One of Saudi Arabia’s top religious figures gathered for a gala dinner in Washington, D.C., with as many as 150 Jewish, Christian, Muslim and political leaders to discuss promoting greater peace in the Middle East.
Mohammed Al-Issa, a former justice minister in Saudi Arabia and now secretary general of the Muslim World League (MWL), said on Tuesday that “Oct. 7 was a crime” and that the terrorist attacks “cannot be accepted by Muslims at all.”

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about her statements regarding President Joe Biden pardoning his son.

The masked gunman wanted for this week’s ambush-style killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was seen walking into a bus terminal less than an hour after the crime and is presumed to have escaped the city, police said Friday.
New York Police Department investigators also found a distinctive-looking backpack that the suspect wore during the fatal encounter and apparently tossed while fleeing through Central Park to an upper Manhattan bus station Wednesday morning, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a sensitive process.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday strode into the Élysée Palace here to meet with President-elect Donald Trump, marking their first in-person discussion since Trump secured the White House while promoting an isolationist agenda that could limit aid to the embattled country.
French President Emmanuel Macron brokered the meeting on the sidelines of the reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral, where world leaders gathered to celebrate the cultural icon. Trump’s attendance underscored how he is already redefining U.S. foreign policy more than a month before he officially takes office.
Zelensky tweeted that the meeting, which was about 30 minutes long, was “good and productive.” He said the leaders agreed to continue to work together and stay in contact.

The leader of the Syrian jihadist rebel faction “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham,” Abu Mohammad al-Julani, declared early on Sunday that his forces had “completely liberated” Homs, Syria’s third-largest city, from the control of the Assad regime. He urged his fighters to spare the lives of Syrian soldiers who choose to surrender their weapons.
Reports from Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV mentioned that an Israeli airstrike had targeted the Al-Qusayr crossing along the Syria-Lebanon border, a vital smuggling route for Hezbollah in Lebanon, shortly after the rebels captured the area. Israel has warned the Syrian rebel factions that the Israeli Defense Forces will respond with full force if any rebel units attempt to cross into Israeli territory or breach the 1974 armistice line.

Law enforcement has revealed that a shooter who attacked children at a private Christian school in northern California left behind a note describing his anti-Israel beliefs as his reason for committing the crime.
Glenn Litton, 56, shot Roman Mendez, 6, and Elias Wolford, 5, with a handgun on Wednesday at Feather River Adventist School in Oroville, Calif. Litton died shortly thereafter in what has been described as most likely from a self-inflicted wound.
Police say the two boys are in critical condition and may need surgery.

The IDF has announced that it aided UN forces in repelling a rebel attack on a United Nations outpost close to the Golan Heights.
In a statement, the IDF said: “A short while ago, an attack was carried out by armed individuals at a UN post in the Hader area in Syria. The IDF is currently assisting the UN forces in repelling the attack.”
Hader is a Druze village in southern Syria’s Quneitra province.
Additionally, the IDF deployed additional forces to the Golan Heights, and warned the Syrian rebels not to use the current instability in the country as an opportunity to attack Israel.

Vice President-elect J.D. Vance expressed strong support for Pete Hegseth, a combat veteran, to lead the Department of Defense, declaring that he is “the right guy” for the position and assuring that President-elect Donald Trump remains committed to the nomination.
Vance made his comments while touring areas in western North Carolina that were severely impacted by Hurricane Helene. Speaking to reporters, he mentioned that he had been in discussions with several senators, including Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who had expressed concerns about Hegseth’s appointment, according to The Hill.

Hamas published footage over Shabbos of hostage Matan Zangauker, who was kidnapped to Gaza during the October 7 massacre.
This follows the release of another hostage video last week, featuring hostage Edan Alexander.  Experts suggest Hamas publishes such footage as a negotiation tactic, in an attempt to get the Israeli public to pressure the government.
In the video,  Zangauker, who is an American citizen, asks US President-elect Donald Trump to free him.

Earlier today, Syrian rebels captured the city of Homs, with regime forces abandoning the city.  Rebels advanced to the outskirts of the capital Damascus, and the regime was forced to put out a statement denying that President Bashar Assad was forced to flee the country.
On Motzei Shabbos rebel forces confirmed they had captured central Homs, and freed hundreds of regime prisoners.  Reportedly dozens of members of Hezbollah’s Radwan forces fled Homs, after regime forces admitted the city could no longer be defended.