Security cabinet to discuss renewed Gaza fighting after Hamas responds to BoP plan

Security cabinet to discuss renewed Gaza fighting after Hamas responds to BoP plan - report

JERUSALEM POST STAFF

Israel's security cabinet has been summoned to discuss the possibility of reviving the fighting in Gaza, according to a Saturday KAN report. 

The discussion is expected to take place on Sunday, per the report. A source familiar with the matter told KAN News that Israel is looking to see concrete steps taken toward the disarmament of Hamas and the installation of the new technocratic government.

This comes after Hamas reportedly submitted its response to the Board of Peace high representative Nickolay Mladenov's disarmament plan on Saturday morning, after initially rejecting it in mid-April, according to Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat. 

Their response included several stipulations specifically regarding weapons (the details of which were not disclosed to the Saudi outlet, as well as a demand that Israel fully commit to a complete ceasefire and complete IDF withdrawal from Gaza based on an "agreed timetable." 

The Gaza Board of Peace denied Friday's rumors about closing its Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) in Kiryat Gat, saying the Reuters report was "wrong" and that "the CMCC is advancing its efforts every day to continue delivering aid at a level unprecedented in modern history."

"The CMCC has also played a critical role in advancing security. The ceasefire has continued to hold despite all the predictions from so-called experts. We now have a pathway to the establishment of a transitional government in Gaza and the International Stabilization Force," read a statement posted on X/Twitter.

Trump reviews new proposal from Tehran as Iranian officer warns war with US ‘likely’

Trump reviews new proposal from Tehran as Iranian officer warns war with US ‘likely’

ToI Staff

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he was going to review a new Iranian peace proposal but cast doubt over its prospects, as a senior military officer in Tehran indicated renewed fighting was “likely.”

The dour outlook came after Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies said Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan. Details included ending the conflict on all fronts and enacting a new framework for the crucial Strait of Hormuz, Tasnim said.

“I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but can’t imagine that it would be acceptable in that they have not yet paid a big enough price for what they have done to Humanity, and the World, over the last 47 years,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

In a brief interview with reporters in West Palm Beach, Florida, he declined to specify what could trigger new military action against the Islamic Republic.

“If they misbehave, if they do something bad, but right now, we’ll see,” he said. “But it’s a possibility that could happen, certainly.”

Iran’s latest 14-point proposal was said by Iranian media to include the withdrawal of US forces from areas surrounding Iran, lifting the blockade, releasing Iran’s frozen assets, payment of compensation, lifting sanctions and ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, as well as a new control mechanism for the strait.

It was delivered via mediator Pakistan after a previous draft submitted on Thursday was rejected by Trump, who said he was “not satisfied” with its contents.

The war, launched by the United States and Israel in late February, has been on hold since April 8, with one failed round of peace talks having taken place in Pakistan.

“At this moment I’m not satisfied with what they’re offering,” Trump told reporters of Iran’s Thursday proposal, blaming stalled talks on “tremendous discord” within Iran’s leadership.

“Do we want to go and just blast the hell out of them and finish them forever — or do we want to try and make a deal?” he added, saying he would “prefer not” to take the first option “on a human basis.”

On Saturday morning, Mohammad Jafar Asadi, a senior figure in the Iranian military’s central command, said “a renewed conflict between Iran and the United States is likely,” in quotes published by Iran’s Fars news agency.

“Evidence has shown that the United States is not committed to any promises or agreements,” he added.

Amid the heightened rhetoric from both sides, US Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper arrived in the Middle East to meet with troops aboard the USS Tripoli, an assault ship stationed in the Arabian Sea.

Cooper arrived in the region after briefing Trump on Thursday on Washington’s various military options against Iran.

Iran’s foreign ministry said on Saturday that it was up to the US whether to pursue a negotiated deal or return to open war, but that Tehran was ready for either outcome.

“Now the ball is in the United States’ court to choose the path of diplomacy or the continuation of a confrontational approach,” deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi told diplomats in Tehran, according to state broadcaster IRIB.

“Iran, with the aim of securing its national interests and security, is prepared for both paths,” he said.

Israel, which launched the military campaign against Iran jointly with the US six weeks ago, is not represented at the talks. Host Pakistan has no diplomatic ties with Israel and does not recognize its sovereignty.

The ceasefire declared by Trump last month came with core declared goals of the war unfulfilled, including ensuring that Iran does not attain nuclear weapons, destroying its missile program, and creating the conditions for the Iranian public to overthrow the regime.

Reports in recent days have suggested that Israeli officials are bracing for the possibility that negotiations between the US and Iran could collapse as early as the start of next week.

To prepare for this possibility, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene his security cabinet on Sunday, the office of a cabinet member told The Times of Israel.

Netanyahu last met with the small circle of senior ministers on Wednesday, including Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Defense Minister Israel Katz, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, and Shas chairman Aryeh Deri.

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Netanyahu to convene security cabinet Sunday as tensions simmer with Iran

Netanyahu to convene security cabinet Sunday as tensions simmer with Iran

Times of Israel is liveblogging Saturday

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene his security cabinet tomorrow, the offices of one of the members tells The Times of Israel.

He last met with the small circle of senior ministers on Wednesday, including Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Defense Minister Israel Katz, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, and Shas chairman Aryeh Deri.

The meeting comes after US President Donald Trump on Friday said he was dissatisfied with a new ceasefire offer from Tehran and confirmed he had been briefed on ways to “blast the hell out of them” if no deal were reached. A senior Iranian official has since warned that a return to war with the US is “likely.”

According to the Kan public broadcaster, the meeting will also discuss a potential return to fighting in the Gaza Strip amid anger over the lack of progress in negotiations to disarm Hamas and move forward with the US-led Board of Peace’s ceasefire plan.

“Hamas is not complying with the disarmament agreement,” an Israeli source tells the outlet. “We are holding discussions with the mediators.”

Hamas presented Saturday morning in Cairo its response to Board of Peace High Representative for Gaza Nickolay Mladenov’s 15-point roadmap for the implementation of phase two of Trump’s Gaza peace plan, according to Asharq Al-Awsat.

According to the outlet, there was surprise by mediators and some non-Hamas Palestinian factions at Hamas’s amendments. Hamas is demanding a full ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

It did not accept Mladenov’s proposal for a staged disarming of Hamas, instead saying that “the issue of weapons would be handled in connection with the political rights of the Palestinian people, within a national framework, and in the context of establishing the necessary security arrangements as a basis for guaranteeing security for both sides,” according to the outlet.

It also called for “establishing a sovereign Palestinian state and securing the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.”

Hamas response to Board of Peace bucks demands to hand over weapons — Arab diplomats

Hamas largely bucked demands to give up all of its weapons in a response to a Board of Peace disarmament proposal submitted in Cairo on Saturday, two Arab diplomats familiar with the negotiations tell The Times of Israel.

While the US-led Board of Peace tasked with overseeing the postwar management of Gaza has been pushing Hamas to accept a phased return of its weapons, the terror group’s counter-offer insisted that the issue only be part of a framework culminating in the establishment of a Palestinian state.

While US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the Gaza war, on which the Board of Peace is operating, speaks generally of eventual Palestinian self-determination, Hamas in its response demanded more definitive guarantees toward that end before discussing the handover of its weapons, the two Arab diplomats say.

Hamas also demanded that Israel cease violating commitments pertaining to the first phase of the ceasefire deal reached in October, taking issue with Israel’s expansion of the eastern half of Gaza that it controls, its strikes on fighters on the western side of the Strip and daily entries of humanitarian aid that have fallen below agreed-upon terms, the Arab diplomats add.

One of the Arab diplomats maintains that it is still possible for the mediators to coax Hamas to gradually give up its weapons, but says similar pressure will also have to be applied by the US on Israel to uphold its commitments.

On The Brink: How Much Longer?

On The Brink: How Much Longer

Jonathan Brentner

As I look at what’s happened just since the start of 2026, I realize the world has continued to rapidly move toward the start of the Tribulation, and yet we still wait for Jesus’ appearing. I still wonder, “Can we get any closer to the time God’s wrath descends upon the unsuspecting world than we already are?”

I believe we find the answer in 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8: “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming” (emphasis added)

The answer is yes, it’s because the Lord is even now restraining the terrors revealed in Revelation chapters 6-18, the very ones I thought would’ve begun years ago.

Things Pointing to the End

Although the “mystery of lawlessness,” mentioned in the above passage, was already at work during the first century AD, it has grown exponentially in recent years. In the past several months, we have heard reports of how corrupt politicians have facilitated the theft of mindboggling amounts of taxpayer funds. The total exceeds several hundred billions of dollars. The numbers are impossible to fully grasp.

Almost every week, I’m shocked by reports of violence. I remember the 1960s and the violence of that era, but it’s far more widespread and common today. Just last week, I heard of shootings in Iowa City and watched videos of the huge brawl that ensued afterward, with scores of people fighting in an area where I walked even at night, years ago, without even the slightest thought of danger.

The Apostle John wrote that the “spirit of the antichrist” was already at work in his day (1 John 4:3). The dramatic rise of antisemitism during the past twenty-five years demonstrates the increased activity of this evil spirit in our day. The hatred of Israel that’s becoming epidemic in the U.S. and elsewhere is satanic and is leading to the demonic hatred of the Jewish people.

When we look at what the Bible tells us about the covenant Israel will someday make with the antichrist, what we see is exactly what we would expect leading up to that time. A nation at peace with no threat from its neighbors wouldn’t seek “refuge” in what Isaiah refers to as the “covenant of death” (see Isaiah 28:15). But a nation with a long history of wars threatening its existence would do so.

Why Are We Still Waiting?

All these things, and many more, tell us that we most definitely live in the season of Jesus’ appearing. What seems like a delay to us is that of the Lord accomplishing at least a couple of purposes before His judgment arrives on the planet.

In the Old Testament, God sent multiple prophets to warn Judah of impending disaster unless the people repented of their sins. For many decades, He alerted His people to the judgment that would surely come. At the moment, I believe He’s warning the world of what lies ahead. He has sent many messengers to alert people to what the Bible says about the last days and the wrath that is coming. YouTube and the Internet contain a multitude of such messages. The widespread scoffing of our belief in the Rapture also tells me that many have heard what the Bible says about what lies ahead for the world and refuse to believe.

Given the horrific magnitude of the disasters that lie ahead for this world, might we not expect the Lord to extend His time of warning and allow many people to come to salvation in Him?

I also believe Jesus is trying to wake up His Church. Yet just like the world, the normality bias dominates the thinking of most pastors and believers. They see Bible prophecy coming to life just as we do, but they don’t believe He will intervene in human history until a distant end-of-the-age Second Coming. Until then, they assume things will somehow get better just as they have in the past.

I don’t know how much closer we can get to the Rapture. I never thought I would see so much lawlessness, violence, and demonic hatred of Israel before Jesus appears to take us home. The time of Jesus’ appearing must be ever so near

When the Lord intervenes in our world, the Bible says that judgment will come quickly and without warning. In 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3, Paul wrote that the Day of the Lord’s wrath will come upon people with “sudden destruction.” For us, the news is a whole lot better; 1 Corinthians 15:52 says that the Rapture will happen in the “twinkling of an eye.” Life for us and everyone on the planet will change in an instant.

In the meantime, we watch with great expectancy, knowing that one day our wait will end quicker than we can even imagine. We cling to the good news Paul wrote in Colossians 3:4, “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

China's Foreign Minister To Rubio: Taiwan Is 'Biggest Risk Factor' In US-China Relations

China's Foreign Minister To Rubio: Taiwan Is 'Biggest Risk Factor' In US-China Relations

Dave DeCamp

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and told him that the issue of Taiwan is the"biggest risk factor" in relations between Washington and Beijing, Chinese media has reported.

"The Taiwan issue concerns China’s core interests and is the biggest risk factor in China-US relations," Wang said, according to The South China Morning Post, which cited China’s CCTV broadcaster.

"The US side should honor its commitments, make the right choice, open up new avenues for China-US cooperation, and do its part to promote world peace," Wang added.

The call comes after Taiwan’s government announced it had signed contracts with the US for about $6.6 billion in arms, including a nearly $4 billion sale of HIMARS rocket systems.

The contracts are a partial fulfillment of a massive $11 billion weapons package that the Trump administration approved in December, a number that represents more arms deals than were approved during the entire Biden administration.

Taipei Times has noted that "The HIMARS can be equipped with either a pod of six 227mm rockets or a single Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), which has a range of up to 300km (186 miles)."

China reacted strongly when the US approved the series of weapons deals, launching major military drills around Taiwan simulating a blockade. Beijing first launched such drills in August 2022 in response to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island.

Wang’s warning to Rubio reflects a position China has repeatedly stated to the US in recent years, that Taiwan is the first "red line" in US-China relations.

The two diplomats also discussed President Trump’s upcoming visit to Beijing for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, scheduled for mid-May.

Wang said that the US and China "must safeguard the hard-won stability and make thorough preparations for the coming high-level engagements."