The Times of Israel is liveblogging Sunday’s events as they happen.
Trump team considering relocation for some of Gaza’s residents during post-war rebuilding — NBC
The Trump transition team is reportedly considering relocating some of Gaza’s two million people outside of the enclave while post-war reconstruction of the decimated Strip takes place, with one of the temporary host countries considered for refugees being Indonesia.
NBC makes the revelation in a Saturday report but only cites one anonymous transition official, who divulges an idea widely seen as completely unrealistic, and it’s unclear how many people in the incoming administration are actually seriously considering it.
Regional countries to date have rejected the idea of accepting Palestinian migrants, not wanting to be seen as complicit in another refugee crisis. There is also significant fear among many Palestinians that Israel would not allow those who leave the Strip to return.
NBC also reports that incoming Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff is considering a visit to Gaza, as he works to maintain the nascent ceasefire deal that is slated to commence on Sunday.
“You got to see it, you got to feel it,” the transition official says, adding that doing so would allow Witkoff to see the dynamics playing out on the ground himself, rather than taking Israel’s word for it.
Witkoff is considering the Gaza trip, as he plans to maintain a near-constant presence in the region over the coming weeks and months, given how fragile the deal is expected to be, NBC says, still citing the same lone unnamed transition official.
“Remember, there’s a lot of people, radicals, fanatics, not just from the Hamas side, from the right wing of the Israeli side, who are absolutely incentivized to blow this whole deal up,” the transition official says, offering rare criticism of Israel from a Trump official, albeit an anonymous one.
“If we don’t help the Gazans, if we don’t make their life better, if we don’t give them a sense of hope, there’s going to be a rebellion,” the transition official adds.
The Times of Israel revealed last week that Witkoff’s January 11 meeting with Netanyahu was critical in securing a breakthrough, with the Trump envoy leaning on the premier to make the compromises necessary for a deal.
He essentially conveyed to the prime minister, “If you’re not intent on making a deal, then tell me, and I’ll get on the plane and I’ll go home,” the transition official tells NBC.
Witkoff reportedly highlighted to Netanyahu how much Trump did for Israel in his first term.
He also pointed to Trump’s willingness to take political heat from his conservative supporters in order to secure the ceasefire deal, and Witkoff urged the Israeli government to take the same approach, NBC says.
The network says Witkoff relayed the following message to Hamas via Qatar: Unless you’re prepared to die, tell me why you don’t see this as the deal that could ultimately lead to the end of the war.
NBC also reveals that American-Israeli hostage Keith Siegel is not scheduled to be released until Day 14 of the ceasefire.
No Israeli news site — even well-sourced ones — has published the days during which specific hostages will be released, and it’s unclear the veracity of this unsourced detail in the unconfirmed report.
Trump national security pick said to tell hostage families that US will ensure all stages of deal are implemented
Incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz reportedly told the families of American hostages that the Trump administration will make sure that all phases of the ceasefire and hostage release agreement between Israel and Hamas are implemented, amid concerns among many of the hostage families that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government will resume fighting after the first phase, putting the lives of their relatives slated for release in the second phase at risk.
Families present at the meeting on Saturday expressed their concern over recent comments made by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said he received assurances from Netanyahu that Israel would resume fighting after the first phase, Axios reports.
The families asked Waltz that the Trump administration push for negotiations on the second phase of the deal to begin as soon as possible, rather than waiting for the 16th day of the ceasefire as the deal stipulates, the report says.
Houthis claim to strike US aircraft carrier, warn of ‘consequences’ if attacked during Gaza ceasefire
Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim an attack on an American aircraft carrier in the early hours of Sunday morning, and warn of “consequences” for any retaliation against it amid the imminent ceasefire-hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces warn the enemy forces in the Red Sea of the consequences of any aggression against our country during the ceasefire period in Gaza,” the Iran-backed rebels say in a statement.
“They will confront any aggression with specific military operations against those forces without a ceiling or red lines.”
The Houthis, who have attacked shipping in the Red Sea since November 2023 in a show of solidarity with the Hamas terror group amid the war in Gaza, say that they targeted the USS Harry S. Truman and other “warships” with drones and cruise missiles.
“The American aircraft carrier was forced to leave the theater of operations,” the rebels’ statement says.
On Friday, the Yemeni rebels warned they would keep up their attacks if Israel does not respect the terms of the ceasefire with Hamas, which is set to begin at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday.
Hamas said to blame ‘technical reasons’ for delay in providing names of hostages
With Hamas still yet to provide a list of names of the first hostages it will free after the ceasefire deal starts tomorrow at 8:30 a.m., a source in the terror group claims to the Ynet news site that the delay is due to “technical reasons.”
According to the source, Hamas operatives communicate “physically via emissaries and it takes time to agree on the names and the location of the hostages when IDF planes are still above them.”
“The list will only come out after the approval of Hamas leader Muhammad Sinwar,” the source adds.