Live updates (closed)
The Times of Israel liveblogged Monday’s events as they unfolded.
Japan lifts funding suspension to Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA
Japan will lift its suspension of funding to the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa tells local media.
Tokyo in January decided to suspend additional funding to the agency while it conducted an investigation into an Israeli allegation that its staff were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, which sparked war in the Gaza Strip.
The accusations by Israel led 16 countries including the United States to pause $450 million in funding to the UNRWA, throwing its operations into turmoil. The agency is the largest relief body operating in Gaza, which has been besieged by Israel since the attack.
Countries including Australia, Canada, Finland and Sweden have since restored funding to UNRWA, while several Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia have increased funding.
Japan is the sixth biggest donor to the agency, according to the UNRWA’s 2022 data.
World Central Kitchen: Aid workers and civilians should NEVER be a target, EVER
“We are aware of reports that members of the World Central Kitchen team have been killed in an IDF attack while working to support our humanitarian food delivery efforts in Gaza,” WCK postד on X.
“This is a tragedy. Humanitarian aid workers and civilians should NEVER be a target. EVER.”
We are aware of reports that members of the World Central Kitchen team have been killed in an IDF attack while working to support our humanitarian food delivery efforts in Gaza. This is a tragedy. Humanitarian aid workers and civilians should NEVER be a target. EVER.
— World Central Kitchen (@WCKitchen) April 1, 2024
Australia says it is trying to confirm death of citizen in Gaza
Australia’s foreign ministry says it is seeking to confirm reports that one of its citizens died in a suspected Israeli airstrike in Gaza.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is urgently seeking to confirm reports that an Australian aid worker has died in Gaza,” it says in a statement.
“These reports are very distressing.”
NY Times: Israeli officials say country behind Syria strike that killed top Iranians
Though Israel has not commented on the strike in Damascus that killed top Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi and his deputy Mohammad Haj Rahimi, The New York Times cites four unnamed Israeli officials as confirming the country was behind the attack.
Iran has accused Israel of being behind the attack that killed seven Revolutionary Guards members and has vowed revenge.
Congressman says he wasn’t advising nuclear war in Gaza with ‘Hiroshima’ comments
File: Rep. Tim Walberg speaks about the USMCA trade deal at a Dana plant in Warren, Michigan, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
US Rep. Tim Walberg releases a statement saying he wasn’t calling for nuclear war after he came under fire for advising Israel to “get it over quick” with Hamas in Gaza, “like Nagasaki and Hiroshima,” the Japanese cities the United States hit with atomic bombs at the end of World War II.
“As a child who grew ups in the Cold War era, the last thing I’d advocate for would be the use of nuclear weapons,” Walberg, a Michigan Republican congressman, said in a statement published on Sunday. “I used a metaphor to convey the need for both Israel and Ukraine to win their wars as swiftly as possible, without putting American troops in harm’s way.”
A video of Walberg, 72, addressing a town hall in Dundee, Michigan on March 25 included an exchange with a constituent who was concerned that President Joe Biden’s plan to build a pier on Gaza’s shore to facilitate the entry of humanitarian assistance would endanger the US troops who would build and secure the pier.
“We shouldn’t be spending a dime on humanitarian aid,” Walberg replied. “It should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Get it over quick.”
IDF says it is probing deaths of international aid workers ‘at highest levels’
Amid reports of five aid workers killed in Gaza, including several foreign nationals, the IDF says it is “carrying out an in-depth examination at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident.”
The army adds it is “making great efforts to enable safe delivery of humanitarian aid, and has worked closely with the World Central Kitchen in its efforts to provide food and humanitarian aid to Gaza residents.”
Lebanon’s Hezbollah says alleged Israeli strike in Syria will get ‘punishment’
Emergency and security personnel search the rubble at the site of strikes which hit a building annexed to the Iranian embassy in Syria's capital Damascus, on April 1, 2024. (LOUAI BESHARA/ AFP)
Hezbollah warns that Israel will pay for allegedly killing high-level Iran Revolutionary Guards officials in a strike on the country’s consulate in Damascus, Syria.
“Certainly, this crime will not pass without the enemy receiving punishment and revenge,” Hezbollah says in a statement. The IRGC says the strike killed seven IRGC members including two brigadier generals. Israel has not commented.
Al Jazeera condemns ‘dangerous’ Israel action against network
Al Jazeera condemns what it calls “dangerous” moves by the Israeli government to ban the Qatar-based news channel amid a long-running battle over its reporting intensified by coverage of the Gaza war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will use new powers to stop Al Jazeera being shown in Israel, calling it a “terrorist channel.” In response, Al Jazeera says it “condemns these statements and sees [them] as nothing but a dangerous ludicrous lie.”
Palestinians: 4 aid workers and their driver killed in Israeli strike in Gaza
Palestinian media report four aid workers with World Central Kitchen killed in an Israeli strike on a vehicle south of central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah. Their Palestinian driver is also said to have been killed.
According to the reports, four of them are foreign nationals, from Poland, Australia, Ireland, and the UK.
The IDF has not yet commented on the incident.
Graphic images shared by Palestinian media outlets show what are said to be the bodies of the slain aid workers.
US says Israel agreed to take into account Rafah concerns
Israel agreed to take into account US concerns regarding a potential Israeli offensive in Rafah and agreed to hold follow-up conversations on the matter, the White House says in a readout from the virtual meeting that the sides held earlier today.
The follow-up meeting will be held in-person as early as next week, the White House adds.
IDF says suspicious aerial target from Syria shot down
A “suspicious aerial target” — thought to be a cruise missile or a drone — that was heading toward Israel from the direction of Syria was shot down, the IDF says.
The target was intercepted over Syrian airspace, according to the IDF.
The IDF does not immediately elaborate on what methods were used to shoot the projectile down.
Suspected drone infiltration alarms sounded in the southern Golan Heights amid the incident.
Sources say US weighing speeding up sale of 25 F-15 jets to Israel
A US AFCENT F-15 fighter jet is seen at the Nevatim Airbase, January 5, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)
The Biden administration is weighing whether to go ahead with a major $18 billion package of arms transfers to Israel that would involve dozens of F-15 aircraft and munitions, three sources familiar with the matter say.
The sale of 25 F-15s from Boeing to Israel has been under review since the United States received the formal request in January 2023, one of the sources says.
Speeding up the delivery of the aircraft was among the top asks by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who visited Washington last week and held talks with US officials, including National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, the second source says.
Germany to redesign soccer uniform over similarity to SS symbol
Germany leaves the field after the World Cup Group E soccer game between Costa Rica and Germany at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar, December 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
The design for the number four on Germany’s national team shirts will be changed over concerns that the number ’44’ resembled the symbol used by Nazi ‘SS’ units, the German Football Association (DFB) says.
The new kit, launched before Germany host the European Championship in June and July, debuted during their 2-0 friendly win over France last month.
The German FA (DFB) will change the number 44 design of their new kit after fans and media raised its resemblance to the symbol used by Nazi SS units in the World War II era.
Here's the full story 👇
No Germany player is expected to wear a number 44 jersey as the team's shirts… pic.twitter.com/4UZHkrRWl8
— DW Sports (@dw_sports) April 1, 2024
“The DFB checks the numbers 0-9 and then submits the numbers 1-26 to UEFA for review. None of the parties involved saw any proximity to Nazi symbolism in the creation process of the jersey design,” the DFB says in a statement on X.
“Nevertheless, we take the comments very seriously and do not want to provide a platform for discussions… we will develop an alternative design for the number 4 and coordinate it with UEFA.”
Blinken speaks to Abbas, welcomes formation of new PA cabinet
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas shake hands during their meeting in the West Bank town of Ramallah, February 7, 2024. (AP Photo/ Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a phone call with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas earlier today to welcome the formation of a new PA cabinet.
“Blinken reiterated that the United States looks forward to working with the new PA cabinet to promote peace, security, and prosperity and urged the implementation of necessary reforms,” according to a US readout of the call. “Blinken emphasized that a revitalized PA is essential to delivering results for the Palestinian people in both the West Bank and Gaza.”
The secretary also “stressed that the United States will press [Israel] to protect civilians in the Gaza Strip, bring in more aid and work for a political solution [to the conflict] that leads to the establishment of a Palestinian state in cooperation with [the PA] and the Arab states,” adds a readout from Abbas’s office.
For his part, the PA president raised his concerns about a potential IDF offensive in Rafah, where more than one million Palestinians are sheltering, his office said.
Abbas also urged the US to intervene in light of recent Israeli moves aimed at further entrenching settler presence in the West Bank.
Russia accuses Israel of ‘unacceptable’ strike on Iranian embassy in Damascus
Emergency and security personnel gather at the site of strikes which hit a building next to the Iranian consulate in Syria's capital Damascus, on April 1, 2024. (Maher Al Mounes/AFP)
Moscow accuses Israel of carrying out an “unacceptable” attack on a diplomatic building in Syria, after air strikes destroyed the Iranian embassy’s consular annex in Damascus.
“We strongly condemn this unacceptable attack against the Iranian consular mission in Syria,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Israel has not publicly commented on the reported attack, while Syrian and Iranian officials said Israel was behind the strikes.
Iran says 7 of its Guard members killed in Damascus strike, including 2 generals
Emergency and security personnel gather at the site of alleged Israeli strikes which hit a building adjacent to the Iranian embassy in Syria's capital Damascus, on April 1, 2024. (Maher Al Mounes/AFP)
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in a statement carried by Iranian media officially announce the deaths of seven members in the alleged Israeli strike in Damascus earlier today.
Among the seven are Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the most senior IRGC Quds Force commander in Syria, and his deputy, Mohammad Haj Rahimi.
Zahedi was the Quds Force official in charge of the unit’s operations in Lebanon and Syria.
Also listed among the dead are IRGC officers Hossein Aminullah, Seyyed Mahdi Jalalati, Mohsen Sadaqat, Ali Agha Babaei, and Seyyed Ali Salehi Rouzbahani.
Iranians chant ‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Israel’ at Tehran rally
In a night rally held in Palestine Square in central Tehran, hundreds of demonstrators, waving flags of Iran and Palestine, call for “revenge” and chant slogans of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”
They also burn Israeli and United States flags, according to AFP journalists at the scene.
Israel says supporting Palestinian bid for UN membership is ‘prize to terror’
Israel's Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting at UN headquarters in New York on March 25, 2024. (Angela Weiss/AFP)
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan says the Palestinian Authority has not met the required criteria for statehood in its bid for full UN membership, first put forward in 2011, and “has only moved further from the goals it should achieve since.”
“In addition, whoever supports recognizing a Palestinian state at such a time not only gives a prize to terror, but also backs unilateral steps which are contradictory to the agreed upon principle of direct negotiations,” Erdan says.
US says drone strike on Eilat is further proof of danger from Iranian proxies
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says the recent drone strike in Eilat by an Iraqi militia group is further proof of the danger posed by Iran-backed proxies committed to Israel’s destruction.
“We will continue to make clear to those groups, and to Iran, that is not in their interest to take strikes against Israel and is not in the interest to take strikes against the United States,” Miller says during a press briefing.
There are “ongoing conversations… with our Iraqi counterparts about the need to take action against proxy groups that launch attacks from inside Iraq,” he adds.
Separately, Miller asserts that the reported Israeli strike targeting senior Iranian operatives in Damascus should have no impact on the ongoing hostage talks.
State Department defends US move to ‘replenish’ Israeli weapons
A delivery of armored vehicles from the US arrives in Israel, December 6, 2023. (Defense Ministry)
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller is pressed to explain the Biden administration’s recent authorization of a massive weapons transfer to Israel, which came together with Washington expressing increasing concern over Jerusalem’s war in Gaza and opposition to a planned IDF ground incursion of Rafah.
Miller appears to downplay the authorization, pointing out that many of the weapons requests were made and approved by Congress years ago.
He adds that the US has made a long-term commitment to Israel’s security to the tune of $3 billion each year. Miller notes that Jerusalem faces threats from Iran and Hezbollah, which are both committed to Israel’s destruction.
“So we’re going to continue to support Israel’s ability to defend itself against those sworn enemies,” he says.
The State Department spokesperson adds that Israel does not always draw from the total amount of weapons approved by the US each year, making requests based on its security needs.
“Israel is in an armed conflict and is expending a great deal of defense material and some of that needs to be replenished for Israel’s long-term security,” Miller says, clarifying that aid recipients are obligated to use US weaponry in line with international humanitarian law.
US says IDF operation in Shifa highlights failure to find viable alternative to Hamas
Smoke rises during an Israeli strike in the vicinity of the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on March 28, 2024. (AFP)
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller reiterates the Biden administration’s belief that the IDF’s counterterror operation in Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital highlights Jerusalem’s failure to advance a viable alternative to Hamas, which has led the terror group to return to areas of the Strip that were previously cleared.
Asked about the Shifa operation during a press briefing, Miller first stresses that Hamas is the one hiding behind civilians and operating from within hospitals and other civilian infrastructure.
“You shouldn’t have to clear Hamas from a hospital once, let alone twice,” Miller adds, lamenting how quickly the terror group was able to return to the hospital after the IDF cleared the site in the earlier months of the conflict.
Still, he adds that as a general policy, the US does not want to see Israel operating inside hospitals.
“What we have been saying all along is the need for Israel to have a sustainable long-term strategy when it comes to Gaza — that it’s not enough to just clear certain neighborhoods or hospitals or any other geographic areas or buildings of Hamas. They need to have a long-term, sustainable strategy that is not just a security strategy, but also a political strategy if they really want to secure the future of Israel against the terror that has emanated from Gaza,” Miller says.
The US, along with much of the international community, backs replacing Hamas in Gaza with a reformed Palestinian Authority as part of a broader diplomatic initiative that includes the establishment of a pathway to an eventual two-state solution and the normalization of relations between Arab countries in the region with Israel.
Iran says it will decide on ‘punishment against the aggressor’ after Damascus strike
Emergency and security personnel search the rubble at the site of strikes which hit a building annexed to the Iranian embassy in Syria's capital Damascus, on April 1, 2024. (LOUAI BESHARA/ AFP)
Iran reserves the right to take reciprocal actions against the Israeli attack in Damascus on its consulate, the country’s foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani says, according to state media.
“Tehran will decide on “the type of response and punishment against the aggressor,” Kanaani adds.
IDF says drone which hit Eilat naval base was ‘made in Iran and directed by Iran’
The Eilat naval base, July 30, 2019. (Mendy Hechtman/ Flash90/ File)
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says the drone that hit the Eilat naval base overnight was “made in Iran” and the attack was “directed by Iran.”
The drone was apparently launched from Iraq by an Iran-backed militia.
“This is a very serious incident,” Hagari says, adding that the IDF is learning from the incident to improve its air defenses in the Eilat area.
White House expresses concern about resurgence of Hamas presence in Shifa Hospital
Troops of the Nahal Brigade's reconnaissance unit operate in the area of Gaza City's Shifa Hospital, in a handout image published March 31, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Pressed to condemn Israel for the counterterror operation it finished earlier today at Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre points out that Hamas continues to operate within hospitals and other civilian infrastructure.
“We’re concerned by how Hamas appears to have been able to reconstitute in a hospital so quickly” after Israel already cleared the medical center of terror operatives in the earlier months of the war, Jean-Pierre says.
She clarifies that the US does not want to see firefights in hospitals and reports of civilians killed at Shifa are “deeply concerning,” if proven accurate. The press secretary adds that the US is reaching out to Israel to receive more information regarding what unfolded during the latest operation in and around Shifa.
During the raid, which began March 18, the IDF said troops captured some 900 suspects, of which more than 500 were confirmed to be terror operatives, and killed more than 200 gunmen. Among those killed and detained were top commanders in Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Valuable intelligence was also seized, the army said.
Palestinians to push for April vote for full United Nations membership
The United Nations Security Council meets on the situation in the Middle East at UN headquarters in New York on March 25, 2024. (ANGELA WEISS / AFP)
The Palestinian Authority wants the United Nations Security Council to vote this month to make it a full member of the world body, the Palestinian UN envoy tells Reuters, a move that can be blocked by the United States.
Riyad Mansour, who has permanent observer status in the UN, tells Reuters that the aim is for the Security Council to make a decision at an April 18 ministerial meeting on the Middle East, but that a vote has yet to be scheduled.
He says a 2011 Palestinian application for full membership was still pending because the 15-member council never made a formal decision.
“The intention is to put the application to a vote in the Security Council this month,” he adds.
An application to become a full UN member needs to be approved by the Security Council — where the United States can cast a veto — and then by at least two-thirds of the 193-member General Assembly.
Grandson of hostage calls for election at Jerusalem anti-government rally
Demonstrators attend a protest against the government outside the Knesset in Jerusalem, April 1, 2024. (Arie Leib Abrams/ Flash90)
The grandson of hostage Chaim Peri, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, speaks at an anti-government protest in Jerusalem about all the time he spent at the kibbutz with his grandfather.
“This isn’t my first or last protest, but I always enjoyed the ones with my grandfather,” says Mai Albini Peri. “With him in captivity, I feel responsible to carry his burden. He’s the one leading me in this disaster.”
This government will not fix what they have allowed to happen, adds May.
“We demand a deal now, but there won’t be one as long as this government finds it more important to kill Arabs than to save Jews,” he says “A deal now is elections now.”
US expresses ‘concern’ over legislation aimed at shutting down Al Jazeera
Illustrative: An employee of Al Jazeera walks past the channel's logo at its headquarters in Doha, Qatar, in 2006. (AP/ Kamran Jebreili, File)
The US says it is concerned by the Knesset’s passage of legislation aimed at preventing Al Jazeera from operating in Israel.
“We believe in the freedom of the press. It is critically important. The United States supports the critically important work journalists around the world do, and that includes those who are reporting on the conflict in Gaza. If those reports are true, it is concerning to us,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says in response to a question on the matter during a press briefing.
The so-called Al Jazeera law, passed earlier today, gives the government temporary powers to prevent foreign news networks from operating in Israel if they are deemed by the security services to be harming national security.
The new law gives the prime minister and the communications minister the authority to order the temporary closure of foreign networks operating in Israel and confiscate their equipment if it is believed that they are “doing actual harm to state security.”
In an earlier statement, Netanyahu’s Likud party said that the prime minister would “act immediately to close Al Jazeera,” in accordance with the terms of the new law.
IDF says it struck several Hezbollah targets in Lebanon
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese village of Adaysseh on the border with Israel on March 21, 2024. (Rabih Daher/ AFP)
The IDF says it struck several Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon within the past few hours.
The sites included a building used by the terror group in Hanine, and another building where weapons were stored and additional targets in the Hamames mountain and Ayta ash-Shab, the IDF says.
The IDF says it also shelled with artillery the source of rocket fire from Lebanon on Mount Dov and Menara.
מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו לפני זמן קצר מבנה צבאי של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב חנין שבדרום לבנון.
במהלך היום כוחות צה״ל תקפו מבנה בו אוחסנו אמצעי לחימה לצד מטרות טרור נוספות במרחבים ג'בל חממיס ועיתה א- שעב שבדרום לבנון>> pic.twitter.com/kZgTnkvtBg
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) April 1, 2024
Iran vows ‘decisive response’ to attack on Damascus consulate, blames Israel
Emergency services work at a destroyed building hit by an air strike in Damascus, Syria, April 1, 2024. (AP Photo/ Omar Sanadiki)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian says in a call with his Syrian counterpart that Tehran holds Israel responsible for the consequences of the attack on its consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus, Iran’s state media reports.
The strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus is “a breach of all international conventions,” Amirabdollahian adds.
Iran vows a “decisive response” to the attack it blames on Israel and calls for an “international community response” to the airstrike.
Israeli, US officials holding virtual meeting about plans for ground op in Rafah
Palestinians look at a house destroyed in an Israeli strike in Rafah, Gaza Strip, March 26, 2024. (AP/Fatima Shbair)
Top Israeli and US officials are holding a virtual meeting today to discuss a potential Israeli offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says.
The meeting is being led by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the US side and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, along with National Security Council chair Tzachi Hanegbi, on the Israeli side.
It was supposed to have been held in person last week, but was delayed after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to send his top aides to Washington in protest of the US decision to allow for the passage of a UN Security Council resolution that called for a ceasefire and hostage release without explicitly conditioning the former on the latter.
“We know that there are Hamas operators in Rafah, but if they are going to move forward with military operations, we have to have this conversation,” Jean-Pierre says, in response to a question on the matter during a press briefing.
She argues that the US believes that there are alternatives to the mass ground invasion that Israel is seeking to launch and that other options will be presented at today’s meeting.
Two senior US officials told The Times of Israel last month that Washington envisions Israel focusing instead on securing the Egypt-Gaza border and preventing the smuggling of weapons that have allowed Hamas to re-arm between wars with Israel.
IDF chief approves new plans for ‘continuation of fighting’ at Northern Command HQ
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi meets with members of the General Staff at the Northern Command HQ in Safed, on April 1, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi approved new plans at the Northern Command headquarters in Safed earlier today, the military says.
The plans “for the continuation of the fighting” were approved during an assessment held by Halevi, the commander of the Northern Command, Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, and members of the General Staff, the IDF adds.
The meeting comes amid repeated Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel, and recent alleged Israeli strikes in Syria.
Yair Golan tells protesters ‘we’ll never give up’ on fight to oust government
Anti-government protesters gather near the Knesset in Jerusalem on April 1, 2024. (Jessica Steinberg/Times of Israel)
Former deputy IDF chief of staff Yair Golan speaks at the second night of protests in Jerusalem. “We have an amazing nation,” he says.
Golan, a former Meretz MK who is running to head up the Labor party, tells the gathered crowd that “we could have had the hostages home, in a process of renewal, with another government, to throw the judicial reform in the garbage, with a defense budget that makes sense. But instead, we’re stuck with the Netanyahu-Gantz government.”
He promises change, a government that will be different.
Golan says there an be no victory without the return of the hostages, and says every single person has a responsibility to fight against this government: “We’ll never give up!”
Protesters gather outside Knesset for second night of anti-government protest event
Protesters crowd the streets around the Knesset in Jerusalem on the second evening of a four-day anti-government protest event, April 1, 2024. (Courtesy, Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
Members of various protest groups crowd Jerusalem’s Kaplan Street, as protestors head toward the Knesset for the second night of a four-day protest event calling for new elections.
People hand out stickers calling for the government to “Get out!” as protesters wave Israeli flags, blow whistles, or bang out rhythms on drums.
Hundreds of tents are set up on the street, in front of the main stage outside the Knesset.
People applaud the hundreds of volunteers involved in organizing the four-day protest.
“The protest hasn’t gone anywhere,” says an organizer, calling for the government to set an election date in 2024.
“Elections now!” she says, echoed by the crowd. “We’re not going anywhere.”
She says that the first day of April — April Fools Day — is not special for Israelis who have a government that lies to them 365 days a year.
She lists the many ways the government has abandoned the country, the lack of responses for the evacuees, the need for a deal to bring the hostages home immediately.
Reuters says suspected Israeli strike ‘flattened’ Iranian consulate in Damascus
Emergency and security personnel gather at the site of strikes which hit a building next to the Iranian consulate in Syria's capital Damascus, on April 1, 2024. (Maher Al Mounes/AFP)
The Syrian and Iranian foreign ministers were spotted at the remains of the flattened Iranian consulate in Damascus after an alleged Israeli airstrike destroyed the building.
Reuters reporters at the scene in the Mezzeh district of the Syrian capital saw smoke rising from the rubble of a building that had been flattened, and emergency vehicles parked outside. An Iranian flag hung from a pole in front of the debris.
While Iran’s Tasnim news agency says five people were killed in the strike, Syria’s SANA state news agency says only that an unspecified number of people were killed or injured.
On visit to Israel, US Rep. Ritchie Torres vows to work on hostages’ release with ‘fierce urgency’
US Representative Ritchie Torres meets with Daniel Lishitz, whose grandfather Oded Lifshitz is held hostage in Gaza, in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square, March 31, 2024. (Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
US Representative Ritchie Torres (D-NY) vows to work with “fierce urgency” to secure the release of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza during his first visit to Israel since the October 7 Hamas massacre.
During his visit, the Democratic representative met with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Tel Aviv, where he toured the mock Hamas tunnel erected by families of the captives in Hostages Square, the forum says in a statement.
He also met with family members of hostages Omer Shem Tov, 86-year-old Shlomo Mansour, Youssef and Hamza Al-Ziyadne, and Oded Lifshitz.
“I was deeply moved by the courage of the hostage families in telling their stories, including the story about Shlomo Mansour, the oldest hostage who survived the Farhud in Iraq and was kidnapped by Hamas 80 years later,” says Torres.
“My experience at the Hostage Forum crystalized for me the fierce urgency to bring the hostages home.”
Torres also toured the area where invading Hamas terrorists massacred 1,200 people and abducted 253 on October 7 in southern Israel, including visiting Kibbutz Nir Oz, Moshav Netiv HaAsara and the site of the Nova music festival.
Congressman Ritchie Torres at a house in Kibbutz Nir Oz, March 31, 2024 (Gabriel Sod, Courtesy of UJA-Federation)
Hindy Poupko, the senior vice president of the UJA Federation New York that hosted Torres in Israel, called his trip “particularly significant as it signifies his steadfast and unwavering solidarity with Israel. The Congressman’s visit was deeply appreciated in Israel, as he brought messages of unity, empathy and support for October 7 survivors, tens of thousands of displaced persons and all Israelis.”
Law allowing shuttering of Al Jazeera in Israel passes final Knesset readings
File: Employee of Qatar based news network and TV channel Al-Jazeera is seen at the outlet's Jerusalem office on July 31, 2017 (AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
The so-called Al Jazeera law, which gives the government temporary powers to prevent foreign news networks from operating in Israel if they are deemed to be harming national security, passed its second and third readings in the Knesset plenum.
Praising the law’s passage, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi says, “There will be no freedom of speech for Hamas mouthpieces in Israel. Al Jazeera will be closed in the coming days.”
Earlier today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had spoken with coalition whip Ofir Katz to ensure the law would pass.
The law empowers the communications minister to order “content providers” to cease broadcasting the channel in question; order the channel’s Israeli offices to be shuttered; order the channel’s equipment be confiscated; and order the channel’s website to be taken offline, if the server is physically located in Israel, or otherwise block access to the website.
Such orders will be valid for 45 days but can be renewed for further 45-day periods.
Under the terms of the bill, any order to shut down a foreign news channel must be brought within 24 hours for judicial review by the president of a district court, who must then decide within three days if they wish to change or shorten the period of the order.
The legislation passed a first reading in the Knesset plenum in February and was approved for its second and third readings following an extended debate in the Knesset National Security Committee.
Senior Iranian Guard Corps official killed in alleged Israeli strike in Damascus – report
The Saudi Al-Arabiya news network, citing Iranian media, reports that senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps official Mohammad Reza Zahedi was killed in the alleged Israeli strike in Damascus.
A security source also confirmed the report to Reuters.
Zahedi is reported to be a top commander in IRGC’s Quds force.
رسانه های ایرانی: در حمله هوایی به منطقه المزه دمشق محمدرضا زاهدی، یکی از فرماندهان نیروی قدس سپاه پاسداران ایران در سوریه و لبنان کشته شده و ساختمان کنسولگری جمهوری اسلامی به طور کامل فروریخت. pic.twitter.com/j9zwQglWXB
— العربیه فارسی (@AlArabiya_Fa) April 1, 2024
Smotrich vows to ‘fight with all our might’ against US sanctions on individual West Bank settlers
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich pledges to “fight with all our might” and not “let up” until all Western sanctions against West Bank settlers are lifted.
Addressing the press ahead of his Religious Zionism party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, Smotrich complains of “unprecedented sanctions on Israeli citizens whose entire sin is that they settle in Judea and Samaria and guard the lands of our country.”
“We will not agree to this and will fight with all our might against it,” he says.
The US and several European nations have imposed sanctions on individual settlers accused of engaging in violence against Palestinians.
“I am happy to inform you that thanks to my insistence and unequivocal demand together with the prime minister and Minister [of Strategic Affairs Ron] Dermer, the American government has delivered a letter that dramatically reduces the sanctions that have been taken and allows the banks to release the settlers’ bank accounts that were completely frozen,” he continues.
“It’s still not enough, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction and we won’t let up until all the sanctions are lifted.”
Last week, the US informed Israel that its sanctions were not intended to compel Israeli banks to close the accounts of targeted individuals.
Smotrich: Behavior of Brothers in Arms causes ‘tremendous damage’ to society
Finance Bezalel Smotrich holds a press conference at the Knesset, Jerusalem, March 13, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich condemns the Brothers in Arms movement following clashes between members of the group and ultra-Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem on Sunday evening, stating that such behavior can “cause tremendous damage.”
“In war, one should behave as in war, and the first and central thing is to preserve our unity,” Smotrich says during his Religious Zionism party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.
“There will be time for investigations, soul-searching and finding the guilty, there will be time for protests and criticism, the time will come to return to the public in the elections and gain trust” but “now is the time to fight for our future and win the war,” he insists.
Tens of thousands of protesters gathered outside the Knesset on Sunday evening, demanding new elections and for the country’s leaders to agree to a hostage deal that will bring about the release of the 130 captives held in Gaza since Hamas’s devastating October 7 attack.
Some protesters blocked traffic and lit bonfires on Jerusalem’s Begin Road while dozens of members of Brothers in Arms staged a demonstration inside the ultra-Orthodox Mea She’arim neighborhood, calling for Haredim to be drafted to the IDF.
Police were deployed to keep the protesters and local ultra-Orthodox residents apart as water and eggs were thrown from nearby buildings.
“The path to the integration of the ultra-Orthodox public is through dialogue,” says Smotrich. “Any form of hatred and defamation like, unfortunately, yesterday at the Brothers to Arms march to Mea She’arim will achieve the opposite result and cause tremendous damage.”
Iranian media claims at least six dead in alleged Israeli strike on Syria consulate
Iran’s Tasnim news agency says sources have indicated that at least six people were killed in the alleged Israeli strike on a building adjacent to the Iranian embassy in Damascus.
It says the number is not yet officially confirmed.
According to other Iranian media, the targeted building was Iran’s consulate and ambassador’s residence.
New Jersey weekend event for Russian-speaking Jews draws record turnout
Israeli singer Avi Peretz sings at the 15th annual Russian Jewish Shabbaton in New Jersey on March 31, 2024. (Courtesy of Chamah)
An annual weekend retreat for Russian-speaking Jews in New Jersey sees more than 1,200 participants, a record turnout that organizers attribute to the effects of October 7.
Attendance at the three-day International Russian-Jewish Shabbaton, which wrapped up Sunday, is double last year’s and 50% higher than the next best-attended year since the event was first held in 2009, according to Benzion Laskin, a program director at Chamah, a Chabad-affiliated organization that supports Soviet Jews, which organized the event.
The event, comprising lectures, workshops and music, promotes “unity over 40 communities: Bukharian, Caucasian, Russian, Ukrainian and others,” says Laskin.
“Especially since October 7, I felt the need to be more spiritual and be around my people,” one participant, 26-year-old Sam Pinsky from Brighton, Massachussets, says at the event held at the Hilton Hotel in Parsippany, New Jersey.
Pinsky, whose parents immigrated to the United States from the former Soviet Union in the 1970s, attends with his father and two sisters. His favorite session is by Rabbi Manis Friedman, who is known across the Jewish world for his YouTube videos about spirituality.
Alleged Israeli strike in Damascus, Syria targets building adjacent to Iranian embassy
A still image from footage of the alleged Israeli airstrike close to the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria, April 1, 2024. (Screenshot, X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
New images published by Syrian media outlets show the aftermath of an alleged Israeli airstrike in Damascus a short while ago.
The strike targeted a building adjacent to the Iranian embassy in Syria, in the Damascus area municipality of Mezzeh.
Reuters cites Iran’s SSN news website as saying Israel targeted Iran’s consulate and ambassador’s residence.
There is no immediate information on casualties in the strike.
من مكان استهداف بناء ملاصق للسفارة #الإيرانية على اوتستراد المزة في #دمشق#شام_إف_إم pic.twitter.com/nDJX2ZBtvS
— Sham fm شام إف إم (@radioshamfm) April 1, 2024
Syrian media reports alleged Israeli airstrikes near Damascus
Syrian media report alleged Israeli airstrikes in the Damascus area municipality of Mezzeh.
According to the pro-government Sham FM radio, a building adjacent to the Iranian embassy was targeted.
Photos circulating on social media show the targeted site.
The state-run SANA broadcaster says air defense systems are engaging the Israeli attack.
من آثار العدوان الصهيوني على العاصمة دمشق pic.twitter.com/O7kcMWkTAc
— حسين مرتضى Hussein Mortada (@HoseinMortada) April 1, 2024
Israel appropriates 42 acres of land in West Bank’s Etzion Bloc, declaring it state land
People visit the restored aqueducts from the time of Herod that carried water from Gush Etzion to Jerusalem, October 12, 2022. (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announces that the Civil Administration, an agency in the Defense Ministry, has declared 170 dunams (42 acres) of land surrounding the Herodium archaeological site in the West Bank region of the Etzion Bloc as “state land,” meaning land that is not privately owned and can be used for various purposes, including settlement development.
Smotrich, who has authority over the Civil Administration as part of his role as an additional minister in the Defense Ministry, says he has been working on advancing declarations of state land in the West Bank over the last year, which he describes as “very important processes in the campaign for open spaces [in the West Bank].”
Gush Etzion Regional Council Mayor Yaron Rosenthal lauded the announcement, saying it will serve as a catalyst for transforming the Herodium tourist and heritage site into an international tourist center. He adds that it will “bring prosperity to the entire region” and is “a magnificent testimony to our historical connection with this part of the country.”
Last month, some 8,000 dunams (1,976 acres) of land was declared state land in the Jordan valley, the largest such declaration in decades according to groups opposed to the settlement movement. The move was condemned by French President Emanuel Macron.
And in February, 2,640 dunams (650 acres) was declared state land east of Jerusalem.
PM’s office: Netanyahu to be discharged from hospital tomorrow and is recovering well from hernia surgery
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem on March 31, 2024. (Marc Israel Sellem/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be discharged from hospital tomorrow afternoon and is recovering well after undergoing a successful hernia surgery at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem last night, his office says in a statement.
The statement adds that the prime minister is feeling well enough to continue holding meetings and consultations from the hospital.
Reporting on the statement, Channel 12 news says that “according to all assessments,” Netanyahu, who was under full sedation for the surgery, “was supposed to be discharged today” and perhaps even this morning.
Skepticism has intensified regarding Netanyahu’s health since he had a pacemaker fitted last year. Doctors later revealed that he had suffered a potentially life-threatening “transient heart block,” and had a heart conduction problem for years.
The TV report highlights several instances from last night’s press conference when Netanyahu uncharacteristically stumbled over words.
“We’ve never seen him like that,” says anchor Rafi Reshef.
Political reporter Daphna Liel says that even if one assumes that, “this time, nothing is being hidden from us,” it was a mistake for him to hold the press conference, ostensibly intended to show that he was in robust health, when it would have better for him to rest before the operation.
Hundreds of extremist Haredim block Route 4 in protest against IDF conscription
Ultra-Orthodox Jews block a road and clash with police during a protest against the drafting of Haredim to the Israeli army, on Route 4, outside the city of Bnei Brak, April 1, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, protesters block the Route 4 highway in the center of the country during a demonstration against IDF conscription, Hebrew media reports.
The demonstrators belong to the extremist Jerusalem Faction, Ynet reports, which numbers some 60,000 members and regularly demonstrates against the enlistment of yeshiva students.
The protest comes on the same day that a High Court of Justice order comes into effect, freezing financial support for Haredi yeshivas with students who receive annual deferrals from military service, and as the Defense Ministry has been instructed to begin the process of drafting Haredi men.
Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.
Lapid: Government must respect High Court ruling on yeshiva funds, uphold the law for once
Opposition leader and Yesh Atid head MK Yair Lapid leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on April 1, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “uphold the law” in the wake of a High Court decision barring the government from providing funds to ultra-Orthodox yeshivas for students eligible for IDF enlistment.
“I call on the government not to cheat, not to deceive, not to find bypass routes, not to transfer hidden budgets, not to do all the things we know they will try to do,” Lapid declares during his Yesh Atid party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset. “For a change, they will be forced to act as if they are a law-abiding government in a law-abiding country.”
Last month, Netanyahu reportedly informed the ultra-Orthodox parties that he would “compensate them retroactively” if the court cut off their funding.
After Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara warned the government on Sunday against any attempt to continue funding yeshivas that harbor students who dodge their army service, Netanyahu’s bureau sent a message to reporters accusing her of “creating a rift among the people on the recruitment issue,” Lapid continues.
“The only thing that creates a rift in the people is that some people enlist and some don’t. Some die, and some don’t. Some are injured, and some are not. There are those who work for a living and pay taxes, and there are those who want us to pay them to avoid the army and not work,” he states.
“Israel has reached its tipping point. The IDF repeatedly says, ‘We don’t have enough soldiers.’ The defense minister said it, the IDF chief of staff said it. There aren’t enough soldiers and the ultra-Orthodox youth need to mobilize to defend the country,” he says.
H says he’s written to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, urging him to “to recruit thousands more ultra-Orthodox soldiers [and] begin the great reform that the State of Israel needs.”
Ben Gvir asks PM to investigate Gallant over claims that soldiers were told to protect Qatari buildings in Gaza
Composite image shows Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, left, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, right. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir accuses Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of unnecessarily endangering the lives of soldiers in Gaza and demands that he be summoned for an investigation by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In a letter to Netanyahu, the leader of the ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit Party refers to allegations made by parents of soldiers that their sons were forced to carry out specific operations in the Strip that would minimize damage to Qatari-build infrastructure but increase the risk to the soldiers.
Ben Gvir also claims that the soldiers were tasked with “cleaning a Hamas hospital” while operating in the Palestinian enclave.
“Our best sons were not sent to die in battle so that Hamas supporters in Qatar wouldn’t have to be concerned for their assets, or so that Israel can receive a slightly less negative attitude from the international media — but to defeat Hamas and return the hostages,” Ben Gvir writes.
“There is no reason to endanger our heroic soldiers for public relations purposes and to flatter the Qataris.”
In light of the allegations, he writes, “I would like to immediately summon the defense minister for an investigation and order him to direct the army immediately to allow our fighters to operate freely, and eliminate the enemy and the buildings in which they are hiding, without unnecessary risk to their lives.”
Blaming Netanyahu for slow pace of Gaza war, Sa’ar calls for elections in January 2025
Head of the New Hope party Minister Gideon Saar leads a faction meeting, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on April 1, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Blaming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for what he describes as the slow pace of operations in the Gaza Strip, New Hope chair Gideon Sa’ar calls for early elections and the immediate establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the failures leading to October 7.
“I have long warned that prolonging the conquest of the Gaza Strip and completing the elimination of the Hamas battalions over such a long period of time is harmful to the national interest,” Sa’ar tells reporters in the Knesset during his New Hope – The United Right party’s weekly faction meeting.
“Before our eyes, a strategic reversal has occurred: for months Israel has been talking about the southern Gaza Strip — Rafah — but does not enter,” leading Hamas to demand the return of civilians to the northern Gaza Strip. This, he continues, is actually a call for “the restoration of its governmental and military power in the north of the Gaza Strip.”
“At the same time, the failure in the way humanitarian aid is distributed in the Gaza Strip continues, which causes the strengthening of Hamas in regards to the civilian population in a way which is contrary to the goals of the war” and leads the terror group to harden its positions in hostage negotiations, Sa’ar asserts — arguing that without a “fundamental change” in direction Israel will not be able to topple the terror group.
The only way to regain focus and successfully prosecute the war is setting a date for elections, he continued, calling for a national vote in January 2025.
In addition, Sa’ar argues that it is “essential” to establish a state commission of inquiry into “the biggest failure in the country’s history… as soon as possible.”
“It will not harm the war…but it is essential so that when we get to the elections the picture of the responsibility of all those responsible at the political level and at the professional level will be clear and presented to the people,” he says.
Israeli official: Push underway to ramp up aid into Gaza amid famine warnings
Displaced Palestinian children gather to receive food at a government school in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 19, 2024 (MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)
Israel is making a push to ramp up humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip amid warnings of an impending famine there, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
The Jordanians are especially expected to become more active, beyond the daily airdrops they have been carrying out during Ramadan.
Israel is looking into opening new crossings into Gaza, including in the northern part of the Strip, and is continuing to explore “creative solutions” to the problem of distributing aid in the war zone.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is looking into appointing an official to oversee the entire humanitarian efforts according to the official, amid frustrations with the way it is being managed thus far.
Hostage’s family asks protesters to stop using his poster at anti-government rallies
Woman holds up a poster of Avinatan Or at a protest outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's private residence in Caesarea on March 30, 2024. (Canaan Lidor/Times of Israel)
Relatives of Gaza hostage Avinatan Or are protesting the use of his name and picture by demonstrators at rallies calling for a hostage deal and elections.
Or, 30, is the boyfriend of Noa Argamani, whose terrified expression as she was transported away from her partner when they were both kidnapped from the Supernova rave in Re’im became a symbol of the international campaign to secure the release of the hostages.
Yaron and Shimon Or ask that protesters stop using images of Avinatan — their son and nephew, respectively — after seeing his face on posters near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea on Saturday night.
The rally was calling for a hostage deal, as well as elections.
“It’s utterly disrespectful to speak in our name at those rallies, which neither I nor an absolute majority of the hostages’ families support,” charges Yaron Or, Avinatan’s father. “The protesters and most of the media are using us as political instruments,” he claims.
Yaron Or is critical of the government because of its “foot-dragging” in Gaza, as he puts it. But using his son to promote this criticism is “wrong,” he adds.
Avinatan’s uncle, Shimon, calls doing so “trafficking in blood for political gain.”
“The anti-Netanyahu protests merely coopted the hostages into the protest, and it’s shocking,” Shimon says.
A number of families of those held in Gaza have announced that they support the anti-government protests, arguing that the ousting of the premier is the best path to reach a deal for their loved ones’ freedom.
Liberman: Divisions in society put Israel on path to becoming splintered like Lebanon
Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman leads a faction meeting at the Knesset on April 1, 2024 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Israel is obligated to think about the day after the war ends not only in the Gaza Strip but “also in the State of Israel,” Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman declares during his party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.
Warning against the danger posed by “a community that does not share the same values and vision,” a veiled reference to the ultra-Orthodox, Liberman warns that further divisions in Israeli society could lead the country into a situation like that of Lebanon, which has long been riven by strong sectarian cleavages.
Israelis need to being a dialogue on the “day after” immediately, he continued, inviting his fellow party heads to establish a “wall-to-wall Zionist coalition” that can enact universal conscription, mandatory core studies and electoral reform.
“We don’t need to draft anybody by force,” he says of the ultra-Orthodox, calling for the imposition of financial sanctions in order to boost enlistment.
Israeli official: Some progress in hostage deal talks, negotiations expected to intensify
Relatives and supporters of the hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas terror group attend a rally calling for their release in Tel Aviv, March 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
There has been some progress in hostage talks in Cairo, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel, and negotiations are expected to intensify noticeably in the coming days.
The talks are being held in Cairo amid growing Israeli frustration with Qatar’s effectiveness as a mediator and its willingness to put pressure on Hamas.
The continuation of talks will likely influence decisions made around an IDF operation in Rafah, the official says.
“The two topics are linked,” says the official, adding that “the hostages are the first priority.”
Police: 2 arrested on suspicion of transporting terrorist who carried out Gan Yavne attack
The scene of a stabbing attack in Gan Yavne, March 31, 2024. (Liron Moldovan/Flash90)
Police say they have arrested two residents of the south who allegedly transported the terrorist who stabbed three people in a terror attack in Gan Yavne last night.
The suspects will appear in court later today for a hearing on their detention.
Three people were seriously wounded in a terror knifing at a mall in the southern Israeli city.
The attacker, identified as a 19-year-old Palestinian, was shot dead by security officers who responded to the scene.
Netanyahu calls for Knesset to pass ‘Al Jazeera law’ today, allowing closure of foreign news networks
Illustrative: An employee of Al Jazeera walks past the channel's logo at its headquarters in Doha, Qatar, in 2006. (AP/ Kamran Jebreili, File)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls for the Knesset to pass the so-called Al Jazeera law this evening, giving his government the power to close down foreign news networks.
In a statement, Netanyahu’s Likud party says that the prime minister spoke with coalition whip Ofir Katz to ask him to ensure the bill’s passage through its second and third readings today.
Netanyahu promised to “immediately act to close Al Jazeera” following the law’s passage.
If passed, the bill will give the prime minister and the communications minister the authority to order the closure of foreign networks operating in Israel and confiscate their equipment if it is believed that they pose “an actual harm to the state’s security.”
The legislation passed a first reading in the Knesset plenum in February and was approved for its second and third readings following an extended debate in the Knesset National Security Committee.
Netanyahu is currently in the hospital, having undergone hernia surgery last night.
IDF: Building hit in overnight drone attack on Eilat was on naval base
The Israel Defense Forces confirms that the building hit in Eilat by a drone apparently launched from Iraq in the early hours of the morning was at its Navy base.
Damage was caused to the building, but there were no injuries, the IDF says.
The military says the incident is under investigation.
Earlier, the IDF said it had identified a “suspicious aerial target” that entered Israeli airspace “from the east” and then impacted “in the Eilat Bay area.”
The IDF confirms the drone that struck Eilat last night hit the Navy base, causing damage to the hangar. https://t.co/V3AG9tV7kd pic.twitter.com/0OSpysVPV1
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) April 1, 2024
IDF says jets hit some 10 Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon’s Rachaya al-Foukhar
The IDF says fighter jets struck some 10 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon’s Rachaya al-Foukhar earlier today, including a weapons depot and rocket launchers.
It publishes footage of the strikes.
מטוסי קרב תקפו במקביל לפני זמן קצר כ-10 מטרות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב רשיא אל-פוחר, בהן מחסן אמל"ח, עמדות שיגור ותשתיות טרור pic.twitter.com/Wm9Y4e5GfP
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) April 1, 2024
Acclaimed author, activist Sami Michael dies at 97
Portrait of author Sami Michael, May 5, 2004 (Flash90)
Author Sami Michael has died at the age of 97, Hebrew-language media reports.
Michael, born in Baghdad as Kamal Salah, became active in the underground Communist movement in Iraq after the rise of pro-Nazi and antisemitic elements in the country, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
He was forced to flee the country in 1948, and moved to Iran, before immigrating to Israel a year later.
Michael won dozens of awards for his literature, including the Prime Minister’s Prize for Hebrew Literary Works and the Hans Christian Andersen Award.
His best known works include “Victoria” and “A Handful of Fog.”
A public campaigner for a Palestinian state and civil rights, Michael did not shy from public criticism of the government, Ynet says.
He is survived by his wife and two children. His sister Nadia is the widow of executed Israeli spy Eli Cohen, Kan reports.
IDF says troops questioned suspects in hometown of terrorist who carried out Gan Yavne attack
Troops operating in Dura, hometown of the terrorist who carried out Gan Yavne attack, April 1, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF says it operated overnight in the southern west Bank town of Dura, at the home of the terrorist who carried out last night’s stabbing attack in Gan Yavne.
Three Israelis were seriously wounded in the attack at a mall in the city, close to Ashdod.
At the home of the 19-year-old Palestinian stabber, who was shot dead by a police officer, the IDF says troops questioned suspects and searched the area.
Nine wanted Palestinians were arrested elsewhere in the West Bank during overnight raids, the IDF says.
Rabbi Eliyahu Zion Sofer, head of major Sephardic yeshiva, dies at 71
Eliyahu Zion Sofer, 71, a prominent rabbi and head of a large Sephardic yeshiva near Haifa, dies during a visit to New York.
Sofer succumbs to health complications that began last week, soon after his arrival in the United States to raise funds for his Yeshivat Be’er Yitzhak in Rechasim near Haifa, which is one of the world’s largest Sephardic yeshivas, the news site Kikar Hashabbat reports.
In a statement, Aryeh Deri, the chair of the Shas party, references Sofer’s ailing health in recent years.
“He was a true man of God who accepted his many torments with love,” Deri writes.
The statement by Deri extolls Sofer for “raising thousands of students whom he taught with devotion.” Sofer’s death is a “great loss to his tens of thousands of students and the Torah world at large,” Deri says.
Sofer’s death will be commemorated both in New York and at his funeral in Israel, whose date is not immediately known, Kikar Hashabbat reports.
IDF says Sunday death of soldier takes military death toll since Oct. 7 to 600
Illustrative: The father of French-Israeli soldier Eli Valentin Ghenassia, who was killed in combat at Kibbutz Be'eri during the onslaught by Hamas terrorists, touches his coffin during his funeral in the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem on October 12, 2023 (RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP)
The Israel Defense Forces says that the death of Staff Sergeant Nadav Cohen on Sunday takes the total military death toll since October 7 to 600.
The death of 20-year-old Cohen, from Haifa, brings the number of troops killed since the start of Israel’s ground operation in Gaza to 256.
Cohen fought with the 7th Armored Brigade’s 77th Battalion and was killed in southern Gaza.
Iran’s persecution of Bahais is ‘crime against humanity,’ says Human Rights Watch
Members of the Baha'i religion demonstrate in Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach on June 19, 2011, asking Iranian authorities to release seven Baha'i prisoners accused of spying for Israel and sentenced to 20 years in jail (Ana Carolina Fernandes/AFP).
Human Rights Watch says that the Iranian authorities’ persecution of the Bahai minority since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 constitutes a crime against humanity.
The New York-based group says that the Bahais, Iran’s largest non-Muslim minority, face repression including arbitrary arrest, property confiscation, restrictions on school and job opportunities, and even the loss of the right to a dignified burial.
“The cumulative impact of authorities’ decades-long systematic repression is an intentional and severe deprivation of Bahais’ fundamental rights and amounts to the crime against humanity of persecution,” HRW says.
It argues that this fell within the scope of the International Criminal Court (ICC) whose statute defines persecution as the intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights contrary to international law on national, religious or ethnic grounds.
HRW says that while the intensity of violations against Bahais “has varied over time,” the persecution of the community has remained constant, “impacting virtually every aspect of Bahais’ private and public lives.”
It says the Islamic Republic holds “extreme animus against adherents of the Bahai faith” and repression of the minority was enshrined in Iranian law and is official government policy.
“Iranian authorities deprive Bahais of their fundamental rights in every aspect of their lives, not due to their actions, but simply for belonging to a faith group,” says Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.
“It is critically important to increase international pressure on Iran to end this crime against humanity.”
This is believed to be the first time a leading international organization has labeled Iran’s treatment of the Bahais as a crime against humanity.
Unlike other minorities, Bahais do not have their faith recognized by Iran’s constitution and have no reserved seats in parliament.
How many members of the community remain in Iran is not known, but activists believe there could still be several hundred thousand.
The Bahai faith is a relatively young monotheistic religion with spiritual roots dating back to the early 19th century in Iran.
2 detained on suspicion of kidnap, rape of 15-year-old girl
Two suspects have been detained on suspicion of the kidnap and rape of a 15-year-old girl.
According to Hebrew-language media reports, the teen is resident at an educational institution in the north of the country.
A friend told police that the girl had been kidnapped in a car, sparking a police hunt.
Officers found the girl when they located the vehicle. She was with two residents of the southern town Lakiya, who told police that they had taken the girl for a ride.
However, according to the Ynet news site, tests raised suspicion that the girl had been raped.
The detention of the two suspects has been extended while the investigation is ongoing.
Reports of Israeli strikes on south Lebanon village Rachaya Al-Foukhar
Lebanese media, cited by Hebrew-languague news sites, reports at least three strikes carried out on the village of Rachaya Al-Foukhar in the south of the country.
The village has been used as a launch site for a number of attacks on northern Israel over the past six months.
There is no immediate comment from the Israel Defense Forces.
Starting October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the Lebanese border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza and the Hamas terror group. Israel has responded with strikes on terror targets.
ערוצים לבנונים מדווחים לפני זמן קצר על 3 תקיפות של חיל האוויר לעבר הכפר רשאיה אל-פחאר, דרום לבנון. pic.twitter.com/5tpJ1uiCxX
— Asslan Khalil (@KhalilAsslan) April 1, 2024
Lapid calls on coalition lawmakers to ‘come to their senses’ and cancel Knesset recess
File: Opposition leader Yair Lapid leads a faction meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on March 18, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid calls on coalition lawmakers to “come to their senses” and cancel the Knesset recess slated to begin Sunday.
“Today begins the last week of the Knesset before the recess. It’s hallucinatory that the Knesset is going on recess at a time like this,” he writes on X. “Hostages don’t have a break, fighters in Gaza don’t have a break.”
“Yesh Atid will fight until the last minute to cancel the recess – it’s not too late for coalition members to come to their senses,” Lapid writes.
Last week, the Knesset House Committee voted to approve a six-week break despite vociferous objections by parties in both the opposition and coalition. The recess is slated to run from April 7 to May 19.
The families of hostages held in Gaza have also called for lawmakers to cancel their break.
Eyewitnesses: ‘Total destruction’ around Shifa Hospital after fighting between Hamas and IDF
Palestinians inspect the damage around Gaza's Shifa Hospital after the Israel Defense Forces withdrew from the complex housing the hospital after two weeks fighting terror groups there, on April 1, 2024 (AFP)
Eyewitnesses describe scenes of destruction as they return to the area surrounding Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital after the Israel Defense Forces withdrew troops at the conclusion of a two-week raid on terror groups using the medical complex as a command center.
Last week, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Hamas was “destroying Shifa Hospital,” as the military operated against the terror group at the medical center, the largest in the Gaza Strip.
Mohammed Mahdi, who was among those who returned, describes a scene of “total destruction.”
He says several buildings have been burned down and that he saw a number of bodies.
Another resident, Yahia Abu Auf, says army bulldozers plowed over a makeshift cemetery inside the hospital compound.
“The situation is indescribable,” he says. “The occupation destroyed all sense of life here.”
Last week, Hagari said Hamas was firing at troops from inside the Shifa Emergency Room and Maternity Ward and throwing explosive devices from the Shifa Burn Ward.
“Terrorists hiding around the hospital fired mortars at our forces, causing extensive damage to the hospital buildings,” Hagari said.
International law stipulates that while a medical facility is a protected site in conflict, it loses that status if it is used for military activity.
Israel has offered evidence Hamas uses such facilities as cover for terror purposes and says the group plunders humanitarian aid to take supplies for its fighters, depriving the civilian population.
IDF says it has withdrawn from Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, ending operation
Troops of the Nahal Brigade's reconnaissance unit operate in the area of Gaza City's Shifa Hospital, in a handout image published March 31, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF confirms it has wrapped up its operation against Hamas at Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital overnight, with all the troops leaving the area.
During the raid, which began March 18, the IDF said troops captured some 900 suspects, of whom more than 500 were confirmed to be terror operatives, and killed more than 200 gunmen. Among those killed and detained were top commanders in Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Meanwhile, in central Gaza, the IDF says an attack helicopter carried out a strike on a building used by Hamas and another building that was booby-trapped and had been used by Hamas operatives to observe troops.
In other airstrikes in Gaza, the IDF says it killed terror operatives who were an “immediate threat” to ground troops, including a sniper.
In southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, the IDF says troops of the Commando Brigade and Givati Brigade are continuing to battle Hamas in the al-Amal neighborhood.
Amid the operation in al-Amal, troops killed numerous gunmen in close-quarters combat, detained terror suspects, and located weapons over the past day, the IDF says.
In another area of Khan Younis, the IDF says the 7th Armored Brigade and Israeli Air Force struck several Hamas targets, including a truck driving toward the troops and another car with operatives inside, which were perceived as threats.
Hospital says Netanyahu recovering after hernia surgery
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem on March 31, 2024. (Marc Israel Sellem/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is recovering at Hadassah Medical Center-Ein Kerem in Jerusalem after undergoing hernia surgery there late last night.
After the surgery was completed, the hospital released a short video message. In the clip, the surgeons who performed the operation reported that it was successful and that Netanyahu was awake and talking to his family.
“His situation is perfect,” said Prof. Alon Pikarsky, head of general surgery.
The hospital’s announcement notes that a cardiologist was part of the prime minister’s medical team for the surgery. Last year Netanyahu had a pacemaker implanted to prevent heart arrhythmias.
Police arrest sister of Hamas leader Haniyeh in southern Israel on suspicion of terror offenses
Ismail Haniyeh, the Doha-based political bureau chief of the Palestinian terror group Hamas, speaks to the press after a meeting with the Iranian foreign minister in Tehran on March 26, 2024 (AFP)
A sister of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has been arrested on suspicion of contact with operatives from the terror group and supporting acts of terror, defense sources say.
Police say that they arrested the 57-year-old woman in a joint raid with the Shin Bet.
The suspect, who is not identified by police in the statement, is a resident of the southern town Tel Sheva.
In a statement, police say that during a raid on the suspect’s home, officers found documents, media, telephones and other evidence linking her to “serious security offenses.”
The woman will appear at the Beersheba Magistrate’s Court later today for a hearing on her detention.
Police carrying out a raid in Tel Sheva, April 1, 2024 (Israel Police)
Hospital: 2 victims from Gan Yavne terror attack have very serious head injuries; teen in moderate condition
The scene of a stabbing attack in Gan Yavne, March 31, 2024. (Liron Moldovan/Flash90)
Two of the victims of last night’s terror stabbing attack in Gan Yavne are transferred from Assuta Medical Center in Ashdod to Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv and Beilinson Hospital Petah Tikva for neurosurgery.
According to Assuta, the victims, both males in their 20s, suffer from very serious head injuries.
A minor, previously reported to be a 17-year-old, arrived at Assuta in moderate condition and is in surgery this morning. His condition is stable and not life-threatening.
IDF troops withdrawing from Gaza’s Shifa Hospital, Hamas-run health ministry says
Troops of the Nahal Brigade's reconnaissance unit operate in the area of Gaza City's Shifa Hospital, in a handout image published March 31, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
IDF troops are withdrawing from Shifa Hospital, two weeks after they launched a second raid on the Gaza City medical center, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.
Eyewitnesses say troops are withdrawing under cover of airstrikes and artillery fire.
There was no immediate comment from the military.
The operation was launched on March 18. The IDF said it was a “precise” raid to target terror leaders and infrastructure.
The military has said more than 500 members of terror groups have been captured and some 200 have been killed, including several top commanders, over the course of the operation at the medical center.
Some 350 patients and medical staff at Shifa Hospital were evacuated by the IDF to a “designated compound” in another part of the complex, where the military has provided them with humanitarian aid and supplies.
Shifa, the Gaza Strip’s biggest hospital before the war, had been one of the few health care facilities even partially operational in north Gaza before the latest fighting. It had also been housing displaced civilians.
International law stipulates that while a medical facility is a protected site in conflict, it loses that status if it is used for military activity.
Israel has offered evidence Hamas uses such facilities as cover for terror purposes and says the group plunders humanitarian aid to take supplies for its fighters, depriving the civilian population.
AFP contributed to this report.
Report: Mossad chief tells PM a hostage deal only possible with compromise on return of civilians to north Gaza
Mossad chief David Barnea speaks during the opening ceremony of the Eli Cohen Museum in Herzliya, December 12, 2022. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Mossad chief David Barnea has conveyed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that a hostage deal will only be possible if there is a compromise on the return of Palestinian civilians to north Gaza, Channel 13 news reports.
The outlet says that the premier has not yet made a decision, but notes that war cabinet minister Gadi Eisenkot has made it clear that he believes that there is space for Israel to be flexible on the matter.
Truce talks between Israel and Hamas reportedly resumed yesterday in Cairo, the latest attempt to bring about a pause in fighting and the release of hostages after nearly six months of war in the Gaza Strip.
Haaretz on Saturday quoted an unnamed Israeli source who reiterated that the talks have been deadlocked because Hamas has refused to show any flexibility on its demand for all northern Gazans to be allowed to return and its conditioning of any further hostage releases on an Israeli commitment to ending the war and withdrawing all IDF forces from Gaza. Israel has rejected both of these demands outright.
Soldier killed in fighting in southern Gaza Sunday, IDF says
An undated photo of Staff sergeant Nadav Cohen, killed March 31, 2024. (Courtesy: IDF)
The Israel Defense Forces announces that Staff Sergeant Nadav Cohen, 20, was killed during fighting in southern Gaza on Sunday.
The death of Cohen, from Haifa, brings the number of troops killed since the start of Israel’s ground operation in Gaza to 256.
Cohen fought with the 7th Armored Brigade’s 77th Battalion.
Report: Israel sent UN plan for taking apart Palestinian refugee agency
A Palestinian man transports sacks of humanitarian aid at the UNRWA distribution center in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 3, 2024. (AFP)
Israel has sent the UN a proposal for dismantling UNRWA, the agency for Palestinian refugees, the Guardian reports.
The Israeli proposal would see some 300-400 UNRWA employees transferred to another UN agency such as the World Food Program, or to a new organization created to help distribute aid to Gazans. More employees and assets could be transferred in later stages, according to the report on the proposal, which noted that it was short on clear details.
The plan reached the desk of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday after IDF chief Herzi Halevi forwarded it to UN employees last week, the British outlet reports.
Israel has long called for the UN agency to be disbanded, arguing that it perpetuates victimhood and traffics in anti-Israel education. The bid has been redoubled in the wake of allegation that several employees took part in the October 7 massacre, and that more support Hamas and other terror groups.
Israel argues that UNRWA is part of the reason aid has been so poorly distributed in Gaza, while others blame Israel’s refusal to cooperate with the organization, according to the report.
UNRWA spokesperson Tamara Alrifai tells the Guardian that UNRWA’s unparalleled size and reach would make it nearly impossible to effectively replace in the middle of a crisis.
“This is no criticism of WFP, but logically if they were to start food distribution in Gaza tomorrow, they’re going to use Unrwa trucks and bring food into Unrwa warehouses, and then distribute food in or around Unrwa shelters,” Alrifai says. “So they’re going to need at a minimum the same infrastructure that we have, including the human resources.”
Foreign Minister Katz: Turkish voters punished Erdogan for attacking Israel
Foreign Minister Israel Katz wades into Turkey’s local election on social media platform X, chastening President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over his stance on Israel after the Turkish leader and his AKP party suffered a shellacking at the polls.
Writing in Turkish, Katz congratulates incumbent Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas, both of whom fended off challenges from Erdogan’s party and allies.
Their Republican People’s Party, or CHP, won the municipalities of 36 of Turkey’s 81 provinces, according to Anadolu, making inroads into many strongholds of Erdogan’s party in an election that had been largely seen as a referendum on the longtime leader.
“This is a clear message to @RTErdogan,” he writes, tagging Erdogan. “Attacking Israel no longer works, find new materials.”
Türkiye'de yerel seçimler Erdoğan'ın adayları için yenilgiyle sonuçlandı. İstanbul'da @ekrem_imamoglu ve Ankara'da @mansuryavas06'a tebrikler. Bu @RTErdogan'a açık bir mesaj: İsrail'e saldırmak artık işe yaramıyor, yeni malzemeler bulması gerekli.
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) March 31, 2024
Analysts say voters were not motivated by an affinity for Israel. Rather economic strains, including nearly 70% inflation and a slowdown in growth brought on by an aggressive monetary-tightening regime, moved voters to punish AKP and Erdogan.
Israel and US to hold virtual meeting on Rafah plans Monday — report
The United States and Israel are expected to hold a virtual meeting on Monday to discuss the Biden administration’s alternative proposals to an Israeli military invasion of Rafah, Axios reports, citing three Israeli and US officials.
The report cites an Israeli official saying that an in-person meeting on the matter will take place next week.
According to Axios, the virtual meeting is a way for Netanyahu to “save face” after Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who will take part in the talks, repeatedly warned the premier that failing to how the meeting would further strain ties with US President Joe Biden.
National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi will also take part in the virtual meeting, Axios reports.
Voters in Turkey hand Erdogan thundering defeat in watershed local election
Opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) supporters celebrate outside the main municipality building following municipal elections across Turkey, in Istanbul on March 31, 2024. (YASIN AKGUL / AFP)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is licking his wounds after voters dealt him and his party their biggest electoral blow in a nationwide local vote that reasserted the opposition as a political force and reinforced Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu as the president’s chief rival.
With most of the votes counted, Imamoglu led by 10 percentage points in the mayoral race in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, while his Republican People’s Party (CHP) retained Ankara and gained 15 other mayoral seats in cities nationwide.
It marked the worst defeat for Erdogan and his AK Party (AKP) in their more than two decades in power, and could signal a change in the country’s divided political landscape.
In a post-midnight address, Erdogan called the resounding defeat a “turning point.”
He tells crowds gathered at AKP headquarters in Ankara that his alliance had “lost altitude” across the nation and will take steps to address the message from voters.
“If we made a mistake, we will fix it” in the years ahead, he said. “If we have anything missing, we will complete it.”
Erdogan, who in the 1990s was also mayor of his hometown Istanbul, had campaigned hard ahead of the municipal elections, which analysts described as a gauge of both his support and the opposition’s durability.
Istanbul Mayor and Republican People’s Party, or CHP, candidate Ekrem Imamoglu addresses supporters outside the City Hall in Istanbul, Turkey, early Monday, April 1, 2024.(AP/Khalil Hamra)
The results represent an even worse showing than losses that had been predicted by opinion polls due to soaring inflation, dissatisfied Islamist voters and, in Istanbul, Imamoglu’s appeal beyond the CHP’s secular base, analysts say.
“Those who do not understand the nation’s message will eventually lose,” Imamoglu, 53, tells thousands of jubilant supporters, some of them chanting for Erdogan to resign.
“Tonight, 16 million Istanbul citizens sent a message to both our rivals and the president,” said the former businessman, who is now widely touted as a likely presidential challenger.
Hamas cheers Gan Yavne knife attack
A statement from the Hamas terror group celebrates a stabbing in Gan Yavne that left a teen and two young men hospitalized in serious condition, without explicitly taking responsibility for the attack.
In language that is largely a carbon copy of other statements following terror attacks, the group praises the stabbing as a “heroic operation,” calling it a “natural and expected response” to Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank.
The statement also calls on Palestinians to “escalate comprehensive resistance” against Israelis.
Army says building damaged in Eilat drone attack, apparently launched from Iraq
The Israel Defense Forces says a building was lightly damaged in a drone attack in the Eilat region, but there were no injuries in the incident.
The army says soldiers identified a “suspicious aerial target that entered Israeli territory from the east” which impacted “in the Eilat Bay area.”
The IDF statement does not say what building was hit or if any attempt was made to intercept the object.
The reference to the projectile’s origin being to the east appears to confirm a claim by the Islamic Resistance of Iraq that it fired on Israel.
Jordan and Saudi Arabia are also to the east of Eilat.
Possible impact reported in Eilat as explosion heard, smoke seen
Explosions have reportedly echoed through Eilat shortly after a pair of drone alert sirens went off in the city.
A loud roar can be heard in a video shared online by Israel Hayom. A second video shows several ambulances near a naval base in the Red Sea resort city.
פיצוצים נשמעו בשמי אילת https://t.co/TAz4HRr6mu pic.twitter.com/33sOT9wpSP
— ישראל היום (@IsraelHayomHeb) March 31, 2024
אמבולנסים הגיעו למקום בו נפל חלק המיירט באילת
צילום: יהודה בן יתח pic.twitter.com/GhmaH9kLlC— ישראל היום (@IsraelHayomHeb) March 31, 2024
Other videos and pictures published on social media appear to show smoke rising behind buildings in the city from an apparent impact of either a drone or shrapnel following an interception.
אילת "או רשרש" pic.twitter.com/WBbmlD5GUc
— حزام الأسد (@hezamalasad) March 31, 2024
There is no immediate comment from the Israel Defense Forces.
A statement published on Telegram by Lebanese terror group Hezbollah shortly after the attack from the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a consortium of Shiite terror groups supported by Tehran, claims an attack on “a vital target in [Israel].”
In November, a drone launched from Syria managed to hit a school in Eilat, which has been targeted several times by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Netanyahu hernia operation successful, surgeon says
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is recovering following a successful hernia operation, doctors at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem in Jerusalem say following the late-night procedure.
“He is awake, recovering and speaking with his family,” says Prof. Alon Pikarsky, the hospital’s director of general surgery and the attending surgeon, in a short taped statement.
He says the operation went as planned.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the hernia was discovered during a routine checkup on Saturday evening. His office did not say where in the body the hernia had been discovered, although they are most common in the abdomen and hip areas.
Netanyahu, 74, underwent full anesthesia during the operation.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who also holds the role of deputy prime minister, filled Netanyahu’s role temporarily while he was conked out.
Drone alarm sounds in Eilat
A drone infiltration alert is sounding in Eilat and surrounding areas in far southern Israel, the IDF’s Home Front command says.
There is no immediate word on the cause of the alarm, which has been triggered in the past by drone attacks launched by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
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