Israel Today: Ongoing War Report - Update from 2026-01-17 at 19:07 cover art

Israel Today: Ongoing War Report - Update from 2026-01-17 at 19:07

Israel Today: Ongoing War Report - Update from 2026-01-17 at 19:07

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 HEADLINES- Trump-led Gaza BoP fuels Turkish tension- Ben-Gvir pushes hardline Gaza policy- US pulls out of Ain al-Asad baseThe time is now 2:01 PM in New York, I'm Noa Levi and this is the latest Israel Today: Ongoing War Report.This is the 2:00 PM news update. A new phase in Gaza has drawn sharp comments from Israel and scrutiny abroad as the White House announced the Gaza Board of Peace and related governance structures, a framework that aims to oversee reconstruction, governance, and security in the wake of hostilities. Israeli officials say the board’s announced lineup runs counter to long-held Israeli policy and could complicate the security calculus Israel has used to deter Hamas and safeguard its citizens. In the aftermath, opposition leader Yair Lapid called the board a diplomatic failure for Israel, arguing that without a clear Egyptian-US approach to stabilizing Gaza, Israel risks handing leverage to regional players such as Turkey and Qatar. He cited what he described as Hamas’s continued strength on the ground, with the IDF estimating tens of thousands of armed militants in Gaza. The remarks, posted on social media, emphasize the perception in Jerusalem that diplomacy and power projection must stay aligned with Israel’s security imperatives.On the governmental side, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir pressed a stark alternative. He rejected the notion of a rehabilitation committee for Gaza, insisting instead on a military-focused approach: the destruction of Hamas and the return to a hard-edged military posture should security conditions require it. He also urged Prime Minister Netanyahu to instruct the IDF to prepare for a renewed, forceful campaign in Gaza to achieve what he framed as the war’s central objective. His rhetoric underscores the internal debate within Israel’s coalition about how to balance domestic political commitments with the realities of a protracted security challenge along the Gaza frontier.The BoP lineup, as laid out by US officials, is broad in its international makeup. The board is designed to supervise a multi-layer framework for Gaza’s stabilization, reconstruction, and disarmament of Hamas. It is chaired by President Donald Trump, with a senior advisory and executive structure that includes figures such as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, Tony Blair, and other international financiers and development experts. The White House says these executive board members will oversee portfolios ranging from governance capacity-building to investment and capital mobilization. In another layer, the Gaza Executive Board is intended to coordinate day-to-day governance and services, with a separate National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, a technocratic body led by Dr. Ali Sha’ath in Cairo and empowered to implement reforms and deliver services to Gaza’s population. The aim is to bring together political, financial, and technical experience to restart Gaza’s economy while disarming Hamas in the process.Israeli concerns are not limited to the composition of the BoP. The Prime Minister’s Office disclosed that Netanyahu had asked Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar to raise the matter with US Secretary Rubio, signaling that Israel views the arrangement as a matter of policy alignment rather than a purely technical decision. Israel had reportedly urged the US to exclude Turkish President Erdogan from the board, a request grounded in Israel’s perception of Turkey’s role in Gaza and broader regional dynamics. Israeli officials have stressed that Turkey’s presence on the board would place Ankara in a position that undermines Israeli security priorities, especially with the planned deployment of an International Stabilization Force in Gaza, a cornerstone of the post-war security framework envisioned by the Trump plan. The issue has fed a broader debate inside Israel about how to reconcile the Abraham Accords-era collaborations with neighboring Arab states with a insistence on Hamas’s disarmament and Gaza’s political normalization.Beyond Gaza, regional and international observers are watching related developments. In Iraq, authorities say US forces have withdrawn from Ain al-Asad Airbase, with the Iraqi army taking full control. The move is part of an agreed path toward a bilateral security relationship as US-led coalition forces reduce a long-standing footprint in the country. The withdrawal highlights the shifting posture of external powers in the region as they calibrate risk, sovereignty, and the limits of foreign military presence in the Middle East.In Syria, Kurdish authorities and Damascus have engaged in a tense exchange over control and recognition. A presidential decree in Syria designated Kurdish as a national language and granted nationality to Kurds in the northeast, a step the Kurdish administration described as a first move toward broader rights but not fully addressing long-standing demands for ...
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