At the inaugural Board of Peace meeting in Washington on Feb. 19, 2026, Yakir Gabay laid out a 10-year plan to turn Gaza into a “Mediterranean Riviera” with 200 hotels and possibly artificial islands.
The proposal also includes schools, hospitals, factories, agriculture, rail lines, water and energy plants, tech hubs, sports facilities, plus a seaport and airport. He cited the need to clear 70 million tons of rubble and miles of tunnels, projecting “hundreds of thousands of jobs” under a “free economy” model backed by a Gaza sovereign fund.
All development, he said, depends on the complete disarmament of Hamas.
The Jerusalem Post has reported that within days of the Oct. 7 attacks, Gabay began drafting the reconstruction plan that now underpins the U.S. Board of Peace framework. Trump appointed him to the body on Jan. 17.
Gabay, 59, is known for close ties to Jared Kushner, Israeli media reported, and is the son of former Justice Ministry Director-General Meir Gabay. He previously led Bank Leumi’s underwriting arm and worked at the Israel Securities Authority. Later, he founded Aroundtown SA, a Frankfurt-listed real estate giant with a roughly $30 billion portfolio where he is currently Deputy Chairman of the Advisory Board.
A low-profile Israeli-Cypriot real estate billionaire began sketching Gaza’s future within days of Oct. 7.
$75M Russian Air Defenses Downed as Ukraine Strikes Multiple Russian Positions in Zaporizhzhia
The Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) destroyed three Russian Tor-M1 air defense systems, worth a total of $75 million, in the early hours of Friday, Feb. 20, according to USF chief Robert “Madyar” Brovdi.
“All three TORs are in the occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region. The operation was carried out simultaneously by the Birds of the 1st Separate Center of the Unmanned Systems Forces,” Brovdi said, sharing on Telegram a video of the operation lasting more than 90 seconds.
Kyiv Post could not independently verify the video’s time and location.
Brovdi emphasized that systematically identifying and destroying components of enemy long-, medium-, and short-range air defense remains a USF priority.
“Overnight minus ~75 million dollars, but first of all - a strike on the near echelon of the worm air defense, which always causes significant trouble. Someday those costly scabies will end,” he wrote.
The Tor-M1 is a short-range air defense system capable of detecting and striking multiple targets simultaneously with a maximum range of 12 kilometers (7.5 miles), at an estimated cost of $25 million per unit.
Scientists worry about lasting damage from Potomac sewage spill
In January, part of a decades-old sewer line in Maryland collapsed by the Potomac River. Over the following days, the broken pipe dumped more than 200 million gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac near Washington, D.C.
Since then, the utility that manages the line, DC Water, has been setting up a system of pumps and a steel bulkhead to divert wastewater around the broken section of pipe so crews can begin repairs. The area's drinking water hasn't been contaminated, but scientists and environmental advocates say the damage could still be severe in a watershed that stretches to the Chesapeake Bay.
"There's a ton of nasty stuff in raw sewage. It's not just waste and bacteria, but you have all sorts of pharmaceuticals that end up in the pipe system. You have different chemicals that people pour down the sink or into drains," says Gary Belan, senior director of the clean water program at American Rivers, an advocacy group. "So a lot of that stuff can sink to the bottom of the river, have impacts on fish reproduction, bird reproduction, killing a lot of the insects, contaminating the soil."
Ohio mayor arrested on voyeurism charges after allegedly sniffing girl’s underwear
A Republican mayor in Ohio is facing criminal allegations after authorities say he was recorded on a concealed camera smelling an underage girl’s underwear.
An incident report from the Richland county sheriff’s Office details the accusations against Wesley Dingus, 48, who serves as mayor of Butler. The claims came from a juvenile who had been staying at his residence.
According to investigators, the teen had hidden a small camera in a bedroom in the home. On 13 January, she reportedly received multiple motion alerts indicating recordings had been captured. Deputies say the footage showed Dingus smelling at least four pairs of her underwear “for several seconds” and also “touching his groin area over his clothes”.
Richland county children’s services passed the report along to law enforcement the same day the alleged incident occurred, and a deputy later interviewed the girl at her school.
US military strike kills three in second alleged drug boat attack this week
The US military launched a strike on an alleged drug smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific on Friday, killing three men in its second strike this week.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” US Southern Command, which oversees operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, said on Twitter/X.
No US military forces were harmed, according to Southern Command, which is now led by Gen Francis Donovan.
Friday’s strike brought the total number of people killed in US strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats since September to at least 148. Earlier this week, another US military strike killed 11 people, making it one of the deadliest attacks this year.
A 16-second clip posted by the Southern Command on Friday shows a single strike being launched at the boA 16-second clip posted by the Southern Command on Friday shows a single strike being launched at the boat, which later burst into flames.at, which later burst into flames.
US citizen shot and killed by federal immigration agent last year, new records show
Newly released records show a US citizen was shot and killed in Texas by a federal immigration agent last year during a late-night traffic encounter that was not publicly disclosed by the Department of Homeland Security.
The death of Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, would mark the earliest of at least six deadly shootings by federal officers since the start of a nationwide immigration crackdown in Donald Trump’s second term. On Friday, DHS said the shooting on South Padre Island last March occurred after the driver intentionally struck an agent.
The records are part of a tranche of heavily redacted internal documents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement that the non-profit obtained as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.
Though Martinez’s death on 15 March 2025 was reported by local ough Martinez’s death on 15 March 2025 was reported by local media outlets at the time, federal and state authorities did not disclose that the shooting involved the team from HSI. In a statement Friday, DHS said the driver who was killed “intentionally ran over a Homeland Security Investigation special agent”, resulting in another agent firing “defensive shots to protect himself, his fellow agents, and the general public”.media outlets at the time, federal and state authorities did not disclose that the shooting involved the team from HSI.
In a statement Friday, DHS said the driver who was killed “intentionally ran over a Homeland Security Investigation special agent”, resulting in another agent firing “defensive shots to protect himself, his fellow agents, and the general public”.
US envoy Mike Huckabee says it would be ‘fine’ if Israel took all Middle East land
The US’s ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has contended to the podcaster Tucker Carlson that Israel has a biblical right to take over the entire Middle East – or at least the lion’s share of it.
“It would be fine if they took it all,” Huckabee said to Carlson during an interview posted on Friday. The Trump administration appointee and former Arkansas governor discussed with Carlson interpretations of Old Testament scripture within the US Christian nationalist movement.
Carlson – who recently made disputed claims that he was detained at Tel Aviv airport in Israel – asked Huckabee about a biblical verse in which God promises Abraham that his descendants will receive land “from the wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates – the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites”.
Carlson pointed out that this area in modern geography would include “like, basically the entire Middle East”.
“The Levant … Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon – it’d also be big parts of Saudi Arabia and Iraq,” Carlson said.
Huckabee said: “I’m not sure it would go that far, but it would be a big piece of land.”
He continued: “Israel is a land that God gave, through Abraham, to a people that he chose. It was a people, a place and a purpose.”
VA reverses on new disability rating rule after intense backlash
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) this week abruptly reversed course on a new rule requiring veterans’ disability ratings to be calculated by how well they function on medication and not on the underlying condition or injury itself, a stance that was quickly condemned.
“Effective immediately, VA is halting enforcement of the interim final rule, ‘Evaluative Rating: Impact of Medication,’” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a statement posted to social media Thursday afternoon.
“VA issued the rule to clarify existing policy and protect Veterans’ benefits in the wake of an ongoing court action. But many interpreted the rule as something that could result in adverse consequences,” Collins said.
The federal rule, which went into effect Tuesday with no warning, drew swift outrage from major veterans groups that argued it could lower disability compensation for millions of veterans who suffer from physical ailments, such as bone or muscle injuries and hypertension or mental health issues.
Chief among the concerns was that the change could lead to veterans choosing not to take medication to be rated higher and receive larger compensation.
Massie seeks to undo Trump’s pro-glyphosate executive order
At least one Republican lawmaker is formally pushing back on President Trump’s effort to boost a controversial herbicide, glyphosate, that’s reviled by supporters of the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement.
Trump this week stoked MAHA fury by issuing an executive order that seeks to “ensure an adequate supply” of glyphosate as a national security issue and grant “immunity” to makers of the pesticide under the Defense Production Act.
In response, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) drafted legislation to prevent the order’s implementation. Massie’s legislation also seeks to explicitly allow citizens to bring lawsuits related to exposure to glyphosate, the key ingredient in the frequently litigated Roundup weedkiller.
“This week I will introduce the ‘No Immunity for Glyphosate Act’ to undo the recent Executive Order which promotes glyphosate (Round-Up) and insulates manufacturers from liability,” Massie, who has broken with Trump on multiple issues, wrote on the social platform X.
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