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Tag: Gaza

  • Israel says remains of last hostage recovered from Gaza, clearing way for phase-two of ceasefire with Hamas

    Israel said Monday that the remains of the last hostage in Gaza had been recovered, clearing the way for the next phase of the ceasefire that stopped the Israel-Hamas war. The announcement came a day after Israel’s government said the military was conducting a “large-scale operation” in a cemetery in northern Gaza to locate the remains of Ran Gvili.

    The return of all remaining hostages, living or dead, has been a key part of the Gaza ceasefire’s first phase, and Gvili’s family had urged Israel’s government not to enter the second phase until his remains were recovered and returned.

    In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said representatives had informed Gvili’s family “that their loved one has been identified and is being buried.”

    “With this, all of the abductees have been returned from the Gaza Strip,” the IDF said.

    Ran Gvili, an Israeli police officer killed at the age of 24 during the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, is seen in a photo provided by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

    Handout/Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters


    Israel and Hamas have been under pressure from ceasefire mediators, including the Trump administration, to move into the second phase of the U.S.-brokered truce, which took effect on Oct. 10.

    Israel had repeatedly accused Hamas of dragging its feet in the recovery of the final hostage. Hamas had said it had provided all the information it had about Gvili’s remains, and accused Israel of obstructing efforts to search for them in areas of Gaza under Israeli military control. 

    Both sides have accused the other of violations of the ceasefire since it came into effect, and dozens of Palestinians have been killed since October, including three journalists killed in an Israeli strike last week, one of whom had worked extensively for CBS News. 

    Israel’s military said of that attack, as it has other deadly instances during the ceasefire, that it was investigating, but claimed its forces had struck suspects who posed a threat to the safety of troops.

    In a statement on Monday, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said the recovery of Gvili’s body, “confirms Hamas’s commitment to all the terms of the agreement to halt the war on the Gaza Strip, including the exchange track and its full completion in accordance with the agreement. Hamas will continue to adhere to all aspects of the agreement, including facilitating the work of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza and ensuring its success.”

    Qassem called on all mediators of the ceasefire, and the U.S. in particular, to compel Israel “to stop its violations of the agreement and to implement the obligations required of it.”

    Israel’s military had said the large-scale operation to locate Gvili’s remains was “in the area of the Yellow Line,” which has divided the territory since the ceasefire came into effect.

    The ceasefire deal aims to wind down the war that was sparked by the Hamas-led terrorist attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 others taken hostage. Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health says more than 71,000 people were killed in the territory during the war, a figure which CBS News cannot independently verify and which Israel disputes, though the United Nations considers it the most accurate death toll estimate available.

    Gvili, a 24-year-old police officer known affectionately as “Rani,” was killed while fighting Hamas militants during the attack.

    Before Gvili’s remains were recovered, 20 living hostages and the remains of 27 others had been returned to Israel during the ceasefire, most recently in early December. Israel in exchange has released the bodies of hundreds of Palestinians to Gaza.

    The next phase of the 20-point ceasefire plan calls for creating an international stabilization force, forming a technocratic Palestinian government and disarming Hamas.

    President Trump has warned repeatedly that if Hamas refuses to disarm in line with the agreement, “there will be hell to pay.”

    Meanwhile, Mr. Trump has launched his new international Board of Peace initiative, inviting dozens of nations to join his administration on a vaguely defined mission to end conflicts in the Middle East, and suggesting ambitions beyond the region.

    While the Board of Peace was often mentioned by Mr. Trump as an entity that would focus on rebuilding the decimated Gaza Strip, the Palestinian territory is was not mentioned explicitly in the board’s founding charter, signed by Mr. Trump and about 20 other national leaders during the World Economic Forum in Davos last week.

    European nations, America’s oldest and closest allies, have thus far declined to join the board, and major rival powers China and Russia have also adopted a wait-and-see approach to the initiative.

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  • What to know about Trump’s “Board of Peace” as world leaders sign founding charter in Davos

    President Trump led a signing ceremony for the founding charter of his “Board of Peace” on Thursday in Davos, Switzerland, as questions lingered over the body’s operations and scope months after it was announced as part of the administration’s peace plan for Gaza.

    The president hinted Thursday at wider ambitions for the board, beyond the war-torn Palestinian territory, and said repeatedly that the board would work with the United Nations, though he offered little detail.

    “I think we can spread out to other things as we succeed with Gaza,” Mr. Trump said. “Once the board is formed we can do pretty much whatever we want to do … and we’re going to do it in conjunction with the United Nations.”

    The board’s formation has faced headwinds from U.S. allies, many of which have yet to commit to participation. 

    Here’s what to know. 

    When was the Board of Peace created and why?

    The Board of Peace was first announced in September as a key component of the Trump administration’s 20-point plan for long-term peace in Gaza and the broader Middle East. It was described in that plan as “a new international transitional body” that would “set the framework and handle the funding for the redevelopment of Gaza until such time as the Palestinian Authority has completed its reform program … and can securely and effectively take back control of Gaza.”

    “This body will call on best international standards to create modern and efficient governance that serves the people of Gaza and is conducive to attracting investment,” it said.

    The White House said in a statement last week that the Board of Peace would play an essential role in fulfilling all 20 points of the peace plan, “providing strategic oversight, mobilizing international resources, and ensuring accountability as Gaza transitions from conflict to peace and development.”

    Who is leading the Board of Peace and overseeing it?

    The Board of Peace is chaired by President Trump, who can hold that position until he resigns from it, according to a U.S. official.

    According to the White House, the Board of Peace has an appointed “founding Executive Board” comprised of: 

    • Secretary of State Marco Rubio
    • U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff
    • President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner
    • Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair
    • Billionaire financier Marc Rowan
    • World Bank Group president Ajay Banga
    • National security adviser Robert Gabriel

    The White House says a separate group called the “Gaza Executive Board” will “help support effective governance and the delivery of best-in-class services that advance peace, stability, and prosperity for the people of Gaza.” That group is comprised of:

    • U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff
    • President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner
    • Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Hakan Fidan
    • Ali Al-Thawadi, strategic affairs minister in Qatari prime minister’s office
    • Egyptian intelligence chief General Hassan Rashad
    • Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair
    • Billionaire financier Marc Rowan
    • UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem Al-Hashimy
    • Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov
    • Israeli businessman Yakir Gabay
    • Sigrid Kaag, Dutch former deputy prime minister and ex-UN envoy

    Senior advisers to the board who are tasked with leading day-to-day operations are listed as:

    • Aryeh Lightstone 
    • Josh Gruenbaum

    Who is invited to the Board of Peace?

    CBS News confirmed that more than 50 countries were invited to join as of Jan. 21.

    Among them is Russia, despite its continued assault on Ukraine and the Trump administration’s statement that the country poses such a threat to national security that the U.S. must acquire Greenland to counter it.

    Mr. Trump said he sent an invitation to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said his country was still consulting with Russia’s “strategic partners” before making a decision on whether to commit to the peace board, The Associated Press reported Thursday.

    Belarus, which has provided material support to Russia during its invasion of Ukraine, was also invited and its president, Aleksandr Lukashenko, accepted.

    It isn’t clear what criteria the White House is using to decide which countries are being invited to join.

    Who has joined the Board of Peace and who has declined?

    The White House shared a list of participants ahead of the charter signing ceremony on Thursday, saying that in addition to the U.S., the following nations were taking part:

    • Bahrain
    • Morocco
    • Argentina
    • Armenia
    • Azerbaijan
    • Belgium
    • Bulgaria
    • Egypt
    • Hungary
    • Indonesia
    • Jordan
    • Kazakhstan
    • Kosovo
    • Mongolia
    • Pakistan
    • Paraguay
    • Qatar
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Turkey
    • United Arab Emirates
    • Uzbekistan

    Belgium, however, said Thursday it had not signed the charter.

    “This announcement is incorrect,” Maxime Prévot, deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, said. “We wish for a common and coordinated European response. As many European countries, we have reservations to the proposal.”

    Israel and Canada were among the nations that previously announced they were accepting Mr. Trump’s invitation to join, although they did not appear on the White House list on Thursday. 

    None of the U.S.’ European allies had signed onto the board as of Thursday, with many voicing concern over Mr. Trump’s invitations to Putin and Lukashenko. 

    Britain declined to sign onto the peace board for now, U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said.

    “We won’t be one of the signatories today,” Cooper told the BBC Thursday. “Because this is about a legal treaty that raises much broader issues, and we do also have concerns about President Putin being part of something which is talking about peace, when we have still not seen any signs from Putin that there will be a commitment to peace in Ukraine.”

    Norway and Sweden said Wednesday they were holding off, at least for now, due to concerns about the terms for joining. 

    A source familiar with the matter told CBS News earlier this week that France intended to decline due to concerns that the Board of Peace charter goes beyond the framework of Gaza and raises major issues, particularly regarding respect for the principles and structure of the United Nations.

    In response, Mr. Trump said Monday night he would impose 200% tariffs on French wine and champagne if they did not join the Board of Peace. The White House has not responded to several inquiries as to whether or not the president was joking. 

    A French official said they have taken note of Mr. Trump’s statements and called the use of tariff threats to influence France’s foreign policy unacceptable and ineffective. 

    U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the board a work in progress, indicating an expectation by the Trump administration that membership would rise.

    “Many others who are going to join, you know, others either are not in town today or they have to go through some procedure internally in their own countries, in their own country, because of constitutional limitations, but others will join,” Rubio said in Davos on Thursday.

    Is the Board of Peace intended to replace the United Nations?

    President Trump said Thursday that the board would be committed to ensuring Gaza’s demilitarization, and hinted at wider ambitions for the group going forward.

    He said the board would work “coupled with the United Nations” to create a “safer future for the world, unfolding before your eyes,” adding that the board would help to “end decades of suffering.”

    The president also said the board can do “pretty much whatever we want to do” once it is formed, and that “we’re going to do it in conjunction with the United Nations.”

    Earlier this week, Mr. Trump said the Board of Peace “might” replace the world’s primary global body. 

    “I mean, the U.N. just hasn’t been very helpful. I’m a big fan of the U.N. potential. But it has never lived up to its potential,” he said in a more than 90-minute press conference at the White House on Tuesday, Jan. 20. 

    But he added, “I believe you’ve got to let the U.N. continue because the potential is so great.”

    In November, the United Nations passed a Security Council resolution that approved a “Board of Peace,” but with a focus limited only to Gaza.

    The resolution welcomed the establishment of a Board of Peace “as a transitional administration with international legal personality” that would set the framework and coordinate funding for the redevelopment of Gaza. 

    The U.N. resolution more broadly endorsed the Trump administration’s 20-point Gaza peace plan, and authorized countries working with the Board of Peace to establish a stabilization force inside the Palestinian territory.

    Is a financial contribution required to join?

    A U.S. official confirmed a Bloomberg report that countries can contribute $1 billion to the Board of Peace to become permanent members instead of having a three-year membership. The official also said it isn’t a requirement to contribute to become a member. 

    The official told CBS News that any contributions will be used to rebuild Gaza and said “virtually every dollar” raised will be spent on the board’s mandate. There will be no “exorbitant salaries” or “administrative bloat,” the official said.

    When it comes to financial disbursements and cash management, the board “will implement the highest financial controls and oversight mechanisms,” and funds will sit only in approved accounts at reputable banks, according to a U.S. official. 

    Emma Nicholson and

    Camilla Schick

    contributed to this report.

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  • 3 journalists killed in Israeli airstrike in Gaza, including cameraman who worked with CBS News

    An Israeli airstrike killed three journalists in Gaza on Wednesday, the territory’s civil defense agency said. One of those killed, Abed Shaat, had worked for years as a cameraman for CBS News and other outlets.

    Officials identified the other two journalists killed as Mohammed Salah Qashta and Anas Ghneim, the Agence France-Presse news agency reported. Shaat had also contributed regularly to AFP, but the agency said he was not on assignment for them at the time. 

    Civil defense officials said the three were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Al-Zahra area, southwest of Gaza City.

    The Israel Defense Forces released a statement saying troops “identified several suspects who operated a drone affiliated with Hamas in the central Gaza Strip, in a manner that posed a threat to their safety,” and then “struck the suspects who activated the drone.” The IDF said details of the incident are being reviewed.

    According to an eyewitness, the journalists were using a drone to take images of aid distribution by the Egyptian Relief Committee in the Gaza Strip when a strike targeted a vehicle accompanying them, AFP reported.

    The Egyptian aid group confirmed one of its vehicles was targeted by Israel in a strike that killed three people.

    A crowd gathers for the funeral procession for journalists Enes Ganim, Abed Shaat and Muhammed Kashta in Khan Yunis, Gaza, on Jan. 21, 2026.

    Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images


    “A vehicle belonging to the Egyptian Committee was targeted during a humanitarian mission, resulting in the martyrdom of three individuals,” said Mohammed Mansour, a spokesman for the Egyptian Relief Committee in the Gaza Strip, adding that all vehicles belonging to the group “bear the committee’s logo.”

    “The Israeli army criminally targeted this vehicle” when the individuals were filming the Netzarim camp, Mansour said.

    Abed Shaat filed regularly for CBS News from the city of Khan Yunis during the war in Gaza, even sending video from the back of an ambulance on one occasion when he was wounded.

    He was 30 years old and had gotten married just two weeks ago.

    abed.jpg

    Abed Shaat worked as a freelance cameraman for CBS News and other outlets in Gaza.

    In an email to CBS News staff on Wednesday, colleagues in London remembered Shaat as “a brave journalist” who was “deeply loved by everyone who knew or worked with him.”

    “His work was distinctive because of its technical prowess under the most unimaginable circumstances,” CBS News London producer Kamal Afzali said. He called Shaat “an eyewitness to extreme pain with the superhuman power to document it.”

    After the ceasefire went into effect in October, Shaat went to work with the Egyptian Humanitarian Committee in the Gaza Strip, where he was responsible for photographing all humanitarian activities and relief operations on behalf of the committee.

    The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate condemned the strike as part of a “systematic and deliberate policy pursued by the Israeli occupation to intentionally target Palestinian journalists.”

    Israeli forces have killed at least 466 Palestinians in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

    The Israeli military said militants have killed three of its soldiers during the same period.

    Gaza’s health ministry said another eight Palestinians were also killed in Israeli attacks in the territory on Wednesday, making it one of the deadliest days since the ceasefire began, the Associated Press reported.   

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  • Trump is charging world leaders $1 billion each for their countries to permanently join Gaza ‘Board of Peace’ | Fortune

    At least eight more countries say the United States has invited them to join President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, a new body of world leaders meant to oversee next steps in Gaza that shows ambitions for a broader mandate in global affairs. Two of the countries, Hungary and Vietnam, said they have accepted.

    A $1 billion contribution secures permanent membership on the Trump-led board instead of a three-year appointment, which has no contribution requirement, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity about the charter, which hasn’t been made public. The official said the money raised would go to rebuilding Gaza.

    Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has accepted an invitation to join the board, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó told state radio Sunday. Orbán is one of Trump’s most ardent supporters in Europe.

    Vietnam’s Communist Party chief, To Lam, also has accepted, a foreign ministry statement said.

    India has received an invitation, a senior government official with knowledge of the matter said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the information hadn’t been made public by authorities.

    Australia has been invited and will talk it through with the U.S. “to properly understand what this means and what’s involved,” Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles told Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Monday.

    Jordan, Greece, Cyprus and Pakistan said Sunday they had received invitations. Canada, Turkey, Egypt, Paraguay, Argentina and Albania have already said they were invited. It was not clear how many have been invited in all.

    The U.S. is expected to announce its official list of members in the coming days, likely during the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

    Those on the board will oversee next steps in Gaza as the ceasefire that took effect on Oct. 10 moves into its challenging second phase. It includes a new Palestinian committee in Gaza, the deployment of an international security force, disarmament of Hamas and reconstruction of the war-battered territory.

    In letters sent Friday to world leaders inviting them to be “founding members,” Trump said the Board of Peace would “embark on a bold new approach to resolving global conflict.”

    That could become a potential rival to the U.N. Security Council, the most powerful body of the global entity created in the wake of World War II. The 15-seat council has been blocked by U.S. vetoes from taking action to end the war in Gaza, while the U.N.’s clout has been diminished by major funding cuts by the Trump administration and other donors.

    Trump’s invitation letters for the Board of Peace noted that the Security Council had endorsed the U.S. 20-point Gaza ceasefire plan, which includes the board’s creation. The letters were posted on social media by some invitees.

    The White House last week also announced an executive committee of leaders who will carry out the Board of Peace’s vision, but Israel on Saturday objected that the committee “was not coordinated with Israel and is contrary to its policy,” without details. The statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office was rare criticism of its close ally in Washington.

    The executive committee’s members include U.S. Secretary of State Rubio, Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, World Bank President Ajay Banga and Trump’s deputy national security adviser Robert Gabriel, along with an Israeli business owner, billionaire Yakir Gabay.

    Members also include representatives of ceasefire monitors Qatar, Egypt and Turkey. Turkey has a strained relationship with Israel but good relations with Hamas and could play an important role in persuading the group to yield power in Gaza and disarm.

    ___

    Boak reported from West Palm Beach, Florida. Associated Press writers Justin Spike in Budapest, Hungary, Rajesh Roy in New Delhi and Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, contributed to this report.

    Cara Anna, Josh Boak, The Associated Press

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  • Israeli troops kill Palestinians for crossing a vague ceasefire line

    A dividing line, at times invisible, can mean life or death for Palestinians in Gaza.Those sheltering near the territory’s “yellow line” that the Israeli military withdrew to as part of the October ceasefire say they live in fear as Israeli soldiers direct near-daily fire at anyone who crosses or even lingers near it.Video above: Palestinians struggle for food amid floodingOf the 447 Palestinians killed between the ceasefire taking effect and Tuesday, at least 77 were killed by Israeli gunfire near the line, including 62 who crossed it, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Among them were teenagers and young children, The Associated Press found.And although the military has placed some yellow barrels and concrete barriers delineating the limits of the Palestinian zone, the line is still unmarked in certain places and in others was laid nearly half a kilometer (0.3 miles) deeper than what was agreed to in the ceasefire deal, expanding the part of Gaza that Israel controls, according to Palestinians and mapping experts.“We stay away from the barrels. No one dares to get close” said Gaza City resident Ahmed Abu Jahal, noting that the markers are less than 100 meters (110 yards) from his house — instead of the roughly 500 meters (546 yards) outlined in a map put out by the Israeli military.As of Tuesday, the military had acknowledged killing 57 people around the yellow line, saying most were militants. It said its troops are complying with the rules of engagement in order to counter militant groups, and are informing Palestinians of the line’s location and marking it on the ground to “reduce friction and prevent misunderstandings.”Easy to get lostUnder the ceasefire, Israel withdrew its troops to a buffer zone that is up to 7 kilometers (4 miles) deep and includes most of Gaza’s arable land, its elevated points and all of its border crossings. That hems more than 2 million Palestinians into a strip along the coastline and central Gaza.People of all ages, some already dead, have been showing up almost daily at the emergency room of Gaza City’s Al-Ahli hospital with bullet wounds from straying near the line, said hospital director Fadel Naeem.Amid the vast destruction in Gaza, the demarcation line often isn’t easy to detect, Naeem said. He recounted picking his way through undamaged paths during a recent visit to the southern city of Khan Younis. He didn’t notice he was almost across the line until locals shouted at him to turn back, he said.The Israeli military said most of the people it has killed crossing the line posed a threat to its troops. According to a military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military rules, troops issue audible warnings and then fire warning shots whenever someone crosses the line. Many civilians retreat when warning shots are fired, though some have been killed, the official acknowledged.Killed while playing near the lineZaher Shamia, 17, lived with his grandfather in a tent 300 meters (330 yards) from the line in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya refugee camp. On Dec. 10, he was playing with his cousin and some friends near the line, according to video he took before his death.Suddenly, shots rang out and the video stopped. Soldiers approaching the line with an armored bulldozer had fired on the teens, hitting Zaher, said a witness.A neighbor eventually found Zaher’s body, which had been crushed by the bulldozer, said Zaher’s grandfather, Kamal al-Beih: “We only recognized him from his head.”Two doctors, Mohamed Abu Selmiya and Rami Mhanna, confirmed that the teen had been killed by gunshots and then run over by a bulldozer. The military official said he was aware that Shamia was a civilian and that the military was looking into it.Maram Atta said that on Dec. 7, her 3-year-old daughter, Ahed al-Bayouk, was playing with siblings outside of their tent, which was near the yellow line along Gaza’s southern coast. Atta was preparing lentils when she heard aircraft overhead, then shots.A stray projectile whizzed close to her and struck Ahed, who was dead before they reached the clinic.“I lost my daughter to what they keep calling a ‘ceasefire’” said Atta, crying. “What ceasefire are they talking about?”A military official denied the killing.Deadly ambiguityThe line’s exact location is ambiguous, differing on maps put out by the Israeli military and the White House.Neither matches the line troops appear to be marking on the ground, according to Palestinians and geolocation specialists.Video below: Palestinians react to UN plan for Gaza futureChris Osiek, an open source intelligence analyst and consultant, has geolocated a number of yellow blocks based on social media videos. He found at least four urban areas where troops set the blocks several hundred meters deeper into Gaza than the military map-specified yellow line.“This is basically what you get when you simply let Trump make an image and post it on Truth Social and let the IDF make their own,” he said, using the acronym for the military. “If it’s not a proper system, with coordinates that make it easy for people to navigate where it is, then you leave the ambiguity free for the IDF to interpret the yellow line how they basically want.”The military official dismissed such criticism, saying any deviations from the map amount to just a few meters. But to Palestinians hemmed in by widespread destruction and displacement, every few meters lost is another house that can’t be sheltered in — another they doubt will ever be returned.‘The line is getting very close’Under the ceasefire, Israeli forces are only supposed to remain at the yellow line until a fuller withdrawal, though the agreement doesn’t give a timeline for that. With the next steps in the deal lagging and troops digging into positions on the Israeli side, though, Palestinians wonder if they are witnessing a permanent land takeover.In December, Israel’s defense minister described the yellow line as “a new border line — serving as a forward defensive line for our communities and a line of operational activity.”The military has continued leveling buildings inside the Israeli-held zone, turning already damaged neighborhoods to moonscapes. Almost all of the city of Rafah, on Gaza’s border with Egypt, has been razed over the past year. The army says this is necessary to destroy tunnels and prepare the area for reconstruction.In some places, demolitions since the ceasefire have encroached beyond the official yellow line. Since November, troops have leveled a swath of Gaza City’s Tuffah neighborhood extending some 300 meters (330 yards) outside the Israeli-held zone, according to Oct. 14 and Dec. 18 satellite photos provided by Planet Labs.Video below: Israeli settlers forcibly enter Palestinian home, kill sheep in latest West Bank attackAbu Jahal moved back to his damaged house in Tuffah at the ceasefire’s start. He said he frequently saw new yellow barrels appear and the military forcing out anyone living on its side of the markers.On Jan. 7, Israeli fire hit a house near him, and the residents had to evacuate, he said. Abu Jahal said his family — including his wife, their child, and seven other relatives — may also have to leave soon.“The line is getting very close,” he said.

    CAIRO, Cairo Governorate —

    A dividing line, at times invisible, can mean life or death for Palestinians in Gaza.

    Those sheltering near the territory’s “yellow line” that the Israeli military withdrew to as part of the October ceasefire say they live in fear as Israeli soldiers direct near-daily fire at anyone who crosses or even lingers near it.

    Video above: Palestinians struggle for food amid flooding

    Of the 447 Palestinians killed between the ceasefire taking effect and Tuesday, at least 77 were killed by Israeli gunfire near the line, including 62 who crossed it, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Among them were teenagers and young children, The Associated Press found.

    And although the military has placed some yellow barrels and concrete barriers delineating the limits of the Palestinian zone, the line is still unmarked in certain places and in others was laid nearly half a kilometer (0.3 miles) deeper than what was agreed to in the ceasefire deal, expanding the part of Gaza that Israel controls, according to Palestinians and mapping experts.

    “We stay away from the barrels. No one dares to get close” said Gaza City resident Ahmed Abu Jahal, noting that the markers are less than 100 meters (110 yards) from his house — instead of the roughly 500 meters (546 yards) outlined in a map put out by the Israeli military.

    As of Tuesday, the military had acknowledged killing 57 people around the yellow line, saying most were militants. It said its troops are complying with the rules of engagement in order to counter militant groups, and are informing Palestinians of the line’s location and marking it on the ground to “reduce friction and prevent misunderstandings.”

    Easy to get lost

    Under the ceasefire, Israel withdrew its troops to a buffer zone that is up to 7 kilometers (4 miles) deep and includes most of Gaza’s arable land, its elevated points and all of its border crossings. That hems more than 2 million Palestinians into a strip along the coastline and central Gaza.

    People of all ages, some already dead, have been showing up almost daily at the emergency room of Gaza City’s Al-Ahli hospital with bullet wounds from straying near the line, said hospital director Fadel Naeem.

    Amid the vast destruction in Gaza, the demarcation line often isn’t easy to detect, Naeem said. He recounted picking his way through undamaged paths during a recent visit to the southern city of Khan Younis. He didn’t notice he was almost across the line until locals shouted at him to turn back, he said.

    The Israeli military said most of the people it has killed crossing the line posed a threat to its troops. According to a military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military rules, troops issue audible warnings and then fire warning shots whenever someone crosses the line. Many civilians retreat when warning shots are fired, though some have been killed, the official acknowledged.

    Killed while playing near the line

    Zaher Shamia, 17, lived with his grandfather in a tent 300 meters (330 yards) from the line in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya refugee camp. On Dec. 10, he was playing with his cousin and some friends near the line, according to video he took before his death.

    Suddenly, shots rang out and the video stopped. Soldiers approaching the line with an armored bulldozer had fired on the teens, hitting Zaher, said a witness.

    Jehad Alshrafi

    FILE – The body of 11-year-old Palestinian girl Hamsa Hosou, killed by Israeli fire in Jabalia, is brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026.

    A neighbor eventually found Zaher’s body, which had been crushed by the bulldozer, said Zaher’s grandfather, Kamal al-Beih: “We only recognized him from his head.”

    Two doctors, Mohamed Abu Selmiya and Rami Mhanna, confirmed that the teen had been killed by gunshots and then run over by a bulldozer. The military official said he was aware that Shamia was a civilian and that the military was looking into it.

    Maram Atta said that on Dec. 7, her 3-year-old daughter, Ahed al-Bayouk, was playing with siblings outside of their tent, which was near the yellow line along Gaza’s southern coast. Atta was preparing lentils when she heard aircraft overhead, then shots.

    A stray projectile whizzed close to her and struck Ahed, who was dead before they reached the clinic.

    “I lost my daughter to what they keep calling a ‘ceasefire’” said Atta, crying. “What ceasefire are they talking about?”

    A military official denied the killing.

    Deadly ambiguity

    The line’s exact location is ambiguous, differing on maps put out by the Israeli military and the White House.

    Neither matches the line troops appear to be marking on the ground, according to Palestinians and geolocation specialists.

    Video below: Palestinians react to UN plan for Gaza future

    Chris Osiek, an open source intelligence analyst and consultant, has geolocated a number of yellow blocks based on social media videos. He found at least four urban areas where troops set the blocks several hundred meters deeper into Gaza than the military map-specified yellow line.

    “This is basically what you get when you simply let Trump make an image and post it on Truth Social and let the IDF make their own,” he said, using the acronym for the military. “If it’s not a proper system, with coordinates that make it easy for people to navigate where it is, then you leave the ambiguity free for the IDF to interpret the yellow line how they basically want.”

    The military official dismissed such criticism, saying any deviations from the map amount to just a few meters. But to Palestinians hemmed in by widespread destruction and displacement, every few meters lost is another house that can’t be sheltered in — another they doubt will ever be returned.

    ‘The line is getting very close’

    Under the ceasefire, Israeli forces are only supposed to remain at the yellow line until a fuller withdrawal, though the agreement doesn’t give a timeline for that. With the next steps in the deal lagging and troops digging into positions on the Israeli side, though, Palestinians wonder if they are witnessing a permanent land takeover.

    In December, Israel’s defense minister described the yellow line as “a new border line — serving as a forward defensive line for our communities and a line of operational activity.”

    The military has continued leveling buildings inside the Israeli-held zone, turning already damaged neighborhoods to moonscapes. Almost all of the city of Rafah, on Gaza’s border with Egypt, has been razed over the past year. The army says this is necessary to destroy tunnels and prepare the area for reconstruction.

    In some places, demolitions since the ceasefire have encroached beyond the official yellow line. Since November, troops have leveled a swath of Gaza City’s Tuffah neighborhood extending some 300 meters (330 yards) outside the Israeli-held zone, according to Oct. 14 and Dec. 18 satellite photos provided by Planet Labs.

    Video below: Israeli settlers forcibly enter Palestinian home, kill sheep in latest West Bank attack

    Abu Jahal moved back to his damaged house in Tuffah at the ceasefire’s start. He said he frequently saw new yellow barrels appear and the military forcing out anyone living on its side of the markers.

    On Jan. 7, Israeli fire hit a house near him, and the residents had to evacuate, he said. Abu Jahal said his family — including his wife, their child, and seven other relatives — may also have to leave soon.

    “The line is getting very close,” he said.

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  • Israel objects to U.S. announcement on Gaza reconstruction committee

    In a rare criticism of the U.S., its close ally, Israel’s government is objecting to the White House announcement of leaders who will play a role in overseeing the next steps in Gaza.

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement Saturday, a day following the announcement, that the Gaza executive committee was “not coordinated with Israel and is contrary to its policy.” Netanyahu has told the foreign minister to contact U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the statement said.

    Minutes after the statement from Netanyahu’s office, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, in a statement backed the prime minister and urged him to order the military to prepare to return to war.

    The White House released the names of some of the leaders who will play a role in the committee. The list does not include any Israeli officials, but includes an Israeli businessman.

    Other members announced so far include Rubio, President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Ali Shaath, an engineer and former Palestinian Authority official from Gaza, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan, World Bank President Ajay Banga and Mr. Trump’s deputy national security adviser Robert Gabriel.

    The White House has said the executive committee will carry out the vision of a Trump-led “Board of Peace,” whose members have not yet been named. The White House also announced the members of a new Palestinian committee to run Gaza’s day-to-day affairs, with oversight from the executive committee.

    Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was invited by Mr. Trump to join the board, an offer he intends to accept, a senior aide told Agence France-Presse on Saturday. The senior Canadian government official did not provide further details.

    Meanwhile, Egypt and Turkey are said to be reviewing invitations by Mr. Trump to join the group. Egypt’s foreign minister said in a press conference that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was invited to join, while the Turkish presidency said President Tayyip Erdogan received a letter from the U.S. president.

    The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Gaza’s second-largest militant group after Hamas, in a statement also expressed dissatisfaction with the makeup of the executive committee and claimed it reflected Israeli “specifications.”

    Earlier this week, Witkoff announced the U.S. was moving into what the White House has called the second phase of the Gaza peace plan. It would include the new Palestinian committee in Gaza, deployment of an international security force, disarmament of Hamas and reconstruction of the war-battered territory.

    In a post to X, Witkoff said it also involves Hamas returning the remains of the final deceased hostage still in Gaza. 

    “Failure to do so will bring serious consequences,” Witkoff wrote.

    The ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10, with the first phase focusing on the return of all remaining hostages in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian detainees, along with a surge in humanitarian aid and a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces in Gaza.

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  • Tony Blair, Rubio, Kushner, Witkoff to help oversee Gaza reconstruction, White House says

    The White House released the names of some of the leaders who will play a role in overseeing the next steps in Gaza after the Palestinian committee set to govern the territory under U.S. supervision met for the first time Friday in Cairo. 

    The committee’s leader, Ali Shaath, an engineer and former Palestinian Authority official from Gaza, pledged to get to work quickly to improve conditions. He expects reconstruction and recovery to take about three years and plans to focus first on immediate needs, including shelter.

    “The Palestinian people were looking forward to this committee, its establishment and its work to rescue them,” Shaath said after the meeting, in a television interview with Egypt’s state-owned Al-Qahera News.

    Under President Trump’s plan, Shaath’s technocratic committee will run day-to-day affairs in Gaza under the oversight of a Trump-led “Board of Peace,” whose members have not yet been named.

    The White House said an executive board will work to carry out the vision of the Board of Peace.

    The executive board’s members, announced Friday, include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan, World Bank President Ajay Banga, and Mr. Trump’s deputy national security adviser Robert Gabriel.

    Nickolay Mladenov, a former Bulgarian politician and U.N. Middle East envoy, is to serve as the executive board’s representative overseeing day-to-day matters.

    Mr. Trump supports the group’s efforts to govern Gaza after the two-year war between Israel and Hamas. Israeli troops withdrew from parts of Gaza after the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10, while thousands of displaced Palestinians have returned to what is left of their homes. 

    Kushner and Witkoff were key negotiators in helping Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas reach a ceasefire deal, the premise of which was based on a 20-point blueprint from the White House. In an interview with “60 Minutes” in October, Kushner said the success or failure of the peace plan would depend on whether Israel and the international partners involved can create “a viable alternative” to Hamas’ violent tactics.

    “If they are successful, Hamas will fail, and Gaza will not be a threat to Israel in the future,” Kushner told “60 Minutes.”

    Earlier this week, Witkoff announced the U.S. was moving into what the White House has called the second phase of the Gaza peace plan. In a post to X, Witkoff said this involved Hamas returning the remains of the final deceased hostage still in Gaza. 

    “Failure to do so will bring serious consequences,” Witkoff wrote.  

    Now, there will be a number of huge challenges going forward, including the deployment of an international security force to supervise the ceasefire deal and the difficult process of disarming Hamas.

    The White House also announced the members of another board, the “Gaza Executive Board,” which will work with Mladenov, the technocratic committee and the international stabilization force.

    Witkoff, Kushner, Blair, Rowan and Mladenov will also sit on that board. Additional members include Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan; Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi; Hassan Rashad, director of Egypt’s General Intelligence Agency; Emirati minister Reem Al-Hashimy; Israeli businessman Yakir Gabay and Sigrid Kaag, the Netherlands’ former deputy prime minister and a Middle East expert. 

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  • Gaza After the Ceasefire

    The Gaza Strip is more or less divided between the half controlled by Hamas and the half that is controlled by the Israelis. How has this changed what life is like for Gazans?

    In terms of the half of the Strip that is controlled by Israel, they’re not allowing anybody in, and anybody who comes close to what they call the yellow line may get shot or killed. So all Gazans are living inside the Hamas-controlled side, and that’s not enabling us to access our farmland, for example, or garbage-dump sites. There are also cities on the other side, even though they have been largely demolished. Factories and industrial areas are also on that side. There were several wastewater-treatment plants, too. It’s an essential part of Gaza, which is so small. It’s really causing a difficult situation.

    Is one of your concerns that this is going to become a long-term border, and that the Gaza Strip and the people who live in it are going to be permanently stuck in the part of Gaza that they’re in now?

    No. I think that we have a ceasefire agreement. We have a Trump plan, and we are sure, or hopeful, that the Trump plan will work and President Trump will be able to, if not convince, then force the Israelis to stick to the plan and withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

    This is your hope, you’re saying?

    It’s hope, and really we believe that it will most likely happen.

    Is there a reason that you’re more hopeful about this than I am?

    [Laughs.] Because I want to believe it. It’s our only hope. The situation cannot really continue like this.

    How would you describe the attitude toward Hamas in the Gaza Strip now?

    In what sense? They are controlling everything in Gaza. They are trying to help the situation in Gaza. They are providing security for us, which is most important. You cannot leave things in a vacuum. If you leave New York in a vacuum, without security, without police, what will happen? Same thing in Gaza. So we’re very comfortable with their keeping the security in Gaza. For instance, before the signing of the ceasefire agreement, there was lots of looting of humanitarian aid, and these looters were backed up. They were militias backed up by Israel and protected by Israel. The main one was the Abu Shabab group. They used to loot trucks, and then take refuge in Israeli-controlled areas. That has stopped. It stopped because the de-facto government is preventing them from doing it.

    I know that a lot of prominent businesspeople, including you, decided to write a letter to Trump urging an end to the war, right before the ceasefire came into effect. Some of the people who signed that letter were very critical of Hamas in other venues. Was there a division about how much to be critical in the letter?

    Anybody in Gaza can be critical of Hamas. It’s O.K. We have freedom to talk about Hamas or anybody else. [Palestinians in Gaza, including journalists, have been physically assaulted for criticizing or reporting negatively on Hamas. Since the ceasefire went into effect, Hamas has also carried out executions of people whom it claims were political rivals or collaborators with Israel.] I mean, it’s a personal opinion, so there’s no problem with that. Is that your question? Maybe I did not understand your question.

    Well, I know you’ve said that you think the Palestinian Authority will be better able to bring about a long-term solution and a two-state solution, which you advocate.

    Well, it’s our only hope, actually. We want to be united with the West Bank, and the Palestinian Authority is the best scenario for this. We hope we will have elections. I mean, Palestinians deserve to decide, and to have elections—they deserve to select their representatives and to have an exchange of authority.

    Right, because the last elections in Gaza were a couple of decades ago, correct?

    Exactly. Yes.

    Can you talk a little bit about what your job is?

    I’m the chairman of the Gaza Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture. We are trying here to help our members get their papers for reactivating bank accounts, or to start businesses both outside and within Gaza. We’re trying to help them organize local markets, and coördinate or actually do some networking for them with humanitarian actors. And we do trainings. But there isn’t much we can do, because of Israeli restrictions. They are even preventing some fuel for the private sector. They are preventing the entry of agricultural seeds like tomato, cucumber, whatever, with the intention to keep all people dependent on humanitarian aid and not to be productive. So my job is really difficult, because there isn’t much I can do, but we’re trying to promote, for example, electronic payments, because all the banknotes in Gaza, the cash, is getting worn out and Israel won’t allow us to replace these banknotes.

    So we do lots of advocacy work. We collect information about local markets, about some economic indicators. We produce reports in that regard. We make the international community and humanitarian actors aware of the situation, so they can be informed when making plans. We are also doing some really small projects, trying to help people in the food-production sector start or improve their businesses, but we are making very limited interventions because of the lack of finance and production-input materials.

    A lot of people in your position or somewhat similar positions managed to leave Gaza during the war. You did not. Can you talk about why you stayed?

    Yes. When the war started, I was new in my position: I was elected at the beginning of 2023, and nine months later the war broke out. I felt that I was obliged to stay with the people who elected me in Gaza. I really like Gaza so much, and I don’t think I can stay out of Gaza for long. And what am I going to do outside? Being a Palestinian, it is very difficult to be somewhere outside. And I know many people are in Egypt now, but they are in difficult situations economically. I didn’t think that it would go on this long, of course. But I’m very happy that I did not leave because being outside Gaza for such a long time is not an easy thing.

    I know that the humanitarian situation is still not great. I know that people are still dying. I’m just curious what it feels like in the Strip, and if people have become more hopeful or not in the last couple of months since the ceasefire.

    Isaac Chotiner

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  • Israel-backed Gaza militias tout themselves as part of any post-conflict solution

    AMMAN, Jordan — When Israel and Hamas signed a ceasefire earlier this year, it brought into question the fate of militias Israel cultivated during the devastating two-year war as an alternative ruling force in Gaza. Many expected that Hamas — still the dominant force in the Strip — would hunt them down.

    Instead, Israel has shifted the militias to the half of Gaza from which it has yet to withdraw, east of the so-called Yellow Line, the military boundary which divides Gaza in two. In the Israeli-controlled half, five factions, still supported by Israel with arms and aid, have established what are essentially tiny fiefdoms, even as they continue to wage a harassment campaign across the Yellow Line to stop Hamas from reasserting its rule.

    For its part, Israel wants to use the factions as local proxies to secure parts of the enclave under its control, ensure they’re free of any hostile groups, then set up humanitarian distribution points to keep residents there.

    “The objective,” according to a June report on Israeli-supported militias in Gaza from the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, “is to sever Hamas’s access to both the local population and to the incoming humanitarian aid.”

    But the militias, which first arose as criminal gangs exploiting the security vacuum during the war and include members with questionable links to Islamic State, have larger plans: They tout themselves as an integral part of any post-conflict plan.

    “After two years of destruction by Hamas, we are the nucleus of a new Gaza, one which will provide a dignified life for Gazan citizens,” said Hussam Al-Astal, the head of one faction called Strike Force Against Terror and which controls a mostly depopulated village southwest of the southern Gazan city of Khan Yunis. He said Israel is working with five different factions operating across the Israeli-controlled parts of the enclave.

    He added that he has hundreds of militiamen under his command, contradicting observers who put the total number of fighters across the five groups at around 200.

    “Israel is now looking for a peace partner in Gaza,” Al-Astal said. “That’s what we will be.”

    The largest of the factions working with Israel is the so-called Popular Forces, which was led until recently by Yasser Abu Shabab, a 32-year-old clansman who was imprisoned twice by Hamas before the war on charges of drug trafficking; and known to have ties to Islamic State in neighboring Sinai. He escaped from a Hamas prison during the war.

    Abu Shabab, who was regularly accused by humanitarian groups of looting aid trucks, was assassinated this month by disgruntled members of his militia, according to a statement from Abu Shabab’s clan.

    He was soon replaced by his deputy, Ghassan Al-Duhini, 39, a no less controversial figure who once served as a security officer with the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, then left it to join Jaysh al-Islam, a Gaza-based armed faction that pledged allegiance to Islamic State in 2015.

    Al-Duhini reportedly coordinated smuggling with militant groups in Sinai. He too was arrested twice by Hamas before the war and escaped when it began.

    Since the ceasefire, Israel has been working through the Popular Forces as its proxy in Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip which was all but destroyed during the war, razed by Israeli forces.

    The city now lies mostly empty. But the U.S.-led Civilian-Military Coordination Center (the body supposed to monitor the ceasefire, coordinate aid deliveries and start reconstruction in the enclave) is considering Rafah as a pilot for a Hamas-free, so-called “alternative safe community” of some 10,000 to 15,000 people, according to a U.N. official and an aid worker who refused to be named to be able to speak freely.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Mar-a-Lago on Monday, where he met with President Trump and a raft of U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with whom Netanyahu said on X he had “a great meeting.”

    Netanyahu was discussing the implementation of the second phase of the ceasefire, which calls for an interim authority to govern the Gaza, along with an International Stabilization Force that would deploy in Israel’s stead. Both points are problematic for Israel, which has been reluctant to continue on to the second phase without seeing Hamas disarm.

    Plans call for Gaza to be governed by a Trump-led Board of Peace, which would also oversee rebuilding the Strip for its 2.1 million people.

    During a news conference ahead of his meeting with Netanyahu, Trump pointed to the Israeli leader and said he was “looking forward” to the start of reconstruction.

    “We’ve already started certain things, we’re doing things for sanitary and others,” Trump said. “But Gaza is a tough place, it’s truly a tough neighborhood.”

    Reconstruction is likely to start in Rafah, said the unnamed aid worker, which would mean “the U.S. will be cooperating with an ISIS-aligned security force,” using an abbreviation for Islamic State.

    Of Al-Duhini, the aid worker said, “There are so many other, better partners in Gaza than this guy.”

    In a recent propaganda video released by the Popular Forces group, Al-Duhini is shown addressing a group of gunmen, telling them they are working as part of the Trump-led Board of Peace and the International Stabilization Force, which are meant to monitor the ceasefire.

    “We will sweep through Rafah one grain of a sand at a time,” he says, to remove “terrorism” and allow civilians to return to the area. “We want to establish a safe community.”

    What that has meant in practice, according to analysts and people living in areas under the Popular Forces’ control, is a heavy security hand, with militiamen regularly confiscating and inspecting people’s phones, preventing them from communicating with anyone in Hamas-controlled areas, and searching homes.

    “They’re treating them like prisoners,” said Muhammad Shehada, a Gaza expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations. He added that Israel had given the factions capture-or-kill lists for various Hamas members in Gaza and was supervising interrogations.

    Meanwhile, the militias have also conducted hit-and-run operations against Hamas operatives, killing a number of them when the opportunity arises; the Popular Forces said in June they had killed 50 Hamas members.

    On Monday, Hamas confirmed the death of a number of its top commanders in strikes by Israel during the last year.

    The leaders killed included Muhammad Sinwar, head of its military wing the Qassam Brigade, the head of manufacturing and chief of staff. Also killed was Abu Ubaida, the masked spokesman last seen in a September speech; the group identified him as Huthaifa Al-Kahlout. Israel previously disclosed his identity in 2023.

    The groups have also acted on Israel’s behalf: Last week, a faction called the Popular Defense Army, based near Gaza City, shot at homes in a neighborhood east of the city, forcing residents to leave. Observers said this was aimed at allowing Israel to shift the Yellow Line westward. (The Yellow Line’s location was specified during the ceasefire, but Israel has continued to shift it westward.)

    According to Al-Astal, of the group Strike Force Against Terror, the five militias plan to unite their efforts soon with the establishment of a military council, which he says could act as a transitional government for the moment Hamas falls. He said international recognition would help.

    There are indications of support beyond Israel. Popular Forces’ fighters have appeared with vehicles with markings from the United Arab Emirates, and some of the factions claim they are affiliated peripherally with the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinian Authority denied any links.

    “We’re hoping to have better things coming, and that our presence will expand,” Al-Astal said. He added that once this happens, he expects people in Hamas-held areas to shift to eastward to the militias’ control.

    “I’m telling you, if the way before them was open, there wouldn’t be a single person left in those parts of Gaza under Hamas except for just a few Hamas fighters,” he said.

    Nabih Bulos

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  • Here are PolitiFact’s top 10 fact-checks of 2025

    Claims about deportations, the Department of Government Efficiency, and someone fainting in the White House were among the mistruths that kept PolitiFact busy in 2025 — and they featured in some of our most popular stories this year. 

    Here are our 10 most-read fact-checks, from a tenuous gang connection to fears over voter eligibility.

    10. President Donald Trump says Kilmar Abrego Garcia has “‘MS-13’ on his knuckles.” 

    President Donald Trump said Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a man the U.S. government deported to El Salvador in March, had MS-13 tattooed on his knuckles — illustrating a purported affiliation with the MS-13 gang founded by El Salvadoran immigrants.

    Trump made the claim during an April interview, referring to an image he posted on Truth Social of a left hand bearing four tattoos. Each finger in the picture displayed a different image — a marijuana leaf, a smiley face with an X for eyes, a cross and a skull — and an M, an S, a 1 and a 3 above these images. 

    But we found that the M, S, 1 and 3 don’t appear in other photos of Abrego Garcia’s hand, including one that Salvadoran government officials took when Abrego Garcia met with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., on April 17 in El Salvador. (Abrego Garcia is now back in the U.S awaiting a criminal trial.)  

    The tattoos also do not appear in an Abrego Garcia family photo immigration advocates shared. The photograph Trump shared appears to have been altered to include “MS-13” above the other symbols. And MS-13 experts told PolitiFact that none of those symbols are known signifiers of the gang. 

    We rated this claim Pants on Fire!

    9. Novo Nordisk’s Gordon Findlay didn’t faint Nov. 6, 2025, in the Oval Office. He wasn’t even there

    Dave Ricks, chair and chief executive officer of pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co., was speaking in the Oval Office on Nov. 6 when a man standing behind him fainted. 

    Multiple social media posts claimed the man who became ill was “Novo Nordisk Executive Gordon Findlay.” They included a post from X’s artificial intelligence-powered chatbot Grok.

    But Gordon Findlay, a Novo Nordisk manager based in Switzerland, wasn’t at the White House that day.

    The man who fainted doesn’t work for Novo Nordisk or Eli Lilly; he was an Eli Lilly GLP-1 patient and attended a drug pricing announcement at the White House as the company’s guest.

    We rated this claim False.

    8. Did Bill Clinton create a fast-track deportation process exempt from due process? No.

    As the Trump administration drew criticism over aggressive deportations, some social media users pointed to a law enacted under former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat. The posts said an immigration law Clinton signed showed immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally are not entitled to due process.

    The 1996 law established a fast-track deportation process called expedited removal that allows people to be deported without first going to immigration court. Although immigrants going through that process have fewer protections, they are not exempt from due process. People are screened, notified of deportation and can contest the deportation if they have a well-founded fear of persecution. Legal experts say there are no exceptions to due process rights, regardless of immigrants’ legal status or how they entered the country.

    We rated this claim False.

    7. Is it ‘official’ that Trump approved a $5,000 ‘DOGE dividend’ stimulus? No.

    As the Department of Government Efficiency touted billions in canceled government contracts, rumors spread that the reclaimed money would wind up in taxpayers’ pockets.

    A Feb. 23 Facebook post, for example, said Trump was going to sign an order giving some taxpayers a stimulus check for $5,000.

    We found no White House announcements or news reports reflecting this. 

    James Fishback, CEO of the investment firm Azoria Partners, proposed giving American taxpayers a $5,000 “DOGE dividend” with money the Department of Government Efficiency aimed to save, and Trump mentioned the idea to reporters.

    But DOGE didn’t cut the necessary $2 trillion from the federal government’s budget to make this proposed plan feasible.

    We rated this claim False.

    6. El gobernador de Texas Greg Abbott no dijo que deportaría a Dios si ‘fuera ilegal’

    A Spanish-language TikTok video appeared to show a journalist reporting that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he would have deported God if the higher power were in the U.S. illegally. 

    But the July video manipulated TelevisaUnivision journalist Enrique Acevedo’s voice to present the misleading news. PolitiFact en Español submitted the audio from the video to an AI detector, which said the audio was fake.

    We rated this claim False.

    5. X post exaggerates wealth of Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer and Elizabeth Warren

    A Feb. 11 X post called out the significant wealth of prominent Democratic and Republican members of Congress. The account wrote about the supposed annual salaries and net worths of Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

    Members of Congress are required to file annual financial disclosure reports detailing their assets and liabilities. Lawmakers also publicly report their annual salaries. But the lawmakers’ net worths weren’t driven by their government salaries; instead, their wealth mostly came from investments, such as stocks and real estate.

    PolitiFact analyzed these four congressional members’ 2023 financial disclosure reports — the most recent ones available at the time — and found that this post exaggerated their wealth.

    We rated this claim Mostly False.

    4. Zelenskyy’s statement about Ukraine aid didn’t reveal money laundering operation

    After Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his military had received only a portion of the U.S. aid earmarked for the country’s war against Russia, critics floated that the funding was misused through money laundering.

    But Zelenskyy’s Feb. 1 statements aren’t proof of money laundering; they align with public data on the U.S. funding packages. 

    Zelenskyy said Ukraine had received about $75 billion in military assistance of the $175 billion the U.S. has dedicated to Ukraine aid. That was in line with what researchers monitoring funding to Ukraine observed at the time.

    A large portion of the money stayed in the U.S. and a smaller portion went to other countries in the region. 

    We rated these claims False.

    3. No, Trump didn’t post that the president should be impeached if the Dow drops 1,000 points

    As Trump’s tariffs on Canada and Mexico took effect March 4, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by more than 1,300 points in two days.

    Some X users — including former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., — shared a screenshot of what looked like a 2012 X post from Trump.

    The screenshot made it look like Trump wrote, “If the Dow drops 1,000 points in two days the President should be impeached immediately.”

    But this was a fake post that had been circulating for at least six years. There’s no record of Trump making such a statement.

    We rated this claim Pants on Fire!

    2. Trump had hand in temporary ceasefires around the world but evidence is scant he stopped ‘six wars’

    Trump has repeatedly said he’s ended several wars, but there’s a lot of uncertainty around Trump’s role in these conflicts.

    “I’ve stopped six wars — I’m averaging about a war a month,” Trump said July 28 in Scotland. 

    Experts said in August that although he deserves some credit for deals that eased various conflicts, some leaders dispute his role in such negotiations.

    The U.S. was involved in a temporary peace deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda that experts said is significant albeit shaky, for example. But Trump also wrongly said he ended a conflict between Egypt and Ethiopia, and there’s little evidence he thwarted an escalation between Kosovo and Serbia. 

    We fact-checked other similar statements from the president this year, including one that he ended “seven unendable wars.”

    We rated that and this claim Mostly False.

    1. SAVE Act would make it harder, not impossible, for married people to register to vote

    Congressional Republicans want to pass a bill that would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote. This worried voting rights advocates who say it would hinder registration among eligible citizens.

    The SAVE Act, would require people registering to vote or updating their voter registrations to use certain identifying documents, including military IDs, enhanced IDs showing citizenship, birth certificates or passports to prove citizenship. The bill passed in the House in April and is awaiting debate in the Senate.

    “If you are a woman that has changed your name from your birth certificate, let’s say through marriage and you took your husband’s name, you are no longer eligible to vote if this bill passes the Senate,” a Feb. 10 TikTok video said. 

    That’s not quite accurate. The bill would make voter registration more difficult for married people who change their last names, and anyone whose name does not match the name on a birth certificate. But it would not prohibit it outright. 

    We rated this claim Mostly False. 

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  • A Reckoning for the Stalled Gaza Peace Plan

    On Monday, President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet at Mar-a-Lago in what may be the most consequential moment for the stalled Gaza peace plan. The three-phase scheme went into effect in October, with both Israel and Hamas accepting the initial terms and agreeing to a ceasefire. In mid-November, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution endorsing the plan, which Trump’s Ambassador to the U.N., Mike Waltz, hailed as “charting a new course in the Middle East for Israelis and Palestinians.” The Palestinian Authority’s Vice-President, Hussein al-Sheikh, later met with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and a U.S. representative in Ramallah, and commended the efforts of Trump and mediating governments in “consolidating the ceasefire, facilitating the entry of humanitarian aid, reconstruction, and moving toward the making of peace, security, and stability.” For weeks, though, the plan has been stuck in phase one, despite the White House’s claims that the transition to the next phase is imminent, and Gaza has continued to deteriorate under conditions the ceasefire was meant to end.

    It is no surprise that the peace plan has stalled. Each stage is more difficult to implement than the last. Phase one began on October 10th with a ceasefire, prisoner exchanges, and an Israeli withdrawal to what became known as the “yellow line”—a monitored boundary that left Israel in control of more than half of Gaza. The phase was also supposed to include a large increase in humanitarian aid, and to allow Palestinians to begin returning to certain areas. It also conditions reconstruction on Palestinian institutions meeting security benchmarks and treats the demilitarization of Hamas and other armed factions as a precondition for any horizon of Palestinian self-rule. Phase two calls for the disarmament of Hamas, further Israeli withdrawals, and the deployment of an International Stabilization Force (I.S.F.) composed of foreign troops tasked with enforcing the zonal map and maintaining stability. Phase three would complete the Israeli withdrawal and establish longer-term governance arrangements under a Board of Peace—a new institution, chaired by the United States and including Israel, Egypt, and key ally states.

    But the plan does more than sequence withdrawals and define phases. It locks in the zonal map created by the war, dividing Gaza into areas of unequal access and control (by defining where Palestinians may live and rebuild, for instance). Hamas, which initially accepted the ceasefire text, now denounces the framework as an effort to turn an emergency pause into a permanent security order. The group refuses to disarm and rejects any international force operating within Gaza to enforce demilitarization, arguing that such measures would favor Israel and violate its right to armed resistance. Israeli officials, meanwhile, have emphasized the need to preserve buffer zones and positions along the Gaza Strip. They’ve insisted on maintaining what they call “operational freedom” to conduct raids whenever they deem necessary.

    Palestinians, who were largely excluded from the drafting process, enter the structure only once their institutions—implicitly, a reshaped Palestinian Authority—meet benchmarks set by the Board of Peace, such as transparency, capacity, and good governance. The Authority has not held national elections since 2006, when the vote produced a Hamas victory; it continues to govern parts of the West Bank through security coördination with Israel and a system of patronage that has left it widely distrusted, particularly in Gaza. But a technocratic P.A. answering to Washington’s criteria is not the same as an elected one answering to Palestinians. The peace plan treats reform as a substitute for a political process in which Palestinians themselves have a say.

    In Gaza, people are still trying to make sense of the new map, set forth by the first phase of the plan, which divides their home into three color-coded zones. The green zone is a band of territory that hugs much of Gaza’s eastern perimeter and includes other areas seized through months of Israeli ground operations. It’s the only part of the Strip where reconstruction is authorized in the early stages. The plan envisages that foreign contractors will build critical infrastructure and center humanitarian operations there, under the close supervision of the I.S.F. and the Israeli Army, which retains a functional veto over what is rebuilt, and also where and when.

    The red zone comprises districts that, together, make up about half of Gaza. There, little or no rebuilding is planned until security demands—such as verified disarmament, stable patrol lines, and cleared supply routes—are met. This area includes the majority of Gaza’s most densely populated neighborhoods. Given the political impasse and Hamas’s refusal to disarm, there’s no realistic path to meeting these conditions anytime soon—which means rebuilding in the red zone is indefinitely stalled. The plan treats this destruction as a given and encodes displacement as an acceptable, even rational, outcome of the war.

    Mohammed R. Mhawish

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  • Pope Leo XIV urges faithful on Christmas to shed indifference in the face of suffering

    We’re holding *** few activities for the children to help with their mental health. We just want to relieve the children from the shock that they have experienced in the last two years of war and the conditions that completely swallowed them. They couldn’t control it, but those were our conditions. They have suffered *** lot, so we’re trying *** different touch this holiday season, different activities, so that they can feel some amount of joy. It is true that we always have hoped that it will get better and Gaza will become better, that we go back to our homes, celebrate, go back to the same way we were before the war, go to pray and celebrate, that we would reunited again as *** family around the table tomorrow or at dinner on Christmas Day, and we would talk, relax, and laugh. Every time I remember those moments, I feel sad of what our lives have become.

    During his first Christmas Day message Thursday, Pope Leo XIV urged the faithful to shed indifference in the face of those who have lost everything, like in Gaza, those who are in impoverished, like in Yemen, and the many migrants who cross the Mediterranean Sea and the American continent for a better future.Related video above: Gaza’s tiny Christian community tries to revive holiday spirit during ceasefireThe first U.S. pontiff addressed some 26,000 people from the loggia overlooking St. Peter’s Square for the traditional papal “Urbi et Orbi” address, Latin for “To the City and to the World,” which serves as a summary of the woes facing the world.While the crowd gathered under a steady downpour during the papal Mass inside St. Peter’s Basilica, the rain had subsided by the time Leo took a brief tour of the square in the popemobile, then spoke to the crowd from the loggia.Leo revived the tradition of offering Christmas greetings in multiple languages that was abandoned by his predecessor, Pope Francis. He received especially warm cheers when he made his greetings in his native English and Spanish, the language of his adopted country of Peru, where he served first as a missionary and then as archbishop.Someone in the crowd shouted out, “Viva il papa!” or “Long live the pope!” before he retreated into the basilica. Leo took off his glasses for a final wave.Leo surveys the world’s distressDuring the traditional address, the pope emphasized that everyone can contribute to peace by acting with humility and responsibility.“If he would truly enter into the suffering of others and stand in solidarity with the weak and the oppressed, then the world would change,” the pope said.Leo called for “justice, peace and stability” in Lebanon, Palestine, Israel and Syria, prayers for “the tormented people of Ukraine,” and “peace and consolation” for victims of wars, injustice, political stability, religious persecution and terrorism, citing Sudan, South Sudan, Mali, Burkina Faso and Congo.The pope also urged dialogue to address “numerous challenges” in Latin America, reconciliation in Myanmar, the restoration of “the ancient friendship between Thailand and Cambodia,” and assistance for the suffering of those hit by natural disasters in South Asia and Oceania.“In becoming man, Jesus took upon himself our fragility, identifying with each one of us: with those who have nothing left and have lost everything, like the inhabitants of Gaza; with those who are prey to hunger and poverty, like the Yemeni people; with those who are fleeing their homeland to seek a future elsewhere, like the many refugees and migrants who cross the Mediterranean or traverse the American continent,” the pontiff said.He also remembered those who have lost their jobs or are seeking work, especially young people, underpaid workers and those in prison.Peace through dialogueEarlier, Leo led the Christmas Day Mass from the central altar beneath the balustrade of St. Peter’s Basilica, adorned with floral garlands and clusters of red poinsettias. White flowers were set at the feet of a statue of Mary, mother of Jesus, whose birth is celebrated on Christmas Day.In his homily, Leo underlined that peace can emerge only through dialogue.“There will be peace when our monologues are interrupted and, enriched by listening, we fall to our knees before the humanity of the other,” he said.He remembered the people of Gaza, “exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold” and the fragility of “defenseless populations, tried by so many wars,’’ and of “young people forced to take up arms, who on the front lines feel the senselessness of what is asked of them, and the falsehoods that fill the pompous speeches of those who send them to their deaths.’’Thousands of people packed the basilica for the pope’s first Christmas Day Mass, holding their smartphones aloft to capture images of the opening procession.This Christmas season marks the winding down of the Holy Year celebrations, which will close on Jan. 6, the Catholic Epiphany holiday marking the visit of the three wise men to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem.___Barry reported from Milan.

    VATICAN CITY —

    During his first Christmas Day message Thursday, Pope Leo XIV urged the faithful to shed indifference in the face of those who have lost everything, like in Gaza, those who are in impoverished, like in Yemen, and the many migrants who cross the Mediterranean Sea and the American continent for a better future.

    Related video above: Gaza’s tiny Christian community tries to revive holiday spirit during ceasefire

    The first U.S. pontiff addressed some 26,000 people from the loggia overlooking St. Peter’s Square for the traditional papal “Urbi et Orbi” address, Latin for “To the City and to the World,” which serves as a summary of the woes facing the world.

    While the crowd gathered under a steady downpour during the papal Mass inside St. Peter’s Basilica, the rain had subsided by the time Leo took a brief tour of the square in the popemobile, then spoke to the crowd from the loggia.

    Leo revived the tradition of offering Christmas greetings in multiple languages that was abandoned by his predecessor, Pope Francis. He received especially warm cheers when he made his greetings in his native English and Spanish, the language of his adopted country of Peru, where he served first as a missionary and then as archbishop.

    Someone in the crowd shouted out, “Viva il papa!” or “Long live the pope!” before he retreated into the basilica. Leo took off his glasses for a final wave.

    Leo surveys the world’s distress

    During the traditional address, the pope emphasized that everyone can contribute to peace by acting with humility and responsibility.

    “If he would truly enter into the suffering of others and stand in solidarity with the weak and the oppressed, then the world would change,” the pope said.

    Leo called for “justice, peace and stability” in Lebanon, Palestine, Israel and Syria, prayers for “the tormented people of Ukraine,” and “peace and consolation” for victims of wars, injustice, political stability, religious persecution and terrorism, citing Sudan, South Sudan, Mali, Burkina Faso and Congo.

    The pope also urged dialogue to address “numerous challenges” in Latin America, reconciliation in Myanmar, the restoration of “the ancient friendship between Thailand and Cambodia,” and assistance for the suffering of those hit by natural disasters in South Asia and Oceania.

    “In becoming man, Jesus took upon himself our fragility, identifying with each one of us: with those who have nothing left and have lost everything, like the inhabitants of Gaza; with those who are prey to hunger and poverty, like the Yemeni people; with those who are fleeing their homeland to seek a future elsewhere, like the many refugees and migrants who cross the Mediterranean or traverse the American continent,” the pontiff said.

    He also remembered those who have lost their jobs or are seeking work, especially young people, underpaid workers and those in prison.

    Peace through dialogue

    Earlier, Leo led the Christmas Day Mass from the central altar beneath the balustrade of St. Peter’s Basilica, adorned with floral garlands and clusters of red poinsettias. White flowers were set at the feet of a statue of Mary, mother of Jesus, whose birth is celebrated on Christmas Day.

    In his homily, Leo underlined that peace can emerge only through dialogue.

    “There will be peace when our monologues are interrupted and, enriched by listening, we fall to our knees before the humanity of the other,” he said.

    He remembered the people of Gaza, “exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold” and the fragility of “defenseless populations, tried by so many wars,’’ and of “young people forced to take up arms, who on the front lines feel the senselessness of what is asked of them, and the falsehoods that fill the pompous speeches of those who send them to their deaths.’’

    Thousands of people packed the basilica for the pope’s first Christmas Day Mass, holding their smartphones aloft to capture images of the opening procession.

    This Christmas season marks the winding down of the Holy Year celebrations, which will close on Jan. 6, the Catholic Epiphany holiday marking the visit of the three wise men to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem.

    ___

    Barry reported from Milan.


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  • Pope Leo’s first Christmas homily laments conditions in Gaza, urges peace in Ukraine

    Pope Leo XIV on Thursday condemned the “rubble and open wounds” left behind by wars, singling out the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza as he conducted his first Christmas homily.

    “Fragile is the flesh of defenseless populations, tried by so many wars, ongoing or concluded, leaving behind rubble and open wounds,” the pope said at the mass in St Peter’s Basilica.

    “How … can we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold,” he said.

    Pope Leo XIV addresses the faithful as he performs the Christmas mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican on Dec. 25, 2025.

    Tiziana FABI / AFP via Getty Images


    In Bethlehem, the Christian community celebrated its first festive Christmas in more than two years as the occupied West Bank city emerged from the shadow of the war in Gaza.

    Heavy rains have battered Gaza in recent days, compounding the harsh conditions of the Palestinian territory’s residents, nearly all of whom were displaced during the war. The U.N. has said an estimated 1.3 million people currently need shelter assistance in Gaza and has warned of the increasing risk of hypothermia as temperatures dip.

    Leo met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Vatican last month. According to a Vatican statement, both leaders agreed on “the urgent need to provide assistance to the civilian population in Gaza” and to “end the conflict by pursuing a two-state solution,” which would see an independent Palestinian state created alongside Israel.

    In a Christmas blessing Thursday, Leo also urged Russia and Ukraine to find the “courage” for direct talks following weeks of intense international diplomacy to end their nearly four-year war.

    “May the parties involved, with the support and commitment of the international community, find the courage to engage in sincere, direct and respectful dialogue,” Leo said.

    In recent weeks, Russian and Ukrainian officials have spoken separately to U.S. negotiators about proposals to end the conflict started by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

    Speaking to a crowd of some 26,000 in St Peter’s Square, the pope also called for “solidarity with and acceptance of those in need” in Europe, a possible reference to growing anti-immigration sentiment on the continent.

    Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost, was born in Chicago and became the first American pontiff in church history when he was chosen by his fellow cardinals at a Vatican conclave in May.

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  • Thousands attend Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Bethlehem, the first since war in Gaza began

    Thousands of people traveled from nearby towns and villages to attend Bethlehem’s annual Christmas Eve tree lighting ceremony in the city’s historic Manger Square. Historically an event filled with joy and wonder, it was the first such ceremony since the war in Gaza began in 2023. But hardly any tourists were in attendance.

    For more than two years, international tourists and Christian pilgrims have largely stayed away following Hamas’ deadly terrorist attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. As the war in Gaza raged, church leaders canceled Bethlehem’s public Christmas celebrations. 

    But this year, for Bethlehem Mayor Maher Canawati, the Trump administration-brokered ceasefire was reason enough to try to bring the faithful back to where the Christmas story began.

    “Bethlehem, you know, we are living from tourists, from tourism and from pilgrims who come to stay in our hotels, to eat in our restaurants, to buy our souvenirs that we’re producing here,” Canawati said. “And there was a complete halt on tourism for the past two years.”

    Members of the clergy take part in the yearly Christmas procession outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on Dec. 24, 2025. 

    Ilia Yefimovich /AFP via Getty Images


    Inside the 4th-century Church of the Nativity, one of the world’s oldest and most sacred Christian sites, around 15,000 visitors would arrive every day in times of peace. The absence of tourists has devastated Bethlehem’s tourism industry, and nearly its entire economy, driving unemployment up to 70%. Hotel vacancies have been at record highs.

    Muhammad Abu Jurah’s family has run a souvenir shop in Bethlehem for generations. But over the last two years, he’s been forced to lay off all six of his staff members.

    “We don’t have a lot of tourists because, you know, the war,” he said. “So, this is why they have a big problem in Bethlehem without tourists.”

    Matthew Qasis, who has worked as a tour guide in Bethlehem all of his adult life, says he’s never seen the area so quiet. 

    His message to Christians around the world: “Come back, because Bethlehem belongs to everyone, and Bethlehem is a message of love and peace. A message needed now more than ever, and a prayer of hope that the faithful return to the place where it’s believed Christmas began.” 

    Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, leads the yearly Christmas procession outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem

    The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, leads the yearly Christmas procession outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on Dec. 24, 2025. 

    ilia yefimovich /AFP via Getty Images


    Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Catholic Church’s top leader in the Holy Land and the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, commenced the holiday celebrations Wednesday during a traditional procession from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, the Associated Press reported. Pizzaballa called for “a Christmas full of light.”

    “After two years of darkness, we need light,” Pizzaballa said to the crowd in Manger Square, to whom the cardinal brought greetings from the small Christian community in Gaza, where he had held an early Christmas mass on Sunday, AP reported. “We, all together, we decide to be the light, and the light of Bethlehem is the light of the world.”

    The Associated Press

    contributed to this report.

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  • 2025 Lie of the Year: Readers’ Choice winner

    It’s time to announce PolitiFact’s Readers’ Choice winner for the 2025 Lie of the Year.

    But first, some background. We did something different with our readers’ poll this year. Historically, we’ve asked PolitiFact readers to choose one claim that they thought was the most significant falsehood or exaggeration that worked to undermine an accurate narrative. 

    This time, we wanted you to rank all the options on our ballot on a scale of one to 15, with one being the most significant falsehood and 15 being the least significant. We then looked at the average rank for each option from the 1,082 votes cast.

    PolitiFact editors pick the official winner. This year, PolitiFact is spotlighting three stories that exemplify the consequences of falsehoods in 2025, which we’re calling our Year of the Lies. 

    Our readers’ pick for the 2025 Lie of the Year — with an average ranking of 4.6 — is Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Pants on Fire claim that “there is no starvation in Gaza.”

    At the time of Netanyahu’s statement in July, the hunger crisis in Gaza was well documented in images, by United Nations data, news dispatches, first-person accounts and information from humanitarian organizations. 

    In August, a panel of experts backed by the U.N. confirmed famine in northern Gaza, noting in a report that “over half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing catastrophic conditions characterised by starvation, destitution and death.”

    RELATED: Who decides when genocide has occurred? The long legal process hinges on proving intent 

    Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire that went into effect Oct. 10, increasing aid delivery. But as of Nov. 7, the U.N. said Gaza remains in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

    This year’s selection breaks readers’ four–year streak of choosing a claim from President Donald Trump as their Lie of the Year. In 2024, both readers and PolitiFact editors chose Trump and Vice President JD Vance’s claim that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were eating pets as the Lie of the Year. 

    Here’s how readers ranked our ballot. (Remember: A lower average rating reflects a higher ranking in the poll.) We included some readers’ comments, edited for clarity, about why they voted for certain falsehoods. 

    1. Netanyahu: “There is no starvation in Gaza.” Pants on Fire. Average rank: 4.6

    What readers said: 

    “I feel Netanyahu’s lie about people not starving in Gaza is the worst. He wants the U.S. to support Israel but then lies about the deplorable conditions his administration has helped create.  Regardless of who is to blame for the war, this is a terrible atrocity to overlook and brush under the rug.”

    “Despite most every word out of Trump’s mouth being either an outright lie or exaggeration, Netanyahu’s claim regarding ‘no starvation in Gaza’ was the most significant because its negative impact directly contributed to ending lives.”

    “One look at photos from Gaza says it all.” 

    “Genocide is the most significant of all these issues. It impacts all of humanity. I’m also concerned that world leaders are asking us to believe a false narrative when we can clearly see it with our own eyes or depend on fact checkers like PolitiFact to present independent factual information.”

    “Netanyahu’s lie is the most egregious, easy to disprove, and most impactful in the number of lives being erased by the lie.”

    2. Trump: The Jeffrey Epstein files “were made up by Comey. They were made up by Obama. They were made up by Biden.” Pants on Fire. Average rank: 4.8

    Facing backlash in July from his base over his administration’s handling of the Epstein files, Trump shifted blame to his Democratic predecessors and called the files a “hoax.” As pressure swelled in Congress, Trump signed a bill in November directing the Justice Department to release its files related to its investigation into Epstein, a convicted sex offender. 

    What readers said: 

    “Trump saying Biden and Comey made up the Epstein files is beyond preposterous and makes zero sense.”

    “Trump promised to release the Epstein files, and he has told lie after lie about them.”

    “Patently false, and it’s one more way victims of child sexual assault are being dismissed and re-victimized.”

    “The Epstein files were not the most important of the choices, but the lie was so out there, and Trump was constantly denying what the materials said, that it overwhelmed all the other lies.”

    3. Trump: Regarding boat strikes off the coast of Venezuela, “Every boat that we knock out we save 25,000 American lives.” Pants on Fire. Average rank: 5.6

    In September, the U.S. military began attacking boats off the coast of Venezuela in what the Trump administration called an effort to thwart drug smuggling. Experts questioned the legality of the strikes, which have killed more than 80 people as of Dec. 2. 

    In October, Trump said each boat strike had saved 25,000 American lives by destroying drugs before they reached the U.S. The Trump administration has provided no evidence about the type or quantity of drugs it says were on boats targeted by the military. The lack of information makes it impossible to know how many lethal drug doses could have been destroyed. Drug experts told PolitiFact that Venezuela plays a minor role in trafficking drugs that reach the U.S.

    What readers said: 

    “Trump’s claims about lives saved by his attacks on boats in the Caribbean and Pacific are not just statistical nonsense; they are a justification for acts that can only honestly be called murder and piracy — and not even murder under the color of law, since those killed were not given even the pretense of a trial.” 

    “There has been little transparency in bombing boats, and no precedent for doing so. Imagine the costs of deploying so much in resources to bombing boats that hold four to six people.”

    “When a president lies to justify killing people, we have lost the moral high ground and our reputation as a nation of laws.”

    “It was a difficult decision. Netanyahu’s claim is so blatantly false that it borders on evil. However, the outrageous executions of what are likely fishermen off the coast of Venezuela pushed me to prioritize this issue, as it signifies a continuing erosion of our country’s traditions and values. Therefore, I have to give it the top spot.” 

    The rest of the ballot 

    1. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt: “Tariffs are a tax cut for the American people.” False. Average rank: 5.7

    2. Trump: “Portland is burning to the ground.” Pants on Fire. Average rank: 5.8

    3. Vice President JD Vance: Democrats shut down the government to give health care to illegal immigrants. False. Average rank: 5.9

    4. (tie with below) Trump: Regarding his campaign promise to deport “the worst of the worst,” said “That’s what we’re doing.” See our check. Average rank: 6.9 

    Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth: “Nobody was texting war plans” in the Trump administration Signal group text about bombing Yemen. False. Average rank: 6.9 (Tied with above)

    1. Trump: Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia “had ‘MS-13’ on his knuckles tattooed. … He had ‘MS’ as clear as you can be. Not ‘interpreted.’” Pants on Fire. Average rank: 7.2

    2. Trump: “There’s no downside” to not taking Tylenol when you’re pregnant. Pants on Fire. Average rank: 7.7

    3. U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah: The suspect in the Minnesota lawmakers’ shootings was driven by “Marxist” ideology. Pants on Fire. Average rank: 9.1

    4. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker: The federal government “decided to shut down the SNAP machines, so that they can’t be used.” False. Average rank: 12

    5. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries: “Republicans have effectively ended medical research in the United States of America.” Mostly False. Average rank: 12.1

    6. Jeffries: “The Trump administration just declared that erecting a ballroom is the president’s main priority,” rather than issues such as the cost of living and health care. False. Average rank: 12.5

    7. Social media posts, left-wing influencers: The “Trump is dead” Labor Day weekend conspiracy theory. Special report. Average rank: 12.8

    THIS YEAR: What to make of an abysmal year for truth? PolitiFact names 2025 the Year of the Lies

    LOOKING BACK: Revisit PolitiFact’s Lies of the Year, 2009 to 2025

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  • Video released of dead Israeli hostages marking Hanukkah in captivity

    Haley Ott reports on a newly released video showing six Israeli hostages, months before their deaths in Gaza, marking Hanukkah in captivity.

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  • What courts rule on genocide?

    Email interview with Shannon Fyfe, a law professor and international criminal law expert at Washington and Lee University’s School of Law, Oct. 7, 2025

    Email interview with Laura Rusu, national director of marketing and communications for Amnesty International USA, Oct. 6, 2025

    Email interview with Yair Dvir, a spokesperson for B’Tselem, Oct. 4, 2025 and Nov. 4, 2025

    Interview with Michael Lynk, law professor at Western University, in London, Ontario, Oct. 8, 2025

    Interview with A. Dirk Moses, professor of international relations at the City University of New York, Oct. 9, 2025

    Interview with Sara E. Brown, genocide scholar and regional director at the American Jewish Committee, Oct. 13, 2025

    Email interview with Omer Bartov, Brown University Holocaust and genocide studies professor, Oct. 7, 2025

    Email interview William Schabas, professor of international law at Middlesex University, Oct. 9, 2025

    ABC News, As Israel warned Gaza civilians to evacuate, IDF bombs struck city described as sanctuary, Jan. 25, 2024

    Al Jazeera, Foreign doctors say Israel systematically targeting Gaza’s children: Report, Sept. 14, 2025

    Al Jazeera, Israel still blocking most Gaza aid as military carries out more attacks, Nov. 1, 2025

    Al Jazeera, Israel’s genocide in Gaza has not stopped, despite the ceasefire: Analysts, Dec. 2, 2025 

    Al Jazeera, The last 30 minutes inside a Gaza City tower before it is bombed by Israel, Sept. 11, 2025

    Al Jazeera, Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene decries ‘genocide’ in Gaza, July 29, 2025

    Al Jazeera, Trump announces Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal: What we know and what’s next, Oct. 13, 2025

    American Jewish Committee, 5 Reasons Why the Events in Gaza Are Not “Genocide,” Sept. 16, 2025

    American Jewish Committee, AJC Statement on Outrageous ICJ Order on Provisional Measures, May 24, 2024

    American Jewish Committee, What You Need to Know About the Latest International Court of Justice Action in the Case Against Israel, accessed Dec. 8, 2025

    American Society of International Law, World Court finds Serbia Responsible for Breaches of Genocide Convention, but Not Liable for Committing Genocide, April 3, 2007

    American University, What Do ICC Arrest Warrants Mean for Israel and the War in Gaza? Nov. 25, 2024

    Amnesty International, Amnesty International investigation concludes Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, Dec. 5, 2024

    Amnesty International, Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza continues unabated despite ceasefire, Nov. 27, 2025

    Amnesty International Israel, Amnesty Israel Does not Accept the Main Findings of the Report by Amnesty International Global Movement which Accuses Israel of Genocide, May 12, 2024

    Amnesty International Israel, The alternative hypothesis to Israeli intent to commit genocide, Aug. 12, 2024

    Anadolu Ajansı, OPINION – Trump’s Gaza plan through the lens of international law, Feb. 19, 2025

    Associated Press, Live updates: Hamas frees living hostages and Israel releases prisoners as Trump visits the region, Oct. 13, 2024

    Associated Press, Photos show Palestinians enduring war and hunger in Gaza, July 22, 2025

    Associated Press, Top genocide scholars accuse Israel of genocide as strikes across Gaza kill at least 31 Palestinians, Sept. 1, 2025 

    Associated Press, UN assembly votes overwhelmingly to back two-state solution to Israel-Palestinian conflict, Sept. 12, 2025

    Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, Half believe Israel’s military response in the Gaza Strip has gone too far, Sept. 18, 2025

    Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, Public opinion of the Israel and Hamas conflict nearly a year after the October 7th attacks, October 2024

    Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, The November 2023 AP-NORC Center Poll, November 2023

    Axios, No. 2 House Democrat Katherine Clark calls Gaza war a ‘genocide’, Aug. 15, 2025

    BBC, ‘I’m calling from Israeli intelligence. We have the order to bomb. You have two hours,’ Nov. 8, 2023

    BBC, Five killed in Israeli air strikes on tents near Khan Younis, medics say, Dec. 3, 2025 

    BBC, Gaza: Israel allows aid in after 11-week blockade but UN calls it ‘drop in ocean,’ May 19, 2025

    BBC, Gaza evacuation warnings from IDF contain many errors, BBC finds, April 5, 2024 

    BBC, Israel committing genocide in Gaza, world’s leading experts say, Sept. 1, 2025

    BBC, Israeli double strike on Gaza hospital – what we know, Aug. 26, 2025 

    BBC, Israeli rights groups accuse Israel of genocide in Gaza, July 28, 2025

    BBC, Khmer Rouge: What did a 16-year genocide trial achieve? Sept. 22, 2022

    BBC, Palestinians say ‘there’s no place left’ as Israel orders all residents to evacuate Gaza City, Sept. 9, 2025

    BBC, What did ICJ ruling mean in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel?, May 17, 2024 

    BBC, What does ICJ ruling on Israel’s Rafah offensive mean?, May 28, 2024

    B’Tselem, Our Genocide, July 2025

    CBS News, Israel says Gaza ceasefire back on after dozens of Palestinians killed in airstrikes, Oct. 29, 2025

    CNN, Gaza starvation warning from aid agencies as Israel urged to end blockade, July 24, 2025

    CNN, Israel shows alleged Hamas ‘armory’ under children’s hospital in Gaza. Local health officials dismiss the claims, Nov. 14, 2023

    CNN, They followed evacuation orders. An Israeli airstrike killed them the next day, Oct. 17, 2023

    Commentary, Closing the Book on ‘Genocide,’ ‘Deliberate Starvation’ and other Modern Libels – Commentary Magazine, Oct. 23, 2025

    Deputy Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lior Haiat’s X post, Jan. 11, 2024 (Archived) 

    Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, About, accessed Dec. 8, 2025

    Gallup, 32% in U.S. Back Israel’s Military Action in Gaza, a New Low, July 29, 2025

    Harvard Human Rights Journal, Reading Lemkin Today: Is Genocide Law Fit for the Purpose He Intended? June 25, 2025

    Human Rights Watch, Extermination and Acts of Genocide: Israel Deliberately Depriving Palestinians in Gaza of Water, Dec. 19, 2024

    Human Rights Watch, No Exit in Gaza, April 1, 2024

    Indiana University Bloomington’s Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism, The Genocide Libel: How the World Has Charged Israel with Genocide, February 2025

    International Association of Genocide Scholars, IAGS Resolution on the Situation in Gaza, passed Aug. 31, 2025

    International Court of Justice, (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro), accessed Dec. 8, 2025

    International Court of Justice, (Croatia v. Serbia), accessed Dec. 8, 2025

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  • Palestinian death toll has surpassed 70,000 since the Israel-Hamas war began, Gaza ministry says

    The Palestinian death toll has surpassed 70,000 since the Israel-Hamas war began, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Saturday, while a hospital said that Israeli fire killed two Palestinian children in the territory’s south.The toll has continued to rise after the latest ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10. Israel still carries out strikes in response to what it has called violations of the truce, and bodies from earlier in the war are being recovered from the rubble.The Health Ministry says the Palestinian toll is now 70,100. The ministry operates under the Hamas-run government. It is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.The war began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and militants taking more than 250 hostages. Almost all of the hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals.Staff at Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies of the children in southern Gaza, said the brothers, ages 8 and 11, died when an Israeli drone struck close to a school sheltering displaced people in the town of Beni Suhaila.Israel’s military said it killed two people who crossed into an Israeli-controlled area, “conducted suspicious activities” and approached troops. The statement didn’t mention children. The military said it also killed another person in a separate but similar incident in the south.At least 352 Palestinians have been killed across the territory since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect on Oct. 10, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.Israel says its strikes are aimed at militants violating the truce. Both Israel and Hamas have accused the other of violating the deal. Hamas again urged mediators on Saturday to pressure Israel to stop what it called ceasefire violations in Gaza.A U.S. blueprint outlining the future of Gaza, which has been devastated by more than two years of war, is still in the early stages. The plan to secure and govern the territory authorizes an international stabilization force to provide security, approves a transitional authority to be overseen by U.S. President Donald Trump and envisions a possible future path to an independent Palestinian state.Israeli forces have pushed forward on a number of other fronts in the region in recent weeks.Syrian officials said that Israeli forces raided a Syrian village on Friday and opened fire when they were confronted by residents, killing at least 13 people. Israel said it conducted the operation to apprehend suspects of a militant group planning attacks in Israel, and that the militants opened fire at troops, wounding six.Israel also has escalated strikes in Lebanon, saying it’s targeting Hezbollah sites and asserting that the militant group is attempting to rearm.Hezbollah called on Pope Leo XIV to “reject injustice and aggression,” in reference to the near-daily Israeli strikes, despite a ceasefire that ended the 14-month war between the two sides a year ago. The pope is visiting the region on his first foreign trip.In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers were accused by Palestinians of executing two men on Thursday after footage aired by two Arab television stations showed troops shooting the men after they appeared to surrender. The Israeli military said that it was investigating.Israeli settler violence has continued to rise in the West Bank. On Saturday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said that 10 Palestinians were injured by beatings and live ammunition during settler attacks in Khallet al-Louza village close to Bethlehem.

    DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip —

    The Palestinian death toll has surpassed 70,000 since the Israel-Hamas war began, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Saturday, while a hospital said that Israeli fire killed two Palestinian children in the territory’s south.

    The toll has continued to rise after the latest ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10. Israel still carries out strikes in response to what it has called violations of the truce, and bodies from earlier in the war are being recovered from the rubble.

    The Health Ministry says the Palestinian toll is now 70,100. The ministry operates under the Hamas-run government. It is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.

    The war began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and militants taking more than 250 hostages. Almost all of the hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals.

    Staff at Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies of the children in southern Gaza, said the brothers, ages 8 and 11, died when an Israeli drone struck close to a school sheltering displaced people in the town of Beni Suhaila.

    Israel’s military said it killed two people who crossed into an Israeli-controlled area, “conducted suspicious activities” and approached troops. The statement didn’t mention children. The military said it also killed another person in a separate but similar incident in the south.

    At least 352 Palestinians have been killed across the territory since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect on Oct. 10, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.

    Israel says its strikes are aimed at militants violating the truce. Both Israel and Hamas have accused the other of violating the deal. Hamas again urged mediators on Saturday to pressure Israel to stop what it called ceasefire violations in Gaza.

    A U.S. blueprint outlining the future of Gaza, which has been devastated by more than two years of war, is still in the early stages. The plan to secure and govern the territory authorizes an international stabilization force to provide security, approves a transitional authority to be overseen by U.S. President Donald Trump and envisions a possible future path to an independent Palestinian state.

    Israeli forces have pushed forward on a number of other fronts in the region in recent weeks.

    Syrian officials said that Israeli forces raided a Syrian village on Friday and opened fire when they were confronted by residents, killing at least 13 people. Israel said it conducted the operation to apprehend suspects of a militant group planning attacks in Israel, and that the militants opened fire at troops, wounding six.

    Israel also has escalated strikes in Lebanon, saying it’s targeting Hezbollah sites and asserting that the militant group is attempting to rearm.

    Hezbollah called on Pope Leo XIV to “reject injustice and aggression,” in reference to the near-daily Israeli strikes, despite a ceasefire that ended the 14-month war between the two sides a year ago. The pope is visiting the region on his first foreign trip.

    In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers were accused by Palestinians of executing two men on Thursday after footage aired by two Arab television stations showed troops shooting the men after they appeared to surrender. The Israeli military said that it was investigating.

    Israeli settler violence has continued to rise in the West Bank. On Saturday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said that 10 Palestinians were injured by beatings and live ammunition during settler attacks in Khallet al-Louza village close to Bethlehem.

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  • Israel identifies the latest remains returned from Gaza as hostage Dror Or

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel had identified the latest remains returned from Gaza as hostage Dror Or.That leaves the bodies of two hostages in Gaza as the first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement nears a conclusion.Palestinian militants released Or’s remains Tuesday.Israel has agreed to release 15 Palestinian bodies for each hostage returned.Dror Or was killed by Islamic Jihad militants who overran his home in Kibbutz Beeri on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel’s military said. His wife, Yonat Or, was also killed in the attack.That day, Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people across southern Israel and abducted 251 to Gaza. Kibbutz Beeri was one of the hardest-hit farming communities in that attack that started the war in Gaza.Two of Or’s children, Alma and Noam, were abducted by the militants on Oct. 7 and released in a hostage deal in November 2023.Almost all of the hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals. The remains of two — one Israeli and one Thai national— are still in Gaza.Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 69,700 Palestinians have been killed and 170,800 injured in Israel’s retaliatory offensive. The toll has increased during the ceasefire, both from new Israeli strikes and from the recovery and identification of bodies of people killed earlier in the war.The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures, but has said women and children make up a majority of those killed. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by independent experts.

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel had identified the latest remains returned from Gaza as hostage Dror Or.

    That leaves the bodies of two hostages in Gaza as the first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement nears a conclusion.

    Palestinian militants released Or’s remains Tuesday.

    Israel has agreed to release 15 Palestinian bodies for each hostage returned.

    Dror Or was killed by Islamic Jihad militants who overran his home in Kibbutz Beeri on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel’s military said. His wife, Yonat Or, was also killed in the attack.

    That day, Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people across southern Israel and abducted 251 to Gaza. Kibbutz Beeri was one of the hardest-hit farming communities in that attack that started the war in Gaza.

    Two of Or’s children, Alma and Noam, were abducted by the militants on Oct. 7 and released in a hostage deal in November 2023.

    Almost all of the hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals. The remains of two — one Israeli and one Thai national— are still in Gaza.

    Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 69,700 Palestinians have been killed and 170,800 injured in Israel’s retaliatory offensive. The toll has increased during the ceasefire, both from new Israeli strikes and from the recovery and identification of bodies of people killed earlier in the war.

    The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures, but has said women and children make up a majority of those killed. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by independent experts.

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