Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, acknowledged on Thursday that advancing the second phase of the Israel-Hamas cease-fire and hostage-release deal was proving to be “more difficult” than phase one because of Israel’s need to ensure that Hamas does not govern the Gaza Strip moving forward.

Witkoff made the comments while appearing alongside Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and an architect of the Abraham Accords during the first Trump administration, at the Future Investment Initiative Institute’s annual summit, which is taking place in Miami this week. 

Rutgers University lecturer Hamid Abdeljaber and UNRWA official Adnan Abu Hasna spoke at a Hamas-affiliated organization’s webinar on Wednesday.

The webinar, titled “UNRWA after the ban law and the arrival of Trump: Dangers and coping mechanisms,” was a discussion of the aftermath of an Israeli law banning the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, in light of some of its employees taking part in the Oct. 7 attacks and its facilities being used to attack Israel and hold hostages.

Reps. Craig Goldman (R-TX) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) were named as co-chairs of the House Abraham Accords Caucus on Thursday, joining returning co-chairs Reps. Ann Wagner (R-MO) and Brad Schneider (D-IL).

The two Jewish lawmakers replace two co-chairs who did not run for reelection in 2024, former Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and David Trone (D-MD). Working with a corresponding bipartisan caucus in the Senate, the House group has led a series of efforts to strengthen and expand the normalization agreements between Israel and Arab states in a variety of arenas, including enhancing military cooperation. 

California’s Santa Ana Unified School District cited antisemitism as its reason to stop teaching ethnic studies after settling a lawsuit on Thursday that claimed course material used by the district was rooted in antisemitic rhetoric. 

The lawsuit — filed by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, Anti-Defamation League and American Jewish Committee — alleged that the courses “Ethnic Studies World Geography,” “Ethnic Studies World Histories” and “Ethnic Studies: Perspectives, Identities, and Social Justice” contained false and damaging narratives about Israel and Jews. Under the settlement, the school district agreed to redesign those courses and provide opportunity for public input in accordance with California’s open meeting laws.

President Donald Trump’s proposal to evacuate Palestinians from Gaza does not replace the need for Israel to meet its war aims of eradicating Hamas and ensuring they can no longer threaten Israel, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organization’s mission to Israel during an interview with Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov on Thursday.

“With regards to Trump’s idea, I will put it this way,” Sa’ar began. “If someone wants to emigrate and on the other side you have a country willing to accept [them], that is legitimate and it is moral, as in any other part of the world which is in conflict. I think it’s a new suggestion, a fresh one.”

Speaking at the FII Summit on Wednesday, President Donald Trump repeated his “peace through strength” mantra, saying, “without the strength, it’s going to be very hard to have the peace.”

“Having strength, having power to protect yourself and your people is a very important thing — hopefully you don’t have to use that power,” Trump said.

In a grim spectacle, Hamas paraded coffins, said to contain the bodies of four hostages, including a baby and a toddler, before a banner showing images of their smiling faces and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu portrayed as a vampire, on a stage in Khan Younis, Gaza. The coffins were then transferred to the Red Cross to deliver to Israel after more than 500 days of anguish.

The youngest of the hostages, Kfir Bibas, was 9 months old when he was kidnapped along with his brother Ariel, 4, and mother Shiri Silberman Bibas, 32. Hamas also returned the body of one of the oldest hostages, Oded Lifshitz, 85. All were taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7, 2023.

New Jersey legislation codifying the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism is splitting the Democratic field in the gubernatorial race, after one leading candidate said last week he’d veto the bill.

Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) told JI this week that she supported legislation under consideration in the state that would codify the IHRA definition as New Jersey’s official definition of antisemitism for assessing cases of antisemitic discrimination. “I’ve supported the IHRA definition in the U.S. House, and would support the current state Senate bill to combat the alarming rise of antisemitism in New Jersey,” Sherrill said in a statement to JI.