News Roundup for January 20, 2026
The Good, The Ugly and The Insane of This Week’s White House Gaza Announcements, Word on the Street
“This week brought a flood of announcements regarding implementation of the 20-point plan for Gaza: new bodies, overlapping mandates, and a swirl of appointments of key actors – some promising, some troubling, some frankly alarming,” J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami writes.
Israel Demolishes Buildings in UN Palestinian Agency’s East Jerusalem Compound, Reuters
“A spokesperson for UNRWA, Jonathan Fowler, told Reuters that Israeli forces entered the compound around 7 a.m. local time (0500 GMT), forced out the compound’s security guards and then brought in bulldozers to begin demolishing buildings inside.”
How Trump Uses the Oval Office to Flex Power on the World Stage, New York Times
“To appease Mr. Trump, world leaders often came bearing gifts, the more flattering, the better — an invitation from the king, a new Air Force One or even a Nobel Prize medal.”
Gaza’s Harsh Conditions Overshadow Board of Peace Plan as World Leaders Gather in Davos, AP
“A Palestinian baby died from hypothermia on Tuesday in the Gaza Strip, underscoring the grim humanitarian conditions in the territory as world leaders were gathering at a Swiss resort where President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan is high on the agenda.”
Trump Plans to Charge $1 Billion for Permanent Seat on ‘Board of Peace’, Washington Post
“The White House announced with much fanfare Friday the board’s creation as part of Trump’s plan to supervise the rebuilding of the devastated Gaza Strip, but the draft charter being circulated makes no direct mention of the region. That has given rise to speculation that Trump is aiming to build a U.S.-led alternative to the United Nations.”
Israel Razed UNRWA’s East Jerusalem HQ, Now It’s Planning to Build 1,400 Housing Units on the Site, Haaretz
“The compound, which served as UNRWA’s headquarters in the Ma’alot Dafna neighborhood near Sheikh Jarrah, will now come under state management.”
What Is Happening to Mothers and Babies in Gaza Should Leave Us Deeply, Collectively Ashamed, Haaretz
Dr. Lucy Aitchison writes, “Young pregnant women in Gaza today face severe nutritional deprivation, inadequate shelter and unsafe water…Pregnancy and childbirth in Gaza have been transformed from physiological processes into daily fights for survival.”
How Trump’s First Year Back in Office Destabilized Our Country — and Our Jewish Community, The Forward
Rob Eshman writes, “Trump’s approach to addressing antisemitism has shuttled between a slap and embrace, deeply unbalancing American Jews.”
Antisemitism in the US Comes From All Sides, More Dangerous Than Ever, Jerusalem Post
J Street leader Sebastien Levi writes, “Yesterday, Jews were accused of being either too capitalist or too communist. Today, American Jews find themselves in the dock of the decolonial far Left, but also targeted by the nativist, isolationist far Right.”
