The Times of Israel is liveblogging Saturday’s events as they unfold.
Report: Hamas set to elect a new leader soon, with pro-Iranian candidate Hayya likely to win
Hamas is expected to elect a new leader within days or a few weeks, Saudi outlet Asharq reports, citing sources close to the group’s leadership.
However, the same sources also reportedly “ruled out holding general elections before the war comes to a complete end.”
The two main candidates are reportedly former Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal and current Gaza politburo chief Khalil al-Hayya.
Their main immediate policy difference relates to the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, according to the sources. Hayya, who is seen as close to Iran, is said to support the continuation of “armed conflict with Israel in the Gaza Strip until the war ends and the Israeli army withdraws from the Strip entirely,” while Mashaal, who is seen as closer to Qatar, is said to seek “negotiated compromises to end the occupation of Gaza.”
Mashaal also reportedly supports “trying to move Hamas away from Iran” and “closer to the moderate Arab states,” the sources tell Asharq.
The sources cited by Asharq say Hayya will likely win, as he enjoys the support of Hamas leaders in both Gaza and the West Bank, including West Bank politburo chief Zaher Jabarin.
According to Asharq, the electing body is Hamas’s general Shura council, which comprises some 50 members representing Hamas’s three regional politburos — Gaza, the West Bank and the Palestinian diaspora.
Hamas elects a new leader every four years, according to Asharq. The last elections took place in March 2021, and the current ones were scheduled to take place in early 2025, but were pushed off due to the war in Gaza.
The leader elected in 2021, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated by Israel in Tehran in July 2024. His successor, Yahya Sinwar, was killed by Israeli troops in Rafah in October that year.
Since then, according to Asharq, Hamas has been led by a provisional leadership council that is headed by the general Shura council chief Muhammad Ismail Darwish and also includes Hayya, Mashaal, Jabarin and Gaza politburo member Nizar Awadallah.
Asharq cites observers close to Hamas as saying its resolve to hold elections now is a result of both the ceasefire with Israel and disagreement within the provisional leadership council about issues including “the fate of the movement’s rule in Gaza and regional alliances.”
Under US President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan, Hamas is required to cede control of Gaza to international forces. However, Hamas leaders, including Hayya and Mashaal, have called for the international forces to serve only as a buffer between Israel and Gaza.
Somalia’s Al-Shabaab vows to fight any Israeli use of Somaliland after recognition
Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-linked terror group Al-Shabaab vowed Saturday to fight any attempt by Israel “to claim or use parts of Somaliland” following its recognition of the breakaway territory.
“We will not accept it, and we will fight against it,” Al-Shabaab said in a statement.
It said Israel’s recognition of Somaliland as a sovereign state showed it “has decided to expand into parts of the Somali territories” to support “the apostate administration in the northwest regions.”
Ukraine anti-corruption agency says it tried to raid parliament, stopped by guards
Ukraine’s anti-corruption agency says security services are preventing its officers from raiding the parliament, as the investigators say some MPs were implicated in a new organized crime probe.
“NABU and SAPO, following an undercover operation, exposed an organized criminal group that included current members of parliament,” the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) says.
“Employees of the State Security Department are resisting NABU officers during investigative actions in committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine,” it adds, referring to Ukraine’s parliament.
BREAKING: Anti-corruption agencies are currently conducting searches and arrests in Kyiv’s government quarter!!!
An investigation into corruption within President Zelenskyy’s inner circle is ongoing, targeting MPs from his party. pic.twitter.com/fRuETdhseV
— ???? Sweta???? (@Sweta10t) December 27, 2025
According to local reports, NABU officers are currently carrying out arrests inside Kyiv’s government district, though they have not yet gained access to the parliament building itself.
The attempted raid comes amid an ongoing corruption scandal at the heart of Ukraine’s government, which has forced the resignation of several top officials in President Volodymyr Zelensky’s inner circle, including his longtime chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, who stepped down last month after being implicated in the ongoing investigation.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
IDF says forces continuing large-scale op in West Bank town after yesterday’s terror attack
Israeli security forces are continuing a large-scale counterterrorism operation in the northern West Bank town of Qabatiya following a deadly ramming-stabbing attack in northern Israel yesterday, the military says.
According to the IDF, forces from the Duvdevan commando unit, the Paratroopers reconnaissance unit, the Border Police, and the Israel Prison Service’s Metzada unit are operating in the area. During the operation, troops arrested five terror suspects and questioned dozens of additional individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activity.
The military says Paratroopers reconnaissance forces carried out mortar fire in the Qabatiya area overnight. Troops also raided and mapped the home of the assailant and cordoned off the immediate area.
A full curfew has been imposed on Qabatiya, with engineering forces carrying out blockades across the town. The IDF adds that aerial forces are providing fire support and reconnaissance over Qabatiya and the nearby Jenin area, while additional forces continue to reinforce the seam line, a swath of West Bank land on the Israeli side of the security barrier.
Police arrest 5 during raid in Negev Bedouin town after arson attack in nearby Jewish town
Police have arrested five people during a large-scale raid today on Tarabin al-Sana, a Bedouin town in the Negev, after two masked individuals set fire to cars in a neighboring Jewish town overnight.
Police claim the incident — in which the two suspects damaged dozens of vehicles — was a “revenge operation” for another police raid on the Bedouin village last night.
In security camera footage from the incident, the men are seen attempting to set fire to two cars parked on the street in Giv’ot Bar, just north of Tarabin al-Sana.
According to local outlets, the suspected attackers used a wire cutter to break through the town’s fence and then set cars on fire. Residents reportedly woke up to the sound of explosions.
Officers and Border Police are continuing to operate in Tarabin al-Sana. Of the five arrested today, several are suspected in last night’s arson, a police spokesman tells The Times of Israel.
Italy arrests seven for diverting $8 million in donations for Palestinians to fund Hamas
Italian police say that they have arrested seven people suspected of raising millions of euros for Hamas under the guise of fundraising for Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
Police also issue international arrests for two others outside the country.
Three associations, officially supporting Palestinian civilians but allegedly serving as a front for funding Hamas, are implicated in the investigation, a police statement says.
The nine individuals are accused of having financed approximately seven million euros ($8 million) to “associations based in Gaza, the Palestinian territories, or Israel, owned, controlled, or linked to Hamas.”
While the official objective of the three associations was to collect donations “for humanitarian purposes for the Palestinian people,” more than 71 percent was earmarked for the direct financing of Hamas” or entities affiliated with the Islamist terror group, according to police.
Some of the money went to “family members implicated in terrorist attacks,” the statement says.
Among those arrested was Mohammad Hannoun, president of the Palestinian Association in Italy, according to media reports.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi posts on X that the operation “lifted the veil on behavior and activities which, pretending to be initiatives in favor of the Palestinian population, concealed support for and participation in terrorist organizations.”
Ukraine: 1/3 of Kyiv without heat after attack; Zelensky: shows Russia doesn’t want to end war
A third of Kyiv has been left without heating after a vast overnight Russian attack, according to Ukraine, as President Volodymyr Zelensky says the major bombardment shows Moscow does “not want to end the war.”
“Russia’s only response to peace efforts is brutal attacks using hundreds of drones and missiles against Kyiv and other cities and regions,” foreign minister Andrii Sybiha writes on X, saying the attack left much of the capital city without power and heat. The temperature in Kyiv is around zero degrees Celsius (32°F) today.
The Russians “do not want to end the war and seek to use every opportunity to cause Ukraine even greater suffering and increase their pressure on others around the world,” Zelensky says after the Russian barrage pummeled the capital killing at least one person and injuring at least 11.
Zelensky issues the comments ahead of his departure for talks in the United States with President Donald Trump on a plan to reach a ceasefire in Ukraine.
IDF says shots fired near West Bank checkpoint came from hunters, not terror attack
The IDF says a shooting incident near the Hashmonaim checkpoint in the West Bank was carried out by hunters and was not an attempted terror attack.
There were no injuries in the incident, but the IDF deployed a large force to look for the shooter.
The IDF says searches will continue for the hunters in order to confiscate their weapons.
Trump urges release of any Epstein files naming Democrats
US President Donald Trump urges the Justice Department (DOJ) to “embarrass” any Democrats who worked with Jeffrey Epstein as its staff begins poring over millions of documents linked to the late sex offender.
The DOJ started releasing records last week from the investigation into Epstein, a wealthy financier who died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial for trafficking underage girls for sex.
The latest disclosures on Tuesday contain numerous references to Trump, including documents detailing flights he took on Epstein’s private jet.
Trump was once a friend of Epstein but distanced himself after his crimes came to light and has appeared reluctant to discuss the case despite strong support in the Republican party for fuller transparency about the deceased man’s associates.
“Now 1,000,000 more pages on Epstein are found. DOJ is being forced to spend all of its time on this Democrat inspired Hoax,” Trump says on his Truth Social platform.
“The Dems are the ones who worked with Epstein, not the Republicans. Release all of their names, embarrass them, and get back to helping our Country!” Trump says.
“The Radical Left doesn’t want people talking about TRUMP & REPUBLICAN SUCCESS, only a long ago dead Jeffrey Epstein – Just another Witch Hunt!!!”
Trump does not say which Democrats may be named in the files.
Russia attacks Kyiv with missiles and drones, wounding 11 ahead of Ukraine-US meeting
Russia attacked Ukraine’s capital with missiles and drones early this morning, wounding at least 11 people a day before talks between Ukraine and the US are scheduled to begin, local authorities said.
Explosions boomed across the capital for hours as ballistic missiles and drones hit the city. The attack began in the early morning hours and was continuing as day broke.
The attack came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky prepares to meet with US President Donald Trump on Sunday for further talks in an effort to end the nearly four-year-old war. Zelenskyy said they plan to discuss issues including security guarantees and territorial issues in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Two children were among those injured in the attack, which affected seven locations across the city of Kyiv, says the head of Kyiv’s City Military Administration Tymur Tkachenko in a statement on Telegram.
A fire broke out in an 18-story residential building in the Dnipro district of the city, and emergency crews rushed to the scene to contain the flames.
A 24-story residential building in the Darnytsia district was also hit, Tkachenko says, and more fires broke out in the Obolonskyi and Holosiivsky districts.
In the wider Kyiv region, the strikes hit industrial and residential buildings, according to Ukraine’s Emergency Service. In the Vyshhorod area, emergency crews rescued one person found under the rubble of a destroyed house.
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