‘On same side of every issue’: Netanyahu, Trump speak by phone

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump spoke by phone Tuesday, two weeks after the two met in Washington.

Trump wrote on his social networking site Truth Social that the two spoke about trade and Iran, among other issues. “The call went very well — We are on the same side of every issue,” he wrote.

Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip struck and destroyed around 40 pieces of heavy machinery that had been supplied by mediators to clear rubble. Israel said Hamas used the vehicles, including bulldozers, for planting explosives, digging tunnels, and breaching fences, including during the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack.

The war began when Hamas-led terrorists attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 people hostage. They are still holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel’s air and ground war has killed more than 51,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 terrorists.

Hamas has said it will only free the remaining hostages in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners, a full Israeli withdrawal and a lasting ceasefire. Israel has said it will keep fighting until the hostages are returned and Hamas has been either destroyed or disarmed and sent into exile. It has pledged to hold onto so-called security zones in Gaza indefinitely.

Islamist killed in Lebanon

An Israeli drone strike southeast of Beirut killed Hussein Atwi, a member of the Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, a regionwide Sunni Islamist political movement. The group said he was leaving for work when the drone struck.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said another person was killed in an Israeli strike on the southern Tyre province. Israel said that its air force carried out the strike near Tyre and targeted a terrorist commander.

Israel has continued to carry out regular strikes across Lebanon despite reaching a ceasefire with the Hezbollah terrorist group in November. Israel says it is targeting terrorists and weapons caches.

Hezbollah began firing on Israel the day after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attack. Israel responded with airstrikes, and the conflict in Lebanon escalated into a full-blown war in September when Israel carried out a heavy wave of strikes and killed most of Hezbollah’s top leadership.

Palestinian terrorists arrested in Syria

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group said two of its senior members were arrested in Syria.

Islamic Jihad, a smaller terrorist group allied with Hamas and also backed by Iran, had an established presence in Syria during the rule of former President Bashar Assad. It sent fighters to Lebanon to support Hezbollah during the war with Israel.

The arrests came days after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas visited Damascus and met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa. It was Abbas’ first visit to Syria since before the 2011 uprising and the civil war that eventually led to Assad’s overthrow last year.

Abbas leads the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, dominated by political rivals of Hamas.