Trump to announce Gaza funding, troops at Board of Peace meeting, officials say

- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pressed for what he calls a pardon in his ongoing corruption case — a request whose legality is uncertain while the trial continues. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miaraw is likely to conclude the request does not meet past pardon requirements. - U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States needs to reach a deal with Iran quickly — he suggested one could be struck within about a month and warned of “very traumatic” consequences if talks fail. He said he had a “good meeting” with Netanyahu and that any agreement must be fair, otherwise the U.S. will move to a tougher “phase two.” - Trump will chair the first formal meeting of his Board of Peace for Gaza on Feb. 19 in Washington, with delegations from at least 20 countries expected. He plans to announce a multi‑billion‑dollar reconstruction fund for Gaza made up of contributions from participating countries. - A key element of the plan is a UN‑authorized International Stabilization Force: several countries have agreed to provide several thousand troops to deploy to Gaza in the months ahead, with disarming Hamas a primary objective. - Under the administration’s Gaza plan, Hamas members who decommission weapons and commit to peaceful coexistence would be offered amnesty; those wishing to leave Gaza would be offered safe passage to receiving countries. - The Board meeting will also review work by the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza and provide updates on humanitarian aid and Gaza police arrangements. Here are the key points from the article: - President Trump said the U.S. was preparing a second aircraft carrier to deploy to the Middle East; it would take about two weeks to arrive. - The EU aviation safety regulator extended a warning and urged the bloc’s airlines to avoid Iran’s airspace until March 31. - The U.S. military says it has fully withdrawn from the strategic Tanf base in southeastern Syria and handed control to the Syrian government. - Israeli authorities charged a reservist and a civilian with using classified information to place bets on the Polymarket trading site; other reservists are suspected. - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he will not travel to Washington next week and will therefore not attend the Board of Peace summit. - The Wall Street Journal reported that Josh Gruenbaum, a senior adviser to the U.S.-led Board of Peace, is under review for alleged misconduct in a government role. - Two members of a religious Zionist movement who advocate settlement abroad crossed into Lebanon illegally and were returned by Israeli soldiers. - The Wall Street Journal also reported the Trump administration covertly smuggled thousands of Starlink satellite terminals into Iran to assist anti-regime protesters. - Germany’s foreign minister joined France in calling for U.N. Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese to resign after she referred to Israel as humanity’s “common enemy,” while saying he respects the UN rapporteur system. Here are the main points from the article: - Brig. Gen. (Res.) Danny Arditi, 75, a former commander of the IDF’s Special Operations Division in Military Intelligence and ex-head of the National Security Council, died Thursday. His funeral is scheduled for Friday at the Modi'in Maccabim-Reut cemetery. - Violence in Israel’s Arab sector continued: a woman in her 40s was shot and killed in Tamra Thursday evening, the sixth homicide in the Arab sector in 24 hours. The article says 47 Israelis have been murdered in the first 43 days of the year, and that most victims have been Arab citizens. - The IDF said it killed a Hezbollah operative in southern Lebanon’s At-Tiri region. - Ireland’s Football Association confirmed the Ireland men’s national team will play Israel in the 2026 UEFA Nations League after the draw placed them together in Group B3 with Austria and Kosovo. That follows the FAI’s November request that UEFA ban Israel over alleged statute breaches (failure to enforce anti-racism rules and Israeli clubs playing in occupied Palestinian territories). The FAI said it has been in consultation with UEFA since making the request. - The article also lists brief defense updates, including several recent shootings of Arab Israelis and a note that U.S. President Trump plans to announce a Gaza reconstruction plan and details of a proposed UN-authorized stabilization force next week. (The piece is partly fragmentary.) I can’t summarize because the only text you provided is the fragment “officials said.” That’s not enough content. Please paste the full article or a link, and tell me if you want a short headline-style summary, a one-paragraph summary, bullet points, or something longer. If you meant to ask about the phrase “officials said,” I can explain that it’s a common journalistic attribution used when reporters quote unnamed government or agency sources. A speaker called a recent attack a violent, "sneak" assault that took people by surprise, praised a wartime prime minister as strong and "extraordinary" and said they had worked well together, and criticized another president for refusing to pardon that leader amid an ongoing trial, saying the president "should be ashamed." U.S. President Donald Trump publicly urged Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his corruption trial, saying Herzog should be "ashamed" for not doing so and claiming Herzog had promised a pardon on five occasions. Trump also criticized Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for her statements on Israel and suggested Netanyahu's failures around the Oct. 7 attack were understandable. Herzog replied that he cannot legally act yet because the prime minister's pardon request is still under review by the Justice Ministry and that he will decide only after that legal process, guided by the law, the state's best interests and his conscience. Herzog's office added he has not made a decision and emphasized Israel is a sovereign, rule-of-law state, while also expressing appreciation for Trump's support for Israel's security.