JERUSALEM, Israel – Turkey is pressing to join the international stabilization force in Gaza as the ceasefire teeters and accusations emerge from Hamas. In the U.S., a different kind of battle confronts the one thousand pastors and Christian leaders returning from Israel who say they're the targets of online attacks.
The Erdogan government in Turkey claims it's ready to join the force tasked with stabilizing Gaza, directly challenging Israel's opposition. Ankara insists its participation is critical to upholding the ceasefire. Israel believes Turkey supports Hamas.
The latest development comes as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz makes his first visit to Israel, meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to advance Trump's Gaza peace plan.
However, Hamas now says that plans cannot move into the second phase as the terror group accuses Israel of "violations." That phase calls for an international troop deployment and the disarmament of Hamas, which the terror group is resisting.
Israel accuses Hamas of being the violators of the ceasefire due to continued attacks on troops and failure to deliver al the remaining hostages as agreed. Hamas still claims it cannot locate the body of the last remaining hostage.
Netanyahu expects the second and third phases of negotiations to be equally challenging, as he plans to visit New York City later this month, despite threats from the incoming Mayor Zohran Mamdani that he will arrest Netanyahu.
"There's a third phase, and that is to deradicalize Gaza, something that also people believed was impossible. But it was done in Germany, it was done in Japan, it was done in the Gulf states, it can be done in Gaza too, but of course Hamas has to be dismantled.”
And in Jerusalem, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson are launching efforts to nominate President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Their call comes just ahead of Thursday's ceremony, where the award will go to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, a decision that has disappointed those who saw Trump as the front-runner for his role in the Gaza peace efforts.
Another controversy has surfaced with reports of online attacks against Christian leaders who attended last week's Friends of Zion Ambassador Summit in Israel.
Founder Mike Evans claims pastors and ministry leaders are being targeted by coordinated AI-driven harassment and antisemitism.
Evans told CBN News, "They think they're real people. They're not real people, they're bots. But they achieve the same objective. They shut (the pastors) up by marginalizing them.
We asked Evans what the endgame was of the cyber attack.
He replied, "Listen: the terrorists kill the body; these individuals kill the soul. So, it's exactly the same. It's 'Satan's come to kill, steal, and destroy.'"
Despite the attacks, Evans says his organization is moving forward with even more ambitious plans for next year.
"I'm planning on bringing 1,000 university students. young people like that are involved in Turning Point USA. leaders on campuses. I'm planning on bringing 1,000 of them in July, and then I'm planning on bringing 1,000 of the top pastors globally at the end of August," Evans said.
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