New York City Mayor Eric Adams threw down the gauntlet to his left-wing critics on Tuesday, declaring "cancel me" as he confirmed his willingness to meet with President-elect Trump's incoming border enforcement chief to address criminal immigrants in the city, according to Fox News. 

Speaking at a press conference, Adams revealed his openness to discussions with Tom Homan, Trump's pick to lead planned deportation operations after taking office.

NYC Mayor Eric Adams dares the left to "cancel" him over working with Border Czar Tom Homan and Trump on deportations of illegal migrants.

He says illegals are "committing crimes, robberies, sh*oting at police, r*ping innocent people." pic.twitter.com/agUdMkvYQ0

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) December 4, 2024

"Well, cancel me, because I'm going to protect the people of this city," Adams declared forcefully. "If you come into this country, in this city, and think you're going to harm innocent New Yorkers and innocent migrants and asylum seekers, this is not the mayor you want to be in a city under."

While emphasizing the city's continued support for immigrants, including assistance with Temporary Protected Status applications and case management services, Adams acknowledged growing public concern over immigration issues. "The American people have communicated to us loudly and clearly: We have a broken system," he said, noting a 21-week decrease in migrant arrivals.

The mayor expressed his intention to work collaboratively with the incoming administration rather than oppose it. "I'm not going to be warring with this administration, I'm going to be working with this administration," Adams stated, according to Fox News. "President Trump is the president-elect. And whomever he chooses to run his agencies, I'm looking forward to sitting down and see how do we better New York."

Adams drew parallels to past Democratic leaders, citing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Obama's support for deporting criminal immigrants. He maintained that law-abiding undocumented immigrants "should not be rounded up in the middle of the night" but distinguished them from those committing crimes.

The stance represents a potential shift in New York's sanctuary city status, which currently prohibits local law enforcement from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) requests to transfer immigrants from custody. Adams has advocated for policy changes allowing ICE access to those suspected of major crimes.

Homan, speaking Monday on Fox News' "America's Newsroom," expressed willingness to meet with Adams. "I'm willing to meet with him, and I'm willing to meet with anybody to help make their communities safer," Homan said after being contacted by the Adams administration.

The migrant crisis has significantly impacted New York City's resources, with Adams revealing the city has spent $6.4 billion on related services. "Prioritization out of the gate is public safety threats," Homan told Fox News. "Work with us on that. It makes your community safer. It keeps my officers safe. It keeps the community safe. Let's work together and get this done."

The mayor's stance marks a significant departure from traditional sanctuary city policies, as New York grapples with both humanitarian obligations and public safety concerns amid ongoing immigration challenges.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Cairo Sunday to conduct a comprehensive joint investigation into the killing of three IDF soldiers on the Egyptian border.

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"Israel relayed a clear message to the Egyptian government. We expect that the joint investigation will be exhaustive and thorough," Netanyahu told his cabinet in televised remarks. "We will refresh procedures and methods of operations and also the measures to reduce to a minimum the smuggling and to ensure tragic terrorist attacks like this do not happen again."

Staff Sgt. Ori Yitzhak Iluz, 20 and Sgt. Lia Ben Nun, 19, were shot by the terrorist at the southern border with Egypt early Saturday morning. The third fighter, Staff Sgt. Ohad Dahan, 20, was killed in the following shootout between the IDF and the terrorist, who is believed to have been a member of Egypt's armed forces.

Ben Nun was laid to rest on Sunday in the central city of Rishon Lezion.

"I love you and miss you already," her sister Ofir said in her eulogy. "I don't know what I'll do now."

Iluz's funeral was held in the northern city of Safed, and Dahan was buried in the southern town of Ofakim.

The terrorist was later identified as 22-year-old Mohamed Salah Ibrahim from Cairo. According to Arab media, Ibrahim was drafted into the Egyptian military in June last year and stationed on the border with Israel as a policeman. He is believed to have suffered mental distress following the death of a comrade and was disgruntled over his military service.

i24NEWS contributed to this report.

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The Israeli Embassy in Minsk expressed formal protest Monday after the state-affiliated SB daily used the Hatikvah national anthem for part of a video on the migrant crisis on the Belarus-Poland border. 

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The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that "relevant authorities" had been informed of the incident.

The one-and-a-half-long video includes footage of migrants enduring freezing conditions, with no running water, forced to wash their hands and clothes using water from bottles. The recording was removed shortly after, presumably at the behest of senior government officials. 

Thousands of migrants, mostly from Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, have amassed at Belarus' western border with Poland in the hope of crossing into the European Union. 

The bloc accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of encouraging masses to cross into Poland and other member states in order to spark a humanitarian crisis within the EU. 

As for SB, the paper has a history of antisemitic rhetoric. In October, opinion-writer Andrey Mukovozchik brought his readers' attention to the (Jewish-sounding) last names of regime critics Shraibman and Katz. Artyom Shraibman is a highly-respected political analyst and Maxim Katz is a Jewish political blogger who currently lives in Moscow. 

And although Mukovozchik did not specify, it was abundantly clear who he was referring to when he said last year's mass protests were organized by "non-Belarusian instigators."

In another piece, on popular blogger and regime-critic Yevgeny Lipkovich, Mukovozchik reminded him of pogroms and recommended he leave Belarus and move to Israel.

On Monday evening, SB said in a statement it had "no connection to the video." 

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An IDF lookout on the Lebanese border post identified a suspect attempting to cross into Israel near the town of Metula during the Yom Kippur holiday on Thursday. Soldiers and the local security liaison apprehended the individual, who was then taken in for further questioning.

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The unusual incident occurred in the early afternoon hours, when a local resident, an off-duty police officer, spotted the suspect crossing the fence near the northern border town. The off-duty police officer contacted the local security liaison and the two approached the fence in an effort to detain the suspect.

The two fired their weapons into the air and apprehended the man until the prompt arrival of IDF forces.

As a reminder, a similar incident occurred last Sunday when a suspicious person approached the fence from Lebanese territory. IDF soldiers spotted the man as he was attempting to climb over the fence into Israel.

Soldiers were called to the scene and the man quickly fled back into Lebanon.

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Despite suspicions in Israel that some of the fugitives who escaped from the Gilboa prison have crossed the border into Jordan, officials from the kingdom assured Thursday that that was not the case.

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A senior defense official told Israel Hayom that had the prisoners made their way into Jordanian territory, authorities would have acted as required by law and arrested the individuals wanted by Israel. He also said that despite Jordan not having an official extradition treaty with Israel, the kingdom would nevertheless have considered extraditing the fugitives had they crossed the border into their sovereign territory.

"There is no indication at the moment that any of the prisoners who escaped crossed the border and are located on the kingdom's sovereign territory," the source said and added that Israel had requested Jordanian authorities for help in locating the fugitives if any of them had indeed managed to make it to the kingdom.

"Although these are Palestinians who are our brethren in every way, Jordan will not be a city of refuge for inmates who escaped prison, no matter who the people in question are or under what circumstance they broke out of jail," the source assured.

"Jordanian law is very clear on the matter, and if someone is found on Jordanian territory, he will be brought before a court that will rule on his case. If the court decides to extradite them to Israel or a third country, that is what we will do,' he said.

The Jordanian official stressed that due to a revival in relations between Amman and Jerusalem since the new government took power in Israel, local authorities are working even harder to find out whether any of the six prisoners are indeed hiding in the kingdom.

Another high-ranking intelligence official also confirmed that based on investigations conducted by Jordanian authorities, the fugitives did not seem to have made their way into Jordan.

"If all six prisoners, or several of them, were to cross the border into Jordan and stay on Jordanian territory, we would have found out about it, one way or another. Based on investigations conducted until now, we received no information that could have confirmed suspicions that all six prisoners or some of them fled to the sovereign territory of the Kingdom of Jordan," the intelligence official said.

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A video currently making the rounds on Palestinian social media sites shows two female IDF soldiers dancing with two Egyptian soldiers on the other side of the border, several dozen yards in the distance.

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The song playing in the background is "Habib Galabi" by the popular Israeli band A-Wa.

The otherwise jovial scene depicted in the video is in stark contrast to the other reality along the Israeli-Egyptian border, in which IDF troops stationed in the area must cope with armed drug smugglers.

According to the IDF, there has been an increase in smuggling attempts in the first quarter of 2021, and, as a result, drug busts carried out by soldiers.

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Talks between Israel and Lebanon over their disputed maritime border might resume as early as next week, Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which is affiliated with Hezbollah, reported on Thursday.

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Meanwhile, a Lebanese official who spoke to Reuters without being identified due to the sensitivity of the issue said the US had informed Lebanon that talks would resume on Monday, May 3.

A second Lebanese official said the resumption of talks would coincide with a visit by US mediator John Desrocher, who is due in Lebanon on an unspecified day next week.

Negotiations between the two foes were launched last October to try to resolve the dispute, which has held up hydrocarbon exploration in the potentially gas-rich area, but have since stalled.

Lebabon is pushing for an additional 1,430 square kilometers (550 square miles) to be included in Lebanese territory as the country seeks to capitalize on possible natural gas reserves.

Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz's office said Israel was considering a renewal of talks but "based on the known territory which is in dispute."

Israel already pumps gas from huge offshore fields, while Lebanon has yet to find commercial gas reserves in its own waters.

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The coronavirus was no match to drug smuggling on the Israel-Egypt border in 2020, and even less so in 2021, a report recently published by the Israel Defense Forces reveals. According to the army, in the first quarter of this year, there has been an increase in smuggling attempts and, as a result, drug busts carried out by the IDF.

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As of April this year, there have been 100 smuggling attempts into Israel, 20 of which were violent. In 2020, there were 300 smuggling attempts, 70 of those violent.

Two Israeli soldiers were lightly injured this year by stray bullets from Egyptian territory during a fire exchange between the Egyptian military and the smugglers.

The IDF pointed out that the first three months of 2021 saw more violent attempts compared to the same period of time last year. One of the reasons for this, the army explained, is the success of the drug busts, which led smugglers to violent means of achieving their task.

The IDF reported that it thwarted 31 smuggling attempts this year alone, compared to 53 in all of 2020. Since the beginning of 2021, the IDF seized 1,400 kilograms (3,100 pounds) of narcotics and nine vehicles, valued at 40 million shekels ($12.3 million).

However, despite the successes mentioned above, 70% of smuggling attempts on the Israel-Egypt border were successful. Nevertheless, due to the IDF's efforts, smugglers have no choice but spend less time on the border and decrease the amount of narcotics they carry.

"The money doesn't go to kindergartens in Rahat, but directly to criminal organizations," Commander of the Paran Brigade in the 80th Division, Col. Elad Shushan said.

Drug trafficking causes more damage to Israel than Hamas or Hezbollah, he said.

Shushan explained that until a year ago, army policy did not clearly define who in the IDF was responsible for thwarting smuggling attempts on the Israel-Egypt border.

The army changed its policy and decided that we were the ones responsible for this, he said.

As part of the change, the IDF established also a directorate, which includes all relevant entities related to smuggling.

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Lebanon's outgoing minister of public works said Monday that he has signed a decree that would increase the area claimed by the Mediterranean country in a maritime border dispute with Israel.

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Public Works Minister Michel Najjar told reporters he signed an amendment of the decree that would formally extend Lebanon's claims by 1,430 square kilometers (550 square miles). The unilateral move by Lebanon is likely to anger Israel and the US who are not expected to recognize Beirut's extension of the disputed area.

Lebanon and Israel began indirect talks with US mediation in October to reach a deal over the disputed area that is believed to be rich with oil and natural gas deposits. The meetings that stopped a few weeks later were being held at a UN post along the border of the two nations that remain technically in a state of war.

The negotiations were the first non-security talks to be held between the two countries, which have no diplomatic relations following decades of conflict. Resolving the border issue could pave the way for lucrative oil and gas deals on both sides.

In late October, the Lebanese delegation to the talks – a mix of army generals and professionals – offered a new map that pushes for an additional 1,430 square kilometers (550 square miles).

This area is to be included in Lebanese territory on top of the already disputed 860 square kilometer-(330 square mile-) area of the Mediterranean Sea that each side claims is within their own exclusive economic zones.

Najjar said, however, that the decree still required the signatures of the defense minister, prime minister and president to go into effect.

The announcement came as US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale was expected in Lebanon later this week to meet Lebanese officials.

Lebanon is going through its worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history and had plans to start drilling in search for oil and gas in the disputed area this year.

Israel has already developed offshore natural gas rigs, producing enough for domestic consumption and export abroad. Lebanon hopes that its own oil and gas discoveries will help alleviate its long-running economic troubles.

It was not immediately clear how the US and Israel would respond to the Lebanese decision.

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The year 2019 saw a 10-fold increase in the number of cross-border infiltrations into Israel from Jordan, compared to the two previous years, according to IDF data obtained by Israel Hayom.

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The Israeli Immigration Policy Center petitioned the Tel Aviv District to discover the exact numbers, but the IDF Spokesperson's Unit refused to hand the information over for nearly a year. Eventually, the IIPC received the numbers under the Freedom of Information Law.

In 2017, IDF forces spotted 10 infiltrations from Jordan, and in 2018, that number stood at 13. However, 2019 saw 120 identified infiltration incidents from Jordan. However, the numbers only refer to the number of incidents and not the number of people who attempted to cross the border illegally. Most of the incidents involved groups rather than individuals, so it is not improbable to assume that the number of people who attempted to infiltrate Israel from Jordan in 2019 was as high as a few hundred.

Along with the increased number of incidents identified, the army thwarted fewer attempts in the same time frame. In 2018 10 out of 13 infiltration attempts (77%) were prevented, compared to only 81 out of 120 (68%) in 2019.

It is likely that there were other incidents that slipped under IDF forces' radar.

The issue of illegal border crossings from Jordan first came to light through tracking rulings by Israel's immigration custody court, which holds hearings on the cases of migrants arrested by Population Authority inspectors in Israel months or years after crossing the Jordanian border.

Most of the infiltrators who were caught and put in government custody arrived from Turkey, and nearly all of them had entered Israel as migrant laborers or as tourists and were deported after overstaying their visas. Some even tried to return to Israel after their deportations, but were rejected.

The infiltration from Jordan bears similarities to the illegal infiltration Israel saw from Egypt prior to building its border fence in the southern. At its peak, that influx reached some 2,000 Sudanese and Eritrean migrants per month. Those migrants also used paths originally created by infiltrators from China, Georgia, and Turkey.

IIPC attorney Yonatan Yakobovich said, "Past experience teaches us that the moment smuggling networks are in place, they expand both in terms of numbers and the number of countries from which the infiltrators arrive.

"Because the border is completely open in the Arava and there is no expectation that a border fence will be built, it's clear that there is nothing that will prevent a new wave of infiltrators, even from Africa. The government has to try new infiltrators on criminal charges and pass new laws to prevent infiltration in order to deincentivize infiltration into Israel," Yakobovich said.

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