Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed Israel for Washington, D.C., this morning ahead of meetings with the Trump administration and members of Congress.
The prime minister will meet with Special Envoy Steve Witkoff tomorrow to begin discussions on the second phase of the hostage release deal. He will then meet with President Trump on Tuesday, the first foreign leader to meet with the president since his inauguration.
"I think it’s a testimony to the strength of the Israeli-American alliance," Prime Minister Netanyahu said as he boarded his plane this morning. "It’s also a testimony to the strength of our personal friendship."
"We’ll deal with important issues, critical issues facing Israel and our region: victory over Hamas, achieving the release of all our hostages, and dealing with the Iranian terror axis in all its components—an axis that threatens the peace of Israel, the Middle East and the world," he said.
Netanyahu is slated to meet with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Wednesday and congressional leaders on Thursday.
Watch his full remarks below:
IDF continues counter-terrorism op in West Bank: 50 terrorists killed, 100 suspects detained
The IDF continues to operate across the West Bank to eliminate terrorist hotbeds, destroy Iranian-backed terrorists, and prevent them from turning the area into another Gaza.
According to the IDF, Israeli troops have eliminated over 50 terrorists and apprehended 100 suspects in their latest operation in the northern West Bank, specifically in the areas of Jenin, Tulkarm, and Tamoun.
35 terrorists were eliminated in the last 12 days alone, with hundreds of IEDs destroyed and dozens of weapons seized.
Troops have scanned hundreds of buildings in Jenin during the ongoing raid, locating bomb-making labs, caches of weapons, and command centers.
America must continue to stand with Israel as it acts to root out Iran-backed terrorists in the West Bank, deter attacks, and protect Israeli families.
Israeli defense minister in southern Lebanon: 'Either there won't be drones, or there won't be Hezbollah'
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz visited southern Lebanon today and declared that Hezbollah would pay a "very heavy price" if it continued to launch drones at Israel despite the current ceasefire deal.
“In recent days we have seen attempts to launch drones at Israel,” Katz said. “I want to send a clear message from here to Hezbollah and the Lebanese government: Israel won’t agree to drones being launched from Lebanon. We won’t allow a return to the reality of October 7. We will foil threats and respond with full force.”
On Thursday, the IDF shot down a drone launched by Hezbollah for the first time since the ceasefire went into effect. Later that night, Israeli fighter jets carried out airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
“Either there won’t be drones, or there won’t be Hezbollah,” Katz added. “I suggest that the successor to the successor of Nasrallah not underestimate Israel’s determination as his predecessors did.”
Freed hostage Emily Damari returns to her Kfar Aza home where she was abducted
485 days after being abducted by Hamas from her home in Kfar Aza, Emily Damari returned to what remains of the place where it happened.
“Today, I returned to my home, my apartment, to the oxygen I had and which almost ran out,” Damari wrote on Instagram. “I returned to the place where my nightmare began, 485 days ago, and found only partial closure, which I have been waiting so long for.”
“There are 79 hostages who, like me, need to find their own closure, and who are waiting to make whole what is missing,” she wrote. “We must not stop here. We must bring everyone, absolutely everyone, home.”
"I will only feel true victory when they return."
Incoming IDF chief of staff: Israel will prove to enemies it is powerful, determined to win
Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir, the director general of the Defense Ministry who was nominated this weekend as the next IDF chief of staff, vowed that Israel will prove to its enemies that the country and its military are powerful.
“We will prove to our enemies that there is a determined, powerful, and winning fist facing them, as it is written in the Book of Psalms: ‘I have pursued my enemies, and overtaken them; and did not turn back till they were consumed,'” he said.
Zamir will take over for outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi next month.
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