The Times of Israel is liveblogging Tuesday’s events as they happen.
Biden vows to keep working to free Gaza hostages ‘until every one of them home’
WASHINGTON — US President Joe Biden pledges to free the remaining 100 hostages still in Gaza, while addressing his final White House Hanukkah party.
“I’ve gotten over 100 hostages out. I will not stop until I get every single one of them home,” Biden says to cheers from hundreds in the audience.
Speaking before Biden is Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, who has led the administration’s efforts to combat antisemitism.
“Tonight, I am rededicating myself to fighting antisemitism and hatred of all kinds,” Emhoff says, pledging to continue his efforts after the administration’s term ends in just over a month.
Introducing Biden is deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology Anne Neuberger, who thanks the president for “pay[ing] a shiva call” to Israel, referring to his visit to Israel days after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught.
Biden reiterates his belief that you don’t have to be Jewish to be a Zionist.
“And I’m a Zionist,” he says to applause.
On the menu at the Hanukkah party are latkes, parve sour cream, thin cuts beef tenderloin, along with jelly and chocolate filled donuts.
Syrian Islamist leader calls for state contract with religious groups ‘to guarantee social justice’
DAMASCUS — Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Islamist group, says that a “social contract” between the state and all religions in the country is needed to ensure “social justice.”
“Syria must remain united, and there must be a social contract between the state and all religions to guarantee social justice,” says Jolani, who now goes by his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa, on Telegram.
He also says that international sanctions against Damascus must be lifted if refugees displaced by the war are to return.
During a meeting with a British delegation, Jolani spoke “of the importance of restoring relations” with London, and stressed “the importance of ending all sanctions imposed on Syria so that displaced Syrians… can return to their country,” according to remarks reported on Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s Telegram channel.
Islamist leader says Syrian rebel factions to be ‘disbanded,’ folded into army
DAMASCUS — Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Islamist group that toppled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, says that rebel factions in the war-torn country will be disbanded and their fighters will join regular army units.
“The factions will be disbanded and the fighters trained to join the ranks of the defense ministry, and all will be subject to the law,” Jolani, who now uses his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa, said on Telegram.
US says airstrike targeted Houthi command and control facility in Yemen
The US military says it conducted an airstrike against a command and control facility operated by the Houthis in Yemen.
“The targeted facility was a hub for coordinating Houthi operations, such as attacks against US Navy warships and merchant vessels in the Southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” the US military’s Central Command says in a post on X.
Mother of missing US journalist urges Israel not to strike Damascus area where he may be held
WASHINGTON — The mother of missing American journalist Austin Tice has penned a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asking him to halt Israeli strikes in a particular neighborhood of Damascus where Tice is credibly believed to be held.
The IDF has been conducting airstrikes in military sites across Syria to prevent assets that previously belonged to ousted leader Bashar al-Assad’s regime from getting into the hands of groups hostile to Israel.
“We have credible information… that Austin may now be held in a prison called Mt. Qasioun prison. This prison has a secret tunnel which connects the Al-Maliki neighborhood to the Republic Palace. The prison is located underneath a military museum,” Debra Tice writes in a letter to Netanyahu over the weekend that has since been made public.
“We are aware that your military has an active campaign in the area, preventing rescuers from approaching and accessing the prison facility. We have no way of knowing if the prisoners there have food and water,” adds the mother of Tice, who was taken captive during a reporting trip to Syria in August 2012 and has been missing since.
“We urgently request you pause strikes on this area and deploy Israeli assets to search for Austin Tice and other prisoners,” Tice’s mother says. “Time is of the essence. We are calling on you to leverage all your relationships and resources to liberate that prison.”
Netanyahu’s hostage envoy Gal Hirsch confirms receipt of the letter to The New York Times and says Israel is in touch with the US on the matter.
“We will do everything possible in assisting the United States of America to bring the hostages and missing persons back home,” Hirsch tells the newspaper.
Explaining votes against budget and related bills, Ben Gvir says push to fire AG ‘not just some gimmick’
The Knesset narrowly approves another two bills linked to proposed state budget in their first readings, with the coalition’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party similarly voting against the legislation.
In a Facebook post, Ben Gvir says his push to oust Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara “is not just some gimmick” but “a red line.”
“Either the attorney general topples the government, or the right-wing government will decide it is sovereign and send her home. Unfortunately there’s no other option,” he writes.
He also takes a swipe at fellow far-right coalition party leader, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, accusing him of torpedoing his proposal to fire Baharav-Miara.
“I have neither the intention nor energy to get into Smotrich’s ego and jealousy issues, I’m not a psychologist,” Ben Gvir adds.