Today is the second birthday of Baby Kfir Bibas, who has spent more than half of his life in Hamas captivity since the Oct. 7 Jihad massacre. The incoming Trump administration has put the Netanyahu government under pressure to reach a hostage deal that would free 2000 Hamas terrorists and killers and declare a “ceasefire” that will leave Hamas alive to commit more acts of unspeakable terror down the road. Especially the role of Trump Middle East negotiator Steve Witkoff and his ties to Hamas-supporting Qatar have come under scrutiny.
After seven hours of discussion, the Israeli cabinet today approved a deal to release around 2,000 terrorists, over 100 of whom are serving life sentences for mass murders, in exchange for 33 hostages living or dead. 24 ministers voted in favor of the deal, and 8 opposed, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, as well as Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli and MK David Amsalem from Netanyahu’s Likud Party. The deal will take effect on Sunday, Arutz Sheva reported.
Josh Waller of The Israel Guys called the Hostage Deal “disastrous” and a “sinister scheme going on behind the scenes”.
“33 out of 98 hostages are being released, but that means there are still a lot of hostages being held”, said Rabbi Jeremy Gimpel, host of “Israel Inspired” podcast, on Josh’s show. “After all we fought since Oct. 7 – 840 soldiers have fallen, 917 civilians have been murdered, 77 police officers and security agents in Israel (have been killed). To bow to this evil, barbaric Hamas organization is a hit to the country.”
According to an account in left-wing Ha’aretz, Trump Middle East negotiator Steve Witkoff flew in from Qatar Jan. 11 and ambushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the Sabbath, the Jewish holy day.
Netanyahu’s aides “politely explained that was in the middle of the Sabbath but that the prime minister would gladly meet him Saturday night. Witkoff’s blunt reaction took them by surprise. He explained to them in salty English that Shabbat was of no interest to him. His message was loud and clear. Thus, in an unusual departure from official practice, the prime minister showed up at his office for an official meeting with Witkoff, who then returned to Qatar to seal the deal”, Ha’aretz wrote.
While Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has so far resisted pressure from the “international community” to reach a deal with the Hamas terrorists, he has now apparently caved to pressure from the incoming administration “because he fears Donald Trump,” Middle East expert Daniel Pipes wrote.
Trump had boxed himself into a corner by stating on Jan. 7 that “all hell will break out” in the Middle East if Hamas did not release the captives it held, including four Americans, Edan Alexander, Omer Neutra, Sagui Dekel-Chen and
Keith Siegel.
Now, the Trump administration seems to have forced a deal that Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called “horrific,” announcing he would leave the Netanyahu government with his Jewish Strength party over it.
The deal is basically the same deal that the weak, failed Biden Administration has been trying to force on Israel since May 31, 2024, only now backed by Trump administration muscle.
The Tikva Forum, a patriotic organization that represents hostage families, called on cabinet members “to resign immediately and not be part of a government that betrays dozens of hostages, leaving them in captivity!” Tikva Forum has called for any Ceasefire deal to include the release of all hostages, as President Trump had demanded on Jan. 7.
The Tikva Forum of Hostages’ Families is deeply concerned by the deal that was signed with a terror organization that should be destroyed.
This deal leaves dozens of hostages behind in Gaza. It also sets the stage for the next massacre and future kidnappings of Israelis>>
— Tikva Forum (@tikvaforumENG) January 15, 2025
Journalist Caroline Glick shed light on the role of Steve Witkoff and his business ties to Hamas-supporting Qatar.
“They have an enormous amount of money that they use to buy influence in the West, and especially in Donald Trump’s circle. And one of those people is Steven Witkoff”, Glick said.
“Witkoff owned a property on Central Park South called the Park Lane Hotel that had gone into a lot of difficulties because his Malaysian partner was exposed as a fraudster and fled to China”, Glick cited a story by the Jewish Insider:
In the summer of 2023 … Witkoff had sold Manhattan’s troubled Park Lane Hotel, which had also counted Abu Dhabi’s investment firm as a stakeholder, to the Qatar Investment Authority, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, for $623 million — adding to a push into New York real estate.
But in addition to being a potential asset for Witkoff, who reportedly views Middle East geopolitics as “one giant real estate deal,” his past dealings with Qatar in particular could place the incoming envoy in an uncomfortable position, experts say — as the Gulf state has faced bipartisan criticism in Congress for hosting Hamas leadership.
The Park Lane sale came after Qatar had engaged in an aggressive and widespread lobbying effort during Trump’s first term, as the president-elect sided with Saudi Arabia and other neighboring states that had imposed a blockade on the Gulf country.
Seeking to build goodwill with the U.S., Qatar launched a campaign to influence hundreds of people close to Trump, including Witkoff, who was among several American executives to meet with Qatari officials, according to foreign lobbying disclosures that broadly describe a series of “introductions” to “facilitate collaboration” and discuss “business opportunities,” among other things.
Nick Muzin, a Republican operative who helped lead the Qatari lobbying operation, said in an email to JI that he had “introduced” Witkoff “to the Qatari leadership in 2017-2018,” but he did not respond to follow-up questions regarding the substance of their discussions or who was present for the meetings.
Ben Baird, the director of advocacy for the Middle East Forum, a conservative policy think tank, expressed concerns that Witkoff had been targeted by Qatar — suggesting the hotel sale was part of what he called an ongoing “charm offensive” reaching within “Trump’s inner circle of billionaire policymakers,” including Elon Musk and others.
“The fear in Jerusalem is that Witkoff was planning to make an even more expansive deal along the lines of what the Biden Administration was trying to do, and use the May 31 offer for the basis of even more profoundly pro-Hamas deal-maiking”, Glick said. “When I heard the news (of the deal) I was stunned. Why would they do that? Then when the story came out about his business relationship with Qatar, which is the state sponsor of Hamas, and the Taliban, Al-Qaida, ISIS, etc., things started to look very disturbing.”
Steve Witkoff is also the co-chair of President Trump’s inauguration committee, which has come under fire for inviting a radical Pro-Hezbollah Imam to lead a prayer at the Inauguration Monday.
Imam Husham Al-Husainy of the Karbalaa Islamic Educational Center in Dearborn, Michigan has a “significant history of extremism”, the Middle East Forum revealed. “In 2015, he and his organization hosted a rally … in which he wished death upon Saudi Arabia, and denounced Saudis as “agents of the Jews” whose “Zionist” planes “rain down” death upon the people of Yemen.”
In 2006, at a pro-Hezbollah rally in Dearborn, Michigan, Al-Husainy “held the picture of Hezbollah leader [Hassan] Nasrallah aloft on the stage.”
Listen to Imam Husham Al-Husainy scream at Sean Hannity for 5 minutes straight to avoid answering whether he supports Hezbollah pic.twitter.com/cNHV8v5RRW
— Daniel Greenfield – “Hang Together or Separately” (@Sultanknish) January 13, 2025
In 2007, Al-Husainy had a shouting match with Fox News host Sean Hannity on air over his support for Islamic terror organization Hezbollah.
This was at at time when Iranian- and Hezbollah-linked Jihadis were killing approx. 4500 US service members in Iraq.
It is unclear why the Trump inauguration committee invited a radical terror-supporting preacher on Jan. 20.
Dearborn’s Imam Husham Al-Husainy is scheduled to deliver a ‘prayer’ at Trump’s inauguration
.
He’s an Iraqi Hezbollah supporter with ties to Iran who delivered a DNC prayer attacking the US, pushed fake ‘Islamophobic’ hate crimes and wanted to impose Sharia lawThread pic.twitter.com/OVwjraZ1Ic
— Daniel Greenfield – “Hang Together or Separately” (@Sultanknish) January 13, 2025
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