April 12: White House: Direct contact with Iran marks step toward mutually beneficial outcome

‘Screw you!’: Yair Netanyahu hits back at Macron for backing Palestinian statehood

Yair Netanyahu arrives for a court hearing in Tel Aviv, on November 29, 2022. (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90)

“Screw you!” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son Yair writes to French President Emmanuel Macron on X after the latter expresses his support for the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Earlier this week, Macron said France might formally recognize a Palestinian state in the coming months.

The younger Netanyahu — a conservative social media activist based in Miami — calls for the independence of a series of territories under French control in response to Macron’s support for Palestinian sovereignty.

While the older Netanyahu has several times distanced himself from his son’s rhetoric, insisting that Yair holds his own beliefs, the prime minister has adopted some of his rhetoric more recently, particularly regarding the existence of a “deep state” in Israel.

Yair is one of a handful of hardline commentators to attack Macron for his post from both the far-left and the far-right who accuse him of ignoring Israel’s “genocide” and “rewarding Palestinian terrorism” respectively.

Screw you! Yes to independence of New Caledonia! Yes to independence to French Polynesia! Yes to independence of Corsica! Yes to independence of the Basque Country! Yes to independence of French Guinea! Stop the neo imperialism of France in west Africa! https://t.co/Vwa3a8fN2c

— Yair Netanyahu???????? (@YairNetanyahu) April 12, 2025

28-year-old man shot dead in his car in Sakhnin; police launch investigation

Police have opened a murder investigation after that fatal shooting of a 28-year-old man in his car in Sakhnin, in northern Israel.

The man was found in critical condition by medics and rushed to hospital, but died of his injuries shortly afterward.

Man killed in car crash near Ma’ale Adumim settlement

A man has been killed near Ma’ale Adumim after his vehicle overturned and caught fire on Route 1 near the West Bank settlement.

Paramedics who arrived at the scene were unable to assist and were forced to declare his death.

IDF orders evacuation of six central Gaza neighborhoods after rocket fired from the area

The IDF’s Arabic spokesperson calls on residents of six neighborhoods in the Nuseirat area of central Gaza to evacuate after a rocket was launched by terrorists in the area.

The practice has become standard throughout the war, particularly since Israel resumed its military offensive in Gaza a month ago through which they have squeezed Gaza’s largely displaced population of two million people toward the coast.

#عاجل ‼️ إلى جميع سكان قطاع غزة المتواجدين في منطقة النصيرات وفي الأحياء: الايمان، التقوى، البساتين، الزهراء، البوادي، النزهة
🔴هذا انذار مسبق وأخير قبل الهجوم!🔴
⭕️سنهاجم بقوة شديدة كل منطقة يتم إطلاق قذائف صاروخية منها.
⭕️تتحمل المنظمات الارهابية وفي مقدمتها حماس المسؤولية… pic.twitter.com/dOjCRllrGG

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) April 12, 2025

‘The holidays are over’: Aunt of slain hostage Inbar Haiman holds Passover Seder outside PM’s residence

Inbar Haiman, taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 from the Supernova desert rave. It was announced on December 16 that she was killed by Hamas in Gaza. (Courtesy)

The aunt of slain hostage Inbar Haiman, whose body is still held by Hamas in Gaza, held a Passover Seder by herself outside of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence.

“For us, the holidays are over. The Shabbat is over. The days of joy are over,” Hannah Cohen says in a statement.

“The prime minister needs to understand that we cannot recover without Inbar and without the other 58 hostages who remain in Gaza,” Cohen adds.

White House: Direct contact with Iran marks step toward mutually beneficial outcome

In its first official statement after today’s nuclear talks between the US and Iran in Oman, the White House characterizes the discussions as “very positive and constructive.”

While acknowledging that the issues at hand are “very complicated,” the White House notes that US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff’s “direct communication” with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi “was a step forward in achieving a mutually beneficial outcome.”

The White House statement confirms that the sides “agreed to meet again next Saturday” and thanks Oman for hosting the talks.

Witkoff told Araghchi “that he had instructions from President Trump to resolve our two nations’ differences through dialogue and diplomacy, if that is possible,” the White House statement says.

IDF says it intercepted Gaza rocket fired at southern Israel on Passover eve

The IDF says it successfully intercepted a rocket launched from Gaza, which triggered sirens in several open areas belonging to Israeli southern border towns.

Iran, US ‘very close’ to agreeing on content of talks — Araghchi

Tehran and Washington are very close to an agreement on the content of future negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says after a first round of talks in Oman.

“During the meeting, I think we came very close to a basis for negotiations,” Araghchi tells Iranian state television. “At our next meeting, if we can finalize that basis, we will have gone a large part of the way.”

Hundreds feared killed in Sudan as RSF launches attack on famine-stricken camp

A devastating assault by Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Zamzam Camp for displaced people near al-Fasher has left hundreds dead or wounded, the foreign ministry and aid groups say, in what some described as one of the worst violations since the war began.

The first wave of multiple attacks began on Thursday, according to a release from advocacy group the General Coordination of Displaced Persons and Refugees, with the assaults continuing through Friday and Saturday, destroying homes, markets, and healthcare facilities.

That left “hundreds dead and wounded, the majority of whom were also women and children,” the organization said. It condemned the attack as “a war crime and crime against humanity.”

Similar assaults on Abu Shouk Camp earlier in the week killed 35 civilians, it added. “The humanitarian situation in al-Fasher is collapsing,” its statement read, pointing to famine, a lack of medicine, and total insecurity.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator Clementine Nkweta-Salami says in a statement that at least 100 civilians were killed in Abu Shouk and Zamzam camps, which host over 700,000 displaced people, many of whom are now trapped without safe refuge.

The RSF dismissed allegations of atrocities in Zamzam Camp as fabricated, claiming a recently circulated video depicting civilian suffering was staged by the Sudanese army.

In a statement, it accuses its rivals of orchestrating a media campaign using actors and staged scenes within the camp to falsely incriminate them.

It denies responsibility for any attacks on civilians, reiterated its commitment to international humanitarian law, and criticized what it described as a propaganda effort aimed at tarnishing its reputation and distracting from the real crimes committed against the Sudanese people.

Syrian officials plan to attend IMF, World Bank meetings in Washington DC, sources say

Syria’s finance minister, foreign minister and central bank chief are planning to attend the annual spring meetings held by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, DC this month, four sources familiar with the plans say.

It will be the first visit to the meetings by a high-level Syrian government delegation in at least two decades and the first high-level visit by Syria’s new authorities to the US since former President Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December.

Two of the sources tell Reuters it is unclear whether Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani, Finance Minister Mohammed Yosr Bernieh and Central Bank Governor Abdelkader Husrieh have yet received visas to the United States.

Spokespeople for the IMF, World Bank, Syrian foreign ministry, and Syrian presidency do not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The other two sources say a high-level meeting focused on reconstruction efforts for Syria could be held on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank meetings.

Ailing Bolsonaro being transferred to Brasilia hospital

Brazil's then-President Jair Bolsonaro (L) gestures next to his son, Jair Renan Bolsonaro, during the launch of his new party, the Alliance for Brazil, at a hotel in Brasilia, Brazil, November 21, 2019. (Evaristo Sa / AFP)

Brazil’s ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, hospitalized in the northeastern city of Natal after complaining of “unbearable” abdominal pain, will be transferred later today to a hospital in Brasilia, a senator from his party announces.

“He will be transported by plane in the afternoon to Brasilia,” Senator Rogerio Marinho of the far-right Liberal Party tells journalists a day after Bolsonaro took ill.

Marinho had accompanied the former president on a multi-city tour in Rio Grande do Norte state, but the trip was cut short when the 70-year-old Bolsonaro complained of “unbearable pain” linked to a serious knife attack he suffered during a 2018 election campaign.

Bolsonaro was elected president just weeks after that attack conducted by a man who said he was following orders “from God.” But the stabbing took a long-term toll, leading to repeated hospitalizations and surgeries.

His latest setback occurred two weeks after the country’s Supreme Court ruled that Bolsonaro should face trial on charges of plotting a coup after he lost the presidency to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the 2022 election.

Hundreds hold Passover Seder at Hostages Square with families of Gaza captives

Israelis hold a Passover seder at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on April 12, 2025. (Dana Reany/Hostages Family Forum)

Hundreds of Israelis are holding a Passover Seder at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, joining a number of hostage families who are marking a second “holiday of freedom” without their loved ones who are still being held in Gaza.

Among those on site is Vicki Cohen, the mother of hostage Nimrod Cohen.

“We can’t go on with life. It’s just not right — it’s not right for Israeli society that there are 59 hostages in captivity,” she says in a statement.

Also present is Ofir Angrest, whose older brother Matan is another Hamas hostage.

“Passover is the most family-friendly holiday, so we don’t take it for granted that so many people left everything and came to mark the holiday with us in Hostages Square. It’s really moving,” he says.

Israelis hold a Passover seder at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on April 12, 2025. (Dana Reany/Hostages Family Forum)

“There is no other place I’d rather be,” Revital tells the Davar news site, adding that she came to Tel Aviv with two of her friends from northern Israel to support the hostage families.

They brought food along with folding chairs and tables to set up in the square.

“We as a people have not been able to breathe [for the past 18 months], so I prefer not being able to breathe at the Passover Seder table here in Hostages Square,” Revital says.

Meanwhile, former hostage Romi Gonen reflects on being able to mark her first Passover since being released from captivity earlier this year.

“My first holiday at home. A holiday that is not really a holiday,” she writes on Instagram.

“My head is here, but my heart is there. I want to be happy, but the difficulty is overshadowing. Please set up an empty chair, A yellow pin, and a piece of masking tape marking the number of days that the hostages have been in captivity. We must not forget them,” she adds.

PM speaks with Edan Alexander’s parents, cites ‘tremendous efforts’ to free him and other hostages

Yael and Adi Alexander, the parents of hostage soldier Edan Alexander, outside the White House on July 25, 2024, in Washington. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/AFP)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks by phone with the parents of hostage Edan Alexander after the Hamas terror group releases a video with signs of life from the American-Israeli lone soldier.

“The prime minister told the family he empathizes with their pain and updated that currently tremendous efforts are taking place to return Edan and the rest of the hostages,” says a statement from Netanyahu’s office.

Edan Alexander’s family: Passover ‘not a holiday of freedom’ as long as hostages not home

Hostage soldier Edan Alexander is seen in a propaganda video released by the Hamas terror group on April 12, 2025. (Courtesy)

The family of hostage Edan Alexander permits the publication of a screenshot from a propaganda video of the American-Israeli lone soldier that Hamas released.

In an English statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the Alexander family notes the video was released as Jews around the world mark the Passover holiday.

“As we begin the holiday evening in the USA, our family in Israel is preparing to sit around the Seder table,” the family says. “Our Edan, a lone soldier who immigrated to Israel and enlisted in the Golani Brigade to defend the country and its citizens, is still being held captive by Hamas.”

“So when you sit down to mark Passover, remember that this is not a holiday of freedom as long as Edan and the other 58 hostages are not home.”

Hamas releases propaganda video showing US-Israeli hostage soldier Edan Alexander

Edan Alexander was taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy)

Hamas has published a propaganda video showing signs of life from hostage soldier Edan Alexander.

The three-minute-long video is not dated, though Alexander states that he has been held for 551 days, indicating it was filmed very recently.

Alexander, a US citizen, is a soldier who was stationed near the Gaza Strip on the morning of October 7 when he was taken captive by Hamas terrorists.

It is the second video of Alexander published by Hamas. In November, Hamas released the first video of the hostage soldier.

Hamas has previously issued similar videos of hostages it is holding, in what Israel says is deplorable psychological warfare.

The Hostage and Missing Families Forum has asked that Israeli media not publish the video or stills from the clip until his family approves them.

Iranian FM says US wants nuclear deal ‘as soon as possible’

The United States wants an agreement on a new nuclear deal “as soon as possible,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says after a first round of talks in Oman.

“The American side also said that a positive agreement was one that can be reached as soon as possible,” Araghchi tells state television after his talks with US envoy Steve Witkoff, adding: “That will not be easy and will require a willingness on both sides.”

Iran’s FM says nuclear talks to continue next weekend after first round of discussions

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with his Armenian counterpart in Yerevan on March 25, 2025. (KAREN MINASYAN / AFP)

Neither Iran nor the United States want talks that “drag on forever,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says after a first round of discussions with US envoy Steve Witkoff.

“Neither we nor the other party want fruitless negotiations, discussions for discussions’ sake, time wasting or talks that drag on forever,” Araghchi tells Iranian state television, adding that the next round of talks was set for next Saturday.

He adds that the location of next weekend’s talks may not be in Oman, but will still take place under Omani intermediation.

Troops enter pair of Gaza City neighborhoods as IDF expands offensive against Hamas

Troops of the 401st Armored Brigade operate in the Daraj and Tuffah area of Gaza City, in a handout photo and issued on April 12, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Overnight, the Israel Defense Forces expanded its offensive against Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip, with troops pushing into the Gaza City neighborhoods of Daraj and Tuffah.

The military says the operation is intended to expand the buffer zone along the Gaza border. In most areas, the IDF has been expanding the buffer zone up to around 2 kilometers deep into Gaza.

So far, the IDF says troops have killed several terror operatives and destroyed observation posts, tunnels, and other Hamas infrastructure.

The IDF says it is enabling Palestinian civilians to evacuate the area “for their safety.”

Oman’s FM: US-Iran talks held in ‘friendly atmosphere,’ will aim for ‘fair’ deal

MUSCAT, Oman — Oman’s top diplomat, who mediated talks between the United States and Iran in Muscat today, says they were held in a “friendly atmosphere” and launched a quest for a “fair and binding agreement.”

“I am proud to announce that today in Muscat we hosted Iranian Foreign Minister Dr Seyed Abbas Araghchi and US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and mediated to begin a process of dialogue and negotiations with the shared aim of concluding a fair and binding agreement. I would like to thank my two colleagues for this engagement which took place in a friendly atmosphere,” Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi says in a statement posted on X.

I am proud to announce that today in Muscat we hosted Iranian Foreign Minister Dr. Seyed Abbas Araghchi and US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and mediated to begin a process of dialogue and negotiations with the shared aim of concluding a fair and binding agreement. I would…

— Badr Albusaidi – بدر البوسعيدي (@badralbusaidi) April 12, 2025

Iran and US to hold more nuclear talks next week, Iranian state media says

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, pictured in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025; Steve Witkoff, right, White House special envoy, pictured in Washington, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photos Stringer, Mark Schiefelbein)

MUSCAT, Oman — Iran and the United States will hold more negotiations next week over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, Iranian state television reports at the end of the first round of talks between the two countries since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.

Iranian state TV also says US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi “briefly spoke in the presence of the Omani foreign minister” at the end of the talks, marking direct interactions between the two nations locked in decades of tensions.

American officials did not immediately acknowledge the Iranian reports. The two sides spoke for over two hours at a location on the outskirts of Oman, ending the talks around 5:50 p.m. local time. The talks began at around 3:30 p.m. local time.

Iran says its foreign minister, Witkoff only spoke directly for ‘a few minutes’

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s Foreign Ministry says Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi only spoke with US special envoy Steve Witkoff directly for “a few minutes” during talks over its nuclear program in Oman today.

While the Trump administration has described the talks as direct, Tehran said negotiating teams would be in separate rooms and the talks mediated by Oman.

Iranian media says talks with US have ended, describe them as ‘positive’

MUSCAT, Oman — Iran’s Tasnim news agency says US-Iran indirect talks have ended, and that the atmosphere of the indirect meeting was “positive.”

A convoy believed to be carrying US envoy Steve Witkoff has driven away from the compound where talks are taking place over Iran’s nuclear program after over two hours of talks.

Associated Press journalists see the convoy leave the compound in the Omani capital, Muscat, at around 5:50 p.m. local time on Saturday.

There is no immediate acknowledgment from either the Iranians or the Americans that the talks had ended.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Around 100,000 protest Gaza war in Bangladesh, beat images of Netanyahu, allies

Protesters condemn Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip, at a rally in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka, Bangladesh, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)

DHAKA, Bangladesh — Tens of thousands of protesters rally in Bangladesh’s capital to condemn Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip.

The protesters, estimated at some 100,000, gather at the Suhrawardy Park in the Dhaka University area. They carry hundreds of Palestinian flags and chant slogans such as “Free, Free Palestine.”

Many among them beat the images of US President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing them of backing Israel. Symbolic coffins and effigies representing civilian casualties are carried during the rally.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, headed by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, and Islamist groups and parties express their solidarity with the rally.

Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation of 170 million people, maintains no diplomatic relations with Israel, and it officially supports an independent Palestine.

Iran says it doesn’t expect current round of talks with US to last ‘very long’

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s Foreign Ministry says that ongoing indirect talks with the United States in Oman over its nuclear program were not expected to be “long,” state television reports.

Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei describes the negotiations as “just a beginning” and says Tehran did not “expect this round of talks to be very long,” in comments broadcast on state TV.

Omani source: US-Iran talks focused on calming region, prisoner swaps, nuclear deal

People walk along Tehran's Karim Khan Zand Avenue past a building with a landmark anti-US mural with the slogan "Down with the USA" and skulls replacing the stars on the US flag, in Iran, on April 12, 2025. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Talks between Iran and the US are focused on de-escalating regional tensions, prisoner exchanges, and limited agreements to ease sanctions in exchange for controlling Iran’s nuclear program, an Omani source tells Reuters.

Iran and the United States began high-level talks in Oman on Saturday aimed at jump-starting negotiations over Tehran’s fast-advancing nuclear program, with US President Donald Trump threatening military action if there is no deal.

Iran: ‘Indirect talks’ begin with US over nuclear program

MUSCAT, Oman — Iran says ‘indirect talks’ begin with a US envoy over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.

Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, makes the announcement on the social platform.

“These talks will be held at a location planned by the Omani hosts with representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States seated in separate rooms,” Baghaei says.

#Iran’s delegation headed to the venue of indirect talks with the #US delegation in Muscat pic.twitter.com/zDZ0LbGLuT

— Iran's Today (@Iran) April 12, 2025

IDF issues evacuation warning for Khan Younis after rocket fire

Following the Hamas rocket fire from the southern Gaza Strip on the border community of Nir Yitzhak, the IDF issues an evacuation warning for Palestinians in the Khan Younis area.

In a post on X, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, publishes a map of the area that is to be evacuated, saying that it is a “final warning” before the IDF carries out strikes there.

Three rockets were launched by Hamas in the attack, with the IDF reporting that it shot down all of them. No injuries were reported.

#عاجل ‼️ إلى جميع سكان قطاع غزة المتواجدين في مناطق خان يونس وفي الأحياء: قيزان النجار، قيزان ابو رشوان، السلام، المنارة، القرين، معن، البطن السمين، جورت اللوت، الفخاري وأحياء بني سهيلا الجنوبية
🔴هذا انذار مسبق وأخير قبل الهجوم!🔴
⭕️سنهاجم بقوة شديدة كل منطقة يتم إطلاق قذائف… pic.twitter.com/350ljlC0Wr

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) April 12, 2025

EBU shuns Spain’s request to hold debate over Israel’s participation in Eurovision

Yuval Raphael, Israel's Eurovision 2025 representative and survivor of the Oct. 7 attacks at the Nova music festival, speaks to the media after premiering the song 'A New Day Will Rise, in Tel Aviv, Israel, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

The European Broadcasting Union asserts all its members are eligible to contend in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest after Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE asked the company to open a debate on Israel’s participation.

Yesterday, RTVE sent a letter to the EBU requesting members debate the Jewish state’s inclusion in the contest, citing “the concerns raised by various civil society groups in Spain regarding the situation in Gaza.”

“We welcome RTVE confirming their commitment to the Eurovision Song Contest and appreciate there are concerns and deeply held views around the current conflict in the Middle East,” the EBU says.

“All Members of the EBU are eligible to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest and we remain in constant contact with those participating this year, including RTVE, on all aspects of the Contest.”

Yuval Raphael, who survived Hamas’s massacre of the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, will perform a song titled “New Day Will Rise.”

The ESC is scheduled for mid-May in Basel, Switzerland.

Most Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon handed over to Lebanese army, source in terror group says

A Lebanese army jeep patrols in the southern Lebanese border village of Sarada after Israeli forces pulled out, on February 19, 2025. (Rabih DAHER / AFP)

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Most military sites belonging to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon have been placed under Lebanese army control, a source close to the group says.

A November 27 ceasefire that ended more than a year of conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, including two months of full-blown war, stipulated that only United Nations peacekeepers and Lebanon’s army should be deployed in the country’s south.

The deal required the Iran-backed terror group to dismantle its remaining military infrastructure in the south and move its fighters north of the Litani River, which is about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the Israeli border.

“Out of 265 Hezbollah military positions identified south of the Litani, the movement has ceded about 190 to the army,” the source says on condition of anonymity.

Under the ceasefire, Israel was to complete its troop withdrawal from Lebanon by February 18 after missing a January deadline, but it has kept troops in five places it deems strategic.

Israel has continued to strike what it says are Hezbollah infrastructure or members of the group in Lebanon, who are either violating the ceasefire or planning attacks.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Katz to Gazans: ‘This is the final moment to remove Hamas and release the hostages’

Engineering forces work to build a road in the Morag Corridor in the southern Gaza Strip, in a handout photo issued on April 12, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Following the IDF’s capture of the Morag Corridor between southern Gaza’s Rafah and Khan Younis, Defense Minister Israel Katz calls on Palestinians to “remove Hamas and release all the hostages” before the military expands its operations in the Strip.

“This is the final moment to remove Hamas and release the hostages and bring about an end to the war,” Katz says in a statement.

“The IDF has now completed the capture of the Morag Corridor that divides Gaza between Rafah and Khan Younis, and makes the entire area between the Philadelphi Corridor and Morag part of the Israeli security zone,” he says, referring to the IDF’s buffer zone on the Gaza border.

“In northern Gaza, residents are also evacuating in Beit Hanoun and other neighborhoods and territory is being taken, expanding the security zone, and also in the Netzarim Corridor,” Katz says.

“Intensive IDF activity will soon expand to additional places in most of Gaza, and you will have to evacuate the combat zones,” he warns.

“Hamas is unable to protect the residents or the territory. Hamas leaders are hiding in tunnels with their families, and in luxury hotels abroad with billions in their bank accounts and are using you as hostages,” he says.

“It is time to stand up and remove Hamas and release all the Israeli hostages. This is the only way to end the war,” he continues.

Katz adds that “those interested will also be able to voluntarily move to various countries around the world, in accordance with the vision of the US president, which we are working to carry out.”

2012 Bulgaria bus bomber buried in Hezbollah cemetery in Lebanon

The bombed Israeli tour bus in Burgas, Bulgaria, July 2012 (photo credit: Dano Monkotovic/Flash90)

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The Lebanese-French national who was accused of detonating explosives in a 2012 attack in Bulgaria that killed five Israeli tourists was buried in a cemetery designated for fallen Hezbollah terrorists, a former Lebanese security official who negotiated the return of his remains says.

The bomber was identified as Mohammad Hassan El-Husseini, 23. On July 18, 2012, he struck a group of Israeli tourists at Burgas Airport in Bulgaria, killing five Israelis, a Bulgarian bus driver, and injuring nearly 40 others, authorities said.

The explosion occurred shortly after the tourists, arriving on a charter flight from Tel Aviv, boarded a bus en route to their hotel. Israeli and Bulgarian authorities blamed the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror group.

The former head of the Lebanese General Security intelligence agency, Abbas Ibrahim, tells The Associated Press that he negotiated the return of the remains on Friday on behalf of El-Husseini’s family. He was buried the same day, Ibrahim says.

Times of Israel staff contributed.

Hamas takes responsibility for earlier rocket fire

Illustrative: Gaza-based terror groups fire rockets towards the sea in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on September 12, 2023 (SAID KHATIB / AFP)

Hamas takes responsibility for the rocket fire from southern Gaza a short while ago, claiming to have targeted the border community of Nir Yitzhak.

According to the IDF, three rockets were intercepted, and there are no reports of injuries.

IDF reservist seriously hurt mistakenly entering minefield on Lebanese border

An IDF reservist was seriously wounded this morning during operations on the Lebanon border, the military says.

According to an initial IDF probe, the soldier was hit by a landmine after troops mistakenly entered an Israeli minefield on the border.

The incident is under further investigation, the IDF adds.

3 rockets fired from Gaza shot down; sirens activated in open areas

Three rockets launched from the Gaza Strip at the Sufa and Holit area on the southern section of the border were intercepted by air defenses, the military says.

The rocket fire set off alerts in open areas, and not in any towns.

There are no injuries in the attack, the IDF says.

WHO reaches agreement ‘in principle’ over how to deal with future pandemics

A sign of the World Health Organization (WHO) displayed at their headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 13, 2025. (Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

GENEVA, Switzerland — WHO members reach an accord “in principle” over how to tackle future pandemics after three years of discussions, the co-chair of the negotiating body tells AFP.

“We have an accord in principle” and the final accord will have to be okayed by the various member states, Anne-Claire Amprou, who is also French ambassador for world health, says.

IDF says it has captured Gaza’s Morag Corridor, cutting off Rafah from Khan Younis

Troops of the 36th Division operate in the Morag Corridor in the southern Gaza Strip, in a handout photo issued on April 12, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF announces that it has completed capturing the Morag Corridor in the southern Gaza Strip, cutting off the city of Rafah from Khan Younis.

Rafah is now completely surrounded by the military, with the 36th Division holding the Morag Corridor, and the Gaza Division operating in the Philadelphi Corridor, the Egypt-Gaza border area.

The 36th Division’s 188th Armored Brigade had pushed into the Morag Corridor from the northwest, while the division’s Golani Infantry Brigade entered from the border in the southeast. Overnight, the two units joined up.

Engineering forces are now constructing a road along the corridor, similar to the other corridors in Gaza captured by the IDF during the war.

The military will now operate inside areas of Rafah that it has not been in yet to defeat the remaining Hamas forces there. The IDF issued evacuation warnings for civilians in Rafah nearly two weeks ago.

Eventually, the IDF’s buffer zone in southern Gaza will stretch from the Egyptian border to the outskirts of Khan Younis — more than 5 kilometers away — and include the entire city of Rafah within it — around 20% of the Strip.

The IDF’s buffer zone elsewhere on the border with Gaza has also been expanded from several hundred meters to around 2 kilometers in most areas.

Over the past week and a half, during operations in the Morag Corridor area, the IDF says it has eliminated dozens of terror operatives and destroyed Hamas infrastructure, including tunnels.

Iran’s FM hands Tehran’s negotiation position to Omani counterpart for talks with US

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, meets his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr Albusaidi prior to negotiations with US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff in Muscat, Oman, April 12, 2025. (Iranian Foreign Ministry via AP)

Iranian state television posts a video on its website of Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi meeting with Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi in Muscat.

“As part of Iran-US indirect talks, Araghchi provided his Omani counterpart with Tehran’s key points and positions to be conveyed to the US side,” Iranian state media reports.

Hamas official: Senior delegation heading to Cairo for hostage-ceasefire talks

CAIRO, Egypt — A Hamas official tells AFP that senior leaders from the group are heading to Cairo today for Gaza hostage-ceasefire talks with Egyptian mediators.

“We hope the meeting will achieve real progress toward reaching an agreement to end the war, halt the aggression, and ensure the full withdrawal of occupation forces from Gaza,” the official familiar with the ceasefire negotiations says on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Iran’s FM says Tehran wants ‘fair and honorable’ deal hours ahead of talks with US

TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says his country seeks a “fair and honorable” deal with the United States, hours before the talks between the two sides begin.

“Our intention is to reach a fair and honorable agreement from an equal position, and if the other side also comes from the same position, then hopefully there will be a chance for an initial understanding that will lead to a path of negotiations,” he says, according to a video posted by state TV before the talks on Iran’s nuclear program.

שר החוץ האיראני, עראקצ'י, ושר החוץ העומאני המתווך, בו סעידי, נפגשים לפני תחילת המו"מ עם ארה"ב. וויטקוף או מתחת לשולחן עם הפרחים או מאחורי הפרגוד השחור https://t.co/gV7SjXZr67 pic.twitter.com/qxOlxOFBQt

— roi kais • روعي كايس • רועי קייס (@kaisos1987) April 12, 2025

Harry and Meghan’s charity ceases donations to Muslim group over founder’s anti-Israel op-ed

Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, founder and patron of the Invictus Games Foundation and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, deliver remarks at the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 Nation Home Welcome Reception on February 10th, 2025. in Whistler, Canada. (JEFF VINNICK / Getty Images via AFP)

A charity founded by Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, has halted donations to a Muslim woman’s group over anti-Israel comments made by its founder, NewsNation reports.

According to the report, the Archwell Foundation ceased its contributions to the Milwaukee Muslim Coalition on Thursday after NewsNation made it aware of a February 2024 op-ed written by founder Janan Najeeb, a known pro-Palestinian activist.

“Israel’s 75-year occupation of Palestine and the genocide in Gaza are a grave injustice. We demand a permanent ceasefire, an end to arming the apartheid state of Israel and the liberation of Palestine. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. From the sea to the river, Palestine will live forever!” the piece for the Wisconsin Muslim Journal read, using a slogan many understand as calling for the elimination of Israel.

A source familiar with the situation tells NewsNation they were “not aware” of the post, and confirmed that they sent a letter to Janan that “the Archewell Foundation has zero tolerance for hate speech, and we let them know the foundation will no longer be making any further donations.”

“As soon as the blog post was brought to our attention, we took immediate action and acted swiftly to remove MMWC from our network and communicate no additional grants would be made to MMWC.”

“Janan, we’ve recently been notified of a blog post you wrote that goes against the values of the foundation. As a foundation, we celebrate different perspectives and backgrounds but we have zero tolerance for hateful words, actions or propaganda,” the letter to Janan reads, as quoted by NewsNation.

“When we started the welcome project, we did so to support Afghan women in finding community, and we are proud of the work we have done to support women in Milwaukee. We remain committed to fostering partnerships that reflect and reinforce the values our foundation stands for.”

“We will be removing MWC from our network effective as of today. At this time, the foundation will be making no additional grants to MMWC.”

The report, citing the foundation’s 2023 tax returns, says it gave a $27,960 donation to the Muslim charity, adding that a similar contribution was given in 2024.

Iran’s Araghchi meets Omani officials ahead of nuclear talks; Witkoff’s delegation arrives in Muscat

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who arrived in Oman for rare talks with US officials on its nuclear program, met with Omani officials, Iranian state TV reports.

Iranian media reports that Iran and US delegations have arrived in Muscat. Araghchi is leading the Iranian delegation, while the talks will be handled on the US side by Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.

Araghchi and Witkoff are scheduled to hold the high-stakes talks behind closed doors in Muscat, the capital of Oman, a Gulf country mediating the negotiations.

Iran negotiating team en route to Oman for nuclear talks with US — state media

Iran’s negotiating team has left Tehran for Oman ahead of rare talks with its longtime foe, the United States, state media reports.

“The Iranian delegation, headed by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left for Muscat, the venue for Iran-US talks,” the official IRNA news agency says.

Trump envoy suggests allied zones of control in Ukraine

Keith Kellogg, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, has suggested British and French troops could adopt zones of control in the country, in an interview with The Times newspaper.

Kellogg suggests they could have areas of responsibility west of the Dnipro river, as part of a “reassurance force,” with a demilitarized zone separating them from Russian-occupied areas in the east.

“You could almost make it look like what happened with Berlin after World War II, when you had a Russian zone, a French zone, and a British zone, a US zone,” he says, later clarifying on X that the United States would not be providing troops.

“You’re west of the (Dnipro), which is a major obstacle,” Kellogg says, adding that the force would therefore “not be provocative at all” to Russia.

He suggests that a demilitarized zone could be implemented along the existing lines of control in eastern Ukraine.

Iran ‘can’t have a nuclear weapon,’ Trump declares on eve of talks in Oman

US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One, en route to Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, on April 11, 2025. (Mandel Ngan/AFP)

Iran “can’t have a nuclear weapon,” US President Donald Trump says ahead of high-stakes weekend talks over the state’s nuclear program.

“I want Iran to be a wonderful, great, happy country. But they can’t have a nuclear weapon,” Trump tells reporters aboard Air Force One, hours before his envoy Steve Witkoff is to meet Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Oman.

Hapoel Tel Aviv defeats Spanish basketball team to win its first ever EuroCup

Hapoel Tel Aviv defeats Gran Canaria to win the EuroCup, marking the first time the Israeli squad has won the basketball tournament.

With the victory, Hapoel secures a spot in next year’s EuroLeague, the top-tier men’s basketball league in Europe.

Ofer Yannay, who owns Hapoel, revels in the win, noting his team defeated both Gran Canaria and fellow Spanish squad Valencia on the way to the title. Spain has been a leading European critic of Israel over its conduct in the Gaza war against Hamas.

“In my view we defeated Hamas,” says Yannay in remarks widely quoted by Hebrew media outlets. “They tried to break our spirit but did not succeed.”

The 2024-2025 EuroCup Champions…@HapoelTLVBC 🏆#RoadToGreatness pic.twitter.com/cY1aFmuSKq

— BKT EuroCup (@EuroCup) April 11, 2025

Witkoff: US ‘red line’ is no ‘weaponization’ of Iran’s nuclear program

This combination of pictures shows US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff after a meeting with Russian officials at Diriyah Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on February 18, 2025 (L); and Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaking to AFP during an interview at the Iranian consulate in Jeddah on March 7, 2025. (Photo by EVELYN HOCKSTEIN and Amer HILABI / various sources / AFP)

US President Donald Trump’s globe-trotting special envoy Steve Witkoff sounds a note of flexibility before meeting Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Oman on Saturday for nuclear negotiations.

Witkoff tells the Wall Street Journal that “our position today” starts with demanding that Iran completely dismantle its nuclear program — a view of hardliners around Trump that few expect Iran would ever accept.

“That doesn’t mean, by the way, that at the margin we’re not going to find other ways to find compromise between the two countries,” Witkoff tells the newspaper.

“Where our red line will be, there can’t be weaponization of your nuclear capability,” Witkoff adds.

Houthis claim responsibility for launching two drones at ‘military targets’ in Tel Aviv area

The Houthi rebels in Yemen take responsibility for launching two drones at Israel this evening, claiming to have targeted two “military targets” in the Tel Aviv area.

According to the IDF, one drone was intercepted by the Israeli Air Force. The second drone did not reach Israel.

White House: All options on table for Iran over nuclear program

US President Donald Trump wants Iran to know that “all options are on the table” for preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons ahead of talks on Saturday between US and Iranian delegations, his press secretary tells reporters.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says that Trump’s “ultimate objective is to ensure that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon” and that Trump believes in diplomacy.

“But he’s made it very clear to the Iranians and his national security team will as well, that all options are on the table, and Iran has a choice to make. You can agree to President Trump’s demand, or there will be all hell to pay, and that’s how the president feels. He feels very strongly about it,” she says.

Leavitt insists that the talks with Iran will be direct — something Tehran has denied.