Hamas: 'No phase 2 of Trump plan until Israel stops violations'. Possible Netanyahu-al Sisi summit

Phase two of the US peace plan for Gaza "cannot begin" as long as Israel continues to "violate the agreement" of the ceasefire and "shirk its commitments". Hossam Badran, a member of the Hamas political bureau, told Afp, adding that the movement had asked the mediating countries to put "pressure" on Israel to respect the first phase of the agreement. Both Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump announced in recent days that the so-called phase 2 would begin "soon".

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to the US, where he is scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump on 29 December at the Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, could also include a three-way summit with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. This was reported by the Israeli broadcaster Channel 12, according to which the White House is working to bring al-Sisi to the table with Trump and Netanyahu in the framework of the negotiations on the new Gaza settlement. According to TV, the US administration is aiming to get the Israeli green light for a strategic understanding with Egypt on Gaza and aims to announce before Christmas the move to the second phase of the plan, which would include a civil administration model for Rafah. Netanyahu will stay in Florida for eight days. The agenda, in addition to two meetings with Trump, also includes meetings with the Vice President, Jd Vance, the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and the Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth.

News also comes that Tony Blair will not hold a key position in Donald Trump's 'peace council' for Gaza, after Arab and Muslim nations reportedly opposed the former British prime minister's involvement. According to the Financial Times, Blair was quietly excluded from the list of candidates for the council that Trump said he would personally chair.

The IDF confirms it carried out a series of airstrikes in southern Lebanon ago, claiming to have targeted Hezbollah sites, including a training centre used by the terrorist group's elite Radwan Force. The Times of Israel writes this. According to the Israeli army, the Radwan Force's 'training and qualification complex' was used by the terrorist group to plan and carry out attacks against Israel. In addition, the IDF claims to have hit several buildings used by Hezbollah and a rocket launching base in South Lebanon.The Lebanese daily 'Nidaa Al-Watan' reported this morning from a diplomatic source that Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri approached Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei with an unusual request. Berri, reports the Israeli newspaper Kan, reportedly asked Khamenei to issue a 'fatwa' (i.e. a religious ruling) that would allow Hezbollah to hand over the precision missiles and drone array in its possession. The initiative was supposed to enable Berri, who had taken on this mission with the Americans, to obtain US consent to an agreement that would lead to a definitive end to the war.