April 11: Wife, daughters of hostage Omri Miran blow out his birthday candle without him

US judge says administration’s deportation case against Mahmoud Khalil can move forward

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)

JENA, Louisiana — A US immigration judge rules that President Donald Trump’s administration can proceed with its deportation case against Columbia University graduate student and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was arrested in New York City last month.

Judge Jamee Comans of the LaSalle Immigration Court in Louisiana says she lacked the authority to overrule a decision concerning Khalil that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made last month under a 1952 law called the Immigration and Nationality Act. Rubio determined that Khalil should be removed because his presence in the United States has “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences.”

The judge’s decision is not the final say over whether Khalil will be deported. In a separate case in New Jersey federal court, US District Judge Michael Farbiarz has blocked deportation while he considers Khalil’s claim that his March 8 arrest was made in violation of the US Constitution’s First Amendment protections for freedom of speech.

Israel submits slightly softened hostage deal offer ahead of Hamas delegation’s arrival in Cairo

Demonstrators protest for the release of hostages held by terrorists in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, April 5, 2025. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Israel has come down slightly from an earlier demand for 11 hostages to be released as part of a deal with Hamas to revive the first phase of a ceasefire that collapsed last month, two officials familiar with the matter tell The Times of Israel.

Last month, Israel demanded the release of 11 living hostages in exchange for restoring the ceasefire. For its part, Hamas said it was willing to release five living hostages. For several weeks, both sides refused to compromise further, and the talks remained at an impasse as Israel widened its military campaign throughout Gaza, which it resumed on March 18.

Seeking to meet the sides halfway, Egypt, in recent days, began pushing a new proposal that would see eight living hostages released.

After meeting with US President Donald Trump earlier this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to soften his demands, the two officials said.

On Thursday, Israel submitted to Egyptian mediators its response to Cairo’s latest proposal, the officials said, revealing that the number of hostages Jerusalem now seeks is slightly lower than the 11 it demanded last month.

However, Israel is demanding that the living hostages be released during the first two weeks of the 45-day ceasefire, rejecting previous Hamas demands that the releases be evenly distributed throughout the entire truce.

People stand outside their tent set up on the rubble of a destroyed building at the Jabalia camp for displaced Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip on April 8, 2025. (Bashar TALEB / AFP)

Moreover, the Israeli proposal seeks to lower the ratio of prisoners — including ones serving life sentences — who will be released for each hostage, one of the officials said.

In addition, the latest Israeli response seeks the release of 16 bodies of Israelis still held in Gaza, while offering to release the bodies of Gazans held by Israel in exchange.

Israel would also agree to allow the resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries into Gaza and withdraw its troops to where they were positioned in Gaza before it resumed fighting on March 18 and re-occupied large parts of the Strip.

The Israeli response includes a willingness to hold negotiations on the terms of a permanent ceasefire once the truce has been restored, said the two officials.

Hamas’s top priority is securing a permanent ceasefire, but an agreement by Israel to hold such talks would likely be viewed by Hamas as insufficient since Israel already agreed to hold similar talks during the first phase of the ceasefire and didn’t adhere to that commitment, one of the officials said.

To address Hamas’s concerns, US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff has told Arab mediators that Trump would be willing to issue a public statement expressing Washington’s commitment to holding negotiations for a permanent Gaza ceasefire.

US President Donald Trump greets Israeli hostages who were released from Gaza, during the National Republican Congressional Committee’s (NRCC) “President’s Dinner” at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC, on April 8, 2025. (SAUL LOEB / AFP)

Egyptian mediators plan to share Israel’s response later this weekend with a Hamas delegation led by Khalil al-Hayya, which will arrive in Cairo on Saturday night, the officials said.

Hamas is expected to push back on many of Israel’s demands, and no resolution is expected in the coming days, the officials said.

However, recent weeks have seen Hamas cave on its main assertion that it wouldn’t agree to an extension of the first phase.

It had long insisted that it would only release additional hostages as part of the second phase of the deal, which envisions the release of all remaining living hostages in exchange for a permanent ceasefire and a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

While Israel signed onto the phased framework that went into place in January, Netanyahu has long insisted that he would not agree to a permanent ceasefire nor a full withdrawal of Israeli forces until Hamas’s governing and military capabilities have been fully dismantled.

Accordingly, he largely refused to even hold negotiations regarding the exact terms of phase two, which the deal stipulates were supposed to have started on February 3.

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

Instead, he has sought to extend the first phase of the deal through proposals that would see the release of additional hostages while still allowing Israel to resume fighting against Hamas.

For its part, a senior Palestinian official told The Times of Israel earlier this month that Hamas is willing to release all of the hostages at once if Israel agrees to a permanent end to the war.

Netanyahu has long refused such an exchange, arguing that it would leave Hamas in power.

The premier is backed by many of his hardline coalition partners who have threatened to collapse his government if he agrees to end the war.

However, successive polls have indicated that the government is out of step with a majority of Israelis who back ending the war in exchange for the release of all 59 remaining hostages — 24 of whom are believed to still be alive.

Meeting between Putin and Witkoff ends after four hours

A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff in Saint Petersburg ended after more than four hours of talks, notably about Ukraine, Russian news agencies say.

According to the state RIA Novosti, the talks lasted four hours and 30 minutes. A correspondent for the Izvestia newspaper reported on Telegram that the delegations had left the presidential library where the meeting was held.

Turkey to seek lifting of Syria sanctions, Erdogan tells Sharaa

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa earlier today that Turkey will continue its diplomatic efforts to lift international sanctions against Syria, Erdogan’s office says.

During their meeting at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey, Erdogan said efforts should be increased to revitalize trade and economic cooperation with Syria and that Turkey will continue to provide support to the country, the statement says.

Three men shot dead in central city of Ramle where two brothers were killed yesterday

Three men were shot dead in the central city of Ramle earlier today, according to police.

The men were all in their 30s.

Police have opened an investigation into the incident, and Haaretz reports that it is related to a shooting less than 24 hours earlier in the same city where brothers Matin and Jamal al-Shmali were killed near an elementary school in the Jawarish neighborhood.

Those two victims reportedly had two other brothers who were killed in previous shootings in 2019 and 2020. After opening an investigation into the double homicide, police arrested three Ramle residents suspected of involvement in the crime.

Since the start of the year, 72 Arab Israelis have been killed in violent criminal incidents, indicating that the sharp spike in the Arab homicide rate seen under National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has far from subsided.

IDF officer moderately wounded during exchange of fire with Palestinian gunmen in south Gaza — army

Earlier today, an IDF officer was moderately wounded during an exchange of fire with Palestinian gunmen in the southern Gaza Strip, the military says.

According to the IDF, a cell of terror operatives opened fire on troops in southern Gaza. The soldiers returned fire, killing two of the gunmen, the military says.

A short while later, the IDF says a drone struck and killed a third member of the cell.

The officer was taken to a hospital for treatment.

US extradites Pakistani-Canadian national wanted by India for involvement in 2008 Mumbai attacks

A Pakistan-born Canadian citizen wanted for his alleged role in the deadly 2008 Mumbai terror attacks has been extradited by the US to India.

Tahawwur Hussain Rana landed in New Delhi yesterday.

“Together, with India, we’ve long sought justice for the 166 people, including six Americans, who lost their lives in these attacks. I’m glad that day has come,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio tweets.

The move is welcomed by Israel’s Counsel General to Mumbai Kobbi Shoshani.

Seven people were killed by gunmen at Nariman Chabad House in 2008, including emissaries Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg — part of several attacks on Mumbai sites over four days by an Islamist Pakistani group. In total, 166 people were killed and hundreds injured.

IDF says it shot down drone ‘from the east’ over Dead Sea; no sirens triggered

A drone launched at Israel “from the east” was shot down by the Israeli Air Force a short while ago near the Dead Sea, the military says,

No sirens sounded as no towns were under any threat.

The drone is thought to have been launched from Yemen.

Wife, daughters of hostage Omri Miran blow out his birthday candle without him

Lishay Miran Lavi blows out a candle on a birthday cupcake for her hostage husband Omri, along with her two daughers Roni and Alma at Channel 12's studio on April 11, 2025. (Screen capture/Channel 12)

Lishay Miran Lavi marks the 48th birthday of her husband, Omri, who is one of the 59 hostages still being held in Gaza.

Channel 12 opens its Friday night news broadcast with a monologue from Lishay, who symbolically opens the “present” she got her husband — a box filled with nothing but air.

She says air is something that Omri doesn’t have at all in the tunnel where he is being held in Gaza.

She begs the government to act to secure his release before time runs out.

With help from her two young daughters, Roni and Alma, she blows out a candle on a cupcake and wishes her husband a happy birthday, urging him to be strong.

המתנה של חברתנו @LishayLM לאהוב ליבנו עמרי מירן, לכבוד יום הולדתו מחר, יום הולדת שני במנהרות של עזה.

מה נותנים לאדם שנמצא במנהרה חשוכה, מופגזת, בלי אור, עם מעט מאד אוכל?

צפו ושתפו. כל ישראלי צריך לראות את המתנה של עמרי. pic.twitter.com/PdX79452HZ

— Amir Tibon אמיר תיבון (@amirtibon) April 11, 2025

US envoy Witkoff holds talks with Putin about Ukraine as Trump tells Moscow to ‘get moving’

US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff held talks with President Vladimir Putin earlier today in St Petersburg about the search for a peace deal on Ukraine as Trump told Russia to “get moving.”

Putin was shown on state TV greeting Witkoff in St Petersburg’s presidential library at the start of the negotiations. The Izvestia news outlet earlier released video of Witkoff leaving a hotel in the city, accompanied by Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s investment envoy.

Witkoff has emerged as a key figure in the on-off rapprochement between Moscow and Washington amid talk on the Russian side of potential joint investments in the Arctic and Russian rare earth minerals.

However, the talks come at a time when US-Russia dialogue aimed at agreeing on a ceasefire ahead of a possible peace deal to end the war in Ukraine appears to have stalled over disagreements around conditions for a full pause in hostilities.

Trump, who has shown signs of losing patience, has spoken of imposing secondary sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil if he feels Moscow is dragging its feet on a Ukrainian deal.

Earlier today, he said in a post on Truth Social, “Russia has to get moving. Too many people (are) DYING, thousands a week, in a terrible and senseless war – A war that should have never happened, and wouldn’t have happened, if I were President!!!”

Putin has said he is ready in principle to agree on a full ceasefire, but has said that many crucial conditions have yet to be agreed on about how it would work and has said that what he calls the root causes of the war have yet to be addressed.

Specifically, he has said that Ukraine should not join NATO, that the size of its army needs to be limited, and that Russia should get the entirety of the territory of the four Ukrainian regions it claims as its own despite not fully controlling any of them.

With Moscow controlling just under 20% of Ukraine and Russian forces continuing to advance on the battlefield, the Kremlin believes Russia is in a strong position when it comes to negotiations and that Ukraine should make concessions.

Kyiv says Russia’s terms would amount to a capitulation.

27 US Jewish groups file support for detained anti-Israel Tufts student

Twenty-seven US Jewish groups back an anti-Israel student from Tufts University in Massachusetts who was detained by the government.

The student, Rumeysa Ozturk, was taken in by federal authorities last month as part of a broader crackdown on non-citizen activists by the Trump administration. The effort is being done in the name of antisemitism but has sparked concerns among Jewish groups.

Ozturk wrote an anti-Israel op-ed in her campus newspaper last year. Her detention was caught on video and caused alarm among many observers, including Jewish groups, due to concerns about legal protections, due process, and free speech.

The organizations backing Ozturk file an amicus brief in her legal case in federal court. An amicus brief is a legal document filed by outside parties to a case who have an interest in its proceedings, often to offer arguments to the court.

The groups include the progressive organizations J Street, Bend the Arc, Keshet, New Israel Fund, New York Jewish Agenda, T’ruah, and the Workers Circle. The New York synagogues B’nai Jeshurun and Beth Elohim and Congregation Dorshei Tzedek in Massachusetts also signed on.

“Arresting, detaining, and potentially deporting Ozturk does not assist in eradicating antisemitism. Nor was that the government’s apparent purpose,” the brief says. “The government instead appears to be exploiting Jewish Americans’ legitimate concerns about antisemitism as pretext for undermining core pillars of American democracy, the rule of law, and the fundamental rights of free speech and academic debate on which this nation was built.”

Gaza ‘hell on earth’ as hospital supplies running out, warns head of Red Cross

Palestinians walk to obtain clean drinking water amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, in the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. (Abed Rahim Khatib)

The president of the Red Cross describes the humanitarian situation in Gaza as “hell on earth” and warned that its field hospital will run out of supplies within two weeks.

“We are now finding ourselves in a situation that I have to describe as hell on earth …People don’t have access to water, electricity, food, in many parts,” Mirjana Spoljaric tells Reuters at the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva.

No new humanitarian supplies have entered the Palestinian enclave since Israel blocked the entry of aid trucks on March 2, as talks stalled on the next stage of a now broken truce. Israel resumed its military assault on March 18.

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said 25,000 aid trucks had entered Gaza in the 42 days of the ceasefire and that Hamas had used the aid to rebuild its war machine, an allegation which the terror group has denied.

Spoljaric says supplies were running critically low.

“For six weeks, nothing has come in, so we will, in a couple of weeks’ time, run out of supplies that we need to keep the hospital going,” she says.

The World Health Organization says supplies of antibiotics and blood bags were dwindling fast. Twenty-two out of 36 hospitals in the enclave are only minimally functional, Dr. Rik Peeperkorn tells reporters in Geneva via video link in Jerusalem.

The Red Cross president also raises concerns about the safety of humanitarian operations.

“It is extremely dangerous for the population to move, but it’s especially also dangerous for us to operate,” Spoljaric says.

In March, the bodies of 15 emergency and aid workers, including eight members of the Palestinian Red Crescent, were found buried in a mass grave in southern Gaza.

The UN and Red Crescent accused Israeli forces of killing them.

The Israeli military said on Monday that an initial investigation showed that the incident occurred “due to a sense of threat” after it said it had identified six Hamas militants in the vicinity.

Spoljaric calls for an immediate ceasefire to release the remaining hostages held by Hamas and to address the grave humanitarian issues in Gaza.

Amid talks with Ankara, Israeli official says Jerusalem open to Turkey maintaining ‘limited’ military base in Syria

Israel is “very optimistic” about deconfliction talks with Turkey, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.

Jerusalem is even open to Turkey maintaining a “limited” military base in Syria, adds the official.

“The talks were held in good faith,” says the official, adding that there would be further discussions after the sides met this week in Azerbaijan.

A Turkish official offers a similar message of conciliation.

“Turkey’s concerns have always been the cross-border terrorist threat from Syria to Turkey,” the official tells The Times of Israel, pointing at ISIS and the Kurdish PKK

“Other than that, we do not want any conflict with any country.”

IDF chief meets with former hostage, cousin of current captives

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir meets with (L-R) former hostage soldier Naama Levy, her brother Amit, and May Mayer, the cousin of hostages Gali and Ziv Berman, at the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, April 11, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir met today with former hostage soldier Naama Levy and her brother Amit, along with May Mayer, who is the cousin of hostages Gali and Ziv Berman.

The three presented Zamir with a Passover Haggadah.

Zamir thanked them, saying, “Passover is incomplete without our hostages. We are committed to bringing everyone back,” according to an IDF statement.

Police release all 23 protesters arrested at last night’s anti-war rally in Haifa

All 23 demonstrators arrested in Haifa last night at an anti-war protest have gone free as of this morning.

Earlier today, the Haifa Magistrate’s Court rejected the police’s request to extend the detention of three protesters they held overnight.

Officers released the other 20 demonstrators a few hours after their arrest but sought to detain the remaining three for another five days.

Police claimed in court that the three assaulted police officers and disturbed the public peace, among other charges. However, Judge Eran Zeller rejected the request and ordered the protesters’ release without conditions.

מעצרים בהפגנה נגד המלחמה בחיפה, היום pic.twitter.com/2I8UCHKowl

— הארץ חדשות (@haaretznewsvid) April 10, 2025

In his decision, Zeller writes that “participating in a demonstration does not indicate a danger to anyone… unless during the participation serious offenses are carried out such as aggravated assault.”

“[However] it seems that this is not the issue before me,” he continues, as quoted by Haaretz.

Zeller adds that police forcefully shut down the demonstration soon after it began, concurring with those who partook in last night’s protest.

“The police dispersed the protest not even a minute after it started, says a demonstrator, who wishes to remain anonymous, to The Times of Israel.

She and the others detained were held in a police station until midnight, while the other three were held Kishon Detention Center.

Qatar frustrated by slowed pace of hostage talks under Dermer — sources

Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer addresses the Knesset on January 22, 2025. (Noam Moskowitz/Knesset Spokesperson's Office)

Qatar is frustrated with the pace of hostage talks under the leadership of Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, an official with knowledge of the talks tells The Times of Israel.

Earlier today, a source involved in the negotiations told CNN that there is a “significant difference in momentum” since Dermer replaced Shin Bet head Ronen Bar and Mossad director David Barnea.

“There is a clear shift in [Israel’s] priorities,” the source told CNN. “Negotiations are seemingly being politicized from the Israeli team.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tapped Dermer — one of his closest confidants — to head the team in February after the premier sidelined Barnea and Bar.

In March, members of the negotiating team told Channel 12 that Dermer’s leadership of the efforts was ineffective.

An Israeli official rejected the idea that Dermer was slowing down talks, telling CNN: “To reach a deal, you need someone who actually represents the will of the government who will authorize said deal, not ‘dissent,’ which only served to undermine negotiations.”

However, an Israeli source tells The Times of Israel that Dermer doesn’t believe it will be possible to get all the hostages out and that he expressed this position to the White House during Netanyahu’s visit earlier this week. He is instead trying to set the stage for one more major release of living hostages.

There has been an improvement in discipline from the negotiators since Dermer has taken over from Bar and Barnea, says the Israeli source. Leaks have been dramatically reduced, especially those blaming Netanyahu for getting in the way of progress.

Jordanian troops disperse pro-Palestinian rally on border of West Bank

Jordanian security forces disperse a demonstration in support of the Palestinians along the east bank of the Jordan Valley.

Protesters were planning on marching toward Jordan’s border with the Israel-controlled West Bank but were blocked by security forces who reportedly carried out dozens of arrests.

الأمن الأردني ينهي مسيرة غير مرخصة في الأغوار#الأردن #الأغوار #الاردن_للاردنيين #الأردن_العظيم #الرابية pic.twitter.com/RWm6eCh7eK

— نفق صحفي (@nafaq_j) April 11, 2025

IDF soldier seriously wounded in southern Gaza earlier today, army says

A soldier with the Golani Brigade’s 12th Battalion was seriously wounded in the southern Gaza Strip earlier today, the military says.

The soldier was apparently wounded due to an accidental misfire.

He marks the first soldier to be seriously wounded in Gaza since the military resumed its offensive in the Strip last month.

Lapid pushes back against GOP senator who defends Netanyahu decision to fire Shin Bet chief

Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, arrives for a meeting of US Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington, November 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Opposition leader Yair Lapid pushes back against Republican Sen. Tom Cotton after the latter defended Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.

“It’s not a ‘threat to democracy’ for an elected head of state to have the power to remove the chief of an intelligence service—it’s essential to democracy. And if Prime Minister Netanyahu has lost confidence in this intelligence chief, how can the US government have confidence in him?” Cotton tweeted earlier today.

The tweet was quickly shared by Netanyahu.

Responding to his “dear friend” Cotton, Lapid begins by hailing him as “one of Israel’s greatest friends in the senate. A constant voice of moral clarity.”

“As I’m sure you know, the head of Shin Bet is leading an investigation into Qatari payments to Netanyahu’s office and closest advisors including during the war,” Lapid tweets.

“It is a devastating breach of our security, and many of the details are not even being denied. As someone who cares deeply about national security, I’m sure you understand the severity,” Lapid continues. “The prime minister has the right to fire him, but only after the investigation is concluded.”

Erdogan accuses Israel of ‘barbarism’ after strike said to kill seven children from same family

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashes out at Israel for a pre-dawn airstrike that officials in Gaza said killed 10 members of the same family.

“Just this morning, 10 people, including seven children, from the same family were martyred in Khan Younis. If this is not barbarism, I ask you, what is it?” Erdogan tells a diplomacy forum in the southern province of Antalya.

Witkoff in Russia for talks with Putin about Ukraine

US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff flew to Russia today for talks with President Vladimir Putin about the search for a peace deal on Ukraine, the Kremlin says, adding that the two men might also discuss a Trump-Putin meeting.

The Izvestia news outlet releases video of Witkoff leaving a hotel in Russia’s second city St Petersburg, accompanied by Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s investment envoy.

Witkoff has emerged as a key figure in the on-off rapprochement between Moscow and Washington amid talk on the Russian side of potential joint investments in the Arctic and Russian rare earth minerals.

Putin was also in St Petersburg today to hold what the Kremlin called an “extraordinarily important” meeting about the development of the Russian Navy, which is in the throes of a major modernization and expansion drive.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov plays down the planned Witkoff-Putin meeting, telling Russian state media the US envoy’s visit would not be “momentous” and that no breakthroughs were expected.

The meeting will be their third this year and comes at a time when US tensions with Iran and China – two countries with which Russia has close ties – are severely strained over Tehran’s nuclear program and a burgeoning trade war with Beijing.

Witkoff is due in Oman on Saturday for talks with Iran over its nuclear program after Trump threatened Tehran with military action if it does not agree to a deal. Moscow has repeatedly offered its help in trying to clinch a diplomatic settlement.

Putin and Trump have spoken by phone but have yet to meet face-to-face since the US leader returned to the White House in January for a second four-year term.

Trump’s energy secretary says US can stop Iran’s oil exports

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright says that the United States could stop its oil exports to Iran as part of President Donald Trump’s plan to pressure Tehran over its nuclear program.

The January return to the White House of Trump, who in his first term withdrew the United States from a 2015 power accord with Tehran and clamped down on its oil exports, has again brought a tougher approach to the Middle Eastern power over its nuclear work.

Wright, speaking to Reuters during a visit to Abu Dhabi, said he thought the Gulf allies of the United States were extremely concerned about a nuclear-powered Iran and shared the US resolve that this is an outcome that is in no one’s best interest.

Iranian oil exports recovered under Joe Biden, who became president after Trump’s first term, and so far in 2025 have yet to show a decline, according to industry data. China, which opposes unilateral sanctions, buys the bulk of Iran’s shipments.

“That’s actually very doable. President Trump actually did it in the first term,” Wright says when asked how the United States can enforce its maximum pressure policy on Tehran. “We can follow the ships leaving Iran. We know where they go. We can stop Iran’s export of oil.

“I’m not going to talk about the specific methodology of how that’s going to happen. But can we turn the screws on Iran 100%,” he says when asked if the United States would stop Iranian ships at sea.

Iran said earlier today that it was giving high-level nuclear talks with the United States on Saturday “a genuine chance” after Trump threatened bombing if discussions failed.

Wright also predicts that there would be a positive outlook for oil demand and supply in the next few years under Trump’s policies, and the concern of markets about economic growth will be proven wrong.

IDF officers allowed rabbi, aide, to meet soldiers in Syria before Passover without proper approval

IDF officers allowed prominent Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, 82, and one of his aides to enter Syria earlier this month to meet with soldiers ahead of Passover.

The military says that their entry to Syria was not approved through the correct channels. However, no punishments are expected to be handed out.

According to the IDF, Aviner and his aide are active reservists and they entered Syria as part of their role in reserves, “to deliver content ahead of Passover.”

“Their entry into Syrian territory was approved without the relevant authority,” the army says, adding that it investigated the process in which their entry to Syria was approved and “the procedures were sharpened.”

The IDF has been deployed to nine posts inside southern Syria since the fall of the Assad regime in December, mostly within a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the border between the countries. There have been only two minor incidents of troops coming under fire since then, during operations deeper inside Syria and not at the posts near the border.

In November, civilian researcher Zeev Erlich, 71, who was not in the reserves, was allowed into an area of southern Lebanon where fighting was taking place. He entered without the correct approval and was killed, alongside a soldier who was escorting him.

צה״ל מתחקר את הכנסת הרב שלמה אבינר ועוזרו לשטח סוריה כדי להעביר תכנים ללוחמים לקראת חג הפסח – מבלי שקיבלו את האישור הנדרש לכך@Doron_Kadosh pic.twitter.com/sRRcZ2UhVg

— גלצ (@GLZRadio) April 2, 2025

UN shipping agency approves carbon price, will go in effect from 2028

LONDON, United Kingdom — Member states of the Intentional Maritime Organization vote in favor of a global pricing system to help curb maritime emissions, the UN shipping body announces.

The system — which Pacific Island states deem insufficiently ambitious — requires all ships worldwide to either use a less carbon-intensive fuel mix or be made to pay for excess carbon from 2028.

IAF chief says pilots’ letter demanding hostage deal ‘weakens the solidarity’ of force

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (left) IAF chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, at the Nevatim Airbase in southern Israel, March 11, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

In a missive to members of the Israeli Air Force, IAF chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar slams a letter signed by some 1,000 veterans, most of them retirees, demanding the return of the hostages even if it comes at the cost of ending the war against Hamas entirely.

“The manifesto that was published weakens the solidarity and leads to generalizations that affect servicemembers who are not partners to these views, as well as the entire [IAF],” Bar writes.

“It is not appropriate for active reservists to call to stop the war, which they themselves take part in. We cannot allow this in any unit that participates in the war, including the Air Force,” he says.

Bar says that he is “forced to act and declare that active reservists who signed the manifesto cannot continue to serve in the IDF.”

“This is a policy designed to maintain a strong, cohesive, and functioning [IAF],” he says.

Bar says it is a “painful, but necessary process.”

“Over the past week, we have had conversations with those involved. This message was delivered directly and indirectly, to separate the military from politics,” he says, adding that the IAF “will continue to operate like this in the future as well.”

“When we stand together in a full partnership, we will stand up to every challenge and complete each task successfully. This is a historic time, we must remain strong and united. Only then can we win. As the Air Force commander, I am committed to you, all of the servicemembers,” he says.

“May we stand with responsibility and professionalism with all the tasks we are given,” he adds.

In rare effort, top Iranian officials urged Khamenei to allow talks with US, or risk fall of regime — report

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei leads Eid al-Fitr prayer marking the end of the Ramadan at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, on March 31, 2025. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was urged by top officials to allow negotiations with the United States on their nuclear program or risk the fall of the Islamic regime, The New York Times reports.

The report cites two senior Iranian officials who are familiar with the meeting last month.

The meeting was attended by heads of the judiciary and parliament, who, in what the sources described as a rare coordinated effort, pressured Khamenei into accepting talks with Washington, even direct ones.

Those who attended the meeting told Khamenei that the threat of military action by the US and Israel against its nuclear sites was serious. The country, already in economic shambles, would be forced to respond, but then would also likely be plunged into domestic unrest if it were to go to war, the report says.

The combination of such events would amount to an existential threat to the Islamic Republic, the officials told Khamenei, the report says.

US-Iran talks on Iran’s nuclear program are set to be held in Oman on Saturday.

Saudis call for ‘maximum pressure’ to force Israel to allow aid into Gaza

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid line up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on March 2, 2025 after Israel suspended the entry of supplies into the Palestinian enclave. (AFP)

Saudi Arabia calls for pressure to ensure the steady flow of aid into the war-battered Gaza Strip after Israel imposed a blockade on the entry of crucial humanitarian supplies.

“I demand the exercise of maximum pressure to ensure the continuous and sufficient flow of aid into the Strip,” Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan says after a meeting with regional counterparts in southern Turkey.

The halt to aid was placed in March when Hamas refused to extend the first phase of a January 19 ceasefire deal and release more hostages that it kidnapped on October 7, 2023.

Times of Israel contributed to this report.

IDF counters misleading Guardian report, says it is not letting civilians hike in newly seized Syrian territory

A map showing hiking trails that have been reopened in northern Israel ahead of the Passover festival, April 11, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Countering a Guardian report, the IDF says it is not allowing civilians into newly occupied Syrian territory for hikes during Passover.

On April 3, following a misleading Ynet report, the IDF responded to a query by saying: “The trails in the Golan Heights are within Israeli territory, and are not in Syria. The trails that are being opened in the Golan Heights were open in the past, except for one trail, the Ruqqad River, located near the Hejaz railway, a route that was open years back. In preparation for Passover, the Northern Command, together with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, the Defense Ministry, and the local authorities, are reopening or opening for the first time trails for hikes in northern Israel. The opening of these routes is enabled following the creation of a security reality in the north that allows the routes to be opened to the general public.”

On April 6, the military in a press release said that during an assessment, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir “emphasized his instructions that the IDF will not allow civilians to go on hikes over the international border, but only in Israeli territory and in places where hikes were held in the past, in accordance with the security situation.”

Today, the IDF in a press release published a map showing the newly opened hiking trails, saying that, “in accordance with an assessment of the operational situation, the IDF will allow the reopening of hiking trails in the north of the country which during the war were defined as a closed military zones to the general public. Entry to trails that cross the border fence, in Israeli territory, is prohibited.”

Levin: Oslo Accords, Gaza pullout main policy causes of Oct. 7 massacre

Justice Minister Yariv Levin tells the Makor Rishon daily that the most profound policy failures leading to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught were the 1993 Oslo Accords and the 2005 disengagement from Gaza.

“It is the basis for the whole thing. But of course, decisions at the political echelon for years, including this government, also impacted the final result,” he says.

“Without a doubt, throughout these years, everyone who has held key positions over the years has a responsibility. I also think that there is a need here for a real investigation, but by a commission of inquiry or investigator that everyone has faith in,” he adds, rejecting a panel that has any connection with “extremist” anti-government protests in Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street.

IDF says six companies added to West Bank division for Passover; 85 wanted Palestinians detained this week

Israeli soldiers watch from a hill after army bulldozers demolished houses belonging to the Al-Hirsh family, in the village of Al-Rihaya, south the West Bank city of Hebron on April 10, 2025. (HAZEM BADER / AFP)

The IDF says it has bolstered the West Bank division with six additional companies, whose troops will operate in the area over the Passover holiday.

Over the past week, the IDF says 85 wanted Palestinians were detained in the West Bank.

‘Future viability of Palestinians as a group’ threatened in Gaza by Israeli actions, UN says

Displaced Palestinians line up to fill their containers with water at the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on April 10, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

GENEVA, Switzerland — The United Nations warns that the cumulative impact of Israel’s actions in Gaza threatened “the future viability of Palestinians as a group” in the war-torn territory.

“The death, the destruction, the displacement, the denial of access to basic necessities within Gaza and the repeated suggestion that Gazans should leave the territory entirely raise real concerns as to the future viability of Palestinians as a group in Gaza,” UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani tells reporters in Geneva.

Coalition lawmakers receive envelopes with suspicious substances

Several coalition lawmakers were sent envelopes containing suspicious substances this week.

Otzma Yehudit MK Almog Cohen, Likud’s Moshe Saada and Ariel Kallner, and United Torah Judaism’s Yitzhak Pindrus received the envelopes either at their homes or offices.

Fire and Rescue services say substances have been sent to a lab for testing.

Kallner says in a statement that he believes the envelopes are “the result of insane incitement against the government and prime minister,” and accuses Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and her office of turning a blind eye to the incitement.

IAF confirms it participated with Qatar in aerial exercises hosted by Greece

An Israeli Air Force Gulfstream G550 spy plane is seen in Greece amid the Iniochos exercise, in a handout photo published on April 11, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF finally comments on its participation in an annual aerial exercise hosted by Greece, which this year included the participation of Qatar.

Eleven other countries joined Greece in its Iniochos exercise this year: the United States, France, India, Israel, Italy, Montenegro, Poland, Qatar, Slovenia, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates.

Cyprus participated with supporting personnel, and Slovakia and Bahrain have sent observers.

The Israeli Air Force only sent a Gulfstream G550 spy plane, from the 122nd Squadron, for the drill, the military confirms. In previous years, the IAF sent several fighter jet squadrons and refuelers, in addition to spy planes.

The drill began on March 24 and ended today. The IDF refused to comment on the drill until it had concluded.

In a statement, the IDF says that its participation in the exercise is “intended to strengthen strategic cooperation with foreign armies, improve the competence of the participating forces, and to give the crews a professional challenge in flight conditions in an unknown environment and with varying threats.”

The IDF does not mention the countries that participated in the drill.

The Hellenic Air Force said last month that the drill is meant to simulate a variety of scenarios, including evading attacks, strikes, and search and rescue.

Families to hold Passover Seder at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, ask public to join

Members of Kibbutz Be'eri set the table for a Passover Seder at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. April 22, 2024. (GIL COHEN-MAGEN / AFP)

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum invites the public to join them for a Passover Seder in solidarity with captives’ relatives at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv.

“How can we sit at the Seder table and tell the story of our journey from slavery to freedom while 59 of our brothers and sisters are still held captive by Hamas?” a statement by the group reads.

The event will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday evening, on Passover Eve.

Karina Ariev, who was released in January as part of a ceasefire deal, urges the public to “leave an empty chair for the hostages and do not forget them” at their Passover Seder.

“I am addressing you now, just days before Passover – the Festival of Freedom – and thinking about all our brothers and sisters who have not yet returned. I think about them, and I think about us because until they return, none of us can truly be free,” she says in a video message.

“During the Seder, we read the verse ‘In every generation, a person must see themselves as if they personally left Egypt,’ and this meaning changes after experiencing captivity,” she adds. “Although I am here, my heart is still there. There are still 59 hostages waiting for their freedom holiday, waiting to be brought home.”

Netanyahu: Small ‘anarchistic’ group behind reservist letters demanding hostage deal; they want to overthrow government

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the Tel Aviv District Court for testimony in the corruption trial against him, April 9, 2025. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says letters by military reservists urging the government to prioritize a deal to release hostages over the continuation of the war against Hamas represent a small minority funded by organizations wanting to overthrow his government.

“It is a small, noisy, anarchistic, and disconnected group of pensioners, a large group of whom have not served for years,” he says.

“These weeds are trying to weaken the State of Israel and the IDF, and are encouraging our enemy to harm us,” he states. “They already broadcast a message of weakness to our enemies once. We won’t allow them to do this again.”

“Israeli citizens learned the lesson — a refusal to serve is a refusal to serve, no matter what dirty name they give it,” Netanyahu says.

The recent letters released have not included threats by signatories to stop showing up for reserve duties but rather appeals to the government to reach an agreement to halt the war and release hostages held in Gaza.

“Whoever encourages refusal will be fired immediately,” he says.

UN says Israeli strikes in Gaza have largely killed women and children

GENEVA, Switzerland — The United Nations decries the impact of ongoing Israeli strikes across Gaza on civilians, finding that “a large percentage of fatalities are children and women.”

“Between 18 March and 9 April 2025, there were some 224 incidents of Israeli strikes on residential buildings and tents for internally displaced people,” the UN human rights office says, adding that “in some 36 strikes about which the UN Human Rights Office corroborated information, the fatalities recorded so far were only women and children.”

Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

IDF says troops found Hamas tunnel built under Rafah kindergarten

Troops of the Golani Brigade operate in southern Gaza's Rafah, in a handout photo issued on April 11, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

In southern Gaza’s Rafah, the IDF says troops of the Golani Brigade located a Hamas tunnel built under a kindergarten.

One of the tunnel’s entrances was located in the yard of the daycare, footage released by the military shows. According to the IDF, a school is located 100 meters away.

Troops of the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit scanned the tunnel, which was found to be several dozen meters long and booby-trapped with explosives. The tunnel led to a “key” Hamas underground passageway, the IDF says.

The tunnel was later demolished.

Footage released by the IDF on April 11, 2025, shows a Hamas tunnel under a daycare in southern Gaza’s Rafah. (Israel Defense Forces)

Police rescue two monkeys in Negev as part of crackdown on illegal animal trade

A monkey, likely trafficked into Israel, after being rescued by police in the Negev on April 10, 2025. (Israel Police)

Police rescued another two Guenon monkeys last night in the Negev, a law enforcement spokesman says.

The two were located as part of a larger crackdown by law enforcement against an animal smuggling ring thought to be trafficking monkeys and lion cubs into Israel.

The investigation has been ongoing for over a month, with officers rescuing the first trafficked monkey on March 5. With today’s rescue, police have found a total of 29 monkeys in Israel since the investigation began.

A spokesman adds that cops located four monkeys within 24 hours. Officers yesterday found an abandoned monkey trapped in a cage near Taybeh, in northern Israel, and the day before that found another monkey in the southern city of Dimona.

The Nature and Parks Authority transferred both monkeys captured today to a sanctuary for further treatment, and police say they are continuing to track down the culprits.

2 Galilee residents arrested for planning attacks with West Bank terror group, police say

Israel Police say they arrested two Galilee residents for planning attacks with the Tulkarem Brigades terror group.

Nur Shabaat, a resident of the town of Nahf, and Amir Kaywan, a resident of the nearby village of Deir al-Assad, were arrested in March.

During interrogation by police and the Shin Bet security service, it was found that Shabaat made contact with the Tulkarem Brigades to participate in their activities, as well as the activities of other terror groups in the West Bank.

Shabaat then asked Kaywan for assistance with the plans, including asking Kaywan on several occasions to carry out stabbing attacks against security forces on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem during Ramadan.

Indictments were filed today against the two, listing several security offenses, police say.

250 reservists from IDF’s 8200 intel unit back pilots who called for hostages’ release

Then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meets with soldiers of Unit 8200, at one of the unit's bases, May 19, 2024. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)

Some 250 reservists from the IDF’s 8200 intelligence unit are voicing public support for the Israeli Air Force pilots who recently called for an immediate shift in the government’s war policy, according to a letter released to media outlets.

In their statement, the intelligence unit reservists say they “join the call of the aircrews in demanding the immediate return of the hostages, even at the cost of an immediate change in the conduct of the war.”

Their declaration adds to a growing wave of criticism from within Israel’s reserve forces. In recent days, reservist doctors and navy veterans have also released letters warning that the current course of the war endangers both hostages and soldiers and calling on the government to act immediately to bring the hostages home.

https://twitter.com/bar_peleg/status/1910601630556344452

Responding to Trump, China slaps 125% tariffs on US imports

Vehicles pass in front of an electronic sign board showing the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong on April 11, 2025. (PETER PARKS / AFP)

BEIJING, China — Beijing increases its tariffs on US imports to 125 percent, hitting back against US President Donald Trump’s decision to hike duties on Chinese goods to 145%, raising the stakes in a trade war that threatens to upend global supply chains.

The hike comes after the White House kept the pressure on the world’s No.2 economy and second-biggest provider of US imports by singling it out for an additional tariff increase, having paused most of the “reciprocal” duties imposed on dozens of other countries.

“The US imposition of abnormally high tariffs on China seriously violates international and economic trade rules, basic economic laws and common sense and is completely unilateral bullying and coercion,” China’s Finance Ministry says in a statement.

IDF says recent strike killed Hamas sniper forces commander in Rafah

IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip, in a handout photo issued on April 11, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The commander of Hamas’s sniper forces in the terror group’s Tel Sultan Battalion, in southern Gaza’s Rafah, was killed in a recent strike, the military says.

According to the IDF, the sniper commander, Ahmad Iyad Muhammad Farhat, was responsible for advancing and carrying out numerous attacks on Israeli troops in Gaza and against Israel.

The IDF’s Gaza Division has been operating in Rafah’s Tel Sultan and Shaboura neighborhoods since last month. In the past day, the military says troops killed several operatives and destroyed booby-trapped buildings.

Nearby, between Rafah and Khan Younis, the IDF says the 36th Division advanced in the so-called Morag Corridor, during which troops killed operatives and destroyed above-ground and underground infrastructure used by Hamas.

In northern Gaza, the 252nd Division located and destroyed additional Hamas infrastructure, and a tank shelled a group of armed operatives, killing them, the IDF says.

Also over the past day, Israeli Air Force fighter jets, drones, and helicopters struck some 40 targets in Gaza.

The IDF says the targets include cells of operatives, buildings used by terror groups, weapons, and other infrastructure.

Khamenei aide says Iran wants ‘real and fair’ nuclear deal with US

TEHRAN — A senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says that Iran seeks a “real and fair” nuclear agreement with the United States, ahead of the talks in Oman.

“Iran’s foreign minister will go to Oman with full authority for indirect negotiations with America. Far from putting up a show and merely talking in front of the cameras, Tehran is seeking a real and fair agreement,” Ali Shamkhani says on X.

Netanyahu shares post by GOP senator backing decision to fire Shin Bet chief

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shares a post by Republican Senator Tom Cotton who backs his decision to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, translating the text into Hebrew.

In the post on X, Cotton writes, “It’s not a ‘threat to democracy’ for an elected head of state to have the power to remove the chief of an intelligence service — it’s essential to democracy. And if Prime Minister Netanyahu has lost confidence in this intelligence chief, how can the US government have confidence in him?”

The High Court of Justice issued an interim injunction on Tuesday stating that Bar must remain in office until further notice and giving the government and the attorney general until April 20 to reach a compromise over the legal dispute surrounding the unprecedented vote last month to fire him.

When asked for comment on the government’s decision to fire Bar, a US State Department spokesperson told The Times of Israel last month, “This is an internal matter for the government of Israel, so we refer you to them for more information.”

הסנאטור טום קוטון יו״ר ועדת המודיעין של הסנאט האמריקני:

״זה לא ׳איום על הדמוקרטיה׳ כשלראש ממשלה נבחר יש סמכות להדיח את ראש השב״כ-זה תנאי הכרחי בדמוקרטיה. ואם ראש הממשלה נתניהו איבד אמון בראש השב״כ הזה, כיצד יכול הממשל האמריקני לתת בו אמון?״@SenTomCotton pic.twitter.com/ycBh5aRR3l

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) April 11, 2025

Jacob Magid and Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.

In Passover message, Netanyahu notes many families to mark festival with ’empty chairs’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issues a Passover video message, noting that families of hostages and fallen and seriously injured soldiers will be marking the festival with “empty chairs.”

“But from this void, the clear voice of our fallen heroes rises like the last message of the late Elkana Vizel, who wrote to his family: ‘Do not be sad when you say goodbye to me. Sing and strengthen each other, because we are the generation of redemption,” Netanyahu says.

The premier adds that, “We are the generation of revival, the generation of victory. Together we will return our hostages, together we will defeat our enemies, together we will embrace the injured and together we will bow our heads to remember the fallen.”

“On October 7, there were those who believed we would drown in the sea by the enemy armies. But not only did we not drown, we stood as one, and with a strong and outstretched hand we broke the axis of evil,” he says.

“The entire world looks in amazement at our ancient people, who time and again prevail over those who seek to kill us,” he says, adding that both God and a fighting spirit save the Jewish people throughout the generations.

Man shot dead in northern city as crime continues to spiral in Arab community

Illustrative: A police car at the scene of a crime. (lunopark/Shutterstock.com)

A 60-year-old man was shot dead in the northern city of Shfaram this morning, police and paramedics say.

Magen David Adom paramedics found the victim, who has not yet been named, without signs of life at around 8 a.m. and pronounced him dead at the scene. Police say they have opened an investigation but have not yet made any arrests.

Since the start of the year, 69 Arab Israelis have been killed in violent criminal incidents, in a hiking crime wave that has worsened significantly over the past two years.

Yesterday morning, brothers Jalal and Matin al-Shamali were murdered on the backdrop of an ongoing family dispute in Ramle. The victims’ two brothers had also been killed in two separate incidents in 2019 and 2020 due to the same feud.

Police later that day arrested three residents suspected of involvement in the crime.

The majority of Arab sector murder cases are left unsolved by law enforcement, with many community leaders criticizing police for not doing enough to deter violent crime in Arab locales.

IDF issues evacuation warning for parts of east Gaza City

The IDF issues an evacuation warning for Palestinians residing in some areas of eastern Gaza City.

In a post on X, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, publishes a map of the area to be evacuated, which includes the neighborhoods of Shejaiya, Zeitoun, and Tuffah.

He says that the military will soon operate “with great force” there to “destroy terror infrastructure.”

Civilians are called to head for shelters in western Gaza City.

#عاجل ‼️ انذار عاجل وتحذير خطير الى جميع سكان قطاع غزة المتواجدين في منطقة الشجاعية وأحياء اجديدة، التركمان، توسعة نفوذ، الزيتون الشرقي, النور والتفاح
⭕️جيش الدفاع يعمل بقوة شديدة في مناطقكم لتدمير البنى التحتية الإرهابية.
⭕️من أجل سلامتكم عليكم اخلاء هذه المناطق فوراً… pic.twitter.com/mcO5XThOOV

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) April 11, 2025

Gazan civil defense says 10 killed in airstrike on Khan Younis

Gaza’s civil defense agency reports that a pre-dawn Israeli air strike today killed 10 members of the same family, including seven children, in the southern city of Khan Younis.

“Ten people, including seven children, were brought to the hospital as martyrs following an Israeli air strike that targeted the al-Farra family home in central Khan Younis,” agency spokesperson Mahmud Bassal tells AFP.

The figures cannot be verified, and the IDF has not yet commented on the strike.

Danish court to rule if Israel arms sale case is admissible

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A Copenhagen court is to rule today whether a lawsuit filed by four humanitarian organizations accusing Denmark of violating international law by exporting weapons to Israel is admissible in court.

The Palestinian human rights association Al-Haq, Amnesty International, Oxfam, and Action Aid Denmark filed the lawsuit against the Danish Foreign Ministry and national police last year.

They said in a statement there was a risk that “Danish military materiel was being used to commit serious crimes against civilians in Gaza.”

The associations targeted the foreign ministry in their lawsuit since it “determines whether there is a risk that weapons and weapons components could be used to violate human rights” and the police because it was the authority responsible for issuing export licenses.

Denmark’s Eastern High Court is expected to announce its decision around 10:00 am (0800 GMT).

“We are the biggest human rights organization in the world and our mandate is clearly to protect human rights,” the secretary general of the Danish branch of Amnesty International, Vibe Klarup, says in a statement.

Iran says it is giving nuclear talks with US ‘a genuine chance’

Centrifuges line a hall at the Uranium Enrichment Facility in Natanz, Iran, in a still image from a video aired by the Islamic Republic Iran Broadcasting company on April 17, 2021, six days after the hall had been damaged in a mysterious attack. (IRIB via AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran is giving talks with its arch-foe the United States this weekend “a genuine chance,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson posts on X.

US President Donald Trump made a surprise announcement on Monday that Washington and Tehran were poised to begin direct talks in Oman on Saturday over Iran’s nuclear program, warning that the Islamic Republic would be in “great danger” if the talks were unsuccessful.

The announcement caused some confusion because Iran had said the talks would be indirect with the Omanis acting as mediators.

Iran, previously stating it wouldn’t be bullied into negotiations, said that the US should value this decision despite “their prevailing confrontational hoopla.”

Israel, Egypt exchange draft proposals aimed at reaching hostage deal — report

Israel and Egypt have exchanged draft documents on a ceasefire-hostage release deal, Kan radio reports.

The proposals are aimed at bridging an Egyptian compromise proposal and US special envoy Steve Witkoff’s proposal on a deal, the report says.

Senior Israeli officials tell Kan that it is possible to reach a deal soon.

The Egyptian proposal reported earlier this week provides for the release of eight living hostages and eight bodies of hostages in exchange for a truce lasting between 40 and 70 days and a large number of Palestinian terrorist and prisoner releases.

Witkoff proposed a deal last month that would see the release of five hostages in exchange for a large number of Palestinian security prisoners, in exchange for a two-month ceasefire.

Leading Palestinian-American resigns from Harvard after lawsuit claims he aided Hamas

Palestinian entrepreneur Bashar al-Masri in front of his residential project of Rawabi in the West Bank, on February 23, 2014. (Hadas Parush/Flash 90/File)

A prominent Palestinian-American businessman, Bashar Masri, quits his position at Harvard University after a lawsuit alleged he abetted Hamas with development projects in Gaza.

Masri served on the dean’s council at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. The school confirms to The New York Post that Masri has resigned.

“The lawsuit raises serious allegations that should be vetted and addressed through the legal process,” a spokesperson tells the news outlet.

The lawsuit, filed earlier this week by victims of October 7 and their families, alleges that Hamas deceived Israel ahead of the invasion by feigning an interest in developing Gaza, and that Masri and his companies were “an integral part of that grand deception.”

“They owned and operated flagship properties in Gaza that they knowingly and deliberately integrated into Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure and that were crucial elements in Hamas’s attack plan on October 7,” the lawsuit says.

Trump nominates Yehuda Kaploun as US special envoy for combatting antisemitism

Donald Trump and Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun light a candle during an October 7th remembrance event at the Trump National Doral Golf Club, on October 7, 2024, in Doral, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP)

US President Donald Trump announces the nomination of Yehuda Kaploun as the US special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism.

“Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, Ambassador-at-Large. Yehuda is a successful businessman, and staunch advocate for the Jewish Faith and the Rights of his people to live and worship free from persecution,” Trump writes in a post on Truth Social. “With Anti-Semitism dangerously on the rise, Yehuda will be the strongest Representative for Americans and Jews across the Globe, and promote PEACE. Congratulations Yehuda!”

Ex-hostage recalls Passover in Gaza, says remaning captives ‘in chains’ during holiday

Freed hostage Agam Berger returns to her home in Holon, March 14, 2025. (Jonathan Shaul/Flash90)

Freed hostage Agam Berger describes observing the Passover holiday last year while being held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, and how keeping her Jewish faith helped her endure the hardships of captivity, in an op-ed published today for the Wall Street Journal.

“Even as Hamas tried to coerce me into converting to Islam — at times, forcing a hijab on my head — they couldn’t take away my soul,” writes Berger in the piece.

“Our faith and covenant with God, the story we remember on Passover, is more powerful than any cruel captor,” says Berger.

Berger, 20, says that throughout her 482 days in captivity, she chose to observe every Jewish fast that she could, refusing certain foods to keep kosher, and “chose not to light a fire on Shabbat to cook for my captors.”

“They stopped letting me cook altogether once they realized it was something I enjoyed,” she adds.

Berger writes that last Passover, she and fellow hostage Liri Albag, who was released with Berger, marked the holiday together “in a small room with no natural light.”

Berger says they tidied up the room and decorated with small scraps of paper, and that Liri surprised Berger by writing her “a makeshift Passover Haggadah, the text that recounts our ancestors’ journey out of slavery.”

The two women, along with Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, and Naama Levy, were kidnapped from the IDF’s Nahal Oz military base on October 7, 2023, and released by the terror group in late January as part of a hostage-ceasefire deal that has since collapsed.

”While I will celebrate this holiday with my family, it won’t yet be full. There are 59 hostages still held in Gaza, 24 of whom are believed to be alive. This is their second Passover in chains of iron. We can’t allow a third,” Berger continues.

“We are commanded to remember the Exodus every day. This demands that we continue our efforts to bring home our captive brothers, and to fight to ensure the atrocities of that autumn Sabbath never occur again,” she says.

12 anti-Israel protesters charged with felonies for barricading themselves in Stanford president’s office

Students walk by graffiti saying 'Death to Israel' near the office of the President at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, June 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)

WASHINGTON — Twelve protesters are charged with felony vandalism for their actions during a June 2024 pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protest at Stanford University in which demonstrators barricaded themselves inside the office of the school president.

Those charged, ranging in age from 19 to 32, entered the building and demonstrated a “conspiracy to occupy” it, prosecutors say, adding that at least one suspect entered the building by breaking a window. All suspects wore masks, they say.

Dozens of other protesters surrounded the building and chanted: “Palestine will be free.”

At the time, the university said 13 people were arrested during the protest, one police officer was injured, and the building suffered “extensive” damage.

Protesters renamed the building “Dr. Adnan’s Office” in honor of Adnan Al-Bursh, a Palestinian doctor who died in an Israeli prison after months of detention.

Those charged could not immediately be reached and it is unclear whether they retained legal representation.

US President Donald Trump’s administration has threatened to withhold federal funding from universities, including Stanford, over allegations that they failed to stop antisemitism and intimidation of Jewish students.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

US administration seeking consent decree on Columbia over campus antisemitism — WSJ

Anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian demonstrators rally in support of activist Mahmoud Khalil, outside of Columbia University on March 24, 2025, in New York City. (Spencer Platt/ Getty Images/ AFP)

The Trump administration is working to force Columbia University into a consent decree that would legally bind the school to follow federal guidelines in how it combats antisemitism, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The newspaper, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, reports that the potential consent decree is part of the administration’s negotiations with the university over freeing up $400 million in federal funding that has been blocked.

Columbia University says in an emailed statement that it “remains in active dialogue with the Federal Government to restore its critical research funding.”

The White House does not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Justice Department declines to comment.

Any consent decree with Columbia could last for years and would give a federal judge oversight powers for ensuring that the school adheres to any agreements it meets with the federal government on how it addresses antisemitism, the Journal says.

Report: Iran considering proposing interim nuclear deal in talks with US

A handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency shows President Masoud Pezeshkian (2nd R) and the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) chief Mohammad Eslami (R) during the 'National Day of Nuclear Technology,' in Tehran, on April 9, 2025. (Iranian Presidency / AFP)

Iran is weighing up proposing an interim nuclear agreement to the US ahead of planned talks between the two countries in Oman this Saturday, the Axios news site reports.

Tehran is concerned that US President Donald Trump’s reported two-month deadline for reaching a deal is too limited, and is seeking more time to avoid a military escalation by the US or Israel, says Axios, citing a European diplomat and a source familiar with the matter.

An interim agreement could reportedly involve Iran partly reducing its uranium enrichment activity and allowing the UN increased access to its nuclear facilities, as a confidence-building step to a more comprehensive agreement. The report says that in response, Iran would likely demand that Trump ease his “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign against Tehran.

With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his side, Trump declared on Monday that his administration was holding direct talks with Iran on its nuclear program, though the assertion was quickly denied by Tehran, which did, however, acknowledge indirect talks.

“If the talks aren’t successful,” Trump warned, “it’ll be a very bad day for Iran.”

US Treasury targets Chinese oil storage terminal as part of new Iran sanctions

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on Iranian oil trading networks, including on a China-based crude oil storage terminal linked via a pipeline to an independent refinery, just days before direct talks between the US and Iran.

The US imposes sanctions on Guangsha Zhoushan Energy Group Co, Ltd, which it says operates a crude oil and petroleum products terminal on Huangzeshan Island in Zhoushan, China. The terminal knowingly engages with acquiring oil from Iran, and is directly connected through the Huangzeshan–Yushan Undersea Oil Pipeline to an independent refinery known as a “teapot” plant, the US State Department says.

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

The terminal has acquired Iranian crude oil at least nine times between 2021 and 2025, including from US-sanctioned vessels, and has imported at least 13 million barrels of Iranian crude oil, it says.

China, the largest importer of Iranian oil, does not recognize US sanctions. China and Iran have built a trading system that uses mostly Chinese yuan and a network of middlemen, avoiding the dollar and exposure to US regulators.

The Chinese embassy in Washington does not immediately respond to a request for comment. But in response to a sanction on a teapot refinery last month, a spokesperson said: “China has always been firmly opposed to illegal and unjustifiable unilateral sanctions and so-called long-arm jurisdiction by the US.”

Second US aircraft carrier arrives in Middle East

WASHINGTON — A second American aircraft carrier has reached the Middle East, where Washington’s forces are carrying out near-daily air strikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the US military says.

The USS Carl Vinson — which is armed with F-35C stealth warplanes — is now working alongside the USS Harry S. Truman in the region, US Central Command says in a post on X that featured side-by-side video clips of aircraft taking off from the two ships.

The Pentagon announced last week that it was increasing the number of American carriers in the Middle East to two, after launching the latest round of its air campaign against the Iran-backed Houthis in March in a bid to end the threat they pose to civilian shipping and military vessels in the region.

Aircraft Carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) with its air wing consisting of F-35C Lightning IIs works alongside the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. pic.twitter.com/c2p4yxmBpj

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) April 10, 2025