crisis and internally displaced Gaza's entire population.

Multiple rights experts, scholars and a UN inquiry say it amounts to genocide. Israel calls its actions self-defense after Hamas-led fighters killed 1,200 people and took over 250 hostages in a late 2023 attack.

Leo has repeatedly decried conditions in Gaza. The pope, leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, rarely joins international boards. The Vatican has an extensive diplomatic service and is a permanent observer at the United Nations.

World

Poland Bars Chinese-Made Cars from Military Sites Over Data Security Fears 

A soldier from the 18th Mechanized Division stands guard on a Light Strike Vehicle "Zmija" during a media tour organized by the country's military to demonstrate the security measures on the Polish Belarusian border, near Bialowieza, Poland, January 10, 2025. (Reuters)
A soldier from the 18th Mechanized Division stands guard on a Light Strike Vehicle "Zmija" during a media tour organized by the country's military to demonstrate the security measures on the Polish Belarusian border, near Bialowieza, Poland, January 10, 2025. (Reuters)
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Poland Bars Chinese-Made Cars from Military Sites Over Data Security Fears 

A soldier from the 18th Mechanized Division stands guard on a Light Strike Vehicle "Zmija" during a media tour organized by the country's military to demonstrate the security measures on the Polish Belarusian border, near Bialowieza, Poland, January 10, 2025. (Reuters)
A soldier from the 18th Mechanized Division stands guard on a Light Strike Vehicle "Zmija" during a media tour organized by the country's military to demonstrate the security measures on the Polish Belarusian border, near Bialowieza, Poland, January 10, 2025. (Reuters)

Poland has barred Chinese-made vehicles from entering military facilities due to concerns their onboard sensors could be used to collect sensitive data, the Polish Army said on Tuesday evening.

The army said in ‌a statement ‌that such vehicles ‌may ⁠still be allowed onto ⁠secured sites if specified functions are disabled and other safeguards required under each facility's security rules are in place.

To ⁠limit the risk ‌of ‌exposing confidential information, the military has ‌also banned connecting company ‌phones to infotainment systems in vehicles manufactured in China.

The restrictions do not apply ‌to publicly accessible military locations such as hospitals, ⁠clinics, ⁠libraries, prosecutors' offices or garrison clubs, the army said.

It added that the measures are precautionary and align with practices used by NATO members and other allies to ensure high standards of protection for defense infrastructure.

World

Starmer, Trump discussed Russia-Ukraine, Iran after Geneva Talks, Downing Street Says 

US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announce an agreement between the two countries as they hold a press conference at Chequers at the conclusion of a state visit on September 18, 2025 in Aylesbury, Britain. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announce an agreement between the two countries as they hold a press conference at Chequers at the conclusion of a state visit on September 18, 2025 in Aylesbury, Britain. (Reuters)
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Starmer, Trump discussed Russia-Ukraine, Iran after Geneva Talks, Downing Street Says 

US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announce an agreement between the two countries as they hold a press conference at Chequers at the conclusion of a state visit on September 18, 2025 in Aylesbury, Britain. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announce an agreement between the two countries as they hold a press conference at Chequers at the conclusion of a state visit on September 18, 2025 in Aylesbury, Britain. (Reuters)

British ‌Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke to US President Donald Trump on Tuesday night about US-mediated Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Geneva, as well as talks between the US and Iran on ‌their nuclear ‌dispute, a Downing Street ‌spokesperson ⁠said.

Starmer also discussed ⁠Gaza with Trump and stressed on the importance of securing further access for humanitarian aid, the spokesperson said.

Negotiators ⁠from Ukraine and ‌Russia ‌concluded the first of two days ‌of the US-mediated ‌peace talks in Geneva on Tuesday, with Trump pressing Kyiv to act fast ‌to reach a deal.

Separately, Iranian Foreign Minister ⁠Abbas ⁠Araqchi said Tehran and Washington reached an understanding on Tuesday on "guiding principles" aimed at resolving their longstanding nuclear dispute, but that did not mean a deal is imminent.