May 7: IDF strikes Rafah rocket launcher used in attack on Israeli border towns

Biden administration to miss deadline for report on Israeli weapons use, sources say

The administration of US President Joe Biden will miss a Wednesday deadline to report to Congress on whether Israel is violating international humanitarian law in Gaza, four sources say.

A National Security Memorandum, known as NSM-20, that Biden issued in February requires the State Department to report to Congress by May 8 on whether it finds credible Israel’s assurances that its use of US weapons does not violate US or international law.

Four sources say the administration has informed congressional committees that it will not make the deadline, but hopes to present its findings within days. Two congressional aides say they have no indication the delay is tied to political concerns.

Commenting on the matter in a press briefing today, State Department spokesman Matt Miller said: “It’s possible it slips just a little bit, but we’re still at this point trying to get it done by tomorrow.”

IDF says suspected drone heading to Eilat from the east was intercepted

A “suspicious aerial target” — thought to be a drone — heading toward Israel from the eastern direction was intercepted by air defenses over Eilat, the IDF says.

The incident comes as the Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq claims to have launched a drone at Eilat.

Rocket alarms sound in Kiryat Shmona, other northern towns, in false alarm

Rocket sirens have sounded in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona and surrounding towns, following multiple Hezbollah drone attacks earlier today.

The communities have been evacuated since shortly after October 7.

A short while after the sirens sound, they are deemed to be false alarms, activated as a result of Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon.

IDF strikes Rafah rocket launcher used to target Israeli towns earlier today

The IDF says it has carried out a drone strike against a rocket launcher in southern Gaza’s Rafah that was used in an attack on Israeli border communities earlier today.

Twelve rockets were launched in the attack, with the Iron Dome system downing 5 of them. The other rockets hit open areas, causing no damage or injuries, according to the military.

The launcher in Rafah was hit within an hour of the attack, the IDF says.

In another attack earlier today, the IDF says six rockets were fired from the Rafah area toward the shuttered Kerem Shalom Crossing. No injuries were caused.

“The projectiles that were fired toward the area of the Kerem Shalom Crossing are preventing the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. The IDF will continue to operate to enable the necessary security conditions to reopen the Kerem Shalom Crossing,” the military says in a statement.

מוקדם יותר היום זוהו כ-12 שיגורים ששוגרו ממרחב רפיח שבדרום הרצועה לעבר אזור רעים, לוחמי ההגנה האווירית יירטו בהצלחה חמישה שיגורים, שאר השיגורים נפלו בשטח פתוח, אין נפגעים.

פחות משעה לאחר מכן >> pic.twitter.com/eQWVAQFRFh

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 7, 2024

Basketball: Maccabi Tel Aviv out of Euroleague after losing decider to Greece’s Panathinaikos

Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team is out of this year’s Euroleague after losing 72-81 to Greece’s Panathinaikos B.C. in the fifth and deciding match between the two.

The total score after the previous match earlier this week was 2-2, after Maccabi had earlier held a 2-1 lead.

Eilat residents report interceptor missile over city; no immediate comment from IDF

Residents of Eilat report seeing an interceptor missile launched over the city in southern Israel.

There is no immediate comment from the military on the incident.

פיצוץ עז נשמע באילת, תושבים דיווחו על יירוטים בשמי העיר @Itsik_zuarets pic.twitter.com/TRQAirnUGa

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 7, 2024

Eurovision organizers say singer’s keffiyeh ‘compromised’ event’s apolitical nature

Eric Saade performs the song "Popular" while wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh on his wrist during the opening of the first semifinal at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Eurovision organizers criticize Swedish singer Eric Saade for his decision to wear a Palestinian keffiyeh on his wrist during his performance in the opening act of the song contest’s first semifinal in Sweden tonight.

In response to a request for comment by The Times of Israel, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) notes that the show is live and that “all performers are made aware of the rules of the contest.”

The EBU says that “we regret that Eric Saade chose to compromise the non-political nature of the event.”

Saade did not wear the keffiyeh in his rehearsals for the show. All contestants and performers are barred from making political statements or wearing political symbols or flags of nations not competing in the competition.

Saade, whose father is Palestinian and who is not a contestant this year, was invited to perform in the opening act of the first semifinal, and was heavily critical of the EBU last week, calling its ban on Palestinian flags “disgraceful.”

Foreign Ministry confirms Israeli said murdered in Egypt also held Canadian citizenship

The Foreign Ministry confirms new details about the Israeli businessman reportedly murdered today in Cairo, saying that he also held Canadian citizenship, and owned a business in Egypt.

“The Israeli Embassy in Cairo is in touch with local authorities, who are investigating the circumstances of the incident,” says the Foreign Ministry.

All parties have agreed to resume Israel-Hamas truce talks – Egyptian media

Egyptian state-linked media says, citing a “senior official,” that “all parties have agreed to return to the negotiating table” for talks towards a truce in the Israel-Hamas war.

Al-Qahera News, a site linked to Egyptian intelligence services, earlier reported that Egyptian, Qatari and US mediators were in talks with a Hamas delegation, without initially mentioning Israel.

White House: Monkey gestures at Black anti-Israel protester ‘undignified and racist’

In this photo taken from video provided by Stacey J. Spiehler, hecklers shout at a pro-Palestinian protester at the University of Mississippi, May 2, 2024, in Oxford, Mississippi. (Stacey J. Spiehler via AP)

The White House says the behavior captured in a video at the University of Mississippi is “undignified and racist,” after a student was accused of mocking a Black protester by making monkey noises during an anti-Israel demonstration.

The events at Ole Miss, the state’s flagship university, have drawn widespread outrage and condemnation.

“The actions in the video are beneath any American,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tells reporters.

Pentagon says construction of Gaza aid pier done, but yet to be moved into place

A maritime pier being built by the US military off the coast of the Gaza Strip, in an image released on April 29, 2024. (CENTCOM)

The US military has completed the construction of the floating aid pier off Gaza’s coast, but weather conditions mean it is currently unsafe to move the two-part facility into place, the Pentagon says.

“As of today, the construction of the two portions of the JLOTS — the floating pier and the Trident pier — are complete and awaiting final movement offshore,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh tells journalists, using an acronym for Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore — the official name for the pier capability.

Eurovision opening act features Palestinian keffiyeh, as contest overshadowed by politics

Eric Saade performs the song "Popular" while wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh on his wrist during the opening of the first semifinal at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

The 2024 Eurovision kicks off in Malmo, Sweden, with an opening act that subtly hints at Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza — which has heavily overshadowed the song contest.

Swedish singer Eric Saade, whose father is Palestinian and who is not a contestant this year, performs his 2011 Eurovision song “Popular” while wearing a keffiyeh wrapped around his wrist — a Palestinian symbol often used in pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protests.

Contestants, performers and fans are barred from displaying any flags that do not represent the countries competing in the contest, or from displaying or making any political gestures.

Last week, Saade expressed anger at the fact that the Palestinian flag was banned, but defended his performance in the broadcast regardless.

Today is the first semifinal. Israel’s Eden Golan will compete in the second semifinal on Thursday evening.

US has been told Kerem Shalom Crossing will open tomorrow, White House says

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, center, walks with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, center left, and UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, 2nd right, at the Kerem Shalom border crossing in Kerem Shalom, May 1, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

The US has been told that the Kerem Shalom Crossing between Israel and Gaza will reopen tomorrow, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre says.

The UN and other international aid agencies have said the closing of the two crossings into southern Gaza — Rafah and Kerem Shalom — has virtually cut the enclave off from outside aid and very few stores are available inside.

Kerem Shalom was closed after Hamas fired a major rocket barrage at the area of the crossing, killing four IDF soldiers and injuring 10.

Poll: 87% of US college students say Israel-Hamas war not a top issue for them

People stand guard outside an encampment set up by pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel demonstrators on the campus at the University of Southern California, May 4, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

An overwhelming majority of US university students aren’t participating in the anti-Israel campus protests that have swept the country and beyond, and don’t believe the Israel-Hamas war is a top issue for them, according to a Generation Lab survey reported by Axios.

The poll shows students ranked the Middle East conflict the least important out of nine options provided, with only 13% saying this is a major issue to them.

The most important issues are healthcare reforms (40%), educational funding and access (38%), economic fairness and opportunity (37%), racial justice and civil rights (36%), climate change (35%) and gun control and safety (32%).

Just 8% of the 1,250 respondents say they have taken part in either the anti-Israel encampments or counter-protests.

While 45% say they support the encampments versus 24% who oppose them, students strongly oppose many of the more incendiary tactics documented during them — 90% say blocking Israel supporters from parts of campus is unacceptable, 81% say those who vandalized property or illegally occupied buildings should be held accountable, 67% say taking over campus buildings is wrong, and 58% say refusing a university’s instruction to disperse is illegitimate.

Asked who they blame for the current situation in Gaza, 34% said Hamas, 19% blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 12% blamed the Israeli people and 12% said US President Joe Biden, the poll finds.

The poll was conducted May 3-6 among a representative sample of 1,250 college students, with a margin of error of 2.7%.

Lior Rudaeff, missing since Oct. 7, confirmed killed that day, his body taken to Gaza

Lior Rudaeff was murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, in Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak and his body was taken hostage to Gaza. (Courtesy)

Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak announces that resident Lior Rudaeff, 61, presumed to be a hostage in Gaza for 7 months, is dead. The statement doesn’t give more details, saying these will be given later.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum issues a statement saying Rudaeff was killed on October 7 and his body was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists to the Strip, without details of how this was discovered.

The ambulance driver and volunteer medic was up early on October 7, preparing for a motorcycle ride to the Ramon Crater, when he got a call from the kibbutz emergency squad to protect the community.

Rudaeff went out to join the battle for the kibbutz, and later sent a message that he had been hurt. He sent his love to his wife, Yaffa, and his four children, and since then, all communication was lost.

Hundreds urge hostage deal in Jerusalem; some try to block Paris Square, 1 arrested

Hundreds of protesters in Jerusalem are urging the government to reach a hostage deal with Hamas, with some trying to block the road in Paris Square.

Police arrest one person and deploy forces, including a water cannon and mounted officers.

Hamas official: No deal if Rafah op continues; crossing to stay ‘purely Egyptian-Palestinian’

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan speaks during a rally organized by Lebanon's Hezbollah terror group to express solidarity with the Palestinian people, in a southern suburb of Beirut, May 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Hamas official Osama Hamdan warns that if Israel’s military operation continues in Rafah, there will be no ceasefire deal.

Hamdan’s comments are made during a press conference in Beirut as a delegation from Hamas, the terror group that runs the Gaza Strip, arrived in Cairo from Doha to continue ceasefire negotiations, a statement from the group says.

“We affirm that the military operation in Rafah, if carried out by Israel, will not be a picnic for the [Israeli] army,” Hamdan says.

“The ball is in Netanyahu’s court,” he adds, saying that the latest ceasefire proposal that Hamas floated “represents the minimum that responds to the demands of our people and our resistance.”

Israeli forces seized the main border crossing between Egypt and southern Gaza earlier today, in what Israel and the US say is a limited offensive rather than a full-out offensive on the city.

“The Rafah Crossing was and will remain a purely Egyptian-Palestinian crossing,” Hamdan says, amid reports that Israel’s goal is to remove Hamas’s control of the crossing to prevent smuggling of arms and other goods.

Egyptian media says Jewish businessman murdered today in Alexandria

Egyptian media reports that a Jewish businessman was murdered today in Alexandria by unknown gunmen, in what Hebrew media claims is a suspected terror incident.

It is not immediately clear whether the murdered man is Israeli, as some Egyptian outlets claim.

The Foreign Ministry says it is aware of the case, which is being handled by the ministry and Israel’s Embassy in Cairo.

TV report highlights key areas where Hamas proposal differs from Israeli-backed offer

Yahya Sinwar, Hamas's Gaza Strip chief, waves to supporters in Gaza City, on April 14, 2023. (Mohammed Abed/AFP)

A Channel 12 report highlights some of the key differences between the reported terms of the Egyptian-crafted, Israeli-backed hostage and truce proposal conveyed to Hamas late last month, and the proposal (Arabic) Hamas issued last night, which it claimed constituted its acceptance of a permanent ceasefire.

Israel has rejected the Hamas terms and said they do not meet Israel’s vital demands.

Among the differences cited in the TV report:

The Hamas proposal would see the release of 33 Israeli hostages, alive or dead, in the first, 42-day phase of the three-phase deal, whereas the Israeli text requires the release of 33 living hostages.

The hostages would also be released at a slower pace than in the Israeli-backed proposal, with three to be freed on the third day, and then three more every seven days. The Hamas proposal also removes the veto Israel demanded on the release of certain Palestinian security prisoners, and instead gives Hamas the right to choose who will go free.

The combination of those two changes potentially means Hamas could secure the release of some of the most dangerous mass murderers and iconic terror chiefs from Israeli jails very early on in the deal, before many hostages are freed.

The Hamas version raises the number of Palestinian security prisoners to be freed in exchange for each hostage in the first phase.

The Hamas proposal provides for the free movement of all Gazans back to the north of the Strip, without security checks as required by Israel to prevent Hamas gunmen from returning.

The TV report also claims the Hamas proposal requires Israel to announce an end to the war in the first phase of the deal. In fact, the Hamas text says that the framework agreement “aims for… the return to a sustainable calm that will achieve a permanent ceasefire,” and requires a cessation of Israeli military operations in the first phase and thereafter. Significantly, Hamas said soon after delivering its response on Monday night that it regards itself as having accepted terms for an end to the war, whereas both the Israeli-backed text and the Hamas response refer to restoring “sustainable calm.”

Another change between the two proposals, not highlighted in the TV report, is that Hamas demands the release of all Palestinian security inmates who were freed in the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner deal and have since been rearrested.

The Hamas proposal also does not specify how many Palestinian security prisoners it would demand in the second phase of the deal, when remaining living Israeli men are to be freed, but requires that Israel reach an agreement on that issue in the midst of the first phase, before all the first-phase hostages are freed.

The TV report also says Israelis “at the highest level” feared last night that the US had given some kind of guarantee to Hamas via the mediators that the deal would indeed constitute an end to the war. The Biden administration, for its part, reportedly responded that it saw the Hamas proposal as “a kind of counter-offer.”

It says “very tense discussions” between Israel and the US continued yesterday and today. Senior Israeli officials urged their US counterparts not to be publicly supportive of the Hamas terms, it says, while the US “didn’t quite accept that message.”

Finally, it suggests Hamas’s Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar is intent on attaining a permanent ceasefire before all living hostages are freed, because he fears he would otherwise be vulnerable to a potential Israeli-targeted strike on him.

Israeli official said to threaten bigger Rafah op, slam mediators as being on Hamas’s side

The Kan public broadcaster quotes an unnamed Israeli official involved in the hostage deal negotiations as slamming Egypt, Qatar and the United States for their conduct in the talks so far, charging that “the mediators acted fully on Hamas’s side.”

“If there is no change of approach by the mediators and Hamas, we are on the way to an expansion of the [military] activities in Rafah,” the official says, adding that Hamas’s new counter-proposal “is a non-starter for us.”

US nuclear watchdog chief says cooperation from Iran ‘completely unsatisfactory’

UN atomic watchdog chief Rafael Grossi says cooperation from Iran at present is “completely unsatisfactory” after returning from Tehran, where he urged the country to adopt “concrete” measures to address concerns about its nuclear program.

“We have to be moving on… The present state is completely unsatisfactory for me. We are almost at an impasse… and this needs to be changed,” Grossi tells reporters at Vienna airport.

IDF says it has hit various Hezbollah sites in Lebanon

Israeli fighter jets earlier today struck several buildings used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Blida, Maroun al-Ras, Yaroun and Khiam, the military says.

The IDF says it hit additional Hezbollah infrastructure in Kfarhamam and a rocket launcher in Ayta ash-Shab.

מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו מוקדם יותר היום מבנים צבאיים של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במספר מרחבים בדרום לבנון, בניהם בליידא, מרון א-ראס, יארון, ואלחיאם.
בנוסף נתקפה תשתית טרור של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב כפר חמם, לצד עמדת שיגור ניידת של הארגון במרחב עייתא א-שעב שבדרום לבנון>> pic.twitter.com/0Jnh09WmGP

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 7, 2024

Report: Rafah op focused on transferring control of crossing from Hamas to private US firm

This image grab taken from footage released by the Israeli army on May 7, 2024, shows the 401st Brigade's combat team tanks entering the Gazan side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip on May 7, 2024. (Fayez Nureldine/Israeli Army/AFP)

Israel has promised the United States and Egypt that its limited operation in the Gazan city of Rafah is focused on getting the Rafah Crossing with Egypt out of Hamas’s control to prevent the smuggling of arms and other banned goods, Haaretz reports.

The plan, according to the report, is to transfer control of the key crossing to a private American security firm after the IDF concludes the offensive. It says negotiations are ongoing with the unnamed company, which employs former elite US soldiers and is an expert on securing strategic sites in Africa and the Middle East. Israel and the US will help the firm if needed.

Israel has reportedly promised to only operate in the city’s eastern part, and not to damage border infrastructure.

Asked about the report in a press briefing, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says, “I’m not aware of that at all.”

White House: Israel told US that Rafah operation is limited; gaps with Hamas bridgeable

Israel has told the United States its operation in Rafah is limited and designed to prevent weapons and funds from being smuggled into Gaza, White House national security adviser John Kirby says, confirming what Israeli officials have said.

Talks on a hostage deal and ceasefire are resuming in Cairo with CIA Director William Burns attending, and the two sides should be able to close the remaining gaps, Kirby adds.

Biden: ‘People are already forgetting’ about Oct. 7; ‘I have not… and we will not forget’

US President Joe Biden speaks at the annual Days of Remembrance ceremony for Holocaust survivors at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on May 7, 2024. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP)

During his speech about antisemitism and the Holocaust at the Capitol’s Emancipation Hall, US President Joe Biden laments that people around the world are already forgetting Hamas’s October 7 massacre and hostage-taking.

Biden is speaking seven months to the day after the Palestinian terror group invaded Israel, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping 252, mainly civilians, in what Biden and others have called the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.

“This hatred [of Jews] continues to lie deep in the hearts of too many people in the world and requires our continued vigilance and outspokenness,” Biden says.

“Now here we are, not 75 years later, but just seven and a half months later, and people are already forgetting… that Hamas unleashed this terror,” he says, referring to the Holocaust lesson of “Never forget.”

“I have not forgotten, nor have you. And we will not forget.”

Gantz: Israel still open to hostage deal, won’t allow political considerations to interfere

War cabinet minister Benny Gantz speaks in a video message from his office, May 7, 2024. (Screenshot)

Following the beginning of combat operations in Rafah, war cabinet minister Benny Gantz states that while Israel is willing to “continue and expand” the fighting “as necessary,” Jerusalem is still open to a hostage deal.

“Yesterday, we started a military operation in the Rafah area, which will continue and expand as necessary. I wish to encourage all the IDF soldiers as always. I am convinced that they will fulfill their mission and I pray for their safe return,” Gantz says in a video address.

“At any stage where we can reach an outline for the return of our hostages, we will do so. This task has the highest priority,” he continues.

“The negotiating team that went to Cairo doesn’t just have a mandate to listen — it has an obligation to turn over every stone and act to bring about an outline. We are all working to make this happen, day by day,” Gantz asserts, insisting that “we will never despair and we will never allow political considerations to be brought into this sacred issue.”

“We are not waging a tactical battle against one regiment or another,” he continues. “Our achievements, even if they take a long time to achieve, must be strategic — and the return of our hostages is the first strategic goal, alongside the need to remove the threat of Hamas and make sure that such a threat does not reemerge.”

Turning to the north, Gantz states that returning the displaced home “before the start of the school year is on the table, and will remain on it as long as I am part of the government.”

That comment comes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told Gantz yesterday that there is no guarantee that the evacuees will return home by September 1, drawing anger.

Biden raps antisemitism at bipartisan Holocaust memorial: ‘We must keep teaching the truth’

US President Joe Biden arrives to speak at the annual Days of Remembrance ceremony for Holocaust survivors at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on May 7, 2024. (Saul Loeb/AFP)

US President Joe Biden warns that the threat of antisemitism is growing, in remarks honoring the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust, as his support for Israel’s war against Hamas divides his Democratic Party.

“Never again simply translated for me means: Never forget. Never forgetting means we must keep telling the story, we must keep teaching the truth,” Biden says as he addresses a bipartisan memorial held at the US Capitol’s Emancipation Hall. “The truth is we’re at risk of people not knowing the truth.”

Report: US is holding bomb shipment to send political message to Israel

The administration of US President Joe Biden is holding up shipments of precision bombs to Israel to send a political message, Politico cites a US official as saying.

The bombs are made by Boeing, the US outlet says.

IDF says 12 rockets fired from Gaza toward Israeli communities, 5 intercepted

A barrage of 12 rockets was fired from the Gaza Strip at southern communities a short while ago, the military says.

Five were intercepted by the Iron Dome system, and the other seven struck open areas.

Sirens had sounded in the border communities of Ein Hashlosha, Kissufim and Re’im.

Germany says it opposes ‘major’ offensive in Rafah

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warns Israel against launching “a major offensive on Rafah.”

“I strongly caution against conducting a major offensive on Rafah,” the minister writes on X, formerly Twitter.

Israeli officials have said the operation in the Gazan city is “limited.”

“One million people cannot vanish into thin air. They need protection. They urgently need further humanitarian assistance,” she adds, demanding that ”the Rafah and Kerem Shalom border crossings must be reopened immediately.”

Germany has for decades been a staunch supporter of Israel. Berlin, however, has gradually shifted its tone as reported civilian casualties in Gaza have soared, becoming increasingly critical of the humanitarian situation in Gaza. In recent weeks, Baerbock has repeatedly spoken out against a ground offensive in Rafah.

Turkey claims Israeli offensive in Rafah shows it’s not acting in good faith

Israel’s ground attacks on Gaza’s Rafah, a day after Hamas claimed to “accept” a ceasefire proposal, show Jerusalem is not acting in good faith, Turkey’s foreign ministry spokesman claims, adding Israel must immediately withdraw from the city.

In a post on social media platform X, Turkish spokesman Oncu Keceli says Israel’s operation comes “amid such a positive development towards ending the destruction and massacre in Gaza,” and says the status quo in Rafah and the border crossing must be restored without further delay.

“An offensive on Rafah will affect not only the region but the whole world. Israel must immediately withdraw from the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing,” Keceli says.

However, Hamas’s latest proposal is significantly different from what the Israeli offer was responding to, with Israel saying it is a new hardline counter-offer rather than any positive development.

Netanyahu: Hamas offer aimed at ‘sabotaging’ Rafah op, is ‘very far’ from Israeli demands

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks in a video message from his office, May 7, 2024. (Screenshot/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that the latest Hamas proposal for a ceasefire deal was “meant to sabotage the entry of our forces into Rafah.”

“That did not happen,” the premier says in a video statement.

The Rafah operation is meant to bring back the hostages and to eliminate Hamas, says Netanyahu. “We already proved in the previous hostage release — military pressure on Hamas is a precondition for the return of the hostages.”

He emphasizes that the Hamas offer is “very far from Israel’s vital demands.”

“Israel will not allow Hamas to restore its wicked rule in the Strip,” he promises. “Israel will not allow it to rehabilitate its military capabilities in order to keep working toward our destruction.”

“Israel cannot accept a proposal that endangers the safety of our citizens and the future of our country,” Netanyahu insists.

He says he instructed the Israeli negotiating team currently in Cairo to “stand firmly” on Israel’s conditions for the release of the hostages and on its security demands.

Israel is continuing in parallel its military campaign against Hamas, Netanyahu explains.

He calls the capture of the Rafah Crossing “a very important step” toward destroying Hamas’s remaining military capabilities. He argues that it is also a key step in destroying the terror group’s ruling capabilities.

Netanyahu boasts that Israeli forces “replaced Hamas flags with Israeli flags” at the Rafah Crossing, even though footage has only shown Palestinian flags — not Hamas flags — being replaced.

Gallant: Rafah op will continue until Hamas rooted out or hostage deal reached

Illustrative: Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks with artillery forces on the Gaza border, across from Rafah, May 7, 2024. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)

Visiting troops on the southern part of the Gaza border, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vows that the operation in Rafah “will not stop until Hamas is eliminated in the area or the first hostage returns to Israel” — presumably meaning until a deal is reached and starts being implemented.

“From the Rafah area came the killers who went to Sufa, to Holit, and tried to attack Yated, Yevul, Naveh and other places. We attack and kill those who murdered our children, that should be well remembered,” says Gallant after meeting with artillery forces.

“Yesterday, I ordered the IDF to enter the Rafah area, seize the crossing and carry out its missions. This operation will continue until we eliminate Hamas in the Rafah area and the entire Gaza Strip, or until the first hostage returns,” he says.

“We are ready to make compromises in order to [release] hostages, but if this option is not available, we will deepen the operation, this will happen all over the Strip, in the south, in the center and in the north. Hamas only understands force, so we will intensify our action, and the military pressure will result in us crushing the Hamas organization,” Gallant adds.

Israeli forces evacuate, raze illegal West Bank outpost for 3rd time in a week

Civil Administration and Border Police forces evacuate and demolish the illegal West Bank outpost of Or Meir for the third time in a week.

Settler activists publish footage of large numbers of security personnel at the site evacuating the local radicals who rebuilt the outpost and confiscating their equipment, including materials for rudimentary buildings, mattresses and other items.

The security forces demolished Or Meir on May 1 and removed its residents, detaining some 25 activists during the operation for resisting evacuation and assaulting police personnel, four of whom were arrested, the Border Police said at the time.

But the settler activists living at the site returned the same night and rebuilt the wildcat settlement, leading Civil Administration and Border Police forces to return on May 2 to repeat the operation, which has now been carried out once again.

Or Meir is situated close to the Ofra settlement north of Jerusalem and has been rebuilt and demolished on numerous occasions in the last few months, including on February 29 this year, and before that on December 25, 2023.

Poll: Most Israeli evacuees from near Gaza feel unsafe to return, though they want to

Two-thirds of residents of Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip that were evacuated following the October 7 onslaught still feel unsafe returning home, a survey finds, even though 70 percent would like to return at some point.

The survey, published yesterday and reported today by The Times of Israel’s Hebrew-language sister site Zman Yisrael, was conducted in early March among 502 residents via online questionnaires and text messages. The margin of error is 4.4%. It was commissioned by Atid Laotef, a group dedicated to rebuilding the Gaza envelope region.

The poll shows 90% still feel like they are a part of the Gaza Envelope area, despite living elsewhere for many months now.

Only 32% say they feel safe returning home at this time, with 25% saying they wouldn’t feel safe at all and 41% saying they would feel “low levels” of safety.

When asked what would improve their levels of perceived safety, 61% say the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip would do so, 56% say “clear plans for the future” would, 54% would want a new buffer zone on the border, and 43% mentioned strengthening of civilian security teams and police forces. Each respondent could choose more than one answer.

The survey shows 84% expect to receive information from authorities about their future, amid extended uncertainty.

Additionally, residents are far less satisfied with the levels of physical and mental health services to them now than they were shortly after October 7.

The poll also shows their current status has negatively affected evacuees’ professional lives, with 10% having stopped working after October 7, including a quarter of the self-employed workers, and some 25% are considering a career change.

Arab diplomat: Repeated Israeli refusal to dispatch negotiating team has harmed hostage talks

Israel’s repeated refusal to send a negotiating team to meet with mediators has hampered efforts to secure a hostage deal, an Arab diplomat tells The Times of Israel.

The mediators had wanted Israel to dispatch a delegation to Cairo over the weekend when CIA chief Bill Burns was in town and the mediators were gearing up for Hamas’s official response to the latest proposal, the diplomat says, claiming Israel’s absence led it to be being out of the loop.

According to the Axios news site, Israeli officials had expected Burns to brief them regarding developments over the weekend and felt that the CIA chief had failed to do so.

Following Hamas’s Monday response, Israel sent a lower-level negotiating team to Cairo, while officials in Jerusalem surmised that the terror group’s latest proposal brought the parties back to square one.

The Arab diplomat speaking to The Times of Israel says this past weekend wasn’t the first time that Israel refused to send a negotiating team to meet with mediators in Cairo or Doha, which he says has slowed the negotiations.

While Israel has said it only sends negotiators when Hamas is showing genuine interest in reaching a compromise, the diplomat says Jerusalem’s policy has been “politically motivated.”

He declines to elaborate but doesn’t deny the suggestion that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to dispatch negotiating teams due to pressure from far-right coalition partners who want him to take a tougher stance in the talks. Other war cabinet ministers, including National Unity chairman Benny Gantz and his deputy Gadi Eisenkot, have argued that Israel should always show willingness to hold talks, while sticking to guiding principles once the negotiating team is in the room.

Qatar, US, Hamas teams are in Cairo in bid to reach Gaza truce — Egyptian media

Cairo is hosting delegations from Qatar, the United States and Palestinian terror group Hamas in order to reach a comprehensive truce in Gaza, Egypt’s state-affiliated Al-Qahera News TV says, citing a high-ranking source.

Additionally, Israel has sent a negotiation team, though not a high-ranking one.

IDF maps out, blows up 2 Hamas attack tunnels in northern Gaza

Combat engineers of the elite Yahalom unit and the Gaza Division have mapped out and demolished two Hamas attack tunnels in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun, the military says.

The IDF says the tunnels were under “continuous intelligence and technological surveillance” since their discovery.

One of the tunnels was first uncovered in 2014, and had been used by Hamas at the time to infiltrate into the country. It was demolished not long after, but another section of the tunnel deeper inside Gaza remained untouched until recently.

The IDF says the additional sections of the tunnel were struck from the air several times amid the ongoing war, and recently, combat engineers inspected the damage and determined that the underground passage was unusable by the terror group.

The second Hamas tunnel was part of another branching underground network, dug up to around 150 meters from the Israeli border, according to the military.

It did not cross into Israeli territory, the IDF says.

The second tunnel was blown up by combat engineers.

Hamas official threatens that Cairo talks are ‘last chance’ for Israel to free hostages

A senior Hamas official says a delegation from the Palestinian terror group is due to leave for Gaza truce talks in Cairo, warning it will be Israel’s “last chance” to release its hostages.

The official, requesting anonymity to discuss the negotiations, warns that “this will be the last chance for [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and the families of the Zionist prisoners to return their children.”

Israeli delegation arrives in Cairo for further hostage deal talks

The Israeli negotiations delegation has landed in Cairo for further talks on a hostage deal with Hamas, the Prime Minister’s Office tells The Times of Israel.

The team does not include Israel’s top negotiators, but is instead a lower-level delegation at this stage.

NYT: Mediators ‘frustrated’ by Hamas’s rejection of deal terms it proposed in March

The White House was playing catchup yesterday, as the IDF began clearing civilians out of Rafah and Hamas submitted a new counteroffer for a hostage deal, The New York Times reported.

The US conclusion by last night was that both sides were still working to gain leverage in negotiations, according to the report.

After Israel made a new, far-reaching offer late last month, Hamas promised to come back with a new offer, which eventually emerged yesterday evening.

The NYT quotes anonymous sources who indicate that in its late-April proposal, Israel “virtually cut and pasted” language from a March Hamas proposal, in order to call the terror group’s bluff.

It worked. Hamas’s rejection of Israel’s offer over the weekend “frustrated the intermediaries because it rejected some of the very language that it had previously proposed.”

The US negotiators publicly decried the Hamas position, and warned that talks would be seen as over if Hamas did not actually want a deal.

Hezbollah claims latest drone attack on north

Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group claims responsibility for a drone attack that targeted northern Israel, sparking a fire at one location.

The Iran-backed group says its attack targeted “enemy officers and soldiers” around Yiftah.

The Israeli military earlier said its air defenses intercepted one target around Yiftah, while another fell and “a fire broke out at the scene.” Two other objects fell in an open area, while the rest “fell and caused light damage,” the IDF said.

The military said no casualties were caused.

Hezbollah has been supplied with Iranian bomb-carrying drones and has previously used them to attack Israel.

In 1st comment, State Department says US has made clear to Israel its views on major Rafah op

The United States has made its views clear to Israel on a major ground offensive in Rafah, a State Department spokesperson says, in Washington’s first response since Israeli forces seized control of the Egypt-Gaza border crossing.

The ongoing IDF operation into Rafah is a “limited operation,” an Israeli official has told The Times of Israel. “It is being implemented to pressure Hamas” to accept a deal.

“We continue to believe that a hostage deal is in the best interest of the Israeli and the Palestinian people; it would bring an immediate ceasefire and allow increased humanitarian assistance into Gaza,” the spokesperson says in an email.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Leaked clip shows Israeli tank crushing ‘I love Gaza’ sign in Rafah

An IDF tank crushing an “I love Gaza” sign at the Gazan side of the Rafah-Egypt border crossing. (X screenshot; used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)

Leaked footage from this morning’s capture of the Gazan side of the Rafah Crossing by the Israeli military shows a tank crushing an “I love Gaza” sign.

תיעוד: הטנקים של חטיבה 401 השתלטו על מעבר רפיח pic.twitter.com/j5KoycXHq9

— איתי בלומנטל 🇮🇱 Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) May 7, 2024

Another leaked clip published earlier today showed a tank ramming into another sign at the entrance to the crossing in eastern Rafah.

The IDF issued its own footage of the capture of the crossing by the 401st Armored Brigade.

The military has previously said that it investigates incidents that deviate from IDF soldiers’ orders and expected values, as well as reports of videos uploaded to social networks.

IDF Spokesperson Adm. Daniel Hagari also put out a statement several months ago calling on soldiers not to film themselves if the documentation does not serve an operational purpose, saying such actions violate the military’s commands.

IDF, Border Police conclude 20-hour operation in West Bank’s Tulkarem

Illustrative: IDF troops operate in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, in a handout image released May 7, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF and Border Police say they have wrapped up a 20-hour operation in the West Bank city of Tulkarem.

Amid the operation, troops killed a gunman, detained six wanted Palestinians, seized weaponry and demolished three bomb-making labs, the military says.

Combat engineers also ripped up roads where explosive devices were planted, the IDF adds.

Since October 7, the IDF says, troops have arrested some 4,000 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,700 affiliated with Hamas.

Smotrich opposes sending delegation to Cairo, wants more military pressure on Hamas

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says he objects to the decision to send a delegation to Cairo following Hamas’s latest counteroffer.

“Sending the delegation to Cairo is a mistake and falls into the manipulative trap set by Hamas together with Qatar and Egypt. This is the time to press more and more on the neck of Sinwar and Hamas until they are destroyed,” Smotrich says in a statement calling for any talks to be accompanied by military action.

“You must not give in to international pressure and you must not stop until victory and the submission of the enemy. This is our war of independence and we must win it,” he says.

Smotrich calls for Israel to fully occupy Rafah and the surrounding area, destroy all of the terror group’s underground infrastructure there and gain full control over the so-called Philadelphi Route along Gaza’s border with Egypt.

Hostage families urge US, other countries to press Israel to reach deal with Hamas

The sister of hostage Shiri Bibas seen at a protest calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip outside Hakirya Base in Tel Aviv, May 6, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Families of hostages being held in Gaza call on the United States and other governments with citizens among the captives to pressure Israel to strike a deal with Hamas for their return.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum says it appealed to a number of countries to “exert your influence on the Israeli government” and push for an agreement.

“At this crucial moment, while a tangible opportunity for the release of the hostages is on the table, it is of the utmost importance that your government manifest its strong support for such an agreement,” the group says in a message sent to the ambassadors of all countries with citizens among the hostages seized by terrorists on October 7.

“This is the time to exert your influence on the Israeli government and all other parties concerned to ensure that the agreement comes through which will finally bring all our loved ones home,” it says.

Today’s message came after Hamas announced that it had accepted a ceasefire plan proposed by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, saying the ball was now in Israel’s court. Israel says the deal is not the same one it had agreed to.

Evacuated northern residents express anger as Netanyahu reportedly says no rush to get them home

File - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads the weekly cabinet meeting at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on January 7, 2024. (RONEN ZVULUN / POOL / AFP)

Evacuated residents of northern Israel express anger at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he reportedly told the cabinet that it would not matter if they only returned home a few months after the September 1 start of the new school year.

“Only someone who has never lived in a 27-square-meter room with four children for the past 7 months could be so disconnected,” Matan Davidayan from Shlomi tells Channel 12.

Upper Galilee Regional Council head Giora Zaltz tells the channel that he is pushing for residents to return home even without a government OK.

“We can’t wait for a decision from someone who never decides,” he says.

The anger comes after Channel 12 yesterday quoted Netanyahu as telling the cabinet it was OK to further delay the residents’ return.

During the meeting war cabinet minister Benny Gantz reportedly urged a decision that would allow residents to return to their homes by September 1.

“Who said September 1 is the goal date,” Netanyahu is quoted as answering. “Why do we keep taking about this date, what will happen if they go back a few months later?”

After Gantz replies that it means that residents will miss the opening of the school year, Netanyahu replies: “I’m aware of the school year argument. It can take longer than that.”

Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.

In the wake of the attacks, Israel evacuated tens of thousands of residents from their homes near the border.

Israel says that if no diplomatic solution can be found it will have to launch a war to push Hezbollah away from the border.

So far, the skirmishes on the border have resulted in nine civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 11 IDF soldiers. There have also been several rocket attacks from Syria, without any injuries.

Hezbollah has named 290 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 56 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and at least 60 civilians have been killed.

Police break up pro-Palestinian student protest in Berlin

Pro-Palestinian activists face police forces at the university campus of the Free University of Berlin, Germany, on May 7, 2024 (Photo by Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP)

Berlin police broke up a protest by several hundred pro-Palestinian activists who had occupied a courtyard at Berlin’s Free University earlier in the day. The protesters had put up about 20 tents and formed a human chain around the tents.

Police called on the students via loudspeakers to leave the campus.

Most protesters had covered their faces with medical masks and had draped keffiyehs around their heads, shouting slogans including “Wiva, viva Palestina.”

Alman polisi, Berlin Freie Üniversitesi’de Gazze'ye destek gösterisi düzenleyen öğrencilere müdahale ediyor.https://t.co/td2KG7oUPN

— gdh (@gundemedairhs) May 7, 2024

Police clear pro-Palestinian tent encampment at the University of Chicago

Police block pro-Palestinian protesters from returning to their encampment as the encampment is dismantled at the University of Chicago, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Police clear a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel tent encampment at the University of Chicago.

Protesters numbering in the several hundreds had gathered in an area known as the Quad for at least eight days. Campus administrators warned them Friday to leave the area or face removal. Police in riot gear blocked access to the Quad today as law enforcement dismantled the encampment.

Several explosive-laden drones launched at northern Israel, causing minor damage and no injuries

Several “suspicious aerial targets” — believed to be explosive-laden drones launched by Hezbollah — that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon set off numerous sirens in the Galilee Panhandle, the military says.

One of the apparent drones was downed by air defenses, another struck an area near Yiftah, causing a fire, and others caused minor damage at unspecified locations, the IDF says.

Another two drones struck open areas, according to the military. The IDF says there are no injuries in the attack.

The IDF also confirms carrying out strikes in southern Lebanon last night, hitting Hezbollah positions.

Smotrich denies refusing to meet Netanyahu over cost of living crisis

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attend a Knesset vote on the state budget, February 7, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich denies a media report claiming that he refused to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the cost of living prior to a Rafah offensive.

Tweeting a screenshot from the Ynet news site, Smotrich calls the report “simply fake.”

“I have never refused to meet with the prime minister on the issue of the cost of living. I am working to curb the phenomenon of price increases that harms us all,” he writes.

According to the Ynet report, Smotrich allegedly repeatedly declined to meet with Netanyahu to discuss ways to lower the cost of living, in an attempt to pressure the government to take military action in Rafah.

US-built aid pier on Gaza coast expected to be completed tomorrow

A maritime pier being built by the US military off the coast of the Gaza Strip, in an image released on April 29, 2024. (CENTCOM)

The US Army maritime pier being built in Ashdod Port is set to be completed tomorrow, then towed to shallow waters off the Gaza coast,  according to a report seen by The Times of Israel.

The first truck carrying aid for Gazans is expected reach Gaza’s shores on Thursday, per the report.

US President Joe Biden announced the construction of the pier in March as aid officials implored Israel to ease access for relief supplies into Gaza’s overland routes.

Some 60 aid trucks reached the Erez Crossing yesterday, some from the Ashdod Port and some from Jordan.

Dutch Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot is slated to visit the Erez Crossing today.

Drone warning sirens sound in north for 3rd time in an hour

Drone infiltration warning sirens repeatedly sound in northern Israel.

The sirens have gone off three times in the past hour.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

Red Alert [13:33:28] – 5 Alerts:

• Confrontation Line — Ramot Naftali, Iftach, Malkia, Mevuot Hermon Regional Council, Dishon#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/aiOIZyPPaa

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) May 7, 2024

Hamas says Israeli Rafah incursion aims to undermine ceasefire efforts

This image grab taken from footage released by the Israeli army on May 7, 2024 shows the 401st Brigade's combat team tanks entering the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip on May 7, 2024. (Photo by Fayez Nureldine / Israeli Army / AFP)

Hamas says in a statement that Israel’s incursion into Gaza’s Rafah Crossing aimed to undermine ceasefire efforts, after the Israeli army announced it took control of the Palestinian side of the crossing between Egypt and the Strip.

The statement calls on the US and the international community to pressure Israel to halt the “escalation.”

Mid-level Israeli team heads to Cairo to assess Hamas position, Israeli official says

A team of mid-ranking Israeli officials will go to Cairo in the next few hours to assess whether Hamas can be persuaded to shift on its latest ceasefire offer, a senior Israeli official says, reiterating that the proposal as it currently stands was unacceptable to Israel.

“This delegation is made up of mid-level envoys. Were there a credible deal in the offing, the principals would be heading the delegation,” the official tells Reuters.

Jets hit Hamas sites in northern Gaza after rocket fire at Sderot

IDF troops operate in the central Gaza corridor, in a handout image published May 7, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Israeli fighter jets and other aircraft struck several sites belonging to terror groups in the northern Gaza Strip following rocket fire from the area on the southern city of Sderot last night, the military says.

The targets included a building and other infrastructure, according to the IDF.

Two of the three rockets fired at Sderot were downed by the Iron Dome, and shrapnel caused slight damage to a home.

In another incident, surveillance soldiers of the 414th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit spotted an armed cell in the Beit Hanoun area, and called in a drone strike, the IDF says.

The strikes come as the troops continue to operate in central Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor. In one incident, the IDF says troops of the Yiftah Brigade spotted a group of gunmen at a building known to be used by terror groups, and called in an airstrike.

Official says Hamas offer took Israel by surprise, Jerusalem still examining details

Demonstrators protest calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip, near the Prime Minister's official residence in Jerusalem, May 6, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Hamas ceasefire proposal took Israel by “complete surprise,” an Israeli source tells The Times of Israel, confirming an earlier Axios report.

Israeli officials are still exploring the nuances of the offer. The main sticking points, according to the source, are the Hamas demand for an end to the war, and Hamas’s intention to include dead hostages as part of the 33 to be released in the first stage.

Egypt warns Israel’s Rafah operation threatens ceasefire efforts

Egypt warns on that Israel’s operation in Gaza’s Rafah city threatens ceasefire efforts, shortly after the Israeli military took control of the Gazan side of the vital Rafah border crossing between the Palestinian enclave and Egypt, according to the foreign ministry.

Air Force shoots down drone apparently launched from Iraq

This handout picture released by the Israeli army on April 14, 2024, shows an Israeli Air Force fighter aircraft at an undisclosed airfield reportedly after a mission to intercept incoming airborne threats. (Israel Defense Forces/AFP)

Overnight, Israeli fighter jets intercepted a drone flying toward Israel from the “eastern direction,” the military says.

The IDF says the drone was tracked throughout the incident until it was shot down, and it did not enter Israeli airspace.

The Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed to have launched a drone at Israel overnight, targeting a military base.

It marks the second night in a row that a drone apparently launched from Iraq has been shot down by the IDF.

Turkey says Rafah op another Israeli war crime, working to punish Israeli leadership

The Israeli operation in Gaza’s Rafah city marks another war crime by Israel, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz says.

“By carrying out a ground attack on Rafah, just a day after Hamas approved Qatar and Egypt’s proposal for a ceasefire deal, Israel has added another to the war crimes it has committed in Palestinian territories since October 7,” Yilmaz says on social media platform X.

Ankara would continue working for the Israeli leadership to be legally punished, he added.

Israel says the deal that Hamas put forward was not the same one that Israel had agreed to.

Iran says nuclear talks with IAEA’s Grossi have been ‘positive’

This handout picture provided by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran shows director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi attending a meeting with the chief of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. Mohammad Eslami, in Isfahan on May 7, 2024. (Photo by Atomic Energy Organization of Iran / AFP)

Talks between Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog have been positive and productive, Iran’s nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami says in a joint news conference with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi in the Iranian city of Isfahan.

Grossi flew to Iran on Monday hoping to bolster oversight by the International Atomic Energy Agency of Tehran’s atomic activities after various setbacks, but analysts and diplomats say he has limited leverage and must be wary of empty promises.

In 2023, Tehran gave sweeping assurances to the UN nuclear watchdog that it will assist a long-stalled investigation into uranium particles found at undeclared sites and re-install removed monitoring equipment. But little came of those assurances, IAEA reports to member states show.

“We continue interactions over unresolved issues, including issues regarding two sites,” Eslami says in the televised news conference.

Iran is enriching uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the around 90% of weapons grade. If that material were enriched further, it would suffice for two nuclear weapons, according to an official IAEA yardstick.

Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons but no other state has enriched to that level without producing them.

Putin takes oath for record fifth presidential term

In this pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, Russian president-elect Vladimir Putin walks prior to his inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 7, 2024. (Photo by Alexey MAISHEV / POOL / AFP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin is sworn into office at a lavish Kremlin ceremony for a record-breaking fifth term with more power than ever before.

The 71-year-old has ruled Russia since the turn of the century, securing a fresh six-year mandate in March after winning presidential elections devoid of all opposition.

Bereaved families urge leaders to sign pledge to keep politics out of Memorial Day ceremonies

Supporters of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir scuffle with a bereaved man (C) at the military cemetery in Beersheba on April 25, 2023, amid commemorations of Memorial Day for fallen soldiers. (Gil Cohen-Magen / AFP)

An organization representing bereaved families is calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other national leaders to sign a public letter calling to “preserve the sanctity of Memorial Day.”

The appeal — addressed to the prime minister, war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid — comes in response to concerns over the politicization of the annual day of mourning, in light of the political climate and following the demonstrations seen at last year’s memorial ceremonies.

Several ministers were greeted with protests and disruptions during Memorial Day ceremonies across the country in 2023, including clashes between the families of fallen soldiers at a ceremony attended by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir at a military cemetery in Beersheba.

“The last few months are some of the most difficult that the State of Israel has known since its establishment, 76 years ago,” the letter, written by Yad Labanim chairman Eli Ben-Shem, explains.

“Many families have joined the circle of bereavement and this is their first Memorial Day. God forbid we add to the pain during these difficult days.”

“For their sake, so that we may be worthy of their heroism, their sacrifice and their memory, we call on you to leave the disputes outside the military cemeteries and avoid arguments over the graves of the girls and boys.”

So far, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid has responded by signing.

Some politicians and family members of victims of the October 7 Hamas massacre have asked government ministers and lawmakers to refrain from speaking at the various ceremonies on May 12-13, citing concerns that the day will be tainted by the presence of divisive politicians, whom many blame for the failures surrounding the unprecedented Hamas terror assault.

UN complains Rafah Crossing closed, says Gaza has only 1 day of fuel, no patients going through

IDF troops and tanks on the Gazan side of the Rafah border crossing on May 7, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)

The United Nations has had its access to the closed Rafah Crossing into southern Gaza denied by the Israeli authorities, a spokesman for the UN’s humanitarian agency OCHA said Tuesday.

“We currently do not have any physical presence at the Rafah crossing as our access… has been denied by COGAT,” Jens Laerke told a press conference in Geneva, referring to the Israeli agency that oversees supplies into the Palestinian territories.

“We have been told there will be no crossings of personnel or goods in or out for the time being. That has a massive impact on how much stock do we have,” he says. “There’s a very, very short buffer of one day of fuel available.”

“As fuel only comes in through Rafah, the one day buffer is for the entire operation in Gaza,” says Laerke. If no fuel comes in, “it would be a very effective way of putting the humanitarian operation in its grave.”,

“Currently, the two main arteries for getting aid into Gaza are currently choked off,” he said, referring to the Rafah crossing from Egypt and the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel

The World Health Organization says that Israel is also currently not allowing patient transfers through Rafah.

Red Crescent sources in Egypt said aid to Gaza had completely halted at Rafah and at the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing. A Hamas rocket attack from Rafah killed four Israeli soldiers at Kerem Shalom on Sunday. The rocket fire continued this morning.

IDF: Four mortars fired at Kerem Shalom from Rafah, no injuries

Four mortars were launched from the Rafah area at the Gaza border community of Kerem Shalom a short while ago, the IDF says.

In an earlier attack, two rockets were fired at the same area, with one hitting an open area and the second falling short inside Gaza, the military adds.

The IDF says there are no damage or injuries in the attacks.

Four soldiers were killed in a rocket attack from Rafah on the Kerem Shalom area on Sunday.

Rafah raid ‘limited,’ not the major offensive promised by Netanyahu

IDF troops on the Gazan side of the Rafah border crossing on May 7, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The ongoing IDF operation into Rafah is a “limited operation,” an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel. “It is being implemented to pressure Hamas” to accept a deal.

This is not the broad Rafah operation that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly promised Israel would carry out, CNN reports, citing a source familiar with Israel’s plan.

Hamas says Gaza death toll at 34,789

A picture taken on May 6, 2024, shows smoke billowing following bombardment east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. (AFP)

At least 34,789 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war sparked by Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, the Hamas-run health ministry in the Strip says.

The figures cannot be independently verified and include at least 13,000 Hamas gunmen Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel also says it killed some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.

Two hundred and sixty-seven soldiers have been killed during the ground offensive against Hamas and amid operations along the Gaza border.

Smotrich said refusing to meet PM on cost of living crisis in bid to pressure him on major Rafah op

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in Jerusalem, April 21, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Over the last several days, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich repeatedly declined to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss ways to lower the cost of living, in an attempt to pressure the government to take military action in Rafah, according to the Ynet news site.

Citing anonymous political sources with knowledge of the matter, Ynet quotes Smotrich as saying that “first we need to enter Rafah and then take care of fuel prices.”

Following counterpressure from Netanyahu’s office, the far-right minister has finally agreed to meet the prime minister tomorrow to discuss the issue, Ynet reports, citing a source in the PMO.

“The finance minister is busy 24 hours a day managing the economy,” Smotrich’s office tells Ynet, explaining that the “critical” stage of the war in which Israel finds itself required recent discussions between him and Netanyahu to focus on the minister’s demand “to continue the war and enter Rafah immediately.”

“Victory is an existential need, but also an economic need. Because without victory, there will be no security, and without security there will be no economy,” the statement adds.

Rocket sirens sound in Kerem Shalom on Gaza border

Incoming rocket sirens are sounding in the Gaza border community of Kerem Shalom.

There are no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

Around half an hour ago, Hamas claimed to have targeted a military position near the community with rockets.

The army base was the site of a deadly rocket attack on Sunday, in which four IDF troops were killed.

The rocket attacks this morning come as the IDF operates in eastern Rafah in southern Gaza, just across the border from Kerem Shalom.

Red Alert [10:59:27] – 1 Alert:

• Gaza Envelope — Kerem Shalom#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/pVpCWgwOcC

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) May 7, 2024

Malaysian government defends presence of companies that supply weapons to Israel at defense show

People gather around the booth of Colt, on display at the Defense Services Asia (DSA) exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Syawalludin Zain)

Malaysia will not interfere in business relations between arms manufacturers and other countries, its defense minister says, after protesters demanded that the government expel companies that supply weapons to Israel from an international exhibition.

More than 1,300 companies from 60 nations are participating in Defense Services Asia and the concurrent National Security Asia exhibitions that started Monday. The events are hosted and co-organized by Malaysia’s Defense Ministry and Home Affairs Ministry.

The Solidarity for Palestinian coalition held a brief rally outside the exhibition center today to protest the presence of US weapons maker Lockheed Martin, European missile manufacturer MBDA and others that provide arms to Israel. The coalition accused the manufacturers of being complicit in Israel’s offensive in Gaza.

Defense Minister Khaled Nordin says Malaysia opposes all forms of injustice against the Palestinian people but is also a “free trade country.” He says the exhibition is a space for the defense industry to display its latest technology and help countries strengthen their defense preparedness.

“This exhibition does not favor or give advantage to any particular country or company,” Khaled says in a statement. “The relationship of some global defense companies with certain countries is a business matter that Malaysia will not interfere with.”

Report: Shin Bet chief visited Malmö to coordinate security ahead of Eurovision

Police stand guard as people queue in line for the second dress rehearsal for the first semifinal at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden, Monday, May 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

The head of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency led a delegation of officials from the VIP protection department to Malmö in Sweden last week to coordinate security arrangements for Israel’s participant in the Eurovision song contest, the Ynet news site reports.

The Shin Bet believes that the Israeli delegation could be the target of “provocative” actions, the report says.

Last week Israel issued an updated travel warning, defining the Swedish city of Malmö as a Level 3 — or moderate — threat.

A warning from the National Security Council cited “a well-founded fear” that terrorists would target Israelis attending the Eurovision.

“Malmö is known as a center of anti-Israeli protests,” said the updated warning, explaining that the city has many immigrants from the Arab world.

Swedish authorities vowed “visible” measures including police with submachine guns and reinforcements from Denmark and Norway around the May 7-11 event.

Channel 12 News reported last week that Israel’s representative to the Eurovision, Eden Golan, will be accompanied by a much higher caliber of security team than any previously.

EU’s Borrell: Rafah offensive will cause civilian casualties, no matter what Israel says

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell attends a meeting with European and Arab foreign ministers held in Riyadh on April 29, 2024. (Fayez Nureldine / AFP)

Israel’s offensive on Rafah will likely kill more civilians and is being carried out despite explicit warnings against it from European Union member states and the United States, the EU’s top diplomat says.

“The Rafah offensive has started again, in spite all the requests of the international community, the US, the European Union member states, everybody asking [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu not to attack,” Josep Borrell tells journalists.

“I am afraid that this is going to cause again a lot of casualties, civilian casualties. Whatever they say,” he says, adding: “There are no safe zones in Gaza.”

US said delaying delivery of precision bombs to Israel

An Israel Air Force F-15 fighter jet, at the Tel Nof air force base, January 1, 2024. (Moshe Shai/FLASH90)

The Biden administration has delayed the sales of thousands of precision weapons to Israel in recent months, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The move, which includes holding up MK-82 bombs, fuses and JDAM guidance kits to make the munitions more precise, comes amid US pressure on Israel to hold off on a full-scale invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

The sale of the munitions was originally agreed upon in February, the report says.

The White House declines to comment on the report, saying only that the US commitment to Israel’s security was “ironclad.”

IDF vehicles seen driving along eastern part of Gaza-Egypt border

Israeli military vehicles are seen driving along the Egypt-Gaza border in the eastern part of Rafah this morning.

The leaked footage shows an APC with two massive flags — one Israeli and the other of the 401st Armored Brigade, the unit that captured the Gazan side of the Rafah Crossing to Egypt this morning.

Israeli flags were also raised at the Rafah Crossing after it was captured.

Israeli military vehicles drive along the Egypt-Gaza border with obnoxiously large flags. pic.twitter.com/5VArNIp7o1

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) May 7, 2024

UK has taken military database offline after Chinese hack reports, says minister

Britain acted quickly to take a database used by its defense ministry offline after — media reports said — it was hacked by the Chinese state, a senior British minister says.

“The MoD (Ministry of Defense) has acted very swiftly to take this database offline. It’s a third-party database and certainly not one run directly by the MoD,” Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride tells Sky News.

Stride says Defense Secretary Grant Shapps would make a statement to parliament about the matter later today.

IDF chief again urges state comptroller to delay probe into Oct. 7 failures amid ongoing war

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi speaks to the press from an army base in central Israel, April 7, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi issues a new letter to the state comptroller, asking him to postpone an investigation into the military’s multiple failures that occurred before, during, and after the Hamas terror group’s October 7 massacre.

“Your conclusion that the current timing makes it possible to start an audit does not correspond to the security reality and the burden on the IDF,” says Halevi to Matanyahu Englman.

“An audit at this time will cause substantial and severe harm to the war efforts,” he says.

“I pledge that the IDF will cooperate fully with the state comptroller, but not at the expense of the complex tasks before us,” Halevi adds.

In December, Englman said his office would “leave no stone unturned” in its investigation.

Halevi then raised objections, saying the state comptroller’s examination was unprecedented and would divert the attention of IDF commanders currently conducting operations in Gaza.

The pair then met in February to hash things out and agreed to continue discussions on the matter.

But last week, Englman said his office’s probe into the October 7 failures would now start looking at the IDF and urged Halevi to cooperate.

Dutch riot police clear Amsterdam campus of anti-Israel protestors, 125 arrested

Dutch riot police ended a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel demonstration at an Amsterdam university early on Tuesday, arresting some 125 people in sometimes violent clashes, authorities says.

In messages posted overnight on social media platform X, police said they had to act to stop the event and dismantle tents that been set up by protesters, who used violence against police at the site.

“The police’s input was necessary to restore order. We see the footage on social media. We understand that those images may appear as intense,” police said.

Keurig optreden van politie tegen pro Hamas demonstranten op UvA terrein in Amsterdam.

En GroenLinks PvdA heeft wat uit te leggen lijkt me.
Kandidaat Kamerlid Paul Smits, hielp barricade op te bouwen, volgde orders politie niet op om te vertrekken en is later gearresteerd. pic.twitter.com/JjCdc0elyO

— Gert-Wim Dubbeldam 🇳🇱🇮🇱 (@gwdubbeldam) May 7, 2024

Local media showed demonstrators shooting fireworks at police officers but there were no immediate reports of injuries on either side.

“All is now quiet… police stay in the vicinity of the Roeterseiland campus,” police said later on X.

Outgoing education minister Robbert Dijkgraaf said universities are a place for dialogue and debate and he was sad to see that police had to intervene.

IDF releases pictures, footage of tanks at Gazan side of Rafah Crossing to Egypt

IDF troops and tanks on the Gazan side of the Rafah border crossing on May 7, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The Israeli military publishes footage of its tanks taking control of the Gazan side of the Rafah Crossing on the Egyptian border this morning.

The crossing was captured amid a “pinpoint operation” against Hamas in “limited areas of eastern Rafah,” the IDF says.

The IDF says it had “intelligence information that terrorists were using the crossing area for terror purposes.”

On Sunday, rockets were fired by Hamas from the crossing area at the Kerem Shalom area in southern Israel, killing four soldiers and wounding others.

Before launching the overnight operation, the IDF says it carried out “coordination with the international organizations operating in the area, with a request to move towards the humanitarian area, as part of the effort to evacuate the population that has been taking place.”

Report: Hamas told mediators it intends to include remains of dead hostages among 33 to be released in 1st phase

Demonstrators protest calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip outside the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, May 6, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Hamas intends to include the remains of several dead hostages among the 33 captives it says it will release in the first phase of a hostage and truce deal it proposed, The New York Times reports.

The report, citing two people familiar with the talks, says that the terror group informed mediators that not all of those to be released were still alive. The first phase was expected to include women, children, the elderly and ill.

Israel has previously insisted that the first stage include only living hostages and had reduced its demand from 40 hostages, with the understanding that not all those in that category were still alive.

Hamas said yesterday it had accepted a deal put forward by mediators. Israel, however, said that what Hamas put forward was significantly different from what Israel had agreed to.

Hamas officials said the first phase would include a 42-day truce period, with Hamas releasing 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of large numbers of Palestinian security prisoners from Israeli jails.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says that the Hamas offer was far from meeting Israel’s essential demands, but that it would send negotiators to continue talks with the US, Egyptian, and Qatari mediators.

It is believed that 128 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released prior to that. Three hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 12 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military. The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 35 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza.

Two explosions reported near vessel off coast of Yemen, crew said safe

Yemeni demonstrators carry a mock missile during a pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel rally in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa on April 26, 2024. (Mohammed Huwais/AFP)

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) says two explosions were reported in the proximity of a merchant vessel 82 nautical miles south of Yemen’s Aden.

UKMTO reported that the vessel and all crew are safe and that authorities are investigating.

The Houthi terror group that controls the most populous parts of Yemen and is aligned with Iran has staged attacks on ships in the waters off the country for months, claiming the strikes are in solidarity with Palestinians fighting Israel in Gaza.

Authorities were investigating the incident, UKMTO says in an advisory note sent by email.

The Houthis have launched repeated drone and missile strikes in the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Gulf of Aden since November.

That has forced shippers to reroute cargo on longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa and stoked fears the Israel-Hamas war could spread and destabilize the Middle East.

Rights group says 7 killed in March IDF strike on southern Lebanon were aid workers, not terrorists

People inspect destruction at the site of an overnight Israeli airstrike in Habariyeh near the Israeli border on March 27, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)

Human Rights Watch says its probe of an Israeli strike in south Lebanon in March that killed seven people found they were emergency workers and not terrorists.

Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 onslaught on southern Israel.

“An Israeli strike on an emergency and relief center” in south Lebanon’s Habariyeh on March 27 “killed seven emergency and relief volunteers” and “was an unlawful attack on civilians that failed to take all necessary precautions,” HRW says in a statement.

“If the attack on civilians was carried out intentionally or recklessly, it should be investigated as an apparent war crime,” it adds.

Israel’s military said at the time the target was “a military compound” and that the strike killed a “significant terrorist operative” from Jamaa al-Islamiya, a Lebanese group close to Hamas, and other “terrorists.”

All seven were members of the terror group, according to the Israeli military.

HRW says in the statement that it found “no evidence of a military target at the site,” and said the Israeli strike “targeted a residential structure that housed the Emergency and Relief Corps of the Lebanese Succour Association, a nongovernmental humanitarian organization.”

Jamaa al-Islamiya later denied it was connected to the emergency responders, and the rescue group told AFP it had no affiliation with any Lebanese political organization.

HRW said that “the Israeli military’s admission” it had targeted the center in Habariyeh indicated a “failure to take all feasible precautions to verify that the target was military and avoid loss of civilian life… making the strike unlawful.”

The rights group said those killed were volunteers, adding that 18-year-old twin brothers were among the dead.

“Family members… the Lebanese Succour Association, and the civil defense all said that the seven men were civilians and not affiliated with any armed group,” it added.

However, it noted that social media content suggested at least two of those killed “may have been supporters” of Jamaa al-Islamiya.

IDF: Tank force in control of Gazan side of Rafah crossing on Egypt border, key road also held

A screen grab from a video appearing to show an IDF tank on the Gazan side of the Rafah border crossing on May 7, 2024 (Screencapture/X: used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

The Israeli military confirms that its 401st Armored Brigade captured the Gazan side of Rafah Crossing this morning.

The crossing with Egypt is now disconnected from the Salah a-Din road in eastern Rafah, which was separately captured by the Givati Brigade in the overnight offensive.

In the overnight operation, some 20 gunmen were killed and troops located three “significant” tunnel shafts, according to the IDF.

Also amid the offensive, an explosive-laden car driving toward an IDF tank was struck and destroyed, the military says.

No soldiers have been wounded in the operation so far.

Troops are now searching the area and preparing for additional missions.

Meanwhile, more than 50 Hamas sites in Rafah were struck by the Air Force overnight, according to the military.

Anti-Israel protesters demonstrate outside Met Gala, clash with police

Pro-Palstinian, anti-Israel protesters remove the police barricades near the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the Met Gala takes place, Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protesters in New York converge near the Met Gala in a rally against the ongoing war in Gaza, leading to several arrests, police say.

Among the rallying points were the gates of Columbia University, which has been the center of spreading demonstrations, before protesters marched through Manhattan to American fashion’s biggest night — or at least as close as police would let them.

The Met Gala, which attracts celebrities, fashion designers and mass media attention, is a yearly mammoth fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.

Zendaya attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” exhibition on Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

It was unclear how many arrests were made as stars walked the carpet and posed for photos, but AFP journalists confirmed several arrests while the New York Daily News reported the number was about a dozen, out of hundreds that gathered near the soiree.

Organizers on X, formerly Twitter, posted a flier for an event dubbed as the “Citywide Day of Rage for Gaza.”

Monday’s protest appeared unconnected to the demonstrations that have rocked Columbia’s campus, culminating in the university calling the police to clear out student protesters.

Six Israelis arrested for attacking, damaging aid convoy heading to Gaza

Israeli security forces guard aid trucks making their way to the Gaza Strip while people protest them, on Route 1 between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, May 6, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Police say six people were arrested after dozens tried to block an aid convoy that was heading to the Gaza Strip.

The demonstrators blocked roads between the West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Adumim and the entrance to Jerusalem in a bid to stop the convoy, apparently coming from Jordan.

Police say several trucks and their contents were damaged.

The incident marks the second time a convoy has been attacked since Israel opened the Erez crossing in northern Gaza to aid deliveries last week.

יותר מ-5 עצורים בחסימת משאיות הסיוע לעזה בכביש 1. מפגינים פינצ׳רו גלגלים של משאית אחת לפחות והשחיתו סחורה במשאית נוספת. הכביש עדיין חסום. מכת"זית בדרכה למקום@HGoldich
(צילום: זאבי וידבסקי, 360 ניוז) pic.twitter.com/L9vOoQpIWS

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 6, 2024

Demonstrators are angry that aid is going into Gaza through Israel while dozens of Israelis are being held hostage there by Hamas.

Footage appears to show IDF tank on Gazan side of Rafah Crossing on Egypt border

Leaked footage purports to show an Israeli tank on the Gazan side of Rafah Crossing this morning.

The clip was first published by Channel 12 news’s chief political analyst Amit Segal on his Telegram channel.

As a rule, troops are not allowed to publish footage from ongoing operations for operational security concerns.

The IDF has not yet provided additional details on its operation in eastern Rafah, aside from a vague announcement last night saying it was targeting Hamas sites in the area.

Israeli tanks at the Rafah border crossing this morning pic.twitter.com/Yq0HPlIIGB

— Faytuks News (@Faytuks) May 7, 2024

IDF carrying out drill in Haifa airspace

The Israeli military says it will be carrying out a drill over the airspace of the Haifa bay this morning.

During the drill, the movement of helicopters will be noted and explosions will be heard, the IDF says.

It adds that there is no fear of a security incident.

IDF: Two troops dead after Hezbollah drone attack on Metula Monday

Master Sgt. (res.) Nahman Natan Hertz (left) and Master Sgt. (res.) Dan Kamhaji, killed in a Hezbollah drone attack near Metula, May 6, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Two IDF reserves soldiers were killed in a Hezbollah-claimed explosive-laden drone attack against an army position near Metula in northern Israel yesterday afternoon, the military announces.

The IDF says it attempted, but failed, to intercept the explosive drone that ultimately struck and killed the soldiers.

The pair are named as Master Sgt. (res.) Dan Kamhaji, 31, from Kfar Oranim, and Master Sgt. (res) Nahman Natan Hertz, 31, from Elazar. Both served in the 551st Brigade’s 6551st Battalion.

Another soldier was lightly hurt in the attack, the military adds.

Their deaths bring the toll of troops killed in attacks on the Lebanon border since October 8 to 13.

Another nine civilians have been killed in Hezbollah attacks in northern Israel.

Over 100 arrested at UC campuses; UCLA to track down suspects behind encampment attack

Over 100 protesters have been arrested at two southern California universities, as schools appear to crack down on pro-Palestinian demonstrations interrupting the end of the academic year.

At the University of California, Los Angeles, police arrested 40 people gathered at a garage ahead of a rally, the Los Angeles Times reports. That move comes hours after police at UC San Diego cleared an encampment and arrested more than 64 people, including 40 students.

At the same time, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block says the school’s newly appointed chief safety officer will lead an investigation to identify and prosecute the “group of instigators” who led a violent attack on pro-Palestinian demonstrators last week.

The university has asked Los Angeles police, the FBI and the district attorney’s office for assistance, Block says.

On April 30, a group of counterprotesters assaulted a pro-Palestinian encampment, ripping down wooden boards used as a fence and brawling with activists in a melee that lasted several hours. Many pro-Israel students and Jewish groups distanced themselves from the attackers, claiming they did not appear to be from the school.

Counter-protesters attack a pro-Palestinian encampment set up on the campus of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) as clashes erupt, in Los Angeles on May 1, 2024. (ETIENNE LAURENT / AFP)

UCLA has moved all classes online for the entire week due to ongoing disruptions following the dismantling of an encampment last week.

At the University of Southern California, schools officials have restricted access to the campus, with only two entrances open and long lines of students having their IDs checked, the LA Times reports. An area where a pro-Palestinian encampment had been set up is not fenced off by large wooden boards.

Israeli envoy says US must cut United Nations funding if Palestinian statehood endorsed

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan speaks during a Security Council meeting on a resolution that would have recognized the Palestinians as a full UN member state, at United Nations headquarters, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/ Yuki Iwamura)

Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan says a draft General Assembly resolution recognizing the Palestinians as qualified to become a full UN member goes against the founding UN Charter, and would give the Palestinians the de facto status and rights of a state.

“If it is approved, I expect the United States to completely stop funding the UN and its institutions, in accordance with American law,” Erdan says, noting that adoption by the General Assembly would not change anything on the ground.

Under US law, Washington cannot fund any UN organization that grants full membership to any group that does not have the “internationally recognized attributes” of statehood. The US halted funding in 2011 for the UN cultural agency UNESCO after the Palestinians became a full member.

“It remains the US view that the path toward statehood for the Palestinian people is through direct negotiations,” says Nate Evans, a spokesperson for the US mission to the UN.

“We are aware of the resolution and reiterate our concerns with any effort to extend certain benefits to entities when there are unresolved questions as to whether the Palestinians currently meet the criteria under the Charter,” he says.

The US is thought to provide approximately one-third of the UN’s budget.

Portland pro-Palestinian group claims it torched 17 cop cars

Law enforcement in Portland, Oregon, is investigating a statement posted online in which an activist group named for slain pro-Palestinian activist Rachel Corrie claims responsibility for torching 17 police vehicles last week.

In a post on the Rose City Counter-Info website signed by a group calling itself Rachel Corrie’s Ghost Brigade, the group says it broke into a police training facility and set 10 fires in a pre-emptive action against the Portland Police Bureau. It says the move was carried out ahead of an eventual operation to shut down a pro-Palestinian protest at Portland State University’s Millar Library.

Hamas' branch in Portland, the Brigade of the Martyr Rahil Corrie, accepts responsibility for destroying fifteen vehicles belonging to the occupation.

— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) May 7, 2024

Police say in an email they are “aware of the online post claiming responsibility and that is part of the investigation,” Oregonlive.com reports.

Protesters had occupied the library for three days before the university asked police to intervene. Four students were among the 12 people arrested Friday, according to Oregonlive.com.

Corrie, from Olympia, Washington, was killed in 2003 when she attempted to block an Israel Defense Forces bulldozer from razing a Palestinian home in Gaza.

MIT protesters break through police barricade into encampment, chant for ‘intifada’

Anti-Israel demonstrators breech barricades that had been erected outside a pro-Palestinian encampment at MIT, May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP/Josh Reynolds)

Pro-Palestinian protesters that had been blocked by police from accessing an encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have broken through fencing, linked arms and encircled tents that remained there.

Protesters say they will remain in Kresge Oval overnight, though tensions that flared with police and pro-Israel counter-protesters appear to have eased, student newspaper the Tech reports.

Police had taken up positions near both the Oval demonstration and a sit-in in the middle of Massachusetts Avenue, blocking the street during rush hour in the Boston area. Officers brandished zipties in case of mass arrests, but ultimately did not detain any students, who dispersed from the sit-in on their own, the Tech reports.

Sam Ihns, a graduate student at MIT studying mechanical engineering and a member of MIT Jews for a Ceasefire, says the group has been at the encampment for the past two weeks calling for an end to the killing of thousands of people in Gaza.

“Specifically, our encampment is protesting MIT’s direct research ties to the Israeli Ministry of Defense,” he says.

A video from the school shows protesters clapping and chanting along as an activist on a megaphone calls out “long live the intifada” and “we are the intifada,” statements that have been condemned as antisemitic.

Protestors at MIT today chant “globalize the intifada” and “there is only one solution, intifada revolution.” pic.twitter.com/vtUbFRyh8d

— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) May 6, 2024

For Israelis, the Arabic word “intifada,” literally “uprising,” conjures traumatic memories of mass waves of deadly terror attacks in 1987-1993 and again in the early 2000s.

Prospect of ground invasion in Rafah ‘intolerable,’ UN chief warns

A ground invasion of Rafah would be “intolerable,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says, calling on Israel and Hamas “to go an extra mile” to reach a ceasefire deal.

“This is an opportunity that cannot be missed, and a ground invasion in Rafah would be intolerable because of its devastating humanitarian consequences, and because of its destabilizing impact in the region,” Guterres says alongside Italian President Sergio Mattarella.

Protesters at Latrun interchange block road to stop Gaza aid trucks

Right-wing protesters are scuffling with police near the Latrun interchange on Route 1 as they seek to block trucks carrying aid for Gaza from reaching the Palestinian enclave, according to Hebrew media reports.

Footage shared by the Kan broadcaster shows about a dozen activists from the Tzav 9 activist group being removed from the road by police, with some others moving away voluntarily.

כביש 1 חסום כבר למעלה משעה סמוך למחלף לטרון בשל מחאה של פעילי תנועת "צו 9" שחוסמים משאיות סיוע לרצועת עזה. כמה מפגינים נעצרו@HGoldich
(צילום: זאבי וידבסקי – 360 News) pic.twitter.com/2RxCUeLnLT

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 6, 2024

A convoy of over a dozen trucks is seen stuck on the road.

According to the Ynet news site, some activists grabbed food and other goods out of the trucks and spilled them out into the road.

חברי צו 9 חוסמים במשך 3 שעות את כביש 1 ומונעים סיוע הומניטרי מבני השטן. איזה גברים! pic.twitter.com/pZu08xq8cI

— מנחם קולדצקי (@nbjovsr88) May 6, 2024

The action by Tzav 9 is the latest of several attempts to block the trucks Monday night and early Tuesday as they make their way from Jordan to Gaza via Jerusalem.

The group says in a statement it will continue to attempt to block the trucks all the way to Gaza, demanding that Hamas release all Israeli hostages if it wants relief to reach the Strip.

The Latrun interchange, near the city of Modiin, is some 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) west of Jerusalem.

Israeli troops said fighting near Rafah crossing with Egypt

Reports indicate that Israeli troops and tanks are nearing the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Palestinian enclave after fighting along the so-called Philadelphi Corridor on the Egypt-Gaza border.

In footage from the crossing broadcast by Egypt’s al-Qahera TV, heavy gunfire and explosions can be heard as well as the drone of military aircraft. No people can be seen at the crossing.

Footage from the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing where gunfire can be clearly heard in the background. pic.twitter.com/RsvPJO4vSj

— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) May 6, 2024

An Egyptian official says the operation appears to be limited in scope. He and Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV say Israeli officials informed the Egyptians that the troops would withdraw after completing a targeted operation.

On Sunday, Hamas fighters near the Rafah crossing fired rockets into southern Israel, killing four Israeli soldiers.

A Palestinian security official and an Egyptian official confirm that Israeli tanks have entered the southern Gaza town of Rafah.

Elsewhere in Rafah, the Palestinian al-Quds news network claims five fatalities were brought to a local hospital after a home was bombed in the west of the city.

A live feed from a Rafah intersection provided by Reuters shows little activity beyond the movement of ambulances and journalists.

Qatar sending negotiators back to Cairo for talks on Israel Hamas deal

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry says Doha will dispatch a delegation to Cairo Tuesday to resume indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

Spokesman Majed Al-Ansari says Hamas sent mediators a response to a truce proposal that could be described as positive.

Qatar, which alongside Egypt and the United States has played a mediation role in the talks, says it hopes the negotiations will culminate in an agreement for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

Jordanian king asks Biden to prevent Rafah ‘massacre’

Jordan says King Abdullah II asked President Joe Biden in talks Monday to intervene to stop a “new massacre” in Rafah, the southern Gaza city where Israel has threatened an assault.

“His Majesty warned that the Israeli attack on Rafah, where 1.4 million Palestinians are internally displaced as a result of the war on Gaza, threatens to lead to a new massacre,” a Jordanian statement says after the two leaders meet in Washington.

Abdullah also warned that an offensive on Rafah could lead to the expansion of the Gaza conflict to other parts of the Middle East, and called for international backing for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, the statement said.