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| World News |
| British couple detained in Iran charged with espionage |
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The British couple detained in Iran have been charged with espionage, according to the Iranian judiciary news agency. The pair, named by their family on Monday as Craig and Lindsay Foreman, are accused of “cooperating with covert institutions linked to the intelligence services of hostile and Western countries”. Iranian state media said last week that the couple were in custody in the southeastern city of Kerman on security-related charges. The UK’s Foreign Office said it was “deeply concerned” by reports of the espionage charge. “We continue to raise this case directly with the Iranian authorities,” it said in a statement. “We are providing them with consular assistance and remain in close contact with their family members.” The couple were on a motorbiking trip across the globe to Australia as part of a positive psychology mission. The statement, translated from Persian, claimed that “the individuals entered Iran under the guise of tourists and, under the guise of investigative and research work, have collected information in several provinces of the country”. Without revealing sources, officials also allege that “these individuals were cooperating with covert institutions linked to the intelligence services of hostile and Western countries”. “The connection of these individuals with several institutions affiliated with intelligence services has been confirmed,” the statement added. State media published a photograph reportedly showing the couple meeting the UK’s ambassador to Iran Hugo Shorter last Wednesday. The Foreign Office is currently warning people not to travel to Iran, because of the risk of “arrest, detention and a death sentence”. It also advises against all travel to Balochistan, except the province’s southern coast. A Foreign Office spokesperson previously said: “We are providing consular assistance to two British nationals detained in Iran and are in contact with the local authorities.” Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of foreign visitors and dual nationals in recent years, mostly on espionage and security-related charges. Human rights groups and some Western countries have accused Iran of trying to win concessions from other nations through arrests on trumped up charges. |
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| Israel News |
| 6 hostages to be freed Shabbos; bodies of 4 hostages to be returned on Thursday |
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All six remaining living hostages slated to be released in the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal will be freed Saturday, Israeli and Hamas officials said Tuesday, in a surprise move apparently linked to growing worries that the ceasefire and captive release deal in the Gaza Strip could collapse. Encouragement over the expedited release, which will include two Israelis held in the Strip for over a decade, was tempered, however, with an announcement from the terror group that it would also transfer the bodies of mother Shiri Silberman Bibas and her two young children Ariel and Kfir back to Israel, dampening hopes that the three might still be found alive. The Bibas family said it was “in turmoil” over the announcement and had not received confirmation from Israel. Hamas leader in Gaza Khalil al Hayya said that among the six living hostages will be Israelis Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who have been held by Hamas since entering the Strip on their own in 2014 and 2015, respectively. The other four — Tal Shoham, Omer Shem-Tov, Omer Wenkert, and Eliya Cohen — were kidnapped during the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel. Al Hayya said that the releases would be conditioned on Israel living up to its side of the first phase of the deal, which includes the release of hundreds of Palestinian inmates, including many serving life sentences for murder, a cessation of fighting in the Strip and the entry of aid and other equipment into the beleaguered enclave. |
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| PM said to condition deal’s 2nd phase on end of Hamas presence in Gaza, no PA rule |
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told cabinet ministers during a recent meeting that Israel’s conditions in upcoming negotiations on the terms of the second phase of the ceasefire and hostage release deal are for the Hamas terror group to disarm and have no presence in Gaza, and for the Palestinian Authority to be barred from the post-war management of the enclave, Israeli television reported Tuesday. The Channel 12 news report came after the security cabinet met Monday night to discuss negotiations for the second stage of the ceasefire agreement, which have yet to begin despite originally being expected to start on February 3. Following the meeting, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said Tuesday that the talks on the second phase — which is expected to provide for the release of all remaining hostages, the withdrawal of all IDF troops from Gaza and the end of the war — would begin “this week.” Hinting at the stance Israel is expected to adopt in the upcoming negotiations, Sa’ar warned that Jerusalem “will not accept the continued presence of Hamas or any other terrorist organization in Gaza.” But, he added, if the negotiations are constructive, Israel will remain engaged and may prolong the ceasefire. “If we will see there is a constructive dialogue with a possible horizon of getting to an agreement (then) we will make this timeframe work longer,” he said. It is unclear how Netanyahu’s reported demands regarding the ousting of Hamas, which reflect his public insistence that the terror group must be completely destroyed, can be reconciled with his pledge to secure the release of all remaining Israeli captives. Many analysts have assessed that the only way to enable the release of all the hostages would be for Israel to agree to end the war with the terror group functional in Gaza in some form, a scenario Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected. Although Sa’ar said that the security cabinet had agreed to begin phase two talks later this week, an Israeli official told the Times of Israel that the negotiating team was still awaiting approval to head to Qatar for the talks. To that end, Netanyahu told cabinet ministers that there would be a separate meeting held regarding the phase two negotiations before the Israeli delegation departs for Doha. He also asked ministers not to leak what was discussed during Monday night’s meeting, Channel 12 said, and explained that doing so would risk the lives of the hostages. Citing unnamed Israeli sources, the Kan public broadcaster reported that Israel’s delegation will not depart for Doha before US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff returns to Israel later this week. |
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