News Roundup for January 9, 2026
The Democratic National Security Community Is Beginning to Debate the US-Israel Relationship, Word on the Street
J Street Chief Policy Officer Ilan Goldenberg writes, “When US and Israeli interests align, we should work closely together: Intelligence sharing, joint technology development, economic ties, and military cooperation against shared regional threats. But when our interests and values diverge – as they clearly do on the Palestinian issue – we should stop pretending otherwise.”
US Plans To Start 2nd Phase of Gaza Deal Before Hamas Disarmed, Last Hostage’s Body Returned, Times of Israel
“The Trump administration is aiming to next week unveil the Board of Peace, along with an intermediate executive committee and a Palestinian technocratic committee, the US official and two Arab diplomats said.”
Iran Is Cut Off From Internet as Protests Calling for Regime Change Intensify, New York Times
“As protests swelled around the country, Iran’s internet was shut down, and the heads of its judiciary and its security services warned of a harsh response amid calls for ‘freedom, freedom.'”
At Least 13 Killed in Israeli Strikes on Gaza, Including Five Children, Civil Defence Agency Says, The Guardian
“Four people including three children were killed when a drone struck a tent sheltering displaced people in southern Gaza, agency spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP. In the north of the Gaza Strip, an 11-year-old girl was killed near the Jabalia refugee camp and a strike on a school killed one person, while a drone near Khan Younis in the south killed a man, the agency added.”
Israel Says Bulgarian Diplomat Nickolay Mladenov to Direct Trump’s Board of Peace for Gaza, Associated Press
“The appointment of Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov marks an important step forward for Trump’s Mideast peace plan, which has moved slowly since delivering an October ceasefire ending more than two years of fighting between Israel and Hamas.”
Three Arrested After Masked Israeli Settlers Torch Palestinians’ Cars in West Bank, Wounding Three, Haaretz
“According to the Red Crescent, three Palestinians aged 64, 50 and 48, were wounded, one of them in serious condition. The IDF said four vehicles were set on fire in the incident, which took place near the villages of Beit Lid and Deir Sharaf, and two Palestinians were moderately wounded.”
What Peaceniks Like Me Get Wrong About Peace, The Atlantic
Bono, the lead singer of Irish rock band U2 writes, “It’s a brutal fact but a fact all the same: Credibility accrues to those who stood at the barricades, who risked their lives for the cause, and—sorry to say it, but this is the world as it is—who committed or at least condoned acts of violence. […] Marwan Barghouti stands to be a leader of vision, one with credibility among his own people, and among his adversaries. Both Israelis and Palestinians have an interest in having him take a seat at the negotiating table.”
