April 10: Outgoing IDF Gaza brigade chief says he suggested attacking Hamas before Oct. 7

Six killed after helicopter crashes in New York’s Hudson River

NEW YORK — Six people have died in a helicopter crash in the Hudson River in New York City, an Associated Press source says.

The fire department says it received a report of the helicopter in the water at 3:17 p.m.

Videos posted on social media show the aircraft mostly submerged, upside down in the water. The fire department says it had units on the scene performing rescue operations. Multiple rescue boats are seen on video circling the aircraft.

The rescue craft are near a site close to the Manhattan waterfront, near the end of a long maintenance pier for one of the ventilation towers for the Holland Tunnel.

Fire trucks and other emergency vehicles are on streets near the scene with their lights flashing.

Hudson River Helicopter crash @fox5ny @ABC7 @NBCNewYork @CBSNewYork @njdotcom @News12NJ @CNN @cnnbrk

Credit: Bruce Wall pic.twitter.com/CVy249wApx

— SangriaUltra (@xpertcommander) April 10, 2025

Netanyahu slams Canadian PM Carney after he appears to back protester’s Gaza ‘genocide’ claim

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemns a comment made by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney that appeared to support a protester’s claim that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza during its ongoing war against the Hamas terror group.

“Instead of supporting Israel, a democracy that is fighting a just war with just means against the barbarians of Hamas, [Carney] attacks the one and only Jewish state,” writes the prime minister on X, urging his Canadian counterpart to “backtrack [his] irresponsible statement!”

Canada has always sided with civilization. So should Mr. Carney. But instead of supporting Israel, a democracy that is fighting a just war with just means against the barbarians of Hamas, he attacks the one and only Jewish state. Mr. Carney, backtrack your irresponsible… https://t.co/27ZcXjew85

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) April 10, 2025

The post replies to a video showing Carney at a Tuesday night rally in Calgary, where he responds to a protester in the crowd who yells “Mr. Carney, there is a genocide happening in Palestine,” by pausing and saying “Thank you…I’m aware. Which is why we have an arms embargo.”

At a campaign stop in Calgary on Wednesday, Carney clarified his remarks, saying that he hadn’t heard the word “genocide,” and was only “stating a fact in terms of the arms restrictions,” CBC news reports.

He explained that during the noisy rally, “You hear snippets of what people say and I heard Gaza, and my point was I’m aware of the situation in Gaza,” according to the report.

Ottawa announced in March 2024 a stop to all future arms exports to Israel, in a motion that was part of a larger vote calling on the international community to work toward a two-state solution to resolve the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, in line with Canadian government policy.

In September, Canada suspended some 30 permits for arms shipments to Israel.

Carney, a former central banker and the new leader of the Liberal Party, was sworn in as Canada’s new prime minister in March, replacing Justin Trudeau, who had led Canada since 2015.

Two planes clip wings at Washington airport; 2 freed hostages said to be passengers

WASHINGTON — An American Airlines AAL.O plane carrying at least three members of Congress at Reagan Washington National Airport was struck on the taxiway by the wingtip of another American Airlines jet, the Federal Aviation Administration says.

The Ynet news site reports released hostages Keith and Aviva Siegel were also on one of the planes.

American Airlines flight 5490, a Bombardier CRJ 900 headed to Charleston, South Carolina, struck American flight 4522, an Embraer E175 headed to New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, around 12:45 p.m. ET (1645 GMT), the FAA says. No injuries are reported.

Representative Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat, says on social media that he was on the flight to New York when the incident occurred while waiting to take off on the runway.

The latest mishap at Reagan National will intensify scrutiny over how air traffic is handled at the airport near Washington that has the single busiest US runway.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

In reported first, Lebanese army enters Hezbollah bases north of Litani

A Lebanese army officer shows Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam an Israeli military position on the horizon, in the southern village of Khiam, February 28, 2025. (Rabih DAHER / AFP)

The Lebanese army has for the first time ever entered Hezbollah bases north of the Litani River, and has nearly completed dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure in the south of the country, the Lebanese Al Jadeed network reports.

The report notes that Hezbollah has never before surrendered bases to the Lebanese army north of the river.

According to the report, the Lebanese government will reach an agreement with Hezbollah regarding a phased relinquishing of the weapons it possesses.

Earlier in the day, Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said the Iran-aligned terror group is ready to enter talks with the Lebanese government on a national defense strategy, with a focus on ensuring the removal of Israeli troops from Lebanon’s territory.

Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah ended with a November 2024 ceasefire that resulted in the withdrawal of Israeli troops, except for in five key positions near the border. Israel says it intends to hand the posts over to Lebanese troops once it is sure the security situation allows it.

Reuters contributed to this report.

US warns Iran against expulsion of UN nuclear inspectors, sanctions ‘shadow fleet’

The flag of the International Atomic Energy Agency flies in front of its headquarters during an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, on February 6, 2023. (Heinz-Peter Bader/AP)

WASHINGTON — The United States warns against an Iranian misstep after a senior aide to the country’s supreme leader threatened to expel UN nuclear inspectors ahead of weekend talks with the United States.

“The threat of that kind of action, of course, is inconsistent with Iran’s claims of a peaceful nuclear program,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce tells reporters. “Also, expelling IAEA inspectors from Iran would be an escalation and a miscalculation on Iran’s part.”

Washington also issues new sanctions targeting Iran’s “shadow fleet,” citing one individual and India- and United Arab Emirates-based groups whose vessels have transported Iranian oil.

The Treasury Department cites UAE-based Indian national Jugwinder Singh Brar, who owns shipping companies with a fleet of nearly 30 vessels.

“Brar’s vessels engage in high-risk ship-to-ship (STS) transfers of Iranian petroleum in waters off Iraq, Iran, the UAE and the Gulf of Oman,” the department says in a statement.

The sanctions also target two UAE- and two India-based entities that own and operate Brar’s vessels that have transported Iranian oil on behalf of the National Iranian Oil Company and the Iranian military, Treasury says in a statement.

“The Iranian regime relies on its network of unscrupulous shippers and brokers like Brar and his companies to enable its oil sales and finance its destabilizing activities,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says.

“The United States remains focused on disrupting all elements of Iran’s oil exports, particularly those who seek to profit from this trade.”

Dozens of reservist doctors pen letter calling for end to war in Gaza, return of hostages, report says

Dozens of reserve doctors have signed a letter demanding an immediate end to the war in Gaza and the swift return of the hostages, according to a report by Ynet News.

The letter is addressed to Defense Minister Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and Chief Medical Officer Brig. Gen. Zivan Aviad-Beer.

“We, reserve doctors serving in various IDF units, demand the immediate return of the hostages and a cessation of fighting in the Gaza Strip,” the signatories write.

They stress their commitment during the October 7 attacks, stating: “On October 7, we proudly stood up to defend the State of Israel. After more than 550 days of fighting, which has already taken a heavy toll on the country, we painfully feel that the continuation of the war is primarily serving political and personal interests without any security purpose.”

This is the third such public letter from IDF reservists in recent days. The first was signed by reservists of the Israeli Air Force, and the second by over 150 reservist naval officers, all calling for an end to the war and prioritization of efforts to return the hostages.

Netanyahu holds assessment with hostage negotiators, security chiefs; meets families of captives

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu completes a situation assessment on the hostages held in Gaza with his negotiators and security chiefs, The Times of Israel has learned.

He also meets in Jerusalem with the families of hostages Elkana Bohbot and Rom Braslavski, the Prime Minister’s Office says.

According to the PMO, Netanyahu updates the families on ongoing talks to get the hostages released.

Netanyahu “reiterates his commitment to achieving all the goals of the war: returning all our hostages, eliminating Hamas and ensuring that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel,” says his office.

Police arrest 23 protesters, shut down anti-war protest in Haifa

Police arrested 23 anti-war protesters in Haifa this evening during a demonstration against Israel’s ongoing Gaza offensive.

A spokesperson for law enforcement says demonstrators did not heed officers’ calls to disperse and “carried signs and [chanted] calls against Israel’s actions in the Gaza war.”

Video posted to social media of the demonstration shows a small group of protesters holding banners in Hebrew, Arabic and English, among them with calls to “Stop bombing aid convoys” and “Stop the genocide.”

Within a few moments of declaring the demonstration unlawful, cops tore protesters’ signs away and began to forcefully arrest several in the crowd.

حيفا: 4 معتقلين على الأقل إثر قمع الشرطة وقفة منددة بالحرب على غزة

التفاصيل: https://t.co/s0pXjcRyPg pic.twitter.com/PoXMw4CkHd

— موقع عرب 48 (@arab48website) April 10, 2025

Report claims IDF ‘Devil’s Advocate’ intel unit, days before October 7, backed assessment that Hamas wanted continued calm

Palestinians wave the national flag and celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the southern Gaza Strip fence east of Khan Younis on October 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Yousef Masoud)

Two weeks before Hamas’s October 7 invasion, the IDF’s Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman reportedly asked the Military Intelligence Directorate’s research division to question the widespread assumption that the Gaza-ruling terror group was deterred from attacking Israel and that the ongoing disturbances Hamas was organizing at the border fence were merely designed to attain improved terms for ongoing calm.

Channel 12 News reports tonight that a team was indeed set up in the division’s “Devil’s Advocate” (“Ifcha Mistabra”) unit, headed by a Col. S.

“Several days” before October 7, 2023, the team reported back with the conclusion that Hamas was indeed fueling disturbances at the fence solely in order to gain better terms for ongoing calm, an apparent reference to provisions for work permits in Israel, eased import restrictions and so on.

“There is no other scenario,” the check reportedly concluded. “Hamas is very interested in an arrangement,” rather than an escalation.

In short, the report says, the Devil’s Advocate team “accepted the stance” of all the other military and security echelons.

Channel 12 gives no source for the report. The IDF’s published probes surrounding the October 7 failures have made no mention of any such check of the catastrophically false assessment regarding Hamas’s intentions.

Khamenei aide says Iran could boot IAEA inspectors ahead of talks with US

TEHRAN, Iran — A senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warns that Iran could expel inspectors of the UN nuclear watchdog as “threats” multiply ahead of key talks with the United States.

The comments from Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani are the first from an Iranian official since US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that military action against Iran was “absolutely” possible if talks failed to produce a deal.

“The continuation of external threats and Iran being in a state of military attack may lead to deterrent measures, including expulsion of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency and cessation of cooperation,” Shamkhani says on X.

“Transfer of enriched materials to secure locations may also be considered,” he adds.

Trump notes progress in hostage deal talks, says Hamas ‘nasty group’

US President Donald Trump, alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio (L) and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (R), during a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on April 10, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump says progress is being made regarding the return of the hostages being held in Gaza and that he was dealing with both Israel and Hamas, but he gave no other details about the talks.

“We’re getting close to getting them back,” Trump tells reporters at a cabinet meeting,

“A lot came back. A lot of people are very grateful. Some came back in pretty bad shape. They’re okay. I think they’re going to be scarred mentally for a long time because if you sit down and talk to them, as I have, what they went through is incredible,” he says.

“But we’re making progress,” he adds. “We’re dealing with Israel, we’re dealing with Hamas, and it’s a nasty group.”

Over 150 ex-navy officers call to halt war in Gaza, say fighting delays return of hostages

An Israeli Navy corvette patrols along the coast of the northern port city of Haifa on August 3, 2024, amid amid threats by Hezbollah to hit targets deeper in Israel. (Oren Ziv/AFP)

More than 150 former Israeli Navy officers sign a letter demanding an immediate halt to the war in Gaza, warning that the current path endangers both hostages and soldiers.

The letter, stating that “the resumption of fighting delays the release of the hostages, endangers the soldiers and harms innocent civilians,” is similar to one published earlier today signed by Israeli Air Force reservists.

The navy officers criticize the government’s conduct, claiming it “undermines the foundations of statesmanship, erodes public trust, and raises serious concerns that security decisions are being dictated by illegitimate considerations.”

The letter emphasizes: “59 hostages are still in Hamas’s tunnels, and the country is moving further and further away from its obligation to free them.” They accuse the government of prioritizing “political and personal interests, and not security interests,” adding that “the resumption of fighting distances the release of the hostages, endangers soldiers, and harms innocent civilians.”

They also reference the ultra-Orthodox draft exemption, writing: “The government is advancing a discriminatory policy: sectoral budgets and sweeping exemptions from military service. Those who serve feel betrayed.”

Their letter concludes with a message to the government: “We carry the burden. The responsibility is yours.”

Rubio expresses optimism over nuclear talks with Iran, says they may lead to ‘peace’

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on April 10, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Marco Rubio voices hope about US-Iran nuclear talks taking place in Oman this weekend, saying they could lead to “peace.”

“We hope that will lead to peace,” Rubio tells a meeting of US President Donald Trump’s cabinet. “We’re hopeful about that.”

Rubio tells judge US government can expel Mahmoud Khalil for his beliefs

US student negotiator Mahmoud Khalil on the Columbia University campus in New York at an anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protest encampment on April 29, 2024. (Ted Shaffrey/AP)

NEW YORK — Facing a deadline from an immigration judge to turn over evidence for its attempted deportation of Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil, the federal government instead submits a brief memo, signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, citing the Trump administration’s authority to expel noncitizens whose presence in the country damages US foreign policy interests.

The two-page memo, which was obtained by The Associated Press, does not allege any criminal conduct by Khalil, a legal permanent US resident and graduate student who served as spokesperson for campus activists last year during large demonstrations against Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and the war in Gaza.

Rather, Rubio writes that Khalil could be expelled for his beliefs.

He says that while Khalil’s activities were “otherwise lawful,” letting him remain in the country would undermine “US policy to combat antisemitism around the world and in the United States, in addition to efforts to protect Jewish students from harassment and violence in the United States.”

“Condoning antisemitic conduct and disruptive protests in the United States would severely undermine that significant foreign policy objective,” Rubio writes in the undated memo.

Attorneys for Khalil say the memo proved the Trump administration was “targeting Mahmoud’s free speech rights about Palestine.”

“After a month of hiding the ball since Mahmoud’s late-night unjust arrest in New York and taking him away to a remote detention center in Louisiana, immigration authorities have finally admitted that they have no case whatsoever against him,” the attorneys, Marc Van Der Hout and Johnny Sinodis, say in a joint statement.

“There is not a single shred of proof that Mahmoud’s presence in America poses any threat,” they add.

Outgoing IDF Gaza brigade chief says he suggested attacking Hamas before Oct. 7, was rejected

Commander of the Gaza Division's Northern Brigade, Col. Haim Cohen, is seen during a handover ceremony, April 16, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)

In his parting speech as commander of the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade, Col. Haim Cohen claims he recommended attacking Hamas before the terror group’s October 7, 2023, onslaught but was rebuffed by the senior command.

“A month and a half before the surprise war, the area was hot. The entire chain of command came to the brigade for tours, from the chief of the [Southern] Command to the defense minister. I recommended all of them, launch a proactive and aggressive operation. The clear message I received from all was ‘Hamas is deterred. This is its way of gaining civil benefits .. we don’t want another round’,” Cohen says at a handover ceremony.

Cohen announced his resignation last month for his failures on October 7, during which thousands of Hamas-led terrorists captured IDF bases and Israeli border communities under his responsibility.

On the morning of October 7, Cohen remained in his war room at the Gaza Division base near Re’im. His counterpart, Col. Asaf Hamami, the commander of the Southern Brigade, was killed fighting Hamas terrorists near Nirim, and his body was abducted to Gaza.

Cohen was not promoted by former chief of staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi. New IDF chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, on March 5, already appointed a replacement for Cohen, Col. Omri Mashiah, who entered the role today.

Voter fraud allegations in World Zionist Congress election spark call for disqualification of two slates

Six slates competing in the ongoing election for the World Zionist Congress in the United States are demanding election administrators disqualify two other slates following revelations of likely widespread voter fraud.

The demand is made in a letter sent Tuesday to the election committee of the American Zionist Movement, the organization that oversees the election. The six slates that signed the letter represent a range of political and religious viewpoints.

“The circumstances … are a huge embarrassment and a devastating blow which threatens the legitimacy of the elections,” the letter says, which was shared with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “The word that best applies here is ‘shanda’ — and at a moment when the entire Jewish world (and many others) are watching us.”

More than 123,000 votes for 21 slates have been cast halfway through the two-month voting period, according to the American Zionist Movement, which called the turnout “unprecedented.” (The tally is about equal to the total number cast in the last election, in 2020.) Voting takes place online through May 4, and any Jew primarily living in the United States who is over 18 and agrees to a set of Zionist principles can participate after paying a $5 registration fee.

The organization’s election committee notified slates in a letter on Monday that it is investigating suspicious patterns of voting involving some 2,000 ballots that were cast in support of two slates. The letter was leaked to eJewish Philanthropy, which reported on its contents on Tuesday.

Herbert Block, AZM’s executive director, says he can’t comment while the matter was under investigation.

“AZM is dedicated to ensuring a fair and transparent election and vigilant in identifying and stopping any fraudulent behavior,” he adds.

Trump administration pauses $1.8B in funding for Cornell, Northwestern, amid antisemitism crackdown

An anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian tent encampment at Northwestern University, April 26, 2024, in Evanston, Illinois. (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford)

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has frozen more than $1 billion in federal funding for Cornell University and about $790 million for Northwestern University while the government investigates alleged civil rights violations at the schools, the White House says.

It’s part of a broader push of using taxpayer dollars to pressure major academic institutions to crack down on alleged antisemitism on campus.

The Republican administration previously cut off money to Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, and others, creating uncertainty for universities at a time of reduced grants for research institutions.

Last month, the Education Department sent letters to more than 60 universities, including Cornell in New York and Northwestern in Illinois warning of “potential enforcement actions if they do not fulfill their obligations” under federal law to “protect Jewish students on campus, including uninterrupted access to campus facilities and educational opportunities.”

The administration has argued that universities allowed alleged antisemitism to go unchecked at campus protests last year against the Israel-Hamas war; the schools deny it.

In a statement, Cornell says that it had received more than 75 stop work orders from the Defense Department related to research “profoundly significant to American national defense, cybersecurity and health,” but that it had not otherwise received any information confirming $1 billion in frozen grants.

“We are actively seeking information from federal officials to learn more about the basis for these decisions,” says the statement from Michael I. Kotlikoff, the university president, and other top school officials.

Northwestern’s leaders say in a message to campus that they had not received any official notification from Washington.

The school has fully cooperated with investigations by both the Education Department and Congress, university spokesperson Jon Yates says.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

60 active reservists among 1,000 who signed letter demanding return of hostages, even if it means ending war; all 60 likely to be dismissed

Israeli F-35 fighter jets return to the Nevatim Airbase after carrying out an airstrike in Yemen, July 20, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

After examining a letter signed by close to 1,000 veterans of the Israeli Air Force demanding the return of the hostages in Gaza, even if it comes at the cost of ending the war against Hamas entirely, the military has found that 60 of them are active reservists.

Among the 60, only a handful are competent pilots, while the rest have been serving in headquarters roles, according to the IDF’s examination.

All 60 are likely to be dismissed from reserve duty.

The remaining 900 signatories are either IAF retirees or names that are unknown to the military.

The military also says that 40 active reservists pulled their signatures from the letter before it was published.

IDF chief raises military’s alert level ahead of Passover

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir held an assessment today ahead of the Passover holiday, deciding to raise the military’s level of alert.

During the meeting, Zamir “emphasized the importance of maintaining readiness so that Israeli civilians can celebrate [the holiday] anywhere in the country,” the IDF says.

Zamir also said that the IDF should be prepared to defend military bases during the holiday.

The IDF adds that it was “decided to raise the level of alert and the presence of combat troops during Passover.”

Iranian directors receive suspended jail terms for film about woman who appears without hijab

A photograph depicting Iranian actress and screenwriter Maryam Moghaddam (L) and Iranian film director and screenwriter Behtash Sanaeeha is placed between their empty seats during a press conference for the film 'Keyke mahboobe man' (My favourite Cake) presented in competition during the 74th Berlinale, in Berlin, Germany, February 16, 2024. (Ronny HARTMANN / AFP)

PARIS, France — An Iranian court has handed two Iranian film directors suspended jail terms over a film that angered authorities in the Islamic Republic but was acclaimed in Europe and the United States, rights groups say.

Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha were convicted earlier this week by a Revolutionary Court for the film “My Favourite Cake,” the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) and Dadban legal monitor say in separate statements.

The film, which competed at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival and won prizes in Europe and the United States, shows the voyage of discovery of an elderly woman in Tehran who notably appears in the film without the headscarf that is obligatory for women in Iran.

The pair were sentenced to 14 months in prison, suspended for five years, and a fine on charges of “spreading lies with the intention of disturbing public opinion,” Dadban says.

In addition, they were sentenced to one year in prison, also suspended for five years, and all equipment was ordered confiscated for the charge of “participating in the production of vulgar content.”

Another fine was ordered on the charge of “showing a film without a screening license,” it adds.

“Artists in Iran endure significant hardships, including increasing censorship, arbitrary detentions, and the constant threat of legal repercussions for expressing dissent through their work,” the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran says, commenting on the verdict.

IDF, Shin Bet says 11 terrorists who took part in Oct. 7 massacre killed in recent Gaza strikes

Eleven Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists who participated in the October 7, 2023 onslaught who were eliminated by the military. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF and Shin Bet reveal that 11 terrorists who invaded Israel during the October 7, 2023, onslaught were killed in recent airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.

Nine of them were killed in the military’s opening airstrikes on the Gaza Strip on March 18, when it resumed its offensive against Hamas, the IDF says.

The terrorists were involved in the murders and abductions of Israeli civilians and soldiers during the October 7 massacre, according to the military.

Footage released by the IDF on April 10, 2025, shows airstrikes in Gaza, which it says killed several terrorists who participated in the October 7 onslaught. (Israel Defense Forces)

The military identifies the nine killed on March 18 as:

Hassan Naam, responsible for the abduction of Sgt. Shaked Dahan.

Ismail Shakhshah, responsible for the murder of Israeli civilians, hurling of grenades at the Re’im junction roadside bomb shelter, and firing of a surface-to-air missile.

Ismail Shakhshah, a Hamas terrorist responsible for hurling of grenades at the Re’im junction roadside bomb shelter during the October 7, 2023, onslaught. (Israel Defense Forces)

Jalal Qaraan, who participated in the murder of hostage Inbar Haiman. Qaraan also attacked the Nova music festival and several IDF bases and filmed himself murdering two Israeli civilians.

Jalal Qaraan, a Hamas terrorist who participated in the murder of hostage Inbar Haiman. Qaraan also attacked the Nova music festival and several IDF bases, and filmed himself murdering two Israeli civilians, during the October 7, 2023, onslaught, according to the military. (Israel Defense Forces)

Mohammed Isa, who invaded Kibbutz Mefalsim and participated in the massacre there.

Mohammed Sakar, who invaded Kibbutz Nir Oz and participated in the massacre there.

Mohammed Shabki, Fares Qarshin, Yahya Astal and Mohammed Astal, all of whom invaded unspecified areas of Israel on October 7 and participated in the onslaught.

Additionally, the military says two more terrorists who invaded Israel on October 7 were killed in strikes prior to March 18.

They include:

Mohammed Asfor, involved in “harming” the bodies of Col. Asaf Hamami, the commander of the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade, and members of his team, Staff Sgt. Tomer Ahimas, and Sgt. Kiril Brodski, as they were abducted.

Mohammed Asfor, a Hamas terrorist involved in the abduction of three soldiers during the October 7, 2023, onslaught, according to the military. (Israel Defense Forces)

Khaled al-Din, responsible for the murders of Israeli civilians on October 7 and “use of property” belonging to Erick Peretz, 58, and his 16-year-old daughter, Ruth, who were murdered at the Nova party.

Hamas says French recognition of Palestinian state would be ‘important step’

Hamas says that the announcement by President Emmanuel Macron that France could recognize a Palestinian state by June was an “important step” after Israel’s foreign minister slammed the plan.

“We welcome the statements made by French President Emmanuel Macron regarding his country’s readiness to recognize the State of Palestine,” Hamas official Mahmud Mardawi tells AFP.

He says the announcement was “an important step that, if implemented, would constitute a positive shift in the international position towards the legitimate national rights of our Palestinian people.”

On Wednesday, Macron said France plans to recognize a Palestinian state within months and could make a move at a UN conference in New York in June.

Veteran pilots who demanded prioritization of hostages: Our letter reflects view of large portion of the public

Israeli Air Force veterans who spearheaded a petition demanding the return of the hostages in Gaza, even if it comes at the cost of ending the war against Hamas entirely, hold a press conference in Tel Aviv.

“This whole story turned into something bigger and more dramatic than we expected,” Guy Poran, one of the initiators of the letter, says.

“The subject is not the air force and not pilots, but the 59 hostages that were supposed to be released a while ago. We, like a firm majority of the nation, believe they should be returned now, even at the price of ending the war,” he says.

Amnon Sharabi, another signatory, says, “The letter expresses the feelings of a very large part of the public.”

Sharabi notes that some of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s backers have launched online attacks against freed hostage Liri Albag for her criticism of the premier on the matter.

“There are moments when you should reverse bad decisions. Hostage families saw the second stage [of the January ceasefire] as a stage when everyone would be released, and the captain chose a different way — a much longer way,” he says.

A group of close to 1,000 veterans of the Israeli Air Force, the vast majority of them in retirement, published the letter Thursday.

The letter did not call for a general refusal to serve, as had been previously reported, but instead urged the government to prioritize the release of hostages over the continuation of the war in Gaza, which the signatories argue now serves “political and personal interests” rather than national security.

After its publication, Bar, along with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, moved to dismiss the active reservists who signed the letter, with the IDF saying that it has no issue with reservists protesting any matter in their civilian lives, as long as they do it without using the name of the military or their role.

Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.

Daughter of senior public figure accuses parents of sexual abuse; gag order placed on case

The daughter of a female senior public figure filed a police complaint against her parents for sexual abuse.

An extensive gag order was placed on the case, which, until today, forbade the media from publishing the investigation or the order’s existence.

Police are now allowing for the complaint to be made public, but details regarding the investigation and its suspects are still under wraps. The order also forbids Israeli media from quoting foreign outlets regarding the affair.

High Court said to pause ‘submarine affair’ inquiry until further notice

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, seen at a welcoming ceremony for a new submarine, Rahav, at the Israeli navy base in Haifa, on January 12, 2016. (Kobi Gideon/ GPO)

The High Court of Justice has placed a temporary injunction pausing the State Commission of Inquiry into the so-called submarine affair, the Maariv news site reports.

Justice Alex Stein places the injunction until the court comes to a different decision, the report says.

The commission, formed under former premier Naftali Bennett in 2022, has spent nearly three years probing submarine and naval vessel purchases that occurred under a previous Netanyahu government.

Israel purchased the vessels from German shipbuilder Thyssenkrupp in a series of murky deals worth some $2 billion that have been under scrutiny for possible corruption and bribery.

Turkey releases over 120 protesters detained at last month’s anti-government rallies

Leader of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Ozgur Ozel addresses the audience during a rally in Istanbul, Turkey, on April 9, 2025. (Yasin AKGUL / AFP)

ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkey frees more than 120 people detained during last month’s mass anti-government protests.

Courts in Istanbul release on bail 127 defendants, most of them university students, who were arrested at their homes on March 24 after taking part in demonstrations sparked by the jailing of the city’s opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu.

Imamoglu, who was arrested on March 19 on corruption and terrorism charges, is seen as the main challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 22-year rule. His imprisonment has been widely viewed as politically motivated and sparked nationwide protests. The government insists Turkey’s judiciary is independent and free of political influence.

More than 2,000 people were detained for taking part in the country’s largest mass demonstrations in more than a decade. Of those, some 300 were jailed awaiting trial.

Canadian national wanted for 2008 Mumbai terror attacks extradited to India

Indian commandos prepare to storm the Nariman Chabad House in Mumbai during the 2008 terror attacks. (photo credit: Youtube screen capture)

NEW DELHI, India — A Pakistani-born Canadian businessman accused of helping to orchestrate the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, one of India’s deadliest, arrives in New Delhi after the US extradited him in the first such transfer in a terrorism case.

Tahawwur Rana, 64, a doctor-turned-businessman, is extradited in connection with the November 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed more than 160 people, including 6 Israelis at the city’s Chabad center.

“The National Investigation Agency on Thursday successfully secured the extradition…after years of sustained and concerted efforts to bring the key conspirator…to justice,” says NIA, India’s anti-terror agency.

He is accompanied back by Indian security agencies after his petitions challenging the extradition were rejected by the US Supreme Court.

Rana’s extradition is a “great success” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s diplomacy, Indian Home Minister Amit Shah said on Wednesday.

“It is the responsibility of the Indian government to bring back all those who have abused the land and people of India,” he posted on X.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Report: US envoy offered terrorist swap for Trump win ahead of State of the Union address

Illustrative: US President Donald Trump listens as Adam Boehler, CEO of US International Development Finance Corporation, speaks about the coronavirus in the Rose Garden of the White House, April 14, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon/File)

The Trump administration rushed to hammer out an agreement in March in direct talks with Hamas to free US citizen Edan Alexander before the State of the Union address, The New York Times reports.

The talks were ongoing even as US President Donald Trump reached the US Capitol on March 5 to deliver the address, according to the report. Failing to make a deal, Trump only mentioned the hostages in one brief sentence.

The first of three early March meetings took place in Doha between Trump’s hostage special envoy Adam Boehler, his adviser and three Hamas political officials — Taher al-Nono, Basem Naim and Osama Hamdan.

At the same time, there were parallel talks between Israel and Hamas through Egyptian, Qatari and US mediators attempting to extend the ceasefire that began in January. Those talks failed, and Israel returned to combat in Gaza.

Hamas official Osama Hamdan holds a press conference in Algiers, Algeria, on January 7, 2024. (Screen capture/YouTube)

The men ate knafeh and drank orange juice under a large poster of the al-Aqsa Mosque and a photo of slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, says the report, as Nono argued they were simply trying to achieve freedom — a core American value — for Palestinians.

Two days later, says the NYT, Boehler met with Senior Hamas politburo official Khalil al-Hayya, who told the American that Alexander’s release would usually cost 500 hostages, but as a goodwill gesture, Hamas would free him for 250 prisoners in Israeli jails, including 100 who are serving life sentences.

Boehler came back with an offer of 100 prisoners serving life sentences, and 150 other Palestinian prisoners in the future.

Hostage Edan Alexander, 20, is seen in a Hamas propaganda video released November 30, 2024. (Video screenshot)

Israel had caught wind of the talks, and Boehler received an angry phone call from Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer about the talks and that they were kept from Israel.

The next day, on March 5, “two sources with direct knowledge of the discussions” leaked to Axios that the US was talking with Hamas.

The Ynet outlet reported that US officials believe that Israel was behind the leak to torpedo the talks.

Boehler had flown to Doha in January, hoping to meet senior Hamas officials, but the White House canceled the meeting after Israel found out and pushed for it to be called off, according to two sources.

The final meeting took place the same day, with the US offering 100 Palestinian prisoners, with no guarantee that they were serving life sentences. Hamas would release the bodies of the four slain US-Israeli hostages it was holding in exchange for the release of Palestinian women and children, the renewal of aid to Gaza, and the arrival of US special envoy Steve Witkoff to Qatar to start talks about Phase 2 of the January ceasefire deal, which could end the war in Gaza.

Al-Hayya reportedly said that Hamas was also open to a five-to-10 year truce with Israel.

Boehler told al-Hayya that it was his final offer, and if it wasn’t accepted by the time he took off later that day, the deal might not be on the table any longer. Al-Hayya responded that he wanted to accept, but that Hamas would not.

Hamas, in an official statement on March 14, said that it agreed to a proposal to release Alexander and the four bodies of the other dual nationals. Witkoff publicly rejected the deal the next day and called on the terror group to accept his bridging proposal that would see multiple living hostages and Alexander released at the outset of an extended ceasefire.

Hamas did not accept that deal.

Ahead of Passover, Ben Gurion Airport has busiest day since Oct. 7, TV report says

Ben Gurion Airport has had its busiest day since October 7, 2023, with 80,000 travelers passing through the facility, Channel 12 reports.

The airport has facilitated around 500 flights today, as passengers fly out ahead of Passover, the report says.

On the same day last year, 60 percent fewer passengers passed through the terminal.

Many international carriers canceled their services to Tel Aviv at the start of the Israel-Hamas war but returned after the January 19 ceasefire, which fell apart last month.

Erdogan holds first meeting with pro-Kurdish politicians amid peace efforts

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) as he meets with MP's of pro-Kurdish Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party Pervin Buldan (2R) and Sirri Sureyya Onder (2L) and Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) Ibrahim Kalin (L) and AKP Deputy Chairman Efkan Ala (R) at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkey, April 10, 2025. (HANDOUT / TURKISH PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / AFP)

ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan holds a first meeting with pro-Kurdish politicians who are working to bring an end to the 40-year conflict between Turkey and Kurdish militants.

Erdogan meets Pervin Buldan and Sirri Sureyya Onder, parliamentary deputies for the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party, or DEM Party, at the presidential palace in Ankara.

“It was a very positive meeting, it went well. We are much more hopeful,” Onder says. Prior to the meeting, Onder said they would present the current state of peace talks to Erdogan, adding that they believed the pace of negotiations would increase.

Also present at the 1½ hour meeting were intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin and Efkan Ala, deputy chairperson of Erdogan’s party.

Buldan and Onder have been among those to visit the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, in a bid to build a framework to end fighting that has caused tens of thousands of deaths.

Abdullah Ocalan, whose PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and most Western states, called for the group to disband and disarm in late February. Days later, the PKK announced a ceasefire.

The PKK appealed for Ocalan to be released from the island prison where he has been held since 1999 to “personally direct and execute” a party congress that would lead to the group’s dissolution.

Ori Megidish, soldier who was rescued from Hamas captivity, is released from army service

Ori Megidish, who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 and later rescued from captivity in the Gaza Strip by the Israel Defense Forces, is released from her mandatory military service.

Megidish returned to active military service in February 2024 out of personal desire to contribute.

In a post on social media, Megidish says her service came with “challenges that I didn’t think I could contend with, but also moments of pride and happiness.”

“Thank you to the girls whom I got to know and a life I will not forget, to those who are still with us and those who aren’t. I am getting released with the knowledge that Noa Marciano, Hadar Cohen, and Maya Villalobo Polo, may their memories be a blessing, were supposed to be beside me, and they won’t be. Sorry to my friends,” she writes, mentioning soldiers who were murdered or kidnapped and then murdered in captivity.

Megidish was abducted from the Nahal Oz post by Hamas terrorists on October 7 when the group launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, murdering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251.

In total, 66 soldiers were killed in Hamas’s assault on the base, and a number were taken hostage.

While Megidish was kidnapped along with other soldiers from the base, she was believed to have been held alone and was rescued by the IDF in an overnight mission on October 30. The IDF did not release further details on the rescue.

אורי מגידיש, התצפיתנית שחולצה מהשבי, השתחררה מצה"ל: "חוויתי אתגרים שלא חשבתי שאצליח להתמודד איתם, אך גם רגעים של גאווה ושמחה. נועה מרציאנו, הדר כהן ומיה ויאלובו פולו ז"ל היו אמורות לעמוד לידי, והן כבר לא יהיו. נמשיך לקוות ולפעול למען שלום וביטחון לכולנו"@roysharon11 pic.twitter.com/AtPEb1YKv7

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) April 10, 2025

Kurds will demand federal rule in new Syrian constitution — report

Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, right, shakes hands with Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, in Damascus, Syria, March 10, 2025. (SANA via AP)

QAMISHLI, Syria — Syrian Kurds are set to demand a federal system in post-Assad Syria that would allow regional autonomy and security forces, a senior Kurdish official tells Reuters, doubling down on a decentralized vision opposed by the interim president.

The demand for federal rule has gathered momentum as alarm spread through Syria’s minorities over last month’s mass killings of Alawites, while Kurdish groups have accused interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and his Islamist group of setting the wrong course for the new Syria and monopolizing power.

Rival Syrian Kurdish parties, including the dominant faction in the Kurdish-run northeast, agreed on a common political vision — including federalism — last month, Kurdish sources say. They have yet to officially unveil it.

Kurdish-led groups took control of roughly a quarter of Syrian territory during the 14-year civil war. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, backed by the US, last month signed a deal with Damascus on merging Kurdish-led governing bodies and security forces with the central government.

While committed to that deal, Kurdish officials have objected to the way Syria’s governing Islamists are shaping the transition from Bashar al-Assad’s rule, saying they are failing to respect Syria’s diversity despite promises of inclusivity.

Badran Jia Kurd, a senior official in the Kurdish-led administration, tells Reuters that all Kurdish factions had agreed on a “common political vision” which emphasises the need for “a federal, pluralistic, democratic parliamentary system.”

His written statements in response to questions from Reuters mark the first time an official from the Kurdish-led administration has confirmed the federalism goal since the Kurdish parties agreed on it last month.

6 Arab Israelis charged with funneling money from Turkey to West Bank terror groups

State prosecutors filed an indictment against six Arab Israelis earlier today on suspicion they helped transfer funds from Turkey to terror groups in the West Bank.

Police and Shin Bet agents arrested the suspects over the course of the past month, and the six were indicted on charges of contact with a foreign agent and using terrorist assets.

A statement from spokespeople for the agencies claims suspects funneled millions of shekels from Turkey to terror groups in West Bank, including Hamas.

Police suspect that 33-year-old Arraba resident Fadi Arabi recruited the five others into the elaborate funding scheme, which initially began between him and his brother, Nassim Arabi, who resides in Turkey.

Asked if B-2 bombers are message to Iran, Pentagon chief replies: ‘We’ll let them decide’

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a joint press conference with Panama's Security Minister Frank Abrego (out of frame) after the signing of a bilateral agreement, in Panama City on April 9, 2025. (Franco BRANA / AFP)

PANAMA CITY, Panama — US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says it is up to Iran to decide whether the recent US movement of B-2 bombers was a message to Tehran, as he voiced hope that US-Iran negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program could be resolved peacefully.

As many as six B-2 bombers relocated in March to a US-British military base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, US officials have told Reuters, amid a US bombing campaign in Yemen and mounting tensions with Iran.

There are only 20 B-2 bombers in the Air Force’s inventory so they are usually used sparingly.

Experts say that puts the B-2s, which have stealth technology and are equipped to carry the heaviest US bombs and nuclear weapons, in an ideal position to operate in the Middle East.

Asked if the B-2s were meant to send a message to Iran, Hegseth says: “We’ll let them decide.”

“It’s a great asset… it sends a message to everybody,” he tells reporters during a trip to Panama.

“President Trump’s been clear… Iran should not have a nuclear bomb,” he says. “We very much hope — the president is focused on doing that peacefully.”

Head of Hamas’s Shejaiya Battalion, who led Nahal Oz attack, killed in airstrike, says IDF

Haitham Razek Abd al-Karim Sheikh Khalil, the commander of Hamas's Shejaiya Battalion, in this IDF infographic released on April 10, 2025. (IDF)

The IDF and Shin Bet announce that an airstrike in Gaza City yesterday killed the commander of Hamas’s Shejaiya Battalion, who led the attack on Nahal Oz during the October 7 onslaught.

Haitham Razek Abd al-Karim Sheikh Khalil is now the fourth commander of the Shejaiya Battalion to be killed by the IDF during the war.

The strike in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood reportedly killed some 30 Palestinians.

According to the IDF, the strike targeted a Hamas command center located about a kilometer from Israeli troops operating in the area.

“Several Hamas terrorists operated at the site to plan and carry out terror attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops,” the military says.

The strike killed Khalil, who the IDF says “commanded the infiltration into Nahal Oz during the murderous massacre of October 7.”

During the war, Khalil planned and carried out attacks against IDF troops in Gaza and worked to plant bombs in combat zones, the military says.

Khalil previously headed a Hamas Nukhba Force company, and was appointed recently to head the Shejaiya Battalion after his predecessor, Jamil Omar Jamil Wadiya, was killed in March.

Wadiya had taken over the battalion after his predecessors were killed in December 2023. On December 2, 2023, the IDF killed Shejaiya Battalion commander Wissam Farhat and, a week later, killed his replacement Emad Qariqa.

While some 30 Palestinians were killed in the strike, the IDF says it took steps to mitigate harm to civilians, including by using a “precision munition,” aerial surveillance and other intelligence.

“The Hamas terror organization systematically violates international law while cruelly using exploiting civilian buildings and the civilian population as human shields for its terror activities,” the military adds.

PM’s office says talks with Turkey on Syria aimed at preserving ‘security stability’

IDF troops operate in southern Syria, in a handout photo issued on March 8, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

After anonymous Israeli and Turkish officials confirmed direct talks between the two countries over Syria, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office offers details about the ongoing discussions.

Last night, says the Prime Minister’s Office in a statement, an Israeli delegation led by National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi met in Azerbaijan with their Turkish counterparts.

The Israeli delegation included senior Defense Ministry and security agency officials.

Netanyahu’s office thanks Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev — who publicly hinted yesterday at his role as mediator — for hosting the talks.

“In the talks, each side presented its interests in the region, and they agreed to continue the channel of communication in order to preserve security stability,” says the PMO.

Turkey has been trying to establish an expanded military presence in Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad. Israel has been carrying out military strikes against the new regime and on bases it believes Turkey wants to control.

Palestinian who took part in Jerusalem stabbing rampage at age 13 freed from prison, had developed schizophrenia

Ahmad Manasra (front), then 14, walks out of the Jerusalem District Court on September 25, 2016, after his sentencing for the attempted murder of two Israelis in a stabbing in October 2015. (AFP/ Ahmad GharabliI)

A Palestinian man who took part in a terror attack when he was 13 and is said to have developed schizophrenia in prison is released today.

In 2015, Ahmad Manasra, then 13, and his 15-year-old cousin Hassan Manasra, stabbed two Israeli civilians in Jerusalem’s Pisgat Ze’ev neighborhood. Police responding to the incident fatally shot Hassan, and Ahmad was seriously injured when he was hit by a car as he tried to escape the scene of the attack.

A year later he was convicted and sentenced to 12 years in prison, which was later reduced by the Supreme Court to 9.5 years.

His lawyer, Khaled Zabarqa, says he was released today after completing his sentence. Doctors said he developed schizophrenia in solitary confinement and tried to harm himself and others.

Appeals to the Supreme Court for his early release were repeatedly denied. The courts ruled that he was ineligible, regardless of age or mental condition, because he was convicted of terrorism.

The Israel Prison Service declines to comment on the specific conditions under which he had been held, saying all prisoners are held in accordance with Israeli and international law and that any allegations of abuse are investigated.

UK head of Greenpeace arrested for stunt protesting US arms sales to Israel

A handout picture released by environmental action group Greenpeace UK on April 10, 2025, shows blood-red dye in the US Embassy pond in London in a protest over arms sales to Israel. (Greenpeace United Kingdom / AFP)

British police arrest the UK head of Greenpeace, alongside five other activists, after they poured 300 liters of blood-red dye into a pond at the US embassy today in protest against the US sale of arms to Israel.

Will McCallum, the environmental campaign group’s UK head, and the others, disguised as delivery riders on bicycles with trailers, Greenpeace says, tipped the dye into the high-security embassy’s semicircular pond.

A handout picture released by environmental action group Greenpeace UK on April 10, 2025, shows activists bringing red dye to the US Embassy pond in London in a protest over arms sales to Israel. (Greenpeace United Kingdom / AFP)

McCallum and the others were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause criminal damage, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The Met Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Areeba Hamid, co-executive director at Greenpeace, says the group “took this action because US weapons continue to fuel an indiscriminate war that’s seen bombs dropped on schools and hospitals, entire neighbourhoods blasted to rubble, and tens of thousands of Palestinian lives obliterated.”

IDF strikes over 35 targets in Gaza over past day, says military

Smoke billows at the site of an Israeli strike on Gaza City's Shujaiyya neighborhood, on April 9, 2025. (Omar Al-Qattaa / AFP)

The Israeli Air Force struck over 35 targets in Gaza over the past day, the military says.

The IDF says the targets included terror operatives, infrastructure, sniper posts and observation posts that “posed a threat.”

The strikes come as ground troops continue to operate across the Strip.

In the Morag Corridor area between Rafah and Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the IDF says the 36th Division killed several terror operatives and destroyed infrastructure used by Hamas.

In Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood, the IDF says troops of the Gaza Division destroyed dozens of terror infrastructures and several tunnel shafts.

In northern Gaza, the 252nd Division killed several operatives and destroyed buildings used by terror groups, the military says.

Hezbollah MP says group is ready ‘for dialogue’ with government over its arsenal

Lebanese lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah leaves the parliament building after he attends a parliament session in Beirut, Lebanon, June 14, 2023. (AP/Hassan Ammar)

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah says the Iran-aligned terror group is ready to enter talks with the Lebanese government on a national defense strategy, with the focus on ensuring the removal of Israeli troops from Lebanon’s territory.

The comments come after a senior Hezbollah official told Reuters yesterday that “Hezbollah is ready to discuss the matter of its arms if Israel withdraws from the five points, and halts its aggression against Lebanese.”

US-backed President Joseph Aoun, who pledged to establish a state monopoly on the control of arms when he took office in January, is set to start talks with Hezbollah about its weapons arsenal, three Lebanese political sources tell Reuters.

In a televised speech, Fadlallah says: “We have expressed our readiness for dialogue to find a defense strategy for Lebanon.”

He says any meaningful discussions should focus on confronting Israeli “aggressions” and removing Israeli forces from southern Lebanon.

“We are in constant contact with President Aoun. When he calls for dialogue and sets national foundations for it, we are ready,” he adds.

Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah ended with a November 2024 ceasefire that resulted in the withdrawal of Israeli troops, except for in five key positions near the border. Israel says it intends to hand the posts over to Lebanese troops once it is sure the security situation allowed.

US and Russia complete prisoner exchange

Ksenia Karelina sits in a glass cage in a court room in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Thursday, June 20, 2024. (AP Photo, File)

Russia and the United States exchange prisoners, the second such swap since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House as the two superpowers push for closer ties.

Moscow releases US-Russian ballet dancer and spa worker Ksenia Karelina, who was sentenced Russia to 12 years on treason charges, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says.

In exchange, the United States releases Arthur Petrov, says Russian state media, citing the FSB security service. The Russian-German citizen had been facing up to 20 years in a US jail for violating export controls.

“American Ksenia Karelina is on a plane back home to the United States. She was wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio writes on social media platform X, adding that Trump “will continue to work for the release of ALL Americans.”

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, tells AFP that “the exchange took place in Abu Dhabi and, as of a couple of hours ago, she was already flying out of Abu Dhabi.”

The Wall Street Journal reports that, in exchange, the United States released Petrov, a German-Russian citizen who was arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at Washington’s request for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

Speaking at judicial ceremony, Levin refuses to even acknowledge Supreme Court president

Supreme Court chief Isaac Amit (left) speaks to Justice Minister Yariv Levin at the President's Residence in Jerusalem on April 10, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Justice Minister Yariv Levin lauds the achievements of the Judicial Selection Committee under his chairmanship in appointing what he says is a record 196 judges to all courts across the country, apart from the Supreme Court, in one year.

Speaking at a swearing-in ceremony for the new Supreme Court deputy president and 35 new judges and court registrars, Levin fails to acknowledge Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, whom he has boycotted since he was sworn in in February, and who called on the justice minister in the same ceremony to end his boycott.

Addressing President Isaac Herzog and “distinguished guests,” Levin says the large number of judicial appointments came about because of his insistence on reaching broad agreement within the Judicial Selection Committee.

The justice minister also expresses pride in the diversity of the judges appointed to the courts.

“Judges and registrars from the center [of the country] and the periphery, Jews, Muslims, Druze, Christians, religious and non-religious, older, younger, women and men, city folk and those from the country. A diverse and quality human mosaic like none other. When we talk about strengthening the justice system this is the true way to do it,” says the justice minister.

Levin says that such appointments are the best way to “restore public faith in the legal system,” while also extolling recent legislation he pushed through the Knesset to give politicians more control over judicial appointments.

Israel confirms talks with Turkey in Azerbaijan, lays out its ‘red line’ in Syria

Soldiers of the IDF's Alpinist unit are seen at an IDF post in the Mount Hermon area in southern Syria, March 11, 2025. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

A senior Israeli official confirms that delegations from Turkey and Israel met yesterday in Azerbaijan to discuss a deconfliction mechanism aimed at preventing unwanted incidents in Syria.

During the meeting, Israel “made it unequivocally clear that any change in the deployment of foreign forces in Syria, in particular the establishment of Turkish bases in the Palmyra (Tadmor) area, is a red line,” the official says.

The official adds that Israel has made it clear that preventing any such activity “is the responsibility of the government in Damascus. Any activity that endangers Israel will threaten the rule of [Syrian President Ahmed] al-Sharaa.”

Turkish ministry sources also confirm the talks in Azerbaijan, saying that they mark the beginning of efforts to set up a channel to avoid potential clashes or misunderstandings between the two countries’ operations in the region.

“Efforts will continue to establish this mechanism,” one of the sources says, without providing further details on the scope or timeline of the talks.

Israel has accused Turkey of trying to turn Syria into a Turkish protectorate, and Ankara has slammed Israeli military activity in the country following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime. Reuters reported last week that Turkish military teams had scoped out at least three air bases in Syria where they could deploy forces as part of a planned joint defense pact before Israel hit the sites with airstrikes.

IDF demolishes home in West Bank of terrorist involved in deadly 2023 shooting

Israeli soldiers seen during a military raid in Tulkarem, in the West Bank, February 21, 2025. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)

During operations in the West Bank city of Tulkarem overnight, the IDF says, it demolished the home of a Palestinian terrorist involved in a deadly shooting attack.

The military says Mohammed Shahrour was part of a cell that killed off-duty IDF reservist Sgt. First Class (res.) Elhanan Klein near the West Bank town of Bayt Lid on November 2, 2023. The cell also set off a bomb in the area, wounding four Border Police officers.

As a matter of policy, Israel demolishes the homes of Palestinians accused of carrying out deadly attacks.

???? جيش الاحتلال يفجّر منزل الأسير الفلسطيني محمد الشحرور في الحي الشرقي بمدينة #طولكرم. pic.twitter.com/GgHFu3vcFp

— عربي بوست (@arabic_post) April 10, 2025

Herzog: Most Israelis ‘deeply disgusted’ by calls to refuse to obey Supreme Court rulings

President Isaac Herzog speaks during a judicial swearing-in ceremony at the President's Residence in Jerusalem on April 10, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

President Isaac Herzog implicitly criticizes cabinet ministers, MKs and others who have called on the government to ignore Supreme Court rulings, insisting there is “an absolute majority” of the public who are “deeply disgusted” by such sentiment.

Speaking at a swearing-in ceremony for the new Supreme Court deputy president and 35 new judges and court registrars, Herzog also says he believes a clear majority of the public agrees on the need to “improve” the relationship between the different branches of government, in reference to the two-year-long battle the current government has fought to increase its authority over the judiciary.

“There is an absolute majority of the public which is deeply disgusted by alarming calls: for civil war, for refusing to obey the law, and for refusing to abide by court rulings,” says Herzog.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who is present at the ceremony, said earlier this week that if the High Court of Justice ruled to keep Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar in place the government should boycott him, a proposal echoed by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Levin is already boycotting Supreme Court President Isaac Amit and refusing to recognize his election as head of the judiciary.

Continued Herzog: “There is also a majority in the public – a clear and distinct majority – which agrees that there is a need to improve the existing relationship between the branches of government, and to anchor this in broad agreements and Basic Laws.”

This majority of the public “cries out for discourse between the branches of government, for fruitful dialogue — even if it is sharp — and for an understanding that we have room to move forward in our governmental structure, and that the only way to do so is through listening, partnership, and reaching agreements.”

Ben Gvir praises cop involved in shootout last night amid clash of Bedouin clans

Israel Police chief Daniel Levy (left) at the scene a day later of a violent clash between rival local clans, April 10, 2025. (Israel Police)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir praises a cop who fatally shot an armed man during a mass shootout in Ararat an-Naqab last night, which wrought havoc in the southern Bedouin town.

“I salute the heroic officer who acted with determination and professionalism,” tweets the far-right minister. “As befits a hero, I requested to review the officer’s promotion. Such an officer deserves to progress and serve as an example and inspiration to his subordinates.”

Meanwhile, the Department for Internal Police Investigations is examining the police shooting incident, according to a Ynet report.

Police say they arrived at the scene of a violent clash last night between rival local clans and “responded with gunfire,” killing Wahib Abdelqader Abu Arar after he reprtedly shot at officers.

“The suspect in the shooting was found at the scene, wounded, and an M16 and pistol were confiscated from his possession,” a law enforcement spokesperson says in a statement.

Israel Police chief Daniel Levy visited the town this morning, throwing his support behind the police officers who he says, “acted decisively” last night. “This is how police officers are expected to act,” he says.

According to local Arab media, assailants set fire to several houses and a school after the initial shooting incident.

Hours later at around midnight, another man, 27-year-old Imad Suleiman Abu Arar, was also shot dead by an unknown culprit while trying to extinguish flames that had engulfed one of the nearby houses.

Iran says threats against it could lead to expulsion of IAEA inspectors

An unidentified International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspector disconnects the connections between the twin cascades for 20 percent uranium production at the nuclear research centre of Natanz, some 300 kilometers south of Tehran, Iran, on January 20, 2014. (KAZEM GHANE/IRNA/AFP)

Iran says it could expel UN atomic watchdog inspectors or transfer enriched material to undisclosed locations if it faces military attack or continued external threats.

The comments were made by an adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, writing on X just hours after US President Donald Trump threatened military force if Tehran does not agree to a nuclear deal.

Supreme Court president to Levin: ‘Return to a path of cooperation with the judiciary’

Supreme Court chief Isaac Amit (left) speaks to Justice Minister Yariv Levin at the President's Residence in Jerusalem on April 10, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Supreme Court President Isaac Amit laments what he says are attempts to erode and harm the independence of the judiciary, during a swearing-in ceremony for new judges at which Justice Minister Yariv Levin is present.

Against the background of Levin’s ongoing boycott of Amit as court president, Amit also calls on the justice minister directly to re-engage with him and the judiciary as part of a “joint obligation” to serve the public.

“The judiciary is facing attempts to erode the institutional strength of the [legal] system and to harm the professional independence of its officeholders,” says Amit.

“Even in the face of attempts to erode the system and undermine its fundamental principles, the judiciary will remain steadfast, and will continue to fulfill its role in serving the public without fear or favor,” he continues.

Addressing Levin, with whom he has not met since he was elected, Amit says he was pleased that the minister was present, adding “[I] call on you, Mr. Minister, to return to the path of cooperation with the judiciary.”

Amit also criticizes the severe disruption of the Supreme Court hearing two days ago on the firing of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, saying those who did so sought to “prevent the court its very ability to hold hearings and serve the public,” something he said cannot be allowed to stand.

Netanyahu slams IAF letter signatories as ‘fringe extremists’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits an Air Force F-15 base on April 11, 2024. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

After the Israeli Air Force chief said he would dismiss any active reservists who signed a letter criticizing the ongoing war against Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expresses support for the decision.

“Refusal to serve is refusal to serve, even if it’s only hinted at in whitewashed language,” Netanyahu says in a statement. “Statements that weaken the IDF and strengthen our enemies in a time of war are unforgivable.”

The signatories to the letter say they are not calling for refusal to serve, but are demanding that the government get the hostages freed even at the expense of immediately ending the war against Hamas, and they claim the current fighting is politically motivated.

Netanyahu says the signatories “are a group of fringe extremists who are trying once again to break Israeli society from within. They tried to do it before October 7 and Hamas interpreted the refusal calls as a weakness.”

Amid the mass protests against the government’s judicial overhaul plan in 2023, several groups of reservists, including in the IAF, issued statements that they would refuse to serve under a regime they no longer viewed as democratic. The IDF has said, however, that Hamas had planned the attack at least a year in advance.

Netanyahu accuses the signatories of “acting toward one goal — bringing down the government. They don’t represent the soldiers or the public.”

Tel Aviv Stock Exchange leaps after Trump announces pause on tariffs

View of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, April 7, 2025 (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

Tel Aviv shares leap after US President Donald Trump announces a 90-day pause on plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on dozens of trading partners.

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s benchmark TA-125 index increases 2.9%. The TA-35 index of blue-chip companies gains 2.8%. The TA-90 index, which tracks the shares with the highest capitalization not included in the TA-35 index, is up 3%, and the TA-Insurance and Financial Services index adds 2.8%.

Shares in Asia and Europe advance after US stock indexes soared at the end of trading on Wednesday. The S&P 500 Index jumped 9.5% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 7.9% yesterday.

Katz slams IAF reservists and veterans who signed letter ‘undermining the legitimacy’ of Gaza war

Defense Minister Israel Katz at the Tel Nof Airbase in central Israel, December 4, 2024. (Elad Malka/Defense Ministry)

Defense Minister Israel Katz slams a letter signed by some 1,000 Israeli Air Force veterans — mostly retirees and not active reservists — demanding the return of the hostages in Gaza even if it comes at the cost of ending the war against Hamas entirely.

“I strongly reject the letter by the Air Force reservists and the attempt to undermine the legitimacy of the just war that the IDF is leading in Gaza for the return of the hostages and the defeat of the murderous Hamas terrorist organization,” Katz says in a statement.

“I trust the judgment of the chief of staff and the Air Force commander and am convinced that they will handle this unacceptable phenomenon in the most appropriate way,” he adds.

Veteran military reporter whose 1976 reporting brought down first Rabin government dies at 79

Israeli journalist Yisrael Katzover poses for a photo in Jerusalem, December 13, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Yisrael Katzover, the military correspondent for the ultra-Orthodox Hamodia newspaper, has died at the age of 79.

Katzover has been reporting on military affairs since the 1960s.

In 1976, Katzover’s reporting brought down Yitzhak Rabin’s first government, Israel’s 17th government.

At the time, Israel had just received the first batch of F-15 fighter jets from the United States. Some 3,000 people attended a reception ceremony, which was held on a Friday afternoon, a few hours before the beginning of Shabbat at sundown. The event was supposed to end before the day of rest began, but the planes were delayed and the ceremony ran late. Most of the audience at the event were forced to violate the Sabbath and travel home on Shabbat, Katzover reported.

When the opposition called for a no-confidence vote, the National Religious Party, which was part of the government, abstained instead of voting against. Rabin booted the party from the coalition, ending his majority in the Knesset and prompting a fresh election.

Air Force to dismiss reservists who signed letter demanding prioritization of hostages over fighting

Israeli Air Force pilots prepare for airstrikes against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, December 26, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Israeli Air Force chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar is set to dismiss active reservists who signed a letter demanding prioritizing the return of the hostages in Gaza over continuing the fight against Hamas.

The IDF says it has no issue with reservists protesting any matter in their civilian lives, as long as they do it without using the name of the military or their role.

The letter, with around 1,000 signatories, was signed by “air personnel in reserves and retirement.”

According to the military, the vast majority of those who signed the letter are retirees and not active reservists. The IDF is still investigating the list and working to identify those who are in active reserves.

It is thought that dozens of the signatories are active reservists and will likely be dismissed. The others are close to retirement or haven’t served for years.

Several reservists who initially signed on to the letter removed their signatures prior to its publication after holding discussions with the IAF.

The few signatories who are active reservists are set to be dismissed from duty by Bar. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has supported the move.

The military says it cannot accept a situation in which reservists “use the Israeli Air Force brand” to protest political matters.

It also says that “it is inconceivable for someone to do a shift at [the IAF] command center and head out afterward and express mistrust in the task.”

The IDF says its only aim is to achieve the goals of the war, especially the return of the hostages.

European stock markets soar at open after Trump tariff pause

European stock markets rebound sharply after US President Donald Trump abruptly paused steep tariffs on most countries last night.

Frankfurt jumped more than 8% to 21,275.92 points in early deals, Paris gained 6.4% to 7,303.15, and London surged 6.3% to 8,163.08 following rallies on Wall Street and in Asia.

Two brothers shot dead in Ramle in suspected underworld feud

Two brothers were shot dead in Ramle this morning.

The victims, Matin and Jalal al-Shamali, were critically injured by gunfire, reportedly near an elementary school and playground in the city.

Police called to the scene say the victims were found wounded in a car and taken to a nearby hospital, where they were pronounced dead by medical staff.

Ynet reports that the victims had two other brothers who were killed in previous shootings in 2019 and 2020. All three incidents are thought to be related to an ongoing violent conflict between families in the city.

Police say they are investigating this morning’s double homicide and searching the area for suspects. No arrests have yet been made.

Suspected US strikes overnight in Yemen kill at least 3 people, Houthi rebels say

Suspected US airstrikes in Yemen overnight kill at least three people, while the death toll in an earlier attack rose to 13 dead, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels claim.

The rebels meanwhile air footage they say shows the debris left after shooting down yet another American MQ-9 Reaper drone.

The Houthis say airstrikes targeting the al-Sabeen District in the south of the rebel-held capital, Sanaa, kill at least three people. The area is home to al-Sabeen Square and a major mosque that has been a gathering point for months for Houthi demonstrations against the war in the Gaza Strip. Other strikes hit the capital as well.

More airstrikes hit Kamaran Island in the Red Sea, the Houthis say.

The US military’s Central Command, which oversees American military operations, does not acknowledge the strikes. That follows a pattern for the command, which now has authorization from the White House to conduct strikes at will in the campaign that began March 15.

Despite IAF pressure, reservists, veterans publish letter demanding prioritizing hostages over fighting

IAF pilots prepare to take off from the Ramon Airbase in southern Israel for strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, January 10, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

A group of close to 1,000 current and retired reservists with the Israeli Air Force publish a letter demanding the return of the hostages in Gaza, even if it comes at the cost of ending the war against Hamas entirely.

The letter does not call for a general refusal to serve, as previously reported, but instead urges the government to prioritize the release of hostages over the continuation of the war in Gaza, which the signatories argue now serves “political and personal interests” rather than national security.

“The continuation of the war doesn’t advance any of the declared goals of the war, and will bring about the deaths of the hostages, of IDF soldiers and innocent civilians,” reads the letter, which was published as an ad in a number of Israeli newspapers.

“As has been proven in the past, only an agreement can return hostages safely, while military pressure mainly leads to the killing of hostages and the endangerment of our soldiers,” it adds. “We call on all citizens of Israel to mobilize for action.”

All but five of the signatories signed with their full name, indicating they are likely not active reservists but rather retired veterans. However, the Ynet news site reports that some 10% of the signatories are active reservists, citing initial examinations of the letter in the IDF.

IAF chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar had reportedly sought to prevent the publication of the letter, which was originally slated to be publicized on Tuesday.

Hamas urges UK court to remove terror label; its lawyers claim British army also fits ‘terrorism’ definition

Hamas politburo member Moussa Abu Marzouk, front, attends the funeral of Saleh Arouri, in Beirut, Lebanon, January 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk has submitted a lengthy witness statement to a British court, arguing that London should remove its proscription of Hamas as a terror group.

The Palestinian group claims to be “a Palestinian Islamic liberation and resistance movement whose goal is to liberate Palestine and confront the Zionist project,” in a filing reported by the Drop Site News outlet.

Hamas openly seeks to destroy Israel, regularly attempts to target random Israeli civilians, and led thousands of terrorists who systematically killed and kidnapped Israelis of all ages, including civilians at their homes and at a music festival, as well as British nationals on October 7, 2023.

Abu Marzouk claims the onslaught was solely directed at military targets, falsely asserting that the targeting of civilians that day was marginable or done mainly by non-Hamas members.

He accuses Britain of complicity in the Israeli “genocide” against Palestinians by arming Israel, and claims it poses no threat to the United Kingdom.

A legal team representing Hamas pro bono — since it would be illegal to receive money from the group — claims in its own filing that while Hamas’s actions fit the definition of “terrorism” in British law, so do those of the IDF, the Ukrainian army and even the British military.

According to The Guardian, Britain’s Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel said: “Hamas is an evil Iranian-backed terrorist organization, which kidnaps, tortures and murders people, including British nationals. They pose an ongoing threat to our security and to the peace and stability of the Middle East and they have weapons and training facilities that put lives at risk and threaten our interests. They show no respect for human rights, life and dignity and have oppressed people living in Gaza for too long.”

Vance meets Israeli ex-hostages, relatives of captives at White House

US Vice President JD Vance, center, meets with Israeli former Hamas hostages and relatives of captives, at the White House, April 9, 2025. (White House)

US Vice President JD Vance met earlier today at the White House with a group of former hostages and relatives of current captives in Gaza.

“We remain hopeful” about the chances for a deal, Vance told those present, according to a readout from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents most Gaza captives’ families.

A hostage deal between Israel and Hamas fell apart last month after one phase.

This was Vance’s first organized meeting with such a group, which met yesterday with US President Donald Trump at a National Republican Congressional Committee event in Washington.

During the meeting, Vance acknowledged the hostage families’ pain and the urgency of their loved one’s return, the readout adds.

The Israeli participants expressed their appreciation for the Trump administration’s efforts to secure the release of the remaining 59 hostages.

Attending the meeting were former hostages Iair Horn, Keith Siegel and Aviva Siegel, along with the relatives of hostages Ziv and Gali Berman, Evyatar David, Omri Miran, Eitan Horn, Edan Alexander, Omer Neutra and Itay Chen.

7 arrested during Jerusalem protest denouncing the war in Gaza

Activists from the left-wing "Free Jerusalem" group protest the war in Gaza, in Jerusalem's Paris Square, April 9, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Police arrest seven demonstrators at a small anti-war protest in Jerusalem earlier tonight, in Paris Square near the prime minister’s residence.

The left-wing protesters amounted to several dozen and did not appear to have blocked roads to traffic, but police made arrests regardless, confiscating signs bearing controversial slogans.

Participants held banners in Hebrew, English and Arabic demanding an end to Israel’s ongoing Gaza offensive and calling on Israelis to refuse IDF service.

In a clip posted to social media, a protester in a Pikachu costume — a viral symbol of the anti-Erdogan protests in Turkey last month — is seen holding a banner that reads “stop the massacre,” before a plainclothes officer tears it away.

Werever there's fascism thete's resistance. Wherever there's resistance, there's pikatchu pic.twitter.com/f3yNE6NlKl

— Free Jerusalem (@FreeJerusalem1) April 9, 2025

Another woman, who is circling around the plaza with a sign saying “refuse,” is tackled to the ground by several cops.

pic.twitter.com/GQGGRxh3Hr

— نير حسون Nir Hasson ניר חסון (@nirhasson) April 9, 2025

Trump: Israel will ‘be the leader’ of strike on Iran if nuclear talks fail

US President Donald Trump looks on after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on April 9, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)

Israel will “lead” a military strike along with the US against Iran if nuclear talks don’t succeed, US President Donald Trump says.

Asked whether he would use military means against Iran if the latter doesn’t agree to a nuclear deal, Trump responds: “If it requires military, we’re going to have military.”

“Israel will obviously be very much involved in that — it’ll be the leader of that,” he tells reporters in the Oval Office, in what appears to be the first time he’s explicitly threatened an Iranian strike by Israel, let alone one led by the Jewish state.

But he appears to partially walk back the comment in his next breath. “Nobody leads us. We do what we want to do.”

Trump: "With Iran, yeah, if it requires military, we're gonna have military. Israel will obviously be very much involved in that." pic.twitter.com/WqLDE7N6v5

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 9, 2025

He says the US will “absolutely” use military force against Iran if necessary and that he has a timeline for how long they will take, though he doesn’t specify. Reports have said Trump is giving the process two months.

The US president says that Saturday’s slated summit in Oman is the “start” of a process. His envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is slated to represent the US, while Iran will be represented by its Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Trump has said the talks will be direct, while Iran has said they will be through a mediator.

“We have a little time, but we don’t have much time because we’re not going to let them have a nuclear weapon,” Trump says.

“We’re going to let them thrive. I want them to thrive. I want Iran to be great. The only thing they can’t have is a nuclear weapon. They understand that.”

“I was a little bit surprised because when the election was rigged, I figured that they would get the weapon because with me, they were broke,” he claims, without elaborating.

2 men shot dead amid violent clashes between Bedouin rival clans, police in Negev

Several houses go up in flames in the southern Bedouin village of Ararat an-Naqab, also known as Arara Banegev, apparently caused by a violent dispute between rival clans, April 9, 2025. (Screenshot/Facebook; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Two young men were shot dead tonight in the southern Bedouin village of Ararat an-Naqab, also known as Arara Banegev, during shootouts involving several residents and police in which at least four more people were injured.

Local Arabic-language outlets report that one of the victims, named Wahib Abdelqader Abu Arar, in his 20s, was shot by police when they arrived at the scene of a violent clash between rival local clans, amid a dispute between that is currently wreaking havoc in the Negev town.

Paramedics called to the scene found Abu Arar in critical condition at around 10 p.m, says a spokesperson for the Magen David Adom emergency service.

They initially took him to a local clinic, but soon shuttled him to Beersheba’s Soroka Hospital, where he succumbed to his wounds.

Police have not yet responded to requests for comment.

Hours later, at around midnight, another man is killed in a shooting incident that lightly injures one other. Paramedics administered CPR to the 27-year-old, who is named by media as Imad Suleiman Abu Arar, while taking him to Soroka Hospital, but he soon died of his wounds.

Footage posted to social media depicts several homes going up in flames tonight, apparently as a result of the dispute. A school is also reportedly set on fire over the course of the night.

Netanyahu speaks with Liri Albag after PM’s backers attacked freed hostage online

Freed hostage Liri Albag returns to her home in Moshav Yarhiv, February 5, 2025, after being released from the hospital. (Yehoshua Yosef/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with former hostage Liri Albag and her parents, Shira and Eli, after the freed captive was attacked online by many pro-Netanyahu accounts for blaming the premier for her abduction.

The Prime Minister’s Office says in a statement that during the call, the prime minister said he “expresses solidarity with Liri in light of the attacks she has faced on social media in recent days.”

In a since-removed promotional clip of an upcoming interview with Albag on the Kan public broadcaster, Albag sharply criticized Netanyahu, telling the interviewer that if she were to meet the premier, she would tell him that she blames him for the failures surrounding the October, 7, 2023, Hamas assault, during which she was taken captive.

Albag, who was released from captivity during the recent ceasefire, requested the video’s removal from the air due to a wave of hate she received from Netanyahu supporters on social media, with some accounts calling her “a trash girl” and suggesting sending her “back to Gaza.” According to Channel 12, a large number of the hateful messages came from pro-Netanyahu Facebook groups, with up to 90,000 members.

Netanyahu offers Albag words of support over the phone, and “expresses admiration for her resilience and bravery while in Hamas captivity,” says the PMO.

The premier tells Albag that he and his wife Sara Netanyahu had maintained regular contact with the Albag family, that he is committed to securing the return of all hostages, and “that he would like to meet soon” with Albag and “the fellow [IDF] observer soldiers that returned with her,” referring to released hostages Agam Berger, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Karina Ariev.

Liri thanked the prime minister for “the emotional conversation, for his courageous decision to secure her release and that of other hostages, and urged him to continue efforts to bring everyone home,” the PMO adds in its readout of the conversation.