International
We killed local Hamas commander in West Bank – Israeli military
We killed local Hamas commander in West Bank – Israeli military
JERUSALEM: Israeli forces killed a local commander of the militant group Hamas in the flashpoint city of Jenin on Friday as they pressed a major operation in the occupied West Bank for a third day, the Israeli military said.
The military said Border Police forces had killed Wassem Hazem, who it said was the head of Hamas in Jenin and was involved in shooting and bombing attacks in the Palestinian territory.
Two other Hamas gunmen who tried to escape the car they were all traveling in were killed by a drone, it said. Weapons, explosives and large sums of cash were found in the vehicle, it said. There was no immediate comment from Hamas.
In the village of Zababdeh, just outside Jenin, a burnt-out car riddled with bullet holes stood against a wall where the driver crashed the vehicle after being pursued by an Israeli special forces unit, residents said.
Villager Saif Ghannam, 25, said one of the two other men who escaped from the vehicle was killed just outside his house by a small drone strike that shattered the windows, while a second man was killed a short distance away.
Ghannam said Israeli forces had removed the bodies but large pools of blood lay on the ground where he said the men were killed.
The incident occurred as Israeli forces kept up a large-scale operation involving hundreds of troops and police that was launched in the early hours of Wednesday morning in Jenin and Tulkarm, another volatile city in the northern West Bank, as well as the Jordan Valley.
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Israeli armored personnel carriers backed by helicopters and drones pushed into Jenin and Tulkarm on Friday while armored bulldozers plowed up roads to destroy roadside bombs planted by the militant groups.
The escalation in hostilities in the West Bank takes place as fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas militants still rages in the Gaza Strip nearly 11 months since it began, and clashes with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in the Israel-Lebanon border area have intensified.
In the first two days of the West Bank operation, at least 17 Palestinians were killed, including the local commander of the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad forces in Tulkarm.
Since the Hamas attack on Israel last October that triggered the Gaza war, more than 660 Palestinians — combatants and civilians — have been killed in the West Bank, according to Palestinian tallies, some by Israeli troops and some by Jewish settlers who have carried out frequent attacks on West Bank Palestinian communities.
Israel says Iran provides weapons and support to militant factions in the West Bank — under Israeli occupation since the 1967 Middle East war — and the military has as a result cranked up its operations there.
The British government said on Friday it was “deeply concerned” by Israel’s operation in the West Bank and said there was an urgent need for de-escalation.
“We recognize Israel’s need to defend itself against security threats, but we are deeply worried by the methods Israel has employed and by reports of civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure,” a Foreign Office statement said.
We killed local Hamas commander in West Bank – Israeli military
ARAB NEWS
International
Trump coin loses $6bn after Melania launches hers
Trump coin loses $6bn after Melania launches hers
TRUMP, the official meme coin associated with President-elect Donald Trump, experienced a significant decline in value, losing over 40% shortly after Melania Trump introduced her own meme coin, MELANIA.
On Sunday, TRUMP was trading at approximately $72 but dropped below $39 by the evening, according to CoinGecko data.
This sell-off resulted in a $6 billion reduction in market value, which had peaked at around $14.5 billion earlier in the day.
The recent price drop caused TRUMP to fall out of the top two meme coins by market capitalization, with Shiba Inu (SHIB) reclaiming the second position.
Earlier in the day, TRUMP had surpassed both SHIB and PEPE, entering the top tier of meme coin rankings.
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Currently, TRUMP is valued at around $46, reflecting a 68% increase over the past 24 hours.
Since its launch on Friday evening, the “official” Trump memecoin has surged, breaking into the crypto top 20 by market capitalization and reaching a peak of $14 billion.
The official Melania meme is live
However, as leaks suggest that Trump is preparing a series of crypto-focused executive orders, Melania Trump launched her own rival cryptocurrency, causing a significant drop in the value of Trump’s coin.
“The official Melania meme is live,” the incoming first lady of the U.S. announced on X, alongside a link to a website selling the cryptocurrency. “You can buy $melania now.”
Melania also unveiled the MELANIA token on Truth Social, which was widely perceived as legitimate after Trump retweeted the announcement.
The Solana-based meme coin quickly achieved a valuation of $12 billion within three hours of its launch, according to data from Dexscreener.
Trump coin loses $6bn after Melania launches hers
International
Hamas releases Israeli hostages as 15-month truce begins
Hamas releases Israeli hostages as 15-month truce begins
At least three female hostages freed by Hamas were reunited with their mothers inside Israel, Reuters reports.
Armed Hamas fighters drove through the southern city of Khan Younis, where crowds cheered and chanted.
People navigated narrow roads through a shattered landscape of wreckage and twisted metal in the north of the region, which had been blasted into oblivion during the war’s most fierce combat.
“I feel like at last I found some water to drink after being lost in the desert for 15 months,” Aya, a displaced woman from Gaza City who has been sheltering in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip for over a year, said after the fighting stopped. “I feel alive again.”
In Tel Aviv, hundreds of Israelis gathered in a square outside the defence headquarters to watch a live feed from Gaza of the captive rescue on a huge screen.
The crowd shouted, embraced, and wept as three female hostages were spotted entering a Red Cross car accompanied by armed Hamas fighters.
Soon after, the Israeli military announced that Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari had been reunited with their moms at a meeting site inside Israel, near the kibbutz and nearby music festival where they had been kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas raid that sparked the conflict.
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In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, buses were awaiting the release of Palestinian inmates from Israeli custody.
According to Hamas, the first group to be liberated in exchange for the hostages consists of 69 women and 21 juvenile boys.
The first phase of the 15-month-old truce between Israel and Hamas went into effect after a three-hour delay during which Israeli jets and artillery bombarded the Gaza Strip.
According to Palestinian health authorities, the last-minute Israeli onslaught killed 13 individuals. Israel criticised Hamas for being late in delivering the names of the hostages it would release and claimed it had struck terrorists. Hamas claimed that the delay in sending the list was due to a technical issue.
“Today the guns in Gaza have gone silent,” U.S. President Joe Biden said on his last full day in office, welcoming a truce that had eluded U.S. diplomacy for more than a year.
“The road to this deal has not been easy at all; it was a long road,” Biden said. “But we’ve reached this point today because of the pressure Israel built on Hamas, backed by the United States.”
The truce asks for an end to combat, the delivery of aid to Gaza, and the release of 33 of the 98 Israeli and foreign hostages who are currently being held there during the course of the six-week first phase in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian inmates detained in Israeli jails.
The truce could allow Hamas to emerge from the shadows after 15 months of concealment. Hamas officers dressed in blue uniforms were quickly deployed in various places.
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Those who had come to cheer the fighters chanted, “Greetings to Al-Qassam Brigades,” the group’s military wing.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed Hamas’ release of three hostages, including British citizen Emily Damari.
In a statement on Sunday, Starmer said, “The release of three hostages today is wonderful and long-overdue news after months of agony for them and their families. Among them is British citizen Emily Damari, who will now be reunited with her family, including her mother Amanda, who has never stopped her tireless fight to bring her daughter home.
“I wish them all the very best as they begin the road to recovery after the intolerable trauma they have experienced. We stand ready to offer assistance and support.
“However, today also represents another day of suffering for those who haven’t made it home yet—so while this ceasefire deal should be welcomed, we must not forget about those who remain in captivity under Hamas.
“We must now see the remaining phases of the ceasefire deal implemented in full and on schedule, including the release of those remaining hostages and a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The UK stands ready to do everything it can to support a permanent and peaceful solution.”
UN Women released a statement in response to the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, calling it news that “brings relief for the one million women and children” in Gaza who have been subjected to Israeli attacks over the last 15 months.
The UN said, “UN Women welcomes the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, including the hostage release deal, which went into effect today.
“We join the Secretary-General in expressing hope that all parties will honour their commitments to ensure this agreement paves the way for a lasting peace for women and girls in Palestine, Israel, and the region.
“The news of the ceasefire brings relief for the one million women and girls who have lived under continued bombardment, without safety in Gaza, for the last 470 days.
“The news of the initial release of hostages brings immense relief to them and their families. The ceasefire agreement marks a crucial step towards stability and peace.”
Hamas releases Israeli hostages as 15-month truce begins
International
US: Melania Trump launches her own crypto
US: Melania Trump launches her own crypto
Incoming first lady Melania Trump has launched a cryptocurrency on the eve of her husband’s inauguration as US president.
The announcement comes a day after President-elect Donald Trump launched the $Trump cryptocurrency. Both coins have risen but have seen volatile trade.
“The Official Melania Meme is live! You can buy $MELANIA now,” she posted on the social platform X on Sunday.
The website for the “Official Melania Meme” says it is a crypto asset created and tracked on the Solana blockchain.
Disclaimers on the websites of both the $Trump and $Melania coins said they were “not intended to be, or the subject of” an investment opportunity or a security.
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According to the CoinMarketCap website, $Trump has a total market valuation of about $12bn (£9.8bn), while $Melania’s stands at around $1.7bn.
Trump had previously called crypto a “scam” but during the 2024 election campaign became the first presidential candidate to accept digital assets as donations.
On the campaign trail, Trump also said he would create a strategic bitcoin stockpile and appoint financial regulators that take a more positive stance towards digital assets.
That spurred expectations that he would strip back regulations on the crypto industry.
In the wake of Trump’s victory, bitcoin jumped to a record high is currently trading at $140,000, according to crypto trading platform Coinbase.
On Friday, the incoming artificial intelligence (AI) and crypto tsar David Sacks held a “Crypto Ball” in Washington, DC.
Other cryptocurrencies, including dogecoin – which has been promoted by high-profile Trump supporter Elon Musk – have also risen sharply this year.
Under President Joe Biden, regulators cited concerns about fraud and money laundering as they cracked down on crypto companies by suing exchanges.
US: Melania Trump launches her own crypto
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