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Witkoff to visit Middle East, Shin Bet chief hints at resigning after hostages return

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
 IDF troops operate in the West Bank. March 2, 2025. (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
IDF troops operate in the West Bank. March 2, 2025.
(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar hints that he will resign only after all hostages are released - report

Bar also said that he intends to ensure that a state investigation committee into the October 7 attacks is established.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief Ronen Bar during a situational assessment in Jenin. January 22, 2025. (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief Ronen Bar during a situational assessment in Jenin. January 22, 2025.
(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar hinted he will only resign from his duties at the Israel Security Agency when the remaining hostages are released from the Gaza Strip, according to a Tuesday morning report by N12.

Bar also said he intends to ensure that a state investigation committee into the October 7 attacks is established.

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Israel's security cabinet to meet Sunday

By AMICHAI STEIN
 breaking news (photo credit: JPOST STAFF)
breaking news
(photo credit: JPOST STAFF)

Israel's security cabinet will meet on Sunday at 16:00 in Jerusalem, the Jerusalem Post learned on Tuesday.

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Arab summit to focus on Egypt's alternative to Trump's 'Gaza Riviera'

Israel is unlikely to oppose an Arab entity taking responsibility for Gaza's government if Hamas is off the scene, said a source familiar with the matter.

By REUTERS
Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty meets with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa at the Al Tahrir palace to discuss details of the Gaza reconstruction plan, ahead of the emergency Arab summit organised by Egypt this week, in Cairo, Egypt March 3, 2025.. (photo credit: Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)
Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty meets with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa at the Al Tahrir palace to discuss details of the Gaza reconstruction plan, ahead of the emergency Arab summit organised by Egypt this week, in Cairo, Egypt March 3, 2025..
(photo credit: Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)

Arab leaders meet in Cairo on Tuesday with Egypt to present a plan for Gaza that would sideline Hamas and create interim bodies run by Arab, Muslim and Western states in contrast to US President Donald Trump's idea of a "Middle East Riviera".

Who will run Gaza is the big unanswered question in negotiations over the future of the Palestinian enclave shattered by 15 months of Israel's war with Hamas.

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64 killed, 10 captured: Kfar Aza was abandoned on October 7, probe reveals

IDF: 64 killed in Kfar Aza failed by intel, first and second defense lines • 55 were killed before significant Israeli forces had arrived

By YONAH JEREMY BOB
 Israeli soldiers and journalists walk around the destruction caused by Hamas in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, November 2, 2023 (photo credit: Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)
Israeli soldiers and journalists walk around the destruction caused by Hamas in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, November 2, 2023
(photo credit: Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)

The IDF on Monday published its probe into Hamas’s October 7 slaughter of 64 members of the Kfar Aza community, and its taking of 19 hostages, with findings that there was no IDF warning, that the inadequate first IDF defense line was overcome rapidly, and that there was no IDF second defense line until it was too late.

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Damning IDF probe: Social media leaks enabled Hamas raid on Nahal Oz

IDF: 53 soldiers killed as some fled, some arrived too late to help • 16 of those killed were female field observers

By YONAH JEREMY BOB
 Destruction and kidnapping on the Nahal Oz base on October 7. (photo credit: Canva, Hostages and Missing Families Forum, IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT, YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)
Destruction and kidnapping on the Nahal Oz base on October 7.
(photo credit: Canva, Hostages and Missing Families Forum, IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT, YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

IDF soldiers left so many markers on social media that Hamas invaders on October 7 had a complete breakdown of nearly every unit, sub-unit, and building within the Nahal Oz IDF base when they overwhelmed it, killed 53 soldiers, and took 10 hostage on October 7, 2023.

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Israel might return to war in 10 days if no agreement reached

Israeli source: No expectation for Trump envoy Steve Witkoff to visit Israel • Sources say 'Hamas has neither accepted nor rejected the Witkoff proposal'

By AMICHAI STEIN
 Steve Witkoff seen on a background of Hamas terrorists and a protest sign featuring US President Donald Trump (illustrative) (photo credit: Israel Hadari/Flash90, REUTERS/EVELYN HOCKSTEIN)
Steve Witkoff seen on a background of Hamas terrorists and a protest sign featuring US President Donald Trump (illustrative)
(photo credit: Israel Hadari/Flash90, REUTERS/EVELYN HOCKSTEIN)

Negotiations over the continued release of hostages held in Gaza have stalled, sources familiar with details of the talks told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.

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Witkoff to travel to Middle East in coming days to work on Gaza ceasefire

"Special Envoy Witkoff plans to return to the region in the coming days to work out either a way to extend Phase I or advance to Phase II," the spokesperson said.

By REUTERS, JERUSALEM POST STAFF
US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff looks on, at the White House, in Washington, US, February 3, 2025. (photo credit: REUTERS/ELIZABETH FRANTZ)
US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff looks on, at the White House, in Washington, US, February 3, 2025.
(photo credit: REUTERS/ELIZABETH FRANTZ)

US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, plans to return to the region in the coming days to work out a way to either extend the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal or advance to the second phase, a State Department spokesperson said on Monday.

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Hegseth reiterates US commitment to Israel's security in phone call with Katz

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
 breaking news (photo credit: JPOST STAFF)
breaking news
(photo credit: JPOST STAFF)

The US is "100 percent committed" to Israel's security, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told his Israeli counterpart, Defense Minister Israel Katz, in a phone call on Monday, the US Defense Department said. 

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Family releases photo of hostage Matan Angrest in Gaza captivity

Matan, who served in a tank unit, was captured alongside his fellow soldiers Itai Chen, Daniel Peretz, and Tomer Leibovitz.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
 Matan Angrest.  (photo credit: via walla!)
Matan Angrest.
(photo credit: via walla!)

The family of hostage Matan Angrest released a photograph on Monday evening showing him in captivity. 

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Top US, Oman diplomats discuss Gaza in call on Monday

By REUTERS
 breaking news (photo credit: JPOST STAFF)
breaking news
(photo credit: JPOST STAFF)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi discussed the state of the Middle East, including the situation in Gaza, during a call on Monday, according to the US State Department.

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Israel at war: What you need to know

  • Hamas launched a massive attack on October 7, with thousands of terrorists infiltrating from the Gaza border and taking some 240 hostages into Gaza.
  • Over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were murdered, including over 350 at the Re'im music festival and hundreds of Israeli civilians across Gaza border communities.
  • 59 hostages remain in Gaza.
  • 49 hostages in total have been killed in captivity, IDF says.
  • The IDF launched a ground invasion of Lebanon on September 30.
  • The Israel-Lebanon ceasefire came into effect on November 27 at 4:00 a.m.
  • Netanyahu confirmed the first phase of the Israel-Hamas Ceasefire on January 17, 2025
  • 735 terrorists will be released as part of the hostage deal