The Times of Israel is liveblogging Thursday’s events as they happen.
Bitcoin tops $100,000 for first time
Bitcoin has topped the $100,000 mark as a massive rally in the world’s most popular cryptocurrency sparked by the election of Donald Trump rolls on.
The milestone comes just hours after the president-elect signaled a lighter regulatory approach to the crypto industry with his choice of Paul Atkins to be the next chair the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Atkins, a former SEC commissioner during the presidency of George W. Bush, has argued for less market regulation.
Bitcoin has soared to unprecedented heights since crypto-friendly Trump won the election November 5. The cryptocurrency has climbed dramatically from $69,374 on Election Day and rose as high as $101,512 Wednesday, just two years after dropping below $17,000 following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX.
US official downplays Trump envoy’s efforts on Gaza deal, says no coordination
A US official says President Joe Biden’s aides are aware of contacts between Israeli and Qatari leaders and Steve Witkoff, tapped by President-elect Donald Trump as his future Mideast envoy, aimed at clinching a hostage deal and ceasefire in Gaza.
The aides understand that Trump’s envoy supports a Gaza deal along the lines the administration has been pursuing, the official says.
Officially, the Biden administration, rather than Witkoff, retains the US lead in efforts to revive negotiations towards a ceasefire in Gaza.
Biden’s team has kept the Trump camp updated, but the two sides have not worked together directly, the US official says on condition of anonymity.
The Biden administration does not see a need to coordinate with Witkoff because it regards his discussions with regional players as largely an effort to learn the issues rather than negotiations, the official says.
A source briefed on the meetings says Witkoff is aiming to have a deal in place by the time Trump takes office on January 20, a deadline the president-elect has mentioned himself, indicating that the incoming administration does not intend to wait until the inauguration to take charge of efforts.
Amnesty International accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza
Amnesty International says Israel is “committing genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza, in a new report that it calls a “wake-up call” for the international community.
The London-based rights organization says its findings are based on “dehumanizing and genocidal statements by Israeli government and military officials,” satellite images documenting devastation, fieldwork and ground reports from Gazans.
“Our damning findings must serve as a wake-up call to the international community: this is genocide. It must stop now,” Amnesty chief Agnes Callamard says in a statement.
The human rights group says Israel has mounted deadly attacks, demolished vital infrastructure and prevented the delivery of food, medicine and other aid in Gaza, declaring that the actions cannot not be justified by Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack into Israel. Thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed into southern Israeli communities that day, slaughtering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in a brutal outpouring of violence that included rape and other atrocities. Nearly 100 of the 251 people taken hostage by the terror group remain in captivity.
The 296-page report includes scant mention of the hostages, beyond a terse call for the unconditional release of kidnapped civilians. While the report includes several pages urging the international community put various types of pressure on Israel, Amnesty does not recommend pressuring Hamas into releasing civilians held captive in Gaza for over a year.
Israel has adamantly rejected genocide allegations against it as an antisemitic “blood libel.” It is challenging such allegations at the International Court of Justice, and it has rejected the International Criminal Court’s accusations that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister committed war crimes in Gaza.
“The deplorable and fanatical organization Amnesty International has once again produced a fabricated report that is entirely false and based on lies,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry says in a statement. It accuses Hamas, which has vowed to annihilate Israel, of carrying out a genocidal massacre in the attack that triggered the war, and said it is defending itself in accordance with international law.
“There is absolutely no doubt that Israel has military objectives. But the existence of military objectives does not negate the possibility of a genocidal intent,” Callamard says at a press conference in The Hague.
Trump envoy held talks with Netanyahu, Qatari PM on getting Gaza deal done by Jan. 20 — sources
Steve Witkoff, US President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy, traveled to Qatar and Israel last month to kick-start a diplomatic push to reach a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal before he takes office on January 20, a source briefed on the talks tells Reuters.
Witkoff met separately in late November with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the source says.
In Israel he also met with families of hostages, an Israeli official tells Reuters.
He “spoke with them about Team Trump’s efforts to try and broker the deal before inauguration,” the official says.
The meetings signal that the Gulf state of Qatar has resumed its role as a key mediator after suspending its role last month, the source says.
The source adds that Hamas negotiators will likely return to the Qatari capital Doha to facilitate a fresh round of talks.
“There are plans for a subsequent round of indirect talks between Israel and Hamas to take place potentially in Doha soon, but no specific date has been set,” the source says.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said this week that its moratorium on mediation efforts remained in place.
Trump’s transition team, representatives for Witkoff, Netanyahu’s office and Qatar’s Foreign Ministry do not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trump aides told Qatar that president-elect wants hostage deal before Jan. 20 — PM
Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani says that Donald Trump’s advisers have told him that the US president-elect wants a hostage deal reached before he enters office on January 20.
Al Thani makes the revelation during an interview with Sky News when asked about Trump’s Monday warning that there will be “all hell to pay” if the hostages aren’t returned by his inauguration.
“Such a statement is expected, and we hope that it will work and will be delivered to both parties,” the Qatari premier says.
“We had heard this from his team… that they want this (hostage deal) to be resolved now — today, even,” Al Thani says.
“We are hoping to get over the situation before the president comes to the office because we have priorities to stabilize the situation in Gaza… and restore regional security,” he adds.
Yesterday, though, Qatar’s foreign ministry claimed that the pause Doha instituted in its mediation efforts late last month was still in place. The announcement appeared to contradict remarks made last week by US President Joe Biden who said Qatar along with Egypt and Turkey would be launching a new push for a hostage deal.
Last week, Republican Sen. Linsey Graham similarly told Axios that Trump wants a hostage deal secured before he returns to the White House.
The Times of Israel revealed in October that Trump himself passed along this message to Netanyahu when they met over the summer at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago resort.