Israeli PM gives full-throated endorsement of Donald Trump’s billionaire adviser after he sparked outrage with stiff-armed gesture.

The battlefield in Gaza also is changing. The first phase of the ceasefire allows Gaza’s nearly 2 million displaced people to leave crowded tent camps and return to what remains of their homes. This will allow Hamas to regroup in the midst of masses of civilians.

The Israeli Cabinet was set to meet Thursday to approve a cease-fire and hostage-release deal with Hamas in Gaza brokered by the U.S., Qatar and Egypt, raising hopes for the end of a 15-month war which killed tens of thousands of people.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defended Elon Musk after media outlets described a gesture that the Tesla CEO made at President Trump’s inauguration rally as a Nazi salute.

Poland joined other EU countries in allowing the Israeli leader entry without threat of arrest, this time for a ceremony commemorating the liberation of Auschwitz — which Netanyahu had no intention of attending anyway.

NEW ADMINISTRATIVE CAPITAL, Egypt — Egypt’s chief diplomat on Thursday called on Israel and Hamas to implement a Gaza ceasefire plan “without any delay,” raising pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the deal.

Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel ... is always a good transatlantic relationship," he wrote on X. "The EU, with 27 members and more than 400 million people, is a strong union."

As Romania is one of 125 signatories of the International Criminal Court Rome Statute and Netenyahu is subject to an arrest warrant for "crimes against humanity" related to military actions in Gaza, it would be obliged to arrest him when he sets foot in the country.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Thursday his Cabinet won't meet to approve the agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of dozens of hostages until Hamas backs down,

The Israeli prime minister has to navigate complicated domestic politics with his aim of destroying Hamas and the need to keep the US on side.

The deal was set to be ratified by the Israeli Cabinet on Thursday. But Netanyahu says, without specifying, that Hamas has gone back on several parts of the ceasefire deal at the last minute.