9️⃣8️⃣ HOSTAGES 🎗️Day 465 /

• multiple reports Monday indicated that talks in Qatar for a ceasefire-hostage deal in Gaza had achieved a significant breakthrough overnight https://lnk.sk/ekdp 
• Qadura Fares, head of the Palestinian Prisoners Affairs Committee „went to Qatar and prepare the list of Palestinian prisoners who will be released as part of a hostage deal; more than 3,000 Palestinian prisoners will be released in the first phase of the deal https://lnk.sk/fuez
• Amid progress in talks on the hostage deal, Netanyahu summoned several ministers for personal meetings, including Ben-Gvir and Smotrich – who expressed opposition to the deal
• Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, heads of the Religious Zionism party, warned “We will not be part of a surrender deal that would include releasing terrorists, stopping the war and dissolving the achievements that were paid for with much blood,” Smotrich said.
• The report said the premier believes there’s a high probability National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir will quit the government if there’s a deal, and so was hoping to convince Smotrich to at most vote against an agreement (a cabinet majority is likely even without the backing of the two ministers) but not leave the the coalition.
• vice president-elect J.D. Vance revealed the meaning behind Trump’s threat that „all hell will break loose“ if the hostages are not released. “It means enabling the Israelis to knock out all battalions of Hamas and their leadership,” Vance told FOX News. https://lnk.sk/vjot 

LEBANON 🇱🇧 /

• Israel has struck several Hezbollah targets tonight, including a rocket launcher, an unspecified military site, and “routes along the Syria-Lebanon border used to smuggle weapons to Hezbollah” https://lnk.sk/ftww ; https://lnk.sk/oyvw
• Hezbollah terrorist group postponed an appointment with President Joseph Aoun at which it was due to communicate its preference for the post of prime minister. International Court of Justice President Nawaf Salam is one of potential candidate. https://lnk.sk/wct5 

YEMEN 🇾🇪 /

• Israeli air force fighter jets struck Houthi targets on the coast and deep inside Yemen on Friday; it was a joint operation with the US and UK air forces in retaliation for repeated attacks against Israel and its citizens https://lnk.sk/mphx

IRAN 🇮🇷 /

• Deputy Commander of the Iranian Armed Forces: ‘We have weapons that we have not yet presented and the enemy has no idea of ​​their existence; Iran claims 1,000 new, advanced drones with a range of more than 2,000 km and „evasion capabilities.” https://lnk.sk/dpsl 
• Iran is mocking Los Angeles’ devastating wildfires, labeling them as divine punishment for U.S. support of Israel in Gaza. Iran is facing long term its own severe energy crisis, with widespread blackouts and closures due to outdated infrastructure. https://lnk.sk/uxet 

JUDEA & SAMARIA (tzv. Západný breh)  /

• „We will not allow Judea and Samaria to become Gaza or South Lebanon – whoever carries out terror like in Gaza will be treated like in Gaza.”

USA 🇺🇸 UNITED KINGDOM 🇬🇧 AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺 /

• The New York branch of the anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace, in a post about the fires in Los Angeles, says, “Instead of putting resources toward making our country livable, our government is putting billions toward Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.”
• BBC “all too often accepts Hamas’s distortions as fair framing or fact,” Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA) said.The BBC has not responded to these claims, and CAMERA noted that it had not challenged or acknowledged the extremist views of the various Palestinian media outlets. https://lnk.sk/kmqi 
• „Go Back to Poland! Go Back to Germany!“ A woman shouted at pro-Israel activists at the Free Palestine rally in Australiaś Melbourne central business district. https://lnk.sk/bhf8 
• Discount euro airline RyanAir has restarted sales of tickets to Tel Aviv for the end of March.

Sources: Ynet News; Times of Israel, Wall Street Journal, Jerusalem Post, Reuters and the sources cited directly in some reports

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